Title: Against All Odds
Rating: M
Based On: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, (c) Scholastic, Bloomsbury, WB, etc. etc.
Disclaimer: If I owned this work, would I publish this on fanfiction? All rights copyright their respective owners.
A New World Order
"And so," I droned on to my disgust, "the goblin rebellion of '70 was put down by the special auror corps."
The young Avery snickered to the left while leaning back precariously on his chair with obvious disdain. He landed down moments later, snidely whispering to his friend, "serves those savages right."
I frowned at him, disapproval emanating in waves off me. I sternly asked, "Do you have something to say Mr. Avery?"
"Why nothing sir" he said, blowing away a strand of hair dangling in front of his face, "I was just telling Evan here that you forgot to mention how my father heroically led the charge into Gringotts."
"Right I did, but that does not give you the right to interrupt my class," I reminded him. To my frustration, he merely waved off my warning with a meaningless apology and continued distracting his buddies. Only this time, instead of talking outright, he started scribbling on parchment enchanted to take on the shape of paper airplanes, no doubt provided for by the younger Malfoy.
In some ways, I mused as I turned back towards the lesson at hand, I shouldn't mind their lack of attention. Much of the curriculum on Wizarding History is far from the truth and everyone knew it. Avery's noble and brave father, for example, really only managed to take over Gringotts by cowering behind human shields, captured muggleborns. That is,of course, if they consider taking over a ruined building as an achievement, for all of the vaults had been emptied earlier by the goblin nation and transferred overseas to various European branches.
On the other hand, if this were any reputable institution on the continent, such cheekiness would be unacceptable. The madness that is Magical Britain under Minister rule, however, allows anything and everything, given one is a pure blood. Thus, with no option but to hold my tongue, I turned to another one of the young princes who was currently sleeping in my class.
To my dismay, Mr. Prince only snored louder when I tapped sharply on the board behind me. Giving the boy my best glare, I flew off of the podium and landed in front of his desk.
"Mr. Prince!" I yelled. The boy at least had the decency to appear ashamed by having been caught dozing in class. The moment was ruined however when Mr. Wilkes broke into hysterical laughs.
"That's it Mr. Wilkes," I roared, damn the consequences, "I will not tolerate such behavior from my-"
"Crucio!"
Unimaginable pain took over my mind as spell broke past my mental barriers with the help of amplifying runes bound around my neck. Gasping as the curse was lifted, I struggled to pick myself up from the floor.
"Kids," greeted a curt aristocratic voice, "I think you've learned enough today. Why don't you go out and enjoy the gardens while I have a little chat here? I think Lucius and Narcissa are there right now."
The delinquents quickly left the room, whispering to each other before vanishing behind the oak doors.
"I believe," he said, advancing slowly towards me, "that I made it crystal clear you are not to scold, touch, or yell at any person under my care."
Grabbing me by the neck, Abraxas Malfoy flung me into a shelf on the right.
"Did I not just see you do that?" he taunted, using my prized books, ancient tomes passed down from forefather to forefather, as bludgers. Stars and snowstorms of blood soaked paper rained down around me as I defiantly stayed silent.
"Well?" he asked while towering above me having tired of his game, "isn't this what you deserve?" Using the bookcase behind me as leverage, I struggled up to meet his gaze. "Yes, sir" I chocked out, coughing blood onto his robes. I smirked as he grabbed me again by the neck.
"Why you disgusting-"
I coughed again, spewing more blood on his face causing him to back away.
"I will deal with you later," he spat, unwilling to approach me in fear of further dirtying his clean ropes, "It will do well for you to remember half-breeds have no rights."
We stayed there, staring at one another for what seemed an eternity before Abraxas suddenly broke the gaze, staring at the mess around the room. Sighing, he turned around and limped out of the room, muttering, "Just...clean up this mess," before his silhouette faded away with the rest of the room into sweet oblivion.
Bittersweet Memories
"Did you see Severus' face when he thought the bloke was going to punish us?" asked Evan as we walked down the brightly lit hallway towards a small courtyard.
He scrunched his face up into a poor imitation of me, nose crooked with a bit of drool coming out of his mouth.
"Hey! You try waking up to the face of a troll," I defended amidst cheers. A loud clang resonated through the walls.
"I wonder what father is going to do to him," said Mulciber in response.
"Nothing unwarranted," replied Evans. The two started whispering to one another, probably betting on what exactly occurred.
Soon, more loud crashes came from behind us, followed by horrifying yell. "Ugghhh," I shuddered as memories of my past came to me.
Glass shattered everywhere as I desperately tried to find a place to hide. Unfortunately, the shattered desk offered little solace as I crawled on my knees. I ignored the thousands of tiny pricks made by beer bottle shards against my skin as I successfully hid behind a cabinet in the hall.
"Guuueout back here...yu-you ungrateful bastard!"
"Never in a million years" I yelled defiantly as I watched him limp past the cabinet, oblivious to my location.
"Oh Tobias," cried my mother who, to my horror, ran up to him, "he never meant anything by it. Please," she begged tugging incessantly on his arm, "Tobias, please. He's just trying to mak-"
I tried warning her off, I really did, but it was too late. My father's rage unleashed itself on her in a barrage of punches.
"How dare you speak back to me!"
"Dad! I'm sorry!" I yelled, stumbling out from my hiding spot so I was in between the two.
"Seve-us," chocked my mom behind me, trying to speak despite her bruises. I stared at her swollen voiceless face, tears blurring my view, numb to my fathers blows as I held her.
"SEVERUS!"
I woke from my dream only to be dazzled by a blinding light while someone was shaking me slightly.
"Relax," said the shadow as my vision cleared. It was Lucius.
"Relax Severus. No one is going to hurt you here," he assured as I noticed the half worried, half amused looks on my friends faces.
I saw Lucius give Mulciber a glare after I swore for the third time I was fine, to which Mulciber only muttered something about muggles and their parenting.
Abashed by the attention, I hastily looked around for something, anything, to change the topic. It appeared that I, er...we, had ended up in the gardens. A beautiful fountain stood in the middle, depicting human children, fairies, elves, and other creatures playing together. I remember it fondly, for once it was located in the front yard for any and all guests to see. It is one of the few personal touches by Ms. Malfoy left, moved to the private gardens to avoid destruction at the hands of the inquisitorial squad. Around it lay wild flowers, once maintained by hand now left unattended.
"What are you looking at?" prodded Wilkes as I remained silent.
"Lilies," I said, pointing to the beautiful white petals.
"Oh um, yes, they are quite pretty aren't they?" Lucius wondered, staring at me peculiarly. His face and expression were focused on Narcissa, who now looped her arm through his. His attention though was clearly elsewhere as if wondering if I truly was okay. I cared little if he questioned my sanity or not.
"Cmon Sev!" Lily giggled, dragging me forward despite my protests, "it'll be fun!"
Why, oh why, did I have to sneak into the New Years ball with her?
"But I don't know how to dance Lily!" I said, not wanting to embarrass myself.
"Nonsense Sev, you'll be fine," she answered, "if a six year old can do it onstage, so can you."
Lily stopped dragging me as we reached the clearing.
"Besides," she pouted, "it took me forever to convince big sis to let me use her dress. Please Sev? Pleeease?"
I sighed. Why could I never say no to her?
"Well?" she asked, arm stretched out impatiently.
Swollowing my pride, I smoothed my hair, bent down on one knee, and replied as regally as I could "May I have this dance, my Princess?"
"Sev..." she flushed, surprised by my sudden charm, I conjured a Lily flower almost magically out of thin air and offered it to her, our noses touching as I nervously put it in her hair.
"I..."
I opened my eyes, but instead of seeing the image of a goddess, all I saw was a snarling blond breathing raggedly down my neck.
"What. Exactly are you doing with that flower?"
"Uh..." I muttered at a loss, still trying to remember how I ended up knee bent with a Lily in my hand proposing to the guy.
"Oh Lucius, I'm sure he meant nothing by it," laughed Narcissa who pulled Lucius back, "You dreamer. I never knew you thought of me that way, but you know I'm already engaged to Lucius." she winked while blowing him a kiss. I flushed, thanking her for saving me from her boyfriend. I guess I must have offered the flower to her during my memory, evoking Lucius' jealousy.
As the duo retreated away to a more private place, Evans clapped me in the back.
"I never figured you'd be the first to get a girlfriend Sev. Who's the unlucky girl?"
"Shut it," I muttered, groaning inwardly as they continued to prod me while my face becoming deeper shades of red.
Why did I have to think of her now? It's been almost a year since I've seen her. Besides, they'll never believe me now when I try to explain my obsession with Lilies as remembering our prank when we turned the professor into a Lily for a week.
The Phoenix Underground
It wasn't always this way, I mused as I cast a few basic wandless spells to heal my wounds. Why, barely a year ago, I was given the promising prospect of a post at Hogwarts. The chance to teach young minds, to sculpt and cultivate the next generation. Everything changed, however, with the fall of the ministry.
Of course, the purebloods were smart. They didn't try to oppress mixedbreeds and muggleborns overnight. With the dwindling pureblood population as it is, such acts would have surely resulted in riots and toppling of the ministry. Instead, inquisitorial squads, muggleborn registration, and secret kidnappings became the standard. Even now, a few closely watched muggleborns (cooperating with the ministry of course) were still free and about on the streets, creating the facade that was equality in order to ward away foreign intervention. It was like Grindlewald all over again. Instead this time, Magical Britain would not be on the side of the allies.
Still, what the ministry does not know is that I-having been stripped of my wand, titles, rights, and dignity-still have my magic. The purebloods, few and ignorant as they are, assume incorrectly that merely snapping a wand and inscribing weak runes around ones neck (all written Incorrectly of course for all the experienced rune breakers and charmers had worked for Gringotts and left in the Mass Exodus) is enough to enslave me. Why, it is this exact complacency which cost the lives of the Greyback and Lestrange families. Officially blamed on terrorists, they two families deaths were really the cause of accidental magic, innate defenses in any magical being that triggers automatically in life or death situations.
I carefully slipped a bit of powder into the nearby fireplace, mumbled a few words, and deposited a single letter into the flames.
One day, they will be sorry for underestimating Filius Flitwick, World Dueling Champion Extraordinaire.
A/N: Apologies for delays in this chapter due to realizing halfway that Lucius is six years older than Severus and would not be in the same class as him (this was originally titled The Lord and Two Princes). I also upped the rating based on the first memory sequence.
Special thanks to arioso dolente, Luiz4200, and -Dream-Silver-Haze- for reviews. Any and all comments are welcome!
AAO 1.1
