One Fate Leads To Another

Chapter 14: Bloodline

Lady Dumaine went back to France years ago, when Voldemort first rose to power and terrorised our world. She sent me a letter telling me that she has settled in Paris as a fashion designer's apprentice along with a picture of the place she was staying in. I hurried back to the Spinner's End.

"Accio, letter from E. Dumaine, sent from Paris."

Lady Dumaine had an apartment in France. It looked much cosier than our place. I concentrated on the picture and tried to recreate the exact place I wished to transport to. I grabbed a plastic bag from the kitchen's drawer and used apparition to get to her house.

Lady Dumaine was startled by my sudden arrival; she spilt some tea on her delicate green shirt. "Alice ? Est-ce vraiment toi ?"

"Oui, c'est moi." Luckily, I didn't eat breakfast, so even though I had the urge to vomit, I didn't.

"You've grown so much! Look at you, you're such a pretty girl now." She got up and walked around me, then passed me a glass of water.

"We have to talk." This was no time to catch up. I had a serious tone. She sensed that something is wrong.

"Who are you? Are you my aunt? Are we related?" She was unprepared for the questions I asked. I carefully observed her facial expressions. She looked away at first, but quickly directed her sight back to me. She wouldn't say a word.

"Esther Prince," I remarked. "Ring any bell?"

A moment of silence. She pulled herself another cup of tea and sighed.

"I was planning to never tell you about this, but you've learnt the name. A determined and strong girl you've always been, Alice. Even if I don't talk to you, you'll go to the Ministry and find out yourself."

"Yes, but I didn't go to the Ministry, because I want you to tell me."

"Where do I start... Right, I might begin by revealing my true appearance." Her blonde hair turned black, her nose became taller, her eyes were deeper, her skin from fair to pale. "I am not a Dumaine, but I married one. I'm a Prince."

She's a metamorphmagus! Just like Tonks! Why would she hide her true face from everyone all these years? What was she not telling me? I got myself into deep waters, something much more complicated than I presumed.

"My great grandfather has three children, two boys and a girl. Eileen Prince, the mother of your childhood friend, is the descendant of the big brother among the three. I am the second brother's offspring. The little sister married a Lupin, a half-blood. You'd think the Prince family was pure-blood supremacists, but it was difficult to seek pure-blood wizards as there were not many options left. The little sister and Lupin gave birth to two sons. The little brother got married to a Black and had a son called Esther Prince.

"Esther was five years older than me. I've only met him twice. He was a troublemaker and a terrible person. His mother died giving birth, and his father was soaked in grievance and became a drunkard. Esther drank like his old man and spent his days with prostitutes. He got tired of them and became curious about the muggles. You see, no one taught him anything about our family's beliefs, so he started seeking muggle women.

"He found your mother in a muggle bar. She got pregnant with you soon after. Esther wanted to marry her at first. He surprised all of us by showing up at a family dinner sober and told us about the pregnant muggle woman. My family was outraged. Esther's decision could cause the Prince to bear the insult of being called blood traitors. He panicked, as they threatened not to leave any inheritance to him. People like Esther can barely make a living by themselves. He needed the money from the Prince, so he went back to the bar and tried to talk his way out with the woman.

"He went at the wrong time and the wrong place. It turns out the sweet maid he met was a courtesan. She was giving some other man some service even though she's been pregnant with a baby for four months. Esther was infuriated because he lost everything for such a woman. He murdered the other man using his wand with ease and burnt his body. The woman had no idea Esther was a wizard until then. She begged for his mercy, but Esther tortured her with the cruciatus curse repeatedly and drove her to insanity.

"No one knew what happened to her, not until when I saw Esther for the second time. I was married at that time and trying to make a baby with my husband. Esther wanted to pass you on to me. He was holding you when he knocked on my door. You were so little at that time. He told me that some nuns at a muggle church gave you to him, as that woman won't stop calling Esther's name before her death.

"I refused. It is one of the things that I regretted the most. I had no idea what he had done with you ever since, but Esther was found dead years later, drunk, holding liquor, and ran over by a muggle vehicle. You'd call our family cold-blooded for not lending a hand to him, but he was seen as a blood traitor the day he told us he knocked a muggle woman up. He was cast out from the family."

Everything was clear to me now. I was a half-blood, who very possibly had a tragic childhood. This was everything I needed to connect to the Dark Lord.

"I'm sorry I didn't adopt you the day Esther found me," said Lady Dumaine sincerely. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"I understand," I had no memories of my 'parents', but I knew the woman before me. She was the person who sheltered me, taught me everything I needed to know. I trusted her.

"I don't blame you at all, but what happened to you? You are a Prince, why don't you go back to your family?"

"Because my husband lied about his blood. He had an older brother who was born a wizard, so he pretended to be one. I knew about it ever since our first date, but I loved him, so I helped him complete the lie. Still, my parents found out about his muggle origin when they first met him. They were in rage, but my mother demanded to keep it secret from the rest of the Prince family. We argued night and day. I think they were unreasonable, so I ran away to marry my husband.

"My parents were able to lie about my disappearance for a few years, everyone assumed that I was just an antsy teen who ran away after I had quarrelled with the adults. They didn't know about my marriage. Esther indeed found me, but he didn't give a damn about the Prince family that turned its back on him. Just to be careful, I changed my face to how I look now and went to Paris with my husband. One year following his death, I returned to London, found out where Eileen was and bought the house right next to her."

Lady Dumaine did not hold back any detail and told me everything. I sat down and sip tea with her as I listened. We caught up a little and before I left, I asked her to stay in Paris, away from our war.