Author's Note: I posted this on Ao3 a week or so ago and I decided I might as well put it on here too... Hope you guys enjoy this...
"I'm going to start this year. Everyone has grown to trust me, there's no reason any of them would suspect, so there is no danger." A female voice said softly, coming from a plush, deep violet colored velvet armchair that was facing an extravagant, obsidian black marble fireplace. The young man looked up from the book he was reading in shock, though it only showed for a brief second before it was covered by a mask of interest and concern.
"Are you sure? I hear Harry Potter is going to be teaching this year, wouldn't it be safer to-" He started, sitting up and marking his page with a gum wrapper as he shut the thick, old book and placed it on the glass coffee table in front of him. He had a foreign accent, though it seemed to have faded slightly as if he had lived away from the country it originated from for quite a while.
"I'm well aware of that, Ro'. That's the whole reason I want to begin now. His son will be there too, and I'll be able to get both of them out of the picture easily enough. Potter may be a powerful Auror, and he may have defeated Voldemort when he was a mere teenager, but he has weaknesses. He is a father now, it won't be all too difficult to get him to give up if I get his son. He's only a first year, little James, hasn't even learned how to make something float yet, he'll be easy to snatch." The same female voice interrupted and he looked down at his hands, which he had nervously started wringing together.
"But-" He started again and the voice cut him off once again, this time sounding more impatient and annoyed. "No. I am doing this, no matter what you think. I am well aware of the risks, and I know how to avoid them. Don't worry, this will work. I've been planning this since I was nine, remember? I know what I'm doing."
A shaky sigh escaped the man's lips and he ran a hand through his curly mess of dark hair. "I know, I just… We were planning to wait another year, I can't do anything at the moment to help, I can't…" He trailed off, biting his lower lip nervously. "I…" Before he could continue the owner of the voice stood up from her seat in the armchair and turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. The fire blazed brightly behind her, despite the fact that it was the middle of summer and anything but cold outside. Her face was shadowed, all identifying features washed out by darkness and some sort of spell, making it impossible for anyone who did not know who she was to be able to figure out her true appearance.
"I know. That's why I'm not planning on having you do anything. You'll stay here and if I need help with anything you could do here, like brewing a potion or something of the sort, you will do that. That works for you, right?" She asked, her tone almost suggesting she was threatening him, and he stared at her for a few moments before slowly nodding. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips then, seeming slightly out of place in the situation, but somehow fitting into it at the same time. "As long as you don't keep all the fun to yourself, don't do too much yet. We don't want too much attention on ourselves just yet, do we?" He said and a menacing smirk spread across the girl's face. "No, not yet. Not until I've gotten out of that hellhole of a school for good."
The young man chuckled in response to that, any of his previous uncertainty seeming to have completely dissipated. "Hogwarts really that bad? If it's anything like Beauxbatons, I'd understand, though from what I've heard it's rather different." He said, his accent becoming even more prominent as he spoke the name of the French Wizarding school.
"Yes, it's very different from what you've described Beauxbatons to be like, but it's just as bad." The girl said, voice laced with disgust, as she leaned back against the mantelpiece above the fireplace. "Can't imagine how you've managed to stay there for so long then, I couldn't take it anymore after fifth year." He stood up then and picked up the book he had put down a few moments prior, walking over to one of the ceiling-high bookshelves and putting the book back in the gap where it had obviously stood previously. His fingers lingered on the binding of the book, which had the title Dark or Light stamped into it with golden lettering, tracing its well worn cover with his fingertips as if he could pick up some kind of secrets from doing so.
"I've had plans for this since before I started going there, gave me the motivation to keep going." After having put the book back in place he turned around, looking at the girl opposite him in silence for a few moments, like he was contemplating something. His brows furrowed slightly in thought and he looked around the dark room with a distracted sort of interest. Two of the four walls were covered in ceiling-high bookshelves, one had windows and desks which were covered in pieces of parchment, ink bottles, quills, and books, and the other had a fireplace and dozens of portraits and awards. Armchairs and sofas were scattered around the room in a somehow organized fashion, each with some kind of table next to it. A glittering, unlit crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, the light from the fire causing small rainbows to dance across the floor and walls through the crystals.
"Y'know, I've been wondering this for a while," He finally spoke after at least two full minutes of neither of them saying a word. "How did I fit into your plan? You didn't know me when you were nine, I highly doubt you knew I even existed by the time you started at Hogwarts and there was no way you could've known I would meet you and share your beliefs. Did you simply add me into them three years ago, or what?"
It was silent again for a few moments, the only sounds in the room being the crackling of the blazing fire and the animals outside. "I added you in." The girl finally responded. "And I'm glad I did, you've been a great help and I hope you will continue to be."
He nodded, smirking. If she thought he would change his mind on this she was going to be proven very wrong in due time. "I won't stop until we've got rid of all the mudbloods and filthy half-bloods in the world."
"And don't forget the muggles." She added and his smirk grew even more, stretching the scars on his lips and face in a crude manner that made the wounds look fresh. Like he had been injured only hours previously. "Of course."