The Good Slytherin

Chapter Nineteen: Eurydice

Night fell and Eurydice Gordon rubbed her hand gently over the large mound that her belly had become. Eight months pregnant, she did her best to distract herself from the irritating fact that Sedgwick had left that morning for a business trip to New York and left her with only a house elf for company. They had only been married for over a year, but his habit of neglecting her for his work at inopportune times was maddening at best.

"We'll be fine, right?" she sighed in the direction of her stomach and patted it again. The sound of rain against outside was soothing and was doing a good job of mollifying her irritation.

Surveying the cavernous sitting room and the portraits that crammed the walls, Eurydice was only just getting used to her new patrician life. Her father Gerard had warned her that she was entering a world that would seem alien and a little archaic, but she relished in it. Power was one of the things she had learned to value after four years in Slytherin.

Bringing her eyes down to the landscape of her body, she continued to be amazed at how large her stomach had become with its roundness highlighted by the firelight. She had propped herself up on a sofa, which gave her a good view of her size. One hand rested protectively upon her belly and in the other was The Witch's Guide for Expecting Mothers, her thumb marking her place. Earlier that afternoon the local midwife confirmed that the child was indeed a girl--a fact that Eurydice had long since suspected. She spent the rest of the afternoon vacillating between the names that her and her husband had chosen. But by the evening, she was finally set on naming the child Daphne Eloise.

"That's right, Daphne. Do you like your new name?" she cooed. The baby kicked inside as if in response.

Suddenly someone was banging at the front door, the pace of which could only be described as frantic and the broken silence startled her.

"Who could be calling so late?" said the lady in the portrait that hung over the fireplace. Eurydice was wondering the same thing and a couple of figures in the other paintings nodded in agreement. Her heart was immediately seized by thought of the worst and she hastily dropped her book in favor of her wand. The world had become a dreadfully frightening place in recent years and one never knew what unwelcome visitor was going to show up on the doorstep late at night.

Eurydice put all her effort into standing up. Making her way cautiously to the hallway, she saw that the house elf got to the door faster and was opening it. A crazed figure in a wet cloak pushed past and entered the foyer.

"Mistress, it is your sister!" the elf squealed as the woman quickly headed towards the sitting room.

My sister? Eurydice thought in alarm. She hadn't seen her sister in over a year and a half--not since before she married Sedgwick. Now Delphinia was here after all this time. Eurydice didn't know what to think, but she couldn't help but feel terrified, especially since she learned what Death Eaters did--torture and killings.

As her sister moved forward into the light, she was barely recognizable, mostly in part from the terror in her eyes and the blonde hair that hung in wet clumps around her face. "Delphinia?" she asked, though by now her sister's visage was unmistakable.

"Things are utterly fucked!" Delphinia cried as she moved swiftly past her and into the sitting room. Honestly, it wasn't what she expected her sister to say to her after a year and a half.

"What are you doing here, Delphinia?" Eurydice swung around and noticed that her sister's wand was clutched firmly in her hand--a fact that made her hold close her own.

"He's found out! Oh shit, he knows!" Delphinia began to pace the room in a sort of dazed panic.

"Who?"

"Okay, okay. I just need to concentrate for a moment first." With this, her sister wiped a wet lock of hair from her face and took a deep breath. The whole scene was rather baffling.

"How did you get so soaking wet, Del?" she urged, trying to keep her sister calm in addition to herself.

Delphinia's eyes suddenly grew very wide as she caught sight of Eurydice's bulging stomach. "You're pregnant! And massive!"

Massive wasn't exactly the word Eurydice would have used to describe herself. "Er, yes. I am due in early March."

"That's next month!"

"Indeed it is. Uh--Del, not to be rude, but I need you to tell me why are you here?" She raised her wand at Delphinia for safe measure.

Her sister barely flinched with the wand pointed at her. Instead she gave Eurydice the most plaintive look she had ever witnessed. "I need your help."

"My help? My help?" Her temper was rising. "Not too long ago you were calling me a filthy blood traitor and now you come here like a mad woman, barging down my door--"

"It's the Dark Lord. I've betrayed him and he knows. And now he is after me."

With these words that her sister spoke, Eurydice's heart seized. The admission that Voldemort was after her sister diminished some of her resentment. "Betrayed?"

"I've been passing along information to Dumbledore for five months now."

"Dumbledore?" she remarked in disbelief. "Since when did start playing both sides, Del?"

"Eurydice, I don't have a lot of time and I want to explain to you everything that has happened. But I have to know if you will help me!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I need a place to hide. I need your protection. There's this spell I--"

"Del, I can't hide you!" Eurydice cried as she clutched her belly. The baby had started kicking again. "You think I am going to risk my life or my child's so that your Death Eater mates can end up charging down my door to find you?"

This clearly wasn't the answer Delphinia had expected. Panic and disbelief crossed her wet face. "You won't help me?"

"Del, I--"

"I need to know once and for all."

Eurydice took a deep breath. The baby kicked again, her heart was pounding, and she hoped she wasn't about to make a big mistake. "Del, I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Her sister wasted no time in processing her refusal to help. She quickly rushed over to the fireplace mantel and took a fistful of Floo powder out of a small canister.

"Del, wait! Where are you going?"

Her sister made no reply. Instead she threw the powder into the fire causing the flames to burn vibrantly green. Walking into the fireplace, she shouted, "Thornridge House!" and promptly disappeared.

Eurydice stood there for a few moments and stared blankly into the empty space where her sister had stood moments before. It had all happened so fast--Delphinia coming into the house, Delphinia pleading for help, and Eurydice denying her. She hadn't expected that her sister would leave so quickly and doubt was starting to creep into her mind. Of course you made the right choice, a voice in her head said. The Death Eaters would find her here! A sinking feeling was growing and she realized the horrifying likelihood of the Death Eaters tracking Delphinia down to her parents.

Instinctively putting a hand on her bulging stomach, Eurydice did her best to figure out what to do next. She began to pace. "Damn it, Sedgwick!" she found herself shouting out in frustration. "Why did you have to go to New York?" A couple of the paintings grumbled at her outburst and the portrait of a thin man with a greyhound looked at her like she had committed some grave breech of etiquette.

"Is the mistress all right? Has the sister left?" a high-pitched voice asked from the doorway. Eurydice was too busy pacing the sitting room to answer the house elf. "Oh this is not good for the baby! All this excitement bad!"

An idea suddenly struck upon Eurydice. "Minnie!" she practically gasped. "I need you to find my husband. I need you to get him immediately."

The house elf blinked at her with large eyes. "Master is in New York. Does Mistress want Minnie to go to New York?"

She ran a hand through her long brown hair in irritation. "Yes, yes. Go now please and get my husband."

Eurydice didn't have to say another word for the house elf disapparated with a loud crack. With Minnie gone to find Sedgwick, she went back to weighing her options. Currently they were either follow her sister to Thornridge House and help her after all . . . persuade her parents that Delphinia was putting them in great danger by asking for help . . . or . . . or? She struggled to think of a third option. Not do anything? Go to bed and pretend that her sister hadn't stood in front of her not but five or ten minutes before and pleaded her life? No, she had to do something. It was just was unclear at this moment how much she wanted to risk her own life for that of her estranged sister.

Again a feeling of great foreboding swept over as she was reminded of the possibility that Death Eaters would find her sister. It was a reality she didn't have the capacity to consider at this moment. "Oh Delphinia, what have you done?" she whispered, voice strained with emotion.

The sudden sound of a crack signaled that Minnie was back on this side of the Atlantic. "Master is on his way," she squeaked. Eurydice immediately looked to the fireplace and thanked her foresight that she recently had it hooked up to the International Floo Network so that Sedgwick could travel between New York effortlessly. It was an extravagant cost, but worth every galleon at this point.

Soon her husband's tall form emerged from the fireplace with a burst of green flame. He was mildly disheveled and dusted with soot from his long journey. "What is it? The baby?" he asked in alarm as he brushed ash from his pale hair.

Eurydice did her best to explain the events of the last twenty minutes, which left her husband looking stunned. "Delphinia? Here? What's this about Dumbledore?"

She quickly explained everything that had happened. "Sedgwick, she's at Thornridge right now. She left through the fireplace. What if the Death Eaters find her there?" she asked in a panic.

Her husband took a deep breath and looked as though he was trying to disguise his astonishment. "Let's sit down for a moment," he said as she tried to guide her towards the sofa. She knew he was trying to do his best to calm her down, but Eurydice was inconsolable.

"I tried to tell her that I couldn't help. I couldn't risk Death Eaters coming here!" she stammered, never feeling so helpless as she did right now. "We have to go to Thornridge House. We have to see if Delphinia is still there."

"Eurydice, you just said yourself that the Death Eaters might be on their way there. They could be there right now!"

She must have surely blanched at this statement because Sedgwick was sitting her down on the sofa and taking her wand out of her hand. "Minnie, can you make us a Calming Draft?" he asked of the house elf who was peeking in from the doorway.

"Yes, Master," she squeaked.

"No, wait," said Eurydice sharply. She had another idea. "Minnie, go to Thornridge House and see if my sister is still there."

The house elf squirmed and pulled anxiously at the hem of her tea towel garment. It was clearly the last place she wanted to go. "But Mistress--"

"Minnie, if the Death Eaters are there, they don't have the power to harm you," she reminded as she silently told herself that this was a worst case scenario, that her parents probably had told Delphinia that they couldn't help and therefore was not there anymore. But she had to know for sure and the only person who could find out safely was Minnie.

"Yes, Mistress," she said with a hint of reluctance and for the second time that evening, the house elf disapparated from the sitting room.

"Eurydice, I am sure everything is fine," came her husband's soothing voice. The apprehensive look on his face, however, belied this. She also noticed that some of the paintings that hung in the room were watching her intently.

"I have to know," she said as her voice broke. She placed a hand over her lips and did her best to steel herself for the worst.

Just when Sedgwick was about to put a reassuring hand on her, Minnie apparated back into the sitting room with a crack, causing them both to stare at her expectantly. The first thing Eurydice noticed was that the house elf was trembling.

"Was my sister there?" she dared to ask.

Still shaking, Minnie nodded yes.

"And the Death Eaters? Were they there?" Sedgwick jumped in.

Minnie shook her head no.

"Well what is it?" he asked, baffled.

The house elf said nothing. Instead her bulbous eyes grew wide and filled with tears.

"Oh . . ." Eurydice found herself saying aloud, numbly rising from the couch.

"Eurydice, sit down," Sedgwick instructed. "I'll go. You stay here. You are in no state to travel."

"No, I'm going," she said as she walked to the fireplace. She hesitated, remembering that she loathed Floo travel. Instead she made for the front door so she could apparate over to Thornridge House--ancient spells on the house had long since prevented any witch or wizard from disapparating from within the walls of the house, save for house elves who commanded a stronger magic than wizards could muster.

"The midwife advises against apparation this late in the pregnancy," came Sedgwick's voice as she moved into the hallway. She had stopped listening and instead focused on the one goal of getting to her parents' house as soon as possible.

Once outside, the cold, steady rain stung her body and she realized that she had forgotten to grab her cloak on her way out. Thankfully her husband had followed her out with it and was wrapping it around her damp shoulders--he had ceased trying to convince her why she shouldn't go. Flashing him a dazed look, she disapparated to Thornridge House and arrived on the winding walkway that led up to the front of the home. Not two moments later, Sedgwick was at her side. She took steps before she saw something that would forever be burned into her memory.

They both ceased to walk, instead staring at a vast glowing skull with a serpent coming out of its mouth. It was the Dark Mark and it hovered over the gables, casting an eerie green light in the February sky--a harbinger of her worst fears. Eurydice's heart seized the moment she saw it and she knew immediately that anyone in the house would be dead.

Sedgwick said nothing and she was grateful for it. The second thing she noticed after the Dark Mark was that the ancient oak front door had been blown apart. She stepped cautiously over the splintered chunks of wood as she entered the foyer, only imagining the curse that could have reduced the door to bits. The third thing she noticed was a lump in the hallway that led to the back of the house. It only took her only a moment to realize that the lump was Delphinia.

Eurydice was unable to move, too afraid to continue into the house and discover what she already knew in her heart. Maybe they escaped! She knew better than to entertain such irrational thoughts. Though one more look at her sister's body reminded her that she needed to be sure. "Go upstairs and check for them," Eurydice said quietly as Sedgwick joined her in the entryway. He nodded grimly and headed for the stairs.

She cautiously moved down the hall and approached the body noticing that she was shaking all over as she did so. Delphinia was half slumped against the wall, eyes open. Her blonde hair was still wet and soot covered from her earlier journey. "Oh," Eurydice whispered tearfully as she knelt down to close her sister's eyes, a task that she preformed clumsily as she grappled with the weight of her baby. Only taking a moment to soak in the full reality of the situation, she continued down the hall, noting that the study, dining room, and kitchen were empty.

"They're upstairs," was all Sedgwick said once she came back into the entryway. Her gaze traced the curve of the staircase, following it upwards. At the top, she noticed a dark shape that she had been too distracted by Delphinia's body to notice earlier. A strange calm washed over her as she made for the stairs. She found her father on his back, eyes staring blankly above. Only a short distance away was her mother, still in her nightdress, and lying half in the bedroom and into the hall.

She quickly ran off to the toilet and vomited.