Even Monsters Have Consequences

With a coarse brush, Hope scrubbed every inch of her skin until it was pink and raw. She'd already had to change the water, as it had grown too red to be considered cleaning her body. Hope scratched at the red under her fingernails when Newt kneeled by the tub. Albus had gone to his office, so Minerva didn't have to wait with Elijah alone.

Hope glanced up from her nails and sighed softly. His look was so happy yet so concerned. His emotions always knew how to glitter in his eyes.

"It's going to be okay," she frowned, stroking his cheek with her thumb, "he's probably here about Mikael."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Shaking her head, she offered a soft smile. "I'm not worried about him." Hope stood up, then took a towel off the hook and started drying off as she stepped out.

It was amazing what a quick bath could do for someone's mind. Of course, she was still stressed, but now she was clean and stressed.

Newt stood, too, but she could hear his heart racing. Instinctively, she rounded the bathtub and took his face in her hands, gazing into his eyes.

"Hey, we always make it through. We will now too."

Newt swallowed dryly but nodded as he forced a small smile.

Waiting a moment for him, she then asked, "Ready?"

The hallways were more peaceful than they had been in weeks. The voices that had plagued her were all but extinct, and she could finally feel herself thinking for herself once more. Of course, that tickle in her mind was there, but it was easier to squash it away now until they could find a more permanent solution.

Before long, Hope was going up the stairs, past the Gargoyle. She entered first, and Newt followed close behind to find the three of them waiting.

Albus and Elijah seemed relaxed, for the most part. Albus was leaning against his desk, and Elijah was sitting in a winged-back chair nearby.

Minerva, tightly wound as ever, excused herself quickly and left. Closing the door behind her with a firm tug.

They stood silently for a moment as Elijah sipped the tea Albus must have offered.

"If this is about Mikael," Hope started as she rounded the chair to stare at him head-on, "I have bigger fish to fry." She crossed her arms, looking him up and down. 

How many suits did he own exactly?

Elijah kept his eyes trained on her before slowly shaking his head and setting his teacup on the saucer beside him. "This isn't about Mikael."

Glancing over at Newt and Albus, who watched Elijah with tensed jaws, Hope backed up to the other chair and sat down.

"Alright. Then what is it about?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

Pursing his lips into a thin line, he leaned forward just a little. Enough to rest his elbows on his knees. "I will only ask you this question once, and you will tell me the truth."

If Hope's hackles could rise in this form, they would. She chose silence instead, narrowing her eyes.

"Did you or did you not slaughter the Poachers last month in Upper Hogsfield?"

Hope's stomach dropped. There was no point in lying anyway; Elijah had always been able to tell when she or anyone else was lying.

"That's ridiculous," Newt started, finding his voice despite the pressure of an Original Vampire in the room, "she never did that. Her friend perished in a fire; why accuse her of this?"

Elijah didn't look in Newt's direction, and he didn't ask the question again, true to his word. He simply waited for her answer.

Swallowing back, the bile rose in her throat, sensing something terrible was going to happen within the next few minutes.

"What would you care if I did?" She asked, voice shaking despite her best efforts.

"I don't," Elijah watched her, "but the Ministry of Magic does. And before you ask why you should care what they think, I implore you to understand that while you, partly Vampire, and our kind don't adhere to as many rules as Wizard kind, you are now being adopted into their world. Which means…you follow their rules." His voice lowered an octave. Where do people who commit murder in the Wizarding World go, Hope?"

Newt interrupted again, moving closer. His face was as pale as a sheet. "They wouldn't send her to Azkaban," he turned and looked at Albus, who was watching Elijah. Would they?"

"There are rumors," Elijah began, finally addressing the whole room, "rumors that someone has leaked to the Ministry that they have proof Hope has committed seven murders in Hogsfield and burned the bodies."

"Eight." Hope corrected immediately.

They all turned their heads and stared at her.

"Bad timing?" She asked, leaning against the chair's arm, hiding her clenched fist in her lap. "What do you want me to say? They killed Alice, so I killed them. I tore their limbs off and lit them up like the fucking Fourth of July."

Elijah nearly smiled, and she could see it brimming at the edges. "Hm, like father like daughter."

Hope froze, eyes latching onto him.

"You know?"

Elijah nodded slowly. "The how isn't important. What is important is what I'm about to tell you," he paused, watching her, "Hope there are fragments of remains left in the clearing. I visited it myself to be sure. There will be no way of knowing that they don't belong to innocent strangers. There is an eyewitness report of you in the forest that night during the time it happened. You are not in the world of Vampires you're used to, where it's an eye for an eye. They won't see it that way. They will blame you for the fire. They will blame you for nine deaths. Including your friend. I will do everything I can to help you because family," he paused as if lost in thought, "is everything to me." He looked at her again with severe intensity. "You will go to Azkaban, at least for a time, until I can find a way out for you."

It was as if the blood in Hope's body was frozen in time. Her fingertips had no feeling, and even the tip of her nose felt cold. She might actually have to go to Azkaban?

"They want to label you a monster, and you've given them the ammunition to do so," Elijah said gently after a moment of silence.

Hope's thoughts spun, aware that other voices were speaking without paying attention to them. She'd read about Azkaban in one of the books Newt had given her when she'd first arrived at Hogwarts. The very idea of being locked in a tiny cell while having the happiness and life force sucked out of you daily in no way sounded appealing. 

People who went to Azkaban often lost their minds.

"Hope," Elijah's voice caught her attention, and she quickly looked over, "there's one thing I need you to do if you go to Azkaban, especially for an extended time."

Hope frowned, shaking her head as if his words didn't make sense. 

What else could she do? 

If she fought back or ran away, it would only lead to a worse punishment. Hope wasn't sure whether the Wizarding World had some sort of secret weapon against Originals or the like, and she didn't particularly want to find out.

"To preserve your sanity," he started, observing her, "you need to turn it off."