Chapter Six
At The Ball
"Alysia, how lovely to see you," a tall, blonde man greeted silkily. I glanced contemptuously at him.
"Pity. I can't really say the same, Lucius," I replied coldly. He dismissed my comment as Severus excused himself.
"Will you walk with me, Alysia?" he offered politely.
I accepted. I don't know why I did, seeing as every part of me was screaming at me to turn away, but I did. I suppose I had to be polite. Anyone with half a brain knew that Lucius was second only to Voldemort himself, which meant he had enough authority to make my life a living Hell if I offended him, not that it wasn't Hellish already. I seriously doubted whether the fact that we were first cousins would be enough to persuade him to do otherwise.
"You have not attended any of our meetings," he said, pretending to be curious. Honestly, if that pig expected me to play the perfect Death Eater, he really was a remarkable idiot!
"No. I haven't, and I don't intend to, either," I stated quietly. Lucius sneered at me.
"I would have thought you would be more eager than anyone, given your er, conduct at the last meeting you attended," he remarked acidly. I spun my face around in surprise.
"I beg your pardon?" I asked sharply. He sneered again.
"I think you heard me, Alysia," he said pleasantly. I glared at him.
"I know perfectly well what you said, Lucius. I want to know what you meant by it!" I demanded hotly. I continued glaring at Lucius as a hand touched my shoulder firmly. I was so angry that I barely even heard my brother speak.
"May I have a word with my sister, Lucius? In private," he said darkly. Immediately, Lucius' expression changed and he actually looked remotely friendly for a moment.
"Of course, Severus," he said politely as Severus led me out into the garden. I spun around and faced my brother, arms folded and eyes narrowed in anger.
"What on Earth was he talking about?" I demanded. "What did he mean, my conduct at the last meeting? Well?"
Severus hesitated. "Alysia, you mustn't take any notice of what Lucius said," he finally said. I blinked.
"Oh, mustn't I? Why is that, I wonder? Perhaps you think, if you had not come and broken up our conversation, that Lucius might have let slip something that you didn't want me to know about!" I replied scathingly.
Severus gazed at me, supposedly hurt by the harshness of my voice.
"I don't know if you have noticed, but I am not Imperiused any longer! I am not a plaything to amuse you, Severus! I am your sister, not that you've acted like it these past few years!" I continued. Severus looked over his shoulder in alarm.
"Keep your voice down!" he hissed urgently. I ignored him.
"Admit it, Severus! You let me rot in Azkaban because you had a cosy little job, not to mention Dumbledore's protection, and confessing that you had used an Unforgivable on me would have ruined that, wouldn't it?" I finished heatedly. When Severus made no response, I added, "And you had the nerve to call me selfish!"
My brother's face exploded with anger, but he did not speak. Rolling my eyes impatiently, I remarked, "I think I've done enough socialising for now. Goodnight, Severus." I turned on my heel as Severus grabbed my arm.
"Alysia, don't be stupid. You can't leave yet," he hissed. I raised my eyebrows.
"And why not, Severus? Is dear old Voldie going to be making a grand entrance any moment?" I asked sarcastically. Severus' eyes flashed.
"For goodness sake, Alysia, remember where you are and hold your tongue!" he scolded. I wrenched my arm out of my brother's grip.
"I said goodnight, Severus," I repeated firmly, storming off.
Whilst my brother busied himself mingling with fellow Death Eaters, I sat in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It was only seven-thirty when I got back, which meant that most of the occupants were still up. Molly Weasley was helping me untie my hair whilst her youngest son, Ronald, bent his head over an enormous pile of holiday homework, carefully supervised by Hermione Granger who, it saddens me to say, had been firmly ignoring my existence ever since I had joined the Order.
It still infuriated me that I had been dragged along to that stupid 'celebration' to begin with, and I didn't mind saying so.
"I can't believe him!" I ranted. "I really cannot believe he actually tried to force me into this!"
"Calm down, Alysia, dear. I'm sure Severus meant well," Molly said quietly. I know she meant well by what she said, but it didn't help.
"You obviously don't know my brother as well as I do, Molly," I said with a heavy sigh. "He is a selfish, arrogant pig. I would have been much happier if the Ministry had ordered Dementors to Kiss me, rather than have to put up with his stupid games." Molly sighed.
"Alysia, it saddens me to hear you talking about Severus like this. You used to be virtually inseparable. What happened between you two?" she asked.
"I don't want to discuss it," I said stiffly. "Let's just say he really hurt me, and leave it at that."
The door opened at that moment and Sirius came in. He looked surprised to see me.
"Alysia, what are you doing back here so early?" he asked quietly. A wave of sadness washed briefly over me; it was the first time in over thirteen years that he had spoken to me without any hatred in his voice.
"I got bored with pretending to be a Death Eater, so I left," I replied dismissively. Sirius nodded curtly before sitting down and looking at me, concerned.
"Alysia, I've just spoken to Dumbledore. He seemed worried by your reluctance to tell any of us where you are staying," he said. I closed my eyes.
"That is my decision, and I have no intention of changing my mind," I stated calmly. After a moment's hesitation, Sirius pulled a folded parchment out of his pocket. It was Karkaroff's letter.
"He also told me about this," he added. "He said he's convinced that it is genuine."
I stared at him, wondering where all this was going. He sighed heavily before he placed it on the table between us.
"I should have known better than to even consider that you could have been one of them, Alysia. I'd known you for years, yet I was ready to believe the worst of you without hesitation. Can you ever forgive me?"
I was dumbfounded. Looking at the floor, I murmured, "You weren't the only one, Sirius. I had forgiven you long before they dragged me off to that horrid place. You only acted as anyone else might have under the same circumstances."
"But that doesn't make it right," Sirius said firmly. Looking at the anguish in his face might have moved me to tears, had we not been interrupted at that moment. The door swung open again and my brother glared at me. I deliberately avoided his face, choosing instead to turn around and stare resolutely at the stove.
"I'd like a word, Alysia. Now!" he said, his voice trembling with rage. With a huff I stood and followed him into a little room down the hallway. As I spun around to face him, he slammed the door shut, making me jump.
"Quite frankly, Alysia, your behaviour tonight was absolutely disgraceful! Here I am, trying to help you stay safe, and you throw it all away with a childish tantrum! And all for what? A pathetic, meaningless comment!" he snarled. My eyes widened as I opened my mouth to retort.
"If it was so meaningless, then why were you so eager to prevent Lucius from telling me so himself? And don't you dare try that emotional blackmail crap on me, Severus! The very thought of you trying to help me, as you have so vehemently claimed, is laughable!" I replied hotly. Only Severus could be foolish enough to try my temper tonight.
"Why, you ungrateful little... Have you any idea how much danger you placed yourself in tonight? Can you honestly fathom how much effort it required on my part to smooth the whole thing over?" he yelled.
"I have never kept what I think of others a secret, Severus. I'm not going to start now! I've said before that it is better to be killed by Voldemort than to be arrested by an Auror, and I still stick by that!" I retorted.
My brother and I glared at each other in tense silence for several minutes. Finally, he broke the silence again.
"We find ourselves in a precarious position, Alysia. It is not relevant how. But I suggest we come to an agreement that might just help us out of this mess. Like it or not, we will have to work together if we are going to survive," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
I raised my eyebrows. "An agreement?" I asked in a dangerously high voice.
Severus took a step towards me. "From now on, you and I will attend every Death Eater meeting. Together. You will act as they expect a Death Eater to act. You will not insult anyone or otherwise lose your temper, except for circumstances in which the Dark Lord would approve. You are most certainly not to show the Dark Lord any inclination of disrespect. As for your accommodation, wherever it may be, it is utterly unsuitable. You will return home to Spinner's End. During the school term, you may stay here. Do you understand?" he said quietly.
I pursed my lips angrily. Severus had a great deal of nerve, to be ordering me about like that. Still, I had no desire for this conversation to drag on. I decided to agree, if only to shut him up.
"Fine!" I spat. Pushing roughly past him, I swung the door open violently and stormed back into the kitchen.
Well, there you have it. I probably spent more time refining this chapter that I did actually writing it (I re-wrote the conversation between Alysia and Molly three times), but here it is at last. Please tell me what you think, because otherwise I don't know whether I'm doing a good job on this story unless you tell me :P
I've actually written most of the story by now, but as I never upload anything until I'm as happy with it as I can possibly be, it will probably still be a couple of days between uploads, while I pick over tiny details. That being said, I'll try very hard not to leave any tortorous cliffhangers like my first two stories did. No promises, though. Hey, I still have to keep my readers wanting more, don't I?
Next Chapter: We get to meet Voldemort for the first time, and Severus makes a surprising confession. Will it be enough to soften Alysia's bitter heart? Stay tuned to find out ;)
