Juniper Tree Au - Tumblr Posts
So, update. I've decided on the Potters because honestly that family is maximum chaos.
Nice mother who dies : Lily, hopefully not for a dumb reason like in the fairytale
Nice but oblivious father : James
Evil (and I mean evil) stepmother : Bellatrix of course, who else would I bestow that honour upon?
Nice but oblivious sister sibling : ?
Brother with a vindictive streak : Harry, vindictive streak comes w/package
I've decided the sibling's gender doesn't really matter as long as Evil Stepmother Bellatrix prefers them to Harry but Bellatrix doesn't have kids and though Harry does have a sister in one of my fics I don't really want to use any OCs, especially since this is going to be short, definitely under 25k.
So I was thinking who would be Bellatrix's perfect angel child and of course I thought of kid!Riddle but this changes the sibling dynamic so he and Harry do not get along and I'm amused and disturbed sufficiently by the few scenes I’ve written that I think we actually have a winner here.
I've been thinking about writing a short (4-5 chapter) The Juniper Tree AU for a looonnng time (if you haven't read it, it's a cursed and totally un-censorable Grimm's fairytale). Basically, there's a:
Nice mother who dies
Nice but oblivious father
Evil (and I mean evil) stepmother
Nice but oblivious sister
Brother with a vindictive streak
Thing is, I don't know which family to use -- The Potters? The Gaunts? The Weasleys? The Blacks?
(and the subtext is please help me decide because I literally can't)
(by the way I am actually working on that SW/HP crossover that I was joking about a couple months ago, but it's on the back burner).
A Conspiracy of Ravens
QUOTH THE RAVEN, NEVERMORE.
Just five months after his mother Lily's mysterious death, Harry Potter's father remarries.
Harry does not like Bellatrix Black, or her son from a previous affair, Tom Riddle.
When Harry discovers Bellatrix's secrets and incites her jealousy, there will be consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind.
And everyone wants vengeance.
'Bella' is a woman in expensive black robes that hug her body like a pair of too-tight gloves, vintage or perhaps even ancient jewelry, who stands nearly as tall as James with thick, shiny black hair, cheekbones that could cut glass, hooded eyes like some kind of predatory bird, long eyelashes that remind Harry of spiders, and a thin mouth.
Also known as Bellatrix Black, Sirius's least favorite cousin — desperately rich, devastatingly beautiful, and dazzlingly short-tempered. Her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, lasted about two years of unhappy arranged marriage until he died in a sporting accident on Halloween 1978. After a lengthy autopsy, it was ruled that there had been no foul play. Bellatrix famously turned up to his funeral late, two months pregnant and dressed to the nines, with a handsome man who looked completely out of it (no one's seen him since).
Rodolphus's brother, Rabastan, offered to marry her to 'save her shame,' but she refused, and left the country. Gossip says she's been in Northern Europe lately; she's been seen with the headmaster of Durmstrang.
So what is she doing here?
Harry counts. Seven months after the funeral puts her due date sometime in January 1979; which means the kid, if she kept it, is Harry's age now. Hogwarts age.
He looks at Bellatrix, and Bellatrix, impassive, looks back at him.
Sirius says he used to call her 'Smelly Belly' when they were kids, but that seems ludicrous now.
She's scary. It's a rotten surprise — more like a jump scare.
A black widow spider, that's what she reminds Harry of. Spinning, spinning her web and ensnaring her prey, until she decides to eat them.
Gross.
She makes Aunt Petunia look like a saint.
People often dismiss Bellatrix as 'crazy,' but Harry knows better than that.
There is a kid behind her, too. Probably spoiled and mean, like Dudley. Harry catches a flash of slicked-back hair the same raven-wing colour as Bellatrix's.
Still, he can't help but be curious. No one's ever seen Bellatrix's child before.
He glances back at the smaller pair of shoes: maybe a bit larger than his, high quality dragonhide and painted lustrous black.
"Harry," says James, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Bella is going to be your stepmother."
His what?
I posted it? I can’t believe I posted it?
Well, I was in that kind of mood. Happy early spooky season.
A Conspiracy of Ravens
QUOTH THE RAVEN, NEVERMORE.
Just five months after his mother Lily's mysterious death, Harry Potter's father remarries.
Harry does not like Bellatrix Black, or her son from a previous affair, Tom Riddle.
When Harry discovers Bellatrix's secrets and incites her jealousy, there will be consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind.
And everyone wants vengeance.
Chapter 2 now at AO3!
The prefects make the first years do a round of introductions after Dumbledore's speech. Most of them are from the noxious end of the pureblood crowd that Harry already knows and loathes — Draco, Pansy, Daphne, Millicent, Blaise, and Theodore — with a few other half-bloods sprinkled in.
"What's a Riddle?" sneers Pansy when they get to Tom, and Harry says nothing, instead watching gleefully for the ensuing meltdown.
"I am a Black on my mother's side," says Tom imperiously in the most grown-up tone he can manage — clearly, Harry thinks, he's doing much too much. "I suggest you refrain from making such absurd comments."
A Conspiracy of Ravens
QUOTH THE RAVEN, NEVERMORE.
Just five months after his mother Lily's mysterious death, Harry Potter's father remarries.
Harry does not like Bellatrix Black, or her son from a previous affair, Tom Riddle.
When Harry discovers Bellatrix's secrets and incites her jealousy, there will be consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind.
And everyone wants vengeance.