But you're the prettiest (Elaine)

[Deleted]

November

It was finally time for Lydia to meet up with Elaine Dupree on her own. Sure, she was in the same house as Elaine in school but it wasn't like they had any one on one time. Plus, things were different back then. Lydia wasn't in the loop. But now she was. Now she was a part of a revolution, finally someone was doing the right thing. Muggles and magic had to be separate, it was just that simple. Why everyone else didn't think so was beyond her. Really, what was being gained by fraternizing with them?

It was the Hogsmeade Weekend in November and Lydia was to meet one of the Purifiers in order to be led to Elaine at a safe house. She was on time, so was her guide, and soon they were on their way....

What if Elaine had a social job for her? What if it was dangerous? All of this was dangerous, of course, but Lydia wasn't very well equipped to handle violent danger...

They stepped inside, and Lydia was left alone. Waiting.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Lydia Fudge was one of her younger followers, Elaine knew. She came from a Pureblood family that was well known throughout the wizarding world, albeit for less than pleasant reasons. Cornelius Fudge had been a bumbling fool to try and go toe to toe with Albus Dumbledore. Even Elaine would never have crossed the old man while he was alive; thankfully the greatest wizard of all time had perished before Elaine even came into the world. Elaine held a golden rule with her followers; they must reach the age of fourteen before they were allowed to be considered a member of Elaine’s society. Before then, they were far too young, and far too easily swayed. Harry Potter had become Triwizard Champion at fourteen, and that was where Elaine had gotten her age limit from. How ironic that the boy who lived actually helped guide her somewhat moral standards? Of course, she wouldn’t be sending the younger ones on anything too dangerous; no, they were far more useful to her when they were collecting information. Little birds, whispering in her ear anything most adults would not realize they had slipped up in saying. After all, what would a child do with that information?

A whisper of wind floated past Elaine, signalling the arrival of Lydia and her chaperone, one of Elaine’s older followers. She stood up from the winged armchair she favored in her bedroom, straightening her long black dress as she strode out of the room and down the hallway. When she was at the door of the room where Lydia awaited her, she stopped. This was Lydia’s first time meeting her of course, and she never revealed her face to her followers immediately. With a wave of her hand, she transformed herself into an old woman, cane and all. She shuffled into the room, leaning heavily on the cane. “Dear child, would you help an old woman to a chair close to the fire?” she croaked out, breathing hard at the apparent effort it took to walk the few steps into the room. Her followers needed to blend into the throes of society; if Lydia refused to help or took action, would she be able to be trusted to not attract attention to herself in the real world?

@lydia

[Deleted]

Lydia waited, anxious and excited. When the door opened she spun around with wide, ecstatic eyes. But there was just an old woman there. Lydia tried not to show her disappointment. She was taught to respect her elders. Plus, what if this woman was related to Elaine somehow and just happened to stumble into the room Lydia was waiting in? Or maybe she was important to the Purifiers - some woman of a lost pureblood line or something that Elaine was trying to help preserve and protect. There were a lot of reasons this woman could be here, and she could be vital to the operation, somehow.

"Of course, madam," Lydia said, her tone sweet. She moved forward and slowly offered an arm. A part of her was wary, but she wasn't a duelist by any means so there was no reason for her to trying to catch her wand or anything. She was more valuable in the political, diplomatic sense than in a real fight. "I hope that it hasn't been too cold for you this season?"

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Good, Elaine thought to herself. The girl takes direction well, and respects her elders. “Oh no dear, not too cold at all,” she trilled, hobbling over with Lydia to a chair and eased herself into it. “Of course the mistress of the house is very protective of me, oh yes. Mistress always wants to make sure anyone who enters her house, or indeed her ranks, does not show outward signs of psychopathy and violence.” Elaine let out a laugh. She herself had of course not shown too many outwards signs of violence while at Hogwarts. At least, not until Ethan Johnson. It had been worth it though, not being able to finish her schooling. She had had what, a month left? Her NEWTS? Where would that have gotten her in life, a desk job at the Ministry? Elaine always knew she was destined for something greater than any corporation could bother to offer her, and she knew she wouldn’t be truly happy being someone else’s underling. No, Elaine truly shone when she was the one in charge, and her followers knew it.

“My Mistress has mentioned a new club at the school my dear. Up at Hogwarts. I’m hoping you can tell me more about it?” She continued, still disguised as the old woman. She needed to get to the purpose of why Lydia had been brought here after all, before the sun went down and Lydia was missed up at the school. “The Society of the Preservation of Magical Heritage.” She knew Lydia was not the ringleader of this of course, that would be the young upstart Priscilla Rosier. Still, she needed someone who was not the president as an insider as well, and Lydia had come highly recommended from her peers.  "We are very interested, oh yes very interested indeed about learning more," she added pointedly.

@lydia

[Deleted]

The woman said it wasn't too cold, and started to talk about the 'mistress of the house'. That had to be Elaine, right? Lydia was listening intently as the woman explained what the mistress wanted. "But... inward signs?" Lydia questioned. She didn't have any of those, really. She wasn't a violent person, not unless there was a spider crawling on her book.

The woman spoke further, about a new club, asking if Lydia could tell her about it. The SPMH club. Lydia raised an eyebrow, why were they talking about this? Well... it was under Priscilla and about pure artifacts, so it did make sense. "I am a member of that club, yes. It's wonderful. We are dedicated to preserving that which truly matters to the magical community. Things must be protected and sanctioned," she said firmly.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine nodded. “What truly matters to the magical community….yes. Many things matter to this community, things that have been long forgotten by those who would have us forget our past. We must never forget dear child.” To add effect, Elaine reached up and patted Lydia’s cheek lightly before tottering out of the room. Merlin, did she hate transforming into old people; they always smelled odd and her bones felt tired and worn. As she shifted back into her young body, Elaine stretched like a cat. This was much better, she thought to herself, closing her eyes and breaking deeply in and out.

When enough time had passed, Elaine made her grand entrance into the room Lydia had been waiting. “Well,” she said with a smirk playing upon her lips, looking Lydia up and down. “I think you passed the test.”

@lydia

[Deleted]

The woman spoke about never forgetting their past and patted her cheek. Lydia grinned, not bothering to feign any sign of false modesty. She believed that she herself was one of those things that must be preserved and protected for wizard-kinds sake. She was of precious pure blood after all. But then the woman left, and Lydia stood, "wa- thank you, madame," she said, offering a small curtsy. She didn't know what that was all about, but she was sure it would be rude to ask the woman to stay.

Lydia stayed standing for a moment, but then sat back down. Was that it? Was that all she was going to get at this time? She felt a pang of disappointment, but didn't move from her graceful perch at the end of her seat, her ankles tucked perfectly beneath her chair.

Then she saw movement, heard a voice. She looked up to see her. Elaine. She was even more beautiful than Lydia remembered. She stood, a little too quickly, and curtsied again, keeping her head bowed. "I only spoke of what I believe to be true, my lady," she looked up at Elaine through her eyelashes, but didn't lift her head completely, "I'm glad it pleased you. Must mean we're meant to be," she spoke boldly.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine smiled at the younger girls’ boldness. She was a good find, and a loyal Purifier. She had a few years left at Hogwarts, which would be useful with Elaine’s plans for what was going to come next. “I always find that testing my newer recruits with a disguise reveals truer intentions than speaking to me first,” she said smoothly. She sat on the couch and gestured for Lydia to join her. Elaine picked up a silver bell and rang; almost immediately a house elf came bearing a tray of sandwiches and ice cold pumpkin juice. “Usually I prefer wine, but in present company I find pumpkin juice a satisfying alternative,” she told Lydia, nodding curtly to the elf as he bowed low and backed out of the room. Once the door was securely shut, she plucked a sandwich off the tray. “Eat,” she said, not quite a command but Lydia would know to obey, she hoped.

After a few minutes of silence as Elaine ate, she dabbed at the corner of her mouth and sipped on the goblet she had filled with pumpkin juice. “I would like you to update me on this club Priscilla and yourself have started up at the school. Who has joined, what is their interest level, that sort of thing,” she asked, settling herself back on the plush couch as she waited for Lydia to speak.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Elaine said that she found testing her new recruits wt the disguise revealed true intentions first. Lydia nodded, impressed by the tactic. She didn't say anything in response to that right away, too busy focusing on the fact that Elaine had invited her to sit. Lydia did so, crossing her ankles delicately beneath her and sitting up straight. Elaine rung a bell, and informed Lydia of the choice of pumpkin juice. ”Lovely,” Lydia spoke up. She reached for a sandwich as told, happy to take a bite. She loved sweets and sandwiches, so why would she say no, especially when her idol was offering?

They ate, and Lydia also dabbed at her mouth, of course, before taking her own sip as Elaine spoke. Elaine asked about the club and Lydia sat up, a giddy grin breaking across her face. ”Oh, it's going wonderfully! There aren't as many members as we'd like yet, but we've got that Head Girl, Addilyn Slater,” she giggled, ”the girl has a love for magical relics, and seems a bit daft to me,” really Addilyn was incredibly smart, but Lydia had witnessed her IQ dropping when she started dating that muggle 'prince'. ”Some of the Americans have even joined too, which I think is incredibly useful as far as spreading our wings,” she suggested.

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine couldn’t help but smirk a little at the mention of Addilyn Slater. Oh yes, she knew ALL about the Head Girl of Hogwarts. Her sister had been responsible for murdering her best friend, and Elaine had thirsted after revenge for quite some time. Her eyebrows raised when Lydia mentioned she seemed a bit daft. “Daft? In what way?” she questioned, leaning forward slightly. Was it becoming more obvious when Addilyn had her blackouts? That wouldn’t do at all, to be sure.

Elaine nodded in approval at the mention of the Americans who had joined. She had an American in her ranks, Aerick Adler, but the more the merrier in her humble opinion. “These Americans, do you think they have any interest in furthering the true cause?” she asked, drumming her fingers against her chin as she waited for Lydia to elaborate further.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Lydia shrugged, "I suppose the main clue is that she's dating muggle royalty," she grimaced with disgust. "Addilyn used to seem like a girl with some taste, but clearly she's got something not right in the head if she's making off with that sort. He's the most dull person at school, too. I'm sure he's making her dumber by the minute," she explained. Sure, maybe that would be adolescent gossip, but Lydia thought someone's choice of significant other was relevant.

Elaine asked about the Americans, nodding as Lydia suggested it was a good thing to have them join. "Maybe... there are one or two who may be. They've made some comments about America being more pure that the UK, in more or less words. Since they're a lot more secretive with muggles than we are," she answered. "Some of them even think it was like minded people to you who attacked Ilvermorny in the first place."

Elaine Lyra Dupree

[Elaine Lyra Dupree]

Elaine raised an eyebrow, intrigued. She knew the family in question of course, it had caused quite the stir when the Headmistress had announced all those years ago that four members of the Muggle royal family had been found to have magical blood, and would be starting at Hogwarts when they turned eleven. Two of them had started during Elaine’s second year, but Elaine hadn’t thought to interact with them much. The Headmistress may have said that they had magical blood, but to her they were Mudbloods, the whole lot of them. “Well what can you expect consorting with a Mudblood family,” she said scornfully.

Elaine laughed as Lydia mentioned some of the American students thinking America was more pure than the United Kingdom. “Well they do certainly have the separation thing down from Muggles I’ll give them that,” she conceded, leaning back onto the couch. “However, considering the state of things over there, I don’t think they should be tooting their horns too loudly,” she added with a small smirk. The Americans did have a thing or two they could learn from her after all.


@lydia