chapter 12

Neither Cygnus nor Orion particularly liked St. Mungos. Each of them had endured their own mishaps and misadventures. To arrive there usually meant that you had done something dangerous, foolish, or had completely ruined something to the point it had exploded so spectacularly in your face that you could not resolve the issue yourself.

"Can I help you?" the witch sitting behind the desk greeted them both.

"Cygnus and Orion Black," Cygnus stated, ignoring the slight irritation that Orion exuded at being placed second in the order. "I am here because I was told my daughters were here."

Instantly the woman's face paled, then grew serious as she nodded her head. "Yes, sirs. I was made aware of it. Especially due to the extent of the problems."

Cygnus frowned heavily. "What is wrong with my daughters?"

The woman blinked a moment before looking at him with wide eyes. "Oh, no one told you?"

"… I am becoming less and less amused," Cygnus stated, hissing out a breath as he clenched his fingers about his wand.

"My apologies, sir!" the woman said quickly. "Your daughters are fine. Your eldest had some bruises, scrapes and her throat was almost crushed, but she'll be fine. Your younger daughter has a few minor burns and scrapes, with a bruise or two."

Cygnus let out a slight sigh of relief, though only seemed to relax slightly at the news. "Finally, someone with a straight answer."

"No, the serious injuries were sustained by young Mr. Tonks," the woman continued. "From what I understand, if he hadn't shielded them with his own body, they would have been far, far worse. And if he hadn't managed that shield, they would've all died."

That was not what Cygnus had been expecting. "… Who?"

The woman seemed to realize just whom she was addressing before wincing slightly. "I believe it would be better for you to talk to the aurors who are stationed at their rooms for more answers, sir. All I have is second hand information on things."

"… I intend to," Cygnus agreed with narrowed eyes. "Now, where are my daughters?"

-o-o-o-

Cygnus stared at the bed in front of him and reflexively tightened his grip on his wand. All around him he could see the glowing runes projecting information to the mediwitches and wizards that were copying down notes in between waving their wands. Each of them was pointedly ignoring his presence as they focused on their patient.

"How did this happen?" he asked the only mediwitch not involved in the treatment.

"The Aurors have already taken copies of what memories were available on the issue, though they haven't told us much about it," the mediwitch said crossly before sighing. "As we're more interested in fixing the damage, we hadn't asked beyond what we needed to know for treatment."

Cygnus frowned but then nodded in acceptance. Turning his head, he looked at where his daughter, where Andromeda, was staring intently at the patient, worry etched on her face, her face tear stained and eyes red. The injuries Andromeda had sustained had, thankfully, been rather minor.

He looked back at where the healers were working hard to save the life of Edward Tonks, the savior of his daughters, and apparently Andromeda's secret beau. A muggleborn boy he hadn't even been aware of. One that had put himself at grave personal risk to save both Andromeda and Bellatrix.

It left him….

He wasn't sure how he was meant to feel. His daughters were alive because of this boy. This mudblood boy.

And that bastard was apparently quite intent upon striking at House Black. He took a slow deep breath and then released it. "What are the extents of the boy's injuries?"

"Severe burns caused by secondary exposure to Fiendfyre," the healer stated clinically. "With enough curse residue to impede healing. Fortunately we have a number of treatments for it. He'll still scar, though. Magical exhaustion, Core strain, and a variety of asphalt shards that will take a great deal of time to remove."

Cygnus nodded his head and winced as he considered just what that meant. "How the bloody hell did he even survive then?"

"That's what caused his magical exhaustion. After he collapsed the street into the sewers beneath them, he apparently created an instinctive shield over them. It wasn't enough to stop it from burning him completely but it did keep it from completely incinerating his flesh long enough for it to cool down to simple extreme burns."

Nodding his head, Cygnus let out a long sigh. "Have the bill sent to the Black Family."

The healer didn't even bat an eye at the statement, nodding. "Very well."

It, however, was apparently enough to get Andromeda's attention. "What?"

"I do not believe I had stuttered, daughter." Cygnus was tired. It had been a relatively frustrating time in the last few days. And now this. "So I do not need to repeat myself."

"But… but… he's a muggleborn!" she blurted out as she stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief.

"I'm aware." His voice was sour as his lips turned down into a frown. "You do not need to remind me."

"I…" Andromeda's face was completely dumbstruck as she stared back at him. "Then, why?!"

"Unless I'm mistaken, he was saving the life of both yourself and Bellatrix," Cygnus stated, arching a brow up as he looked back at her. "Were you saying that shouldn't earn him my gratitude?"

"No! But… he's muggleborn…" Andromeda said the last part quite quietly as she looked away.

"As I said. I'm aware," Cygnus stated with a look of dislike on his face. "You need not repeat it." There was a pause. "He will, of course, have to change his name."

"What?" Confusion wrote itself across Andromeda's face as she stared back at her father.

"When you marry," Cygnus stated blandly. "Tonks is hardly a dignified name. He will have to become a Black."

Andromeda just stared.

Cygnus continued to stare at Ted, looking more than faintly displeased.

-o-o-o-

Bellatrix Black was staring at the wall when Orion Black found her, her eyes distant and her hands lain listlessly on the ground.

"So, I understand you had another encounter with the 'Lord' of the Knights of Walpurgis." Orion simply looked at her expectantly.

She nodded her head quietly in agreement, not quite looking at him.

Orion frowned slightly at the listless look on his niece's expression. This… was not the Bellatrix he was used to encountering. And it put him in an… awkward position.

Especially since her father had already come and gone to check up on her sister and their savior.

"And your thoughts?"

"I was useless," she stated flatly. "Absolutely bloody useless. Andromeda and her… 'boyfriend' kept having to save me. They killed all of the monsters."

"Ah," he nodded his head slowly at that. Well, that would certainly explain things then. For someone like Bellatrix to have to be rescued by her far more reserved sister... "How do you plan to do better next time then?"

"… Next time?" Bellatrix asked, finally showing some life as she looked up at her uncle.

"This is the second attack by this 'Lord' against the House Black. This is the second time he has failed to take the life of a Black." Orion stated as he arched a brow. "Do you honestly think it will be his last?"

"I…" Bellatrix frowned slightly before looking off into the distance again. "But what am I supposed to do then? Nothing I tried worked. He brushed it aside… and those creatures… none of my spells would…"

"And if your approach fails, what? Will you simply give up? Try the same approach again and again, expecting the results to be any different?" Orion almost winced at his words hit entirely too close to home. After all, that was what their family had done for the last few centuries, clinging to the same approach, the same beliefs and philosophy.

Bellatrix frowned slightly before slowly shaking her head. "No."

"Good," Orion nodded his head and looked her over. "I will assume the healers have seen to your injuries?"

Bellatrix unconsciously rubbed her throat before nodding her head.

"Good." Orion then gestured. "Then you will share your memory. We will go over it. We will see what happened and where you could do better. Understood?"

She bobbed her head in agreement, still highly subdued.

"Good." He paused before looking at her again. "… But first… what in Merlin's name are you wearing?"

Bellatrix simply blushed.

-o-o-o-

"WHAT?"

The shrill screech echoed through the House of Black almost made the walls themselves recoil and shudder.

Cygnus simply seemed to arch a brow back at his sister as he regarded her and look of almost apoplectic rage she wore, mirrored by his wife. "I don't believe I stuttered. And while I'm sure you're going deaf would explain your inability to listen or control the volume of your voice, I hardly think that's the case."

"No! I will not accept this! I will not allow this!" Walburga Black declared, practically frothing at the mouth. "This is too far! This is-!"

"Prudent," Orion noted as he poured himself a generous few fingers of brandy, before a flick of his wrist with his wand sent a number of chilled cubes into the glass. "Distasteful, but prudent. And the boy did save two of your daughters."

"I'm quite aware," Cygnus stated as he poured his own drink a moment later. "And unfortunately Andromeda was already besotted before this mess."

"Stop ignoring me!" Walburga screamed out. "Druella! We won't stand for this, will we!"

"Oh, quit your shrieking, woman," Cygnus snapped out with a hiss as he glared at his sister. "You already lost any say in these matters with your stubborn idiocy. We're not going to commit suicide just so you can have your twisted delusions satisfied."

Druella had opened her mouth to agree with her sister-in-law, only to suddenly shrink back as she caught sight of the look in her husband's eye. Seeing her only support starting to falter, Walburga turned towards Orion fully. "Orion! How dare you-!"

"Enough," Orion declared flatly as he took a long drink from his glass. "I have had enough of this. I have had enough of your blind hatred and devotion. I have had enough of our family being assaulted and attacked. And most of all?"

He turned his head and affixed Walburga with a burning look of pure and utter loathing. "I have had enough of you. You have been warned, repeatedly. You have been shown the evidence, you have seen what this monster has dared do. And you dare to ask how I dare?"

There was a dull sound as he set his tumbler down, his face lined not with a resignation or sullen acceptance as it usually was when he dealt with his wife. No, this time there was true and unmitigated fury etched across his features. "We are facing an end to our family, and you want to slave us to the force responsible? To a monster that dared to blaspheme the sanctity of his own soul in a futile bid for immortality? To a creature that has shown repeatedly that he is quite happy to hunt us down and kill us when we had declared neutrality instead of opposition?"

"Neutrality is just a pathetic excuse for not being willing to-!" Walburga retorted, only to suddenly collapse, screaming as a dark blast of magic slammed her back off her feet and into the wall behind her.

"Enough." The word was flat and hard as magic hissed out of the tip of Orion's wand.

"You, you dare?" She scrambled back to her feet, her hand going for her wand as she stared at him with furious, disbelieving eyes. "I am a Black! I am your wife! I am-!"

"No, you are not," Orion stated the words with a furious finality. "Walburga, you have sought to defile the house of Black. You have sought to bind us to the service of a monster that would destroy us-."

"You wouldn't dare! You can't!" Walburga was staring at Orion, a look of horror and outright disbelief on her face. "You cannot do this!"

"You have tried to drive us into hands of those who have thrice shown that they are our enemies. You have demanded that we ignore the debts we have incurred and the violation of a taboo that we have long known was set for horrifyingly sound reasoning!" Orion growled out the words as his wand flicked from her to the family tapestry. "You have proven you have no place among this house, you are Black no-!"

"NO! YOU WILL NOT!" she screamed out as she raised her wand towards him, only to have her own brother blast her back with a spell before she could cast.

"MORE!" Orion declared with an icy finality before a wretched black spot consumed the portion of the tapestry that had once held her name.

He did not blast her off of the tapestry, not like was typical of casting someone out of their family for their indiscretions. No, he had taken it a step further. He had stripped her of her connection to their family, of their name.

He had named her traitor, not just to their ideals, but to the safety and security of their family.

"Get out, Walburga," Orion stated softly as he looked down at the horrified woman who had once been his wife. "You have no place here."

"No, no, no, no…" Walburga was staring at the tapestry, eyes wide, disbelieving. "You can't, this isn't real, you can't, you can't!"

Orion sighed as the strength seemed to drain out of him. "Just go, Walburga."

"No! I won't go! I am a Black! You can't take that from me! I am-!" she said hysterically, shaking in denial.

"Go," Orion stated forcefully as suddenly the ancient wards of the home came to life and Walburga suddenly found herself bodily flung out of the room, down the halls and forcefully thrown out the front door.

When it was done he turned to Cygnus, who's attention had fixed onto Druella, who was staring back at them both with wide, horrified eyes.

"Well, Druella, what will it be?" Cygnus asked with a face that looked carved from stone. "Shall we make this a clean sweep?"

She swallowed and then slowly shook her head.

"Then I suggest you take your leave, sister-in-law," Orion stated simple as he looked at her with a gimlet eye. "I do not feel particularly rational at this point in time, and I do not wish for you to further tempt me."

With a squeak, Druella scurried away leaving behind the two men alone with their drinks.

"Bloody fucking hell," Orion declared as he seemed to just collapse in on himself. "Merlin's bollocks, what did I just do?"

"Probably saved us an immeasurable number of headaches and give us reason for others," Cygnus stated as he stiffly sat down in a seat, staring hard at him.

"What was I supposed to do? She didn't give me any choice in the matter!" Orion responded defensively. "You know that!"

"You just took away the most important thing she had, the thing she built up her everything around: her family," Cygnus responded coolly.

"Because of what she was going to end up doing to that family!" Orion said in return as he clutched at his drink. "Do you think I wanted to do that?"

"Do you think I wanted to support you doing it?" Cygnus shot back with a glare as he clutched at his glass.

"What else was I supposed to do then?" Orion demanded as he glared back at Cygnus. "She would not listen! She would not change! She was intent upon doing what we both know would see our family destroyed in one way or another!"

"Yes, she would have," Cygnus agreed with a slight nod of his head. "That is the only reason I supported you. It does not mean I particularly like it."

"She was my wife! You think I liked it?"

"She was my sister."

They stared at one another for a long, sullen moment before Orion sighed and shook his head. "It does not matter now. What I have to do is ensure that she cannot use her former position to hurt us."

Cygnus frowned, wanting to refute Orion's statement but finding himself recalling the madness he'd seen in his sister's eyes. This betrayal… The only place she would, could go would be to the monster.

A monster that would happily exploit everything he could from her.

"I suppose there's nothing we can really do about it now," Cygnus finally admitted as he stared down at his drink. "Even after everything…"

"She made her choice and wouldn't change from it," Orion stated softly and then sighed. "I suppose I'm partially to blame for always letting her forcefully get her way. It just never seemed important enough to fight her on it in the past."

"It was how she was raised. Everyone just found it easier to just give her what she wanted, let her assume she was right instead of dealing with her outrage," Cygnus stated with a slow shake of his head. "It was all too easy, as long as she held the right ideas."

"I remember," Orion admitted with a quiet nod of his head. "It's always just been so much easier."

"And now, I suppose we're paying for it."

"I think we are."

-o-o-o-

Martellus Longbottom was not a particularly happy man at the moment. It was early, not even crack of dawn early, and he was hunched down in the middle of a foggy moor, and unable to even cast a warming charm on himself to keep from letting the cold morning get to him. He just wanted to get back to his wife and his warm, warm bed.

Especially the warm, warm bed. His wife had cold feet.

Sighing, he looked at the lot of men around him, all of them looking equally miserable as he was.

"Why did we agree to this nonsense again?" one of them asked with a grumble.

"Because otherwise we're just waiting for someone in the Ministry to get off their arses and try to do something, making a right mess of it, having Dumbledore step up and try and offer assistance to them, and watching everything go to hell in a bloody handbasket," one of the surlier men stated with a grumble. "And, personally, I'd rather do this shite myself than have to leave this off for one of my boys."

"Or one of my girls," another agreed.

"Definitely not one of my grandkids either," came another.

"You need to get some kids of your own before you get that!"

Before the conversations could devolve further Charlus grunted loudly interrupting them. "You do realize that if I have to call in my wife to get you bastards to behave, I'll make sure that I tell each and every one of you little gits' wives exactly what I had to do, yes?"

"You think he's serious?"

"Probably, of course my wife was the one who told me she'd leave me for his wife if given half a chance."

"She'd probably even take the captain with her."

"I wouldn't take her," Charlus cut in as he glared at them all. "I've met his wife. Now, if you're all finished acting like a bunch of ickle tossers? Can we please get on with preparing to kick in the teeth of these bloody gobshites?"

"Fine, fine, bloody bastard," someone said with a grumble. "Why couldn't we hit up the Malfoys first?"

"Because that particular bastard married my cousin and do you want to end up wanting to cross wands with Lucius Potter's sister?" Charlus demanded with a glare at all of them.

"… Right, Averys are fine. Besides, this is supposed to be some kind of big to-do according to what I was hearing. Bunch of those bloody knights all getting together in preparation of something big."

"This early in the morning?"

"You think it's going to be a quick work for us to pop those wards?"

There was a rippling murmur of displeasure. "Shouldn't take us that long."

"Good, because they're showing up in time for brunch and I'd hate to end up arriving unfashionably late."

-o-o-o-

The morning fog had fallen to a moderately warm day, with the sun occasionally visible beneath an overhead veneer of clouds.

Inside, seated at a sizable table, a group of wizards sat before half-finished repasts.

"So, Avery, what new bit of madness is our lord involving us in now?" one of the assembled wizards asked with an almost mocking sarcasm.

"Do you truly wish for word of your disrespect to reach him?" Avery countered back with narrowed eyes. "Or, have you forgotten that you pledged yourself to his service already."

"That was when he was promising us a return of proper pureblood ideals and putting the mudbloods and muggles under heel where they belong, not creating bloody abominations and monstrosities."

"You think that you can simply back out now? After you've taken his mark?" Avery scoffed scornfully. "You are his. There is no where you can go he cannot find you, no where you can escape. He can find you, he can hurt you no matter where you are."

"That's as long as he can do any of those things. He has yet to prove he's able to deliver anything but sweet sounding promises. Or are you forgetting the string of failures he's given us?"

There was a softly murmured wave of assent a moment later. "And now, what, he wants to drag us into another one of his ill-conceived plans?"

"How exactly have any of his plans been ill-conceived?" Avery demanded, eyes narrow slits of fury as he almost spat out the words.

"You truly need to ask?" one of the wizards demanded. "Ever since that debacle with the Lestranges, everything he has tried has ended in failure."

"And never once because of his ideas or his execution," Avery snapped with a hiss of zealous fury. "Tell Me, which of you, any of you, have ever heard of the Storm Chaser before that night?"

There was a grudging silence to that as Avery continued. "Another Lord, not Dumbledore. A Lord who wields magic like nothing any of us have ever heard of before. A Lord seasoned in violence like nothing any of us could imagine. A Lord like that that fights for the blood traitors and the mud bloods. Which of you could have even conceived of such a thing?"

That left them all silent for a moment before another spoke. "That doesn't change the fact that he needed Dumbledore of all people to save him!"

"Dumbledore is a fool, one that our Lord can deal with at his leisure. It was the one that we all still know nothing about that was the problem."

"And the incident in London?"

Avery paused there before his lips twisted in distaste as he looked back at the speaker as if looking at a bug. "You really think that the he would have targeted muggles of all things for an actual plan? He was simply testing his new creations and found them… insufficient."

"Which is why he left three survivors." The sarcasm cut through the air sharply. "A mudblood and two blood traitors. Who identified him as being the man responsible for the attack. Do you know how many people have turned against us as a result of that?"

"And again, which of you could have conceived that in the middle of the stupid muggle's city, there would be that many of us, let alone two of those blood traitor Blacks," Avery argued back.

"He still left them alive."

"He used fiendfyre imbued melted cobblestone to burn them alive," Avery snapped back. "Dumped it on them where they couldn't escape. Their deaths should have been assured."

"You see, that's what's wrong with you arrogant gobshites," a new voice broke in that made them all freeze. "You assume that just because you think something should be a certain way, it will be."

Slowly, the assembled Knights of Walpurgis turned to see a vanished wall and a group of assembled wizards wearing weathered and beaten-looking steel masks.

"Like you assumed that no one would decide to kick in your front doors and catch you lot with your trousers down," the voice continued before pausing. "Shame we don't intend to let you learn from the mistake."

And then the magic exploded into action.

A shield immediately leapt in front of the speaking intruder, who calmly took a step back as the men with him split into teams can began to cast in unison.

The Knights of Walpurgis, however, were far from helpless.

The table immediately flipped over, shimmering as it turned from wood into stony fortification. Those knights that had been on the wrong side of the table managed to take the time their assailants took in setting up their own defenses to scramble out of the way or erect their own defenses.

"What the bloody hell is going on here, Avery?" one of the knights demanded as he ducked a particularly lethal piercing spell. "You said we were safe here!"

"I don't know! How did they even know about this!? I only told each of you personally! You weren't to tell anyone else!" Avery shot back as he as popped up only long enough to swish his wrist in a circular motion and sending a black crescent of magic slashing towards their attackers.

"Does it matter at this point?" another one of them asked. "Why in Merlin's name aren't your wards protecting us?"

"I don't know! They should have- They're down! How the bloody hell are they down?!"

"Then I'm getting out of this mess!" one of the Knights snarled as he suddenly seemed to shrink into disapparition.

A moment later, a wet, warbling shriek filled the air as the spot the wizard had been vanishing from suddenly exploded in blood, bone and viscera.

"Bloody fucking hell!" one of the knights exclaimed. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Incentive to not run away," another one stated with a grunt as he flicked up his wand, forming twisting lance of molten stone before sending it over their fortifications with a twist of his wrist. "They mean to see us all dead."

"But, but…" one of the knights was sputtering, eyes wide and horrified. "They can't!"

"You think Lord Voldemort was building us up quietly for no reason?" Avery sneered as he ducked as a chunk of stone exploded where his head had been a moment before. "We were supposed to train up so that we could eliminate potential threats like this before they knew we were there! Once we dealt with them the rest of the sheep would be-URK!"

A silver wire looped around Avery's throat from the other side of the wall before swiftly and brutally pulling him up and over it and out of the security of their fortifications.

Snarling, one of the knights popped up on the fortifications, throwing the sickly green of the killing curse towards their attackers, only for it to explode upon the physical fortifications their attacks had erected.

"We need to get out of here!"

"And how exactly do you expect us to do that? They grabbed the only one who could potentially restore the ward!"

"We could blast through the walls?"

An explosive spell was thrown out, causing the decorations on the wall to suddenly fly back at them as the wall stood there, unblemished.

"Walls are all charmed unbreakable."

"Then why don't we fucking vanish them like those bastards did?"

There was a pause and immediately they raised their wands to do just that.

Unfortunately no one bothered to take the time to coordinate exactly where they were going to vanish, and a moment later all of the walls in the vicinity around them vanished. As the ceiling above them creaked dangerously, they realized something else. The walls might have been charmed unbreakable, but the ceilings and floors were not.

"MOVE!"

The knights heard a few shouts of alarm and a number of screams of pain behind them as the floor above them collapsed down onto the room. Roughly half of them managed to make it into the next room that still had solid walls supporting the second story. Behind them, their less fortunate compatriots were buried under the broken remains of the fallen section of house.

"Let's get out of here!"

Sharp lances of metal rocketed after them as shouts could be heard from the collapsed area.

"Move! Those bastards are right behind us!"

A flash of a dark colored spell and a cry of pain before one of the surviving knights crowed happily, "Ha! Got one!"

A moment later, an entirely different reaction could be heard. "Oh fuck!"

An enormous, churning ball of blue flame was suddenly bursting after them, turning everything it touched almost instantly into ash.

It consumed several of them in an instant as it turned the house into a sudden inferno. A few of them survived its path by diving out its way and by managing to put a wall between themselves and its final destination. That saved them from the resulting explosion of flame and force.

It did not mean they were safe, however. Flames were everywhere. The entire house had turned into a blazing inferno in an instant, with smoke quickly filling the air as things burned to ash and cinders.

One of them was desperate enough to try and again apparate out. The splatter of his remains convinced the others to try something else. Only, a moment later, the heavy clouds of smoke already filling the air turned into a thick, oily mess that coated their bodies in a sticky black tar like substance.

They barely had time to raise their wants to try and dispel it when suddenly the smoke began to burn. Flames exploded through the air once more. This time, however, there was nowhere left for them to escape.

-o-o-o-

"FUCK!" Charlus almost screamed out the word as he glared around at the men, his eyes burning with anger. "What the bloody fuck was that complete and utter shite!?"

"We thought…" one of the men started to say before looking at the dead body of their comrade, their friend, James Stibbens and then going silent.

"We were doing this because we knew how to handle ourselves, to act like soldiers, not a bunch of cocky little shites out to treat all this like a duel! We were here to make a statement! How the hell did that spell get through?"

"We moved too fast," Martellus stated simply with a frown. "We got too eager. We thought we had them on the run and we forgot to be careful."

"That's not going to be any comfort to his wife and kids, will it?" Charlus growled out, before slumping down and glaring at the burning house. "Make sure that none of those bloody rats get out of this sinking ship. Damned if we let them get out when they got one of our own."

"Yes sir, we're already running the sweeps now," one of the men stated quickly. "None of the bastards have gotten out. The inverter ward saw to that."

"Get Stibbens out of here," Charlus stated with a growl before looking at the burning manor. "The rest of us will make sure that the rest of this place burns."

Grim faced beneath their masks, the men nodded their heads and went to work.

-o-o-o-

"Where is Avery?" Voldemort demanded in a cold, sibilant voice.

"You… haven't heard, milord?" one of the wizards asked, looking suddenly very fearful. "It… We thought you had."

"He was supposed to be meeting with several…" Voldemort stated before trailing off as he narrowed his eyes towards the wizard, who had flinched back at his statement. "You know something."

"He… his manor was burned to the ground, milord," the man stated slowly as he flinched back from the furious gaze he was affixed with. "It… seems he and his guests did not escape alive."

"How exactly does a wizard, a knight of Walpurgis in fact, fail to escape something as simple as a fire of all things?" Voldemort demanded with a glare. "Let alone a group of them!"

"Avery… Avery didn't burn. He was killed before that," the wizard explained as he flinched back from the terrifying man in front of him. "We found him, with his neck half cut through, half of his guests were buried under what we think was the floor above them. The ones that ran… they were the ones that were burned."

"Who?" Voldemort asked with a hissing release of angry breath. "Who did they kill, and how did the Storm Chaser find them?"

"Milord, I don't think it was the Storm Chaser this time." another wizard spoke up quickly. "He was at Hogwarts the entire time, preparing for the coming term. He never left. I discretely checked with Slughorn when we heard about this."

"Then tell me, exactly what is it that killed even more of my knights?" Voldemort demanded with an angry hiss of breath. "Who else dared?"

"… Maybe the Blacks?" someone asked warily.

"No," a single voice said against that. "Those fools are too blind and cowardly to have done something like this. Too blind, cowardly and weak."

The last word was said with an angry hiss that bordered on outright hatred.

"Well, that's something coming from a Black," another wizard muttered as he glared sourly at the defiant figure of Walburga as she glared at the offending man.

"Unfortunately those worthless wretches are so blind and cowardly that they cast me out," she responded with a sneer at the wizard before turning back to Voldemort. "Because I would not cast you aside and believe their lies about you, my lord."

"Ah, but you had faith, hmm?" Voldemort asked with a smooth cool voice. "Despite whatever foolish lies they told you, hmm?"

"Yes, milord," she agreed, bowing her head quietly to him before looking up at him with eyes that burned with no small amount of madness. "I wouldn't stop, I wouldn't be silenced, and I wouldn't be cowed. So they showed their true colors and banished me from the family because they couldn't handle someone who wouldn't believe their lies."

"Of course, casting out such a loyal and devoted witch, only the corrupted and foolish would do that," Voldemort agreed with a commiserating sneer.

"It was even worse than that, milord," Walburga stated with a seething hiss of breath. "They're bringing a mudblood into the House of Black."

Voldemort's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing into slits. "Madness! And they still dare to call themselves an Ancient and Noble family?"

"Yes, milord, they do. They have disgraced themselves, utterly and completely," Walburga stated with a hiss. "They openly speak against the righteousness of your cause. They doubt your power, your skill. They make base and slanderous accusations against you and expected me to believe their lies!

"But I did not!" she declared, her eyes practically burning on her face. "I would not be fooled! I would not be swayed! I could see the truth! They are the lost ones! They are the fools! They are destroying the House of Black, and I will see it burn before I let that happen!"

For a moment Voldemort said nothing, letting the silence hang in the air, and a cold, ruthless smile curled over his lips. "Yes, my dear, we will."

He looked at his assembled followers. "I will see to it personally. We will make them regret, we will make them pay."

He let those words hang in the air before hissing out one more statement. "We will see them burn."