The Consequence of Ambition

Atalanta Flora Beaumont

Atalanta Flora Beaumont. What a mouthful. She hated the name with a passion, especially Atalanta, her mother, Matilda Beaumont, had named her that after some Greek goddess who didn't want to marry or something along those lines, she had never really looked into it because truth be told she hated being named after someone who wasn't even real, she despised more than anything things that were made up. Even when she was younger she insisted her mother only read her factual books, she didn't want to hear about things that were never real and never would be real, it felt like a lie. Her mother told her she was sure she would be put in Ravenclaw, and it's true, on the outside she seemed smart and sensible but deep down she had another trait famous to another house. Ambition. Slytherin. When Lana wanted something she got it. and not in a spoilt bratty way, but in a -she would put her mind to the task and dedicate herself to it completely until she got it- way and this was partly the reason for her insisting, since she was five years old, that everyone call her Lana, much to her mothers disappointment who thought it was a waste of such a pretty and unusual name. Aside from the ambition, she was also extremely brave, much like the younger version of her mother, and this was clearly why the sorting hat had such a tough time deciding. In fact, she had the longest sorting ceremony in the history of Hogwarts, It was called a Hatstall. Hermione had told her this on her first day of course. But the hat had taken a whole 15 minutes to finally put her into Gryffindor. Lana remembered the first thing it had said in that wise voice was

"Ah. Ambitious very Ambitious"

Which then swapped to

"But I also see a lot of bravery here. hmm-mm. Interesting girl. Very interesting." And that just went back and forth for 15 minutes with Ravenclaw popping up as well a couple of times before the sorting hat finally made up its mind and settled on Gryffindor.

Flora. She hated that name almost as much as Atalanta. On anyone else she would have liked the name, she actually found it quite pretty. But it wasn't the name itself that she disliked, it was the person who gave it to her. Her father. Lana had never had the misfortune of meeting her dear father, as after accidentally getting her mother pregnant in their very final year at Hogwarts he left her alone so he could run away and become a Death Eater. It wasn't the Death Eater part that made Lana's skin crawl and her blood boil, no. It was the idea of her sweet mother left completely alone, feeling too much shame for her accidental pregnancy she dropped out of Hogwarts without a word to anyone, meaning she never took her final exams and technically never graduated. She struggled to get a job and had to settle for one of the maintenance witches at the ministry. Lana knew that her mother was a bright witch in her time, and extremely ballsy. She would have made a fantastic aura, but not now, and that was the saddest part of all. Matilda lived her whole life in fear that Voldemort would find them, that the father turned Death Eater would tip him of as to their whereabouts, and she didn't just have one life to fear for anymore. And this fear was what destroyed her. She hardly left the house anymore, especially nowadays with you-know-who's return to power, she was constantly checking the daily prophet despite Lana's insistence that it was filled with biased lies, and she always looked tired. Tired of looking over her shoulder for 16 years. Lana loved her mother with her whole heart, she was a kind, gentle,completely selfless human being, and Lana would never be able to fully express her gratitude for the things she had done for her, but nonetheless, it still made her sad to see old pictures of her. She always seemed so happy, in every single picture she was laughing and she always seemed to be at the centre of her friends, as if her radiating positivity was a magnet for everyone else. Lana's favourite picture was one of the only ones of her on her own. She was sat on one of the benches in the courtyard at Hogwarts, she looks about 14 or 15 in the picture. She giggles shyly at the camera until a great gust of wind blows her long brunette hair into her face and she bursts into what appears to be a loud and contagious laugh. She looks so alive, and happy and free. Nowadays her rich brunette hair has almost all turned silver, spare a few strands that remain rich in colour mocking her of the past, and she always has it scraped back into a bun with a few wild strands falling down her around her face. And her eyes. Her eyes had lost that light, that burning spark that made her whole face light up, and it was replaced instead by an empty stare, even when she smiled they were filled with a deep sadness, the giveaway sign that it was just an act for her daughter. Lana didn't know who her father was, she didn't even know his name but every time she asked she was hit with the same response.