My second detention with Sirius Black that evening passed by rather uneventfully. Professor Slughorn it seems was not in a very imaginative mood on this particular day so he had simply set us the task of copying out the schools motto "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus", which translates simply as "Never tickle a sleeping dragon", one thousand times on the supplied parchment as we sat in the empty potions classroom.
It was an absurd task if you ask me, seeing as how I felt slightly irritated whenever I was reminded of our schools ridiculous motto. I'd like to know who the mad person was that came up with it in the first place. My best guess would be some distant relative of Albus Dumbledore, who we all know is about as sane as a tap-dancing Hippogriff.
Why on earth did Hogwarts feel the vital need to warn their students against this? I mean, what complete fool would ever tickle a sleeping dragon? It was times like these I started to think that maybe I should have embraced my mother's threat of sending me to Beauxbatons, who I bet has a motto which their students can actually be proud of.
Surprisingly, Sirius didn't utter a single word the whole time we were in detention. Not even during the half hour Professor Slughorn left us to ourselves while he ran off to the Great Hall to have supper. He seemed simply content to finish the task at hand without a fuss.
I was more than a tad suspicious of his sudden change in character, though thankful nonetheless. I assumed it was simply the absence of his best friend that seemed to diminish his mood.
Being the first to finish writing out the thousand lines, I handed my parchment to Slughorn and hurried out of the class, eager to get back to the Slytherin common room.
I noticed it was a little colder than usual this night as I stepped out of the classroom door and starting pacing down the dull stone corridors. A sure sign that summer had ended and was making way for autumns chill. Feeling slightly foolish for wearing only a short-sleeved top and skirt that barely reached my knees; I hugged my arms to myself tightly to keep the warmth as I continued on.
As I made my way up to the corner which turned to an abrupt dead end, in which stood a great stone snake marking the entrance to the Slytherin common room, I stopped sharply before going any further. I could hear voices just around the bend ahead, speaking low, in hasty whispers. I leaned my back up against the cool, stone wall, listening carefully in time to hear a familiar male voice speak.
"You should feel honoured by the invitation" The voice said swiftly. I could easily sense a hint of annoyance in the tone "He despises half-bloods almost as much as he does muggles. But I have convinced him that you have skills that are perhaps better than any pureblood here in this castle".
It only took me an instant to recognise the sleek voice that belonged to Lucius.
I listened more intently, as the second voice spoke up, a little nervously.
"What makes you think I want to meet him. I've heard rumours of him and his followers. He's been suspected as the cause of all those strange murders that have happened lately. How do you know you're safe with him?"
"It is so very gracious of him to agree to this meeting" Lucius replied sternly, ignoring the question "He only wants the same thing we all do. To take our rightful place as the superiors above the useless and dirty-blooded witches and wizards below us"
"Not all who aren't pure blooded are useless" The second voice, which I had now distinguished as Severus' argued "Take Lily Evans for example. She's one of the top students in our year, better than half of the Slytherins we know!" he protested.
"Lily Evans is a dirty, disgusting Mudblood!" Lucius spat angrily. The harshness of his voice was incredibly menacing. I had never before heard him speak like this.
"She should never have been allowed to step foot within Hogwarts" he added coldly.
"That's not true" Severus whispered harshly. His voice sounded strained in his desperate attempt to contain his rage.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Once he has obtained total power, all those filthy Mudbloods will be too afraid to even show their faces in public" Lucius said darkly.
"And what about the Muggles?" Severus' asked. I could still sense the anger in his voice.
"They will be disposed of" Lucius replied casually "They have no place in our world"
I gasped in alarm at the remark and forced my hand over my mouth hastily, afraid I'd be caught out listening in on the argument. However the two continued on.
"That's ridiculous!" Severus exclaimed "You're asking me to join a band of thugs and murderers. What makes you think I want to be a part of that?"
"I will not have you making me look like a fool, Severus!" Lucius spat impatiently"We all quest for power, and this is the man who I have no doubt will lead us to it. I've seen what the Dark Lord is capable of. Magic more powerful then we have ever dreamed of. And he is willing to share it with us all. . . to teach us. It would be unwise for you to turn this opportunity down. This is not a man to make enemies with" he said darkly.
I was deprived of hearing any more of the conversation, however, as I heard a new pair of voices coming from behind me. As I turned around I saw a couple of younger girls, presumably first years, walking in my direction, talking animatedly as they did. They hadn't noticed me standing at the corner, so I took the opportunity to fake a loud yawn and continue around the corridor to where Severus and Lucius were standing.
Sev looked angry, and pale; he was glaring at the floor spitefully. I knew how he was feeling. Listening to what Lucius had been saying had made me feel sick to my stomach. The man he had been describing, this "Dark Lord" sounded not like any man but more a monster.
It took all of my will to force the most genuine smile I could as I approached them.
"Hey, guys" I said cheerily, trying desperately to cover up the fact that I had just been prying into their disturbing, private conversation merely a second ago.
Lucius looked a little surprised as he turned to face me, but he quickly composed himself and pursed his thin lips into an icy smile "Alexandra" he said lowly "Finished detention already, love?"
I nodded softly as he reached for my hand, which I gave him somewhat reluctantly. As he pulled me closer to him I once again felt a sudden tenseness wash over me. His eyes were cold, and distant. As he stared at me I felt like I was looking back into the eyes of a stranger and I instantly realised that this wasn't the Lucius I knew at all. Who was this man who talks so freely of joining with a murderous Dark Lord and disposing of Muggles like they're some kind of pest?
Severus turned abruptly to face the stone snake which hissed "Passssssword". He spoke the password, which was "Basilisk" and as soon as the large snake had uncoiled it's long tail to allow passage into the common room he hurried off, without another word.
"What's wrong with Sev?" I asked Lucius, attempting to sound sincerely concerned as I couldn't help but feel like I was presently in the midst of a dangerous situation.
Lucius had his icy eyes fixed on me harshly, making me feel as if he could see right through me and my facade.
"I suspect he's had a long day, and simply needs a good night rest" he replied carelessly. I didn't even need to recognise that his eyes had flickered to the side as he was speaking, to know that he was lying.
I nodded my head in mock understanding before also entering the common room and surveying the scene. There were a few people scattered here and there.
Bellatrix, I noticed, was fast asleep in one of the large chairs nearest the fireplace, with her head leaning against Rodolphus' large shoulder. Rod himself looked to me like he was heading in the same direction, his dark eyes slowly drooping shut. I remembered that he, along with Evan and Lucius had had Quidditch practice that afternoon which was probably why he looked so exhausted.
Rabastan and Evan were deep in concentration over a game of wizards' chess, while Regulus spetacted intently. Narcissa once again seemed to be absent.
Scarcely anyone noticed our arrival, which at this moment in time I was grateful for, as I was not at all in a talkative mood. There was nothing I wanted more than to run upstairs and hide away from the world while I tried to make sense of all the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head.
"I think I'll head up to bed. It's been a long day" I said truthfully as I turned back to Lucius, who to my surprise, smiled at me warmly in return and squeezed my hand affectionately. For the briefest moment I forgot all about the conversation I had overheard in the cold, stone corridors of the dungeon.
The stranger that had been here a second ago had vanished, and my Lucius stood in front of me once again, with his eyes glowing warmly in the light of the nearby fire. I found myself not having to force my smile as I said goodnight and left him standing in the warmth of the common room and made my way up to my dormitory
However, as I was getting ready for bed I once again found myself falling deep into my own thoughts. Was the man that Lucius and Severus had been talking about the same one that Regulus had seemed to be so afraid of last night? Lucius had referred to him as the Dark Lord, and called him the man who would lead them to power.
But how would he gain this power. By killing those who he thinks to be below him? Surely Lucius knew that that was wrong. He would never get involved with anyone who thought like that.
But the things he had said...
I sighed heavily as I lay back on my bed. It troubled me to think that Lucius would want to be associated with a person like this Dark Lord. I hoped with all my heart that I could find a way to snap him out of this mindset before it was too late.
The next day I woke up in a better mood than the night before, and was glad to find that at breakfast everyone seemed to be in the same state of mind. The first Quidditch match of the season, which would be between Slytherin and Gryffindor, was just confirmed to be held in the second week of November. And although it was almost five weeks away, the boys' were brimming with excitement, busying themselves with discussing various new tactics they'd like to try out against the Gryffindor team, who they deem to be their biggest rivals.
Severus, Rabastan and Regulus, who weren't in the team, but were huge supporters nonetheless, were openly offering ideas. And even Cissy, who although wasn't saying alot, as usual, looked genuinely interested in the conversation.
The Slytherin vs. Gryffindor matches were always certain to be huge events within Hogwarts, mostly because everyone knew how rough the two teams played against each other. That and the fact that they were guaranteed to witness definite injuries on the field. Any Quidditch fans dream, really.
It didn't take long to realise that I had made an unfortunate mistake by sitting between Lucius and Evan this morning, as Evan tended to get over-excited about anything that involved Quidditch or food. He was waving his arms around and imitating some ridiculous looking broom-flying while explaining his latest move to Rod, who was sitting across from him and nodding eagerly.
I was getting knocked around an awful lot in the process, though I couldn't help but laugh at Evans enthusiasm. I shoved him playfully after he had accidently elbowed me in the arm for the fifth time that morning.
The Great Hall was almost empty before we decided to leave for our first class of the morning, which much to our dismay, was History of Magic. We said goodbye to Regulus, Rabastan and Narcissa in the Entrance Hall, as they had Herbology out in the greenhouses, and the rest of us made our way up to our classroom.
We didn't bother hurrying to class, as usual. Particularly with History of Magic it never mattered if anyone showed up late, because once Professor Binns started droning on, you could set off a bunch of fireworks right in the middle of the classroom and I'm certain he wouldn't so much as blink one of his ghostly eyes.
Just as well because as we reached the top of the marble staircase to the first floor, we found none other than James Potter and Lily Evans, in the middle of what seemed to be a rather heated argument.
"What do we have here. Lovers quarral?" Bella mocked with a laugh, causing Lily and James to stop abruptly, as they had apparently not noticed our presence before now.
Lily scoffed loudly "If you don't mind, this is a private conversation. Move along" her emerald, green eyes glared at Bella, who simply let out another high-pitched laugh.
"James Potter. Just the person we wanted to see" Lucius strolled up to the pair, ignoring Lily's previous comment "Without your precious sidekick today I see".
No sooner had the words left his mouth, that Sirius Black himself strutted around the corner, whining at James annoyingly to hurry up. Until he noticed us standing there, of course.
"What's going on?" he asked darkly while looking between James and Lucius, sensing the obvious tension.
"Perfect timing, Black" Evan sneered as he stepped up beside Lucius "You see, we've heard you've been messing with our girls"
I grinned darkly as Sirius shot me a fierce glare, and took a few steps back. This time, it was the boys fight.
"And we'll have you know, that we don't approve of that at all" Rodolphus added, as he pulled out his wand from his robe.
Almost immediately, Sirius and James did the same.
"Maybe if "your girls" could learn to stop being such arrogant, little bitches, then we'd have no reason to mess with them" James said derisively, before glaring at Bella and adding "Though I highly doubt the chance of that ever happening".
"Well now, that's not very polite of you to say at all" Lucius drawled as he pulled out his own wand.
Severus hovered back a bit beside me and Bella. Fighting wasn't something he particularly liked, though he was all for watching James Potter and Sirius Black get they're pathetic arses kicked.
"Go and find McGonagall" James growled lowly to Lily, before pointing his wand in Lucius face.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Lucius warned menacingly, whether to James or Lily, I didn't know.
Lily, however, had only taken a few steps before Rodolphus flicked his wand lazily, sending a nice Body-Bind Curse her way.
Bella shrieked in delight as Lilys body went completely rigid, causing her to fall flat on her face. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh myself. That would teach her not to be such a prat.
In an instant, Sirius and James had both raised their wands. Though they were clearly out-numbered, it didn't seem to phase them.
"You shouldn't have done that" Sirius snarled lowly, before starting with a perfect Disarming spell in Rodolphus' direction which had knocked his wand clean out of his hand. While Rod ducked away to reclaim it, Evan didn't hesitate to step up and continue the duel with Sirius.
Never one to stand on the sidelines, Bella couldn't help but jump right in to cast a Summoning charm on a nearby stool, which she then used to send hurtling in Sirius direction, though he successfully produced a Shield charm in time to counter it. Rodolphus, by then had then returned, wand in hand, and sent some kind of curse at Sirius which knocked him clean off his feet.
I laughed loudly, earning a fierce glare from Sirius as he got to his feet swiftly.
Over on the other side, Lucius had just cast a pretty nasty Blasting curse at a small chandelier that was situated on the roof directly above James, which came plunging down towards him so fast that he barely had time to jump out of the way.
Severus and I had been watching so intently from the sidelines, along with a few other people that had left the Great Hall after us and had stopped to watch the conflict, that we were startled upon hearing a large voice boom "ENOUGH!" from right behind us.
Professor Dumbledore was striding up the stairs with great speed, looking awfully unhappy.
"Abusing the use of magic, in this place of learning, is strictly prohibited" Dumbledore growled as he hurried over to remove the Body-Bind charm that Rod had cast on Lily. One he had determined that she was alright, he turned back to us all. "This will not go unpunished. All you who are involved-"He indicated to Lucius, Evan, Rodolphus, Bella, Sirius and James "Head to my office now. The rest of you, please get to class immediately"
I growled lowly and said to Severus "Damn Dumbledore. Always ruining our fun"
After Dumbedore had turned swiftly and left, Sirius marched right up to me. I could see by the look in his stormy-grey eyes that he was absolutely fuming.
"I knew you'd run straight off to those gits you call "friends". Why don't you try fighting your own battles for once instead of manipulating someone else into doing it for you" he growled dangerously before turning and heading off to Dumbledore's office along with the rest of those involved.
I rolled my eyes. He really didn't know when to stop, did he?
If he wanted so much for me to fight my own battle, then next time, that's exactly what I would do. And he had better watch out.