Blood of My Blood, Flesh of My Flesh (Bughead)

People are Strange

"If I had to guess," Grandma Smith said as she hung some sage to dry in her window, "The Blossom Witch Clan, though genetically is female based, has always been run by men. Rightly stupid if you ask me, since it's their wives that have the power, but," Dolores shrugged.

"And now that Jason is gone..,." Betty trailed off, "I mean, no offense, but Cheryl is terrifying. I don't have any lost love for her, but she could totally take over the business and all."

"She could, I agree. However, it's just not done like that. And now all the men from far across the world are coming to vie for the title." Dolores sighed, "It'll be a bloodbath. No one trusts one another, everyone is expecting an attack from their own family." She opened her windows, "You think our family has issues? At least we can sleep with both or our eyes closed at night."

A thought hit Betty, "Wait. You knew that the Blossoms were witches?"

"Yes."

"I didn't! No one did. It was...well, a secret, as far as I knew. I only found out because they had to...because I'm a witch too. Even the Serpents don't know-,"

Dolores snorted, "Oh, dear, the Serpent's know."

"FP..." Betty ground her teeth, "He seemed awfully stupid about knowing anything when we asked. Another lie. Great."

"I'm sure there was a good reason. Mostly, those Blossoms aren't to be messed with!" Dolores said sternly. Betty made a face.

"Yuck, you sound like dad. He hates them with more vigor than I understand."

"He may be dumb about some things." Betty knew that Dolores hadn't exactly approved of Hal, and that was part of what had broken the contact with her grandmother for so long, "But he was right about that. I would always, always keep half your mind on them if you're around."

Betty felt an onslaught of emotions all of a sudden, sniffling, "God, Polls won't stand a chance in there."

Dolores inhaled hard too, the betrayal that Betty felt equally felt by her too. Polly abandoning them for the Blossoms had been hard to deal with so far. Still, Dolores tried to keep a cheerful expression.

"Your sister is stronger than you believe her to be. And we both know that Penelope won't do anything until those babies are born. So we have time. Yes, if all else fails...we have time."

XX

"The lawyers are coming this week to take statements for your dad's hearing. We're both going to have to testify on your father's behalf." Hermione interrupted Veronica during her breakfast. Veronica frowned, lowering her spoon.

"What if they ask what he did? Embezzling all that money. Am I going to have to lie?" Veronica asked. The old Veronica wouldn't have blinked to do so. The Veronica she liked to think was a better person was having more trouble with it.

Hermione smiled at her daughter, but it didn't seem as warm as usual, "Dear, we might have to shade the truth a bit, Ronnie. And you want to, don't you? For your dear father?" She asked, sitting, staring Veronica in the eyes and pushing her hair behind her daughter's face.

Veronica frowned.

"Of course, I want to for my dear fa..." She trailed off. Her tongue felt funny and her mind felt woozy. It was like she was in a dream, reciting back what her mother was saying like she was a record player.

But she wanted to help her dad, right? She loved her father. Dearly! Why hadn't she wanted to help him before...?

"Veronica, you will bend the truth to help your father," Her mother commanded.