Black Ambition
By You'reABirdOfTheSummer
Important Information
The 'true' identity of Poppy Black is a closely guarded secret.
Rating=T due to implied sexual scenes, swearing, underage drinking, adult themes including non-graphic violence and overall morally questionable antics. This is a Tom Riddle story after all. May change to weak M later.
Setting= '40s' wizarding culture, which is undeniably and unashamedly like present day in regards to sexism (existent to the same extent as today, for example sport) , racism (non existent) , sexual liberation (very existent) and blood purity (only existent among the aristocratic class, changing very rapidly.) Saying that sounds like all the depravity has been removed from the Black family in particular, that is not the case.
Alternate Universe - Including ages of characters changed from canon.
Characters by age, then order of importance
7th year: Cassiopeia Black-s (HG) (P), Raimond Lestrange, Prince of Aquitaine-s (P), Charlus Potter-g (HB) (P), Lucretia Black-s (Q), Roger Davies-r (QC), Callidora Black-s, Desmond Avery-s
6th year: Abraxas Malfoy-s (P) (QC), Liam Bones-g, Cedrella Black-s, Alphard Black-s (Q) Dorea Black-s (P) Elena Greengrass-s, Septimus Weasley, (P) (Q), Miranda Skeeter-r (Q) Charis Black-s, Ignatius Prewett-r (P) Ivan Rosier-s, Minerva McGonagall-g (P)
5th year: Poppy Black-r (P) (Q) Tom Riddle-s (P) Orion Black-s (Q) Cygnus Black (Q) Elizabeth (Lizzie) Turpin-r, Casper Crouch-r (P) (Q) Hazel Hemsley- r Bradley Clearwater- r (Q) Henry Boot-r
4th year: Walburga Black-s Druella Rosier- s
Hogwarts Staff: Headmaster Armando Dippet, Deputy Headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore, HOH, Professor Horace Slughorn HOH, Professor Filius Flitwick HOH, Professor Pomona Sprout HOH, Professor Aurora Sinstra,
Other: The Black family, -please refer to tree- Lord Malfoy and the Lady Alexandria, their highnesses, Sophia, Erica and Rosamund, the Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine, Lord Potter and the Lady Harriet, Lady Bones, Lady Greengrass and Lord Consort Simon Greengrass,
Hogwarts castle.
Still as beautiful as the first time I saw it; breathtakingly so.
My gaze wandered over the high battlements, the flags twitched feebly in the light September breeze.
Blinding, bright green light; the walls giving way, ancient stone crumbling like cheese and blood- the blood was the worst. Outside it was in stagnant pools, soaking slowly into the lawn. But inside it seeped into the cracks between the flagstone and flowed, rivers of life-blood draining through the corridors. The very essence of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, all wasted.
The school was a vampire that day.
I smiled sadly; it had been a long time. I was stronger now, a different person. Memories couldn't hurt me now.
"Fantastic isn't it?" the voice of my cousin visibly startled me. He smiled kindly, presuming he had jolted me from my awe. "I was the same when I first caught a glimpse of it," he said affectionately.
My other companion reached over and squeezed my other hand.
"Are you nervous?" he asked. Nervous? Funnily enough I was. No matter their life story, the first day of a new school caused knots to form in the stomachs of even the most hardened new students.
"Why yes, in fact I am," I replied, giving him my bravest smile.
"Uncle Lycoris would be really proud of you," Orion murmured in my ear. I could only just hear him over the rattling of the carriage, but I was sure he had used that strange past tense everyone in our family used for my father; despite the fact he was still very much alive. Funny how those little idiosyncrasies had bled down into the younger generation from their elders who could still remember a time when Lycoris was banished from the House of Black.
I mumbled thanks, and not for the first time noticed the beauty of Orion and Cygnus. Orion's mess of curls and hard jaw line framed with stubble -despite the fact he was only fifteen- was the polar opposite of Cygnus' piercing blue eyes and soft straight hair. Yet they still managed to look as if they were separated at birth. The entire Black family were exquisitely good looking, surprising considering their questionable gene pool. Some indeed were considered plainer than the others or even sour, but none could fault their bone structure, flawlessly clear, pale skin or the masses of thick, dark hair that defined every member.
I, of course had to match my striking family. Though I cannot boast this beauty is gifted by nature, instead, a magi-surgeon's tools. My looks, my family even my name- all false.
I didn't want to be Poppy Black, you see. In fact at first I refused to become a figment of somebody's imagination, but that was in the beginning. They make everyone come round, for the greater good they called it. And there were only two of us who could be candidates for such a procedure, heirs.
I remember the first time I saw myself. Crushed by the white blank walls of my windowless hospital cell, I removed a bandage from my face and I was unrecognisable but even through the inhuman swelling and the grotesque bruising I could see I looked like a Black.
I let my mind wander on to my last look at the room which kept me prisoner, how elated I was to leave that place.
But my mind strayed, as it was accustomed to doing whenever I let it meander down its own path, to time travel, and I screwed my eyes shut as I remembered the pain. I wouldn't think about it, I wouldn't. I could feel my muscles spasming, muscle memories were harder to control than a well-practiced mind. I wrenched my eyelids open taking a deep ragged breath.
"Poppy?" Orion said, his brow furrowed with worry. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," I breathed, sniffing slightly and punctuating my words with a carefree laugh. "I just thought I was going to sneeze." Orion and Cygnus visibly relaxed, returning my easy smiles.
Lord Sirius of House Black- or grandpa as I call him now- insisted I be escorted to the castle today, the first of September. The elder of my cousins, had developed an oh-so-common upper year ailment- the frightening realisation that they would be leaving soon, suddenly they had become very attached to riding the Hogwarts express, knowing they would not be riding it on September the first for much longer if at all. Orion and Cygnus were starting fifth year with me and more than willing- excited even, to get to slide-along apparate right into Hogsmeade station.
Orion and I are cousins, Cygnus is our second cousin, but goodness knows he and Orion are so alike they could almost be twins; it used to unnerve me how they finished each other's sentences, but now it offered me a strange kind of comfort. There were 11 Blacks attending Hogwarts this year. I kid you not, 11.
Each dark haired, pale and proudly Slytherin. The youngest being Walburga, in forth year. We had other relatives as well, but if they did not carry the Black name then they had little to do with us. Condescending I know, but those of the recent male Black line were considered the elite, amongst themselves anyway.
They walked me up to the Entrance Hall, where I saw Liam. He looked the same and greeted me with a familiar smile and bowed down over my extended hand.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Black," he announced, the glint of humour in his eyes going unnoticed by Orion and Cygnus. I looked puzzled for a moment.
"Oh you must be Mr Bones," I exclaimed after a slight pause. "We met at high tea between our grandparents did we not?"
"Indeed my lady," he replied, bowing once again. He then shook hands with Orion and Cygnus, who he had met at many a formal ball. Dragon Pox, was the reason I had not met any of the heirs to the high society families- well Dragon Pox or perhaps an undetectable self-administered poison, frankly the exact means of my incapacitation are unimportant. Two years ago, my father introduced me to the family and I was a week from starting Hogwarts when I came down with some very severe symptoms of the disease.
After all I couldn't allow myself to go off to Hogwarts straight off without any foundation, so I spent the next two school years in quarantine with my grandparents, Lord and Lady Black. Within a fortnight they would have been willing to jump in front of a charging manticore for me. I knew I needed the protection of Lord Black and complete integration into my family if I were to survive at Hogwarts.
The four of us walked in silence up to the headmaster's office and I was careful not to allow myself to walk ahead of the pack, it would not do to show that I already knew my way around the castle.
Orion and Cygnus wished me good luck at the statue.
"But I really wish you would consider Slytherin," Orion sighed as he enveloped me in a hug.
"What do I always say, cousin?" I asked in a whisper.
"There is nothing more Slytherin than being a Ravenclaw," he murmured, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips. "Good luck anyway." Then he tugged a lock of my long, dark hair the manner of a teasing big brother.
I returned his smile and ascended the staircase after Liam.
"Poppy Black and Liam Bones," Professor Dippet read thoughtfully from the thick, parchment files he had been presented with. His round spectacles perched on the end of a red, bulbous nose.
"Poppy," he repeated, playing the sound around his mouth. "Never heard of Black with that kind of name before…" His tone was arrogant, judgemental.
I prickled, narrowing my eyes into slits.
"Yes headmaster," I could hear my tone dripping with derision and bitterness. "My father had a child out of wedlock, brought shame to the family etcetera etcetera. It was just too insulting for my esteemed Lord and grandfather to allow me to have a traditional first name."
A pause. The air around the headmaster had suddenly become very close and warm, I hid a smirk.
"Ah… well, I see," he spluttered, his discomfort was evident. He shifted in his seat. "So Liam," he said brightly. I rolled my eyes at his not-so-subtle change of subject, and crossed my arms over my chest. I was channelling Cassiopeia, just as he would expect.
"It's good to see a Bones looking to join the student body, it's been a few years since we had your cousin Victoria here," he continued.
"Yes sir, she speaks so highly of you," Liam shot me an amused look which Dippet didn't notice. "Of the entire school in fact."
As Dippet and Liam exchanged polite pleasantries my attention wandered. Why were there so many mirrors in this office? I looked at Dippet, his sideburns were in frightful disarray, surely he did not use them? I caught a look at myself in one of them, and ran a hand through my long, dark curls.
I wondered if I looked so arrogant before; I really hope not. I had been forced to practice walking as if I were royalty for weeks in order to pull off my new aristocratic features.
I vaguely remembered how I hated looking like this to begin with… it was vile, as if I was a doll instead of a person, but I had grown into it. It was almost as difficult to get to grips with how effortlessly gorgeous I had magically become as it was to ignore how intolerably haughty and self-important I looked without even trying.
I still resented this face.
Merlin, they were still talking. Dippet must like Liam. I don't know who he used to be, absolutely no idea. The only thing I know is that he is an heir, but as the only other ones I know of are myself and Tom Riddle that hardly leaves anything to go on. Not that I want to know, it seems strange that his strong build and broad shoulders could be a product of magic, rather than genetics. My eyes roamed over his close cropped sandy brown hair, and honey coloured eyes. His smile always looked genuine and his movements were slow and gentle, I wondered if I looked as at ease in my skin as he did.
"Well," Dippet said, clapping his hands together and finally drawing my attention again. "As your preliminary testing has been very successful, I see no reason why we cannot allow the pair of you to join our school."
Of course I had already sat fifth year once, after many advancements in magic had made the curriculum more difficult. I would be expected to ace his stupid 'preliminary exams.'
"However," the headmaster continued, rubbing his round chin. "Presently both sixth and fifth year are at normal full capacity. I'm sure we can squeeze you in somewhere. Allow me to summon my deputy headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore, he is in charge of timetabling and the like."
We waited patiently for only a moment, though I was still irritated that the headmaster had not offered me a seat.
The professor was not exactly the same as I remembered. His hair was auburn. I stifled a laugh, I had no idea the esteemed professor was a redhead in his youth. It would seem however that it is was not only his bright hair that became more subdued with the passing years. Today, he was wearing outlandish canary yellow robes which almost required sunglasses to look at comfortably. I saw Liam smile at the robes, as if he were remembering an old friend.
My face remained impassive.
After we made our greetings he turned to me.
"There is very little space in Slytherin house Miss Black," he started, but I cut him off as politely as I could.
"Forgive me, Professor; it is not my wish to be in Slytherin."
His eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I see," he said slowly. "In that case we shall let the sorting hat have it's say before we discuss it further. I must apologise for… assuming."
"Not at all Professor," I replied, giving him an easy smile. "It is an easy mistake to make, given the rest of my family." I watched as the tatty old sorting hat soared into his outstretched hand.
"Would you like to go first, Miss Black?" he asked. I nodded.
"My, my, my, Poppy Black."
'You know that name?' I thought.
"My magical consciousness exists outside of this dimension Poppy, to me, our last little chat happened not very long ago."
'Time is almost as strange in my eyes as it is yours, Alfred.'
I heard him chuckle.
"You are one of my more cherished visitors Poppy," he chuckled inside her head. "Good luck."
"Ravenclaw!"
I smiled as the hat was plucked from my head.
"Ah," Dippet said, thumbing through his file. "Then it seems I am to award you with this." He handed me a small, blue badge. "Professor Flitwick requested you be made a prefect if you were to enter his house."
I smiled, it was the doing of Uncle Arcturus -I may have eavesdropped through the floo network on their meeting a week ago. The future Lord Black had made a friend in the Professor when they drank brandy together and discussed my admission.
I believe the words. 'Dear, sweet girl,' and 'doesn't want to be typecast by her peers for being put in Slytherin' secured Flitwick's agreement that Ravenclaw was the best place for me. And perhaps the 'quiet, needs something to help her come out of her shell and not spend all her time with a nose in a book' and the imposing presence of my uncle gave him the idea of me becoming a prefect.
"I believe another Miss Black is waiting for you," Dumbledore said knowingly just after Liam was announced as a Gryffindor. "I am sure she will show you to Ravenclaw tower." His eyes sparkled with interest as he watched me leave; I gave him a small smile. He must not have been expecting a Black in Ravenclaw.
Sure enough, Cassiopeia was waiting silently at the statue. As I reached her she fixed me with a questioning stare, her face totally devoid of emotion- as usual. We looked so similar; except her eyes were icy blue and her dark hair was dead straight. Sometimes I wonder whether she was the cast from which I was designed, but that thought made me feel a little ill. She raised a perfect, neat eyebrow.
"Ravenclaw," I told her, knowing what she was expecting from me.
"Good," she replied flippantly. I had discussed houses with Cassie before we left for Hogwarts. She was less than happy that I didn't want to be in Slytherin but she accepted my reasons and that Ravenclaw would not embarrass our family, eventually.
"What's this," she asked, running a manicured thumb over the shining blue badge pinned to the lapel of my robes.
"Dippet made me a prefect," I sighed. A wicked grin lit up her cold features.
"I shall work you like a slave, my darling," she said, her white teeth flashing. My eyes fluttered to her own Prefect and Head Girl Badge.
"I would expect nothing less Cassie," I replied, returning her grin.
She gave a satisfied sigh, and linked out arms.
"I shall walk you to Ravenclaw tower, you can see it before everyone else gets here," she said, well, she told me. Cassiopeia didn't let other people make decisions. "Everyone else takes so long to make it up from the station. It is tedious. After the feast I'll show you where the kitchens are and the Black common room of course."
Of course, the Black common room. All I had heard about for two years. There was a secluded, large office on the second floor, overlooking one of the smaller courtyards. No one had used it in years; it was probably the office of some teacher who left years ago. But not many people knew about it. So Cassie and Alphard had passworded it so they could use it as a secure family meeting place. Always so paranoid, the Black family.
We reached the entrance to Ravenclaw tower.
"Poppy, I want you to know. Even though you're not in Slytherin, you are like a little sister to me," Cassiopeia stated, her cool voice not thawing. She had long since stopped putting on a warm façade around me, we both knew it was false. It is much more comforting to hear her speaking frankly. "And you are under my protection."
I didn't really know what that last bit meant, but I smiled all the same. It was unusual for Cassie to say things pleasantly and I appreciated the sentiment.
"Thank you Cassie," I replied, sincerely. "Don't know what I'd do without out you," I added as she embraced me swiftly.
A strange action for Cassiopeia Black.
Her icy gaze met with my dark one. An understanding passed between us in that look. She had sworn to help me however she could, because I was a Black and she was fiercely protective of her family. I nodded, and she smiled. It was not a wide smile, but it was honest and I knew I had been understood.
"Do you remember the way to the Great Hall?" she asked. I nodded. "Then I will see you at the feast."
Without another word she turned and walked down the corridor without a look back. It was less of a walk, more of a saunter. I admired her regal, swaying gait, the ethereal glow of her hair and the elegant way her cloak pooled at her feet.
One riddle later, I stood in the common room, just as I had expected, it was large with beautiful views of the lake, with a great fireplace and more bookshelves than should be legal. My trunk had been placed by some comfortable looking armchairs near the entrance.
I levitated my belongings as I made my way up the staircase, on the first floor was a door with a sign saying first years, and opposite it was a picture. It was this that caught my eye. In an old, tarnished golden frame stood a castle, very unlike Hogwarts. It was crumbling to ruins on a weed ridden hillside, but the ocean glistened in the background. Slowly I ran my fingertips lightly across the canvass, I don't know what drew me to this painting, but I was overcome by a sudden sadness.
Within seconds this was replaced by curiosity as the frame glowed. My brow furrowed and the frame swung out of the wall, as if on a hinge.
It looked just like wall.
Until I looked closely.
The bricks weren't right, I watched inquisitively as they juddered slightly, like a spectre that wasn't quite there.
My inquisitiveness got the better of me and I stepped straight through.
I entered a room which was large without being vast, and a shade warmer than the rest of the tower, because of the burning hearth; the same size as the one in the common room. A large, four poster bed stood against the far wall, but it was more luxurious than the rest of the inhabitants of Ravenclaw tower were accustomed to. To the left of the –now solid- door, was a squashy but elegant sofa and a low armchair, the perfect distance to appreciate the heat of the fire. The other side was a mahogany desk with many drawers and large, silver feather quill.
Surrounding the desk were bookshelves lining the walls. Two doors lead off from the bedroom, one a bathroom, to rival the prefect's bathroom and the other a closest. The large window was framed by thick, navy blue curtains which matched the carpet, and framed the same breath taking view of the lake and mountains beyond.
Above the headboard, a message in large, elegant silver script stood proudly.
May my heir find the solace and comfort a great mind desires to flourish.
I could feel the aura of the room. Ancient magic resided here and I felt calmer, more alert. Ravenclaw herself must have charmed this room for developing the mind with stress left at the door.
I ran my hand over the doorframe; there was the tell-tale hum of wards telling me the door would only open at my command. I turned again, my trunk was already open and my belongings soaring to their rightful places. Of course I had charmed my trunk to be much bigger on the inside, so I could hardly see the bed for the storm of skirts and books weaving to find their home.
That finished with, I though I had better go downstairs to join the feast.