The Fearsome Name of Riddle

Casualty Of War

One leg crossed over her other, Victoria lounged in a lawn chair beside a man with dusty blonde hair held into place so tightly with Gilbert's magical sealing wax that it didn't even flutter in the wind. It felt a little strange to continue on with everyday life when their nights were spent plotting the destruction of the modern Wizarding World. But life didn't care for war or hardship. The sun still shone when summer came around with the turning of the Earth. Children still needed taking care of and shepherding into tutoring lessons. Nothing changed really when the attacks did not fall on their heads.

She glanced over at Ivan Rosier for just a moment and felt a sudden invasive warmth through her mind. If it had held any kind of strength, Victoria might have been offended but she couldn't help but chuckle. The Dark Lord's paranoid mind would not leave her alone. What if she betrayed him? Plotted against him and brought about his downfall? He had to know. 

Tom didn't have the careful hand required to ease into a mind unnoticed and she refused to see him. Friedrich had the skill for a lesser occlumens but he would never try it with her and he and Enoch were ever busy as generals in Lord Voldemort's army. Ivan tried but Victoria found his lack of enthusiasm amusing. 

"What?" Ivan asked, the feeling retreating from the surface of her mind.

Victoria opened her mouth to speak but paused for a moment and reconsidered. "Nothing. How much wax did you put in your hair?" 

"That's what you found so hysterical?" Ivan smirked, running a hand through his hair to break up the stiffness, "I'm glad I can entertain you with my appearance, my Lady." 

Victoria smiled, amused, and turned back to watching the children. Sirius, the eldest of them now, sat upon his broom and with impending excitement of going to Hogwarts in the next year he was a lot more boisterous than usual. He tore around the hedges of the Malfoy Manor gardens, Octavian and Evan chasing closely behind. The boys’ interest in quidditch had grown to almost obsession, though the Chudley Cannons could never overshadow Sirius’ adoration for his family's history. His wish to be his mother's perfect heir shined through in every fun fact he shared about an ancestor that had started a tradition. Orion Black's pride in his eldest son made galas and parties a little easier, Sirius got pointed at other heads of Wizarding families to spout out his knowledge on the Noble House of Black to be applauded. 

"Good to see them so spirited," Ivan said, gaining her attention once again, "terrible business about their cousin, so embarrassing for the family." 

"Well, not irreversibly so," Victoria shrugged, watching Regulus and Pandora sitting underneath a tree with a large book from the library and an assortment of flowers spread across their laps. "Tom and I did basically the same thing." 

"But Tom isn't a muggle." Ivan shuffled in his seat a little, half turning so that he was facing her more. "You are not a blood traitor, it's different." 

"I thought Edward was a mudblood," Victoria asked, an inquisitive frown on her brow as she leaned her head over to Ivan. 

"Same thing." Ivan shrugged, his hand lazily resting over the back of her chair. 

"And half bloods?" Victoria asked, watching his every reaction to her testing question, "are they the same as muggles too?" 

"That's some thin ice you're stepping on," Ivan warned with a smirk, he seemed to enjoy her rebellious side. He liked the fearlessness she showed as she walked along boundaries like a tightrope. 

"I skate regularly," Victoria retorted, her smirk growing as their staring match broke and Ivan looked away. "Are you scared of falling through?" 

"You are a lot of fun," Ivan chuckled, his eyes flickering over to his son as the ten year old vaulted off his broom and landed in a bush. "Avery thinks you're boring, that all you do is float about the house, but you can still have fun."