PUREBLOOD PRIVILEGE, Chapter 22
I'm just a humble author trying to get a foothold on social media.
You can call me August. It's very nice to meet you! I'm an aspiring author and a hobbyist fanfic writer. Because I am sitting on some large projects that I want to introduce to the world, I'm reaching out in hope of finding some wonderful people in the writing community to connect with.
I wanted to start by introducing everyone to the first Harry Potter fanfiction I released: Pureblood Privilege, The Perfect Doll of the Black Family. I officially published it on Ao3 a year ago and I got a larger response than I was predicting without marketing at all... so now I am hoping that if I put myself out there and try I can reach even more people! Because I am so, so proud of my first Harry Potter fanfic, I want to share it again before showing what else I have saved up.
Here's a quick summary of the plot:
Everyone knows about Sirius Black, the murderer who turned in his two closest friends. But no one knows about his little sister, the twin sibling of Regulus Black. Runestella Black was raised to uphold the standards of the notorious pureblood Black Family, forced to be perfect in every way. In her attempts to please her parents she became a prodigal potion master, a skill that becomes useless when she's placed into an abusive arranged marriage contract. Her only solace is the boy she meets on the hill overlooking the Black Lake, Severus Snape. And though she falls for him, he is emotionally unobtainable. Before she can piece her life together, everything gets worse as her potion skills become coveted by the Dark Lord. Follow Rune in her tale of anguish, friendship, and finding love. Designed as a companion piece to the original Harry Potter series that doesn't diverge from the story.
What do you think? Did I manage to snag your interest? It's okay if you aren't sold yet. Sometimes a brief summary isn't enough. Every writer has a style, and maybe you aren't sure if we vibe yet. That's why I'm going to give you an excerpt of Chapter 22 of my fanfiction!
Chapter 22: The Dead Don't Need Galleons
As she slipped into the Leaky Cauldron, she realized that walking around without being noticed would be harder than she realized. There were dark wizards loitering outside, looking for muggle-born wizards to torment. She pulled the hood down over her face more, keeping her head low. She thought to make it past the thugs, but they noticed her behavior and zeroed in.
“Well, well. What do we have 'ere…?” One of the burly men mused. At a glance she could tell that she didn’t recognize them which gave her some confidence. If she didn't know them on sight they likely weren't part of the pureblood circle. Even if it turned into a scuffle, they probably wouldn’t know her identity.
“A little witch, innit?” The other man chortled. She tried to sidestep them, clutching her cloak close, but they kept firmly in her way.
“Why are yeh trying to run away, luv?” He continued. “’ave somethin' to hide?”
“I am just going to buy some supplies. Please move.” Rune tried, keeping her face down.
“I don’t t'ink so.” The first man reached out with his meaty hand and gripped her hood, pulling it off her head roughly, catching some of her hair with it. She glared at him and reached up to hold her head indignantly.
“Oh.” They both paused, looking at her ethereal visage with wide eyes.
“Pretty wittle t'ing, ain’t she?” The second brute crooned, his eyes curving with joy. Rune sighed, annoyed.
“Why are yeh tryin' teh hide?” He continued. “You a mudblood? Wouldn’tit be a shame if a lovely tart was tain'ed like dat?”
“Do I look like a mudblood?” Rune snapped, squaring her shoulders to show off her impeccable posture. “Do you think that some lowborn muggle family could raise a witch like myself?”
“Well…” He ran his eyes over her upscale clothing and pristine aura.
“I just didn’t want to create a fuss, but you idiots decided to pull me aside.” Rune’s heart thudded in her chest, wondering if her acting would suffice. The two men glanced at each other, confusion pulling their brows together.
“What family did ye say ye were from?” The first man asked, thinning his lips suspiciously.
“Do I owe you answers?” Rune snarled, knowing that if she revealed anything about her noble identity it would make things worse. It was better for them to guess. So she pulled up her sleeve to showcase her mark, careful to angle her body so that only the two troublemakers could even see it.
“Oh. Oh. Pardon us, Me Lady. We didn’t know.” Fear melted their expressions, their hands in the air as they stepped back. Only Voldemort’s inner circle received a dark mark.
Satisfied, she pulled her sleeve down and pushed her hood up.
“Best you don’t run into me again.” Rune turned away and headed into the Leaky Cauldron. While she was confident that no one else really saw her mark, the fact that the two barbarians were so easily cowed was enough to label her as a dark witch. The other wizards in the pub glanced to her nervously and murmured. She was careful to keep her face shrouded, so they would at least not associate the unfortunate incident with her appearance.
Next time she would have to just turn into a raven and fly into Diagon Alley. It would be harder to carry ingredients that way so she needed to make a stop first to get a pouch. If she could enchant a small enough pouch with an Undetectable Extension Charm, it would allow her to easily transport anything even in her raven form.
Usually the spell was heavily regulated by the Ministry, but the Ministry was in shambles and Rune was already breaking the law by not registering as an animagus. One more spell wasn’t going to increase her sins.
She went to a little street side craftsman, noting that he had a blackened eye and appeared worse for the wear. The poor fellow was likely hounded by some of the rogue dark wizards milling about the alley.
“Hello, Miss. What are you looking for?” He hopefully asked, desperate for customers. She noticed he didn’t have a lot of traffic, many of the wizards bypassing him to go to another stall. The poor guy was likely a known muggle-born, and no one wanted the fallout from purchasing from him.
“I was hoping for a silk change purse.” Rune offered him a gentle smile. “Do you have anything like that?”
She assumed he might, since he had mostly displayed small tailored goods like ties and ribbons. He brightened at her suggestion.
“I do! One second!” Desperate for a sale, he opened his little case and pulled out some options. All were embroidered with flowers or creatures. She gravitated to a deep green one, as always, and admired the dittany sewed on. The delicate white flowers reminded her of Severus, so she couldn’t help but to smile.
Her eyes dropped to the table, catching on a little silver star on a pin.
“What is this? A lapel pin?” Rune picked it up, noting it had an emerald in the center.
“Yes, miss. One of my last authentic items. They… uh… taxed the rest.” He nervously flittered his gaze around the alley to make sure there was no Death Eaters or Snatchers in earshot.
“I see. I’ll take this as well.” Rummaging in her change purse, she took out some galleons and passed it to him. “Will this be enough?”
“More than enough!” He quickly grabbed the coins, trying to hide them from view.
“May I ask…” Rune pondered as he packaged up the lapel pin. “Why have you not healed your face?”
“Oh… I’m… uh…. I-I’m…” The man looked nervous. She understood instantly.
A squib. That’s why they were treating him poorly. He was born without magic.
“Come here.” She hissed, pulling out her wand. He saw it and froze, but he had no reason to distrust her. He got closer.
“Episky.” Rune said it in a low voice, sure to trace out the wand movement. The swelling and the bruising in his eye lessened, allowing him to see out of it better. She healed him as much as she dared, but she wished she could give him a Wiggenweld Potion instead. It would heal hidden injuries at a quicker pace than she could manage with her healing charm.
“Thank you.” The man teared up, feeling of his face.
“Close up shop and go home.” Rune instructed. “You’ll want to hide away that coin before they get wind of it.”
“Yes… yes you’re right, Miss.”
Once she left the little stall, she ducked into an alley and pulled out the purse.
“Capacious extremus.” The charm was a complex one, and it took her whole focus. After imagining the dimensions and function of the purse, she was sure that it stuck. To double-check it, since she had never cast the charm before, she took the purse she had kept her coins in and plopped it into the enchanted bag. The purse disappeared. Reaching in she retrieved it easily with a thought.
“This’ll do.” After placing the lapel pin there as well, she took the little cord on the silk purse and tied it to her side, dangling along with the star waist charm.
Now ready to get a lot of ingredients, she pulled up her hood and stepped out of the alley. Just in time to hear screaming. Crashing and mayhem followed the scream, the clear sounds of a scuffle. Rune turned to the noise with a frown only to see a group of dark wizards upturning the table of the squib she had just visited. He screamed, fighting to retrieve the galleons she had just given him from a wizard holding them cruelly out of reach.
“The little squib thinks he deserves wizard money.” One of the perpetrators laughed.
“Please!” The man wailed. “I need it to buy food. I haven’t eaten in days!”
“Then eat the refuse, then. Squibs can eat trash.” The other one mused.
When the man tried to get his coin back a dark wizard gripped his hair and slammed his face into the table. There was a sickening crunch of his nose breaking and the man’s gasp broke through the alley, sending shivers up Rune's spine. She glanced around nervously, wondering if someone would step in to help.
But everyone was minding their own business. They avoided eye contact, trying to keep to their lane so that the wizards didn’t turn on them next.
The squib moaned, trying to get up from under the control of the wizard holding him down.
“That’s...my...money…!” The words broke through sobs, and Rune’s heart fell in sympathy. She realized that she was being a bystander as well, afraid of her notoriety.
Even though she could ruin anything in an instant by helping the squib, she would hate herself if she didn't try.
Her heels clicked against the cobblestone as she rushed to his aid but before she could get there a bright flash of green lit the street, blindingly bright.
“Avada Kedavra!” The deatheater yelled, his wand trained on the squib.
The man went limp, his eyes wide and blank, all the life taken from him. Rune stopped in her tracks, staring at the poor man in horror.
“You don’t need money if you’re dead.” One of the dark wizards guffawed, completely unaffected by the murder.
The one who cast the spell looked up, perhaps sensing her, and she pulled her hood down and sidestepped into the gathering crowd, trying to blend in. She was lucky to escape notice and for a while continued to follow the flow of traffic, her heart thudding and nausea pooling in her throat.
They killed him. Simply for being born without magic.
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