Cissa's Office,
Narcissa sat in her chair and knew it was going to be a bad day. It was not a pleasant talk with Darius on the subject of her sister's sacrifice. Narcissa argued that he could have done something more and Darius agreed which didn't help her depressed anger. She then argued that he should have thought that she would plan ahead in such a way. He would not argue against her claims against him and it angered her more than helped.
Flashback:
"Damn you! Why didn't you expect this!" Cissa yelled at him angrily. Darius just nodded his head and looked down.
"I did not expect her to choose what she did. I expected her to take both of us." He said low and nearly silent. Narcissa couldn't expect anything else and felt the tears begin to pour.
"Just go. Go before this becomes more of a shouting match." Cissa said flatly. Darius soon disappeared through the fireplace.
End Flashback
Cissa still sat her chair feeling the depressed state she was in and bawled like a small child. 'Bella never cried once in her life; she was the strongest person I ever met. She would choose to fight to her end. Oh Bella…why this fight?' Cissa thought endlessly and could not come up with an answer. One was in her imagination but could/would not believe it. 'Tom wouldn't hesitate to create this situation just to hurt us. That Damn Mark…was it gone or just hidden? Dammit. Darius may be rash now; he won't hesitate to destroy him now.' Cissa smiled at the thought of the future when Darius tortures the snake-skinned bastard. It would now be even more brutal than before. Narcissa felt a small anger rise in her gut and let it out and felt fury. She decided to blame Tom Riddle just like everyone else in the world. She lifted her head and began to look forward to the future and her hands found her stomach. 'Maybe it's still a bit too early to check you out baby. Daddy will love you so much when he survives this war.' Cissa thought to the baby that was now growing inside her and she felt a warmth flow through her. "So you agree then huh?" She said softly.
Grimmauld Place,
Sirius was on his knees in front of the tapestry begging it to be wrong. The line that showed Bellatrix's name was surrounded by fire stating she had been cremated. He continued to cry and plead despite what happened is unchangeable. He did not know how she died but knew it was fact; the tapestry never lied much like the Marauder's Map. Sirius then resorted to the traditional idea of destroying priceless heirlooms. Shattering things gave him a sense of relief but even that could not last and eventually he succumbed to the sadness and broke down and wept. Unfortunately, Sirius lacked important answers and decided to focus on his work. The Hangletons were under Inferi control but that was not his prime objective. He was playing a chess game with Riddle himself; however, he just hunted attack locations that were probable. Hogsmeade was constantly on his list but some others such as Diagon Alley and Otter St. Catchpole were being watched.
The walking Grim was not often messed with and it made the man underneath a good observer. The men and women around him were unnerved and avoided him. Despite what many would think, it was easy to find Death Eaters this way as they ran from the Grim quicker than normal folk. It's his tell of where an attack would take place and this time Sirius intended to take a stand in this fight. Moody would be pissed as hell but Sirius needed an outlet to inflict punishment on those who would have killed his relative! The battle would happen soon because it was too long in between fights. Sirius looked toward where he expected a fight to get started…after he reported it to Moody of course. He thought sheepishly as he was about to bound out the door.
Ministry of Magic,
Arthur Weasley sat in his office with the esteemed head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones. She sat to the side as they learned of the unfortunate news in France. They had decided to join Riddle and his goal of Pure-blood control. Apparently, they didn't like the fact that Britain had a Vampire as a military nation. While Arthur could understand that Vampires had a bad reputation it wasn't worth joining Tom over.
"What did Vampires do to the French to go this far?" Arthur asked the French Diplomat who hid in the fireplace. The Frenchman just sneered cruelly.
"They are abominations of God and must be destroyed." He responded sneering obnoxiously. Amelia wanted to stomp on the sneering asshole for insulting man whom she respected.
"A theological argument then? So you have no real hard reason for your bigotry other than your own selfishness. Well this call is over then I won't speak with such barbaric peoples." Arthur shocked the no longer sneering man. Amelia took the notice and relieved her anger by stomping the ashes where the man was before. "Well, we can expect no help from the French." Arthur said almost bored.
"Assholes, joining a self-destructive megalomaniac like Riddle just to be selfish." Amelia replied still cursing at the lost route of assistance. Arthur could only nod sadly at the statement. She had a feeling that this was what Riddle had been to doing since he returned. "That's why Darius had so little trouble with Riddle last year; he was gathering allies on the continent." She added her thoughts into the discussion. Arthur nodded again and looked up toward the ceiling.
"That seems to be the case which makes me wonder how many new followers he's achieved from the continent." He said thoughtful in his mind. A knock came at the door which Arthur allowed entry. Percy was still himself although now he had to admit he was wrong…but never did.
"Minister we have a visitor and his group that want to see you." Percy replied and moved on with his day as Bill, Fleur and a little girl that looked like Fleur.
"Hey Dad… we recently came from France and we managed to escape before the firefight. Bella is most likely dead." Bill said with almost a sad tone but held it off bravely. "She gave Gabrielle a portkey before Darius went in to meet the French minister. Soon a group of men came behind the door and Gabrielle grabbed us and portkeyed us to a safe house in Hogsmeade." Bill added as an explanation.
"So Bellatrix is dead then?" Amelia asked not sure how to feel.
"It's the most likely scenario." Bill stated. Arthur could only look down at Darius's unfortunate luck two lose so many people he loved. Arthur was just marginally ahead of him in lost loved ones. 'Molly and Ginny…even Ronald is presumed dead now. How many more will die before the end of this war?' Arthur thought sadly.
Gaunt Manor,
Voldemort took the news of Bella's death quite well and even laughed maniacally about it. The thought of a sacrifice was not on his mind quite yet and he chose to enjoy the death of a traitor. 'One down, only a few more to deal with; Darius will be my trouble and his nation of Vampires…how fitting really the greatest of my defenders are now my enemies. Vampires are a powerful enemy much more direct than Dumbledore, the old fool, who hides in his castle. I must respect Darius in the fact he does not hide away and hope for the best. Although it does not matter, I am Lord Voldemort! I am Immortal!'
Vampire Camp,
Darius walked into the camp with sheer power burning the landscape around him.
"Lord! You're burning the ground!" A vampire said worried.
"Prepare yourselves for battle…I need to kill." Darius said while walking toward the Hangletons. The vampires around him rang the bell and smirked.
"It's about time we got to really fight." A vampire said amused.
On the other side of the camp, a very worried mother stood as she watched her second son decimate the landscape. 'Oh boy…well at least the inferi will die at a rapid pace. Bad move tommy boy, pissing off my beloved son. I will have to talk to him though…he can't move forward looking back. It seems I'll have to join him in this fight…I'm already excited.
Little Hangleton
Darius walked through the streets while cutting down any inferi that crossed his path. Any that got marginally close went up in flames; there were very few humans in Little Hangleton and they were holed up in large defendable buildings. He barely noticed that Serene was following closely showing the same power as him only hers was a blue fire which burn more ferociously than his red.
"Particular reason you're following me Morgana?" Darius asked a little pissed that prey was being killed. Morgana just smirked at him.
"How come you only get to have fun?" She asked in a demanding tone. He actually raised an eyebrow at that.
"You choose now to actually argue with me?" He asked confusion bubbling to the surface. She swaggered towards him and wrapped her arms around him seductively.
"Your angry now and fighting but soon your fury will run out and where would I be without my object of affection to dote on passionately?" She asked grinding into him slightly. Darius felt it and felt like an object again.
"Is that all I am too you? A living sex doll?" He asked an about to laugh at the antics of his sire mother.
"Of course not. You would never give in to my glorious charms. You are my son and I require you to live you know." She responded feeling that most of the inferi in Little Hangleton were gone. "Were done here. Let's move on sexy." She added sweetly. Darius could only follow at this point he was too flabbergasted to do anything else.
Vampire Camp,
The vampire camp was a swarm of activity with the immediate movement toward Hangleton. They knew that Serene and Darius would handle Little Hangleton and were already finished. One of the higher ups spoke pretty plainly.
"If we don't hurry their won't be any left for us to kill!" he said and the forces flew down the hill and carved a scab into the city. They wanted their own cut in the inferi forces and be damned if Darius had all the damn fun.
Hangleton,
Morgana felt her son's confusion over her rapid changing of mindsets and it was good for him to be confused and unfocused. She knew Gaunt Manor had been built in Hangleton and would have part of his soul in it, the ring to be precise. She wondered if revealing that would break her pact with Merlin. 'Knowing him, he still banks on redemption and good deeds. Poor man doesn't realize that when you leash the dog you have to be firm or it will drag you everywhere. I imagine he's already been to see his chosen champion.' She thought feeling bad for the man who had probably the ideas of perfect world but will never understand how impossible they are. She felt the dwindling energy of one Tom Riddle and he was fleeing from the burning Gaunt Manor now. Darius couldn't feel him otherwise he would have tried to pursue. Morgana knew her son could easily destroy Riddle but that's not what the Vampire nation wanted; for eternity they wanted to torture the evil Riddle. She felt love for him in all the ways a human can and lust all the time. Part of her curse, she supposed with eternal beauty comes an eternal price and lust was it. 'Darius was hers dammit! Why couldn't he just sleep with me! Am I that unattractive to him? No, lack of beauty wasn't it…he is pure only one form holds his heart and it's Cissa's. Dammit, what if she was to be removed…I am an Evil witch after all.' She thought when a small shock went through her system and it burned. 'Ow…Damn that pact. How come he gets to be happy with the one he loves but I can't?' She added slightly pleading for an answer but receiving none. The pain left and only an old voice coated her mind.
"Morgana maybe I am being hard on you…but killing his love isn't fair is it?" Merlin was always up for redemption for anyone, even her. 'You're right…Bella dies and suddenly I want to take her place…' She thought towards the ancient wizard, the only one she could rely on to understand her.
"I know I've done this before but I am sorry that I caused your unhappiness, helping (King) Arthur's father was the worst mistake I made…except maybe for choosing Dumbledore as my champion." Merlin admitted to her sadly. 'I assume he basically insulted you and cast your wisdom away?' She thought feeling a bit bad to see that she was right.
"You are correct. He believes himself to be omnipotent…like Riddle over there." Merlin commented. 'How sad it is to see that I am being proved right…give a man some power and he will declare himself a god.' Morgana thought a bit bitterly.
All the meanwhile, Darius had been protecting her from several inferi while she seemed to be out of it. The city was engulfed by a huge fireball and burning to the ground. While it was unfortunate that the city had to burn it did do a good job of clearing out the inferi. He eventually decided that it would be easier to carry her and he lifted her bridal style and got a blush off her cheeks. 'So you are aware of what's going on around you but you must be in a conversation with Merlin…I figure since your alive he would be too.' Darius thought curious. She came out of her conversation and immediately became red in the face.
"Ahh!" she squealed in a very girly way that was very different than normal. "Um…I…oh!" She couldn't speak clearly. She squirmed out of his arms and Kissed him deeply but not in a sexual way a romantic one. "Please…don't die…Cissa's not the only one that loves you." She said before disappearing in a flash.
"Well…that was unexpected….damn this is going to be awkward for a while, but at least she was finally honest with me."
