Chapter 19
LUCIUS MALFOY
It had been weeks since they had started looking for the turncoat in their House, yet despite their rather meticulous and detailed search, the traitor's identity eluded them still as Lucius's frustrations continued to grow.
The Dark Lord had barred them from attacking the ghastly Muggle, and now there were rumors circulating within their society that the Lord of the Black Family, Arcturus Sirius Black, had summoned a meeting of his family, with the purpose of reviewing the betrothals of his granddaughters.
In that sense, the Dark Lord had been rather clear to him that he did not wish to make an enemy out of the Blacks, and that any failing on his behalf to secure this alliance would come at a great cost.
"It's all because of that bastard," Rebastan cursed, as the two of them sat in his room sharing their sorrows, all of which were rooted in one boy.
"That mudblood, bastard!" Rebastan cursed, and Lucius agreed with him, for all their problems were caused by him.
"And yet the Dark Lord is insistent that we are not to attack him," Lucius added, dissuading the Lestrange boy from any mistake, and Rebastan's knuckles whitened as the boy grunted.
"I know, though I do not understand why the Dark Lord would be interested in a mudblood like him," and it was the same reason why so many others were interested in him and his little club.
Power.
Mudblood, he may be, even Lucius would admit that Alder Evans was one of the most powerful wizards he had faced. Wordless casting, Wandless magic, Spell craft, Runes, and dueling. He excelled at it all, while many of them could hardly cast a spell without proper guidance.
He had faced half a dozen of them and had nearly come out on top. He excelled in dueling and lacked the experience and ruthlessness of a fighter, but if he were to gain those two things.
He could become a real problem for them. A real problem.
And the Dark Lord saw that, and he probably wished to turn him into an asset rather than a problem.
"We shouldn't concern ourselves with the thinking of our lord," Lucius added, for they were in too much trouble already.
"We should focus our energy on finding that traitor," and even playing with those muggles had failed in relieving his tensions, and only a chance at revenge and retribution would ease his rage.
"What more can we do?" Rebastan screamed as he pushed himself off the chair.
"We have questioned everyone. All of the juniors and the seniors, yet we have found no clue to this traitor's identity," and that was where the problem lay.
"Yaxley thinks that it all might just have been a coincidence," and Lucius was quick to shake his head.
"No," he said as Rebastan turned to face him.
"That was no coincidence," he added, for the timing of it did not make sense at all.
"Someone knew of our plan and leaked it to McGonagall and the Headboy. Otherwise, they had no reason to be there," and he would find them. He would find them no matter what.
"But what do we do now? How do we find them?" Rebastan asked.
"If the person did not leave after us, then they knew of our plan already and told on it before we left. It was supposed to be a secret, and we spoke of it to no one else," and he had asked them all already.
"No," Rebastan agreed.
"Christmas is almost upon us. I intend to use the pensive back home to revisit my memories and see if there is anyone acting suspiciously," he added, and Rebastan seemed surprised.
"You have a Pensieve at your home," and Lucius smiled as he shook his head.
"We will," and a chuckle escaped Rebastan's lips as he slapped him on the shoulder, as Lucius' lips turned up as well.
"You slimy rich bastard," and his friend continued to laugh.
"I cannot understand why you let that Black bitch push you around so much," Rebastan added, and his mood soured in an instant as he was reminded of his troubles with Narcissa.
"If I had a sister, I would wed her to you in a blink," yet things had turned sour between him and Narcissa after their little spat, and had continued to worsen so much that they had not talked once in months, as she refused to answer his letters.
She spent most of her time with her sister, and Lucius had enough self-preservation to know not to mess with Andromeda Black.
"Both of us have been cursed to spend our lives with the Blacks, I guess," he said, and Rebastan scoffed.
"I am nothing like you," he said nonchalantly.
"My father brokered this match. I couldn't care less for her second name, and once she is wed, I will teach that one a lesson and make sure that she knows what it means to be the wife of a Lestrange," and he wondered if it would really be so simple, but he did not voice it out.
"Speaking of marriages, there is one this summer, isn't there?" Rebastan added, suddenly, and Lucius took a moment before he nodded in realization.
"Yes, Frank and Alice, right?" and Rebastan nodded, and though they had their differences, invitations had come for them all, given they were extended family in a way.
"Yes," Rebastan added as his face contorted in disgust.
"That bastard is a blood traitor, but at least he is getting wed to a proper pure blood witch," and though Alice was not from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, her family were wizards and witches throughout.
"Yes, that he is," Lucius agreed.
"Are you going to attend?" and Rebastan shook his head.
"Father believes that we should, but it will all depend on the dark Lord's directions," and Rebastan's whispered words were not lost to his ears, even though he pretended that they were.
"Huh! That it will won't it…"
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ALDER EVANS
Alder stood in the abandoned classroom with a nervous and apologetic Sirius pacing continuously, while he eyed him with a fearful and apologetic expression.
"I am sorry, Alder," he whispered, and Alder waved it away.
"I told you before. It's fine," and it was though the dark grey-eyed boy did not seem to believe him.
"I did not tell her anything. I just asked her a question and POOF!" he made an exploding gesture, as Alder chuckled at his antics.
"She knew! It was as if she had read my mind," and he knew for a fact that Marlene was not capable of that yet. Though the same could not be quite said for him.
"I know Sirius," he assured him once more, though he also knew the real reason behind his nervousness.
"And the deal is still on," he whispered, and the black-haired boy finally shut up.
"We meet tonight, and then hopefully by the end of the night Hogwarts shall have four illegal animagi," and Sirius spoke nothing for a few seconds, before those eyes narrowed.
"No wonder you two are friends," Sirius mumbled under his breath, as Alder chuckled.
"But you lot still haven't held up your end of the bargain," he reminded them, and Sirius nodded, and suddenly he was fumbling through his pockets before he took out a folded piece of paper.
"Here, we finished it a few days ago," and he held in his hands one of the most intricate pieces of wizardry he had seen in some time, one that was only made possible through the unique combination of the talents of the four marauders.
"We just hope that you will let us do our pranks in peace," and he shrugged.
"You know me," he reminded them of his conditions.
"As long as they are not overly malicious, and no more than once a month. Those were my conditions, but I think Potter had another deal with my sister," and at the mention of Lily, Sirius wilted.
"Well, that is true," and suddenly his face shifted.
"I do hope she wasn't too angry with you over going out with my cousin," he asked, and Alder shrugged.
"She was definitely surprised," he answered as he thought about their little heated discussion.
"But Lily knows that I am not stupid. She trusts me, something that you could use with your own brother as well," and that was the real reason the two of them sat here, waiting for a young Snake as Sirius's expression shifted in an instant as he was reminded of his impending meeting with his brother.
"I still don't know if this is right or not?" and the boy wilted, as the two of them sat on the floor side by side.
"It is right," Alder assured him, as his head snapped towards him.
"I know that you two have your differences, but he is your brother, Sirius. Your younger brother," and he knew what it was like to have a sibling.
"You two can fight, argue, curse one another, but against the world. Especially with the rise of Voldemort, and the blood purists, you need to have each other's back, given the nature of your family, or others will take advantage of this divide and hollow out the Black name," and Sirius was not blind that the plans regarding this were already in motion with the marriages of his sister.
"I thought you would hate our family," he asked, and he shook his head.
"I don't hate anyone. I just hate bigotry, and from what I know, you most of you Blacks are okay people," and Sirius scoffed.
"You only know the best of us," he whispered, as there were three knocks on the door, and he stood up at once and unlocked the door, and in walked a boy that looked much like Sirius yet unlike the Gryffindor boy, his hair were well combed, his uniform pressed and tucked which made Sirius look like a ruffian in comparison.
Those grey eyes met Alder's hazel before they turned cold as they saw the boy standing beside him.
"Sirius," Regulus greeted with little warmth, as Sirius's expressions continued to shift, until he gave a nervous nod.
"Regulus," and Alder saw it all, and began shaking his head.
"Neither of you is a child," he added, as he looked at them both.
"So don't behave like children. Talk, for you two are more alike than you would ever like to admit. I will be keeping guard outside, you won't be disturbed," and with that, he walked out of the room, leaving the two brothers in the room alone with some hope that he might have saved a young soul from the clutches of the demon that was the Dark Lord.
Regulus had been coming to his session for a year now, and though initially it had been driven by desire for power and curiosity, the boy had grown much closer to his brother as well, as he found himself face to face with the more free form of Sirius rather than the chained and angry child that he remembered from his youth and stories of his mother.
It had also helped him see through the lies of his family, and though he lacked the courage for open rebellion, he knew for a fact that Regulus held no sympathy for the blood purists.
And as he closed the door behind him, he cast a quick disillusionment charm on himself as he blended into nothing for the world, as he reached into his pocket and took out the piece of parchment that Sirius had just given to him.
And he put his wand on the paper.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and immediately the parchment unfurled, to reveal a map of Hogwarts, with little footsteps, and as he found himself reaching for the Slytherin dorm, he began to put his wand on various footsteps until a name finally appeared.
"Lucius Malfoy…" he whispered, and the blonde was sitting in his room with a certain Lestrange, probably planning something nefarious, and now it was time for the game to begin.
"Let the game begin…."
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