IngloriousMe
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Behind the Scenes [Chapter 27]
🕑 Added 2022-04-20 12:45:48 +0000 UTCClifford Bones was twirling a glass of whiskey in his hand… Clifford stared outside the window, it was almost sunrise and he had been drinking since last night. Clifford Bones was not happy, after all, he did not have any reason to be happy. Everything he had worked on for years had been ruined in a matter of a single fucking day. He had worked so hard to squash the dark side of the Family, but he still failed.
He destroyed his own Family in an attempt to bury the dark past of the Family. Now, how was he even supposed to show his face to them? Clifford clenched his fist in anger! 'What have I done to deserve this fate?!!' He raged inside his mind, but he didn't receive any answer, not that he expected to in the first place. Clifford chugged down the whole glass and then he threw the empty glass toward the wall in front of him.
He released a defeated sigh… There was not much he could do right now. If only they weren't so squeamish about the methods then he would have dealt with his brother and his family long ago. Now, he was going to be blamed for something which wasn't his fault in the first place. He wondered if they are going to withdraw their support and cut their losses… After a few moments, Clifford simply shook his head and chuckled softly.
'No, they won't do that, but I am going to lose a lot of face in front of the other members' Clifford concluded while looking down at his own hands. It was a hard pill to swallow for him, but there was not much he could do. He will face the consequences like a man… He might have lost this fight against the darkness, but he was sure that in the end, they were going to win over the darkness.
Light is always going to win over the Dark…
Enough of that… Clifford knew that he could no longer sulk around. He needed to inform the others about their defeat… No, his defeat. They have helped him as much as they could, but he was simply unable to squash their rebellious nature, and to be honest, he never expected his brother to throw off his pride and take a new name… That was a mistake, he should have expected all the possibilities.
Clifford slowly got up from his seat and made his way toward his personal bookshelf. He still remembered the time when he had poisoned his father, but once again he clenched his fists in anger. He didn't expect that damned mother and brother were going to smuggle their Family books out of the Family library before he could take the headship of the family.
By the time, he and the others realized what was happening they were already too late. All of the Dark knowledge was already out of their reach. It wasn't like that he wanted all that knowledge for himself, they simply wanted to destroy all that knowledge, because the knowledge was way too dangerous for the world. If they really wanted to create a better world for the normals, then they needed to destroy all that knowledge.
Yes, Normals… Muggles is a derogatory term and he wasn't even going to start with that M-word. They preferred to refer to Muggles as Normals. The Normals needed to be protected from the monster like his brother and his family and for that if he needed to destroy his family, then so be it. Murdering his father was a necessity for them to achieve a better world, Lord Bones needed to stand on the side of the Light side for that to happen, his father needed to go.
He cried himself to sleep after he had done the deed, but he knew that it was a necessary sacrifice. The death of his mother was completely unnecessary, but it wasn't unwelcome. He was quite shaken by her death and even if he didn't want her to die, he couldn't say that it was unnecessary. His mother was a supporter of Dark and one less supporter of Dark meant that the Normals were safer than before. He only came out of his depression because they had helped him get through the whole ordeal.
What he did hate was that his brother still denied accepting his offer. He could have allowed them to live happily without any problems, but his brother had to walk down the dark path. So, he used his influence in the Ministry as Lord Bones, to push forwards a law. Obviously, they helped him with his venture since everyone thought that it was a good move against the Dark. Then he used that law to prevent his brother from regaining their economical status.
His plan worked perfectly, but his sister-in-law was already pregnant. Sometime later, Imogen Bones was born and after a few years, he realized that his niece was also a supporter of Dark, so he decided to stop her from getting a stable job in the Ministry. He also stopped the Dark Witch from finding a Match, which was a good thing. Any progeny born from a Dark Witch like that was going to be equally Dark.
Clifford didn't know much about his Family Magicks and he was glad that he didn't know anything about that. The only thing he needed to know was that his Family was Dark… At least, that is what they have told them and he believed them wholeheartedly. They are the ones who showed him the Light and he was everything because of them. If they never came to save him, then he would have been a Normal murdering monster just like any other supporters of Dark…
Clifford pulled out a book from the bookshelf. He opened the book and shuffled through the pages… until he stopped on a particular page. The page didn't have anything special, except for the fact that it had an empty picture frame in the middle. He tapped the picture frame with his Wand and the frame started to blink with a golden glow.
Clifford returned to his desk and placed the book on the table… The picture frame continued to glow for several minutes until the glow finally stopped. A figure shrouded in light appeared inside the picture frame. Well, the figure wasn't technically shrouded in light, but in fact, the background of the figure was so bright, that you could barely see the outline of the figure, but still, that was no way enough to deduce the identity of the figure.
"Cliff, what the hell?! Why did you call me in this ungodly hour?" The figure inside the picture frame questioned in a sleepy tone and from the voice, it was clear that it was a man…
"My friend, I am afraid that I have some bad news" Clifford said sullenly while shaking his head. The figure inside the frame perked up as soon as he heard Clifford's words.
"Tell me what happened?" The figure questioned with a hint of urgency.
"My brother's children had decided to establish a new Family and they have also aligned themselves with the House of Black" Clifford answered while looking at his hands. He didn't have the courage to look at the figure inside the picture frame.
For a few moments, the figure didn't say anything and each passing second felt like an hour for Clifford. "That is obviously a piece of the bad news" The figure said slowly. "Clifford, tell me everything you know, and don't leave anything…" The figure added with a hint of worry in his voice… So, without wasting any more time, Clifford started to tell the figure everything he knew regarding the whole ordeal…
<Line Break>
A man was sitting under the shade of a tree with a serene look on his face. He just received the whole story behind the establishment of the Bone Family from Clifford Bones. Not only that, the Bone Family was allied with the House of Black, making them practically untouchable. He knew about the secret of the Bones Family, but he never mentioned it to Clifford because it was completely unnecessary.
He liked how impressionable young minds were and it was a good thing that he had approached Clifford Bones when he was young or else his innocence would have been corrupted and destroyed by the true nature of his Family. The man felt glad that he was able to save a young child from walking down the path of Darkness and now, Clifford was a valuable ally of the forces of Light.
Even though Clifford Bones had failed his task, he knew that it wasn't Clifford's fault. Some things were bound to happen no matter how much you try to prevent them. The man snorted as he shook his head in disappointment. The allure of Dark Arts was pretty strong and he could understand why everyone fell into the trap, but that didn't mean that he would have to like it.
After a few moments, a Witch appeared with a soft crack and sat down beside the man. "I heard what happened. Please tell me you stopped Cliff from kicking out Claiborne and Dorothy from the Family?" The Witch requested with a pleading look on her face and the man simply chuckled.
"I may not be as smart as you, but I know that it would have done us more harm than good…" the man shook his head. "Claiborne is probably waiting for that" the man chuckled in amusement.
The Witch released a relieved sigh. "That is good… So, she had started to make a move. I think she is already in the country or do you think it was just the Blacks?" The Witch asked curiously and the man nodded his head with a grim look on his face.
"She is in the country, I am sure of that" the man confirmed with a serious look on his face.
The Witch simply blinked in confusion. "I am going to believe you on that… Then why do you think we haven't received any reports? She is probably the easiest person to notice…" The Witch pointed out and the man simply shook his head.
"We might have set up a spy network, but it isn't absolute… she might have slipped through the cracks, we already know that she is extremely good with disguises" the man reminded the Witch in a serious tone. The Witch could grimly nod her head.
"So, the House of Black has already allied themselves with that woman… I don't know why, but I am not surprised" the Witch drawled in a sarcastic tone. "We need a spy in that Family" The Witch added and the man simply grimaced.
"Our best chance is going to Cedrella Black" The man released a sigh. It wasn't going to be easy, but thankfully Cedrella wasn't like the rest of her Family members. The Blacks might be Evil Bigots, but they were extremely dangerous and quite resourceful. If they could recruit Cedrella for their cause then it will be a masterstroke on their part.
"So, what do you think we should do?" The Witch asked and the man rubbed his temples.
"Do you think we should meet with Dumbledore? He will be a good ally" the man muttered in a hopeful tone and the Witch smacked him on the shoulder with a furious look on her face.
"What good will that do? It is not like we can reveal anything and he wouldn't be eager to join our cause without information and right now, information is the most important thing" The Witch scolded the man, who looked sheepish after the words finally sunk in.
"First, let's concentrate on Gellert Grindelwald. We need to stop the ICW from passing the extradition order. Right now, he is nicely tucked away under the tender care of Seraphina Picqeury" The Witch sighed.
"Fine… but we need to do something to stop her cause from gaining any momentum. We need to make a move…" The man clenched his teeth.
"Hah… I agree with you. Do you think we could send a letter to the Daily Prophet regarding the secret of the Bones? They wouldn't miss the chance of printing such sensational news" The Witch suggested and the man simply shook his head in denial.
"No! That wouldn't work… they would never print an accusation like that. Accusing someone of practising Black Magic shouldn't be taken that lightly and even if the article is printed, the House of Black would make their move and the consequences will be quite ugly…" The man revealed in a defeated tone. The politics in the Wizarding World is such a mess… They would need to bring democracy to the Wizarding World after they won over the Dark.
"So, what should we do now?" The Witch asked and the man simply smiled.
"For now, let's call the others and arrange a meeting. We need more allies if we are really going against her. We know that she isn't a slouch and it might take all of us to bring her down" The man said with a look of determination marring his face.
"You are right, we do need more information" The Witch agreed and she bit her lip with a thoughtful look on her face. After a few seconds, an idea finally clicked inside her mind. "I think we need to spring a trap on her…" The Witch suggested as she rubbed her chin.
The man gave the Witch a bewildered look. "Why?" The man sputtered out with an incredulous look on his face.
The Witch huffed in irritation. "Right now, we don't know how strong she is, if we are being generous, I say she has a Solid Core, you know that we won't be able to stand up against her if she reaches the Crystalline Core state" The Witch explained and realization finally dawned on the man's face.
"You are right. But if we do follow through with your plan, then we would end up revealing our existence to her…" The man trailed off with an unsure look on his face. He wasn't scared or anything, but their enemy wasn't someone simple.
"That is why we aren't going to be the one to attack her… For now, we should stick to gathering allies. Maybe we should recruit a couple of Aurors" The Witch mused and the man simply shook his head. Sometimes, she forgot what she was talking about before going off a tangent.
"Good. Then I am calling everyone…" the flicked his Wand and muttered the incantation of the Patronus Charm. Moments later, a silver corporeal creature sprung out of the tip of his Wand and disappeared into the horizon.
"...Hmm… I think I know a couple of people who might join our cause…" The Witch trailed off with an excited smile on her face, earning a similar type of reaction from the man. After a few seconds, both of them Disapparated with a soft crack…
<Line Break>
It has almost been a week since the establishment of the Bone Family. Even though the Bone Family shouldn't be considered a Pureblood Family by the standards of the Pureblood doctrine, nobody dared to mention it in the open. After all, it wasn't too hard to discover that the Bone Family was being supported by the House of Black, and no matter what, they would never go against the House of Black. The Blacks had a reputation and their reputation was not a joke.
Claiborne and Dorothy weren't kicked out of the Bones Family by Lord Bones. The current Lord Bones tried to use his authority as the Head of the Family to gain control over the two of them… but Claiborne and Dorothy simply gave the man a middle finger and walked away. Legally, there was nothing Clifford could do to except for throwing them out of the Family and he also knew that Claiborne exactly wanted that. Clifford had pulled some strings and discovered that Claiborne and his Dark Witch of a daughter had joined the Department of Mysteries.
Once again, Clifford couldn't do anything else except for watching everything from the sidelines. He did try to cause trouble, but this time Claiborne and Dorothy weren't so helpless, so they didn't accept his shit lying down. Destiny was continuously getting reports and to be honest, she was simply amused by the childishness of this Clifford Bones, but she did wonder if he was doing all this on his own or not. She could understand that Lord Bones had a lot of influence, but seriously, the guy seemed to have too much power.
Throughout this week… Destiny had been busy with her training during the night and during the day, she had been spending her free time with Cassiopeia or Ambika. She was yet to tell Cassiopeia what she had been doing and where she was going. Maybe she will tell her sometime in the future. Destiny was using the rest of her time researching the last two Magical states…
Neither of those states had any names, the people who had reached those states previously were simply unimaginative, and during the old times, reaching these states was pretty common. So the people in the past never bothered giving them a name. Morgana and Merlin were the last ones who had researched these states in the last millennia and even they were unable to reach the highest state. They reached the second-highest state when they were past their prime, but their power was still impressive.
Destiny finally understood why both Morgana and Merlin were so famous… They could create miracles and they could destroy a small town with a single Spell if they wished. They were considered Gods among mortals by the other Witches and Wizards of that time, but Merlin and Morgana knew better. They knew that they still hadn't reached the pinnacle and according to the research they have failed to reach the state before their death. Well… Destiny had no idea if the book was credible or not, since it wasn't either Morgana's or Merlin's personal diary.
The book was written by Salvadore Black. She had taken the book from the Library of Blacks, She had her own books too, which were given to her by Gellert, but she had to admit that her book wasn't so detailed. Destiny did have another source too, The Ancient Tome, but Destiny wanted to cover all of her bases since she was in no hurry. For now, she had stopped studying Blood Magic from the library of the Unspeakables. Blood Magic was easy quite easy for her no matter how hard the Spell was supposed to be, so she simply decided to put it on a small pause.
So, the second-highest state was where you imbued your Magic into your bones. So, including your Magical Core, your Magical will be stored inside your bones and at the same time, the Magic will be able to freely move through the Bones. Reaching that state would make Wandless Magic much easier for anyone, but the problem was that you can't reach that state easily. If it could be reached so easily then everyone would have been reaching that state left and right… For now, Destiny decided to call it Magic Frame. Bones were the frame of a body, hence the name Magic Frame.
The highest state was where you imbue Magic into all of your veins and muscle mass. It might sound kind of simple but even Merlin and Morgana failed to reach that state and both of them were geniuses when it came to Magic. The highest state was way beyond her in the current state of her body and Magic, so she decided to research more after reaching the Magic Frame state. Destiny decided to name the highest state as Magic Vessel.
Destiny sensed Sirius approaching the library and she guessed that he must have something to discuss or he wouldn't be approaching her. So, she closed the book and returned it to the shelf with a gesture of her hand. Right now, Destiny was in the Black Tower library and she had to admit the impressive collection of the books.
True, she couldn't touch most of the books because she didn't have the Black blood, but it was obviously going to change in the future… There was no way that Destiny would allow such a treasure trove to slip through her fingers. She was going to as much knowledge as she could even though she might never end up using it. She was also interested in the Bones Family Magicks and their Family books. Black Magic was something Destiny knew very little about, so her greed was kind of unsurprising.
Sirius arrived in front of the door and he slowly raised his hand to knock, but Destiny beat him to it… "Come in, Siris" Sirius heard Destiny's voice from the inside of the room. Sirius wondered how Destiny did that, but he simply shrugged it off. The girl was simply awe-inspiring and he had already seen so many forms of amazing Magic from her that he wouldn't be surprised anymore.
Some might say that acting looking up to someone in such a manner is below his station, but Sirius wouldn't care. Being a bigot was fine, he admitted that he was a bigot too, but he wasn't a mindless bigot. He knew how to acknowledge power and Destiny was powerful beyond simple measure. Albus Dumbledore was what most Purebloods still considered Half-breed. Sirius might have used that term too in regards to Dumbledore, but that didn't mean that he would challenge the man to a duel.
Sirius acknowledged the man's power and it was the same with Destiny. He respected her power and it was the same with Gellert Grindelwald. From how Destiny reacted, he knew that she wasn't worried over the fact that Gellert had been captured, which meant that either Destiny didn't care about the man or plans were already in the works. He wanted to become one of her most trusted aides… He had met with her Lieutenants and all of them had one thing in common. They were completely loyal to Destiny.
"Good afternoon, milady. How have you been?" Sirius asked politely and Destiny moved her hand to pull out a chair. Sirius knew what it meant, so he started to make his way toward the chair without wasting any time.
"I have been good, Sirius, Thanks for asking… So, how have you been?" Destiny asked and Sirius finally took the seat, which was on the opposite side of the desk.
"I have been fine, milady. I finally finished all the preparations. I have invited all the Families who might join our cause to a Ball I will be hosting in Black Tower in the honour of the establishment of the Bone Family" Sirius explained in a mild tone.
Destiny raised her brows. Sirius' idea was pretty good. Nobody was going to have any doubts regarding the true reason behind the invitation, but there was a small problem. "A Ball? I have never been to a Ball, Sirius" Destiny chided politely and Sirius simply coughed in his hand. He didn't expect that Destiny had never been to Balls.
Destiny knew that it was going to be a very important meeting. After all, she was going to make her first impression on the Lords of various prominent Pureblood Families. She would be at a disadvantage if she messed up during the Ball. Having a woman as a partner wasn't going to be a big deal, but she was worried about the tradition and culture. Additionally, she needed to wear robes… Destiny couldn't help but internally groan.
"Um… Milady, why don't you ask Cassiopeia for some help? She had been going to Balls since she turned five" Sirius suggested after a few moments of silence.
"Hmm… That is a good idea" Destiny hummed in satisfaction. She was already planning on that. "I will be arriving with Cassiopeia and Ambika. I don't think that would be a problem, right?" Destiny questioned with a smile on her face, but Sirius knew that it wasn't a question, it was a threat.
"Of course not, milady. Witches accompanying Witches is nothing new even though it happens very rarely… I wouldn't lie, some might look down on you, but none of them are going to say anything to your face" Sirius explained and Destiny inclined her head in acknowledgement.
"Tell me, Sirius, which Families might cause problems?" Destiny asked and Sirius tapped his chin with his hand with a thoughtful look on his face.
"I am sure that the Malfoys will try to create problems. Pardon my language, but they are a bunch of arrogant arses who think that they are above everyone when they are just a Noble House" Sirius said while shaking his head. "The Houses of Crabbe and Goyle would follow the lead of the Malfoys, but they are basically grunts for the House of Malfoy. So, they won't try anything until their master gives them the order" Sirius shook his head.
"...I see… If I am not wrong, Brutus Malfoy II is the current Lord Malfoy, right?" Destiny questioned slowly and after getting a nod from Sirius, Destiny decided to continue. "Do you think if I deal with the Malfoy with force, the other Families might become displeased?" Destiny added another question. She knew how the Pureblood society worked, but the tradition and culture were different in different regions. The problem was, that there were no books regarding the Pureblood culture in Magical Britain.
Sirius grinned after hearing Destiny's question. "No, in fact, if you use force to deal with someone then the ones who are planning to support you will have a favourable opinion of you, but of course, nothing like maiming or killing. That will have a negative impact" Sirius answered without missing a beat.
"Hmm… Are there any more Families that might cause problems?" Destiny leaned back in her chair and for a couple of seconds, Sirius didn't give her an answer.
"There are, but they will fall in line with a show of power since almost everyone knows what is good for them and what you are promising isn't that bad. Most Pureblood Families are afraid of Muggles even though they are never going to admit it… the only problem is that you are planning to integrate the Muggleborns and give them somewhat equal rights" Sirius answered while fiddling with his fingers. All of a sudden, an uncomfortable look appeared on Sirius' face.
"I think there is a chance that the Lestrange Family might turn out to be the most troublesome" Sirius added with an unsure look on his face, but Destiny still asked him to continue. "I have invited the whole Lestrange Family as I couldn't ask to exempt a lone member from the invitation. Leta Lestrange, she for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and she is the assistant of Torquil Travers and she is also the fiancé of Theseus Scamander" Sirius finished his explanation and Destiny couldn't help but frown.
"What are the chances of her attending the Ball?" Destiny asked with a scowl. She wasn't afraid of a measly Witch, but her secrecy was of utmost importance.
"Very unlikely. She doesn't get along with the rest of her Family, but I thought that it was something you might like to be aware of" Sirius answered with a nod of his head.
"Yes… I appreciate the head's up. I hate surprises when the Law Enforcement is involved. I don't mix very well with them" Destiny grinned and Sirius couldn't help but chuckle. "By the way, who is this Torquil Travers? He sounded pretty important" Destiny questioned curiously.
"Milady, he is the current Head of the DMLE" Sirius answered with a scowl on his face, and from his tone, he didn't seem to get along with the man.
"You don't seem to get along with the man?" Destiny couldn't help but ask.
"The man had a self-bloated ego. He thinks he owns the Ministry and he likes Power. He isn't the Lord of the Family, but he acts like it. He would do anything to hold onto his power, and he will act violently if anyone threatens his power" Sirius sniffed with disdain.
"...He must be quite charming then" Destiny commented dryly. "Sirius, tell me, who would take his place if he were to somehow disappear?" Destiny questioned in a cryptic manner.
Sirius blinked in confusion, he couldn't understand why Destiny asked that. "...Theseus Scamander" Sirius answered as soon as got over his initial shock. He wondered if Destiny was panning to get rid of Torquil Travers. That would be the most obvious reason why she would ask about his successor.
Technically, Sirius didn't have anything personal against the man, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be happy if the man kicked the bucket. In the beginning, he didn't have any problem with Torquil, but as the man slowly rose through the ranks, he started to throw around his authority and use his power to create problems for a lot of Pureblood Families. He had done it to the House of Black too, so it wasn't a surprise that he became an enemy of the House of Black.
The enemies of the House of Black always tended to disappear under mysterious circumstances. Those who were familiar with the reputation of the Blacks knew very well what happened to those people. Torquil Travers was still alive because he is a member of the Travers Family and the Travers Family is part of one of the Sacred Twenty Eight. If he disappeared mysteriously then the House of Travers won't accept it lying down. They would cause a lot of ruckus in the Wizengamot until the person responsible was caught or killed.
True, Destiny never admitted that she was going to get rid of the man, but the way she asked about his successor only hinted in that direction. Well, if Destiny was planning to kill the man, then Sirius would gleefully watch from the sidelines. He didn't care if Torquil was killed, he might be a part of the Sacred Twenty Eight, but so were the Weasleys and the Gaunts. Being a part of the Sacred Twenty Eight didn't mean that you were immune to retaliation.
"Hmm… I have heard about him" Destiny muttered with a contemplative look on her face while her eyes seemed to be slightly unfocused. Right now, her mind was working overtime, trying to come up with various scenarios and consequences of her actions.
From what she learned about the man from Sirius, Destiny figured out that Torquil was going to cause a lot of trouble in the future. People like him tend to retaliate violently when someone threatens their authority. What Destiny was going to do in the future was obviously going to threaten his power and authority. So, he will be willing to go to any lengths to get rid of Destiny and her forces to maintain his power base. Now, Destiny couldn't have that, which meant that the man needed to go…
Theseus Scamander was going to take the man's place if something happened to him, and Theseus Scamander was quite formidable in his own rights, but unlike Torquil, Theseus wasn't power-hungry. His morals were very high, so unlike Torquil, he was going to be reserved about his methods. So, having Theseus Scamander as the Head of the DMLE was much better than having Torquil in that position. Not only that, Sirius seemed to hate the man. So, could increase the loyalty of Lord Black by killing Torquil Travers.
Additionally, Destiny wanted a sacrifice to raise the hatred for Muggles in the mind of the Magical Population and who could be a better target than the Head of the DMLE? Additionally, it was like killing three birds with one stone. First of all, she would be getting rid of a future enemy. Secondly, Sirius seemed to hate the man, so if she got rid of him, then Sirius would at least be grateful to her. Thirdly, she would be instigating a massive uproar. If she succeeded in pinning the man's death on the Muggles, then she would be destroying most of the Pro-Muggle sentiments running amok within Magical Britain.
She would have preferred if someone less competent than Theseus was going to become the Head of the DMLE, but the pros were still greeter than the cons. At first, she was planning on using Lord Bones as the sacrifice for her cause, but she needed to wait for quite some time before she could make a move. If she made a move right now then the newly established House of Bone, or the parents of Bone children, or the House of Blacks were going to be suspected. Once again, Destiny didn't want to draw attention to herself or her allies so soon in the game.
Now, she had a much better target for the sacrifice. Torquil Travers was a member of the Travers Family, so if the man dies at the hands of the Muggles then the House of Travers might end up becoming one of her biggest supporters. Even if they didn't join her, they weren't going to raise even a finger to help the filthy Muggles when she would finally start putting them in their place. That could only happen as long as the truth didn't come out.
That is why Destiny refrained from revealing anything about her plans to Sirius, she wasn't naive enough to think that Sirius didn't suspect anything, but as long as she didn't confirm anything, he couldn't use that against her. Destiny internally sighed… Now, she needed to learn how to act in a Ball from Cassiopeia, and she also needed to plan how to kill Torquil Travers and frame the Muggles. It was going to be quite a long day.
That wasn't all, the week was finally over, and now she needed to keep her word to Cassiopeia. The green-eyed Witch had asked Destiny to cast the Fidelius Charm on her house for protection, and even though Destiny hadn't exactly made a promise, she still needed to follow through or what type of Lady she would be if she couldn't even keep her own word.
"Thanks for taking care of everything, Sirius. For now, I will be returning as I need to learn quite a few things for the Ball… After all, I can't embarrass you or myself" Destiny grinned in amusement as she slowly stood up from her seat. Sirius followed her example and stood up too.
"Think nothing of it, milady. It is my duty… I also need to make some preparations for the Ball. Then if you would please excuse me" Sirius bowed respectfully. Destiny waved her hand in acknowledgement and moments later, she Disapparated with a soft crack… Sirius had keyed her to the Wards, so she could move around without any problems…
<Line Break>
"You don't know anything about Balls?" Cassiopeia questioned as she looked up from her papers. She had already finished her Charms papers, but she was yet to receive an answer from the tutor she was hoping to learn from. Destiny had told her that she would teach her, but Destiny could only teach her Charms, she didn't have any idea how Charms were applied during Enchanting.
Right now, Cassiopeia was working on Runes… Destiny was hoping that she would start on Arithmancy, then she would have suggested Muggle books to her. Muggle mathematics was kind of the bigger brother of Arithmancy. So, if you learn Muggle Mathematics, then it would help you a lot in Arithmancy. Well… She could always help Cassiopeia with that when she started to work on Arithmancy.
"Yes" Destiny confirmed. "I also don't know how to dance" Destiny added with a straight face and Cassiopeia simply inclined her head with a smile.
"I would love to…" Cassiopeia smiled brightly. Destiny had been quite busy this week so she had been unable to spend her time with Destiny. So she would like to spend as much time as possible with the crimson-haired woman.
"Brilliant! By the way, would you like to go on a date, Cassi?" Destiny asked curiously and Cassiopeia immediately perked up after hearing the question. After placing the parchments inside the book, she slowly closed the book. Then she beamed at Destiny with a bright smile on her face.
"I thought you would never ask" Cassiopeia commented slyly. Destiny grinned and plopped down on Cassiopeia's lap without any warning. "Oomph" A grunt escaped from Cassiopeia's lips and she threw a dirty look at the girl sitting on her lap. "You are heavy" Cassiopeia deadpanned and Destiny giggled and pecked Cassiopeia on her lips.
"I will ignore the fact that you called me fat…" Destiny slowly snaked her hands around Cassiopeia's neck. Then she slowly leaned forward and licked Cassiopeia's ear, making her yelp cutely in surprise.
"Don't tease me" Cassiopeia whined, but she only received a grin as an answer.
"Fine… I will let you go now, but afterwards, I will do much more than teasing. You would like that, wouldn't you?" Destiny whispered into Cassiopeia's ear and her whole body shivered in excitement and anticipation. Destiny grinned at the effect she had on the green-eyed Witch and slowly slid off Cassiopeia's lap, but she didn't forget to peck Cassiopeia again on the lips.
Cassiopeia threw another dirty look at Destiny, but she couldn't help but smile at Destiny's antics. She had missed this quite a bit… She loved whenever Destiny took the lead, and to be honest, she didn't mind Destiny holding the reins in their relationship. She could guess that Ambika was also the same because from what she had seen of the white-haired woman, she seemed to be kind of submissive when it came to Destiny. Not that she could complain when she was also the same when it came to Destiny.
Cassiopeia patted her lap and slowly stood. Without giving a warning, Destiny wrapped her hand around Cassiopeia's waist and Disapparated with a soft crack, earning another cute and surprised yelp from Cassiopeia…
Moments later the two of them arrived in the Magical Alley of Edinburgh and Cassiopeia smacked Destiny on her shoulder. "I could have splinched myself!" Cassiopeia muttered in an annoyed tone and Destiny simply chuckled.
"I wouldn't have allowed that to happen. Do you know when people get splinched?" Destiny asked and Cassiopeia simply huffed.
"I also know how to Apparate, so I know why people get splinched" Cassiopeia pointed out and Destiny shook her head in denial.
"You can get splinched if you don't have a clear destination in your mind and you could also get splinched if you can't cover your whole body with Magic, but in case of side-along, you also need to cover the person accompanying you with your Magic. The process gets hard if the person you are Apparating with is an unwilling participant"
"Like I said it gets hard, but not impossible. Strong people like me would never have that problem… We simply need to think and our Magic helps along the way" Destiny explained and caressed Cassiopeia's cheek. Cassiopeia didn't know all of that regarding side-along Apparition. She knew that it was harder, but she never thought why. "By the way, we are here… Let's go and have some lunch in a nice restaurant, after that we are going shopping in the Muggle World" Destiny grinned and waved her hand.
Cassiopeia immediately started to sputter in protest. "Why Muggle World?" Cassiopeia was finally able to form some coherent words.
"Why not?" Destiny retorted back with a question of her own. Cassiopeia wanted to point out the obvious reasons for not going into the Muggle world, but Destiny didn't seem like she was going to budge from her decision. So, Cassiopeia finally decided to drop the matter, she knew that she couldn't change Destiny's mind when she had decided on something, and she wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was a bit interested in the Muggle world. She wanted to see how the Muggles have developed through the years with her own eyes.
Cassiopeia finally looked around and realized that they weren't in Diagon. "You brought me to Edinburgh?" Cassiopeia questioned and Destiny simply hummed in consent.
"The food was kind of average, the last time we ate out so I decided that I not going to ruin my date with average food and worse than average wine" Destiny griped, and Cassiopeia couldn't help but chuckle at Destiny's words and she couldn't help but agree with Destiny when it came to the food and wine of the Leaky Cauldron.
After that, Destiny quickly led Cassiopeia toward one of the biggest restaurants in Edinburgh. After having a delicious and filling meal, Destiny led Cassiopeia to the Muggle World. The green-eyed Witch was awed by how much the Muggles had developed. She had no idea what cars were, so Destiny Imperiused a Muggle so that they could have a small trip in the car. Finally, Destiny took Cassiopeia shopping. The green-eyed Witch was quite taken aback by the variety of clothes Muggles had for females.
After browsing for more than a couple of hours, both Destiny and Cassiopeia found themselves standing inside the underwear shopping section. "Muggle women really wear these?" Cassiopeia asked in a hushed tone while pointing towards one of the risque pairs of underwear on a mannequin. She couldn't help but feel scandalized…
"Yep… I wear something similar too… It is much more comfortable, I thought you would remember…" Destiny trailed off with a meaningful look on her face and now that Destiny mentioned it, Cassiopeia remembered that Destiny wore something similar under her bodysuit. At the time, she was much busy staring at what was hidden behind those flimsy pieces of clothing, it wasn't Cassiopeia's fault that Destiny was so… hot!!
"Why don't you buy yourself a pair and then we can compare who is naughtier among the two of us… How about the winner gets to take off those flimsy pieces of fabric from the loser, hm?" Destiny whispered into Cassiopeia's words, Cassiopeia couldn't help but shiver. Destiny's sinful words had already won over Cassiopeia, and the green-eyed Witch didn't need any more urging.
'It is not like either of us is losing…' Cassiopeia thought excitedly as she started to look for the most risque pieces of underwear…
