Chapter 10
On Monday, the House of the Snakes woke with one less student in their dorms. They rose with anger and frustration at the expulsion of one of their own, yet the Head of House had come to speak to them last night and had not had kind words for his pupils.
The Potions Professor had lost his meekness and given them all a dressing down in the Dorms, warning them all of severe consequences if they were caught in any further escalation with other Houses.
Yet amidst this air of frustration and anger, one boy with Black hair and grey eyes quietly rushed and joined, the only Half-Blood of their House, as the snakes all slithered to the Great Hall for their breakfast.
"Severus, Severus," he whispered as the boy with a crooked nose and half-parted hair slowed down and saw his only friend in the House rush to him.
"Was it you?" Regulus Black whispered as he pulled the half blood away from the crowd.
"What?" the son of Eileen asked with a frown.
"Was it you who ratted out Lucius and his friends?" the younger Black boy whispered again, as he looked around him for anyone who might be eavesdropping, and either Severus Snape was the greatest liar ever born, or he was innocent of the crime the Black boy was accusing him of.
"Do you think I would betray the House?" he asked, and Black looked him in the eye, with a raised brow.
"It doesn't matter what I think. It matters what Lucius and Lestrange think," Black warned, for though he did not share his brother's brashness and open rebellious nature, he did share his disregard for their family's propaganda.
"They suspect me?" Severus asked, paling at those words as they stepped into the Great Hall for the first meal of the day.
"Yes," he answered, and Severus spoke in contest.
"But I didn't even know of their plan," he retorted, trying to prove his innocence, and he had learned of it too late, and just as he was thinking of reaching out to Lily, word had spread that Lucius and the rest had been caught by McGonagall.
"They suspect you, so you better have a proper alibi, and if not that you better ask Alder to return the favor, because Lucius and his gang have gone mad over Lestrange's expulsion, they won't spare this traitor," and Severus had spent five years keeping himself out of their influence, and though he was friends with Lily and Alder, he had kept his distance from them at school as per Alder's instructions if not himself, then for both of them.
"But I didn't do it," though he hoped that he had.
"I believe you," Regulus Black answered.
"I just hope that Lucius and the rest do so as well..."
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LILY EVANS
Lily had never felt so nervous and trepidatious since her first day at school, and even then, no one had been glaring and eyeing her with such anger and hate on that day.
The air was thick with tension, and the usually loud and uproarious Hall was entrenched in cutting silence, and the divide at the school had never been more evident than right now as House Slytherin glared at them, while neither of the three Houses had any kind gesture for the House of Snakes, or better yet, the House of Criminals.
Few scurried their gazes, but Lily was not one of them and glared straight at Lucius Malfoy and his gang, who had dared to harm her brother.
"You will burn a hole through them if you continue to stare at them like that," McKinnon's voice broke her out of her reverie, as she finally turned to the side and saw her friend sipping her soup.
"I wish I could," she uttered, and McKinnon nodded.
"The rule-abiding and serious Lily Potter wants to burn fellow students," and she rolled her eyes at the taunt.
"Tell me you don't want to do the same to them," she asked, and McKinnon nodded.
"Oh, I do. I so do," she answered, with a smirk that felt somewhat unnatural, as Lily's eyes turned towards the Headmaster.
"He should have expelled them all," she whispered, and never before had she doubted him and his intentions like this. But Alder had always been skeptical of the man, and while he did not call him evil, he mainly did refer to the headmaster as a useless, sanctimonious old fool.
And perhaps he was right about that, and a dozen other things.
"I knew about war brewing outside, but I never thought that it would reach these Halls," she whispered, but Alder had known that. He had known that even before setting foot in the school.
How did he know that? It did not matter, but he had.
"That's Dumbledore for you," McKinnon teased as she continued to eat, before she suddenly raised a brow.
"But don't worry," she added, as suddenly Peeves came through teh walls, and rushed towards teh Slytherin table.
"SURPRISE YOU PURIST BASTARDS! HERE IS A LITTLE GIFT!" and with that, suddenly she heard several explosions, and was forced to close her nose, as a dozen dung bombs exploded under the table and laced the entire House with dung and smell.
"HAHAH!"
"PEEVES!" McGonagall's voice tore through teh laughs and jeers as House Slytherin scrambled to get back, while a few overenthusiastic students fired spells at him.
"OHH! GOODBYE!" and the pltergist ran away, laughing alongside the rest of teh Houses, as McGonagall aimed her wand at the bench and began to repair it.
"No spells in the Hall! No spells!" she warned, and the loudest of the laughs came from their table, and she could see a satisfied smirk on McKinnon's face as the Marauders all high-fived one another, barely able to keep their facade.
It was apparent to everyone who was behind this, and the House Slytherin knew that as well. Just as she saw them get up, the Headmaster rose from his chair.
"Prefects!" he announced kindly, his powerful voice stilling everyone in the Hall.
"Take your students back to the dorms!" and Lily was on her feet and so were the rest of the Prefects as they led the students out of the Hall, and before Lily would have been angry at the Marauders for their pranks but she could not help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the misery of House Slytherin, for what they had done.
After she was done with her duties, she saw McKinnon sitting there in the common room, as the Marauders all laughed in celebration, and she began to walk towards them. They stifled their laughs to hide their guilt.
"Lil..." Marelene tried to defend them, but she spoke first.
"I know it was you," she declared, and all of them paled, but most of all it was Potter who bit his lip and rose up.
"I know that I promised you, but they went too far," he declared, as Sirius and his friends all cursed.
"SHIT!" Black cursed as Potter revealed their secret, and she looked him in the eye and thought about what to say.
"You remember our promise?" she asked, and he nodded, and his friends frowned at her words, which meant that he had not told them about it.
"Yes," he answered dejectedly.
"One more prank, and the deal is off," and his eyes widened as Lily let her lips turn up in a smile as she laughed a bit.
"That was good," and the Marauders all laughed with her, as Potter nodded.
"Thanks," she said and turned away from him.
"Don't forget, Potter. One more, and the deal is off..." and the deal was rather simple for Potter had been pining after her for a year now, begging her to go on a date with him.
She was not much interested in him, but a few people had asked her to give the boy a chance, and so she had made him an offer. Half a year of no pranks, and she would go on one date with him after Christmas.
This prank went against their deal, but she was happy that those snakes had suffered some retribution for their actions.
"Deal..." McKinnon had run after her and asked with an inquisitive look.
"Yes," and she smirked.
"And when were you going to tell me about this deal of yours?" she asked.
"Never," Lily answered.
"No wonder you have Potter wrapped around your finger like a puppy. You truly are a witch, Lily Evans..." and laughed at those words, and rolled her eyes.
"That I am...."
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ARCTURS BLACK
Old as he was, Arcturus was not blind to the rot eating away at their world. Many believed the Mud-bloods and their ilk to be the cause of the rot, and while he held no sympathy for people who threatened to unravel centuries of traditions and histories, it was not those muggles or their ilk causing this rot.
No.
This was the work of someone far more sinister and powerful.
The Dark Lord they called him. Voldemort they whispered in the dark, but Arcturus knew the man by another name.
Tom Riddle.
Yes, he remembered that name, and he remembered it well. He may have tried to remove any trace of that name, but Arcturus had a long memory, and he was certain that the wizard masquerading as a champion of blood purity and hate was nothing more than a charlatan.
Others refused to see it, and those who did see were either silenced or killed. Had this been a decade ago, he would have picked up his wand and torn the man apart himself, but age had made him weak and frail. While once he had fought against Grindelwald and his tyranny, now Arcturus had trouble walking out of his bed.
His children, the lot of them, were all useless. Orion, weak-willed and demure, was ruled by the harpy that was his wife. Cygnus, that boy was blinded by his own greed and entitlement, and was hell bent on ruining the good name of this family.
He had not interfered in the matter of the young, for he believed that his time had passed, and it was up to them to do whatever they desired with their lives. But perhaps he had been wrong to let them wander as he had.
"THAT FOOL!" Arcturus raged as he read his niece's letter and realised that he may have made a mistake in giving his children too much independence.
"HOW DARE HE RAISE HIS HAND ON A BLACK!" Arcturus raged, and Melania finally turned towards him from the side, with worry on her face.
"What happened?" she asked softly, as his blood boiled in rage at the humiliation his family had suffered.
"That idiot Cygnus!" Arcturus cursed, and though he called him his son, the boy was his nephew, but with his father's death, Arcturus had raised the boy like a son.
"This came from Narcissa," and he did not have the patience or the words to tell her everything, so he just passed her the letter, and he wondered just how desperate she would have been to write to him like this.
"He hit her," Melania gasped, and their society was filled with much rot yet to lay a hand on your betrothed, a Black. The nerve.
If it had been him, he would have torn out that bastard's hand.
"And Cygnus did nothing! NOTHING!" and that was what enraged him more, and he knew how the boy had arranged betrothals for his daughters and had thought it suitable that he knew his duty, yet now he wondered if he had let him have too much freedom.
"How dare he lay a hand on my granddaughter?" and because of his health, he had not interfered much in the lives of his grandchildren, but this could not stand.
"We own the Lestranges and the Malfoys, and yet they disrespect us like that!" and all for he had no proper heir to do his bidding, but that would change.
"Tell Cygnus to bring his wife and children to the manor during the holidays," and it had been years since he had laid his eyes on them.
"It is time that I hold that idiot accountable for his idiocies..."
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And miles away in a manor no less dark and ominous than the Black manor, the Dark Lord stood tall as Rudolphus Lestrange knelt in front of the most powerful wizard in the world.
The man did not face the Lestrange heir, yet his mere voice contained promise of dread and anger.
"I thought I was clear in my instructions," he whispered as Lestrange lowered his gaze.
"My lord, we had no choice!" he spoke quickly, as he tried to explain.
"We had to teach that mudblood a lesson! He was becoming too conceited and powerful," and the man finally turned, and he was no man with his snake-like face, and pale white skin with spiked teeth.
"Silence!" and he did not shout, yet even his whisper carried power as his magic flooded the room.
"Do you have any idea about the consequences of your actions?" the Dark lord asked, and Lestrange did not.
"They do not matter to me, but you defied my orders, and for that you must suffer," and Lestrange shook, as he saw the man take out his wand.
"My lord, forgive me. He was a mudblo..."
"Crucio..." and he did not scream or shout, yet merely the whisper of that spell filled that room with screams and wails as Lestrange writhed on the floor.
And only after a few minutes did the pain stop, as those red eyes narrowed as Lestrange whispered.
"Thank you for your mercy, my lord...."
"Now, tell me about that boy."
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