PHILOLOGUS By: P.P.V.V.
Disclaimer: The Standard Disclaimer applies. All original characters/ideas are mine to claim.
AN: Thank you everyone for your support! As promised, here is the next chapter. I'm so happy I've reached two hundred reviews!
This time, we will be taking a step backward, and we'll get to understand the pasts of some characters. Please enjoy.
Onward.
Chapter
11
-Charming-
She was charming.
She was beautiful.
She was perfect.
Until…
"My lady, shall we take tea together?" James asked, upon entering. She sat by the bay window, seated at the grand piano that gleamed white under the afternoon's sunlight. She looked downright elegant, poised as a woman should be, with her back straight and her hands nestled in her lap, one on top of the other.
Her smile was like a mirror to that of a sun's ray of light, as it lit up her porcelain-like features. Just like him, she had sharp blue eyes, but her black hair was long and straight, each strand falling into place without a stray piece. "Oh, Sir James! You came at the right time." She said, in her lilting voice. "I've just now finished practicing." She gestured toward the piano.
James grinned and moved purposefully toward her. "Then we shall take tea together." He turned and motioned one of the waiting servants to get them just that.
"I would love to." She replied, smoothly, getting up out of her seat and walking with him toward one of the tables in the room. "How are you, my dearest brother?"
He smiled as he pulled a chair out for her to sit and tucked her in. "I'm as well as could be. I have free time to enjoy."
"Would you not rather spend that with a Lady friend?" She asked.
At this, James blushed and was glad that she could not see it. "I…" He was saved from completing his sentence because the servant walked back in, holding a tray with biscuits and tea. His last relationship had ended horribly and he didn't want to repeat another so soon.
He took a seat across from her and helped himself to some biscuits as the servant poured them tea. "Sirius may come to visit later." James said, hoping that she didn't catch the fact that he was desperately trying to avoid her last question.
The way she arched one eyebrow slightly told him that she knew, but he was glad that she decided not to voice it aloud. "Oh, and here I was hoping you could come with me to the Auction. There was a beautiful piece that I was certain we could bid upon."
"The Auction is today?" James asked, brushing crumbs from his fingers absently. The cookies were sweetened only slightly so that the bitter taste of the tea was complimented nicely.
"Vilendetta is the piece I thought you'd have interest in." She told him. "The painting is wonderfully beautiful."
"I've not heard of it." He said, truthfully. "I've been busy during the school year keeping up to par with Sirius I've had no time to see art pieces. The next year is our last at the Academy, after all." He added.
His sister lifted her eyebrow again, in question. "Oh, good sir, are you looking to become a Philologus Elite?"
James scoffed and shook his head. "No. I've no reason to – the position is too much of a burden to bear, a weight upon my shoulders that I fear I cannot carry."
His sister put down her cup. "I believe you could become one if you really wanted to. You could help so many if you had the position."
"Lady Celena…that position is not for me…."
Celena reached over and patted his hand. "Very well. I shan't talk about it any more." She returned to drinking her tea. "Will you accompany me later? You said you have free time."
"I will definitely go with you." James said, nodding. "But I may have to cancel if Sirius does come by. It would be very impolite if I were to leave him here by himself, would it not?"
Celena grinned, showing two sets of perfect teeth. Perfect – just like the rest of her. "In that case, bring him along with you."
"Very well then: we will be right behind you." He promised.
She finished off her tea and stood up again. "Shall I play you a piece? Your company is always welcome."
He leaned back in his seat and nodded. So once more, she moved to the piano and began to play. He was content to sit there and listen, as he often did. His sister was his strength, his comfort – the one he cared for the most in all the world. She was two years his younger, but he had taken care of her for as long as he remembered. Because their parents were often away, the two had grown up together and learned to depend on each other.
The music filtered around him, simple and elegant, a slow, sad tune – something unlikely for a girl like Celena. It was completely opposite: she was always cheerful, something that only she seemed to possess, no matter how depressing things could get. He was proud of her and she knew it. They did not attend the same school as she was sent to a Select Seminary for girls – she was to get married to a Duke after all.
The sorrow of the song made his heart ache.
Maybe it was a prelude.
He should have seen it coming…
0-0-0-0-0
Art.
He had seen all types of it. But nothing like this before.
The Vilendetta was stunning.
The auction was won of course: no price was too high for the Potter wealth.
The portrait depicted what James expected was the ideal woman. Slender and beautiful, yet strong and determined. She was posed so that her head was tilted back, and the wind seemed to blow it in the wind. He loved the way the painter had done the eyes especially – intelligent. It was as though they knew everything.
They hung it in the music room, where Celena had insisted they place it so she could see it every day.
"She's very pretty, isn't she?" His sister asked, surprising him. He had thought she had left the room. Now, she traced a finger through the golden-red locks of the painting before them. "I bet there isn't such a woman in the world."
James chuckled. "Oh, my Lady…you are the very picture of this woman. Vilendetta holds no candle to you."
At that, Celena laughed. "Good sir, the things that come from your mouth! You jest unfairly."
He rolled his eyes. "Really, Lady Celena. I wasn't…"
"James? This is where you disappeared to!" Sirius strode into the room, his shoes clacking against the hardwood floors beneath. "I'd like to go out to the town. What do you say?" he turned his head to Celena. "My Lady is invited, of course." He offered his arm to her.
Celena took it and gathered her full skirt in her other hand. "I should enjoy that, I think. Sir James?"
James inclined his head at her unspoken question, motioning for one of the servants to fetch them their coats. Another servant loaded them in the back of the carriage they rode, and they were off.
The town was bustling with activity as the stores began to close down for the day. The setting sun cast a golden glow on everything, and cooled the air as the night began to take precedence in the sky. The trip was fun as the three chatted freely with each other telling jokes and stories as they rattled through the streets in the carriage.
"I should like to drop by the confectionary." Celena told them, stopping the driver as they passed a store. "I've a few things I want to see."
"We'll go with you." James offered.
She waved her hand at them. "No, good sirs. The night on the town is for you to enjoy. I'll be fine by myself – and besides, Sir Remus will likely be waiting for you as usual." The chauffer opened the door for her, and she made to get out.
The two men shared glances at each other. How had she known? At the looks, Celena giggled. "Oh you men, I know you too well by now." And without another word, she leaned over to give them both kisses on the cheeks, before stepping out of the carriage with the help of the chauffer.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like our company?" James called after her. She raised a hand and waved at them in response, and he breathed out a defeated sigh. "Driver," he said, "continue on to the fourth street, if you please."
The driver acknowledged the request with a flick of the wrist, which was followed by a crack of the whip and the lurch of the carriage as it started to move once more.
Remus was waiting at the candy shop: he was notorious for having a sweet tooth. Already, he was munching on a Chocolate Frog and in his hand, he had a bag of purchased goods.
The two men caught up with him. "Remus, really, you shouldn't eat too much of that stuff." Sirius scolded.
Their friend merely shrugged. "I shan't eat it all right away." He pat his stomach for emphasis. "Peter was unable to come. His Lord Father wanted him to stay. It's said that a liver is being donated so hopefully by Christmas, Peter will have finished with the operation."
"I hope so…." James murmured. "That man does not deserve all the pain he undergoes."
"On a lighter note," Remus said, cheerfully, "I'll race the both of you in the stables! We'll see whose steed is the faster and who is the best rider."
Laughing, the other two agreed.
The night was nice and warm as they rode together into the night, their whoops and cheers echoing through the night. It was refreshing, a way of relief, after all the studying and revision they had had to do. It felt wonderful to let go, as if there wasn't a care in the world.
Again, James should have seen it coming.
He was all smiles when they left the stables together, dusting his breeches off from the dirt. At the last moment, his horse had swerved to the right so suddenly that James had fallen off. Luckily, he had landed in a pile of hay before he went rolling. It still hurt, but not as much as his pride as the other two laughed over it.
As the carriage approached them, James felt something twisting in his stomach, a sort of dread…a sort of fear…
The driver jumped out, staggering slightly. "Young Master!" he cried, rushing toward them. "The Mistress…she….."
The three friends looked at each other worriedly. "…she's hurt…"
Those words were like a knife to the heart. For a moment, James wondered if he were dreaming, but the sudden grip of the driver on his forearms told him that it wasn't a dream. "…you must go to her!"
"Where is she?" James demanded. "Why didn't you take her with you?"
"She wouldn't come!" The man gasped, trembling. "Young Master…"
"Where?" James yelled, angrily, shaking him. He could feel himself start to tremble.
"By the confectionary!" The man replied, in a daze.
"Sirius! Remus!" James shouted the command as he hurried off, on foot toward the shop. The other two picked up the pace without question, tailing him as they ran.
James could not remember a time when he had run so fast. His lungs were near to bursting and he forced his legs to pump under him, regardless of how much his chest hurt. It was as though an invisible hand had come to wrap itself around his heart and squeeze with all its might.
They rushed past people who stared after them, confused.
It seemed an eternity before he reached the confectionary, but she was no where in sight. Beside him, his friends collapsed, exhausted. The night air was suddenly cold, and forbidding as James frantically called her name. "Celena! Celena! Where are you?"
Sirius peered into the shop, trying to gather his breath. "James, she's not here either…"
Some passers by avoided them and gave them strange looks. Remus tried to get them to talk, but none of them wanted to be involved in what seemed a dangerous matter. They began to move up the street, calling her name.
"Try the back alleys." James ordered, the pit of fear in his stomach growing so much that it threatened to suffocate him.
"They twist like a maze!" Sirius protested. "We'll need a search party."
"Then form one!" James snapped. "But I will not stop looking for her." And with that, he took off again, his friends having no choice but to follow him up the narrow alleyways.
It was as if instinct brought him to where she was because they came upon her when they reached the Confectionary's back alley. She had been dumped unceremoniously among a pile of garbage and dirt.
She was completely naked.
James saw that she was badly injured and that she lay unmoving.
"My Lady! My Lady!" He was at her side in a moment, but he felt as if he was moving in slow motion. "Celena!" He bent over her, and tried to gather her up in his arms, but she suddenly lashed out, her good arm hitting him hard in the chest. It caused him to double over and almost drop her but he caught her again. Despite her weakened condition, she still had a lot of fight in her. She struggled but he was stronger, tears coming to his eyes seeing her savage fear. "Celena! It's me!"
"Stay away!" She shrieked. "Help me! Someone help me! James! James!"
"It's me!" He cried again, shaking her slightly so that she winced. "I'm right here, Celena…" he whispered, pulling her closer and rocking her back and forth. "It's me, James…"
Her breath caught in her throat when she recognized his voice and she began to cry pitifully into his shirt, clutching at him, repeating his name over and over. "I'm right here." He whispered again, stroking her hair as she broke down.
His sister.
So strong.
So willful.
Now, so broken.
He trembled now, with grief. With fear. With anger.
Who had done this to her?
"They hurt me!" She sobbed. "They hurt me! They…"
He shushed her, willing all of his strength be given to her as she seemed on the verge of being delirious. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius unbutton his shirt and take it off. He moved to drape it over her, but Celena shrieked in fear, her wail of terror causing Sirius to take a step back.
"Stay back!" James commanded. "She's afraid…"
"We won't hurt her - " Sirius began.
"She is unwell." James said, sounding a bit harsher than he intended to. At the moment, he didn't care. "Gentlemen, go find the driver. We need to get back to the Estate." When neither of them moved, James snapped, "Now!"
Sirius reluctantly handed him the shirt and stepped away with Remus. They had never seen James so frenzied before and it must be confessed that the two of them were shaken badly at the sight; Sirius especially because he had come to love Celena as his own sister. The thought that his mere presence scared her now was almost more than he could bear.
James carefully placed the shirt around her, noting that her left arm had been broken, her flawless skin cut and ripped in some areas, and blood was everywhere. She had been left on the streets to die – to bleed to death. She had suffered two stab wounds, the most prominent one on her leg, most probably to have stopped her from kicking.
He knew she had been raped because the blood on her leg wasn't just coming from the knife wound.
"Oh…my Lady…who could have done this…?" He whispered hoarsely, feeling tears of his own slide down his cheeks.
She never answered, having fainted in his arms.
As if the heavens themselves started crying, it started to rain.
0-0-0-0-0
Celena cried for days on end, her hysterics causing the nurses to fret. James did not leave her bedside once – he wasn't allowed to. She clung to him like a life line, her small body shaking. She wouldn't eat, she couldn't sleep. Nightmares plagued her, and she became awfully sick.
James couldn't stand to see her suffer like that. Her radiance had been snuffed out, like a candle, the darkness of the room shadowing her already-too pale face. By the second week, he began to despair. Because she would let no one close to her, the doctors were not able to treat her properly.
She was dying.
Her room smelled of flowers, her window open slightly to let in some fresh air. She was asleep, her black hair fanned over her pillow, her chest rising and falling in labored breaths. On her cheeks were traces of tears, and James gently wiped those away, feeling tears of his own prick his eyes.
She woke, stifling a sob as her eyelids opened, as if she mourned to face reality again. He took her hand in his. "My Lady…" He began, "…you must eat something – anything."
"No…" she whispered, faintly. "No, I will not."
"Please." He begged.
"Leave me be." She said, turning her head from him.
"For me." He pushed.
She began to cry again. "Leave me be…"
At the door, the nurses stood waiting, anxiously, and James waved them in, shaking his head. He had failed in his attempt, yet again. He gently turned back to her, wiping away her tears once more. "Then, My Lady, I bid you to sleep." He urged, gently. "Get your rest."
She obeyed him in that, too tired to do otherwise, closing her eyes again. He got up, but not too far, knowing that she'd panic if he did. "It's no use." He said in a low voice. "She won't listen to me."
"We'll have to sedate her if ever, young Master." A nurse told him, wringing her hands by her apron. "She must get some nutrients or else…"
"-I know." James said, running a hand through his hair wearily. "Please, if there is any way…"
"You will have to hold her down." The nurse said, firmly. "She will not want this because she may feel like she is being put back into that horrible situation but there is no other way."
He paused for a moment, before nodding.
When they were sure she was asleep, they began their operation. Surprisingly, Celena made no move to stop them – she couldn't because she was too weak. She just stared up at James in confusion, who kept talking to her, reassuring her that she would be fine, and that he would stay with her.
Soon, they had hooked her up to a device that allowed her to get her nutrients from a thin needle in her arm which was attached to a bag of liquid that entered her body. She had been sedated to allow her to sleep well, and James sat by her bedside again, taking up her hand in his.
God would never forgive them…he thought, angrily. He had sent out a team of people to find those who had done this to his sister, but no one had been arrested – apparently this happened almost every day to women, and there was just no way to find the criminals without the victim being able to point them out. In Celena's current condition, James did not think she would want those men anywhere near her. "I will find them yet," he vowed to her sleepy body, "…and I will make them pay for taking away your happiness."
Sirius slipped in the room, bowing slightly before slowly making his way to her bed side. "How is she?" he asked. He was a regular visitor, but he never got close enough because Celena would scream in fear. It caused him so much pain, and James knew it – Sirius would never hurt her, but she was unstable.
"I'm so sorry, Sirius." James said. "She…"
"I understand." He interrupted. "What happened to her is very traumatizing."
"…If I had only gone with her!" James said, angrily, clenching his fists. "If I had accompanied her, then this would never have happened…"
"It's not your
fault." Sirius started to say, but James glared at him, cutting him
off from finishing the rest of his sentence.
"I will never
forgive myself until I have brought those men to justice."
Sirius glared right back at him. "And just how will you propose to do that? You cannot single handedly bring those men down. You don't have that kind of power."
James looked back at his sleeping sister, glad that her eyes were closed. Every time they were open, all he could see was that haunting fear, and he had had enough of it. "I will gain it." He murmured.
Sirius paused, his hand resting on Celena's bed sheets. "James…you can't be serious…" When James never answered, Sirius completed his sentence. "A Philologus? Even as such, you would never be able to - "
"-Celena didn't deserve this. No one does." Came his steely response. It was so cold and angry that Sirius had to swallow his suddenly dry throat. What caused him to falter even more was when he saw a tear slide down his best friend's cheek.
James never showed his weakness.
The room was silent for a while, as the boys tried to gather their composures and their thoughts. Bright sunlight spilled out over the sleeping girl's figure. She looked so peaceful that it was like time had been reversed, and none of the ghastly things had been done to her.
Sirius wished that was so badly. He didn't want to see the people he considered family to be in such pain. When they had once been like a beam of light in the darkness for him, they were now crumbling under the heavy curtain's shadow. "You know the consequences you face in becoming an Elite…" He murmured, finally.
James wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. "I do. But I will endure everything."
Again, a pause. And then, "I know you will."
0-0-0-0-0
The school was in an uproar.
James Potter – an
Elite?
The teachers could not believe it.
The students were eager to see it.
Being a notorious prankster, everyone wondered what could have caused the sudden change in James. His sudden request to partake in the Elite Exams was shocking. The current Elites were amused, and encouraged him to reach for the goal if he thought he could bear the burden of the Cape that marked them; that set them apart, and reminded them of the responsibility they had toward the other students and the future.
James held through the criticism though, throwing himself whole heartedly into his studies, becoming obsessed. His friends were worried that he would wear himself out. Even Sirius had to take a step back – at the rate James was going, he could not catch up.
There were times when he didn't eat well, or sleep at all.
Day after day, James buried himself within his books, revising and reviewing all his lessons. His progress was astounding. The teachers couldn't believe their eyes, but they were ecstatic at his success in all his tests and with the popularity he suddenly gained with all the students.
The amount of support he got was overwhelming – it was almost as if he was already an Elite.
He never gave himself any rest, driving himself ever onwards
Mercy, he reasoned, was never given to his sister so he would not bestow it upon himself.
Undoubtedly, Celena was proud of him. "You'll wear yourself out." She often scolded, but he would stubbornly repeat his promise to her.
The other Gryffindor students who were aspiring to become Elites could not keep pace with him either that by the time the Elite Exams were over, no one was surprised to see that James walked out accomplishing exactly what he had set out to do three months ago.
A Philologus Elite.
As he knelt before the whole school in the Great Hall, he swore the Oath that all the Elites had to do. "With the Pride and the Grace of our Academy and its instructors, I pledge myself to the service of this school and its members." James began in a trembling voice. He forced himself to strengthen it, the sound spreading out across the room. "I pledge myself to the service of His Majesty, who, if in the future requires my assistance by his side, shall receive my loyalty."
The whole room was silent; one could have heard a pin drop. On the balcony above, the other Elites were standing, watching as their ranks were joined by yet another. At one point of time they had had to undergo this same ceremony. Now, they listened to the very words they had pledged when they had received their pendants.
"To the students, I swear to be a prime example – a model in which you may follow and respect. To the Professors, I swear to continue to uphold the lessons and information that is taught to me. To the Headmaster, I swear to be faithful to the path I have chosen to walk, however long and difficult it will be."
He paused, taking a deep breath. "I swear….to myself….that I will accomplish the goals I have set and that these goals will, in the future, be of help in His Majesty's kingdom. If I fail in any of these tasks, I am aware, that this Honor can be revoked. I pray that it will never happen. This is my Oath, before you."
His last words spoken, the assembly of men and women rose to their feet, as was customary to give acknowledgment to them. Dumbledore slowly strung the pendant around James' neck, signaling that he was now officially a Philologus Elite and that his Oath could not be taken back.
When James got up, it was to the sound of applause.
The Honor, though, was dim. There was only one person he was looking to see smile – and a goal he had to attain. The journey was far from done.
Throughout his studies, his sister began to gain back her strength. But even so, her spirit was still crushed. While she was up and about, she was still secluding herself from the world.
From all men.
James wanted to heal her, but in that, he knew that she would have to continue at her own pace. Still, it was frustrating. He had hung the photo of Vilendetta on the wall of her bedroom, telling her that she had to get well so that she could be like the woman in the photo. The woman who represented her in more ways than one.
Perfect.
Beautiful.
Charming.
One day, she'd smile again.
One day…
To Be Continued….
AN: I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and I would really appreciate your thoughts on what you have just read. Please, before you exit this window, leave me a review. The next chapter will be out again in two weeks – in the meantime, another story has been posted entitled GENUINE GEMINI.
The stories will be alternately updated, so look forward to a new chapter every week!
Thanks for reading,
-P.P.V.V.
