Character Note:
Slytherin's are complicated characters with bleary moodscapes, dark agendas and misunderstood motives. They are grown from childhood in the dark and shadow, enforced not by their own character but by the perceptions of all around them. From the expectations of their demanding parents, to the villainous tendencies expected from wizarding society. As such they are reserved, there society becoming secret and inwardly focussed. As the sorting hat professed; they are cunning, shrewd, highly achieving and with an elevated sense of self preservation. It is these very attributes that make them not only the greatest enemy but also the greatest ally, for although they are slow to act, when they do, it's for a purpose.
Authors Note: Hello lovelies, hope you're enjoying so far! Just letting you know that i'm posting some links to pictures on my profile to what the characters and estates look like. I'm a visual person and want you guys to see what I'm seeing :) However, if you already have characters in your mind then don't look because I hate when people shatter the characters you created in your mind and ruin the story! Anyway, Chapter Two, enjoy….
It was well into the morning by the time the small party stirred and made their way home, each exchanging looks moving between uncertainty and resolve. They said farewell and flooed to their respective manors to await the reviews and accounts sure to be waiting from their parents which they were expected to receive with gusto. As one they sighed at the prospect, all four masks falling into place as they stepped into the flames.
+ Arya +
As I arrived at the gate house Floo portal at the entrance to our families extensive property I could feel the enchantments notifying my parents of my arrival. They would be less than enthused by my considerate choice of hour, or the fact that several days before I had, unbeknownst to them, moved out of the main house and into one of the spacious independent guest houses on the estate. But then, I thought, they would be unenthused to see me anyway. They were always in a foul humor after meetings, counter intuitive if you ask me, I mused as I made my way towards my new small house. Surely you would only invest that much time, effort, money and pride on something that made you feel fulfilled, apparently not because father has gambled generations worth of wealth and respect on the shaky ideas of a deranged wizard who has treated them no better than he treats his prisoners.
Thats all we are. Prisoners. In my own damn house too, he has seeped through the walls and stained the air here.
It was beautiful once I think. I seem to remember a time where I enjoyed my home, when Poppa was head of the house and made wise and level headed decisions. A true Slytherin he was, thinking things over then making educated decisions based on the fundamental benefit of the family, or at least not to the detriment of it. Unlike my idiot father, charging straight head into a brick wall and pulling us along with him. Thats what they've all done, and we're left cleaning up the shattered glass. What was it with that generation? Acting like bunch of impulsive Gyffindors with no veritable defense for their recklessness. Bloody children playing 'war' if you ask me.
I could feel myself sneer, finding some gratification in imagining Lucius Malfoy, Luciano Zabini, Xavier Nott and my father Christian running around with twig wands shouting out made up curses like Blaise, Draco and Theo used to do when we were children.
"If i'm sneering I am clearly spending too much time with Draco and not enough with Theo" I stated to the air, both buildings still miles away. Bloody ostentatious lawn...
"Well regardless of how much time I spend with either, by the end of next week I will surely have spent too much time with both. Thats somewhat of a comfort actually, even if it is a dreaded one."
As I approached my house I could feel something off. I had added my own warning enchantments after I moved in, just basic ones that I could justify in the impending argument with my father about moving out at all, but not nearly as powerful as I was capable. I felt the vague indications of people invading my space - the result of people breaking my enchantments whose effect was much more subtle than fathers more Oh and there was the whole 'has to be made out of all of the letters from the name I hate so much' thing. Jesus I wish I could just take a look in that broken mind of his and just see how he managed to convince himself that this was a good idea. But then, i suppose that is the slippery slope of delusion, you believe your own fantasy. Hm, must keep an eye on Blaise
"Good evening Mother, Father, I trust the meeting was successful, productive and to your liking?" I ask with enough formality to make them feel important but casual enough to let a slight ironic edge to my voice.
"Arya one day you will participate and understand the complexity of meetings such as last nights one and then you may discuss with us how we have to form barriers between enjoyment and responsibility. It is an abstract concept and not one we would expect you to grasp at this time." Cooed my mother, Belladonna Grey, clearly misinterpreting my dryness for enthusiasm. Quite possibly the least accurate reading of me by my own mother.
"Arya you seem very comfortable here for some one whose room remains the same in the main house, why would you secretly move out of the house?" I turned to see my Father leaning against the door to the sitting room behind me, making me feel trapped with my mother in the small dining room. My mother was a simple study, a Ravenclaw for all but the blood that made her Slytherin. She was intelligent in a practical way but easy to fool and easy to predict, her edge tempered through years of frivolity. My father on the other hand was a quieter man, less obvious, not needing gratification for simple things but being content with a background role. This made him a dangerous man and an assets to 'the cause' he saw and understood many things and by the way he was looking at me, I knew he had no interest in my living arrangements, only my motives.
I turned my back on my mother to face father straight, he would need to see my face to convince him I wasn't trying to sneak out the back door. Lie. Thats exactly what I was doing, but I wouldn't put it past my parents to fake my death rather than admit a traitor in the family. However, just like my Poppa and me, my father smells a lie, the only way to lie to him is to tell him the truth.
"For all our many rooms father, I feel suffocated in the main house." True "Staying so close to you and mother I am so aware of the fact that I have yet to be a part of the Movement" True, and long may it remain so. "So I have decided that I need to take control of myself in preparation for when I might be useful and plan for my ruling at Hogwarts where I may influence all under the command of our families and even beyond if Snape has his way." Still true although none of us have decided what way we will influence them.
"I am sorry I didn't talk to you and mother but you have been preoccupied with your responsibilities and I thought you would be proud that I am finally looking into mine" I met Fathers gaze to gauge his mood, it was an odd moment for us, weirdly intimate as we both tried to sum up each others character. It was sort of like looking at him for the first time without imposing on him all of the things he has done. I think under other circumstances he could have been nice, he reminds me of Theo a bit; bookish and fiercely intelligent, revealing in being someone who is overlooked and thereby underestimated. I guess my father is an unhealthy manifestation of Theo's mentality, although in Theo's case it is more of an abhorrence of dramatic displays of any kind - affection, distress, anger, gratitude - rather than following the watery doctrine of a lunatic.
I don't know how long my father and I stared into each others souls, sifting through memories and decisions and judging each other, but eventually he straightened and nodded. My mother sniffed in response, probably feeling forgotten and disappointed she didn't have the chance to cause a scene, and made some comment about my taste in decor. As my parents moved towards the door that my house elf was holding open my father stopped.
I held my breath and my mask.
"Make good decisions on behalf of our people this year Arya. Remember you represent this family, and this family holds royal blood." With the knowledge of that my mother haughtily swept out the door with my father in her wake as Leaf closed the door behind them.
Leaf stared at me openly, anticipating my reaction and preparing for my tirade. I stared back at her levelly and challenged her silently to give her opinion. She tapper her foot impatiently at me with a disapproving look like she did when I was a child.
I raised my chin and said sniffily "All I will say is that if father had spent a little more time considering the family then perhaps we wouldn't be the most hated people in wizarding society. Also I hardly think we can claim right to the throne considering Lady Jane Grey was forced into being Queen by her uncle and only lasted nine days before being executed, it doesn't exactly bode well for our path."
"Then all I shall say in response to Miss is that she is getting better at deceiving the people who know her best and that maybe she should remember that it was the decisions of people around Miss Jane that lead to her death and not the Lady herself." Leaf replied in a clipped tone, one few people were brave enough to be blunt with me. Although, Leaf raised me so I suppose in a weird elf to human way she was my mother.
"And I would say you're being an impertinent minx, don't you have work to do?"
"Insult is the last vice of someone with no vocabulary" Leaf said as she stalked past nose high in the air "and what you said shows Misses discomfort at the topic."
I give her too much room to insult me. But then, its good practice to keep me on my toes and keep my 'face' set, because she will surely always tell me when it slips. I sat in the kitchen with Leaf as she prattled on about God knows what to distract me from my thoughts and ate with her when dinner was ready. We had an odd relationship by the standards of most wizards, but in our world you come to love people simply for them telling you the truth. Novelty factor I guess. By the time we finished dinner and arguing about what to back for school the next morning i was more than ready for bed. Sleep didn't come easily as I tossed and turned trying to think of a resolution for our reign. It seems that Leaf anticipated this as I soon felt the heavy artificial stupor crawling through my body from a sleeping draught. The bloody weasel thought of everything.