Hi, Droo
we're Brazilians and we live in Brazil.
What can I say? I'm very proud in read you saying my son is writing well.
A curiosity: Ricardo Riddle is a humorous caricature of my son... Just like Flora is a caricature of myself... My son always says I'm a Legillimens (my patients believe it too)...
Well, he often says I'm a witch, sometimes it's a compliment but sometimes... Well, I'm his mother!
Happy International Women's Day!

TSC TSC....

mom, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.........

Flora didn’t stop reading Hogwarts: a History, not even to clean the house, as now she could do everything just by moving her wand. Felipe was already making jokes about how she would be taking a shower without soaking the book in her hands ... just to add straight away:

“Oh, I forgot, she is a witch. She'll manage.”

Yan took advantage of his mother’s distraction to have his hair cut Mohican style and to have his tongue pierced. The piercing was removed right after tea, when Flora heard the sound of metal hitting the fork.

“But mom, everybody has it!”

“My son is not everybody ... And that's disgusting. Come here with piercings, tattoos and whatever only when you’re of age.”

“At least the wizard’s majority is earlier, I won’t have to wait until I‘m eighteen. I bet if it was Ricardo, you’d let him.” Yan whined.

“A-huh ... How many piercings does he have? And ears enlargers?” Flora asked, a little suspiciously.

“Ricardo's narrow-minded just like you, mom.”

Saying so, Yan left the kitchen dragging his feet, defeated..

Felipe followed him.

“You know how your mother is: she’s liberal for many things, but not to all of them.” Felipe explained to Yan. “You see, son, she wishes you well. We’ve just moved to a new country, you are going to a new school. We aren’t ordinary people even among the wizarding folks. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself at school.”

“But dad, Mom is always saying that if we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves; we have to behave like the people we hang out with. At school everyone is fancy, wearing pierces or enlargers; they even insert some lumps under the skin that are cool. If I’ll look plain, they’ll think I'm nerd or retarded. I wanted so much to wear one of those pierces, just in the tongue. Besides, Rosmerta’s nephew assured me that it’s possible to take everything off later on by using magic. And it doesn’t live as a scar or anything like that.”

“Okay, I'll talk to your mother. But no horns or lumps please.” Felipe said, warning him.

“I promise: no horns or lumps.’

Yan said that hiding his crossed fingers behind his back, thinking he hadn’t even thought of having horns, or horns like a human unicorn. And so, lost in the bizarre images of himself transformed like that, he skipped to the backyard.

Flora watched him skipping and suddenly realised that sometimes he seemed to hover in the air. She thought it to be interesting. Felipe came closer to her, hugged her and passed on to her their son’s arguments. Shaking her head, she said:

“His insightful thinking doesn’t impress me at all, He's just like you. What he doesn’t realize is that some children complain of their mothers and call them witches, but his is a witch indeed! Oh, how I wish I could clear his memory only to the point he argued reasonably against me so that I won’t be able to deny him what he wants.”

Felipe astonishingly looked at her. She looked back at him:

“Easy, my love. I’d never do that.” Flora replied to his unasked question, “I don’t think that the means justify the ends. "Let him looks like a Christmas tree. We can remove those ugly adornments once he doesn’t want them anymore... I don't care." she said defeated."

Astonished at her words, Felipe said, “I never imagined you’d say that.”

“Well, before, I didn’t have a wand to manage things. Besides, Yan is a proud boy. As soon as a girl finds him funny, he'll want to get rid of everything. He's already upset for going to Muggle school when his brother and sister are already going to Hogwarts. Let's allow him this time and be careful not to make things even more boring for out here.”

“Sometimes I forget that you are still a psychologist.”

“Me too.” Flora replied, smiling.

And the two hugged and kissed tenderly before joining their son in the backyard and along with him, admired the magnificent starry night.

Several days passed until an owl delivered a letter from Harry Potter. It was addressed only to Flora.

Mrs. Flora,
I talked to your aunt Andromeda
and she really wants to meet you.
If it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like
to take you to her house.
I’ll have the afternoon off tomorrow.
Please reply asap.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter

PS Would Felipe have a video
board for sale? The man that came over
to fix up my home computer said that
the problem is on it.

Flora immediately went to the store and told Felipe about the letter. Felipe, as always, encouraged his wife in the quest for her origins. But he was sorry for not being able to go along with her because he had work. Flora then asked about the computer, and Felipe replied that she should ask Potter to bring it over. Flora wrote:

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,
I accept your invitation.
See you tomorrow.
Flora
PS .Felipe asks you to bring
your computer for him to give
it a look.

Flora sent the message back though the same golden owl.

The morning passed quickly. After changing three or four times, Flora settled for a self-made gray-green dress with tiny orange roses embroidered in the neckline and hem. Felipe looked curiously at her:

“Long time no see you unsure about what to wear.”

Without taking her eyes off the mirror, examining herself at various poses,
Flora said:

“Yeah, I was also thinking about it. In fact since we’ve come here, I just feel good in a dress…I think that witches wear dresses and cloaks... I think it's only some of my childish fantasies.. But today’s indecision is because I don’t want to be judged by my appearance on the outside. I'm afraid my aunt is prejudiced against me because I am the daughter of her mean sister. I want to look a little sweet to her so we can talk at least.”

“Honey, this uncertainty does not suit you at all. Come here.”

While Felipe was hugging her, he saw Harry arriving at the gate through his window.

“Mr. Potter has just arrived, dear.”

Felipe kissed her gently, and they both went to meet the guest. Felipe took the computer off Harry's hands, talked briefly with him and then said goodbye to his wife:

“Good luck with your aunt. Take it easy. I love you.”

“I love you too. Have a good working day, my love.”

She turned to Harry:

“Always a pleasure to see you. How is your family?”

“It's my pleasure. We’re doing well. Ginny asked me to say hello to you. Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

Flora said it while reaching out to him, already feeling the backlash in the stomach characteristic of the Disapparition. Fortunately she hadn’t had lunch properly that day, or she would have surely made a mess. Fully nauseated, she Apparated with Harry and arrived at her aunt's place.

The wind and glare punished her eyes, but she could spot an old lady on the balcony. The picture delighted her heart, and filled it with longing for her childhood, remembering her sweetie Brazilian grandma.

The old lady rose to greet them. She was knitting a little bag:

“Good afternoon, I am Andromeda and you might be Flora.” She said, peering at Flora.

“Yes, I'm Flora. Is everything all right with you? Hope I’m not bothering you.”
Flora replied, feeling a little nervous.

Andromeda gently looked at her for a few moments and answered that she was all right:

“I was just waiting for you, dear. You look so much like a sweet version of my sister Bella. Your contours and hair resemble her, but your features are much more delicate ... And something tells me this delicacy goes beyond what I see.”

Flora felt her face going red. Her aunt went on:

“Harry Potter told me that you have a daughter, so I made this little gift for her. I hope she likes it.”

“You must have guessed my daughter's tastes, it’s perfect for her.” Flora replied, smiling and feeling a bit at ease. “And she loves bags, especially the handmade ones.”

Andromeda invited them to sit down and they spent the afternoon on the balcony, drinking tea and exchanging stories. Sometimes Flora apologized for everything bad Bellatrix did to her sister, but her aunt waved her apologies aside because there was nothing to apologize for. She knew very well that a child couldn’t be blamed for their parent’s acts, moreover when they hadn’t been brought up by them. Flora was relieved by such a comment and decided to introduce another touchy subject: Narcissa Malfoy. Andromeda listened to her carefully and touched, she says:

“So many terrible things had to happen for Cissa to realize the injustice done because of her prejudice. How many things we lost... It’s a pity that neither I could follow my nephew’s growth, nor could she ever meet my Nymphadora, a girl so smart and funny as restless ... And my son-in-law … so brave ...”, tears tricked down her face. “At least we have our Teddy ... Thank you, Flora. I'll send an owl to my sister today itself... Maybe after our meeting my name can go back on the Black’s tapestry.”

“The Black’s tapestry?”

“A magic tapestry with the family tree, it’s on the wall of Sirius’s house, my cousin, which now is Harry’s. My aunt kindly burned Sirius’s name and mine from the tapestry ... Family things.” She smiled. “Harry, have you ever noticed whether Flora’s name was on the tapestry or not?”

“It’s been a long time since I went to Grimmauld Place. But it's weird; her name wasn’t there when I first went to the house. After that I don’t remember if I’ve put my eyes on it again.”

“Rodolphus Lestrange must have bewitched the tapestry to not show it. So that nobody would have a hint of Flora’s existence. Very well thought.” Andromeda commented.

“Harry, can I make you a request?” Flora asked Harry.

Harry looked closely at Flora :

“Will you let me see this tapestry?”

“Of course,. I’ll take you there. Right now?”

She looked at her aunt, as if asking for permission:

“Go baby. Come back whenever you like. Teddy can join us some other time so you can meet him then. Right now, he is at the Shell Cottage dating a bit. He can’t stay for more than a couple of days away from Victoire.”

“Bill has gotten him a job at Gringotts, hasn’t he yet?” Harry asked her.

“Yes, he’ll be starting as a trainee next week. He’s very excited about that. Now you two better go; otherwise it’s gonna get late for you to get back to Hogsmeade.”

After bidding them farewell, Flora invited her aunt to tea in Hogsmeade, so she could meet her family, or at least, part of it, since Flora’s older children were at school.

“I'll be waiting for you at my home in Hogsmeade, Aunt Andromeda for a couple of cups of tea. I am very happy to meet you. And you'll love my family, I'm sure ... Pity that my eldest two are in school ... Send me an owl when you want to come. It was really a pleasure meeting you”.

Flora smiled when she realized that Harry had his arm extended waiting for her to finish talking so they could Disapparate.

“Shall we go then?”

Grimmauld Place hadn’t changed much since Sirius was gone. Harry liked to keep the house as it originally was. The only things he really minded to remove were the years-long dirt and the picture of Sirius' mother, that was now in the attic, a place where once lived a hippogriff.

The house was now clean and tidy, and slightly smelt of wood. All that had been eroded by time, moths or by doxies (biting fairies), had been replaced by similar objects or recovered altogether. Still, it was rather gloomy, but Flora wasn’t intimidated by that. Kreacher, the house-elf was its only occupant. He no longer had the strength to get out of bed and so, he was looked after by a witch hired by Harry. She visited the elf three times a day, and brought him food. She also looked after the house. Harry went to visit him in Sirius's brother, Regulus’s old room. The elf looked happy and interested in Flora. Harry introduced them, but as soon as Kreacher heard Flora’s name, he said with his bullfrog’s voice even huskier with his old age:

“Kreacher knows who she is” the elf said. “It was a closely guarded secret for many years. Kreacher was forced not to tell that to anybody, and this was his greatest betrayal against the Blacks. Mr Lestrange threatened to kill Miss Bella if he did it. Your name is on the tapestry, Flora Riddle."

Hearing this, Flora clearly got excited to see the tapestry. Making a flourished gesture with her wand, she conjured up a wildflowers’ bouquet to fill the small vase on the nightstand. Very pleased, Kreacher thanked her and showed them the door.

“I'll let you rest, then. Excuse me sir.” Flora said.

Kreacher looked at her very surprised but didn’t say anything. Harry stayed in the room a little longer, wondering what else he could do for Kreacher’s welfare. The old elf got happy and once again asked Harry whether he could switch nurses, as he’d rather it be an elf than a witch.

“No problem. As soon as possible, we will do the change. I believe it will be in this week, all right?”

“Certainly, Mr. Potter. I trust you. If I may comment, she doesn’t look like Miss Bella, I think she’s a different kind of a witch. Like you. But even so, be careful.” said Kreacher.

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Kreacher.”

“Now I must rest.”

Kreacher turned on his side in the bed. Without waiting for the farewell, he immediately began to snore loudly. Harry wasn’t sure if they were real or fake snores. However, he left the old elf alone and went after Flora. She was waiting on the stairs, on the floor below.

Flora and Harry went to the living room where the tapestry was nailed to the wall. At first glance there was no sign of her name. Harry drew a complicated series of movements with his wand, whispered strange words in Latin and finally the once burned names began to reappear as if they’d just been written. There came Flora’s and Tom Marvolo Riddle’s names followed by the name of Flora’s husband and children, which could be seen again.

She looked closely at the triangle formed by her name along with her biological parents’. Taking a deep breath, she remained silent for a few minutes, patting her dumb lips with her fingers. Harry put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her. This brought her out of her trance:

”I forgot it wasn’t just my name that would appear on it.”

As she said this, she pointed her wand at her parents' names and burned them. She went on:

“But I still want to understand why these two people came to this point. Why were they so cruel?”

“I think I'm the person who best knew Voldemort, perhaps even better than himself or Dumbledore. I can show you some memories that may help. At Hogwarts, a very interesting object, a Pensieve is kept in the headmistress' office. Dumbledore used it to share memories, from his own and from other people as well. It’s kind a hard to explain.”

Flora turned to him, looking deeply in his eyes without penetrating them. Then she said:

“At least try to. I'm curious.”

“Memory is a silvery fluid substance that can be extracted using the wand. If immediately stored in a bottle, it can be accessed in the Pensieve, we can literally dive into these memories when they are there and review, as if in a movie, what happened. It's just not possible to interact with those memories, we can just watch them. Dumbledore had a collection of memories connected to Tom Riddle. They helped us to defeat him.”

“If it isn’t very shocking for me, I’d like to see some of them.”

“I'll talk to Professor McGonagall. But I think I can show you some of them myself. Shall we go back now?”

“Yes.”

He reached for her and led her to the doorway, from where they Disapparated back to Hogsmeade.

Three Chapters! Give me time to catch up girl! I can't wait till sorting, and you get to play in the school!

um.... well... As I said before, Flora is a caricature of myself... So it's easier write her story than eating gelatin... so I already wrote all chapters of this FF, already translated them into English (my friend Roger and I) and I have just waiting my beta-reader to make adjustments (there are 19 chapters)... I am trying post it as slowly as I can.

Now I'm working in translate Flora Riddle 3 (there are 5 chapters translated) and writing its chapter 25... But I promisse: I will not write Flora 4.

About sorting... The Sorting Hat? I was sorted to Slytherin in Pottermore! I would like to be sorted to Slytherin here too, because I love Snape... It would be a honour.

Mom, how old Kreacher is in your FF? I hope no one will put his head in a bottle ... You know my favorite scene in DH is to imagine the house-elves armed with knives and cleavers attacking the ankles of the Death Eaters ... So Kreacher deserves a happy ending and stay in a bed being cared for by a witch is not nothing nice. You can do it better!
Love, G.

PS. How you can see, I'm studying to my English test now.

well... um...good question

someone could tell me how many years living a house elf?


I wrote that Kreacher was still alive 20 after the fall of Voldemort.... If we think he was old 20 years before, and his/its mother was killed by Sirius' lovely mother and the Sirus' mother was died in 1985... and Kreacher probably saw Sirius and Regulus grow up.... perhaps he is about 80 years-old in the Flora's story.

And, ok... I'll think about give him a happy ending. He was brave!

as you are! I know you're studying. Take it easy! and be happy!

The days passed quickly. With the excuse of teaching Flora and Felipe all about the laws of the Ministry, Hermione had managed to take a leave of absence at work to help with her friends "training". Nobody was better suited for doing this than her, since she worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Furthermore, the minister personally believed that it’d be nice to keep an eye on the footsteps of Voldemort's heir. So, neither Hermione’s nor Harry’s absences from work were questioned even if they didn’t systematically report back on work.

Flora and Hermione now "popped in" at the school library every day, despite Harry’s fears that his friend was equipping Flora with too much. Actually, despite Ginny’s protests, he too was doing the same. So now Ginny truly believed that Hermione had really been bewitched, as Flora was now her favorite subject.

What Ginny couldn’t understand was that teaching magic to Flora was really magical - as Hermione stated after much thought- because Flora’s ability to learn was extraordinary. Besides, the Brazilian witch was very interested in everything and extremely dedicated to learning.

In those daily visits to the library, they borrowed and returned books and
more books. Back at Flora’s house, they practiced for hours together.

Hermione had set up a program with the basic topics that she believed were important to an adult witch. Hannah also took part in Flora’s training, especially when it came to the preparation of potions and in magical plants’ care, as it was a skill that she’d acquired from her husband.

Flora was a disaster as a caretaker of plants, but excelled in the preparation of potions. That made her teachers often feel sorry, because their former teacher, Severus Snape, had died without having had the opportunity to teach her. They even believed that his customary bad mood would have vanished before so bright a student.

Flora’s evenings were very pleasant in the company of her two friends. Though Felipe’s presence was becoming lesser and lesser to these classes or Girls Club as he used to kid, he practiced a lot in his shop. Hogsmeade’s residents eagerly taught him spells in exchange for computing classes.

Aberforth, the owner of the pub next door, and a very old man, who could barely move his twisted fingers on the keyboard, was one of his most dedicated students. He had already created his own blog, called the Old Headless Hog (meaning that the head of the hog had been chopped off which now hung on top of the door of his pub) and, who, in turn, taught Felipe how to conjure a Patronus. For that, Felipe had to recall a happy memory, and this was easy for him as his life was good enough, which helped him make his Patronus very bright. His difficulty, though, was to choose which among his happy memories the strongest one was. Despite this “difficulty”, his patronus, a huge condor, was so perfect that one could see every detail on its feathers.

Soon after lunch on a rainy day, an owl arrived with a message from Harry Potter. The note it brought informed her that because of the break, he would be coming in an hour to take her to the office of the Headmistress of the
school.

Flora’s heart pounded. She was afraid of what she would be seeing there, but as always, her curiosity surpassed her fear. Felipe was apologetic for not being able to go with them.

“I’ve promised Ab to help him with the improvement of the graph of his blog. Neville’s coming too; he also has off this afternoon. Then we’ll stop by Ab’s who is going to cook for us, Neville once had said that Ab’s food is unforgettable, but I couldn’t understand if he was being sarcastic or was really praising him. Anyways, it’s a program for boys only and I’m sure that it’s going to be fun.” Felipe replied enthusiastically.

Flora raised an eyebrow. Felipe went on:

“Don’t worry. We won’t do anything obscene. I'm even going to take Yan as he doesn’t have any classes this afternoon. Now that he has discovered wizard chess, he won’t rest till he finds a partner naughtier than him. He plays for the simple pleasure of seeing the pieces massacring each other.”

“So, old Ab has made a blog?” Flora asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s a huge success among the school’s former students.”

Flora smiled.

“I'm off, darling. I need to open the store. Take care, my love.”

Felipe left Flora alone at home. She sent a message via mobile to Hermione, who was one of the few witches keen on using technology, informing her that they couldn’t have classes that afternoon. She stopped by Hannah’s and informed her too. She did not tell them the reason, as if the meeting with Harry was secret. Once she was finished with her housework, she sat on a rocking chair in the back porch to read a spell book. She was so absorbed in reading that she did not even see him coming. After rounding the house, Harry stood before her, dropping a shadow on her. She was suddenly startled, but then smiled and got up from her chair to greet him with a kiss on his cheek. Harry became a little embarrassed with her demonstration of affection. She apologized and explained to him that it was usual in Brazil.

Flora offered him juice; he accepted it. Afterward they walked along the road that went till the school gates:

“Today I’ll show you one of Dumbledore’s old memories. It dates back to the day he met Voldemort at the orphanage. Dumbledore paid them a visit to explain that the boy had been selected for a scholarship in a boarding school. I think you'll have a good idea about who Tom Riddle was since childhood.”

They went along the path talking about the similarities and differences of their childhood, considering they both had been brought up by Muggle families. The marked contrast between them was that her upbringing had been extremely happy and immersed in love, his in turn was full of privations of all kinds. The talk flowed quite freely between them, as if they were old friends, siblings; or rather lovers.

Once they got there, they met Professor McGonagall near her office. She said that she’d leave them alone because of an appointment.

They walked past the gargoyle guarding the spiral staircase that led to her office. When they got there, Flora got very tense and held Harry's hand. Seeing that, he asked her whether she wanted to continue. She said that she did and that she’d decide what to do only after having experienced it.

Harry quickly greeted the past Hogwarts Headmasters and Headmistress painted in the pictures that hung from the wall. Nevertheless, he silently paused for a moment in front of Dumbledore’s portrait. By his side, motionless, Flora silently followed the movements in the paintings. Then from a cupboard that looked like an old cabinet, he took the Pensieve together with a little bottle full of a pearly liquid. He turned it on the stone basin and the substance expanded, it was fluid like water, although it was not wet at all. It was something between a gas and a liquid. He signaled for her to “plunge” her face in it. It sounded strange to her, but she did as asked. She immediately felt as if she was falling into another dimension. Harry materialized next to her soon afterwards.

They followed a man in strange clothes till the gate of the orphanage. It was an austere building, apparently uninhabited, since one could not hear any sound from outside that indicated there were children in there.

The gentleman talked to the woman responsible for the place. She was surprised, since no one ever had come looking for the boy. She also hinted that the young lad had a bizarre behavior, but she was not clear about it, though; probably for being afraid nobody would take him away.

Flora saw the meeting between the boy and the gentleman that according to Harry, was the young Dumbledore. Flora noted that even then, Tom Riddle didn’t have much moral sense and enjoyed pestering other children and animals; besides he used to commit petty thefts. After seeing all that, Flora and he came back from their dive in the Pensieve.

They left the office in silence. Harry was aware of her need to think all that over. The experience might have cracked her childhood dreams about her father being originally an innocent boy led astray by lack of love and understanding. But those were Harry’s thoughts. But instead, after seeing her father as a beautiful boy with features very similar to hers as well as her children, Flora felt an even greater compassion for him. When she finally managed to speak, they were outside the castle, heading towards Hagrid’s hut – Harry had warned her that he wanted to stop by to see his old friend

“Poor thing!” Flora sighed.

“Poor thing? I can’t believe my ears!”

“You see, Harry. At that age we still can’t say one is a psychopath. Of course, his behavior is unacceptable, but I have treated many similar ones in many years of practice... I keep on thinking that if he’d had the same opportunity as me, or a proper treatment, he might have had a different life.”

“You are truly amazing. I don’t know what to say.”

Harry was angry with what he had heard. He did not say anything. They arrived at the hut and Hagrid helped smoothen things between them. Hagrid commented about his last class by talking about Hippogriffs and other very exotic animals. He also told them how much he had talked to Lia and Lily, who were inseparable now and seemed extremely interested in the dealing of magical creatures:

“It’d be no surprise if Lia turned up with a dragon's egg in your house, Flora... Actually, I’ve incubated one myself. Despite being a docile animal, it became difficult to live with the fires it breathed out.” Hagrid laughed. “By the way, Flora, I am going to the Hog's Head. Aberforth has invited me. He said your husband would be there too. And Neville too. It’s gonna be a time for boys only. Hope you don’t mind me stealing your Harry.”

Throwing her head back, Flora laughed to disguise Hagrid’s embarrassing suggestion that Harry somehow could be hers. She replied back saying that it would not be a problem.

Hagrid said that it was already time for him to go, so he could walk with them to the village. When they arrived in front of the bar, Harry left Hagrid there and said that he would walk Flora home.

They got at her home very quickly. He looked into her eyes and asked:

“How can you naively find an explanation for everything?”

“I’ve been like that since I was a child... Seriously, Harry. I don’t want to see anything else about my father. I've seen enough, and I already have my explanations. I’d like to know a little more about the Gaunts, but I don’t think you have anything about them, do you?”

“I don’t, but Dumbledore left a bottle of memories he got from a ministry official who had once investigated the Gaunts.”

“Investigate? Were they also against the good-costumes?”

“Sort of. In fact they were fairly primitive... You'll see. Can I come back tomorrow?”

“If it doesn’t disturb your routine much, yes you definitely can.”

“Well, then see you tomorrow. Now I have to get going to that boys-only show.”

Flora kissed him on the cheek. He blushed again. She simply commented that he would get used to it.

no one replies me? I'm feeling alone... the last chapter was too bad?
(I think I'm with PMT, please would you may post a softly note?)

well, I'm alone... the counter must be crazy or Peeves was kidding and spent all of his free time clicking on my FF...
So... I will post a new chapter just to decrease my boredom...

Next morning, Harry could not get off his mind the image of Flora throwing
her curly hair back when she laughed at Hagrid’s hut: but this time the similarities between her and the terrible Bellatrix that got him worried weren’t there . Actually, thoughts about Flora filled up his mind again. Apprehensive, he decided to send her an owl cancelling their meeting later on.

For the time being, he needed to set a greater distance between them so as to put things in a better perspective. He was safe when away from her, even though his cheeks still kept the memory of her kisses. At least, he didn’t have to worry anymore about one of his greatest concerns: she didn’t want to see anything else about Voldemort. She wouldn’t know about the Horcruxes, which was a relief. Although she looked more and more sweet and honest, as a very powerful and intelligent witch, she was far from being harmless. He could see both qualities on how quickly she learned everything.
Besides, she had an immense power over him. What was happening? He went on loving Ginny, more and more, but he was obsessed by another woman.
Surely he’d withdraw a little from her. The need to work was a good excuse.
As for that, the Ministry didn’t lack work at all. Moreover, it had been a long time since he’d last watched Draco.

*

Flora is sad when she got Harry's owl. However, once she’d already dismissed her friends and mentors, she decided to practice something new.

Her aunt Narcissa had commented en passant that Voldemort didnot need a broom to fly at the end of his life. By observing her son hovering in the air between small skips, she devised a possibility there. She hateed the idea of flying on brooms. She’d try it. Was there some instruction in a book?

After hours of researching in the books she’d borrowed from Hogwarts without finding anything, she decided to make a fool of herself in the backyard. She looked around to see if there was anybody watching – just in case. However, she knows no one would be craning over the fence, as it was not a habit among wizards to snoop on other people's lives.

She stood under the tree. Then, she imagineed herself flying. Nothing happens. She tried to concentrate harder; thought on the lightness of her hair; emptied her mind of any thoughts. Then she imagined her body getting lighter and lighter. Firstly she focused on her neck, then on her trunk, and finally on her feet. She closed her eyes. She swung a little before trying to soar up into the air. Nothing happened.

Smiling, she thought this kind of thing could only be done without anyone looking, just as then. Determined to fly, she thought on birds and imagined herself as a bird flying high up in the sky. She closed her eyes again, and focused on the flight. She even stood on tiptoes, and…nothing.

She shaked her head. No, she wouldn’t give up so soon. If he did, why wouldn’t she? Was he better than her? Flora got mad. She did not want to admit that the nasty Tom Riddle could have got more power than her. At that time, he was repulsive to her. She had mixed feelings for her father then. Pity and anger. She was angry he had made her go through the pain he caused to so many people.

She walked stepping on dry leaves in the yard. The feeling of them under her bare feet brought lightness, and quietness back to her. She went back to her exercises. She believed she was on the right track. She had to think on things that fly. She began to list them:

“1. Butterflies; 2. Birds; 3. Owls; 4. Bats; 5. Fairies; 6. Pixies; 7. Kites; 8. Airplanes; 9...”

She could not remember of anything else that flies. Then, a green leaf from the tree falls on her shoulder.

“9. Harry Potter…”

Why was she thinking on Harry Potter again? She would never seen him flying! She knows he was a great Quidditch player, Hermione had told her that, but anyway… She was angry with herself. And then she decided: the nineth item would be Yan:

”9. Yan. 10. Brooms, 11. Wingardium Leviosa...”

That was it. She needed to figure out a spell that made her fly. She took her wand and casted a spell of levitation on a stone. It rised in the air. Flora studied the stone, the wand. She felt the energy that flowed through her veins being channeled into her wand. It almost numbed her fingertips.

That was the trick. This was how she’d fly.

Then Hannah’s calls from the gate interrupt her. Flora let go the stone, sticked the wand in her pocket, and run to her friend. Hannah had out-of-time cramps and was asking for her help. Flora drove her to the small clinic in town, in which a very attentive witch received them. While Hannah was resting, the witch quickly prepared a potion. Flora sent her husband a message asking him to tell Neville where they were. She spent the rest of the afternoon with her friend that got better soon. It had been only a mild discomfort. It’d take the baby more than three months to come yet. When Neville arrived at evening, Flora went home.

Yan, Felipe, and her got home almost at the same time. After dinner, they played wizard's chess. The loser should clean the kitchen.

Flora was oblivious of the game. She had her mind on Hannah, on the baby, on the flying stone... She got scared when her queen was shattered by the black king’s sword:

“Mom, what’s happening; do you want to checkmate my king with your piece next to him? Do you really think I’m eager to do the dishes?”

“Sorry, son. I was with my mind on Hannah. I was so worried about her this afternoon that I can’t concentrate now. Doing the dishes will do me good, mainly because I won’t use magic.”

She got up and went to the sink. She needed to get her hands wet in the cold water; to wait for the soap to form bubbles, and to see them bursting afterwards. A bubble comes loose and floats in the air for a moment. Flora remembers of her flying attempts. They seemed to have happened a thousand of years before.

An owl came through the window still open. She knew that owl. Flora's husband took the letter and said:

“It's for you. Harry says he’s coming tomorrow morning to take you to the school again.”

She replied with an emotionless "thank you", as if Felipe had said that the rubbish collection schedule had changed. He found it strange and said:

“If you want to stop with it, we’ll ask him not to come.”

“No, it’s not that. You may reply confirming I’ll be waiting for him. However, it was so shocking last time that I'm afraid of what I can find now. I decided that I won’t try to know anything else about Voldemort. I already know enough. It only pays to know about the terrible things he did not to repeat them. I can just pity him for having killed and tortured lovely people. Every day I’m more grateful to Mr. Lestrange.”

“Me too.” Felipe smiled.

“Tomorrow we should investigate a little about my paternal grandmother’s family. Harry said he kept a reminder. It's crazy, love, memories stored in bottles. One day you must come with us to see that.”

Very good update!

Next morning, Flora met Harry in front of Felipe’s small shop. She kissed her husband on the lips. Harry looked away. Then he said:

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

They were nearly halfway when Flora broke the silence by venting out:

“Harry, it’s being hard for me. I’ve never been so angry before. I was trying to fool myself by wishing my father had something good in him, but he hadn’t, had he? Yesterday I took Hannah to the clinic, she was a little unwell. I looked at her, and thought: how could he have killed so many people, torn apart so many families, and spread so much sadness? Hannah hasn’t got a mother; whose fault is it? You haven’t got a father or a mother; Andromeda lost her only daughter, her husband and son in law. It's terrible. At least, I hope the Gaunts are better.”

Harry did not reply. Instead he just tapped awkwardly on her shoulder (his intention was to hug her) and remained silent. He knew the Gaunts were not much better.

When they got to Hogwarts, Lia and Lily were chasing butterflies in the lawn.
They explained that their quills and scrolls had been transfigured into butterflies by Ricardo, Scorpius, James, and Albus. So, they would not be able to write in their next class. Harry laughed and quickly undid the spell.

Lia could not disguise her disappointment as she was really marveled by her butterflies. Flora and Harry kissed the girls and went into the castle. Harry said that he had never imagined seeing Draco’s son doing something fun with their children.

“Ricardo can do amazing things. He must have shown the three of them that there is no reason for a house to keep on picking at the other. See, even he, who is a Slytherin descendant is in Gryffindor. Just be careful, my son is as smart as a prankster can be, and he’s going to lead yours astray.”

Harry smiled:

“So it's going to be hard to tell who is leading who astray. James seems to have combined in one person all the rompy genes. They come from the Weasley twins and from my father who were reputed as being averse to the rules. Filch still remembers them all.”

They laughed. When they got to the Headmistress’ office, they found a note stuck at the Gargoyle,

"Harry and Flora, feel at ease. I'll be back later."

They once again entered the cabinet. Flora felt better now after having met her daughter. She remained silent while Harry got the stone Pensieve out and a small bottle full of a pearly substance. He reached out for her and they plunged once again into someone’s memories; now into those of an unknown officer of the Ministry of Magic.

They saw two men in a small house that looked sloppy. The younger of them was being summoned to attend the Ministry to clarify the reason for having used magic against a Muggle the day before. The officer, though, was ill-treated in the Gaunts’ house. The men humiliated him to show that they were more powerful than him because they were Slytherin’s descendants. The poor man was just a little less abused than a woman who too was treated with contempt and violence. She was the Gaunt’s daughter. Flora could also see her paternal grandfather who stopped over during a horse ride.
The witch felt sick seeing this and so asked Harry to stop the plunge.

Returning back to the present, Flora was so disgusted at the Gaunt’s arrogant and perverse behavior that she was almost felt dizzy and leaned against Harry. Flora sympathized with her grandmother and for over half an hour stayed in shock, sickened at the way the lady was treated in her youth.

Harry said nothing; instead, he just put his arm around her shoulders, and brought her head against him. At that moment, Prof. McGonagall returned to the room. She saw the gloomy scene and immediately understood that the memory had been too much for Flora. So, she made them tea.

Flora thanked her for the tea. The tears flowed quietly and freely down her face. The headmistress who was quite experienced and wise, said:

“The important thing here is not to lose sight of who we are. It’s not our ancestor’s blood that determines our moral integrity.”

“I know that. I was just afraid. Besides, I also couldn’t help feeling my grandmother, Merope’s pain. She was never loved by anyone. She was less than nothing in her own home. Harry had told me the story before, but not all the cruelty. If I could, I’d surely have gotten rid of all this disgusting blood.... Sorry, I know I'm being pathetic. It isn’t proper behavior for a woman my age, I apologize.”

Flora got up and almost shocked when she noted how she was nestled in Harry’s arms. She looked at him in the eyes and thanked him. Then she said she would like to leave now. Harry too got up to accompany her, but she begged him not to as she wanted to be alone. She could not tell him the truth. She was sick because everything she despised was also present in her guts. In a way, to be arrogant was natural to her while to be nice and correct demanded an ever going effort from her. As she was forced to be at every moment of her life. Now she knew why.

She got home in a wink of time and spent the rest of the morning crying on her bed.

I know how much you enjoy writing and I want you to know that I also enjoy reading what you write.
As I promised, I'm here reading this story, in English. This last chapter left me sad in the same way when I read in HP the Merope's story ('ve talked about this). ANd after that... Poor Flora! Refresh her ​​life, she'd like some colorful butterflies and a rainbow day! (it would be that you would like, i know... and if Flora is like you, she would like it too, she need it too)...
well, that's enough.
kisses

gabriel

How did I not see this!!! Oooo a little sad but good!

Hi, Droo!

I have to admit that the next chapters are a little sad, but I love happy endings and I could not settle down until I left everything ok in Flora's life ...
then be sure if that things are not as good is because fanfiction is not reached the end...

Thanks for reading and quoting my FF!

Few hours later, Harry stopped over her house to see how she was doing and found Hannah taking care of her. Flora was sleeping in her room. He went to Felipe’s shop, and told him about what had happened. Felipe got concerned, but assured his friend that his wife was strong. She would definitely get better by the next day.

He was right. When Flora awoke the next morning her expression was serene, but she said to her husband that her heart was broken. However, she was aware that nothing could be done about the past; what matters is the future.
By that she meant her children and grandchildren. They would and had to surely show the world that people could improve. And that's what she’d do.
She had made up her mind to apply for the position of Muggle Studies teacher. She would prove that being Voldemort’s descendant was not a sentence. But first of all, she wanted to reach the end of her investigations.

Flora asked Felipe to send out an owl to Harry Potter with the following message:

Harry Potter
Thank you for yesterday.”I'm ready again to continue my journey through the history of my ancestors.”
I hope you haven’t given up on helping me.
Kisses for you and Ginny
Flora

In the afternoon, while she was taking spell classes with Hermione, she got
Harry’s reply:

Flora,
Glad you're feeling better.
I’ll continue helping you whenever you need me.
Believe me; the worst is over.
When ready, please contact me.
Kisses and hugs for you and Felipe
Harry

Flora asked Hermione to accompany them the next time she would encounter her past. Hermione accepted her invitation, mainly because they would be going to the Chamber of Secrets. She knew that, because Harry had already told her what he would be doing when it was Slytherin’s turn. Besides, her sister-in-law Ginny - who smelt a rat in what concerned Flora and Harry - had also asked her to do the same.

Just two days later, they were again walking to the school. This time Harry was silent, listening to the chatter of the two witches. Hermione explained how she had managed to turn the elves’ release into law (how she had managed to convince the elves to accept freedom and decent working conditions, especially in terms of good wages, and weekly rest - as they were used to thinking that all this was a dishonor to them). Flora had heard wonders about these stories, and was proud to have Hermione as her friend.

The school yard was empty, as most classes were busy in writing tests, and whoever was not, was studying for them. They met an unusual silence.

As soon as they got into the castle, Harry started talking about Slytherin and his preference for pure-bloods, which ultimately turned into an obsession that culminated with his split with Gryffindor and consequently with the school.

“I’ll show you today the Chamber of Secrets that was the concrete result of Slytherin’s obsession, which, in Tom Riddle’s times, had disastrous consequences."

They went to the ladies toilet that still guarded the secret passage to Slytherin’s chamber. Harry asked Flora to stand in front of a sink, which had a tiny snake drawn on its old copper tap. Then, he asked her to utter the word "open" in Parseltongue – he could have done it himself (1), but he wanted to give her the opportunity to experience the grandeur of Slytherin’s magical power, even thousands of years after his death.

The small snake appeared to move. While Flora was still looking at the agile movement of the snake, the sink suddenly vanished. In its place she could see the entrance to a narrow and dark tunnel. Harry told her to follow him. She did that without any hesitation or doubt, due to her enormous confidence in him. Hermione followed closely behind. They slipped through the tunnel that reminded Flora of a water park toboggan, without an end, with a strong smell of mold, and with a little less water (it was not dry, but there was no water flowing in it either).

“Is it really long or is it my anxiety that makes it look longer? Laughing nervously, Flora asked her friends who were now only sounds in the darkness.”

“It's long, but as far as I can remember we’re already close to its end.” Hermione affectionately replied.

The way down ended and they reached a dark room-like place. The three said together "Lumos" and a dim light emitted from their wands, clearing their way as if it was poor day-light.

Nothing in the chamber reminded of the monster that it once hid. Only the labyrinthine circular tunnels were still there, but not a trace of the basilisk, not even its bones. They walked in silence along a winding tunnel until a stone wall on which were carved two intertwined snakes appeared. Their eyes were made of emeralds and when Harry pointed his wand at them the whole place went green. He gave way to Flora again.

She looked at the snakes for a moment. They looked real. She caressed them, closed her eyes and a chill ran down her spine. Her chest filled with air and she suddenly knew what to do and hissed:

“Open up.”

The snakes moved away and the walls gave way to a long passage into a lengthy and high-ceiled chamber. A diffuse green light that seemed to emanate from nowhere illuminated the place, giving it a strangely comfortable look, Flora thought. They remained in silence while walking towards the bottom of the chamber. Flora took out her shoes along the way. Harry and Hermione got curious, but did not say anything.

The cold ground and the tall columns that lined up the way, gave Flora the impression that she was walking inside a large snake. But she kept such feelings to herself, as she herself could not understand exactly what they meant. Her heart pounded and she felt as if every step was a surrender to the truth about her life: she was Slytherin's heir. Her eyes were moist, so was her skin. She was breaking into a cold sweat, but strangely enough she felt extremely well.

They got to the end. Slytherin’s statue stood still. While looking at it, Harry told her the story of when he first went in there; about Tom Riddle’s image gaining strength while Ginny was dying on the ground. His whispered voice reverberated in the immensity of the place, which gave her the impression that they were in a kind of temple. Flora fixed her gaze on Slytherin’s face; his hollow eyes seemed to look at her sternly. She felt so small, and immediately felt the urge to fight this feeling, to show her superiority over her ancestor. She shook her head to wave away this thought and tried to pay attention to the story Harry was telling her. It was about a sword inside the sorting hat, a giant snake he killed and a diary he destroyed. She had no idea about how the story had reached this point, but she was ashamed of asking for further explanation. While telling her the story, Harry took care not to mention anything about the true nature of Tom Riddle’s diary, the first Horcrux ever found.

He just said that the diary, Salazar Slytherin’s locket, as well as Cadmus Perverell’s ring (objects that were in the hands of Voldemort), all these objects had been destroyed because they contained black magic.

Flora did not go sick even after listening to all that, including the story of how Hagrid had lost the right to have a wand – an error that was rectified after seventy years. Somehow she had expected to hear terrible stories about her father, so nothing surprised her much. She came back from the exploration of the depths of the castle, assured of being the descendant of that rude and stone looking man.

__________________________________________________ _______________
(1)In my previous FF, Flora Riddle 1, I wrote that Ron told Neville that Harry mysteriously was returned to be able to speak to snakes. Which he suspected that only Dumbledore would be able to explain - but he was sure that if he were alive, Dumbledore would not share this explanation with them. Does someone disagree?

No I'd agree with you

The Old Dumbledore and his secrets...
It would be impossible disagree.... Rita Skeeter could search her whole life and would know less than 1% about his lies and secrets to put in her stupid book. He didn't share anything with anybody, neither with Grindewald...

I enjoyed your description of how Flora felt at Chamber of Secrets ... I think she would feel exactly as you wrote ... It's almost sinister!

kisses

Droo and Gabriel,

thanks for quoting!

I don't think Dumbledore would share anything with anyone...
that's a pity!

It had been two weeks since Potter’s last visit. Flora was becoming more and more distressed because she missed talking to him terribly. It was not that her husband or her friends did not fulfill that role well enough, but it was different talking to Harry. There was a kind of empathy between them.

Flora began to notice that some people in Hogsmeade treated her differently, some even with contempt. Others seemed to want to challenge her all the time, as if to test her to see what she was capable of doing. When she noticed that, she spared herself and ignored them. But those people were held in certain contempt by her as the belief that they-had-nothing-better-to-do grew inside her.

She wrote to Harry asking him to come and talk to her as soon as possible.

That evening, Flora was at Hogwarts, at the astronomy tower studying the places of stars and constellations (she’d asked astronomy professor for some tips). When she was tired of looking at the sky, she climbed the small wall built around the tower.

Right then, Harry arrived. He misinterpreted the scene, and instead thought that she was going to jump. Scared, he almost fainted; then he tried to call her attention without scaring her.

Without going down, she told him:

“I’ve found out something new, don’t worry, I’m not going to fall down. Look!”

And she immediately began to float towards him. His memory struck him, then. He had never seen another wizard doing that but Voldemort. Nevertheless, she came smiling, which was even more disarming than an Expelliarmus.
Happy with her achievement, she hugged and kissed him on the cheek:

“Thank you for coming. I didn’t expect that you would meet me so early. How did you find me here?”

“Hannah told me you were coming here to watch the stars…What's that? You got me scared... I thought you were going to jump… and… fall down!”

And then a gust of wind flipped her hair; her bright green cloak lightly shined and highlighted the blue of her eyes. Harry let out an exclamation:

“How beautiful you are!”

Flora got closer to him and spoke softly:

“Harry, we're both old enough to know that my appearance is the least important thing to me. I've been younger, fatter, thinner, had shorter, longer, smoother hair, and it has been painted in many different colors. My appearance is constantly changing. And I celebrate each strand of white hair, every wrinkle that appears on my face, every freckle that comes out on my white skin... I celebrate them because they’re full of history, just as this castle walls. It is not my appearance that should matter to you, but my essence.”

Flora took a deep breath and continued:

“Although, I can use my Muggle name with pride - Gressler Ferreira instead of Riddle, don’t play the fool: I can talk to snakes. Then, rather than a Riddle, I'm a Slytherin. So, I need you. I want you always by my side...”

“Yes.”

And then Harry hugged her, looking deeply into her eyes and kissed her on the mouth. The warmth of his lips made her shudder. She pushed him away a little. She needed to talk. Caressing his face gently, her eyes deeply immersed him, Flora whispered softly:

“As I was saying, it’s not this way I need you by my side, no matter how much I want you. I'm a Slytherin, there are some things in me that you can’t even begin to imagine. The load of this surname... The arrogance and the need for power, no matter how loathsome they are; all these scream inside me. I fight every moment, every day against them, trying to suppress them to the bottom of my soul.”

Flora took his hands in hers, and looking deeply in his eyes, she continued:

“I want you by my side because there’s something Felipe will never be able to do for me. I want you by my side so that one day if I falter and end up succumbing to the pressures of my family blood, I want you to be there to make sure I’ll have the same end as my father.”

She saw something incomprehensible in his eyes just before he looked down; then, he took a deep breath and said:

“All right.”

With some owls, wind and stars to witness that moment and without knowing why, Flora closed her eyes and surrendered in to the kiss of her life.

they kissed, hã?

I don't know if I like it... I liked think Flora was you...

Gabriel, I'm not Flora, ok?

And they kissed, but I don't like it too, I think married people can't betray who they love... It's just a story to think about it. In fact, married people can fall in love again, but is better when it happens between husband and wife, by reinforcing their love...

I'm romantic, you know...

Tomorrow I'll post a new chapter.

I hope you enjoy your travel. I'll see you in Easter.

kisses,
mom