Tenebrae Et Lux Chapter 15. (Patreon)

Content Warnings: Teasing.

“So, you want to use Harry as a wand?”

“Something like that, yes,” Harry said in response to Hermione’s question. He flopped on the couch in their Common Room and gently pulled Wednesday’s head onto his lap.

She batted his hands away but didn’t try to get up once she was on his lap. She simply closed her eyes and tried to find her core as the seers had instructed her to do. It had been three days since she had met them and she was still trying to recover from the ordeal. The combination of the curse on her dagger and the magic of the room had sapped all her energy and it was only Harry’s constant and loving attention that had ensured a quick recovery.

Her hand went unbidden to the gray streak in her hair as her thoughts wandered over to her boyfriend. She wondered what he thought about it. She could still feel his emotions and while a small, secret part of her appreciated it; the constant concern was starting to get annoying.

It seemed like he had forgotten that being her boyfriend involved more than just taking care of her. He treated her like she was made of glass. She needed to change that.

He hasn’t even kept up with our nightly spankings, she thought with a grimace.

She opened her eyes to see Enid’s inquisitive gaze on her. She shook her head in response to her best friend’s raised eyebrows and smiled when the werewolf nodded in understanding.

“Being a Seer is like practicing a different kind of magic. All magic needs the user to be focused but my powers require me to pour every single bit of my attention into it. A single stray thought is enough to break the connection I need to form with my core,” Wednesday explained.

Her talk with the Seers had given her direction and now that she knew what to look for, the Hogwarts library had filled the gaps in her knowledge.

“That’s why the Seers sit in that empty, frigid room.”

Hermione and Enid nodded in understanding.

“It’s also why everyone thinks Professor Trewlawney is a fake seer even though she isn’t,” Harry said. “She has the power and every once in a while when her mind is clear enough she can see into the future. Her powers usually don’t work because she’s so-”

“Eccentric and unorganized?” Enid piped up.

“Sure, that’s one way to put it,” Harry said with a shrug.

“It’s also why my powers have historically only worked when I was holding some object. All my attention was focused on the object and my powers showed me glimpses of events related to that thing. It never lasted for too long because my focus was inevitably diverted by something and thus my connection with my core was broken.”

Hermione was on the edge of her armchair, listening to Wednesday intently. She had always thought Divination was hokey, even after learning about the prophecy that had bound Harry and Voldemort’s fates together. But now that she understood how it worked her respect for it as a branch of magic shot up considerably.

“Why Harry? It seems so random that Harry is the conduit you need to access your powers fully.”

“Have you ever heard of the term, ‘fucked into a coma’, Hermione?” Wednesday asked with a smirk.

Hermione abandoned the rest of the questions immediately. She blushed and scooted back into her sofa, shutting her mouth with an audible snap.

“I understand,” she mumbled, her cheeks turning from pink to red when she realized that Harry’s hand was buried under Wednesday’s shirt.

“I don’t think you do. Let me explain,” Wednesday said with a delighted smile. The fact that the quiet bookworm was both incredibly kinky and extremely shy about it amused her to no end. She shifted slightly to allow Harry to slip his hand under her bra and continued, “The first reason why Harry is the best conduit for me is incredibly simple. We didn’t know it at the time, but the ritual we performed has bound me to him. Like a wand chooses who wields it, Harry chose me. Now, you can use someone else’s wand to cast magic but it will never be as good or feel as natural as using your own wand. The second reason-”

“I don’t think Mione needs to know the second reason,” Enid said with a giggle. She reached out and took Hermione’s hand, squeezing it sympathetically.

“I hope you aren’t as reluctant to talk about all this with Enid,” Harry said sternly. “Remember what I told you about communicating and being safe?”

“It’s different with Enid!” Hermione protested. “We are exploring together. I don’t like not knowing something,” Hermione mumbled.

Harry nodded in understanding. He knew Hermione liked to read up on and research everything she came across, to know the thing inside out. Unfortunately, much like Divination, that was impossible to do when it came to relationships. He wished he could give her the time to come to terms with that but they needed her help for what they had in mind.

“We need your help with something, Mione,” Harry explained with a small smile. “Wednesday’s explanation is just the tip of the iceberg and if you can’t listen to that…”

“I’m fine!” Hermione protested although her cheeks were still pink. She didn’t know why it affected her so much. She had watched her best friend take her girlfriend for Merlin’s sake! She took a deep breath and leaned back into the couch. “I’m fine,” she repeated, sounding calmer.

“The second reason is that when Harry and I are together my mind is completely clear. The world could be ending and my focus wouldn’t shift away from him,” Wednesday admitted bashfully. A hint of pink crept into her pale cheeks as well and she turned her head towards Harry to hide her blush. “And when he makes me climax…” Wednesday continued breathlessly. Her breath hitched as Harry’s fingers brushed against her rapidly stiffening nipple. The brown nub poked through her black lacy bra, begging for his attention. “I feel nothing but pure pleasure. My mind is empty of everything except for my connection with my core and with Harry.”

“Oh,” Hermione mumbled. Wednesday’s explanation was much more romantic and much less risqué than what she had expected. She glanced at Harry, her lips curving into a smile at the sight of him cradling Wednesday’s slender frame protectively. She was looking at true love but had a mild aversion to getting stabbed so she wisely kept her mouth shut.

“That’s why your powers work best when you’re…”

“Yep,” Harry confirmed, sparing Hermione the need to finish her thought.

“I get it now. But why do you need my help? Do you want me to also…” Hermione’s eyes widened.

“Oh, no,” Harry said, biting his lip to stop a smile. Out of the people in the room, the only person he hadn’t seen without clothes was Hermione. He didn’t know what she was so worried about.

“I think only Harry can act as a conduit, babe,” Enid added.

“Yes. But we do need you to make us a rune bed. Voldemort’s daughter is a seer too, or at the very least has similar powers,” Wednesday murmured. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned to look at Hermione seriously. “She detected me easily. If I’m going to go toe to toe with her I need the runes to supercharge my ability like last time.”

“Yes. Except this time we need the runes on cloth or wood, Hermione,” Harry said. “They can’t be on stone. We can’t use the floor. We need a bed because this is going to be an… extended session.”

The analytical part of Hermione’s brain kicked in and overrode her embarrassment. Finally, a problem she could focus her attention on.

“I can see three problems with your plan,” she said, her brow furrowed in thought. “One, the ritual won’t work in Hogwarts.”

“That’s why we’re going to do it in the Shrieking Shack,” Wednesday said, shivering with excitement. Out of all the places that Harry had shown her in Britain, that was her favorite. She wondered if she could convince him to make it their future house.

“Close enough to get help if needed and far enough to make sure Hogwarts’ wards don’t affect the ritual.”

“You’ll need someone to watch your back in that case,” Enid pointed out.

Harry stared at the couple seated opposite him with a smile.

“Oh. OH.” The blush returned to Hermione’s face when she realized who Harry had in mind.

“Don’t worry babe. I’ll keep you from spontaneously combusting. We will stand guard outside the door while these two-” Enid grinned and made a circle with the fingers of one hand, thrusting the index finger of her other hand through it a few times. “Besides, there’s always soundproofing charms.”

“We can’t.”

“We can’t stand guard or we can’t use soundproofing charms?” Enid asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We… Well, I have to be in the room. I could probably make the runes work but there’s a reason they’re usually transcribed on stone. They will be notoriously unstable and will need constant monitoring,” Hermione explained with red cheeks.

“I don’t have a problem with that. I’ll join you,” Enid said cheerfully.

Harry and Wednesday exchanged a glance and replied with identical grins, “We don’t have a problem with that either.”

“It’s settled then,” Enid said. “Are we doing it tonight?”

“Tomorrow,” Wednesday said tiredly. She suppressed a yawn and snuggled deeper into Harry’s side.

Blasted curse.

“Wait a minute,” Harry interjected with a frown. “Hermione, you said you foresee three problems. What’s the third one?”

“Well,” Hermione said, shifting uncomfortably. She did not want to offend her friend but it was something that needed to be said. “The last time you ran into her she overpowered and banished you. This was with the runes charging your abilities. Why would this time be any different?”

“I didn’t understand my abilities back then. I know them a lot better now. I’ll be in control the entire time, Hermione,” Wednesday said confidently.

“Plus, Wednesday is the most powerful seer on the island right now. The witches in the Ministry confirmed as much through their riddles,” Harry said proudly.

“They also said I was a tool and implied I was hopelessly undisciplined and sorely lacking in practice,” Wednesday pointed out without shame. She needed to work on mastering her powers and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

“Which is why I think we should wait.”

“We can’t, Harry,” Wednesday said, trying not to roll her eyes. They’d had the same conversation a million times already. “We need to find her before she starts recruiting her father’s old followers to her cause. You told me there are many that are still free. What about other creatures?” she challenged. “She has already used Inferi. Do you want her to find the island the Ministry is using to hold the dementors?”

Harry sighed and nodded. Wednesday had a point but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Plus, we have a trump card up our sleeve,” Wednesday said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. She had really wanted to hate Daphne but it was impossible to dislike the woman when she had given them such a gift. “The closer I am to my conduit, the stronger my powers.”

“I can’t see any way you can get closer than you plan to, Wednesday,” Enid pointed out with a frown.

“True. When you can’t improve the quality of something, improve its quantity,” Harry said, his cock stirring in his pants at the thought of what they were about to do. Wednesday felt it and playful wiggled against it, making him groan softly.

“That doesn’t always work,” Hermione pointed out.

“But it will work in this case.”

“How will you manage it? Stamina potions?”

“Both of us plan to take them but that’s not all. There will be two of me. That, combined with the runes should be more than enough to allow Wednesday to tap into the entirety of her powers, even with her inexperience in using them.”

“Now you’re the one talking in riddles,” Hermione said with narrowed eyes. “Two of you? How will you manage that? Are you going to ask someone to use Polyjuice? That won’t work, you know? Polyjuice only changes a person’s external appearance. Everything else remains unchanged.”

“No, not Polyjuice. Besides, nobody gets to touch me other than the people in this room,” Wednesday said coldly.

“You see when we visited the Ministry, an old friend of mine who is now an Unspeakable…” Harry paused and looked down at Wednesday excitedly. He was glad to see his excitement mirrored in her eyes. “Well, she gave us a gift.”

                                                                                   ---

The wards around the house were impressive. The excitable house elf hadn’t been kidding, Teddy Lupin was quite possibly the most guarded baby in all of Magical Britain.

It took her all day, especially since she had to work from a distance and could not use brute force. It would not do to alert his guardians too soon. Not when she had such a delicious experience prepared for them.

So she stayed in the woods close to the cottage, her dark eyes narrowed in concentration as she peeled back the wards layer by layer. There were some close calls, too many if she was being honest but she was decently certain that nobody knew the house was without protection even after the final layer came down.

She added one final bit of magic to replace everything that she had torn down, then perched on the flat boulder she had been standing on the entire time. She could feel the ache in her bones, the drain on her body caused by tearing down the wards single-handedly. The spell she had cast was a complex bit of magic and had sapped her energy levels further.

It was still dusk. The sun was low on the horizon but had not yet set, and was casting an orange glow across the cloudless sky. It would be a moonless night, which suited her just fine.

She crossed her legs and closed her eyes, settling in a delicate balance between the real world and the dream one as she meditated. A part of her almost hoped to run into her hated nemesis again.

That cocky, arrogant brat. The girl who thought she could do whatever she wanted and suffer no consequences. Well, SHE was going to teach Wednesday Addams a lesson. She was going to rip away everything the girl loved, slowly, excruciatingly, and when she had nothing left, when the Addams brat was begging for death…

She smiled.

Plans for revenge could wait.

Wednesday Addams was not coming. Night had fallen and she felt rejuvenated enough for the task ahead. She sighed as she unfolded her limbs. She turned her head and gazed up at the dark purple sky. It was a cloudless and moonless night, exactly as had been predicted. This far from the city, the only source of light was the stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky.

She slowly padded through the forest, enjoying the satisfying CRUNCH of dry leaves underneath her feet as she crushed them with every step. A few insects were caught in her wake as well and they made the most interesting sounds as they were trapped between her boots and the ground, and squished without much effort.

Ah, the simple pleasures in life.

She did not have the time to enjoy them. Nobody had noticed the wards were down, nobody had come rushing to see if the cottage was being attacked or to set them up again. But it was only a matter of time before one of the house’s residents noticed something was wrong and called for aid.

She drew her cloak tightly around herself, the dark green camouflaging her as she exited the forest and crossed the grassy expanse between it and the brightly lit cottage in the distance. This was her moment, her way of letting the world know she was back and ready to take up her parents’ legacy.

No, she thought with a shake of her head. Her parents had failed. She would not.

She would create her own legacy, one that would outshine even her father’s deeds. His terror had died with him. When she was done… people would be afraid to speak of her for a thousand years.

She walked up the meandering dirt path that cut through the grassy backyard and led to the back door of the cottage. She pulled out her wand from the sleeve of her cloak and tapped the golden door handle. Without any wards to protect it, the lock was undone with a simple ALOHOMORA.

The door creaked open and she cringed. Had she cast her spell correctly? If she had not, all would be lost.

Too late to worry about that now.

She padded deeper into the house, glad that the woman who owned it had been foolish enough to cover the floor of every room with thick rugs. It just made her job easier. She could hear happy humming from the kitchen and she adjusted her direction, creeping into the kitchen unseen and unheard.

Her aunt was fast, she had to give her that. Andromeda Black got over her shock within seconds and was on her feet before she had even turned to look at her.

She smiled. Looking at her aunt was like looking in the mirror, if the mirror was magically charmed to age anyone who stood in front of it. She had the same dark eyes and thick lashes, the same blood-red pouty lips, not to mention the same long, curly dark tumbling over one shoulder and ending just below the swell of her bosom. The only things that were different were the barely noticeable wrinkles around her eyes, the minor blemishes that were the curse of aging, and the look of fury and concern in her dark eyes.

Hers meanwhile, were openly mocking the woman and the house elf by the stove.

Andromeda was fast, yes, but she was faster. With a lazy flick of her wrist, she banished the wand on the table before Andromeda could reach out and grab it. It slammed against the wall and cracked into two pieces with a sickening crunch.

“Is this how you treat family?” she asked in a mocking lilt. She didn’t pull her hood down. She didn’t have to. If her eyes and face hadn’t given away her identity, her voice certainly would.

“You will not harm mistress!” Winky squeaked, balling her hands into small fists.

“Winky, go.”

“Mistress!”

“Winky! Go. Now,” Andromeda growled, her voice trembling with rage.

“Yes,” she said in a mocking tone, her dark eyes sparkling with amusement. “Go, Winky. Go to the little prince. We can’t have him in danger, can we? Not a single hair on his precious little head should be harmed.”

Andromeda narrowed her eyes.

“What’s your angle?”

“Would you believe me if I told you?” she asked, carelessly twirling her wand between her fingers.

Andromeda glanced at Winky and with a snap of her fingers, the house elf was gone, disappearing from the kitchen with a loud CRACK.

She made no move to try and stop the elf, something that made Andromeda frown.

“You are here for me,” Andromeda guessed.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” she asked with a venomous smile. “I don’t know a lot about my mother but I’ve been reading about my rightful inheritance. Is it not a tradition in the Black family to prune the diseased branches?”

“My aunt usually settled for blasting our faces off the family tree.”

Her smile grew.

“I am not her. I plan to take our family in a new direction.”

“It’s not your family. Harry’s the Head, girl.”

“For how long? I nearly killed him once. He’s only alive because I am not done with him,” she boasted.

Andromeda chuckled.

“You know, you look exactly like her. But you’re nothing like her. At first, I presumed your father was Rodolphus but no… I see it now, clear as day. Every single flaw of his is in you and you can’t even see it,” Andromeda said derisively. “The arrogance… that hubris… that will be your undoing. And the Head of the Black family will cut off the diseased branches, but it won’t be you doing the cutting.”

She knew her aunt was rambling to buy time for the elf to escape with her grandson. A noble and impressive, but ultimately futile effort.

Still, she couldn’t suppress the flash of anger at the woman’s words. Who was she to insult her father?!

Nothing. Nothing!

A blood traitor who had humiliated her noble family by running off with a Muggleborn.

A slight flick of her wrist sent her aunt flying backward until she slammed into the wall behind her and landed on the carpeted floor with a THUD.

She walked up to the struggling woman and knelt in front of her. She reached out and carefully tucked a strand of hair behind her aunt’s ear and smiled.

“I am the true heir to our family’s legacy. And when I take up my rightful place, I shall make sure you see the right path. There might be a use for you yet.”

“Family legacy?” Andromeda laughed and spat out a glob of blood. “Our family legacy is dead, girl. Harry will revive a version of it, but the Black family you read about will never be around again.”

“You underestimate me, aunt. I am perfection in the flesh. I am the most powerful witch to be born in millennia. The blood of two great families flows in my veins. Grimmauld Place is my birthright. Hogwarts is my birthright. Everything on this island is my birthright!”

“Even your father would have been impressed by how delusional you are. But then, maybe not. He wasn’t exactly self-aware. Like father, like daughter, I guess,” Andromeda said as she spat at her.

She growled and slapped her aunt with the back of her hand so hard that her head turned to the other side.

“The man you insulted took your husband, your son-in-law… your daughter from you,” she said with a mocking smile once she had calmed down. “You’re all alone now, Andromeda. All alone except for a baby who will never know his parents and a stupid house elf who led me to your doorstep.”

Andromeda finally lost her composure.

She lashed out at her with a pained yell but her charm kept her in place. Her aunt struggled futilely against the charm keeping her arms pinned against the wall while looking up at her with eyes full of loathing and disgust.

“Good,” she hissed, slipping into Parseltongue for a brief second. “Let the hate flow through you. It won’t do you any good but it’s nice to see you’re a Black after all.”

Andromeda slumped against the wall after a few seconds of struggling, defeated.

“Do it then,” Andromeda muttered, accepting her fate. Her grandson was safe. That was all that mattered.

“You think I’m going to kill you?” she asked with a chuckle. “Did you not hear me? I just told you I might have use of you yet. You should pay more attention when the Head of your House is speaking, aunt.”

“Enough with the games,” Andromeda said tiredly. “Why are you here?”

She reached out and grabbed Andromeda’s cheeks with her hand, forcing the older woman to look up at her.

“I…” she paused and grinned as a tingle ran down her spine. Her spell had worked. Everything was going according to plan. “I want you to deliver a message.”

                                                                          ---

Winky looked around at the darkness engulfing her surroundings. She was not in Hogwarts. Had she made a mistake in her attempt to escape with young master Teddy?

“Where ams I?” she mumbled, carefully cradling the sleeping baby in her arms.

She clicked her fingers again but nothing happened. She and Teddy were trapped…

Notes:

You know how when you're in a new place and you don't know anything you sort of lose your mojo? I feel like this chapter gave me a lot of it back! This was so exciting to write, especially since I haven't written anything from a villain's perspective before. I wanted to make Delphini a character who is scary, competent and a villain who Harry and Wednesday will have to take seriously. I hope I have succeeded in that so far! I know there are quite a few cliffhangers in this chapter, sorry for that. Anyone excited for the next chapter?