A Different Life
Summary: They all thought Lily was Light. She wasn't. She was in love with the Dark Lord, and gave birth to his son. Now Erus Riddle is growing up, showing just how evil the son of Lord Voldemort can be. Of course, the Light doesn't know that fact.
Spoilers: Not so many. You need to know about Chamber of Secrets and Horocruxes. It's good if you've read all seven books though.
During the chapters, I can come up with some new names. Don't get surprised then.
Pairing/s: None so far. Maybe when they turn older I will start ask for suggestions but just so you know; I like yaoi the most. So I'll maybe just stick with no pairings through the whole thing to make as many as possible happy.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong rightfully to Mrs Rowling; I just borrow them for the time being.
Other notes: Hermione is not Hermione. She is Cynthia, a girl who loves reading and hates Dumbledore. Harry's real, and full name is Erus Sicarius Salazar Riddle.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Parseltongue"
Visions
Whoa, thanks for the reviews all of you!
Alright, Sirius is leading for going to Italy with Erus. Noir is close behind. Someone wanted to have Lucius with them, or Bellatrix. I got a suggestion to that:
It will probably be either Sirius or Noir who will go with Erus. Why not have either Lucius or Bellatrix checking up on them sometimes? The Dark Lord can't exactly come every day.
And I'm sorry for the delay; I tried updating all night yesterday but I couldn't log in! So I tried again this morning and I got in, so I updated right away! I haven't even eaten breakfast!
Short note 2018-02-04: People have over the years corrected the very incorrect French phrases I used in this chapter, so when I saw another comment about it I felt it was high time to fix it. Thank you everyone who commented about it, hopefully it sounds a lot better now.
Chapter Eighteen: The Manipulator
Sirius looked at Severus and said:
"You serious?"
"Yes."
"Holy shit, didn't think it would be this soon."
They were seated in Grimmauld Place. Sirius turned back to him and said:
"What about my stuff?"
"Remus takes care of it."
"Alright," Sirius replied and looked at his Firewhiskey. "I liked the job but hated the boss."
"Don't we all?" Severus said with a faint smile.
"How's my supposed death gonna look like?" Sirius asked, interested.
"Violent and heart-breaking."
"Good", the man said and leaned back. "That means old Dumbly is gonna have some nice, long conversations with the Ministry of who the next teacher is gonna be."
"Unless he keeps Lockhart."
"Knowing some of the kids there, they will make sure he gets sacked. Your godson for instant."
"He's yours as well."
"Nah, not really. He's just a good kid I hope to get to know a bit better. A bit frightening of course, but I'm not asking for a saint."
"Erus is a good kid, I agree with that."
"So, when am I gonna die and how?"
"You look like Christmas has come early."
"Come on, don't spoil my fun. Gimme the bloody details, Snape."
"You're changing schools?"
Erus nodded. Cynthia continued to stare. After a while she succeeded to continue:
"Why?"
"I don't want to be near Dumbledore," he replied. "Neither wants dad; the last meeting was the lowest point for a headmaster. Dad promised we're going to visit the one I want to go to."
"That means we won't see you again," the girl said, tear-eyed.
"Hey, it's not like that," Erus said. "There are tons of ways to talk to each other, and we got all the breaks to meet each other."
"But you'll have new friends," Cynthia began.
"And therefore I will spend my breaks with my old ones," Erus finished. "Cynthia, don't start crying."
"Does Draco know?" she asked, before her eyes filled with tears.
"Yeah," the boy said. "He knows."
"He's going to be alright, right?" Cynthia asked.
"Of course," Erus said. "He'll be alright. I'm gonna find out who did it."
"Erus…"
"Please… let's talk about this with changing school when Draco's back, okay?"
"Okay," she whispered.
Fenrir was waiting for the boy as he came.
"You're risking a lot," the werewolf remarked.
"I'm going to find out who did this," Erus said. "And no one is going to stop me."
The man did not dare say anything; he just began walking towards the Forbidden Forest with Erus behind him. Noir had contacted the raven-haired boy as Erus had wanted and they had set up a meeting in the forest. Voldemort had sent Fenrir there to help the two of them. Erus seemed not concerned about walking into the forest at night; instead he was impatient. Or rather, he was still angry. The Basilisk just followed orders, and it must have gotten the orders to petrify Draco. It had to be. And Ginny would have no reason to do so, and neither would Voldemort's soul-piece.
That meant it was someone else. Someone who controlled the soul-piece enough so it would give Ginny the command. Then Ginny must be under some sort of control as well; either the soul-piece or whoever controlled the soul-piece. Erus was going to kill whoever had made that command.
"We're here," the werewolf said quietly. "The vampire is just ahead."
"Stay here until I'm done."
"Yes, young master."
Erus walked forward and soon got vision on the vampire. Noir stood up.
"Are you alone?" the boy asked, curious.
As an answer another vampire showed up. Erus nodded and the man sat down not far from them. Noir turned back to the boy and said:
"You asked me who did this. I think I have found the answer."
"Tell me."
"Sit down," the vampire said and seated himself in the grass. Erus followed him. "Let me tell you a small story first, that has to do with this man."
"Tell away," the raven-haired boy said and made himself comfortable.
"From early age, this man admired your father," Noir began. "He took every chance to prove himself worthy to be a Death Eater and eventually the right hand of the Dark Lord. However, the Dark Lord already had his right hand, Lucius Malfoy. And he considered this man too weak and too impulsive. The man got angry, and felt betrayed by the Dark Lord. Everything he had done had been in vain, and that made him furious. So he hid from the world, and started the painful journey to become stronger than his master. He wanted to kill the Dark Lord, but most of all, he wanted to kill Lucius Malfoy. But this blonde man was too protected by the Ministry and by the Dark Lord himself. The man disappeared from the face of this earth only to reappear last year."
"Last year?"
"When he snuck the diary of Tom Riddle into Ginny Weasley's books," Noir said. "I think he was in the store at the same time as you were there."
Erus widened his eyes. Their enemy had just been a few feet away from them at that time? His mind scanned over the memory over and over again. The argument with Arthur Weasley, the fight… when had the man done it?
"Who is he?"
"I am not done," Noir said. "He succeeded in stealing your father's Horcrux. He is cunning, and smart."
"Doesn't matter; who is he?"
"His closets friends, those who still are with him, call him Trahison," Noir said. "That means betrayal in French. According to the information I have, his real name should be Mauro or something in that kind. But he has a nickname."
"What is that then?"
"The Manipulator."
Erus was seeing red. The Manipulator. So this man, whoever he was, had some sort of power so he could manipulate things.
"He uses a spell," the vampire said, his violet eyes searching to look at Erus' eyes to calm the boy down. He tucked his pale blonde hair behind his ear as he leaned closer to the raven-haired boy. "He uses an ancient spell but do not despair. There is a counter-spell to it."
"Tell me the counter-spell."
"What? Why?"
"I'm going to meet him."
"That is crazy, Erus! He manipulates people, and if you do not know the counter-spell without thinking, you are lost."
"He petrified Draco. Now I think know why."
"Why then?"
"Sometimes, hurting one's child is more painful. Rulein thought killing me would kill a bit of my dad. This guy seems to think the same. He petrified Draco to get to Lucius. Now tell me the counter-spell."
"It is in French."
"I don't care."
Noir saw the emerald eyes shift into red and quickly continued:
"I will tell you, alright? Merlin, you are a frightening child."
Erus slowly calmed down, the red disappearing.
"Are my eyes red?" he asked.
"Not anymore," the vampire said.
"Good. Now tell me."
"I am on my way."
"Where have you been?"
Erus looked up at Blaise, who had rose up on his elbows and sleepily looked at him. The emerald-eyed boy grinned evilly, making the other boy shudder in fear and replied:
"Just learned some interesting information. Go back to sleep."
Blaise did not want to hear anything more, and promptly did so.
Erus began to plan. He still had time. He needed to learn the spell but he also needed to study for the exams. He still had all this changing school-thing hanging over him as a big cloud, but at least it was decided now. Italy was a bit away from England, but Voldemort had already begun arranging where Erus was going to live, and from there connecting the Floo network with Riddle Manor, Malfoy Manor and Bellum Manor.
But that was not until later. Now Erus had to focus on the spell, and the exams. The spell was tricky, and the boy figured he would need a lot of practising. He wanted to visit Draco as often as he could, but the sudden increase in attacks led to that no one could go anywhere alone. People had begun whispering when the Muggleborns were attacked that it had been Erus, but after Draco all the rumours stopped. There was no way Erus could have petrified his own friend.
The days went by. No more attacks and Erus began wondering what was happening. Maybe it was because of the exams; Ginny was going to be too busy with practising and reading to be talking to the diary or sneaking out anywhere. And Mauro probably did not want to raise any suspicions towards the redheaded girl.
Erus himself readied himself for his various exams. He trained Ancient Runes with whomever Slytherin he could find that went in his class, read up on DADA with Miles and Kyle, remembered names of different goblins with Marcus, Eddie and Damion and so on. And soon the exams began.
Erus felt bad about Draco. He never realized how much he would miss the blonde until now. The stupid spell still did not want to work, but he was getting there. Mauro was going to pay.
"Erus?"
The raven-haired boy looked at the mirror and picked it up.
"Dad?"
"Lucius is suspending Dumbledore," Voldemort said. "That means you are going to take the diary now."
"When was Dumbledore suspended?"
"Right as we speak."
Erus widened his eyes.
"Go," the Dark Lord said. "Now, but don't take any risks."
Erus shut the mirror and threw it onto his bed without saying anything. He grabbed his wand and ran down the stairs, through the common room and into the hall. He set off immediately to the girl's bathroom at the second floor, where Voldemort had told him the entrance to Chamber of Secrets was.
He snuck inside and the wailing, that had apparently gone on for a long time, stopped. A transparent girl stared at him.
"Hello," Erus said and rushed over to the sinks.
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
"Doesn't matter," he replied. "I'm sorry for using your toilet, but I need to do something."
"Will you destroy my toilet?"
"No," the boy said. "Just going down a tunnel here and hopefully come up the same way."
"Oh. Then it's alright."
"Thanks, Myrtle."
He did not see her startled expression as he hissed 'Open' to the sink and it opened to the Chamber of Secrets. Without looking at the ghost, he slid down the tunnel.
Lockhart had a very difficult time to decide what to do. Ginny Weasley had been brought down to the Chamber of Secrets, and they had ordered him, him, to get her out! Like he would ever risk his life for a brat! Lockhart was leaving.
A sudden pull made him stop. A string of French words floated past his ears. His eyes became dull and his arms fell down his sides.
"Go," the voice said. "Go to the chamber and kill that little shitty redhead. Then destroy it."
Erus walked along the corridor, wrinkling his nose. It had a horrible stench of rotten flesh. He wondered how the Basilisk could stand this. His wand was at his side and the locker and ring were both activated.
He suddenly heard French words that made him drowsy. His eyelids wanted to drop just to snap open. His body straightened itself, his vision gone red. The raven-haired boy quickly made a bubble around himself so no sound could enter. He continued his careful walking, looking out for the Basilisk. He had no idea why he had gone here in the first place; he just had a feeling Ginny was down here. And with that French phrase he had heard, Erus felt he was right.
He came to another door and hissed some more. The impressive stone-snakes immediately began to move from the door and opened it. The raven-haired boy took a deep breath and entered the Chamber of Secrets.
Voldemort paced back and forth. His son had just thrown the mirror away without thinking out a plan. The Dark Lord looked at the mirror he had himself, but it was not moving or shining in any way. Dammit, he needed his son to contact him! He should never have let him go there alone!
But wait a minute… he could just go there. Voldemort could have smacked himself. He ran out from his office, down the stairs and threw the entrance doors open. He quickly ran to the spot where you could Apparate and disappeared.
Lucius was running along the halls to the girl's bathroom at the second floor. He felt Erus' aura around there and decided to follow. He had a bad feeling about all this; he had met Lockhart and the man acted strange. Even the castle seemed to whisper to him to hurry up. Lucius swore as he saw the chamber was already open. He ignored the ghost and slid down.
Voldemort entered the silent castle, his footsteps echoing along the halls. He had no time to be nostalgic; he had to get to the chamber!
Erus stepped into the water. It was a gigantic room, and in the end he could see a statue of Salazar Slytherin. He saw the redheaded girl lying in front of it. He carefully made his way there, wand ready. A shadow moved, and Erus stopped. A pale-looking teen stepped into the eerie light of the Chamber, and the raven-haired boy stared. It was his father.
"Who are you?" Tom Riddle demanded to know.
"You don't know who I am? You don't recognize me?"
"I've never seen you before."
Erus felt a little panic now. Did the soul-piece not know who he was? Tom stepped closer, holding Ginny's wand in his hand.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Erus said finally. The teen lowered the wand slightly, narrowing his eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked again.
"Will you let me show you who I am?"
The teen thought for a while, turning around the alternatives.
"If I can search for myself," Tom replied, pressing the wand against Erus' temple.
So he wanted to use Legilimens. Fine. Erus tilted his head, opening his shields for the younger version of Voldemort. Tom reached inside, slightly careful in his movements. He dragged forth memories of all kind, and the emerald-eyed boy let him. In the midst of it all, he heard the teen whisper:
"You are… my son."
"Yes," Erus replied, his eyes closed. "I'm your son."
Tom retreated and the boy blinked, feeling a bit light-headed. The soul-piece looked at his future son and said:
"Why are you here?"
"Because something that shouldn't be alive is here," Erus said. "And then I'm not talking about you."
"Who?"
"An enemy that must be killed. And my father wouldn't want to loose one of his Horcruxes to a Weasley. Why did you start speaking to her?"
"I was bored, and she was an obedient girl."
"You two were controlled. Manipulated."
"Lord Voldemort does not get manipulated!" Tom hissed.
"So you're saying you let the Basilisk attack Draco Malfoy on your own free will?"
Tom froze. He had ordered an attack on a Malfoy?
"Thought so," Erus said. "Go back to the diary."
Tom looked at him for a long time. He then reached out and dragged a hand lightly through Erus' raven hair. The emerald-eyed boy looked at him as he continued.
"I never thought I would have a son," Tom offered as an explanation. "I just want a memory of it, so I have something to treasure."
"You treasure many things," Erus said. "At least in the present. Me, Nagini, your friendship with Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape… don't forget them."
Tom smiled, and then vanished into thin air. Erus let out a breath, and looked down at the redheaded girl. The diary lay innocently on Ginny's chest, and he gently took it up. He then, after putting the diary into his pocket, crunched down and checked that the girl had a pulse. It was weak but she would live. He felt the ancient spell over her, but as she was unconscious she would not be affected. And since Erus had taken away the diary, she would have nothing to be able to make the Basilisk obey.
Speaking of Basilisks; where was she? Erus stood up and spoke:
"Where are you, oh mistress of all the great serpents?"
Silence for a while. Then:
"Man-child."
"Yes, it is I," Erus replied, closing his eyes. "Where are you? Human eyes are useless in this darkness."
He heard her coming closer, and soon the hot breath washed over his face. He was slightly nervous; Basilisks were huge after all.
"Why have you come, man-child?"
"Something that belonged to my father was in this room. And an enemy I need to get rid of."
"Enemy?"
"Enemy to your master Tom."
He could feel the giant snake's anger rise. Bulls eyes. The Basilisk suddenly hissed and Erus felt someone coming. He dared opening his eyes, turned around, and stared right into brown eyes. A narrow face, a scowl that made the man's face appear ugly and dirty blonde hair. The man sneered and screamed:
"You!"
'Haven't I heard that enough in my life?' Erus thought irritably. This man sounded annoying like Rulein.
"Who are you?" Erus asked, wand ready in his hand.
"Does it matter?" the man asked silkily, and the boy got a bit worried how quickly his temper changed. Maybe this man was slightly insane. 'Great, he even has a temper like Rulein.'
"Maybe you are Mauro?" the emerald-eyed boy said.
"Don't call me that!" the man screamed. 'Alright, he's Mauro', Erus thought.
"How about Trahison then?" Erus asked. "Or the Manipulator?"
"Die!"
Lucius nearly jumped as Voldemort caught up with him.
"Tom?!"
"We have to hurry!"
They heard the man scream 'Die!' and ran inside. The Avada Kedavra had already been thrown right at Erus. The boy dodged and Mauro discovered the two men behind him. He threw a series of curses at them and they both had to drop to the floor.
"The Dark Lord himself!" Mauro said before starting to laugh. "How about I manipulate you, just like I manipulated your soul-piece?!"
He began chanting in French, and the two men who had risen up now staggered. Voldemort tried to block the words out, but found it difficult to even move his hand. They both thought they had lost.
Suddenly the effects disappeared. Mauro looked shocked. He turned around abruptly, and the three men looked at the one who had said the counter-spell.
"Finally I got it right," Erus muttered. "Hey manipulator or whatever the hell you want to be called, do you know how much trouble that spell gave me? I'm going to hate French after this!"
"Who taught you the counter-spell?!" Mauro said. "It's an ancient spell, so no brats should be able to do it!"
"Oh, but I'm the Dark Lord's brat," Erus said. "I think I'm capable of some things others in my age aren't. As for who taught me, I got one vampire to thank once again for his sneaking around. Merlin, what would I do without him?"
Voldemort realized that once again, his son had saved the day. He had learned the spell to counter Mauro, and now they were on even ground.
"Don't think I'm finished!" the man said. "Attack, Lockhart!"
The DADA teacher's arrival was unexpected and Lucius threw up a protecting shield. The curse, a Crucio, bounced off. This Lockhart was different. Erus thought frantically as he saw the man's attacks, and then looked at Mauro. He was holding his hands up, and pulling… Pulling? Why was he pulling his fingers like that?
Erus' eyes widened. Marionette! Lockhart was like a marionette puppet Mauro was using! So Mauro had to be present if they are supposed to do any major things, like fighting in a way they normally should not. The curses Lockhart threw were probably only because the man commanded it; the stupid teacher probably did not know half of them.
His father and Lucius were holding their ground easily, giving Erus time to think out a plan. He needed to free Ginny from that stupid spell as well; bloody Weasleys. They were bound to seek out trouble, and she had just sought out one of the most major ones.
He had no idea of what curse to use that would hold Mauro down. He could always to a Crucio but that was so unnecessary and he did not like throwing it around. What to do, what to do? He had not learned that many Dark curses that would cause so much pain. And then he remembered something:
"Did you get all of it?" Noir said.
"Yep."
Erus had written down the counter-spell and now looked up at the vampire. The vampire stared at him for a while and said:
"You know, there is another spell."
"Another?"
"Yeah, one more powerful than the manipulating one. These three spells are called the Triples of Manipulation; the weakest is the counter-spell, the medium is the manipulation-spell and the highest is the sleeping death-spell."
"Sleeping death?" Erus said, frowning.
"It manipulates you into go to sleep, only a step from death," Noir said. "It is pretty much useless for a guy like Trahison, so he never bothered with it."
"How will it become anymore appealing to me?"
"He did not know what I know. I know how it works, how to manipulate the curse itself.."
"Are you that familiar with the curse?"
Noir looked away.
"You are," Erus breathed.
"Yes," he said and looked back at the boy. "My brother… he is currently under it. Everybody say he will never wake up."
Erus stared. Noir continued:
"The counter-spell you learn, if strong enough, it will wake up people from sleeping death. I have not figured out how strong it needs to be, and I have never succeeded. But this spell, the sleeping death-spell, can be something more painful than a thousand of Crucios."
Erus moved closer.
"With enough love, you can awake them," Noir quoted. "With enough hate, you can kill them."
Had he enough hatred to kill Mauro? The boy closed his eyes. Was the hatred really strong enough? He should never have doubted. Erus just needed to think that this man was responsible for Draco's condition; this man had tried to kill Draco.
That was enough. When he opened his eyes, they were red.
The power made Mauro freeze. Lockhart stopped. Lucius and Voldemort looked as well.
"What in Merlin's name…?" the manipulator got out. He turned around slowly to look at the emerald-eyed boy. Only now he had not emerald eyes.
His eyes were red, and his skin was glowing. More power lay behind those eyes than Voldemort himself at that moment. Mauro could not move. The boy's mouth opened and words spilled out. Mauro could not get a hang of anything he was saying. Bits of it were snapped up by his ears, but not enough to make him understand. Sleep of death, or was it sleeping death? The man had a feeling he would not like this at all.
Erus himself was riding on his hatred. It coursed throughout his whole body, making him shake in excitement and power. His limbs felt strong, his desire for revenge and bloodshed rose. Even the Basilisk cowered back, fascinated yet terrified by this power display. This boy… he was worthy of it.
Erus was not aware that he was speaking the third curse of the triples. Noir had never told him the whole curse, yet the boy knew it like he knew how to cast Protego. It was strong enough. Strong enough of hatred. He directed his eyes to Mauro, and spoke the final sentence:
"Sommeil éternel." (A/N Means roughly Eternal sleep in French)
Lucius and Voldemort actually flinched as the most agonizing scream tore from the man's throat. He fell to the ground, as did Lockhart. Blood poured out from the manipulator's mouth, and his body convulsed. Bones cracked, creating a sickening sound that made Lucius slightly unwell. The man was dying, and the two men had no idea what Erus had done.
With his final strength, the manipulator looked at Erus, saw his evil grin and gasped out:
"Toi petit démon rusé…" (A/N Means roughly You little cunning devil… in French)
Then one final pain-filled attack sent him to the brink of death, just as the spell was for. His eyes closed; they would never open again.
Voldemort gave out a shout as Erus wobbled. They both began to run as he fell to his knees.
Erus gasped. Merlin, what a feeling! He was overwhelmed by it. He felt his father kneel beside him and happily collapsed against him.
"What was that?" the Dark Lord asked his son.
"A spell. Ancient one as well. Part of the Triples of Manipulation," Erus said tiredly. Without the hatred, he was quickly becoming sleepy. "Can we talk later? I want to go to bed."
Voldemort picked him up carefully and Lucius said:
"What are we going to do with the girl?"
"Take her up and leave her in the bathroom," Voldemort suggested. "She will not talk to Dumbledore about the diary. I hope."
"Man-child."
Erus saw the Basilisk coming out, its eyes closed. It held something in its mouth, so the boy was surprised she could speak.
"Yes?" he replied nonetheless.
"Your powers have impressed me, just like Master Tom's powers impress me. You have gained my approval, and something that I have saved for many years."
"Saved?"
"Yes," the giant snake hissed and set down an egg as big as Erus' head onto the floor gently. "From the time when Salazar Slytherin himself was alive. This is my egg, my unborn child. As a gift, I shall give him to you. He will hatch once you are safe and away from Hogwarts. Take care of him for me, as Master Tom took care of me."
Voldemort stroke her scales softly, and the snake rubbed her nose against him. Lucius had the girl levitated and now carefully picked up the egg and placed it in Erus' arms. Voldemort smiled down at his son, while Erus was too stunned to say anything. A Basilisk had just given her egg to him, a total stranger.
"T-thank you," he finally succeeded to stutter out.
"My pleasure." With that, the great serpent slowly slid away from them, into the cool darkness of the Chamber.
Lucius walked over to Lockhart and kicked him over. The blonde man crunched down to check how the man was doing.
"Damn," the blonde man said sadly. "He's alive."
"Leave him," Voldemort hissed. "That serves him right for harassing my son."
Lucius smiled, rather maliciously. "With pleasure, my lord."
Erus was put down onto the bed, and Blaise awoke. He blinked as he saw not only Voldemort there but Lucius as well. He then settled his eyes on Erus and said:
"Alright, what did you do this time?"
"Oh, nothing much," Erus replied. "Just took care of one bloody annoying bastard."
"Language," Voldemort said absently as he tucked his son in. "And if you do any more adventures during the rest of this term, Merlin help your soul."
"Got it," Erus said and yawned.
Blaise shook his head and fell back asleep. Lucius went to check on his son, while Voldemort sat down. Erus reached into his pocket and pulled out the diary.
"Here," the emerald-eyed boy said. "Safe, and in one piece."
"Thank you for that, though I should have come myself."
"Don't worry; I got to give that Mauro what he deserved."
Voldemort smiled slightly.
"Well, I better go. I'm sure Dumbledore will worm his way back here. You be careful now."
"I will," Erus promised.
Voldemort hugged his son, and kissed his forehead. He then held Erus until the boy had fallen asleep.
Poppy had never seen Erus grin as widely as he did at that very moment. She nodded to Draco and said:
"You're fully healed now. Go and greet your friend."
The blonde boy wasted no time; he jumped off the bed and all but ran to Erus. The two boys hugged tightly, and both seemed reluctant to let go of each other.
"How are you?" Erus said.
"Pretty good," Draco replied. "And you? You seem a little pale."
"I'm fine, just tired," the boy said. "Come on, we have to find Cynthia! She's been worried sick over you!"
The two boys ran out from the Infirmary, set out to find their blood-sister. Both Erus and Cynthia had felt to a certain degree how dull life became without their blood-brother. Now when he was back their magic pulsed stronger for each passing minute.
The brunette must have felt them, because she came running. She flung her arms around Draco and then around Erus. They stood in their little group-hug for a few more moments before they heard a sarcastic voice saying:
"Oh, how sweet; the Slytherins needs group-hugging."
Erus looked up to see Ron and his gang. Neville quickly looked away when those emerald eyes bore into him. Erus calmly separated himself from the two, and walked up to Ron. The arrogant Weasley arched an eyebrow at him and grinned. Erus took a calming breath, lifted his hand that was in a fist and punched the redhead square in the face. He heard the satisfying crack when Ron's nose broke. He snarled, his eyes glowing soft red and he said:
"Leave us alone, Weasley. Go to hell for all I care."
He then led the baffled Draco and Cynthia away, outside.
"That was cool," Draco commented as they sat down by the lake. "Now care to tell me what happened while I was gone?"
"Lots," Erus said. "You missed the exams."
"Do you think I have to redo them?" Draco asked.
"No," Cynthia replied. "I heard those who got petrified were allowed to skip this. You'll be fine."
"Good. I'm not up for any exams," Draco said. "Who did all of this?"
"I think Erus knows more than I," the girl said and they both turned to the raven-haired boy said.
"With enough love, you can awake them. With enough hate, you can kill them," Erus said.
"Huh?" the two said simultaneously.
"I used a spell I didn't know. I summoned hatred I didn't realize existed. I killed a man in a way, and all I can feel over it is happiness."
"Why did you kill him?" Cynthia whispered.
"Because of what he did to Draco," Erus replied and looked up at the sky.
"What was the spell's name?" Draco asked with wide eyes.
"Sleeping death," the boy said.
"Why did you do that?" the blonde asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why?"
"If I was going to let him get away with it, he got another thing coming," Erus said. "And it was revenge for Lucius as well."
"What?" they both asked.
"This guy's name is Mauro. Trahison was the name he wanted, and his nickname was the Manipulator. He wanted to kill your dad, Draco, and found the idea of killing you appealing. He only succeeded in petrifying you though."
They both stared. Erus shrugged and said:
"Well, that's in the past. How about we talk about something else?"
"Like you changing schools?" Cynthia said.
"Dunno," the boy said.
"I want to know which one," Draco said. "And I want to know how we're supposed to communicate."
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you…"
The end of the second year came, and Erus took one last look at Hogwarts. He placed a hand on the wall to the castle and said:
"I hope we meet each other again, girl. I know I will look forward to it."
Hogwarts murmured. She was hoping that as well. It was with sad eyes she watched the child leave.
'Be strong,' Erus heard her say. 'Grow strong and then come back.'
Erus turned around, and looked at her. Draco and Cynthia looked at him. He smiled.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I'll come back no matter how many years will pass. You got my word on it."
And then Erus left for the last time as a student on Hogwarts.
Tbc…
Chapter eighteen done.
Next chapter: The summer obviously. The 'death' of Sirius Black. Maybe the birth of his precious Basilisk. And of course, the tour of the school in Italy where Erus will go.
I've been thinking. I want to do a slash-pairing. Maybe normal as well, but my main pairing I want to do is DracoHarry. Or in this case, DracoErus. I've thought of pairing some of the single adults with someone, made up or already existing. If I'm going to do a DracoErus, it won't develop until like they are in fourth year. I know I said in the beginning slash pairings, then no pairings at all, but I can't help it. I love making pairings, and I've never done DracoHarry before. Though now it will be DracoErus. Alright, now I'm rambling. I got out what I want, that's enough.
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro