Even to those closest to her, Althea was as much a mystery then as she is now. As a girl, she was driven by her ambition and thirst for knowledge to a place very few could follow, and she didn't hesitate to leave them behind. But now, after living a...
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"YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW?"
After what felt like a lifetime or even more, Althea found herself back in the Black family library. For the near-month she had spent in the Black household in her youth, she hadn't ventured much further than that room, so while almost the entirety of the rest of the house was alien to her, she probably knew the library better than anyone. She still remembered every book on Dark Magic and Blood Purity that she had tediously and repeatedly searched through with her best friend, and as she stood in the large room with her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulder slumped, Althea stared at the desk Regulus Black had made his home in those few weeks, and she swore, she could almost hear the pages turning.
"You're still awake," spoke a voice from the doorway, startling the woman. Althea used a single hand to wipe away the tears that wet her cheeks, but otherwise didn't move. She stared straight ahead at the dusty, floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, but didn't protest as Sirius came and stood beside her.
"Did you think I'd be able to sleep?" she responded quietly.
"No," Sirius answered timidly, his eyes not moving from the floor in front of their feet. "Where's your son?"
Althea breathed in deeply, her watery eyes darting around the room as the events of the past twenty-four hours replayed in her mind. "Molly made him a Sleeping Draught," she spoke with a quick pace. "Should be out 'til morning - hopefully dreamlessly."
Sirius finally brought himself to look at this obviously damaged woman, and regretfully took notice of her quivering jaw. "You should make one for yourself," he suggested lightly.
"I don't think it'd work on me." Althea gave herself a moment more in the past, before putting it forcefully behind her. She wiped away the newly formed tears and turned away from Sirius, walking towards the door. "Besides, I have work to do."
"Whoa, hey, Thea," Sirius said, catching up to her and blocking her path. "Dumbledore has people looking for Neela. You need to rest right now - and be a mother instead of a soldier."
"My daughter is being held captive by Death Eaters," the woman hissed. "Mother and soldier are interchangeable."
Sirius cursed himself at his choice of words as she slipped past him. He knew of only one thing that would stop her, as much as he didn't want to speak it. "But what about Regulus?"
Althea stopped in the doorway of the Black family library, and as she looked back into the room, she saw, for only a moment, the silhouette of her best friend, standing beside his brother. "What?" she exasperated, her eyes not leaving the spot of the ghost.
