Accidents of Circumstance

Chapter 14: Fidelus

Harry had the Marauder's Map open on his lap. There had been stories that Snape had actually left his Potions class under another Professor's tutelage since he had to lead Regina back to the castle from the Forbidden Forest. Of course some stories turned it into a lover's tryst in some forest clearing; those stories had spread the fastest.

Regina had been in Dumbledore's office for two hours, something that worried Harry. He thought back to what she had told him once, that she wasn't prone to tears, and that once she did cry, it was usually a mess. Maybe Dumbledore was fixing it?

Ron looked over Harry's shoulder. "What's she doing in there?"

Harry looked up at Ron in surprise. "I thought you were still in the common room with Hermione."

Ron looked sheepish. "She said I was too distracting. Kept snogging too much."

Harry laughed, and looked at the map. "I don't know, but...." Harry watched as the dot labeled Regina Vial began to move. "Oh, she's leaving the office."

Regina was in her room for fifteen minutes, then moved quickly away, toward the outer portion of the castle. The boys looked at each other, then at Harry's cloak. "Let's get Hermione," Ron said. "This is important enough."

She agreed with them, and squeezed under the Invisibility cloak. They hurried after Regina, and stopped short of actually leaving the castle. Regina was up ahead, hair loose and in a black dress. She moved with long strides toward the Forbidden Forest, holding something in her hands they couldn't see. She placed the cauldron down on the ground, then spun in a circle. The dirt kicked itself up at odd intervals.

"Let's go," Hermione said suddenly. "She's doing a spell."

They ran outside, making sure to keep their distance from Regina. The symbols on the ground were completely foreign, not Neo-Pictish. Regina was chanting in that strange guttural tongue, the cauldron bubbling with no heat added to it. The fluid began to glow, casting odd shadows over her face. She took an enameled knife from her waist and lifted her left arm as she chanted. The sleeve fell away from her forearm, and she brought the blade against it. Her eyes were kept in front of her, on the bubbling cauldron. When the glow turned red, she slashed her forearm lengthwise, from elbow to wrist, and quickly moved her arm over the cauldron. Her chanting changed in intensity.

Hermione had choked back a gasp of surprise, and Ron held her tightly, pressing a kiss to her temple. "She'll be all right," he whispered. He hoped she would be, anyway. The gash looked deep, and the blood was running thickly into the cauldron. The bubbling slowed, then stopped, though it still glowed.

Harry eyed the ceremonial knife carefully. There was a single Neo-Pictish rune on the hilt, one he was pretty sure meant "soul," though he couldn't be sure of why it was important.

Regina circled the cauldron so that now she was facing the castle. Her left arm no longer bled, and she moved the knife into her left hand.

Regina slashed her right forearm, elbow to wrist, just as deeply as the left. The cauldron was now overflowing as she chanted, and it began to spread out over the grass within the marked circle. Regina didn't bother to move, and the bloody fluid washed over her bare feet. She dropped the knife blade first into the ground in front of her, then bent over with her back flat. She was facing the ground now, arms spread wide. She was continuing her steady chant as the fluid crept up her ankles and beneath the folds of the black dress. It seemed to take dirt, stones and grass with it, since the edges of the circle were scoured clean. The fluid congealed slightly at the edges, but it was moving in, covering Regina's body as she chanted.

The three students watched helplessly as the fluid covered her exposed forearms, back, chest, face and hair. It didn't move into her body, just rested over her skin lightly. Regina was steadily chanting, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Once the fluid had settled completely and was a thin sheen over her body, Regina straightened. She faced the castle, then began to walk in a tight circle around the cauldron and knife to face the Forbidden Forest once again. The chanting continued steadily.

"Harry, the air, look!" Hermione hissed, pointing in front of them.

The air above the Forbidden forest was taking on a reddish sheen, and it was slowly spreading backwards, toward the castle. It looked to be a large shield, as though it even covered all of Hogsmeade, the lake, and the train station. The three students looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

The fluid seemed to thin out as the shield formed. Perhaps it was slowly becoming absorbed into Regina's body. By the time the sky cleared, so had Regina's skin. She finished the chant, then knelt on the ground in front of the empty cauldron. She grasped the knife, then stuck out her tongue. She cut the tip in the shape of one of the strange runes, and let three drops of blood fall into the cauldron. Smoke began to rise, and she leaned backward, out of its reach. Ash began to settle on the edges of her circle, and the runes erased themselves completely. The ash then dissipated.

With a sigh, Regina stood up and grabbed the cauldron. Feet still bare, she made her way much more slowly back toward the castle. Silently, the three students followed her. She didn't say anything, or give any indication that she was being followed. She walked to her rooms and gave Mabel a small smile. "It's done, Mabel."

"You poor dear," the portrait crooned. "You go to sleep now. I won't let anyone in."

"Thank you," Regina said, the weariness creeping into her voice. "Good night."

"Good night," Mabel said sweetly, and the frame pulled away from the wall.

Regina walked inside her rooms, and the three teenagers began heading back to their dorm. They remained under the cloak until they were in front of the Fat Lady, who sleepily demanded the password. She didn't even berate them for being out so late, but merely opened for them to enter.

The three teens sat down on one of the couches. "What do you think she was doing? Should we go to Dumbledore and ask?" Hermione asked softly. She leaned against Ron, and he put an arm around her protectively. Harry felt jealous for an instant, but squelched it. These were his two best friends, after all, and they deserved to be happy.

"He knows what she's up to, so it has to be something for our safety."

"Did you see how tired she was? It wore her out," Ron said quietly. He was running his fingers lightly along Hermione's arm, trying to comfort her shaking.

Harry closed his eyes, still seeing Regina's empty face. She had been tired, all right, but had gone through with the spell anyway. It's about have to, she would have said. It doesn't matter if you want to or not, it's about have to.

Harry opened his eyes. "I'm going to get some sleep. In the morning, we can find out what the spell was all about." Hermione and Ron agreed, and started to untangle themselves. Harry had to laugh. "Oh, you two stay down here. I can walk myself to bed."

It took some time before Harry fell asleep.

***

After seeing the reality of blood magic for the first time, Harry could understand why Regina was reluctant to teach it. He thought about talking to her, but he was supposed to be using her class time to study protection spells, wards and complicated Pictish hexes that he might be able to use should he have to face Voldemort. By dinner time, she was exhausted. Harry watched her pick at dinner listlessly.

Dumbledore laid a hand on her shoulder after he was finished with his meal, and said something. McGonagall and Flitwick both looked very startled, almost fearful. Regina only heaved a sigh, as though something terrible was only to be expected.

Harry and Ron watched as Regina followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall. Hermione had been paying attention to Snape's reaction. He had paled considerably when Dumbledore stood, as if he had known what was coming and hadn't liked it. They all looked at each other, and then eyed the doors leaving the Great Hall. As one, all three left the Great Hall and headed for Gryffindor Tower. They would need the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak.

Draco watched them go with narrowed eyes, and silently slipped away from the Slytherin table, intent on following them. He waited at the bottom of Gryffindor tower, standing bodily in front of the steps. Now that he knew Potter had an Invisibility Cloak, he left nothing to chance. It would be too easy for them to pass him by.

There was faint whispers after a moment, and then Potter's head appeared. "Get out of the way, Malfoy."

"Take me with you."

Potter was startled. "What? Why?"

"It's about Regina, isn't it? I want to know."

He seemed to think about it for a moment, and there were whispers. Potter shook his head, then picked apart the folds of the cloak. "Get in Malfoy, and don't step on my toes."

"It's what I live to do, Potter," Draco said nastily, falling into step. He saw the scrap of paper in Weasley's hands, but didn't get a good view. "So where are they?"

"A corridor near Dumbledore's office," Weasley replied. He was consulting that scrap of paper, and then nodded at Potter. "Same place as before. They haven't moved."

"All right, then, let's go."

The four teens were silent as they walked to the corridor. If he hadn't been with them, Draco would never have known it even existed. The corridor was mostly obscured by a large gargoyle statue, and was extremely narrow. They had to walk two by two, Hermione sticking resolutely by Ron's side. Draco didn't say a word as long as he was in the lead.

The corridor widened after they had gone almost a hundred feet. There was what appeared to be two glass cubes, and each of them held someone that looked like Regina. Only one was wearing the same clothes as the Regina from dinner. That one was sitting on the floor, knees against her chest. The other one was wearing a black and silver dress, with expensive looking slippers, and was sitting on an ornate chair at a matching table. Dumbledore was in the cube with her, saying something very softly. That Regina looked up and smiled grimly. "Of course," she was saying. "I'll wait."

Snape was standing in the hallway, back against the stone wall. He was facing both cubes, jaw set. Dumbledore exited one cube, then walked up to Snape. "I would suggest you hide with the children. It will only be a matter of time before she will learn how to see through the chaldorim cube."

The four teens held their breath as Snape looked at Dumbledore, incredulous. "I most certainly will not. If I'm to judge what she says..."

"They're hiding under an Invisibility Cloak, Severus. Trust me, it will keep you safe and out of the way."

Snape looked around the hallway. "Where?"

The four teens looked at each other and Harry allowed some of the material to fall away from his face. His head appeared to float in thin air. "How did you know?"

Dumbledore could only smile, an odd light in his eyes. "Dear boy, it is not as closely guarded a secret as you would wish." Dumbledore removed his wand from his sleeve and pointed at the cloak. "Engorgio cloak." To the teenagers, it appeared as though the cloak doubled in size almost instantly. "There now. More than enough room for the five of you."

Looking mutinous, Snape nonetheless allowed himself to be guided towards the cloak, and to hide beneath it. He didn't bother to say a word once he saw who was beneath the cloak, though his eyes lingered on Draco's face for a moment. Then he faced the cubes.

Dumbledore entered the cube with "their" Regina. She looked even more tired than she had at dinner, if possible. "Please, Albus, I don't want to go through this again."

"I've explained it all. The Ministry will doubt your word when they meet the other one."

"They hate me. They don't want to believe me. What makes you think they'll believe in this?" she asked, running a hand through her hair. The twinset sweater was a size too large, and it revealed seamless skin on the insides of her forearms. It was something that no one had really noticed; all day, the silvery scars had not been visible.

"They will see the truth, and that's all that matters." Dumbledore stood to his full height in the center of the cube. "This material may look like glass, but it has many interesting properties."

"I know what chaldorim does."

"Ah yes. Selphine Versant no doubt taught you well."

Regina's eyes narrowed. "You called Selphie here?! Are you fucking insane?! How is she supposed to have everything ready for an invasion if she's here instead of there?!"

Dumbledore looked down at her with an even expression. "Selphine is quite well, and exactly where she is supposed to be. No, she will not judge you."

Regina's eyes widened after a moment. "No." Her voice seemed small and fragile.

"I will have to ask you how you first met Severus."

"No," Regina said, lips trembling. Her voice at least was not shaking. She unwrapped herself slightly, and pushed herself upright with help from the wall. "No, I won't do this. Fuck the Ministry, I won't!"

"Regina Liane Vial, I do not ask for much."

Regina stilled at the serious tone. "You will not make me do this," she whispered.

"You will verify your identity, Miss Vial. You will not shy away from your duty."

Regina squeezed her eyes shut. "Please, Albus. Please. Don't make me do this."

"Describe how you first met Severus."

Regina turned, crossing her arms against the cube and leaning her face against her arms. "I was giving a tour of the New York school. It was almost seventeen years ago. It wasn't open for very long, just a few months. I was trying to get support, increase the scope of the curriculum, try to get new teachers." There was a sound like a choked sob. "Oh God, Albus, don't make me do this, I won't take it."

Dumbledore moved forward, and the stars on his robe seemed to twinkle and glitter. "The pain will pass, Regina. It must be done."

Regina turned. "You don't know that. It hasn't gone away in sixteen years, what makes you think this will help now?"

Four teenage heads swivelled to stare at Snape. His face was stony, not one that could be asked the questions on their minds. Reluctantly, they turned back to the cube.

"Regina. Please continue."

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve like a child, Regina began to pace. "He was being an insufferable bastard. He said it was stupid, these were nothing but Muggles. He said I was pulling a scam and he wasn't going to be part of it. So I challenged him. I challenged him to detect the scam, to see if my kids had magic. I called him on it in front of everyone, and so he picked out a kid at random. Terry looked like he'd rather dive out the window, but he got up. And when Sev started asking him questions on Potions, of course he didn't know. We didn't teach Potions at my school. Then Terry asked if he could ask questions back. Being the pompous ass he was, Sev of course said yes."

Regina sniffled and smiled beatifically. "Terry trounced his ass on History of Magic. And then did a few Charms to prove his ability."

"Go on," Dumbledore prodded when she fell silent.

Resentfully, Regina took up pacing again. "He challenged me to a duel. I said fine, I'd get the foils from a friend of mine. He didn't think I was serious, but I had just finished four semesters of foil fencing, so I figured I could put up a fair fight. Even then I'd stopped using a wand, so a wand fight would have been unfair. We had the fight that night in the townhouse attic, and if you go by points, I won. But he knocked the foil away and grabbed me. Then he asked me to show him around, he was visiting from England, thinking of relocating." Regina whirled to face Dumbledore. "A lie, of course, all lies. He was spying for Voldemort. He wanted to see if America was worth his time once he had England under his thumb."

Four faces swivelled up to Snape again. This time he looked down at them, eyes glittering and jaw still set. "I suggest you pay close attention to her words, and less to me."

Their heads snapped back into place.

"What happened then?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"No, Albus. No. I'm not going to do that." Regina faced him, her hands in fists at her sides. "I'm not going to rip myself apart for their amusement. No."

"There will be more questions."

"And I don't want to fucking answer them!"

Dumbledore was stern. "Regina, you have no choice in this matter. You will answer."

"Or what? The chaldorim shatters and slits my throat? Been there, done that, didn't work the first time and certainly won't work now."

He was stern, which sent Regina skidding backward a step. "My dear, as much as it would hurt you to answer, you will."

She took a deep breath in surprise, and turned away. "And then dinner. Dating. Eight fucking months, and then he ups and tells me I'm a stupid whore. That I'm an idiot and all those kids will be killed. He grabs his arm and says it's to keep from hitting me. He says I don't carry a wand because I don't do proper magic, utter bullshit, just... I didn't see it coming." Her voice sounded so small and hopeless. Her fingers were splayed against the chaldorim wall and her forehead rested against it gently. "I was so stupid," she whispered.

"Oh Regina..."

Regina whirled around to face Dumbledore. Her face was wet with tears and her expression was one of anger. "Oh, but it doesn't end there, does it? They'll want all the nitty gritty details, won't they? The begging, the pleading, the crying, the utter ass I made of myself, throwing myself at someone that didn't want me, didn't think I was worth even a speck of dust on his robe. Oh, but it gets better!" she nearly shouted, interrupting Dumbledore when he was about to cut in. "Can't keep the Ministry assholes from their gossip, now can we? Oh, no, not at all, mustn't make them angry, they may cut funding.

"So it didn't just end there, because I managed to find myself another asshole to date. Don't worry, he only hit me twice before I got wise enough to dump him. But the next one, oh, he was a charmer. He made me think I was stupid, all right. Classic, absolutely classic. And so I changed how I talked, how I dressed, how I drove, even, everything, just to make him happy, because I was stupid, so stupid, how did I ever run a school? He dumped me when he found someone younger and prettier and easier to push around. But oh, it gets even better, because then came Morgan. I don't think anyone really knows about him because the court sealed the case after it was done. Why don't I tell you about it? It's not like he's going to give a flying fuck if I violate the terms of the settlement. After all, he's dead now.

"I was a classic abused girlfriend, bending over backwards, everything I did I asked him first, I believed I was supposed to be hit and locked in closets and sent to bed with a black eye and no dinner. Oh yes, I was so stupid, so fucking stupid and gullible, I believed his lies when he said Loral was just a friend from work, had her over for dinner and everything, so fucking stupid of me, let them sleep on my bed when I'm working on opening the Atlanta school, getting the funding and the location down, and oh, aren't I just the best girlfriend, letting my boyfriend fuck some other girl when I'm out of town? But only after a good beating around the middle to remind me of my place, you know.

"And when I finally, finally look in the mirror and hate what I see, and think I'm better off dead. I realize I'm such a fucking idiot, such a fucking girl, I dump his ass, I take back my keys and give him his shit and I kick him out and he's got to go crawling to Loral, the little slut, he's got nowhere else to go since I threw him out. And I go home, back to my parents, and I'm so stupid I never told them everything he threatened me with when I kicked him out, I never said anything and I let them coddle me like I'm a kid again.

"And I let them take me out to dinner, and I let them do it, and I never once said to put up protective wards because my ex is a fucking psycho asshole who has guns, never once did I think to say to protect themselves, and he runs over my father, and he shoots my mother, and he wants to kill me but he's out of fucking bullets! And I can't resurrect them even though I know how because there's too many witnesses, too many people that see them dead, and then they're off to the coroner's office and Morgan's off to jail and then there's the trial and Loral lied, the little bitch, the whore, she lied, a monster under her skin, just because Morgan said so, just whatever he said out of her mouth, and they knew, they jailed her for perjury, they threw his ass in jail and Selphie did something, or Jess, someone, and he was jumped in prison and killed.

"At that point, I was already putting together everything, they fast tracked the trial through friends of theirs, and the funeral was the day before the ruling but I didn't give a fuck at that point, I had everything set up after the funeral, the tarp all laid out nice and neat since my mother would kill me if I ruined her Persian rug slitting my throat. You knew her, you know how the Reven temper can be. But she did an intervention when I was born, and Selphie did another, and between the two of them, I was shunted to the Fates, and they kept me until I stopped being suicidal. Because I did, I did slit my throat, I did bleed all over the tarp. And now my life isn't my own, but theirs, I belong to the Sisters now. Is that what you wanted to know?!"

Regina's chest was heaving after screaming. She collapsed in on herself, and curled into a little ball in the corner of the cube.

Dumbledore looked as though he had aged a dozen years. "I'm sorry, Regina. More sorry than you'll ever know."

He left the cube, and then walked into the other one. This Regina looked up from the table, where she had been tracing the grain. "Albus," she said, her voice sounding pleasant. "Is it my turn now?"

"Yes, it is. You need to tell me how you met Severus."

She blinked. "No."

"Regina, you have no choice in the matter."

Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "I can't... It was stupid, the whole thing. No!"

"Tell me what happened the day you first met Severus. You must."

"Or else the Ministry says something. Or else they yank funding, is that it?" Her tone was bitter, just as bitter as their Regina's had been just moments before. "Who are we fooling? She's a trick, someone to get you to doubt me, discredit my work and make you think you've been harboring a spy all along."

"Just answer the question." Dumbledore's voice was steely, and the Regina in a dress looked away first.

"I was giving a tour." Her voice was very soft. "I wanted support for the school. I was me and Jess and Claire. Selphie was busy... It's none of your business about what. There were a few wizards and witches, all international, nobody knowing what I'm about. Sev was the only one to ask me serious questions about the methodology in finding the kids. He said it was stupid, I was pulling a scam and he wasn't going to be part of it. So I challenged him. He picked one at random to ask questions on Potions, and of course that didn't work, not at all." This Regina rubbed her face, suddenly seeming very tired. "We wound up fencing that night, and I won by a technicality. And we wound up going to dinner in Little Italy. God, I hate that place by now."

"And next?"

"None of your business," Regina snapped. "I'm not going to feed them anything else."

"What happened?"

Regina looked panicked for a split second, then turned away. "No, I won't relive that."

Dumbledore looked grave as the walls seemed to shimmer around this Regina. "You do realize, some of this will take time to verify."

"Ask him! Ask Sev! Isn't that what this is about? The chaldorim is to see if I'm lying, but I'm not or else I'd be dead. And he's probably out there, watching, bastard that he is, judging me, wondering which of us he hates most!"

Dumbledore left the cube with a shake of his head.

"We know, of course," he said in a low tone, facing the wall where the five people were hidden by the Invisibility Cloak.

"The real Regina is the one in the pants," Snape said. His voice sounded raw. "The one in the dress doesn't know enough to be real."

Dumbledore walked into the first cube, where Regina was still curled up and crying. "My dear, it's over."

"She's a copy, isn't she? They used my blood to copy me, thinking you'd throw me out."

"It's just inside the three week mark, Regina. They don't know you haven't been missing the entire time."

Regina closed her eyes and then rubbed at her face tiredly. "Meaning, they thought to kill me and have the copy here." Suddenly she looked up. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"The kids. She had to have a purpose imbedded in her, that has to be the reason for all the blood and tissue they stole, that has to be it..."

"Regina..."

"I need to get into that cube!"

Regina bolted for the open door behind Dumbledore, and sprinted into the cube. It was spelled to allow only one visitor at a time, so once she shut the door, Dumbledore was locked out of it. He looked on, worried, as the two Reginas confronted each other.

"It's not funny," the one in the dress replied, standing up. "What's this all about?"

"What did they tell you?" Regina insisted, pushing the sleeves of her dark blue sweater above her elbows. The other Regina shook her head and backed away, fear clearly etched onto her face. "What did the Malfoys tell you?!"

"They found me... I'd been missing for three weeks. I don't remember what happened, not for at least a month."

"What did they tell you?" the Regina in blue repeated.

"Exactly that! I was dressed in rags and looked like I'd fought an army single handedly and they gave me clothes and sent me back here."

"Who? Who told you that?"

"Narcissa! She's the one that found me bleeding in the snow!"

The Regina in blue stepped back once, shaking her head. "Oh no, no, she had plans, that one, she never would have been nice, unless..."

The Regina in the dress eyed the other one warily. The Regina in blue had a crazed look to her eyes, and she looked drawn and haggard. "You're the fake one," the Regina in the dress said, chin lifted and eyes hard. "You're here to discredit me. You're the fake."

"Oh no, hon, we only wish I was."

"Narcissa and Lucius brought me back here... They knew Draco would be worried."

The Regina in blue pulled a switchblade from her jeans pocket. Once the blade swung free, she transfigured it into an ornate ceremonial knife. Dumbledore began to pound ineffectually on the chaldorim, and the Regina in a dress stumbled back a few steps. "No, you're the fake," she said determinedly. "You can't do that spell."

"You don't know what they've done to you. They've put the compulsions in... The Fidelus charm will tell us."

"You can't do mermaid magic in here!" the other Regina screeched in panic.

"If I know it, I can use it," Regina said grimly. "I can't do the better way. No time. So it'll have to be abbreviated."

The other Regina screamed as the Regina in blue shoved the blade deep into her own chest. She choked slightly, saying a few lines in that guttural tongue, then pulled it out. "Your turn," she coughed. Before the other Regina could move, Regina ran forward, blade in hand. It buried itself deep into the other woman's chest, and the handle began to glow. The rune etched onto the end of the hilt, Harry could see, was definitely not the one meaning "soul."

The other Regina's eyes widened painfully. As the Regina in blue pulled out the blade, strands of blood clung to it, stretching out from the wound. The Regina in a dress stared at it in shock, especially when more blood began pouring from the wound, leaping across the gap separating her from the blade.

"I'm sorry," Regina choked out, watching the knife absorb the blood. "I couldn't let you hurt them, even if you don't think you will." The other Regina was choking, and looked as though she was starting to dry out. "I'm sorry," Regina repeated, sobbing openly now, watching her mirror image begin to dry up as all of her blood entered the knife. The other Regina locked eyes with the Regina in blue before she collapsed, teeth falling soundlessly from her gums, clattering on the floor. They spun in circles, then crumbled into dust.

Regina nearly dropped the blade, but instead pulled back and stumbled for the door. There was blood staining the front of the twin set, and she swept past Dumbledore and the stunned figures beneath the Invisibility Cloak. She kept moaning "Oh God, oh God..." as she ran blindly through the narrow corridor. Without thinking, Harry and Draco turned to follow her. By default, so did the other three.

Regina was pulling out her enchanted cell phone as she ran. A charm let it hover next to her ear as it began ringing. "Pick up, Li, please, God, please pick up..." Regina finally stumbled into an unknown corridor that ended with stairs heading down. She tripped over her own feet, and went sprawling across the stones. She was sobbing as the tinny voice in the phone began calling her name. When Regina touched her chest, her hands came away wet with blood. "Li, I'm still bleeding. I killed her, and I'm still bleeding." Regina stared at her hands a moment, and then absentmindedly began rubbing the side of her face opposite the phone.

"Who? What the hell are you talking about? Gina, what the hell just happened over there?" Liane cried. The figures beneath the Invisibility Cloak could hear her fairly clearly.

"They sent a copy. From all the blood and pieces of me they ripped up, they made a copy of me with a spotty memory and they made her with the compulsion to ultimately trip the school defenses." Regina was grabbing at her hair by the fistful. "I couldn't let her do it, I couldn't, I did a ghetto Fidelus charm."

"Oh fuck," Liane said. "It was bad enough when we did it, but we did it the easy way and you made me to help you."

"I know! And there she is with my face and insisting that the Malfoys found her and out of the goodness of their black little hearts just sent her back and that was it. She didn't know, Li, she didn't know until I stabbed her in the chest and killed her."

"Gina, you couldn't let her loose!"

"She's ash now," Regina continued. "Or maybe even down to molecules." She abruptly let go of her hair and smashed her fist into the stone wall. "Fucking hell, I should've seen it coming! I wouldn't let anyone do shit to me if they had my blood, so they made another me!"

"How? How would they know how to do it? It's not like it's common knowledge."

"It's the end of the world. How the fuck would I know? Narcissa knows her glamour, she knows some of the old ways, she has all these goddamn plans I apparently messed up. For all I know, she's the one behind all this, just making it look like her dearly beloved husband thought it all up himself. I don't know!"

"Honey, calm down. You'll wake Peter."

"He's over there?!"

"Come on, take a deep breath. You're freaking out, and that's not good for you. Have a house elf bring you tea."

"I'm not in my rooms. I didn't want anyone to find me." Regina slammed her bloody fist into the stone wall again. "I can't... She didn't know, Li, she didn't know and I fucking killed her without even blinking for it, and I keep on fucking up."

"No, Gina, come on..." There was the vague sound of a door closing. "All right, what happened from the beginning? When did she show up?"

"Sometime today. I don't know when. She went into Albus' office by floo. He told me at dinner he needed to verify my identity, in case I've been a fake. What the hell else am I to do but go along with it?"

"Where the hell are you going to get truth stone?"

"Oh no, even better. Chaldorim. The living truth stone."

"Holy hell, Gina, was he that worried?"

"Well, if I only put up a barrier the day before, yes!"

"Barrier...? The Blood Barrier, you mean?"

"Yes. I finally convinced Albus to let me cast it. I thought I was going to die right there when it was eating into my skin, but I did all right." Regina rubbed at her eyes, smearing the blood across her face. "And then today, I do that fucking spell. God, Li, I can't... She didn't know!"

"It doesn't change anything. With your blood and some of your memories, it means she probably has some of your skill. She could have undone all the wards you put up over everyone's houses. That might've been why she was created in the first place, find out how you protected their families from Death Eater attacks."

"No, they didn't push their luck with that. They just said they found her bloody in the snow. Ha, ha. They probably just showed them the patches they threw me over and said 'Look! We found you right there!' and she would've believed it. She didn't know, she thought I was the fake, she didn't know."

"Honey, stop. It's going to be all right."

"You don't know that!" Regina shrieked at the top of her lungs.

There was a long pause. "Albus had to ask you about Severus, didn't he?"

"It was a fucking ID. Of course he did, and of course I had to answer, and of course it wasn't just about that, the goddamn assholes at the Ministry want as much blood as they can get from a stone." Regina slammed the back of her head against the stone wall, then winced and turned to her side. "I told him everything, even down to Morgan."

"Oh honey..."

"I should've quit while I was ahead. When I got back, I should've packed my shit and left as soon as I could. I shouldn't have stayed. I'm only going to get ripped apart if I do."

"No, you're not. We're still in position, and it won't work if you're not there when you're needed to be. You're not going to ruin all our work just because you had to face your demons. It's about time you did!"

"Li, he's going to know!"

"And so he probably should," Liane cried, exasperated. "God dammit, Gina, it was sixteen years ago and you've grown up now. You're not the same, he's not the same. And don't tell me this is history repeating because it's not. This did not happen last time, and we weren't all here. If I can get over it, so can you."

Regina half heartedly punched the wall and winced. "He'll know I'm broken."

"Don't you think he probably already does?"

Regina began to cry in earnest now. "I'm such a fucking mess."

"Gina... go back to your room, take a shower. Wash off all that blood, and go to sleep. I'll call you in the morning... You need your rest. You're exhausted, and that's what's gotten you in this mood."

"I can't go back... They'll find me. They'll find me and they'll know and I don't know what I'd do..."

"Gina, stop. You're getting hysterical. C'mon, it's only blood loss. You're under stress. I don't think you even saw the news today?"

"What news?"

"I saw in on WNN. There was another body found, more Death Eater activity around there. You have to get your strength back up in case they make a strike. You have to be prepared in case they finally go after Hogwarts."

Regina sniffled and wiped ineffectually at her face. "She didn't know."

"If she were us, she'd know it was for the best. It's bad enough I exist, we can't have a version of us that's set to undermine our plans."

"Li... I'm still bleeding."

"Hon, I would've done it myself if I were in your place. It wasn't wrong." Regina only sniffled, and halfheartedly tried to stand. She wound up collapsing back to the floor. "It's going to be rough, but we don't have it easy."

"All I wanted was something simple."

"Nothing is ever simple, you know that."

"I never wanted much. I never asked for much," Regina wailed. Her fingertips scraped across the stones, and three fingernails broke. She ignored the sting and tried again to stand. "I never asked for this, Li. Never."

"I know. But it's not something you choose, only something you're given."

Regina sniffled and looked around the landing through her tears. Her left knee buckled beneath her, and she collapsed back to the floor. "Sometimes I just can't.... stop."

"It's going to stop. You've just kept it bottled for too long. You need to let it out."

There was the sound of a cat's meow from behind Regina, and she half turned. "I'll try," she said at the same time. "I'd better go now."

"You take care, Gina. And I'm calling you tomorrow."

"Hey, Mrs. Norris," Regina whispered as the phone slid from her ear. It fell into her lap as the cat crept up the stairs toward her. She knew Filch wasn't that far behind. "I'd pet you, but I don't think you want blood all over you."

Sure enough, within a minute Filch was climbing the stairs to the landing. He stopped when he saw her, bloody and tear-streaked in a misshapen heap. "An' what'd you do?"

"Some spells I shouldn't have," Regina said, voice hoarse.

Filch sniffed. "And left me with a mess, I think."

Regina looked around at the smears of blood on the stones and floor. "Should I get it?"

"It's my job, missy. I'll thank you to remember that." Filch watched Mrs. Norris for a moment. "You go on. I'll take care of this."

"Thank you," Regina said, using the wall to help her get up again. This time, the knee stayed locked in the standing position. "Good night."

"Better'n yours," Filch responded, reaching into a back pocket for a rag. He watched her stumble off and shook his head. "Damned Dark Arts," he muttered.

The figures under the Invisibility Cloak left the hallway.

***

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