Disclaimer: I do not own any characters you can recognize from the Harry Potter series.
CRUENTUS BELLUM
Blood Thirsty War
The room was full of glaring young witches and wizards, though the room was less full than it'd ever been before. They all sat in silence staring up at their newly appointed Headmaster, Severus Snape. It seemed as though the world was becoming more and more bleak by the minute since the mysterious death of Hogwarts' previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. His death was such a loss to the school, but many were at a loss to explain it. The only ones to have witnessed it were either at Hogwarts or on the run from the Ministry, which had also changed a great deal.
Over the summer, when Snape and Malfoy disappeared after Dumbledore's death, the Minister seemed to have died of natural causes, or at least that's what The Daily Prophet released. That's when the new laws started cropping up; laws of muggle-born registry and changes in alliance with mythical creatures. The latest in both is that muggle-borns are 'stealing' magic and werewolves are our warm and cuddly friends. Anyway, once the Ministry changed, everything changed. Harry Potter and the Weasley's went into hiding while Snape and Malfoy resurfaced and came back to Hogwarts which leads us here.
Occupying a seat at the Slytherin table Selena Kaliane contemplated her situation. She was the heir to the Kaliane fortune and her family's legacy was that of a prominent family up to their necks in Dark Arts going as far back as one of her great great great great relatives, Morgan LeFay. Unfortunately, in the last war, most of her family line was taken out during combat against the light. The only one left in the Kaliane Empire was the pale, young witch sitting quietly at the Slytherin table waiting to feign interest in the introduction of the new staff.
What was truly enticing her mind was the current war. Having had the finest education her family's gold could afford her summers had always been filled with extra classes. She knew the Ministry was obviously under new control. If the government was over thrown, then the Dark Lord was getting quite powerful, indeed. The new take on werewolves screamed that he was still in need of allies and whose door better to knock on than that of the Kaliane Mansion? It would seem her most secret wish of remaining the first Kaliane to… well, not be good exactly, she was a Slytherin, after all… but not bad either. It seemed, for the moment anyway, that though she had the name and the wealth, she lacked the power to refuse the Dark Lord, if he should decide to recruit her to his cause. As the introductions began, her mind continued to wander.
"There are quite a few obvious changes in staff this year," Snape whispered into the silence. "After the… unfortunate death of the previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore," he paused to view the general glares being shot at him from a general Gryffindor area. "I've agreed to take up the position, with Professor McGonagall as the Deputy Headmistress." His voice cut into the quiet room with an unnatural crispness.
"I am also most pleased to introduce the Carrows," he gestured to the table where two new and, quite frankly disturbingly cheerful people rose for a moment in acknowledgement. "They will be teaching Defense Against Dark Arts and Muggle Studdies." Many an eyebrow raised at the disappearance of their usual Muggle Studies teacher, who happened to be a squib and in no way able to protect herself from the wrath of death eaters. He continued on to say everything that was off limits and introduce a rat like man with a silver hand as the new care taker putting extra emphasis on not tolerating rule breakers and especially steering clear of the Forbidden Forrest.
The start of term feast was unusually silent, as well. Only the Slytherins, and not even all of them, were slightly animated by indulging in conversation that contained more than negative whispering and furthered glares towards the Headmaster. It seemed people were in the worst hurry to finish their dinner as to retire from the gaze of the newer staff members. The Carrows did look seriously disturbed and rat man looked like a pedophile. After the directions her thoughts were taking as of late and the havoc the stress was reeking on her stomach, Selena decided against a big meal. Excusing herself from the presence of those seated beside her she swiftly departed from the great hall through a side door as to leave unnoticed.
Seeing as the Slytherin Prefects were still at the front of the Slytherin table conversing with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy she couldn't find out the password to the common room. Instead of waiting for them to journey down into the dungeons she decided to get some fresh air. Venturing to the top of the astronomy tower she gazed out upon the landscape surrounding her.
The sky was a beautiful mix of dark blue and purple complemented by the deep green and black colors of the Forrest. Why, she wondered, would he have such a firm stand against entering the Forrest? Though the most likely answer was that there were Death Eaters or the usual dangerous creatures lurking around its dark confines, but it seemed so unlikely at the same time. Why would he warn them against Death Eaters in the Forrest when he was bringing them into the castle? Amycus and Alecto are obviously working for Voldemort, their smile entirely too similar to the taunting smirk of a powerful predator to prove innocence.
After gazing out towards the thick green patches of trees on the outskirts of the field surrounding Hogwarts, Selena felt a strong longing to know what was really in their depths. She'd gone inside before, but not far enough where the light was obscured, barely inside at all. Still, there was her family's name to think of. The one thing her parents had asked her, was to carry on the prestige of the Kaliane Legacy. The Kaliane's probably won't make it too far if the last one dies before giving birth to another heir... but then again, who would care? The last of her family was dead, so it's not as if they'd know and besides that, she wouldn't be in that much danger to begin with. Deciding to give up her idea of exploration for now in favor of reconsidering it later, she opted to go down to the dungeons on the off chance the rest of the Slytherins were done eating.
As she was climbing down the steep steps leading to her previous location atop the tower she was suddenly forced to take a few steps backwards as someone ran straight into her. Looking down into the dark stair way, a frightening sight met her eyes.
"Oh – hic – hello my – hiciyeh – dear." Selena tried to shimmy past the intoxicated divinations professor on the narrow stairway, an event proving more difficult than originally anticipated. "Did you enjoy – hic – the feast, Miss…"
"Selena Kaliane, Ma'am," she choked out through gritted teeth. "Can I help you up the stairs?"
"Nah, darlin' I've been doin' this for – hic – years," she yelled loudly trying to push her way past the agitated 7th year. Selena jumped onto the windowsill to avoid falling so Trelawney could get by.
Making her way down stairs she had to wonder why Snape didn't have enough sense to fire the fraud. Everyone knew she couldn't make a prediction to save her life. It seemed her day couldn't get any worse when she had to hide from a group of rouge Gryffindors wandering away from their common room. That failure, Longbottom lead two others towards the lower levels. To kill some time she'd decided to follow them. When they stopped at the Entrance Hall she had to duck behind a statue to keep from being seen by Alecto, the female Carrow.
Turning around she was surprised to find that her newfound prey had vanished. Rushing to the window she saw three figures running towards the Forest. Still wondering how they'd gotten outside she spared a glance at the large doors held firmly in place by sheer size. It was more probable they slipped out the door leading to the courtyard, however, upon finding it locked she began to put some thought into her musings. Figuring, as they were friends with the boy who found the Chamber of Secrets they knew about a few other secret passage ways.
Worrying that, by now, all the Slytherin students might already be inside the common room she walked to the dungeons at a swifter pace. Finding no one about when she'd finally arrived she began to make her way to the Potions classroom. The chambers for Slytherin's Head of House was next to the classroom and though she didn't relish being in the company of that arrogant Slughorn fellow she didn't want to be caught out after hours by the new caretaker.
As a change of luck would have it, Selena didn't have to do either at the moment. As she'd readied her fist to knock on Slughorn's door Draco Malfoy stepped out of the common room with Pansy Parkinson in one hand, a bottle of fire whiskey in the other. They both froze for a moment, before Draco leaned against the wall and raised his brow in the unspoken question of 'What the hell are you doing out here?'
"I didn't catch the password," Selena spoke softly in the echoing corridors.
"Weren't you with the rest of us when we first can in," he asked in a surprisingly even tone for someone who was too drunk to stand upright without support from a wall.
"The Divinations teacher wanted a word with me, so no. I'm afraid it took longer than I'd expected, so if you don't mind…" It wasn't really a lie, they did talk and she did take longer than she'd planned to arrive at the common room.
"Password's – uh – Dark Arts – hic," Pansy slurred, giggling slightly. Masking a look of discuss and adverting her gaze from the untrusting stare of the Head Boy's she thanked them for their kindness and walked through the portrait of Salazar Slytherin into the outskirts of the annual start of term Slytherin party.
Deciding a few drink would calm her nerves and relieve a bit of stress she grabbed a bottle from the decreasing amount on the table. In favor of not getting wasted in front of potential enemies, for that is how a traditional pureblood Slytherin is raised to think of friends, she climbed the stairs down to her dorm room.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she thought about why those Gryffindors would want to venture into the Forrest. She also debated on whether or not to follow their example. It was a terrible debate, though, if the fire whiskey was taken into account it wasn't that bad. In the end she settled on the whole 'they're dead anyway' thing. Before setting the bottle down half empty she climbed beneath her covers, too tired to change, only taking the time to kick off her shoes. Her last thoughts were that if the little Gryffindor adventure club were well and alive tomorrow she'd see the inside of the Forrest for herself.
'They can't even wait 24 hours until getting in trouble,' Snape thought while pacing in his office. 'Where the hell could those damn Gryffindors have gone?'
He knew the most likely place they'd gone. He was a fool to exaggerate his wishes concerning the Forbidden Forrest. Now, torn between wanting to send out a search party and knowing they'd probably never find the students on their own, he knew he'd end up going to find them. Unfortunately, going into a dark, secluded area with a group of witches and wizards who'd love nothing more than to kill him wasn't going to happen.
'Wonderful,' he snarled to himself. 'I always wanted to walk into that branch of the Forrest alone.' He was thinking, of course, of the place the Death Eaters were trying to recruit one of the most dangerous creatures in the Forrest. He might be able to pull those idiotic Gryffindors out of the Forrest unscathed if he pulled every string he could. They knew him, so they would probably agree to his request. However, if there were strangers in the Forrest, they would know, and depending on their mood, they would hunt.
Grabbing his cloak from the back of his chair he flew down the stairs skipping every three steps in his haste. On his way down the moving stairs he stopped at McGonagall's room. Knocking quickly, but firmly he could hear rustling on the other side of the door. The door opened slowly giving way to the Deputy Headmistress, still in her nightclothes with a shawl wrapped around her frame and a wand in her hand.
"Yes, Severus" she asked crisply. He almost rolled her eyes at her animosity.
"Minerva, a few of the students have gone into the Forrest," he paused to let it sink in. "Three Gryffindors are missing-"
"Don't waste my time, you know Potter, Weasley, and Granger aren't-"
"I'm not talking about them," he growled. "Longbottom was seen by Alecto leading too others out into the Forrest." She raised her brow in disbelief of the boy leading anyone near the Forrest. He stared her down until she believed he wasn't lying.
"Well, who else is going to get them," she asked in a shrill, commanding tone while pocketing her wand.
"Who said you were going," Snape scoffed.
"I am going, Severus," she replied softly. "You know damn well what's out there." He blanched for a moment wondering how much she knew. Seeing as she thought taking more than just them to look for the students she only knew he'd been in the Forrest, not with whom he'd been conversing with.
"Fine, but just us," he said trying to hurry her out the door. "Wasting anymore time could be crucial," he continued his journey down the stairs with a new companion. "We should put someone else in charge while we're gone," he added as an after thought.
"Hmm, you're right I suppose, but how long will it really take," she asked him as they stopped in the entrance hall.
"I'm not sure, a day at the least." Her face paled as she realized just how far in they'd be going. "The school needs at least one of us," he continued on, unable to find a suitable replacement for them from among the staff. "As Deputy Headmistress you have an obligation to-"
"All the students, Severus, including the ones out in the Forrest!"
"Alright, so who do we put in charge," he hissed in aggravation at her stubbornness. They thought a moment before they decided on the librarian and nurse. The librarian to keep order and the nurse to fix what ever keeping order had done to the children.
Having settled that matter, they called a house elf to inform the staff of the changes and made their way out of the castle through the courtyard and headed into the Forrest. They hadn't seen Selena follow them out after listening in on their conversation. They also hadn't seen Amycus and Alecto eaves dropping hidden by the shadows cast from the grand stair case. As soon as the Headmaster and his second in command left, they called back the house elf and confounded him so they were able to take and rewrite the note. After putting themselves in charge, they decided to go announce their temporary staff change to the Great Hall. After that, they felt inclined to see the Dark Lord. They were sure that the Dark Lord would want to stop Severus from ruined their slow forming relations with the Vampires with a petty favor to spare a few lives from their hunt.
Author's Notes: I know it's a boring beginning, but trust me; this chapter was just the exposition of the story. It gets much better from here. I have another fanfic out that I'm working on, Alea Jacta Est. Its chapters are much longer, but I like the plot line for this one more… probably because it won't take me so bloody long to finish. Anyway, you know what to do, just press the little review button and leave me some love.