Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Harry Potter. I do not own any borrowed movie/book quotes of anything recognizable. By the by, sorry that this is so late; I had several ideas for the rest of this story, but got stuck on how and when to implement them. Then I went on a vacation to the beach where I had no computer access (and no inclination to stay inside while the ocean was literally in my back yard.)
Part 6: Little King
"Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."
"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did not quite know what to say."
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Stefan ran.
He'd been in his room doing a lengthy Potions essay when he heard the front door bang open. The force of it sent vibrations shooting up the walls, rattling Stefan's windows. He had sat straight up and walked to his window, sliding his back along the wall and peeked through the dark, heavy drapes that the shielded his room.
There were figures in robes flooding into his house.
Stefan's heart stuttered and he ran out of his room and flew down the stairs, narrowly missing the edge of the banister clipping his hip. Stefan sprinted from the foot of the steps and he saw his mother lying still in the living room. Her body was lying at an awkward angle on the expensive sofa and a cry tore out of Stefan's throat before he could stop himself, "Mom." There was no response.
"Mommy?"
Victoire Salvatore's bright green eyes that matched his own were open and unseeing; her face frozen in a permanent mold of terror. Giuseppe Salvatore's body was hung from the ceiling by levitating ropes, like the man had committed suicide. Imperius curse, most likely, Stefan's mind supplied for him clinically.
"Dad?"
Stefan heard a crash in the kitchen, and a high pitch cackling laugh and something inside Stefan snapped at him to run.
He listened to it.
Stefan sprinted out of his living room and stumbled over his own two feet, nearly toppling to the floor. He picked himself up and ran through the hallway to the bathroom, where he shut and locked the door. Stefan searched for his wand; the familiar presence was in his front jeans pocket securely. Breathing a sigh of relief, Stefan picked up one of his mother's marble decorative artifacts that sat on a shelf opposite of the toilet, and hurled it through the glass window that sat on the wall above the sink. Both the marble and the glass shattered on impact and rained on Stefan's head. He used his hands to shield himself and felt the sharp edges cut up the extended appendages.
He heard the woman's cackling voice again and hurried up to stand on the sink and shimmied out of the window. Stefan landed hard on his knees once he got outside, and pushed himself up. He took off at a run, and sprinted down the sidewalk.
"Don't look back," Stefan chanted quietly to himself.
The obvious place to go was Damon's apartment, but what if the Death Eaters had compromised his brother's place before coming to his? No, he shouldn't go there, not until he found out what was going on. That left a friend's house, or heading into a muggle part of the city for cover.
An idea struck him, and Stefan stopped and held out his wand next to the street. Seconds turned to minutes, and Stefan nervously eyed the direction he'd run from. Finally, he heard a bang and the Knight Bus stopped in front of him.
"'Ello, I'm Stan Shunpike, and I'll –"
"Hi Stan, let's get a move on, okay?" Stefan stepped onto the bus and said, "Can you take me Augusta and Neville Longbottom's home?"
"Sure, mate," Stan said, a little put out. "Come on, Ernie, choo 'eard the man, to the Longbottom's house."
The driver put the bus into gear and the vehicle took off at speeds Stefan thought were impossible except for the Hogwarts Express.
"'Ere we are then, that'll be one gallon," Stan said.
Stefan shoved the money at him and jumped off the Knight Bus. The Longbottom's home was a modest two story brick house with a couple of willow trees shading the front walk way. A garden could be seen on the side of the house, and the rooftop of a greenhouse was visible from the backyard. He walked quickly up the Longbottom's driveway and knocked on the door. Stefan heard the thud of footsteps and Neville opened the door. The teenager was wearing older clothes and appeared to be about to go work in the garden outside.
"Stefan!" The boy was surprised. "What's going on?"
And then it hit Stefan. His parents were dead.
His parents were dead.
"There were Death Eaters at my house," Stefan said, his voice sounding strangely flat to his own ears. "They killed my mom. I think they put the Imperius on my dad – it looked like that had him construct a noose and hung him. They were just lying there, in the living room. They're dead."
Deaddeaddeaddeaddead and not coming back.
Neville seemed to choke and wasn't that weird? It wasn't his parents, and why was he hugging Stefan like this? Stefan's not touchy person and doesn't care for hugs unless they're from Elena or his mo-
"Neville, whatever is the matter?" Augusta Longbottom's voice rang out when she saw Stefan. "What's wrong, boy?" Neville turned and said something to his Gran, and suddenly Stefan was being ushered into their living room.
"He's hyperventilating now, Gran, what do we do?" Neville's voice was becoming far away and squeaky, and Stefan didn't catch his Gran's reply, just that some potion was thrust into his lips.
It trickled down his throat and he heard Gran say, "That's it, go to sleep. I'll floo your brother and get him over here."
Stefan gratefully slipped into unfeeling unconsciousness.
"There's no one else here, but I think I see some Auror's appearing outside," A gruff voice said near Katherine's ear. She inclined her head, pursing her ruby red lips. Her long dark hair was hanging down her back, curling.
"You said they'd all be here."
Katherine narrowed her eyes. "His parents being killed in the manner they were will drive Damon close enough to the edge that he should agree with me. If not, I'll get my hands on his brother myself. Don't worry, Yaxley."
Yaxley took Katherine by the neck and pushed her up against the wall. "You better pull through, Katarina Petrova. You promised the Dark Lord information from the Order of the Phoenix from your little boyfriend, and you said killing his family will help you along in your task. Not that I have any problem killing a bloodtraitor or her pet muggle, but I'd like to have results for the Dark Lord."
Bellatrix Lestrange giggled wildly, her dark eyes filled with madness. Katherine choked, but nodded as well as she could. Yaxley let her go before Apparating out of the Salvatore house, and Bellatrix after him.
"Morsmordre," Katherine whispered, taking a peek out the front curtains. She caught a glance of Damon's towering presence sprinting to the front door. "Bye, love," She murmured, turning on the spot and Disapparating.
Damon Apparated to his parents' house the second the Phoenix Patronus had finished its message and dispersed. He appeared in the front lawn and saw the other Order members, along with several Aurors walking along a perimeter set up. Damon noticed Tonks, who nodded at him. The witch was sporting bubblegum pink hair that was in a bob on her head. He walked quickly to the house before he realized he was moving, and soon Damon was at the front door.
"You might not want to go in there," Kingsley warned, but Damon pushed passed him.
The foyer was in disarray as he walked through, Kingsley following a few paces behind. When Damon stepped into the living room, his breath was stolen from him in a rush.
Giuseppe Salvatore may have been a hard man, who always, always pushed his sons, and had a drinking problem with some anger issues, but not even Damon wanted to see him like this.
"The most likely theory was that someone put the Imperius on him when he came into the hall," Kingsley intoned, "And then they walked him back in here, disarmed your mother and had charmed her still to watch as they made Giuseppe hang himself from the ceiling. Then, they shot the killing curse at your mum."
"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked through numb lips and an icy heart.
There was no answer.
"Where's my baby brother?"
"There's no body to be found in the house, but no one can locate the boy. The bathroom door was busted open; it appeared that your brother locked himself into there. The window above the sink was shattered."
"So either he broke the window and ran away, or the Death Eaters broke the window and captured Stefan," Damon said. His eyes sought out his parents' bodies. Both were bloodless and waxy looking; eyes open and glassy, staring at nothing.
"That is correct," Kingsley said, "Do you know who your brother might have gone to?"
"Neville's. Lexi's, maybe." The blood drained from Damon's face. "Or Elena's," He rasped.
Katherine had escaped. She was still at large. Her parents were Death Eater sympathizers.
His little brother might be in the snake pit, thinking that he was safe when in fact he was about to be handed over or killed.
Kingsley must have caught his train of thought. "Floo all of his other friends first and see if you can find him. If not, we'll send a team over to the Petrova household." Damon shook himself out of his stupor and flooed the Longbottom's first.
When Stefan woke up, there was a figure sitting by his head. He blinked and then jumped up, whipping out his wand so fast that his wrist popped painfully.
"Easy, easy."
It was just Damon.
Stefan's wand shook with his hand as he lowered it slowly, drawing it back to himself. Damon's hands were up in a placating gesture meant to show no harm. His hair was in disarray and his clothes were rumpled, tie crooked.
Stefan licked up his lips and felt . . . empty; vacant, like a bare husk.
"How are feeling?" Damon asked, full of awkwardness for once in his life (that he'd admit). Stefan noticed that his eyes were red rimmed.
He said nothing in response, but Damon hesitantly gathered him in a hug. Stefan reluctantly returned it, but then latched on, feeling a single tear slide down his face.
"It's going to be okay, you'll see," Damon said quietly, "You're going to come live with me. Everything's going to be fine."
Stefan didn't respond and disentangled himself from his brother's embrace.
His voice dead to his own ears, Stefan said, "I just want to sleep right now."
Damon retreated, surprised. He nodded. "Okay. I'll be in the kitchen with Mrs. Longbottom. Neville's around." Damon said a few more things, but Stefan turned back over and closed his eyes, shutting out the world.
He was tired.
Stefan's move into Damon's London flat was quick to keep from feeling the sting of leaving his home. He had avoided his living room, eyes flying over it, and dashed up the staircase to his bedroom. Damon had followed and helped Stefan pack and shrink all of his things – clothes and school supplies and books and blankets.
Once he'd settled in Damon's –theirs now, Stefan guessed – apartment, Stefan closed himself up into his room. His homework was completely done early on as a way to avoid his brother, and he answered his letters from concerned friends with as few words as plausible. Loki, Stefan's faithful kneazle, prowled the bedroom before coming back to snuggle on Stefan's bed. The little thing kept his eyes out for Damon's owl Cass, watching it warily when flying off with Stefan's letters.
There was a sequence of knocks on Stefan's door, but the fifteen year old barely twitched from his place on his bed. Loki hissed when Damon walked inside and towards his master's bead.
"Do you want me to take off of work today? Robards would understand – actually, he wouldn't, but screw Robards. We can Apparate to the beach or something. Go to France. America. Mars."
Stefan shook his head silently, staring at the ceiling.
"Come on, Stef," Damon whined, masking his concern for his baby brother. "Let's get out of the apartment for the day. We'll do something fun – Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes officially opened this summer. Don't you want to check it out? Buy something for Elena?"
Stefan said nothing still, and so Damon sighed, hand shoving through his wavy dark hair. His blue eyes flicked over his brother's lank form with anxiety before giving up.
"Alright, I'm going to go in to the Ministry. Floo if you need anything." He loitered, waiting for a response for a few seconds before turning around, closing the door quietly behind him.
"'Kay. Bye," Stefan said quietly. Loki meowed plaintively and curled up to sleep.
It was late when Damon got in, Apparating straight into the living room with a loud crack. His boots thudded heavily on the floor as he walked to the kitchen, flipping on the lights. Leaning against the counter top was Katherine, examining her nails as if she wasn't a Death Eater and hadn't just been found in Damon and Stefan's kitchen.
"Gah!" Damon yelled, and recoiled. He whipped out his wand a second later, as almost an afterthought. Katherine saw him and rolled her eyes. She placed her hands on her hips and walked up to Damon slowly, her full red lips pulling into a mischievous smile.
"Quiet, Damon. Stefan's in his room, asleep, and he doesn't know I'm here so far. You wouldn't want to alarm him after the summer he's had, would you?" She eyed the wand distastefully. "And put that away, would you? I'm not going to attack you."
Damon's wand arm wavered as he watched Katherine with narrowed eyes. A heartbeat later, he lowered his black wooden wand and let his arm hang at his side.
"What makes you think I'm not going to floo the Order, Katherine?" Damon asked, crowding the witch. "What makes you think there isn't a ward on the apartment to tell them that you're here?"
"You won't," Katherine smiled confidently, "And if there is, the Order must not care about you because I've been here for at least twenty minutes. Don't act surprised," Katherine said at Damon's startled look, "You know Stefan's been out of it all summer. He hasn't heard me the entire time I've been here."
Damon felt a pang in his heart.
"How do you know how Stefan's been acting? Been spying? Ask your little sister to write Stefan to see what's going on?" Damon asked acridly.
"Elena doesn't know about this," Katherine returned sharply, "My parents don't think that she's . . . mature enough for this line of work. Jeremy's already shown some promise though."
"Does Jeremy and Elena know about your parents' . . . connections?" Damon asked her, "Do they know that their parents hate innocent people just because of their blood status?"
"Damon, love, no one's innocent in this world," Katherine said, raising a hand and trailing it down Damon's cheek. "Absolutely no one."
Damon found himself leaning into the touch before making himself step back. He regarded his longtime girlfriend coolly and asked abruptly, "Did you help? Kill my parents, I mean. Did you help plot their murders, or were you the one to cast the Imperius on my father and the killing curse on my mother?"
Katherine's face scrunched up in disbelief and a touch of sadness. Her voice was vehement when she replied, "Of course not!" She hissed, "I loved you mom, Damon."
"But you thought my dad was a dirty muggle," Damon said, eyes narrowed down at the girl he loved.
"I admit it," Katherine said, not giving any ground to Damon, "I hated your father."
Damon was raising his wand again, but Katherine continued, "I hated your father because he abused you! He hit you, and your brother, and probably your mother too. But I had nothing to do with either of their deaths. I promise you, Damon, I wouldn't do that to you." Katherine looked up at him through her eyelashes. "I love you."
Damon slowly put his wand down again.
Katherine walked closer to Damon, talking softly, "I tried to get them to stop, but the Dark Lord has started targeting people he thinks are bloodtraitors. Your mom was pretty high on that list, higher even than Andromeda Black, who married that muggleborn."
"You tried to stop them? You tried to save my parents?" An inner voice of Damon's told him that Katherine was conning him – she was Slytherin, and so was he, so he needed to quick acting like a trusting Hufflepuff.
He told the voice to shut up.
"Yes," Katherine assured, running her hands along Damon's arms. "Yes, I did, but the Dark Lord, he doesn't particularly listen to Death Eaters as low on the totem pole as me."
Damon hesitantly put his arms around the girl, the woman he still loved.
"You and your brother are also pretty high on his hit list, Damon," Katherine whispered. "You're in the Order of Phoenix – somehow they found out –"
"You told them, didn't you?" Damon asked, still holding Katherine, but his voice was tight with repressed anger.
"No. I don't know how they found out – I'm not told a whole lot, yet. But I do know that you and Stefan are in danger. You guys are half-bloods, but because you're in the Order, you're High Priority, and Stefan's guilty by association. They'll get him," Katherine's big brown eyes looked up at Damon's icy blue ones. "They'll hurt him to get to you, Damon."
"I know that," Damon hissed, "I know that already. They've already hurt him and me by killing Mom and Dad."
"There's a way he'll be safe, Damon," Katherine whispered to him, her lips so close to Damon's ear that her cool breath made him shiver. "Come with me. Come with me to the Dark Lord. Tell him what he wants to know, and Stefan will be safe. You won't have to worry."
The soft words lulled Damon into almost saying yes. The thought of his little brother being safe – a sure way to make sure he wasn't killed – no.
"No," Damon said, his voice firm and in a tone that broke no arguments. "I can't do that, Katherine."
Katherine looked up at him with her eyes wide. "Come on, Damon. It's what safest. Easiest."
"What's easiest isn't always what's best, Katherine. What safest isn't even always what's best. I'm going to do the right thing here, alright?" Damon detached himself from Katherine. "You need to leave."
Katherine's face closed off, and in a frosty, hurt tone, she said, "I guess I do." She turned to Disapparate, but paused, "The offer is only going to stand until the Dark Lord feels you'll be useful. When you realize you're mistaken, you know where to find me." She Disapparated out of the apartment to a street five blocks away.
A man in a dark robe waited for her there.
"Well?"
"The seed's been planted," Katherine told him shortly. "A bit longer and he'll come running. Don't worry, Yaxely."
The other Death Eater just snorted before Disapparating. Katherine joined him a moment later.
Damon sighed and leant his forearms onto the counter tops.
"When were you going to tell me that Katherine was a Death Eater? It wasn't in the Prophet when it was raving about capturing Lucius Malfoy."
Damon jumped and his wand was in his hand before he realized what he was doing. Stefan stood in the kitchen entrance, not even blinking at the wand pointed at him dead between his eyes.
"Damn it Stefan, don't do that," Damon swore and lowered his wand. Stefan's dull eyes tracked his movements.
"Well?"
"Were you eavesdropping?" Damon evaded.
"I heard voices, so I left my room to see what was going on," Stefan mustered the strength to halfheartedly shrug. "I recognized Katherine's voice and thought you and her had gotten over whatever it was you'd fought about earlier this summer. Then you started talking about her parents' connections to something, and then the 'Dark Lord' was mentioned." His eyes pierced Damon's and he said, "So. I want to know. When were you going to tell me that Katherine was a Death Eater?"
Damon rubbed his face tiredly. "I'll be honest, Stef," Damon said, his voice hard. "What happened was that Mom and Dad died. You're depressed and I didn't want to put more stress on you because I didn't want to have to commit you to St. Mungos for a nervous breakdown or an overdose or something!"
Stefan pressed his lips into a tight line. Damon thought he couldn't take this? He was just an immature child who couldn't handle the truth? Stefan debated whether it was worth it to argue with Damon.
"I'm not depressed," He settled for saying.
Damon snorted loudly.
"Right. What do you call moping in your room for over half the summer with your cat?" Damon asked dryly.
"I wasn't moping," Stefan denied venomously, "And at least I miss them! Or at least don't act like they were never here! I wouldn't have even known you missed them if it wasn't for Katherine fucking Petrova the Death Eater showing up to recruit you over to the dark side!"
Damon's expression darkened and his hand tightened on the counter top. "Go to your room."
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not them!" Stefan growled with his fists clenched at his sides.
"I realize that Stefan, I do," Damon said maliciously, "I'm not Dad who gets completely wasted and smacks you around and I'm not Mom who would take it or just stand there and do nothing, and I don't have a significant other that lives here to yell at to scar you for life."
Stefan's face lost its color and he wordlessly and stiffly turned around and walked to his room. Damon heard the door slam loudly, rattling the walls.
The anger drained from Damon then and he sighed.
"That could have gone better," Damon drawled to himself. "That could have gone a lot better."
The last two weeks until term started was tense, and Stefan didn't ask for any more Parseltongue lessons that Damon had been giving him on and off, though he could hear Stefan practice by himself with nothing else to do. Damon wouldn't admit it, but his brother was almost as good as Damon was, who had been fluent since he'd learnt to talk.
Damon Side-along Apparated to King's Cross with Stefan, and neither spoke to the other until Stefan started off to the Hogwarts' Express.
"Hey," Damon said, "Wait a minute."
Stefan paused, and turned back to look at Damon silently.
"I've already said this, but I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Katherine and that it looks like I didn't care about Mom and Dad. I'm not emotional-touchy-feely, okay? I don't write in a journal or talk to my closest friends about my issues," Damon said, looking at his brother, "I don't . . . express myself well sometimes. I apologize and I hope you have a good term."
Stefan looked at the ground, before quietly saying, "Thanks. I'll . . . write you."
Damon nodded and watched as Stefan met up with Neville and the two boys boarded the train. He sighed and Apparated to the Auror office.
Robards was standing over Damon's desk and he glared at the dark headed Auror as he walked over to the Head of Office.
"Where have you been?" Robards demanded.
"Took my brother to the Hogwarts' Express, Sir," Damon drawled, making it perfectly clear that the Sir had been tacked on with sarcasm.
"Don't be late again," Robards snapped, and then stepped to the side, revealing a man standing behind him. "Salvatore, this is your new partner. Get along with him or not, I don't care, as long as you two keep your asses in gear and get some damn work done." The older wizard stomped off, growling to himself.
Damon raised his eyebrow, and then turned to his partner.
"Oh, God, I got stuck with you?" Alaric Saltzman groaned playfully, rolling his eyes.
"You mean you didn't know who'd you be getting?" Damon asked, pleasantly surprised. He gave a wry twist of his lips.
"Nah. Robards' a son a bitch and he doesn't like me," Alaric said, "Or you, apparently," He tacked on thoughtfully. "But then, nobody really likes you except some Slytherins and your brother."
Damon walked over to his desk and slouched. Alaric joined him, dragging over his own chair.
"Oh, shut up," Damon grumbled.
Stefan kept silent through the train ride while Elena and Neville shot him concerned glances. Lexi glowered at him for sucking up the happy atmosphere with his moping, but was also alarmed with his behavior. Caroline and Bonnie stopped by once, checking in and saying hello to Elena.
The Sorting went by quickly and without incident until Harry came in late with a bloody nose. Hermione and Ron watched him with concern as the dark haired boy sat down, but Stefan turned back to his barely touched plate of flood. Elena put a hand on Stefan's knee, squeezing it tightly.
"Are you alright?" She asked quietly out of the side of her mouth. Her eyebrows were drawn on her forehead and her big brown doe eyes searched Stefan's face.
"Can we talk later?" Stefan murmured, looking away. He felt more than saw Elena exchange worried glances with Neville and Lexi.
"Yeah, sure," Elena mumbled.
The rest of dinner floated by and Stefan barely reacted when Snape was named the new DADA Professor, while Slughorn had been dragged out of retirement by Dumbledore. When leaving the Great Hall, Elena gripped his bicep and tugged him away to an empty corridor. She put a finger to her lip for silence, and then led Stefan to an unused classroom.
There was silence except for the chairs scraping along the floor as Elena dragged them into place. Dust had gathered on every available space in the room, and the chalk for the board at the front of the room looked to have disintegrated due to time.
"Sit," Elena gently pushed Stefan down into a hard wooden chair.
When he still said nothing, Elena pushed a few strands of hair behind her ears. "You know," She started, "this room used to be used to teach a wand lore class. You would learn all about wand cores and the woods used, and how your wand chose you. The theory behind the class was amazing, or so I've heard. But then the Professors needed more time for others classes, so this one got cut from the curriculum years and years ago."
"How'd you find that out?" Stefan asked quietly, looking at the floor.
"I read it in the unabridged version of Hogwarts, A History." Elena's gaze settled on Stefan as he tried to look anywhere but her face. "I'm really sorry about your parents, Stefan."
The young wizard looked up and Elena saw that he was upset.
"I found something out this summer," Stefan said abruptly.
"Okay . . ." Elena trailed off uncertainly. "Is it about your parents?"
"It's about your family."
"Oh," Elena was taken aback. "What is it?"
Stefan swallowed thickly. "You know that Katherine and Damon had a falling out?"
"Yeah," Elena frowned, "But what has that-"
"It happened because she joined the Death Eaters and she was there when Sirius was killed in the Department of Mysteries last summer. I only found out a few weeks ago – and only because she showed up at Damon's apartment to try to recruit him over."
Elena's mind froze for several seconds before stuttering back to life.
"What? No. No, you don't know what you're talking about, Stefan Salvatore," Elena stood, her voice firm.
"Elena, I was there. She came over and was talking to Damon – I overheard her, and then Damon confirmed it when she left."
Elena's face flushed, and she yelled, "You're lying."
"I'm not," Stefan denied vehemently. "She said that your parents are allies to You-Know-Who, and that they were glad that she was a Death Eater."
"Shut up! Stop lying," Elena cried.
"I'm not lying!" Stefan stood now. "Why would I lie about this? I've never lied to you!"
Elena's hand flew out and slapped Stefan's cheek, nails raking across his face, leaving a bright red print and four long scratches that started to bleed sluggishly. Stefan froze up and his green eyes widened momentarily before dulling.
Elena covered her mouth with her hands, shocked at her own reaction. "I'm sorry, Stefan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I never meant-" Tears leaked out of her eyes at both her actions and the startling news. "I just, you surprised me, and I never – I mean, Katherine? A Death Eater?" She reached out her hand to his face but Stefan flinched shrank away from her.
"Stefan?" Elena winced and searched Stefan's face for any kind of sign that he was okay. However, Stefan gave no indication that he was, and the wizard stiffly walked out of the classroom, unheeded by Elena's desperate calls for him to come back.
Alone in the room, Elena sank slowly back into the chair she'd just risen from. She put her head in her hands.
"Damn it," She muttered. Katherine was a Death Eater? How does that even happen? Her parents were supporters of that awful man, You-Know-Who? And then when her boyfriend had tried to tell her the truth she'd hurt him. "You're an idiot, Elena Petrova," She groaned angrily to herself, "His effing father was abusive and then you go and smack him across the face."
The only thing that could worsen this moment would be for Jeremy to become best friends with Draco Malfoy the Prat.
After a few attempts to reconcile on Elena's part, Stefan and Elena avoided each other as the new term started – both for different reasons. Elena spent her time with Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt, while Stefan stayed with Neville and Lexi bounced around between all of her friends.
"You could tell me what happened," Neville had offered when Stefan had returned to their dorm, and so Stefan had quietly told him.
Neville was surprised to hear about Katherine, but, he told Stefan, he never really knew her to begin with, really. Neville had helped stop the bleeding on Stefan's face, and told him to go see Madam Pomfrey, but Stefan had refused to see the school nurse.
Malfoy, Lockwood, and their cronies had laughed and mocked his face the next day in Potions, so Lexi had taken the initiative to ruin their class assignment that day.
Slughorn took a shining to Hermione and Harry immediately, admiring their skills.
"Since when does Harry have any skills in Potions?" Lexi asked darkly as her own work turned sludgy. She frowned as it bubbled and gurgled. Slughorn walked over to Stefan and Neville's table next, frowning over Neville's work.
"No, no, Longfellow, that's not right at all," Slughorn corrected Neville's notes, which the boy had copied down wrong. He then turned to Stefan's cauldron and his eyebrows rose to touch his receding hairline.
"That wasn't in the directions, my boy," Slughorn said, eyeing Stefan.
"Yes, but this mixture would be more effective," Stefan said quietly, "Sir." He explained the theory behind his idea, and waited for Slughorn's reprimand.
It never came.
The Professor boomed hearty laughter and said, "Miss Granger, I do believe you have some competition over here! Mr. Salvatore seems to know what he's doing."
Hermione shot Stefan a small smile, and Stefan recognized the competitive look. Slughorn meandered away, and Stefan began working on his potion in earnest now, eager to beat Hermione.
"Time's up!" Slughorn called thirty minutes later. The Professor looked at all the potions and Stefan was pleased to notice that his work was slightly better than Hermione's. Harry turned in his work, and he seemed smug, a small smile on the corner of his lips. Stefan peered at the other boy's vial and saw that it was perfection.
"What book were you looking at, Harry?" Stefan examined the vial, while Harry's eyes widened momentarily.
Stefan narrowed his. "You cheated?"
"No," Harry said, "I was looking at my textbook." He avoided Stefan's gaze and went back to his seat, but Stefan flagged him down after Slughorn dismissed him.
"Harry!" Stefan caught up with the trio. Ron's eyebrows rose and Hermione smiled and gave a small wave. "Hey," Stefan said to Harry.
"Hey," Harry said, shifting on his feet. "Look, I've got to go to my next class-"
"We both have DADA next, Harry, you're not going to be late," Stefan said with some of the first humor he'd had in months. He quickly became serious.
"How did you perfect that potion? It was very hard work and the only reason mine was as good as it was, because I tampered with the directions," Stefan wheedled. Hermione gasped.
"You didn't follow the directions?" She was aghast.
"Sometimes you have to think outside the book, Hermione," Stefan said, but watched Harry out of the corner of his eye. Hermione huffed, irritated, but said nothing in return.
"I did something similar," Harry admitted quietly, "My book's been written in." He looked around them, and seeing no one, pulled out his Potions textbook. "Look."
Stefan peered at the untidy, girlish handwriting in the book, reading the scrawled notes in the margins. He bit his bottom lip, "This is really good. I've made some of these changes myself, actually." Stefan spied several spells written in the book that he'd never even heard of.
Harry shifted from foot to foot, clearly wanting his textbook back.
Stefan handed him the book back, but said, "There're some spells in there that look self-made. You'd be better off not practicing them on live humans." Harry looked surprised, but nodded. Stefan said his good-byes and spied Elena looking over towards him mournfully. Stefan veered in a different direction entirely, avoiding Neville and Lexi as well. He'd just look for a different route to DADA.
Stefan headed up the stairs, but got caught on a moving staircase which took him to the enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy. Thinking that he needed to just get lost somewhere, a place where he could forget about Elena and Damon and Death Eaters, across the hall the Room of Requirement door materialized.
The wizard hesitated, knowing that skipping DADA while Snape was teaching it was a bad idea – he'd probably get the foulest detention the hook-nosed man could think of – but he walked over and opened the door anyway.
Inside the room proved to be cavernous, and the ceilings almost as tall as the Great Hall's. Stacks upon stacks of miscellaneous items littered the floor, some being almost as tall as the ceiling itself. Stefan spied a large wooden wardrobe that was taller than even him. He was curious, but whispers of almost long forgotten words about another wardrobe leading to a faraway land kept Stefan from opening the door and stepping inside. Instead, the young man wandered farther into the Room, eyes wandering over each pile of stuff.
His eyes came across a heavy signet ring sitting upon a tattered red cushion. Curious despite himself, Stefan went for a closer the look. The ring was silver and the band was thick – a man's ring, then. A lapis lazuli stone sat front and center, and though the thing was a bit gaudy, the trinket was elegant and drew Stefan in.
He reached out his hand and touched the cool metal of the ring and picked it up, weighing it in his palm. The ring was sturdy and Stefan hesitated, wondering about enchantments and jinxes that could be on the piece. Stefan pulled out his wand and murmured several revealing spells, and finding nothing, slowly slid the ornate silver onto his ring finger.
He waited for a moment, but felt nothing unusual. Feeling ridiculous and slightly girly, Stefan looked walked away from the red cushion the ring had been sitting on. He hefted his backpack a little higher on his shoulder and headed out of the Room of Requirement.
Snape gave Stefan two weeks' worth of detentions, which Lexi crowed with laughter over, and Neville shook his head. Elena attempted to talk to him again, but Stefan deliberately ignored her.
He didn't know why he was feeling so cold towards his girlfriend (probably ex-girlfriend, now, Stefan thought). It wasn't because Katherine was a Death Eater, and that her parents supported the people that murdered his parents (and almost got him).
Part of him was furious that Elena hadn't believed him, and called Stefan a liar (Stefan had never lied to Elena. Ever) but Stefan could understand. He'd be upset if someone had accused Damon of being a Death Eater.
Another part of him was still wounded that another person he'd trusted had hurt him, smacked him across the face. He could still feel her sharp nails raking his cheek, drawing blood. (How many times had his father done the same thing? How many times had he done worse? How many times had his mother stood by . . . and done nothing?)
Yet another part of him was furious for being upset with Elena for slapping him. What was he, five? He shouldn't be that hurt. She hadn't left any lingering damage, not really, not even to his pride. Elena had apologized immediately after, even.
So what the hell was wrong with him?
Stefan didn't know the answer, so he did what he'd been doing with the grief his parents' death had caused; shoved it into a tiny box and threw away the key, avoiding her.
Sixth Year passed with little incident, as opposed to most other years. Because of his Potions book, Harry got the felix felicis, which made Stefan severely jealous, especially since he knew that Harry's 'talent' was because of the previous owner of the textbook.
Stefan was invited to the Slug Club gatherings, and went out of curiosity.
Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup.
Malfoy was sent to the Hospital Wing due to a bathroom duel with Harry. (Lexi spent a few days giggling about that - "They dueled with their wands in the bathroom.")
Everything was normal - except that Katherine was a Death Eater, Elena had stopped trying to reconcile with him, and Stefan was miserable.
The next time Stefan came across the Room of Requirement, he was dodging Peeves. The Room opened to the same set up as the one before, including the large wooden wardrobe. Stefan stepped in its direction, the allure to see what was inside almost too strong to resist.
A hissing noise on the opposite side of the room caught his attention and snapped Stefan out of his reverie. Recognizing Parselmouth when hearing it, Stefan walked in the direction of the quiet words. He frowned when he came across a small tiara looking item. Peering closer, Stefan saw that it was a diadem and had Ravenclaw's dark blue emblem sitting primly on the front.
The faint hissing of Parselmouth continued to emit from the small item, and Stefan hesitantly reached out his right arm. He touched the metal and was surprised to find it warm and pulsing, like a live being. Stefan frowned, his brows furrowed.
I . . . am . . . here.
Stefan dropped the diadem like it was on fire, reeling back. "What the hell?" He murmured.
I . . . am . . . here.
The diadem hissed out in Parselmouth again, and Stefan hesitantly replied.
Where is . . . here? In the diadem?
The hissing from Ravenclaw's artifact stopped, seemingly stunned.
Yes, it replied after a seeming moment of deliberation.
What are you? Who are you? Damon's lessons in Parseltongue were looking more and more reasonable.
I . . . was . . . a wizard. Long ago.
Who?
The pause was extremely lengthy this time, and just when Stefan thought that he'd gone crazy and imagined the entire conversation, the diadem answered.
My name was Thomas Riddle.
The name tickled the back of Stefan's memory, in a vague, alarming sort of way. He should know this name, this person. He'd heard of a Tom Riddle, somewhere. But where?
And who are you? The diadem asked.
Stefan licked his lips. Should he lie? This was some sort artifact lying around – one of the many things Stefan had learnt from Damon was that randomly talking magical items didn't usually amount to anything good.
Steve. Stefan answered after a long pause. Steve Rogers.
Well, if he was going to lie, Stefan thought, might as well make it interesting.
Nice to meet you, Steve Rogers.
Stefan reached out for the diadem again, and shuddered. He could feel the dark magic pouring off of the artifact.
Is something the matter?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Stefan heard a loud noise near the door and saw Draco Malfoy's sleek pale blond head slide into the room. He dropped the Dark diadem and ducked behind a chair, deliberating.
The large wooden wardrobe loomed in the corner of his vision.
Should he hope to continue to hide behind this desk as Malfoy meanders over? Or should he risk going into the wardrobe?
He picked up a book that sat next to his elbow and pitched it across the room. The book hit the wall and Malfoy spun around, and walked over to the fallen book to investigate. Stefan ran to the wardrobe and started to shut the door.
"She did not shut it properly because she knew that it is very silly to shut oneself into a wardrobe, even if it is not a magic one."
Words prickled the back of his mind, making Stefan pause. He slipped on something in the wardrobe, making it shudder.
The door clicked closed.
Part two will be posted as soon as I finish and edit it.
Review please?