lucky hand | remus lupin

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐.

lavanya was awoken the next day by one of their frantic house elves, zipsy. "missus! missus! you must wake up for your medicine! missus!" she sat up as the elf practically bounced around the room in anxiety.

"i'm awake zipsy. " lavanya whispered to the elf as to now wake up her sleeping sister., "silent now, asha is still asleep. she had a rough night, so care to avoid waking her up before amma(mom) and nanagaru ask for her to get ready, okay?" she looks to the elf and awaits for a positive response, before patting her bed, allowing the elf to get on her bed to administer the potion medicine.

zipsy struggles to lift herself on to the bed, being only three feet tall. lavanya, seeing the struggle, reaches down and plucks the elf up, much to her chagrin. "missus you musn't !!!"

"oh hush, zipsy, father isn't going to find out." lavanya chides as she sets the elf down. zipsy shakes her head exasperatedly and pulls a potion bottle from her pouch and uncorks it, holding it up to lavanya's face. lavanya opens her mouth and tilts her head back, letting the potion be poured into her mouth. once the bottle was emptied, zipsy leapt off the bed and lavanya coughed at the horrid taste, "i don't understand why the potion tastes disgusting. can we not add anything for the taste?"

"master fawley strictly instructed us to not dispense any sweetener or modifiers to the medicine for the young missus. " zipsy repeated cautiously, looking around as if vikas ii could pop out any minute. lavanya sighed, and flopped back onto her bed.

"missus! you musn't go back to sleep. the honorable house of black is arriving soon, you must get ready upon your father's instruction." zipsy chided, pulling on lavanya's arm to get her to get up once more. lavanya sighed, and shoved the sheets aside to stand and allow herself to be guided to the massive walk-in closet she and her sister had shared, containing their vast stores of robes and dresses. "zipsy would like to inform the young missus that master fawley selected a set of dress robes for the missus."

lavanya blinked slowly, adjusting to the light. "oh, but i had a dress in mind for what i wanted to wear."

"zipsy believes that that is not possible for the young missus today, master has selected one for you already."

"ugh, okay.."

a crack rings through the room as zipsy apparated to a marked dress bag on the top shelf, grabbing it, and hopping back down. zipsy unzips the bag as she steps onto a step stool, making her reach lavanya's height. she presents the dress to lavanya with pride. lavanya stares at the dress robes, and asks, "is this a joke zipsy? this is the ugliest thing i've ever seen."

zipsy gasps in shock, "no , young missus, this is it! master says you must wear it!" lavanya begins to shake off her night clothes, deciding it would be better to to wear what she was given and not argue. she holds her arms out as zipsy helps her put the dress on and adjust it so it fits her perfectly. "young missus must also wear makeup." zipsy mumbles, pushing lavanya to sit down at a vanity table within the closet.

"I don't like this dress zippy." lavanya mumbles, looking at the dresses appearance in the mirror. "it makes me feel sick."

"missus must!" zipsy persisted.

"i know. don't worry." lavanya agrees, and turns to face the vanity mirror. she picks up a small metal tin full of kajal(indian eyeliner) and brushes it along her eyes. "amma says this strengthens your eyes and your magic, making you powerful."

"is it true missus!"

" i don't actually know." lavanya then picks up another tin of light lip balm, she knew that if she had used a colored lipstick, her father would be accusing her of being promiscuous. she dips her finger into the jar and rubs the clear balm across her lips as zipsy digs through the drawers for a bindi. zipsy waits for lavanya to finish and attaches the bindi to the middle of her forehead.

"missus is done. zipsy must escort you downstairs and prepare the clothes for missus asha." zipsy instructs, helping lavanya stand and walking her out of the closet, then out of the room with her still sleeping younger sibling there, and to the landing before the stairs. "missus must remember to hold the railing." zipsy reminds.

lavanya laughs, recalling her previous incident from when she fell down the stairs, just a few months prior. "of course zipsy." she holds one hand on the railing, and the other on her dress robes while zipsy walks beside her.

"mistress fawley should be in the sitting room." zipsy explains, leading the way to the sitting room. with a wave of her hand, the door opens .

when lavanya and zipsy enter the room, they were met with the sight of lavanya's mother, brothers, and youngest sister. "master fawley and missus asha are still getting ready." zipsy informs the rest while seating lavanya next to her favourite brother, vikas v, who was just two years younger than her. then, with a loud crack, zipsy disappears, presumably to get asha ready.

lavanya glances to her mother, who was speaking softly to darwin and anu, her youngest siblings as ajay ii, vikas' twin looked on. she takes the opportunity to nudge vikas while looking forward. "morning vikas. sleep alright?"

he flinches from the sudden movement and then relaxes, seeing as it was his sister. "akka(big sister). i was okay. nightmare again." he whispers softly, hugging her arm once before letting go.

"again? about what?" lavanya whispers back , tapping his hand.

"when dad used the curse on you. i'm scared he'll do it to me too." he admits, and lavanya pales with guilt.

"you saw?" she whispers after a moment of silence.

"ajay and i could hear it through the walls last week." he confesses, "we were so worried, i'm so sorry we didn't check on you. zipsy wouldn't let us leave the room."

lavanya lets out a deep breath. "don't worry meri jaan, it didn't hurt."

"why did he have to do that?" he whispers. "he always has to do something like that."

"i talked back. do not worry for me kanna, i'll be fine. just, stay safe."

before vikas v has a chance to respond, a loud crack sounds through the home, and zipsy enters the room with asha. "missus is here!" she announces, "and master fawley is on his way." upon hearing that vikas and lavanya sit up straight hearing the clicking of his shoes on the nearby stairs.

within moments, the door opens, and vikas ii walks into the room with purpose and the room silences. neha stops speaking and looks down towards his feet as he enters, and the children stop their chatter as he sits in a comfy armchair and looks at them. "good morning." he gruffs.

"good morning sir." the children chorus as neha gives him a quiet nod.

"the black family is going to be arriving very soon , and we have important business to take care of with them. you all better be on your best behavior or you know what is coming."

lavanya looks around at her silent family, and answers on behalf of them, recalling what he had said the prior night. "of course nanagaru, we know how important pureblood relations are these days." at that answer, vikas v looks at her in shock, but she pats his hand, signifying that she would explain later, and continues to look at her dad.

upon hearing her words, vikas ii appeared very pleased, and leant back in his chair. " exactly kanna, you understand." he pauses, looking around to the rest of his family, "you all must learn from her."

the statement is met with a silent agreement and a barrage of nods from everyone. the room falls into a quiet peace for a few moments until a loud crack is heard outside, signifying that the the black family had apparated to their grounds. and another followed, showing that zipsy had gone out to escort the small family of four inside.