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. Possible temporary slash-pairings later.
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
-
Thanks for all the reviews, and there were many people who liked SiriusSeverus. I dunno yet if I'll make them a permanent couple; we'll see.
-
Chapter Twenty-Two: Lily's Ghost, Expecto Patronum and proud teachers
"What?!"
"We got Dementors guarding the exits to the school," Draco repeated to the raven-haired boy. "Because of the criminal who escaped from Azkaban."
"The criminal?"
"The guy's name is Auctrix and they suspected he maybe would come to Hogwarts."
"Why?"
"Because he likes to kill children, that's why."
"Auctrix," Erus muttered to himself, writing it down on a parchment. He would check the guy later. "So, how is it having Dementors there?"
"We had to have a signed paper we were allowed to go to Hogsmeade, or else those bloody creatures would attack," the blonde whined. "But you know something?"
"What?"
"I think Cynthia likes them."
"Cynthia? She likes Dementors?"
"Yeah. And she didn't start shaking or anything when they came closer. She just smiled at them, and then they just went away."
"Interesting. Where is she by the way?"
"She's with Pansy and Millicent and discussing… something. Transfiguration I think," Draco said and scratched Amber lazily. The panther nuzzled his hand and he relaxed against her.
Erus looked up as the door opened, and gritted his teeth as he saw it was Harrison.
"Draco, I'll talk to you later," he said and shut the mirror before the blonde could answer. He directed his eyes to the irritating boy and said; "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to tell you my father would like to see your father," the boy said maliciously.
"Sorry, my father doesn't want to meet yours."
"Why you--!"
"Get out now, daddy's boy. I got more important things to do than seeing your ugly face."
Harrison walked up to him, but Vates had decided that moment to show up. The Basilisk, now as large as Erus, hissed and the boy jumped back.
"I'll tell the headmistress of this!" Harrison cried out.
"It's not against the school's rules to have your familiar with you," Erus said. "Besides, he won't attack unless you attack him first."
"Him? It's a monster!"
"Don't you dare call him a monster!" Erus said and came up to him. "The only monster in this room is you, you weakling. Now get out before I'll kill you."
Harrison fled the room. Erus turned to the snake and gently stroke the head.
"Master?"
"I'm alright," Erus said. "He won't be coming back."
"And if he does?" Vates asked.
"Then you eating him will only be an accident."
The snake hissed in delight.
-
Erus dove into his new classes with a grin, finding everything interesting. Stella and the twins kept him company, though only Stella understood his interest in studying. The more he spent time with them, the more he realized Stella was not quite as Cynthia and the twins were not quite as Fred and George. That was only a good sign though; Erus did not want to compare them THAT much.
Time seemed to rush by, and suddenly it was the first weekend when they were allowed home. In their rooms they had an extra room where they would put all of their things in so a teacher later would lock it in case some students stayed behind.
Erus, not about to miss a chance to meet his father and maybe some other people, happily packed a bag with a change of clothes and his homework after the classes had finished on Friday. Vates shrunk to a more normal size and settled around Erus' shoulders. Abel and Cain finished as well, and only now the raven-haired boy realized he did not actually know where they lived.
"Where do you guys live anyway?" he asked them as they walked towards the entrance doors.
"We?" they replied. "We live in Australia."
"Australia? Isn't that a bit far from here?"
"It's okay," Abel said. "At first it was hard, but now we look forward to the weekends. Mum and dad always make them special."
They came out and met Stella briefly. She waved them off as she waited on her mother, and Erus spotted Sirius standing awkwardly with his hands in his pockets and looking around.
"Who's that?" Cain asked, pointing at the man. "He looks kinda lost."
Erus sighed, and turned to them.
"See you on Sunday I presume?" he said.
"Yeah. What; did you spot your dad?"
"No, the guy you pointed at… he's stationed here in Italy in case of an emergency."
"What?" they asked.
"Dad is paranoid," Erus muttered. "Merlin, I'm thirteen and he's still treating me like a toddler. See you."
With that, Erus walked over to the Animagus.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," Sirius said back. "Um, let's go?"
Erus let Sirius wrap an arm around his shoulders and Apparate them away.
-
Voldemort wrapped his arms around Erus tightly, lifting him up for a swing before putting the boy down again. Erus grinned up at him and Vates hissed a greeting. The Dark Lord looked at his son as he said hello to Lucius and Bellatrix. He had grown a bit taller, and his face had become more grown-up. But he was still as lean as Lily had been, and his movements were inherited from his mother.
Sirius had slunk away for a while, but Bellatrix soon moved to get him with a grin on her face. The three sent a prayer that Sirius Black would get away unharmed from her. Erus then looked at his father and asked:
"How are things in England going?"
"Dumbledore is tearing his hair out because of me," Voldemort said, chuckling. "Severus says he wants to know everything about us, and not allowing you back to England."
"And?" Erus asked, feeling his cheerful mood drop.
"He's up over his head," Lucius informed as they sat down. "If he tries anything, I will strike back thanks to some nice information that will ruin him. That will teach him."
"How is school?" Voldemort said, not wanting to get into any deeper discussion about the headmaster. Just in that moment Bellatrix and Sirius came back, luckily without anyone of them harmed. The woman sat down, eager to hear about Erus' school.
"Good. I made a corpse walk today without fainting because of the amount of magic it ate away."
Bellatrix clapped her hands in delight and Voldemort tightened his arm around his son, shaking his head fondly. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"And what did you teacher say?" Lucius asked with a grin.
"Nothing. He was gaping."
-
To everyone's surprise but Voldemort's, Bill came walking into the house later that evening. He greeted them awkwardly and said to the Dark Lord:
"Dumbledore is getting paranoid. He keeps Severus out from all the major secrets."
"And imagine how surprised he will be when that doesn't work," Voldemort said with a grin.
"Exactly," the redheaded man said and sat down. "They know about your raid that will occur on Tuesday. Some Death Eater spilled it."
"Who?" the man asked, his body tensing slightly.
"He won't talk again," Bill said. They all knew what that meant.
"How's Fred and George?" Erus asked. "Only got a small letter from them."
"They are bored, as usual. Mother is nagging on them but they don't really care. They meet up with Draco and Cynthia whenever they can."
"So nothing new there?"
"Nope. Besides a few pranks, they're going to lay low inside of Hogwarts."
Erus nodded and let the adults speak about whatever they wanted. He heard Vates hissing somewhere in the room but was not so concerned. The snake knew where he could go and where he could not go.
-
This was a familiar scene, and one Voldemort had missed rather well. He opened the door to the bedroom Erus was going to stay in with some troubles as Erus' head lolled down onto his chest. The thirteen-year old boy had fallen asleep around midnight and the Dark Lord decided to get his son upstairs, which was easier said than done.
He placed the boy down onto the bed and removed his boots and robe. He then tugged the covers up around him. Erus snuggled down and Voldemort let his hand stroke the raven locks out from the pale face. He lingered on his child's cheek, caressing the skin and enjoying the stillness and the mere presence of his son.
He then pressed a feather-light kiss to the forehead before moving out. Vates came up the stairs and said grumpily:
"Could've told me you were going upstairs. The idiots down there didn't get a word I said."
"They are unfortunately not educated in Parseltongue my dear friend," Voldemort replied, amused. He held the door open for the Basilisk and continued, "Have a good night."
"You too, red-eye."
The man chuckled at the snake's bold comment.
"Red-eye," he mused as he walked down the stairs. "That was a new nickname."
-
Voldemort watched as Erus worked on his homework on Saturday morning, unnoticed by the young teen. The Dark Lord watched his son in detail, thinking he had changed and yet not during the weeks he had been on Santuario.
He watched as Erus pulled out his wand and practised wand movements. The young face was concentrated and Voldemort was slightly taken back at how much Erus looked like Lily.
Suddenly a rat appeared and Voldemort scowled. The house was not the best but he thought all the rats were gone.
Surprisingly fast, Erus directed a spell against it and the rat fell dead. He then looked in one of the books, brought his wand downwards as he said:
"Emergo." (A/N: Means Rise up)
The rat twitched before getting up. Erus looked in the book again and mumbled:
"I'm getting a hang of it… Dad, why are you standing there? It's creepy."
Voldemort smiled sheepishly and moved out to sit down by the boy.
"Working on your Necromancy?"
"Yeah. I know how to wake them up, I just don't know all the spells," Erus said. "Professor Sangue says I'm already ahead of the others with two years. He thinks I'll probably finish in my fifth year or so."
"Well, you have a strange ability of being ahead of others," Voldemort teased.
"Yeah, yeah," the boy mumbled.
"Anything you need help with?"
"Actually, yes. I don't get that part," Erus said and pointed at one of the open books. "It's History of Light Magic."
Voldemort took the book and read it, glad to be able to help his son for the first time in years.
-
All too soon the weekend ended, and Erus found himself hugging his father goodbye.
"Be nice now," the Dark Lord said and patted his head.
"Dad, I'm not six years old."
"I know. Be nice anyway."
Erus rolled his eyes and Sirius shifted slightly. It was a quarter to eight on Monday morning, and Erus had fifteen minutes before he was going to be in class. The boy lifted Vates up, grabbed his bag and went to Sirius who was going to Apparate him to school. Voldemort waved before going to the fire-place since he had a few raids to make and a certain headmaster to irritate.
-
"How was your weekend?"
Erus looked up from his lunch when he heard Stella's dreamy voice. She sat down in front of him and cocked her head.
"It was good," he said. "What about yours?"
"Nice," she replied. "Mother tried to make me test her newest potion but I felt slightly apprehensive of it."
"Why?"
"The last potion made my skin blue for three weeks. I got teased by Harrison and his gang because of it."
"Blue?" he said. "What was the potion?"
"It was a potion that was supposed to change your eye-colour," Stella said. "My mother is a Potions master but she needs to do something else than inventing her own. Though they sell well, despite being slightly failures all of them."
"Your mother is a Potions master?" Erus asked. "Funny; my godfather is one."
"He is?" Stella asked. "Wow. Mother always says I should be one too but I'm not that good in Potions and it doesn't interest me that much."
The twins came and sat down on either side of Erus, both looking equally pissed off.
"Alright, what happened to you guys?" he asked.
"Harrison," they both replied. Erus looked over to see the gang smirking at them. He turned back and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he put both of his hands on the table and said:
"I haven't done this in a while, so let's see how well it will work."
"What?" the three asked.
Erus looked at the gang and then down on their plates. He focused and suddenly the plates lifted and slammed into their faces, food splattering onto them. The whole hall broke out in laughter at the sight. Erus raised an eyebrow and their goblets rose up. And promptly dumped the liquid onto their heads. The gang looked furious and ridiculous, and Erus chuckled.
"Still not out of touch," he remarked and returned to his meal.
"You did that?" Stella asked. "That was nonverbal and wandless magic!"
"Yeah, I did that once on my best friend's father," Erus said and grinned as he remembered Lucius' face. Voldemort had almost choked on his food when he broke into laughter. Bellatrix and Narcissa had giggled like crazy and Draco had snickered at his father.
"Cool," Abel and Cain said in awe. "They look so stupid now that we forgot what we were so angry about."
"Well, that's what I was hoping for," Erus said with a grin.
-
Erus looked up as it tapped on the window. He smiled as he saw it was Hedwig. He let her in and she settled on his shoulder. Vates looked at the two of them before yawning and settling back down into the warm blankets. The white owl proudly stuck out her leg and he untied the letter. She then flew over to his desk where he had owl treats and water just for her.
He sat down onto the bed and opened the letter:
Our dearest partner-in-crime,
Gred and Forge speaking… eh, writing. Well, life on Hogwarts is just brilliant with Dementors watching our every move. Luckily we know the ways to go to avoid them, though our little Cynthia seems to be in love with them. Can you believe she went to stand face-to-face with one and it didn't react? She could even touch the Dementor and it didn't attack her. Bloody brilliant girl we have there. Blondie, aka Draco, seems as bored as usual. We bet you guys speak every day. Your buddies in Ravenclaw seem to miss you, but we guess we all miss you. Ronnie is as stupid as before and thinks he's high and mighty just because you're gone. Please tell us we can play a prank on him from you!
Dumbly is just being his usual Dumbly and we hate him. He tried to invite Cynthia to his office but she told him off. Way to go, Cynthia! We're going to buy her whatever she wants in Christmas present as a thank-you for that scene. She told him off in front of everyone. She had the perfect Slytherin-sneer and the perfect Pure-blood stance, and then stalked off like a proud member of the Snape family!
Erus grinned like mad when he read it. Draco had told him in detail about it while Cynthia blushed and buried her head into Amber's fur.
McGonagall had to walk away but we swear she was laughing as well! And professor Lupin's mouth twitched. Potter looked as mad as usual but let's ignore him. He's an arrogant prick and his son is no better. That little brat actually thinks he can rule over us all because his daddy is a teacher. Merlin, he's got another thing coming! We think we're going to look in your dad's book again just for that brat…
Erus smirked at that. Way to go; torture Potter's brat. He had to write and tell them to send him a copy of that memory if they did it.
And we can't get why everyone is so scared of Auctrix. We mean, we got Dementors surrounding the school. How the hell is he supposed to get inside, hmm? Dumbly is too freaking paranoid but that's because you stirred up a hell of a fight with the parents and Dumbly. Good work!
Well, that's all we got to say for this time. We don't want Dumbly suspicious, so we'll probably send the letter first to Bill and he sends them to you. You can do the same if you want to.
Gred and Forge
Erus took a new parchment and wrote his reply.
-
The weeks flew by and it was time for Halloween. Erus had been on Santuario for around two months and he loved it. He had gotten to know a few older students but stuck with the twins and Stella most of the time. He actually got along well with his teachers, and had spent a few evenings with Miss Profeta, or Pupa as she insisted he would call her. He had also spent some time with Lamia and Invisus. Invisus had said with glittering eyes he had gotten a hold of an object that could change into whatever you wanted it to change to so they would start on practising the Patronus spell after Halloween.
Lamia and Erus mostly spent their time talking about being a Necromancer. Erus had to re-tell when he had revived a man just because it looked funny at least five times before his teacher was satisfied.
"So, what are your big plans for Halloween?" Lamia asked the day before. Erus looked up from his book, thought for a while and then replied:
"For starters, a normal one."
"A normal one?"
"In my first year at Hogwarts, I was attacked by a werewolf," Erus said and looked at Lamia. He paled. "Dad was less than happy as you probably understand. And then last year I got knocked out by a Basilisk that helped petrifying students. That was less than nice. So I'm hoping not to get attacked."
"How about when you were at home?"
"Dunno. When I was really small, I didn't get why there were so many people in my room when I was going to sleep," Erus said. "Later I realized they were dead people. The year before I started Hogwarts I saw my mum's ghost in the ballroom in our Manor. Apparently she loved Halloween."
"Weren't you scared when you saw the ghosts?"
"Why should I've been?" Erus said. "Back then, I believed dad was going to protect me from the world. That thought kept me safe until I stared Hogwarts."
"What happened at Hogwarts?"
"I met Albus Dumbledore and everything changed."
-
Erus picked on his food a bit, and then looked up. To today's honour their little group had suddenly grown a lot. Now it was himself, the Bellow twins, Dimitriv and Nikolaj, Stella, Margaret and Rick.
The hall was decorated in pumpkins along the walls and on every table. Candles were hanging over every table, floating down if anyone needed more light. Erus turned and looked at the table with the teachers. They were all chatting. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy.
But for some reason, he could not summon up a smile. He turned back to his food and sighed. He had a feeling that something would happen and it made him less than happy.
"I'm going to bed," he informed a few minutes later.
"But the dessert hasn't come yet," Stella said.
"Not in the mood," he replied. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
He left the hall, leaving his friends to look at his retreating back.
-
"Erus…"
He turned around.
"Mum?" he asked.
"Come," his mother's voice whispered. "Come…"
He moved away from his room, following the voice.
"What are you doing, Riddle?"
Erus turned to see Harrison and his gang. Christie sneered at him, twisting her face so the boy had to fight off his laughter.
"I'm walking," Erus said, gesturing with his arms. "And you? Going to bed early so mummy will be proud?"
Harrison's face twisted and the raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow before turning around and following where he had heard his mother's voice.
"Don't walk away from us!" Harrison shouted. Erus ignored him. "Riddle, you little--!"
"Come…"
The eerie voice made the gang stop. Christie grabbed Harrison's arm, eyes wide and mouth trembling. A wind began to blow through the corridor, and the gang screamed. Erus turned around to see emerald eyes and then everything went black.
-
The teachers ran towards the screaming, having left five other teachers with the other students. They rounded a corridor and the wind hit them so powerfully Mariana, Arcanus and the Ancient Runes teacher professor Dragana nearly fell.
"What is this?!" the headmistress shouted.
"It's the dead!" Lamia shouted back. "They are known to create havoc on Halloween but I never thought they would come inside the school!"
They reached the gang and then spotted a body lying motionless a few metres away. The raven hair was swept away and Maria shouted out:
"Erus!"
The boy was pale, his lips slightly blue and his eyes were open but dull. Lamia shielded his face against the wind and began walking. He saw the souls surrounding them and shuddered as their dead hands grabbed his robes and his arms, trying to stop him from reaching Erus' body.
"Erus!" he shouted. "Erus, I need you to wake up! Erus!"
The body did not move. He swore and made his way to the boy. He dropped onto his knees and lifted the body up. It was a dead weight and his heart clenched. Pulling out your own soul was not unusual for a Necromancer, but Lamia had never taught Erus how to do it!
"Help…"
The voice made the gang wail once more but it made Lamia confused. He looked around and suddenly saw a woman. She had a sad smile on her face, her fierce red hair falling down her back but her eyes… they were exactly as Erus'.
"Are you Erus'… mother?" Lamia asked, bringing the body closer.
She only waved her hand, motioning him to come closer. The teacher lifted Erus up in his arms and rose up with the body pressed against his chest.
"They pulled him out," the woman said. "I'm protecting him."
Only then did Lamia notice a young teen sitting and hugging his own knees just next to her.
"Tell him to go back," she pleaded. "Tell him mum wants him to go back."
She disappeared and the wind increased. 'So much for a calm Halloween,' Lamia thought dryly. He hurried up to the small form and crunched down. Emerald eyes looked at him.
"Erus, come on," Lamia said. "Let's go back."
"But…"
"No buts; your mum wants you to go back."
Erus looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Lamia took the soul's hand and muttered a spell under his breath. Erus took a deep breath as the soul was rushed into the body and emerald eyes blinked open. The souls around them stopped, vanished, and the wind disappeared.
"What happened?" Maria asked.
"They felt a young Necromancer who always has been open to dead souls," Lamia said bitterly. "Erus, you need to learn to shut off sometimes."
The boy looked calmly at him.
"Who's that woman then?!" Christie shouted. They all looked to see a woman with red hair and emerald eyes. The same woman Lamia had seen. The mother to the raven-haired teen. Erus got up and looked at her for a long time.
"What is it, Riddle? Interested in elder women?" Harrison called out maliciously, gaining courage when the wind stopped.
"No thank you, I don't do incest," Erus replied and Harrison stopped from any reply he was about to make. The emerald-eyed boy turned to the woman and said: "Well I do enjoy your company but is there any reason for this visit, mum?"
"Erus, you're talking to a dead woman!" Lamia said.
"So? Me and dad speak to her when she comes to visit," Erus said. "Well, mum? Why did you call on me?"
"I wanted to see you," Lily said. "They were waiting for you, so I tried to pull you away from them."
"Maybe I should ask Sev or dad to place a charm that keeps the dead away on me," Erus deadpanned. "Well, you've seen me now. No one is going to hurt me, though I appreciate your concern."
"I didn't die for you for nothing," Lily warned, shaking her finger at him. "Bye." And as quickly as she appeared she vanished.
-
"She's going to be the death of me…"
Lucius raised an eyebrow as Voldemort put the mirror down. The Dark Lord looked up at the blonde man and said:
"Lily visited Erus at Santuario."
"You're kidding me," the blonde said.
"Sorry; wish I did."
"Is Erus alright?"
"He was kinda ripped out from his body aka Necromancer-style but his teacher helped him back."
Lucius stared at the man. Then he coughed and said:
"Well, at least he's away from Dumbledore…"
"Small miracles," Voldemort muttered.
-
"You got ripped out from your body?!" the twins shouted while Stella made big eyes. Margaret had dropped the book she was reading and Rick stared.
"Yeah, no big deal," Erus said. "I'm going to be a bit stiff tomorrow but who cares?"
They were in the room Erus shared with the twins later on that night. The raven-haired boy tugged off his shirt to reveal his rather thin and pale chest. Margaret blushed and looked down a bit. Stella did not notice anything while the three boys looked at him. He spread his arms and said:
"Like what you see?"
Abel and Cain spluttered out words while Rick only shook his head in amusement.
-
Erus stood and looked at himself in the mirror the day after. He stretched his arms out and turned around a bit. With his long hair and small form he looked more feminine than he liked.
"Enjoying what you see?"
Erus turned to see Abel cock his head with a grin.
"Just thinking how weak I look like," the boy replied and pulled his shirt on. "Ow…"
"What's hurting?"
"Everything," the emerald-eyed boy said with a wince. "Luckily it's Saturday; I'm going to sit down in a comfy chair and don't move from there."
The other boy came up and slowly kneaded the stiff shoulders. Erus relaxed a bit under his touch and slid his eyes close. Suddenly another set of hands settled on his shoulders and he opened his eyes to see Cain in front of him. The boy grinned and rubbed Erus' temples a bit.
"What are you guys doing?" he asked after a while.
"Making you feel good," they replied.
"Oh…"
True to their words, Erus did feel better afterwards. He rolled his shoulders and it did not hurt a bit. His headache had subsided with Cain's easy massage so now he was a bit more awake. They went down to have breakfast, and saw Harrison's gang stare at Erus when they walked past. The twins glared back and they quickly turned away. Erus ignored them.
They sat down next to Margaret and Stella, who both greeted on them before continuing to read on their books.
-
"Are you ready?" Invisus asked.
"Not really," Erus said as he gripped his wand.
"Think of a happy memory," the man instructed. "And don't feel disappointed just because it doesn't work immediately. You have to train a lot to succeed with a Patronus."
Erus nodded and straightened up slightly. Invisus tapped the box and murmured the spell. A Dementor came up immediately and the emerald-eyed teen said with a strong voice:
"Expecto Patronum."
A white mist came out from his wand but it did not help against the Dementor. It came closer and suddenly Erus felt hands gripping his robes. He was back in the midst of dead people, deep inside the gate of the dead from his first Necromancy lesson, his mother's arms around him as she tried to fend them off. Her angry shouts were drowned out in the dead people's screaming and he felt so cold…
A hand slapped his face and he snapped his eyes open. He was lying on the floor, his face cold and sweaty. Invisus helped him up slowly and said:
"Are you alright?"
The teen's shaking body was enough answer. He pressed some chocolate into Erus' hand and said:
"Chew on that for a while. It'll help."
Erus did so and found new strength quickly.
"Ready for a another go?" Invisus asked and he nodded.
This time he shouted the spell and the white mist whirled out, so powerful that even the teacher made round eyes. The Dementor tried to push through, but Erus kept it at bay for a few minutes. Then it broke through.
Pain coursed through his body. He was small again, back in the dark room at Christmas with his father accidently Crucioing him. The pain made him scream right out, tears slipping down his cheeks. His eyes rolled back and Invisus caught the body before the teen fell. This time it took the teacher a few minutes to bring Erus back and once the emerald-eyed teen was back he coughed violently, his limbs twitching at the after-effects of the Crucio.
Invisus stared at him; he recognized the signs of a Crucio better than any teacher. Had this child been tortured in the past?? He was only thirteen years old for Merlin's sake!
Erus sat up shakily and looked at the teacher.
"Two tries are enough for tonight," Invisus said. "This spell requires training. A lot of training."
The raven-haired teen accepted the chocolate and chewed on it as Invisus sealed the box.
"How long will it take?" he asked the man.
"I don't know," Invisus said and looked at him. "It took me three years."
Erus looked down at his hands. He did not have the luxury of time for this spell.
"Why do you wonder? You made a bet about how fast you could learn the spell?" the teacher asked.
Erus rose up, and to Invisus' surprise he was not shaking anymore. Merlin, the boy could recover quickly! Erus had almost reached the door when he turned around and looked at his teacher.
"I didn't make a bet about it," he said softly. "I need to learn it before the summer if I want to stay alive."
Then he left, leaving Invisus to stare after him.
-
November went on with Erus making slow progress with the Expecto Patronum. The spell was getting on his nerves but he had to learn it. Not just for his own sake, but for Lucius' sake as well; the man maybe did know the spell but if his vision was correct something was going to happen.
-
December closed in soon and Erus had proceeded greatly in all of his subjects. He could now revive small animals without saying the spell and without using too much magic, much to Lamia's delight. He would soon move on to bigger animals and the teacher hoped to start with human corpses in his fourth year.
Erus learned more about the Third Eye thanks to Miss Profeta and Stella, who had something similar to Third Eye. Now if they concentrated they could predict small things that would happen during the week. So far Erus had had no violent vision since that vision during his first Divination lesson.
The Santina sisters adored him apparently, even the headmistress and they were impressed by his progress in all of his subjects.
He missed having Severus in Potions but Luther Magus was a great teacher and he knew how to make lessons interesting without any boredom. He was delighted to hear Erus' godfather was a Potions master, and Stella had told Erus that Luther had practically been jumping up and down as he learned Stella's mother was a Potions master.
Fiaba shared his passion for History, and gladly helped whenever Erus would knock on his door. The fact Erus read about Dark History even when he did not have the class made the man clap his hands in delight. His excitement had reminded the Dark Lord's son about Bellatrix for a moment when Voldemort gives her someone to play with. He was not so sure how to make of that, and decided to not do anything at all.
Mircleia soon had to realize that the emerald-eyed young teen was better than most of the students in the whole school. His movements in a duel were fluid and beautiful, his body twisting just right and his abrupt changes in tactic often brought defeat to his opponent. She knew he had been taught to fight early in his life. You could see it in his eyes. He had been protected more than others, but he had also fought more than others. In a duel between him and herself, she was not sure of who would win.
The Herbology teacher Mori had seen Erus gave it all in every class, and despite having had some troubles before the teen was now progressed well in Herbology.
The Astronomy teacher, Leo, was a perfect copy of his twin-brother Luther, both in looks and in personality. He made the lessons interesting and even Erus liked it. He had not been very fond of Astronomy before but now he was looking forward to the lessons.
Invisus wanted to meet his father personally so he could talk about what a wonderful student Erus was in Dark Magic and Black Magic. Erus had laughed at that; as if his father did not know. But the raven-haired teen promised his teacher he would send the invitation to his father.
-
Just a week before their holidays, Erus found himself wandering around in magical Rome with Sirius with him. It was a Saturday and he was doing his Christmas shopping as did many others in Santuario. Abel and Cain were with him while Stella would meet them in a café later with her mother. They spotted the Russian twins and invited them to walk with them. Nikolaj and Dimitriv joined them and the adult male was looking for somewhere to sit.
"Don't look so lost, Famulus," Erus said, using Sirius' fake name.
"But my legs are tired," the man whined.
"Fine. There's a café over there. Sit down, have something to drink and we'll be back in an hour."
Sirius gratefully sat down and ordered some wine. He trusted Erus to his friends, though he knew the boy was more than capable of handling himself.
-
The time for their department came. Erus had packed everything he needed, a few things locked in the spare room with the twins' things. Not many students remained at Santuario during Christmas but for those who did the teachers made the holidays as good as they could for them.
"See you guys later," Erus said as Abel and Cain spotted their parents.
"Keep yourself out of trouble," Abel warned and the raven-haired teen rolled his eyes.
"Merlin, you two are obsessed over me since that accident with the souls."
"Can't help it!" the two whined.
"Bye Erus," Stella's dreamy voice came. She looked at him and then said: "Wish me luck."
"… Huh?"
"My mother said she had a new potion," the girl said.
"Oh… Well, good luck. Don't return with blue skin."
"I will do my best."
He watched her stroll off and shook his head. Sirius appeared and he walked up to the man.
"Ready?" Sirius asked and held out an arm.
"Yep," Erus said as he waved goodbye to Margaret and Rick. They waved back, Margaret even smiling at him. During the time he had known that girl, Erus had never seen her smile. Small miracles. Sirius held him close and they spun around on the spot before disappearing.
Tbc…
FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY! -Runs around like crazy, banging her fists into her head-
-Cough- Anyway, chapter twenty-two done.
Chapter twenty-three: Christmas obviously. We'll see what I write. Hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker than this, but don't hope too much. I've been a bit… dunno, uninspired about everything? I need motivation, and my newest story, Eternal Love, gave me some very good motivation.
Besides, school begins in a week for me; maybe that's why I'm so down. I don't want to.
Alright, I've rambled enough. Hope you liked this chapter, look forward to the next one!
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro