A younger Evlyn kicked her foot into the drywall behind her, forcing herself to smile in the mirror in front of her as the material folded beneath the sudden force. Her heel tingled from being used as a battering ram of sorts, and as she walked forward, her heel left traces of white soot on the carpeting. Her mood had been spiraling downward since she had come back to live with her parents. She clenched her fists as she jumped, belly first, onto her sheet-clad bed. There were no blankets and the room was freezing. She wasn't sure why; it was blazing outside.
Of course she would never complain, she thought as she rolled over onto her back, staring at her ceiling. To complain was to show weakness. Even to think that it bothered her was weak, and so she clenched her jaw as she followed the cracks in the ceiling. She should be entering her fourth year at Hogwarts. Should be. Being back under the care of her parents and those with close ties to the family, that should have been the first priority of them, and yet she hadn't been taken to get her books, nor was the topic even addressed.
They wanted to send her to Durmstrang, but some people at the Ministry that they acquaintanced themselves with had some opposition, to say the least. Public views were everything to the Fauves. They needed to be credible to those in power, even if those people were good. It was impossible to aid the Dark Side only from said side. Evlyn knew this well, and yet she hated the pretenses. She rolled on her side and began tracing shapes in her sheets.
There was a creak outside her door. Through the space between the floor and the door itself, she saw a shadow. She leapt to her feet silently, crouching low, as if this could in some way aid her if something or someone potentially dangerous to her walked through.
The door knob turned without a knock, but the figure that strode through was familiar to her. Her shoulders relaxed, if ever so slightly. "My, my, little sister. Tense, aren't we?" came the taunting sing song, as the young woman drew back her hood, revealing pale skin and delicate features, hazel eyes and spiky dark hair. Without moving her gaze from Evlyn, she arched an eyebrow and said, "And kicking a hole through the wall made a difference to what?"
"I wanted to break something," she retorted, her eyes narrowing. The other girl was the closest thing to a parental figure she had, and she wasn't even really her sister. Minus the almost affectionate feelings she had for the other, it didn't take away her annoyance. "There was nothing else to break in this room besides the walls."
The older girl closed the door behind herself, then turned right back around and smiled devilishly as she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "You always were too soft. If you don't harden up soon, I'm going to have to kidnap you from your mother and father. What are you going to do if they decide to dispose of their faulty weapon?" Her tone was joking, but her words held true. The danger was very real, but Carrie didn't seem to be taking this too seriously. To be honest, she didn't take much seriously. Although she looked young, she had been around a good many years. Evlyn never really cared much to ask.
"I'm not soft," she snapped back, tilting her head forward as a shadow cast over her eyes.
"You thought I was a threat before I entered, but all you did was get to your feet. What were you planning on doing, tackling me? You could have pulled the cord from the ceiling fan to strangle me with- not that it would work- or even grabbed the lamp. You should have stolen hairspray and a lighter from the last house you were at and kept them under your pillow, or even stolen an extra wand from someone, anyone, to use when you are not allowed your own. My, my, little sister. Am I always going to have to watch your back? These are dangerous times, especially for your side. I'm only an ally because I have nothing else to do, and the good side doesn't really suit me. When I get bored, you'll be all alone. Be ready for that day, little sister," she continued, lowering her voice as the lids of her eyes half-closed lazily. She turned to go, but Evlyn was ahead of her. She blocked her path.
"No, Carrie. You just got here, then you insult me and leave? I'm not weak," she continued, her voice low as she looked up at the other. Her gaze was unwavering, but beneath her irate expression, it was evident that she truly did not want the other to leave.
"I heard what you did, Ev. You're weak to their wishes, to the idea of shame. I know it all too well, and I also know I'm not wrong. Don't try to deny it, because I don't really care, little sister. Kill because it is your will, not theirs. And if they stand in your way," she continued, her voice lowering to a conspiring whisper, "if anyone stands in your way, get rid of them. Don't forget who you are, my little sister," she reached out a hand to mess up Evlyn's hair, grinning when the kid grimaced and fought to fix it, "because you'll be greater than that."
The chaotic storm of a portal dropped them off in the middle of a large field encircled by a small stone wall off in the distance and specked with small cottages. The entire area seemed peaceful, but there was an underlying sense of unease at its emptiness. James began walking briskly off to one of the houses, without word or acknowledgement to the rest of them.
"Where are you going?" Rose called out to him, picking herself up as she ran after him.
"I need a fireplace," he replied.
Theo raised an eyebrow. "As if things couldn't get weirder right now...."
"He probably wants to talk to someone," Blaine responded without much more of a explanation.
"Right, that makes sense..."
Draco Malfoy pushed open the grand doors to his estate without even lifting a finger. Metaphorically speaking, that is. His wand arm was out, but that was all the effort that he actually put forth. The main room was furnished with expensive and very valuable antiquities, everything from the medieval to the Victorian eras. After that, his father once said, was quite pointless. Furniture only lost class.
His pale gray hair was longer, pulled back behind the nape of his neck by a thin cord of leather and fastened by a serpent. He walked past one of their decorative pieces (a fairly ruthless-looking torture mechanism that slowly stretched one from arms to legs) and into the dining room where his breakfast was ready. He sat down, not even looking up at the cook or the healer, Madeleine, as she stood with a slightly irritated but deeply concerned expression as she held the Daily Prophet.
"Have you seen this?" she asked with the sort of tone that might have been intimidating had Draco been 30 years younger.
"No," he replied without the least bit of concern, not even bothering to look up from his meal. "Why, are my stocks losing value?"
"Draco, look up from that meal, you filthy little blasted-end-!"
"What, Madeleine?!" he finally exclaimed with a bitter tone, his gray eyes darkening to a stormy color. She flipped it open so that the front page was showing. The headline read:
"Sibling Rivalry?
The Malfoy Brothers caught on film, each on opposing sides. Or maybe...working together?"
The images depicted showed them breaking people out of the fortress the Order of the Phoenix. One of which he recognized as Evlyn Fauve, the new Dark Lord's favorite killer- A tribute to the old Bellatrix Lestrange. The others were masses of people he faintly recognized from trials at the Ministry- all of whom had been found guilty of various crimes relating to not paying the taxes. Draco cursed at length and very fluently before suddenly standing up.
"What are you going to do, Draco?" she called after him as he grabbed his jacket and walked out the door. He didn't answer, and Madeleine sighed, pulling out her wand to wrap up the plate of food. No use wasting it.
Harry Potter looked into the fire place of his and Ginny's home, Neville, Hermione, and Ron all now standing behind him, Ginny beside him, and saw his son's face in the flames. They had been talking for a good five minutes so far, but it was very rapid. James wouldn't chance saying too much through the Floo network, nor would he chance staying so long that the others could catch them.
"Who's with you, at least?" Harry finally said, his voice somewhat strangled though he tried to keep himself composed.
"Blaine Malfoy, Theo Runner. We had previously employed them- when I was with the Order, I mean- as mercenaries. They almost got killed. I swear, dad, I didn't know it was this bad. And don't worry, Rose is fine too. She's here."
"Malfoy? Bloody hell. There's a Malfoy involved and you didn't think it was that bad?"
"Ron, this isn't the time," Harry interrupted through his teeth, then turned his attention back to James. "I believe you, son. Just promise that you'll stay safe and keep me informed."
"I'll do what I can, dad."
"And, as your uncle, promise me that you'll drop that Malfoy boy off a cliff the first chance you get."
"Personally, I think I'd like to drop Runner off a cliff first. I have to go. We don't have much time. Bye dad, I love you mum," and with that, he was gone.
"You'd like to drop me off a cliff?" Theo intoned with the faintest trace of amusement, leaning against the wall of the abandoned house lazily, his arms crossed over his chest. "That's not very nice..."
James ignored him, addressing them all. "We'll have help, but it will take some time. We need to keep moving. Otherwise, we'll all die."
"So, what's the plan, anyway?" Blaine asked derisively, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.
"We don't have one. We'll move randomly in one direction and do what we have to. Plans can be figured out, and we can't risk tha-" He looked like he was choking, and a white, vapory cloud seemed to be pulled from his body. It snapped through the wall as his body fell to the floor. Rose ran forward and put her fingers to his neck.
She looked up at Blaine and Theo. "There isn't any pulse," she said weakly, and the crowd of people all began murmuring, and soon the low whispers reached a cacophonous level.
"He isn't dead," Blaine whispered.
"What?" Rose said, turning, but tears were already brimming in her eyes for her cousin. She could barely hear him over the people. Theo pulled a knife off his belt.
"Shut up!" he shouted. "The next person to say anything is going to be stabbed."
"He's lying," someone called out. "He just saved us; he wouldn't kill us."
"Not my idea. Try me. I dare you," he replied acidly, and after a pause, he turned back to Blaine.
"That was my father. I think. He's not dead. He should be back in a few minutes if everything goes right..."
"And if it doesn't?"
Blaine didn't respond.
"Well, Malfoy. I think your dad and my dad should have gotten together to go bowling."
Blaine eyed Theo for a moment in disbelief. How could he be taking the situation so lightly? Then he finally looked away, knowing it was pointless. Theo would always be Theo. His gaze returned to James where his body was lifeless on the floor, and to Rose... An apology rose to his lips, but he repressed it. What was he apologizing for? It wouldn't make a difference anyway.
Rose stood up to face him, her wavy red hair coming loose from its pony tail, her eyes red from spilled tears. "Is there any way to bring him back?"
"No," he responded evenly, his entire composure unflinching. "We just have to wait until my dad is done with him." His voice had lowered somewhat, and he quickly looked away from Rose's own gaze. For some reason, although irrational, he felt oddly guilty.
Just then he heard a crash at the door, and spun around with the practiced reflexes his job had granted him. The door then broke down as if its hinges had been evenly snapped and it landed on the ground with an ear-splitting smack!
"Well, well, well," came a taunting playful sound, a voice he had hoped he wouldn't have to hear again for a good long while. Could it be? He had thought he had seen her before they were portaled here, but then had attributed it to paranoia or lack of sleep. His imagination, maybe... "Now look who we have here." She stepped over the door, then paused for a second as she spied James' body, peering forward at him as she tilted her head to the side. "Who killed my Potter? I kind of wanted him alive for a couple moments, you know..."She sighed as though this was some mild grievance of hers, like some valuable item had just been smashed. Her eyebrows pulled together. "Would I be overstepping my boundaries if I asked what happened?" she inquired innocently.
Rose had spun around in a flash, her wand arm out and pointing at the other girl in rage. "Now isn't the time for games, you horrible bitch. You've caused enough tears with the people you've killed to disrupt this now."
Evlyn smiled without much mirth. "Tell me something I don't know... But you're with the Order, aren't you? Think about all the deaths you could have been responsible for without even knowing... Either you're incredibly stupid or incredibly deluded. Or maybe neither...," a grin spread across her face as she took a step closer. "Maybe you're even worse than I am..."
Theo rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes were glittering with something between annoyance and amusement. "Really, Weasley? Because I'm pretty sure he's only temporarily dead, so cut it out with the tears for five minutes. If he doesn't come back by then, then you can bawl your eyes out for all I care." He then wheeled on Evlyn. "You have five minutes before I kill you myself, you pathetic little girl. I'm really sick of witnessing your games."
Blaine opened his mouth to say something, feeling suddenly defensive for Rose. Theo was incredibly insensitive when it came to death. Then he stopped himself. The fact was that no one was actually dead. Then again, it wasn't like Rose had done more than tear up for a few moments anyway. She had to toughen up in times like these. Even losing it for those few moments could mean death.
Then he turned his gaze to Evlyn, who had come in and taunted her about losing someone near and dear. Her eyes seemed focused on Theo now, a smile curling her lips. She looked like a cat playing a particularly sadistic game with a mouse as she leaned her head to one side, allowing her dark, loosely curly hair to fall over her one shoulder. "Would you really hit a girl? I thought the good guys didn't do those kinds of things..."
Theo's response began with a derisive snort as he looked down and shook his head, running his fingers back through his hair. "Who said anything about hitting?" he replied, looking up. He ignored the good guy comment, but Blaine knew that it was the sort of thing that would bother him to no end. He smirked at her, fiddling with one of his knives in his hand. Scorpius advanced so that he was partially in front of her, but Evlyn herself didn't seem to look too threatened.
"Getting a bit cocky, half breed?" Scorpius hissed, his gray eyes glinting as he drew his wand. Blaine advanced with his own, holding it level at his brother. "Fratricide isn't looked too keenly upon in any society, dear brother. Put your wand down and join us, already."
Blaine gritted his teeth as he looked at Scorpius with blatant distaste. His hatred was unmistakable. "And act like I'm someone I'll never be? No thank you," he replied acidly. His older brother's eyes narrowed as they flashed under the dim light.
"You're a Malfoy, and running around with filth will never change that," he replied viciously, his voice lowered. Evlyn put a hand gently on his outstretched arm, easing him to lower his wand.
"Oh, but to be honest, we both came here on purely diplomatic terms. But in order to tell you of my proposition, we'll have to wait until James comes to...," she intoned softly, her mockery of innocence doing little aside from infuriating Blaine.
A woman in her mid thirties with wavy dark hair walked up a gravel path, toward a manor that loomed in the distance. The rocks crunched under her plain leather shoes, and she could almost feel them through the worn soles. She took a turn before reaching the manor and continued her walk over the perfectly cut lawn, with only one last backward glance at the manor. The window-panes were diamond, she'd heard. Some might think that it was done in an almost obsessive desire to be overtly opulent, but she had her own theories. Dark families were incredibly paranoid, and a simple diffindo could hardly even scratch diamond.
The grass gave off an ethereal glow, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a sudden movement of white. Practically leaping to the side and drawing her wand while doing so, she turned for a better look. It was only one of the white peacocks. Many people feared the Malfoys, but Alexandria found them more odd than anything.
With that thought in mind, she felt a sudden, sharp pain in the top of her foot. When she looked down, her eyes were met with a tiny pixie with razor sharp teeth. It was something that could have been beautiful, had there not been blood on its mouth. She cursed. Normal wizarding families had garden gnomes; the Malfoys had fairies.
Up ahead was the stable, and the horses' nickering brought her heart up. Like most animals in the wizarding world, they were bred to have certain magical qualities. They were all relatively basic, like swiftness or quietness. Oftentimes when she was out here, one of them would be right behind her and she would not have even heard them approach. Of course, that was all gone now. She didn't regret it, but she missed the horses. Incredibly rare and carefully bred, they were just the sort of animal that would be found on a wealthy estate.
She approached a large bay, lying her hand against its nose as she murmured to him. It wasn't the words that were uttered, especially with horses, but the way one said them. And so she whispered incoherent fragments of thoughts in an affectionate tone, because if there was one thing that this estate was short in, it was love. It was probably also the only thing. It was only a few moments before she heard the pad of footsteps behind her. She let her arm drop, visibly cringing as she awaited words.
"You shouldn't be out here, Alexandria," came an older voice, shaking if ever so slightly from age. Alexandria didn't respond; what could she possibly say? 'Oh, I forgot something, and decided to take a detour around the grounds.' "But Draco isn't home anyway. Would you like to come in for some tea?"
"Where is he?"
The five of Dumbledore's Army were all quite surprised to hear the a knock at the door. All of them looked amongst themselves, and all of them pulled out their wands to hold at the ready. Harry strode forward, opening the door. The form which met their gaze sent a sudden quiet between them, deeper and more solid than the quiet that had preceded it. "Hello Malfoy," he finally greeted, stepping back to invite him in, but his gaze was wary.
Draco nodded curtly in response. "So I would assume that you have contact with your son," he finally said, looking over the modest living room with visible distaste.
"What's it to you?" he replied, brushing past his childhood nemesis to stand beside his wife. Draco pulled a rolled up paper from the pocket of his robes.
"Have you seen the Daily Prophet lately? One of my sons- the only one that I have faintly an idea of how to contact- is with yours."
"I just spoke to him. Blaine is fine."
"Well, if you just spoke to him, it's not too late then. What do you know of the werewolf they're romping around with?" he continued, his eyes narrowed at the lot, but he seemed perfectly at home in his ways.
Harry didn't respond, only glared. He instantly remembered Lupin, but not the happy memories he had. He remembered seeing his body beside Tonks at Hogwarts during that final battle. Now here was Draco, talking down about werewolves as though they didn't have a place in this world.
"Oh, that's right. You've had plenty of experience running around with werewolves, haven't you? I'd forgotten," and although his words were malicious, he too remembered what the Dark Lord had done. He remembered the very day that Voldemort had made Bellatrix promise to 'weed out' and 'prune' her family tree.
"What's not too late, Malfoy?" Harry finally snapped, his gaze sharp and his tone serrated.
"I'm going to ask you this once, and only once, because quite frankly, I plan on doing it anyway. My son's life is at stake, and your son was the last spoken to in this house. Your son is the only connection that I have to my son. Rapere Mortalis. I don't know if it's something that Gryffindors-"
"You want to seize his soul...?" Hermione interjected, just looking incredulously at Draco. "That's very advanced dark magic."
"No," Harry said with finality. "Find some other way."
"Oh, but, Potter. I already told you that this was the only way. I was just being polite," Draco continued, his eyes glittering maliciously.
Ginny made a sound of protest. "Harry. His son is involved too. We should at least try to figure something out." Definitely not what Harry was expecting her to say. He still remained adamant.
"If I trusted you, Malfoy, it would be a different story. But I don't trust you, and I do think that you would let my son become a corpse if it meant even finding out a little bit about your own son."
Draco looked completely unperturbed. He had acquired a certain disaffected composure from his father. "It's true; I would. Luckily for you, it's in my son's best interests that your son stays alive."
There was a moment of silence in which Harry and Draco just stared evenly at each other. Harry finally nodded, to muffled sounds of protest from Ron and Neville. He pointed his wand at the fireplace and a sudden wind gusted from it, but it was not warm like one would expect to come from a fire, nor was it cold. It felt more soft, if air could feel such a way, and then it felt suddenly and very uncomfortable, as though it sent a thousand needles prickling under one's skin.
And then the translucent form of James appeared in Harry Potter's living room. "How did I get here?" he began, looking utterly and thoroughly confused, then he looked down at himself, and when it registered that he wasn't solid... "Where is my body?" He looked desperately at his father, but he only looked back blankly before he finally spoke.
"It's alright, son. You'll be back in a minute," he finally managed to choke out. This was far too unreal to see.
Draco just looked annoyed. "Do try not to panic. It makes things more difficult."
"Don't panic?! Are you bloody kidding me?" he finally roared desperately, glaring at his parents. Why in Merlin's name would they allow this to happen? Then finally the anger subsided. He just wanted his body back. Now. And that meant cooperating.
"Where's my son?" Draco finally asked after it seemed the boy's temper tantrum had ended.
"In the living room in an abandoned room Merlin knows where. We got caught in a portal that we think was from when Salazar Slytherin went mental."
"Blaine should be able to tell you. Is he safe?" he continued. If Draco was feeling any sort of emotions, he wasn't letting them show or hinder him in any way.
"As far as I know. As safe as he can be, I guess. On the up side, no one could have followed us."
"What about Scorpius?" Draco interrogated.
"Last we saw him, he was with those two followers and that mental girl who kills people," James replied acidly.
"If Blaine dies, I hold you liable," and with that, he flicked his wand and James' soul vanished from the room. "Good day, Potters." He left the room without any further word.
Alyssa was sitting outside where Evlyn and Scorpius had left her, trying desperately not to cry. Her eyes were burning as she tried to suppress her tears, but they finally filled her eyes, and then she wiped them away with the back of her shirtsleeve in a frustrated manner.
Tears were a sign of weakness, weren't they? Evlyn wouldn't cry. Evlyn was far too strong, and people feared her, and that's what Alyssa wanted. It was, wasn't it? She could take fear in place of love, because she was far too afraid that no one would ever love her. There it was again.
Again.
Fear.
She didn't want to feel fear, didn't want to feel weakness or sadness or guilt or grief or anything. All she wanted was power, and she could get that this way, or at least be protected by it. Evlyn would protect her. She sighed and shook her head, sniffling as she dropped her forehead into her hands. She was young, but she knew enough to know that Evlyn would also use her.
She didn't want to be used; she just wanted to live. Without fear. She wanted to live without fear. She tried something then, tried to separate the fear from her being, envision it being pulled out of her, like her emotions were an entirely separate body from her own. It worked, but only for a moment. Then she was right back where she started.
"Scary lot, they are," an older man said, walking out to where she was, but he stood a safe distance away and didn't look at her. "You okay, kid?"
Alyssa didn't say anything. He sounded like he was Scottish. She wanted to respond, but she couldn't think of anything to say.
He didn't seem put off by it, really. He let the silence sit, content to overhearing the conversation occurring inside. There was the arrogant, older boy. The one who sounded like he was American, the werewolf. He was threatening just about all of them, Evlyn was instigating him, Scorpius was being snide and horrible. Alyssa didn't get the feeling that the man cared for the situation much, and might have caught something that sounded very much like, "Little arrogant gits are practically teenagers."
"I used to have a daughter, you know," he finally said, but he only said it like he had to, like if he didn't it would be horrible. He didn't say it like he wanted to say it, nor did he say it with the most conversational tone.
Alyssa was at a loss for words, before finally asking in a small voice, "What happened to her?" What else could she possibly say? Maybe a part of her wanted to know more, but a bigger part of her didn't.
"They took her away from me when she was two years old. Her mother had died in childbirth, and I... Well I didn't want her to grow up in what our world was turning into. I staged riots; I spoke out. But this was over a decade ago. Useless for you to know, and after all, there's no reason to depress you."
"Did you ever try to look for her?" she finally asked, looking up at him and knowing, with more than an ounce of shame, that her eyes were red from crying.
He looked down, then back up. His face had gone tight, and his skin pale. He looked more deeply ashamed than Alyssa had ever seen. "I never wanted to see what they turned her into. And, Merlin forgive me, I never looked."
"You should look," Alyssa said, shocked at how earnest she sounded. "She might not have turned out as badly as you think."
Before he even had a chance to respond, Evlyn's head and torso appeared in the doorway as she leaned out, grabbing Alyssa's arm. She didn't even look at the man standing there, like he was nothing more than an insect, just an insignificant detail to the setting. "C'mon, kid. James is awake and Blaine thinks I killed you and buried you in the field."
The room was almost blinding compared to the darkness outside, and Alyssa had to blink to readjust her eyes. If Evlyn had noticed that Alyssa looked as though she had been crying, she didn't remark on it.
"Are you happy, Blaine, dear?" Evlyn intoned, batting her eyelashes as though the motion could be sardonic. And on her, it could. "She's in one piece for now." Alyssa looked up at her quickly. Maybe too quickly. She was kidding, right? "Relax," she muttered to Alyssa. "I'm not gonna kill you."
"While in your presence?" he replied sourly. "Never."
Theo looked moderately annoyed, and finally sat on a rickety old table. It supported him, despite its apparent age. "So, kid... What's your name?"
"Alyssa," she said evenly, sounding much stronger now that she was standing between two very powerful and dark wizards. "And yours?"
"Theo, but that's not the point. Why do you want to hang out with two scary murderers?" he finally said, but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were trained on a knife that he was holding in his hands. It didn't need to be cleaned any more than it already was, so she assumed he had been having at it for quite some time.
When Alyssa didn't respond, Evlyn sighed. "She asked me to teach her dark magic, so don't start questioning her motives. It's apparent that her alliances don't align with yours."
"Great," Theo replied, looking up and smiling at Evlyn. "Blaine can teach her."
"I am not teaching anyone dark magic," Blaine snapped in sudden anger.
"Good, because you'd be a lousy teacher, anyway," Scorpius responded with a sly smirk.
Rose was sitting off to the side with James, who appeared very tired and very pale. "He needs chocolate," Blaine finally said. "And if there were ever a matter of life or death that concerned chocolate, this would be it."
"Yeah, because I carry Hershey Park around in my back pocket," Theo said dryly, suddenly slamming his dagger into the wood table beside him in frustration. It never helped to have someone on your side almost dying. Especially not when you were bantering back and forth with the enemy. Things usually get messy fairly quick.
Blaine shot Theo an annoyed look. "You're not helping, you git."
"Why would you ask to be taught to kill people?" Theo asked the girl, turning his attention back to her. "Don't get me wrong; I love what I do, but when I was your age, I didn't exactly ask my dad to be like, 'Guess what, boy? You're gonna be bait tonight,' and then toss me into a vampire nest." He paused. "And I know that sounds weirdly bird-like, but it was actually just an old mansion," he added as an afterthought.
Evlyn rolled her eyes, ignoring his adamant questioning of Alyssa. "Someone hand me something that I can transfigure into chocolate so we can get out of here...?"
Scorpius eyed Evlyn. "You were moderately lousy in Transfiguration. Maybe I should do it."
Blaine laughed hollowly. "Yeah. You meant to transfigure my pet hamster into a snake and only changed the first half of the body, so it was constantly trying to chase itself around until it finally realized, after almost eating its hind end, that it was eating itself!"
Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. "Why father let you have so many vermin is beyond me. Always with the hamsters and the guinea pigs. Why couldn't you have been normal and had a pet dog?" he finally said snidely.
"Like your snakes were so normal. And the way that you spoke to them! It was like they were puppies or something," he replied, becoming really quite heated. Rose stood up from where she was sitting.
"I'll do it. I don't trust either of you, anyway," she said, looking pointedly at Evlyn and Scorpius.
Alyssa sat silently, feeling very much as though she was a child. Maybe it was just the way Theo spoke to her. He wasn't quite an adult himself; at least he didn't act like it, but he spoke to her like she was only a child. He was right, probably. He was probably almost ten years older than she, but a stubborn part of herself resented being treated as though she were inexperienced and stupid. And what was that bit about a vampire nest? She'd have to ask Evlyn.
A couple seconds later, James seemed much more alert, a piece of chocolate in his hand. He broke another piece off and ate it. "Tastes like someone mixed some Pine in, Rose," he vocalized with a sly look. She looked faintly offended, but grinned when she realized he was more healthy. "I'm just kidding, you know. It's fine."
"At least I actually spent time learning what father paid good money for us to learn rather than reading that muggle trash, Shakespeare," she heard Scorpius continue from the other side of the room. Their voices had grown more elevated. "Then again, you never were much of a fighter, which is all the more interesting why you chose this profession..."
"I wanted to make a difference, unlike you. All you've ever cared about was yourself!" Blaine finally shouted angrily.
Theo looked amused, but that might have been because Blaine so rarely ever lost his temper. James stood up after regarding Alyssa thoughtfully, and handed her the remainder of his chocolate bar. "I was only kidding, if you heard earlier. It tastes nothing like a piece of wooden table."
Alyssa's hunger won over her pride. "Thanks," she muttered. She looked Evlyn, but the other didn't seem to care. She was observing the growing argument between the two Malfoys with an arched eyebrow and her arms crossed over her chest.
"That's romanticism, Blaine. Maybe you should do as Romeo did and poison yourself for all the good that will get you."
"If he's Romeo, I'm Mercutio," Theo added brightly, acting as if he was completely unaware of the tension in the room. He was though; the only time he ever acted bright or cheerful was when things were tense.
"Only if I can be Tybalt for just one scene," Scorpius finally intoned with some disdain.
"What, you've read the 'muggle trash'? Interesting," Theo responded with a bored measure of nonchalance. "I can hate you even more for hypocrisy."
Evlyn smiled poisonously. "Oh, Shakespeare, what fun! Well, now we need a Juliet..." Her eyes fixed upon Rose and then they widened as if from sudden realization. "Of course, Rose! She seems the sort to stab herself if the love of her life were to tragically poison himself after thinking she was dead when she wasn't. Oh dear, that was a mouthful..."
"What about it, Weasley?" Scorpius began cruelly. "Star crossed love? My brother? Too bad I'd have to kill you both. Can't have blood-traitors ruining our family lines."
Rose turned bright red, and Alyssa looked down, immediately feeling awful for the other girl. "You're pathetic, Malfoy. Completely pathetic. I hope the both of you can say what you wanted to fast. James is fine now... So just... Say what you came here to say, and then get out of our sight."
The look that Evlyn was giving her could have been called lightly as one of disgust. Where Blaine saw Rose's reaction as one of civilized humanity, Evlyn was disdainful, like the way she reacted was one of weakness. This was hardly true, as Rose was one of the strongest people that Blaine had ever met, and James often said that his father stated she got it from her parents. "Right," Evlyn began simply, very businesslike compared to her earlier demeanor. Blaine noted how Theo's eyes narrowed at the girl as she shifted once again with how she was expressing herself, as if she was a dozen different people wrapped up into one. "Well we all know something is wrong, in everything. Currently, we have the same aims. The Ministry and the Order are both corrupt, and the Dark Lord is no friend of ours. I'm giving you the offer to work this us."
The first one to react at all was Blaine, who laughed hollowly. "The offer? More like eternal damnation. How many karma points do you think we'd lose if we accepted your offer?"
"How many karma points do you think we have right now, Blaine?" Theo replied nonchalantly from where he was looking really quite bored, his eyes focusing on the knife he had in his outstretched hand. It glinted in the light, his eyes giving off a glint of their own from behind the shadow that was cast over his eyes. His tone had been slightly derisive, but not by much, as if he didn't care much either way.
"The half-breed speaks sense," Scorpius drawled coldly, sneering at him, but Theo only responded with a serene smile with the likeness of arsenic and honey.
Blaine ignored this, his gaze still even with Evlyn, and Evlyn could read every line of distaste and thorough disgust in his expression. "This is her plan to stage a coup d'tat and over throw ever major power in this government and rule over it herself. She told me."
Evlyn cleared her throat, looking very much like she wanted to decapitate the first person to get close enough. "I can protect them," she said simply. "You know as well as I do that the Order is out for all of them, just like the Ministry. I can't imagine what sort of horrors they reserve for escaped convicts, however petty their crimes."
James shook his head. "No," he stated. "We're not working with you. I'd rather feed myself to the Giant Squid."
"Too bad the Giant Squid is a long way off. I'd liked to have seen that," Scorpius replied sourly, making no effort to hide his thorough dislike of the other. Being hexed in the hallways just because of his last name hadn't made him so keen on the older Potter. Okay, so he had been a right git most of the time, but he wasn't about to admit that. He wouldn't even admit it now.
"So is this the ultimatum?" Rose intoned now, walking forward and standing right in front of Evlyn. "It's really rich that you think we'd ever stoop so low as to work with you. What, you don't think that we can take care of ourselves? We won the last war, and we'll win this one."
Evlyn smiled at her impishly, although she was greatly annoyed at the sudden proximity. "And here I thought that we were the ones stooping. You only won the last war because love was the answer. Too bad it's not so this time around. You're going to lose without us, because only one of you can actually make hard decisions, and it seems to me that he doesn't even want to work on your side, and probably wouldn't if it weren't for Blaine Malfoy."
Theo feigned sudden interest as his attention visibly peaked. "Oh, was that a compliment I heard?"
"Well, the other problem is that Potter wants to drop him head first off a cliff and he doesn't do anything happily unless he's paid or there's a great deal of violence. Isn't that right, Theo?" Blaine finally said lightly, but it was obvious that he had to force himself to be so. Underneath his skin, he was seething.
"Very," Theo responded. "That comment hurt me very deeply, James."
"Do you want to know what hurt me? The Malfoys' dad ripping my soul out of my body because he's having a panic attack," he replied with a measure of sarcasm, it becoming evident that his temper was fraying. Theo looked completely unabashed. Blaine looked away, but to this Scorpius smirked, like it was a point to be proud about. Maybe it was; maybe it wasn't. It wasn't as though he had seriously hurt James. "And, besides," James continued, "we can make hard decisions. I'm just not about to sacrifice masses of people to get something done."
Evlyn's eyes met his. "Who said anything about masses of people? I was just talking about three high-profile assassinations," she replied coolly. "You can't say they don't deserve it."
"I can't say you don't deserve it either, now can I?" James replied sourly, his dark eyes boring into hers.
"So get rid of me after it's done," she responded viciously, but it was a calm sort of vicious like the low growl of an animal preparing to attack. It was more challenging than anything else.
James shook his head. "No. Don't get me wrong. I'd like anything more than to do so, but then I wouldn't be any better than you."
"You already aren't," Evlyn said acidly. "You're going to lead these people on aimlessly, and the only difference that it will have to a mass-suicide is that it won't be intentional. Let me help you. If not for your sake, then for theirs." Her tone had softened along with her expression, and, for a moment, she looked sincere.
"Don't do it, Potter," Blaine snapped from behind him. "She's a mental case. She lies like she breathes."
Evlyn's one eyebrow arched, but there was no mistake that the softened expression was gone. Her mouth was all hard lines, almost statuesque in such appearance. "Oh?" she intoned, but there was an underlying edge. "When did I lie? That is, if you'd like to share with us."
Blaine blanched for a moment. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall any particular time she lied, per se. Maybe it wasn't the lying. "You pretend to be someone you're not," he finally settled on. "You never act like who you really are."
Unexpectedly, this sent Evlyn to laugh. It was a bright ringing sound, as though she really were honestly amused, rather than just laughing to be harsh or facetious. "Who doesn't? Mental case, check. Murderess, check. Sadistic, double check. Liar? Oh, no. Not unless I have to."
"So is this you trying to take over the Ministry of Magic?" he asked, advancing in front of James, but they let him.
"No," she replied softly. "This is me trying to take over more than just the Ministry of Magic. But honestly, all those politicians are liars and murderers. They just don't get their hands dirty; they have someone else do it for them. And anyone in here who wants to live would be wise to not oppose me, because the longer they're all in power, the longer you'll all have kill tags next to your names."
Blaine was stony faced as James shook his head. "No," the Potter boy finally said. "Sorry. I'd rather die than make deals with you."
"You Potters and Weasleys really should learn to think with your heads rather than your hearts, or whatever it is you use," Scorpius drawled, leaning against the wall of the house, then peered distastefully at the wall over his shoulder. He straightened up again, as though he'd rather deal with discomfort than potentially dirty his clothing.
Evlyn turned around and walked to the door, Alyssa following at her heels. She stopped short, almost causing the girl to bump into her at its suddenness. "Anyone who doesn't want to die with this lot can come with us. I promise we don't bite," she called softly, and then she was out of the building, Her, Alyssa, and Scorpius had all disappeared into the night, leaving a rather uncomfortable crowd in their wake. A few of them were looking between themselves, waiting for someone to follow so that they too would have the permission to leave.
Then, one by one, the crowd of ex-convicts began dissipating, leaving only about half left in the small building. No one moved to stop them or say anything to make them think more rationally; they were all too shocked.
"I can't believe I just got called one of the good guys...," Theo intoned with a mild look of irritation. "I hate not being the bad guys."
There were a million and one reasons why Theo could not care about the situation and hardly even cared much about himself. His whole life had revolved around endlessly fighting and killing anything dangerous enough that he could get away with it. There was nothing he regretted in life, well, nothing but one thing. The only thing he regretted was leaving Tem, but he knew it was the only way it could possibly be. He didn't want her to be harmed or killed because of him. Was that wrong? To walk out on someone in order to protect them? Or should those people have the choice?
He knew what she'd say. It was her decision, ultimately. And how could he know she was truly safe? No one was truly safe. Like he could have her covered from across the Atlantic. Like he could really know...But how could he honestly find out now? The odds of her telling him the truth were slim, and he doubted she wanted much to do with him. He left her, probably when she needed him most.
But he had his enemies, and he didn't want her caught in the crossfire. Now he was just a side-pawn in a war that had nothing to do with him. He rejected being half-wizard. His mother had tried, Merlin knew, but she didn't want to be overbearing, and he was more stubborn than his father. More stubborn, but less hard-headed, and he was never hateful. Spiteful, maybe, and resentful, oh, and rude, but he wasn't his father. His father had only taught him to hate himself.
A part of him knew that the only way to win this battle was for them to sacrifice their pride, but he didn't care enough about their battle or their lives to say this. A small part of him rejected this statement. He'd be a pretty lousy friend if he didn't even care about Blaine's neck.
"Smart move, guys," he finally said, throwing his knife down into the wood of the table once more with a thud! "You could have used them to get it done."
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Runner," James sighed, brushing his hair back. He had been growing ever more uncomfortable with the given situation, but he wasn't about to fold and kill anyone. There had been enough death, hadn't there?
Theo's eyes narrowed at him considerably. "I think that the ends justify the means, in this case. All is fair in war."
"There is a such thing as war crimes," James retorted. "So I don't think that all is fair."
"I wasn't planning on killing any children. I mean, there can even be trials for them if you want. Just as long as they're rigged trials. Face it, all of you are royally screwed over unless you act, and you have just about nothing compared to three very powerful leaders. Zip, zilch, nada." He stood up and walked closer, only to lean his back against the corner of two walls. He looked completely at ease, although maybe slightly annoyed as well. "What's your plan anyway?"
"And here I thought you said this had nothing to do with you," James replied with more than a little bit of malice. If there was one way to get a genuine rise out of the Potter, Theo had done it. As far as he was concerned, assassinations were not an option until all other alternatives were ruled out. "Until we know that there is no other option," he continued on imperatively, "no one is going to die. We will fight only to protect ourselves, and that's all. If you don't like this and would rather be slaved out by a couple dark wizards that just left, well then by all means, please leave now. But if you stay here, then we are going to do everything within our power to end this diplomatically, and only do otherwise if there is truly no other option."
Theo shook his head and began walking to the door, then seemed to remember something and turned around. He made his way over to the table where he pulled the blade out of its top. He fingered the notch it made before turning to address Blaine. "Are you staying?" he asked, tonelessly, and Blaine had nodded. Theo turned around, seemingly without another word. He paused at the threshold of the door. "You're all going to get yourselves killed, but it was nice knowing you."
Blaine watched his form disappear into the darkness, feeling more like a traitor than he supposed he should have. What was he supposed to do, go running after him and try to beat some sense into him? What good was that when he was already making sense? Besides, Theo was fine on his own. Wand or no wand, magical skill or no. He never seemed to want to know anything about how to use magic, had never embraced it. He had always just seemed cold and indifferent to its existence, seemed to hardly care that this was something he shared with his mother.
"So, what's the plan, Potter?" Blaine asked.
"So far? Not to fraternize with the enemy," he responded shortly, his eyes intense as though daring anyone else to leave.
Theo walked out into the darkness of the night, catching a glimpse of silver blond hair and a small peal of laughter from his right. If he were the shuddering type, he probably would have, but he was too tough for that. Or, at least that's what he would like to think. Either way, to him, her laughter sounded more like nails on a chalkboard or something equally distasteful. It didn't help that the entire situation had him on edge.
More than anything, he missed how it used to be. He had never particularly cared for hunting as a younger kid, and quite frankly, it scared the hell out of him for a lot of the earlier years. If he shut his eyes, he could still remember the feeling of panic, but as the years went on, killing monsters and inhuman creatures had just become rhythmic and second nature, like breathing. Without it, he was constantly antsy and stressed. His body seemed to be prepared for something out of the ordinary, but nothing came.
The politics of the whole situation inside wasn't helping things. He was not equipped to cope with those situations, nor did he know how. His first impulse had been to try to knock some sense into them, but after a little bit more thought, he had decided that was generally unwise. Half blood or no, he still had never gone to school or learned how to use magic. He had repressed it so much for so long, he hardly thought he would be able to practice magic if he tried. Maybe the more he pushed something away, the weaker it became, until it just wasn't there anymore.
"Lost your way, puppy?" Evlyn finally said, acknowledging his presence with a sickly sweet, melodically taunting tone. It wasn't until then that Theo realized he was rooted to the spot, no longer walking. His eyes narrowed at her, her one arm dangling to the side like a soft, posed doll or a puppet, her wand balancing lightly from the tips of her fingers. There was an empty look in her eye like her thoughts were detached from her body, or her soul was gone from her, like she repressed it for too long, letting it become weaker and weaker until it just wasn't there anymore, just like his magic. "So where are you going now? Back to New York or wherever it is you're from?"
Theo scoffed, shaking his head. "New Jersey. I can drive, you know." He briefly wondered if the joke was lost on the audience, and Scorpius's eyes narrowed at him with irritated confusion. Well, that was a pompous one. Evlyn smirked, her body slightly twisted as her one shoulder was balancing her angled frame against the tree.
"That's comforting," she breathed airily. "Wouldn't want you to die in any car accidents. That would be a sore loss for mankind." She paused, her face lighting up with a mischievous air, a new glint in her eye. "Tell me, do you think James would care? I don't think so. He doesn't seem to like you. What about Blaine? I doubt he'd care as much about your neck as you care about his. Surprisingly, you're loyal..., but I guess that comes with the territory. No pun intended."
He clenched his fists repeatedly, trying to resist the temptation to do something rash. His eyes flicked over to Scorpius, and he briefly wondered how long it would take for him to kill her before he'd be tortured or killed himself. Get a grip, he thought to himself, but the restraint was agonizing. "If your pun wasn't intended, then you didn't need to say it. If you meant to say a pun, then you also didn't need to say it. Following?" he replied, trying to get his legs to start walking again, but something was stopping him. He was walking away again, away from everything. At the very least he didn't have to walk away from this spot, but oh, how he wanted to.
"Do you ever shut your mouth?" Scorpius finally said with a scowl. His looks were very close to Blaine's, except sharper. He was the sort of man that could be very intimidating, even without being burly.
"Very rarely. Do you ever change facial expressions?" he replied with a feigned smile and a sarcastically polite tone. Admittedly, it wasn't the best comeback, but to his defense, nothing else seemed to come to mind. That, and whenever he saw Scorpius, he was scowling or looked rather sour. The brief changes to smirks here and there were easily missed.
And before he knew it, the other had advanced with his wand arm outstretched. As if on cue, Theo pulled out one of his throwing knives and the way he stood was one of action. His eyes were fixed on Scorpius, waiting for any telltale sign of what he was about to do.
"You should learn a little respect, you half blood filth," Scorpius spat with impressive gusto. His eyes seemed fiery, if pale gray eyes could ever look such a way. Theo had an urge to roll his eyes, but repressed it. The constant insults regarding his blood was really getting tiresome.
"My father tried that. Didn't work out so well," he replied without much discernible excitement. In so many words, he sounded bored, but in actuality, his blood was pumping and his fingers were clasping the hilt of the blade so tightly that the pads of his fingers would probably be bruised. If this went down, it would not go down well. He knew this; he was not naïve, but he wasn't about to let his enemy see that.
"Obviously not. Any father who lacks the decency to disown or get rid of a werewolf son..."
Theo opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it. He didn't even know how to respond to that. For the first time in a long time, he was lost for words.
"Cat got your tongue?" Evlyn chipped in with a grin, then paused, adding for good measure: "Pun intended that time."
"Did your perfect, pathetic muggle father disappoint you? Did you stop bonding when you were out chasing after vampires and werewolves or whatever it is that I have heard...?" he continued, mocking cruelly.
"Yeah," Theo replied stiffly. "He was the perfect father. Then he disappointed me, so I killed him and buried his body in the woods. And don't even bother asking me if it bothers me, because it doesn't. He was dragging me down, and now that I'm without him, I don't have to just kill vampires and werewolves anymore. I could run around on full moons and even feed on people like you if I wanted to." It was a tangle of truth and lie, but mostly lie. Scorpius didn't know this, though Evlyn might have been more enlightened to his past. He didn't know or didn't remember, and didn't feel it in him to bother trying to figure it out. "Your turn, Scorpius. Would you be as ready to fight me if you didn't have a wand?"
"Duel? Like you would do the same without your knives."
Theo seemed to deliberate this for a few moments, then finally nodded. "Yeah, actually, I probably would anyway. I have no aversion to punching your face in."
Credits:
Bowling line: The Breakfast Club.
"I hate not being the bad guys."
-Kyra from the Chronicles of Riddick. One of my favorite characters of all time, ever. :3
A/N: Eh. Sloppily put together, but I post the chapters in sections, and sometimes I switch up character point of views. Constructive criticism is always welcome. 3
