Chapter Text
"What will happen to her now? Our father and mother were in charge of her training and studies." Vittoria and Lazzaro glanced at one another. "They killed our parents, Albus. They tortured them for information and then slaughtered them like animals. She is not safe."
Albus was looking out the window. "What of her mother?"
Lazzaro stiffened. "Her mother was never around, she left her in our parents' care when she realized she had the gift." Vittoria nudged him.
"Valentina was here a few hours ago. She remains adamant on keeping Cosima away from Matteo and herself."
"In that case, Hogwarts is the safest place for her. She can stay here with the Weasley's or we could have her moved to Grimmauld Place until the school year begins."
"And her training?" Lazzaro asked. "She was studying occlumency from our father."
Albus smiled brightly. "Professor Snape can continue her studies."
Vittoria's eyes widened. "Professor Snape? Severus Snape?"
"Yes. Have you met?"
"No, but Cosima's mother has." Vittoria sighed. "Before she left my sister told me the name of the father of her children, Severus Snape. She said that the last thing she had heard was that he was a professor at Hogwarts. But, Albus, is he not a Death Eater?"
A crash echoed through the house. All eyes landed on Cosima, her hands shaking. "My father is a Death Eater?" Vittoria and Lazzaro got up from the couch.
"Cos, darling, calm down." Lazzaro put his hands up.
"A Death Eater?!" The entire room started shaking, a sharp pain drilling into everyone's heads. Cosima's violet eyes turned into a hardened gold and her face darkened. A wolf's howl could be heard from outside.
Vittoria tried to reach for Cosima's hand but was pushed back by her with just a flick of the young girl's wrist. "Vittoria!" Lazzaro hurried to his sister's side.
"Cosima?" The voice shook Cosima out of her trance. The young French witch stared at her with wide amber eyes. A solemn looking man watched her with a strange look of fascination and awe.
The room went silent. Cosima let out a pained cry and ran to the young woman's arms. "Amélie."
"Je suis ici chiot. Je suis ici." I'm here puppy. I'm here.
Cosima clung to Amélie, her nose buried in her golden curls. "I feel so alone Amélie. I'm all alone."
Amélie hugged her tighter. "Non, vous n'êtes pas. Je suis ici chiot. Je ne jamais vous quitter." No, you're not. I'm here puppy. I won't ever leave you.
"Miss Fournier, would you take Cosima back upstairs? We will call you both when we're done here." Albus asked her.
"Yes." She grasped Cosima's hand and pulled her towards the stairs. "Come, puppy."
When they were sure that they were upstairs Albus turned to Vittoria and Lazzaro. "Your father never mentioned those powers."
Vittoria shook her head. "We thought they were under control. My father and her had worked day and night to stop them from happening. The last time she had an outburst she was four years old and throwing a tantrum because she wanted a dog. She's grieving."
"Then we'll need to have her start her lessons as soon as possible." He turned to the solemn Snape. "Severus, you will be in charge of teaching her."
"As you wish, headmaster."
…
Amélie and Cosima laid in bed their eyes never breaking contact. The older witch laced their fingers together pulling Cosima's hands to her lips and kissing them gently.
"When Lazzaro's patronus arrived telling me of the attack I feared the worst. All I could think about was you being hurt. I never want to see you in pain. If I could take away the pain that you are feeling now away I would." Amélie pressed her forehead against Cosima's.
"I am so very sorry for the loss of your grandparents, chiot. But the selfish part of me will always thank them for putting your safety first. I do not know what I would have done if something had happened to you."
They stayed cuddled closely until Cosima looked at Amélie with a pained look. "What will happen to me? I can't go with zia Vittoria or zio Lazzaro, I'll only put them in danger."
"Your aunt and uncle are discussing the safest option with members of the Order. They will help protect you. Lorenzo and Maria Valentina left some instructions but now things have changed. Your safety was compromised and the Order has to protect you."
Cosima's nose scrunched at the name. "The Order? I have heard that name before." Her mind raced until it landed on a hazy memory. She had woken up screaming a year ago from a dream. In the dream she had seen light fight against dark and she had seen a woman with a sadistic smile hit a man with a curse from the back. The man had fallen into a veil. Her grandfather had asked her questions until she could no longer speak and immediately sent out a patronus to someone from 'the order'.
"Ouí, your dream saved the life of a member of the Order."
"I saved someone? No, grandfather could not have let that happen. He always taught me that I should never meddle with the future. There are events that need to happen for there to be a tomorrow."
"Well, he must have thought that this event did not need to happen the way it was supposed to. Your grandfather must have had his reasons, chiot." Amélie pushed Cosima's unruly hair away. "Sleep, chiot. You need to rest, it will help."
Cosima let Amélie's lull her to sleep as the older woman's fingers gently massaged her scalp. Their warmth intermingling and replacing the cold she had felt the moment she had gotten here.
…
Cosima stirred, her hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. Visions of dark magic surrounding a young blond man engulfed her dreams. The vision merged into a man with dark billowing robes staring into the eyes of an older bearded man before hitting him with the killing curse.
She sat straight up, her heart beating erratically. Bruno's nose nudged her foot as she tried to regain her composure. Her outburst had drained her energy and left her memory with blank spaces.
Voices carried into the room. Some she could recognize, others she couldn't. She pushed the thick wool blanket off her body and left the room racing down the stairs.
Six people were huddled around the shabby looking couches in a cramped living room. Their voices angry, frustrated and harsh. She recognized the back of her aunt and uncle's heads. Their dark hair matching hers.
"Zia Vittoria? Zio Lazzaro?" They whipped their heads around and the arguing stopped.
"Cos, you're awake." Her aunt stood up and that's when she saw the faces that had haunted her dreams.
The man in the dark billowing robes and the old man with the long white beard. "You." The old man looked at her with twinkling blue eyes, as if he knew what she had seen. The other only looked at her with wide onyx eyes full of recognition.
"Miss de' Medici, we've been looking forward to meeting you for a very long time. I regret the circumstances that have made this meeting possible but alas some things have no way of stopping them." The old man said. "I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. Your grandparents and I were allies in the first wizarding war. I am very sorry for your loss, child."
Cosima's breath hitched. "Thank you, sir." She looked at the man next to him and something inside of her screamed of recognition and familiarity. She could feel the calling in her blood, she had never met this man but she could feel the pull and screaming of his blood to hers.
"Oh, this is Professor Severus Snape. Your uncle Lazzaro has informed us that you were learning occlumency from your grandfather." She gave a little nod. "Severus is a skilled occlumens. He will be able to teach you."
"I no longer want to learn. I want to go back home." Vittoria took Cosima's hand in hers and squeezed.
"Darling, you can't go back. The house was destroyed. Mamma and papà are gone."
"She can stay here, we have enough room and she would be safe here." Molly assured the siblings.
"Nonsense, she is our niece. She belongs with us." Lazzaro argued.
Cosima blinked back hot tears. "I am not property, zio. 'They will not live a day over their eighteenth name day.' I am two years from my eighteenth name day and I have no desire to interfere with life."
Amélie shook Cosima's shoulders. "You can not say things like that, chiot. What would I do without you? What would Vittoria and Lazzaro do? Your family loves you and needs you."
"But I have a death sentence Amélie! I am Death itself. Everyone around me, everyone I see in my visions dies. I will die. My life is a constant cycle of death and it won't end until my last day. And I assure you all that the day my prophecy comes to an end will be the day that many will also die." Her eyes turned a soft golden color before she took a deep breath and returned to its natural violet color.
"Miss de' Medici, that is enough. You are to stay in Grimmauld Place until the school year begins. Your aunt and her partner at the auror office will be staying with you. Until then, Professor Snape will pick up on your occlumency training. Is that understood?" Dumbledore waited for a reply with a twinkle in his eye.
Cosima looked around the room, all eyes on her. "Do you honestly believe that with some occlumency lessons we stand a chance against what is stirring in the dark? I have seen the horrors that are to come and I do not want to be part of it. This curse has taken too much from me and I will not be a part of more deaths."
Snape, the solemn one, scoffed. "Not acting is the same as being part of it. In these times you must decide where you stand."
A small, barely noticeable pained flinch crossed his face as her violet/golden eyes bore into his. "Like you chose where you stand?" They stared at each other. "Oh, yes I know exactly who you are and where your allegiance stands. Don't presume to know me."
Amélie touched her hand briefly. "Puppy, this is not you. You would never let any harm come to innocents, you know this in your heart. You have to go with them."
Cosima's eyes watered. "I will put everyone in that school in danger."
"We'll have aurors posted at every entrance and exit. No way in and no way out. We're taking every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of every student and yours. Kingsley and the others have assured me that everyone will be safe." Dumbledore smiled as he tried to pacify her emotions before another outburst happened. "Your true mission begins today."
Cosima scoffed. "My mission? Is that what we call my life?"
"Many go on living a life with no direction or purpose in life. You have a purpose. You were gifted for this very reason. You were born to help save our world." Dumbledore answered.
"So my sole purpose in life is to save everyone while I am sentenced to death? Do I not deserve to be saved also? Letting me go now will save me from more pain. I will not be a pawn for this war and I will not be used to change the course of life. You are fighting a war that was lost before any of you realized it began. Accept it and less will die."
Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. Dumbledore raised his hand, a small frown forming on his old face. "Child, where there is light there is hope. There will always be hope. The day your grandfather informed me of the birth of his beloved granddaughter that had been born with a gift that could change the course of the future I knew there was hope. You will help the chosen one defeat the Dark Lord."
"The Chosen One? Another person whose fate was sealed before they were born by a damned prophecy. Another pawn in this war."
Snape scoffed. "Finally, we agree on something. But we are all pawns in this war. We all have roles to play."
"I know what it is you're looking for. I can feel what you want. I've seen it." Cosima stared straight into Dumbledore's eyes. "I am not your hope or your light. I am a weapon to you."
Vittoria stood up. "Cosima Lorenza, basta! I know you are hurting but this is the only way. Mamma and papà believed in you. Lazzaro and I believe in you. Please."
Cosima paled at the mention of her grandparents. The hate that was seeping through her entire being starting to melt away. "Tu sarai con me?" (You will be with me?)
"Ogni passo del cammino." (Every step of the way.)
Cosima's violet eyes watered. "E zia Pénélope conosce il pericolo?" (And aunt Pénélope knows the risk?)
"Lei sa, cara. Lei sa anche che non avrebbe mai lasciare te o me da solo." (She knows, darling. She also knows she would never leave you or me alone.)
"Amélie. Amélie will be there to guard me at Hogwarts. I want her there, I need her there."
Vittoria nodded. "I will inform the auror office that she has a new post." Cosima gave her a weak smile.
"Then that is settled. Miss de' Medici, we will be moving you to the safe house tonight. I suggest you get some rest before."
…..
Amélie's amber eyes watched Cosima rub the spot behind Bruno's ear. His tongue wagging in happiness.
"Chiot?" Cosima froze. "What you said back there, is that really what you feel? Do you really think that we are fighting a lost cause? That there is no hope?"
Her eyes failed to meet Amélie's. "I don't know. I was just lashing out. My emotions clouded my judgement."
"Look at me." Cosima refused to give in. "Please." Her voice came out in a whisper. Cosima's eyes snapped to hers.
"Amélie."
A scoff escaped Amélie's lips. "You do believe that. You do not believe we can win this war."
Cosima shook her head. "You have to understand me Amélie. I lost my family because of this curse. I can't bear to lose anyone else."
"You still have me. You have Lazzaro and Vittoria, you still have a family. Understand that." Amélie cupped Cosima's cheeks. "Your aunt and uncle love you. I love you, with all my heart. You are so loved, puppy."
"Amélie, I want you with me at Hogwarts because I need someone to help Pénélope take care of Vittoria and Lazzaro when I'm gone. I don't doubt your love but I have no hope in breaking the curse."
"Cosima…" Amélie tearfully whispered. "Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime. Tu es l'amour de ma vie. Je veux être avec toi pour toujours." (I love you, I love you, I love. You are the love of my life. I want to be with you forever.)
"I can't give you forever. I can't even give you a life with me." Cosima shuddered as Amélie pressed their foreheads together. "Please, don't do this to me. Don't make me hurt you. I won't be able to bear to see you hurting because of me."
"I hurt whenever I am away from you, Cos. And I know you will not hurt me. I know it because I can feel that you feel the same way. You love me like I love you." Their noses brushed together.
Cosima took a deep breath before she flicked her wrist and Amélie was gently pushed away from her. "The safety of those students and my aunts are your only responsibility auror Fournier."
The look of pained surprise that flashed in Amélie's amber eyes nearly broke Cosima's heart, nearly. "Now, if you would please leave. I need to get ready for tonight."
Amélie let a tear roll down her cheek before she nodded and left the room. Cosima waited for a few minutes before dropping next to Bruno and let her tears fall.