Chapter 6 – Ominous Message


Smell of old parchment welcomed her and she took a deep breath; taking in the welcoming scents of library. It was one place where Hermione could always turn to when in doubt. Even if she was on her own more often than not she was fine with it. Harry and Ron were with her when they needed to be, but they'd rather spend their free time elsewhere.

Vergil on the other hand… she was yet to properly talk to him ever since the train ride. Occasional glances here and there, a few words in the passing…

'No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood!'

Malfoy's words still echoed in her mind. It's been hours since he said that, she had been reassured by her friends that what he said was rubbish, but still. There was one friend she had in Slytherin, one friend that seemed to spend more time with Malfoy than he did last year.

Did Vergil think she was lesser than him as well? They never really talked about Vergil's family, but she just sort of assumed he was at least half-blood.

"-ione. Earth to Hermione!"

She was jostled from her thoughts and jumped up from her seat.

"Are you trying to jump out of your skin? Relax, it's just me," voice on her right spoke, and she could hear the teasing smirk on his face. Vergil. Of course he'd show up when she was actually thinking about him. The smirk was indeed there, but it quickly morphed into a smile when she huffed in annoyance.

"Don't scare me like that," Hermione sighed and sat back down.

Only to abruptly move away from the table when a small red and gold box was tossed in front of her.

"Happy birthday Hermione," the smile was still there and it widened a bit when she just looked at him, not sure whether to be more shocked he actually remembered her birthday, or that he actually got her something, or that he gave it to her as if he was doing a chore.

"Thanks," she wasn't sure what else she could say before she stood up and hugged the Slytherin.

"Don't mention it," Vergil returned the hug, though it was still a stiff kind of hug, like he either didn't like getting hugged by her or just wasn't used to hugs. "I wanted to get you a book but I really didn't want to risk getting you something you already had," his voice was strangely apologetic and soft as he said that and she knew he just wasn't all that used to hugs.

Hermione released his from her grip and they both sat down.

"So, what's on your mind?" Vergil's question caught her off guard. "Your book isn't even open yet," he pointed out as if to explain himself.

"Oh," Hermione looked to the side. "It's nothing," she lied. How could she tell him Malfoy upset her and actually expect him to be on her side.

Vergil placed a hand on her shoulder, something he almost never did. He seemed to evade any unnecessary physical contact so this was unusual to say the least. "Hermione, what happened?"

He was gentle yet firm in his request and she decided to just say it. It would clear up any doubts she had about Vergil as well. "Draco called me a mudblood."

Vergil leaned back against his chair and let out a long sigh. He was glaring at the ceiling and Hermione guessed he was processing the information thoroughly. "Damn spoiled jerk," he finally spoke up, obviously not pleased with his fellow Slytherin. He sighed again and turned his head to look at Hermione. "Don't let it bother you; I know he means it and I know he's been a jerk to you, but don't think about it."

Hermione remembered how last year Vergil looked read to punch Ron for much less, now that it was Draco he wasn't so eager to jump to her defense. "He's still your friend," she accused, silently asking if Vergil agreed with Draco.

That red eye widened slightly. "That doesn't mean we share same ideas," he pointed out. "Look, Draco is spoiled and now he is no longer in the center of attention. He is jealous and his ego is hurt, so he lashes out. I'm not defending him; I just understand that it's not easy to let go of something you've been taught to believe in for over a decade."

She frowned at that. He was definitely defending Draco. There was no other way around it. "You're definitely defending him. Vergil, he's a bully-"

"And my housemate; surely you don't expect me to march up to Draco and beat him up over a couple of insults-"

He was supposed to be her friend; someone she could turn to. "You sure didn't have a problem threatening to punch Ron last year," she barely managed to stop herself from shouting, annoyed at Vergil's attitude.

Vergil threw his arms up in frustration. "So you would turn your entire house against you if Potter insulted me?"

She leaned closer, glaring at him. "Harry would never do that and even if he did I would defend you," she was on the verge of shouting at him. They were less than a foot away from one another when Vergil abruptly stood up.

"Well, you're a better person than, well done," he just began walking away, just like that.

Hermione stood up, she wasn't about to let him walk away from her like that. "Don't just leave like that," she demanded.

"There's nothing else to talk about, I'm not going to change my mind," he replied, his voice complete opposite of soft and gentle tone he had at the start. And he was fast, fast enough to leave her behind without running.

~X~

She'd defend him. Vergil huffed, now that was rich. Yeah, turning entire house against her is exactly what she would do. Right, that was as true as Vergil being a human without any devil blood in him. "Serpent fang," he grumbled the password and entered the Slytherin common room. And there he was, Draco.

Vergil took a deep breath and walked over to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him, they got detention, unsurprisingly.

Draco noticed him before he got halfway through the common room. "There you are! Come on, I've got to tell you about quidditch practice," judging by the grin on his face he was way too enthusiastic for Vergil to just refuse.

Might as well roll with it. "Don't miss any details," Vergil had no interest in that sport but Draco was passionate about it so sure, why not have a chat about it.

"Look, you have to see it for yourself, those Nimbus 2001s are a masterpiece! I've never had a broom that fast and it's incredible how smooth changing directions is!" he quickly moved his hand from side to side and in different directions to illustrate his point and the spark in his eyes was undeniable. "We're winning the house cup and you've got to come see the games, you'll love it!"

Vergil grinned a bit. "Fine, I'll give it a shot and come to the first match," he promised.

Draco's eyes widened slightly at that. "Really?"

Vergil chuckled at that. "Yeah, of course I will," with that reassurance it was obvious Draco was happy.

"Great, but I haven't told you everything," his grin widened. "Here's the funny part though, Weasley tried to curse me and it backfired! I bet he's still vomiting slugs!" Draco began laughing at the mere thoughts of Weasley on the ground vomiting slugs all over himself.

"Wait why?" Vergil had a suspicion it had something to do with Draco calling Hermione a mudblood, but he still wanted to hear it from Draco.

Draco stopped laughing. "Know-it-all Granger believes I bought my way into the team, so I told her no one cares about an opinion of a filthy mudblood."

Well, that much he could have guessed. Still, Vergil rolled his eye at that. "Mudblood? That's about as imaginative as describing rain as wet," he commented, it was obvious what the insult meant, someone with mud for blood, dirty blood. It was an infuriating insult, sure, but it wasn't his place to interfere in whatever was going on between Draco and Hermione or her friends. As long as no one was in danger it was fine by Vergil.

"Those mudbloods don't deserve anything wittier," Draco argued.

"Hermione is my friend, you know that, right?" Vergil questioned, suddenly getting a lot more serious than before.

Draco scowled at that. "Well she shouldn't be; she's friends with Potter and Weasley and she's in Gryffindor. Not to mention she's a mudblood."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do or how to act, but just know that I don't like it. I mean what if my blood was dirty by your standards? Would you insult me as well?" Vergil questioned, trying hard to keep the balance between appealing to some less prejudice part of Draco, if it existed at the moment, and still keep the conversation relatively conflict free.

Draco raised an eyebrow at that. "Right, you don't know," he remembered. "Well, you're a Slytherin so we stick together. Don't worry though, mudbloods don't get sorted into Slytherin."

'Maybe, but halflings do,' Vergil thought and he was sure Draco thought even less of half-breeds than he did of muggleborns. "Just some food for thought, I mean you never know."

Draco dismissed it. "I'm sure you wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin if you were a mudblood."

~X~

October started and with it came rain and more rain and even more rain. Most students were getting colds and going outside was something most people avoided if they had a chance. So it provided Vergil with the perfect opportunity to be on his own and not worry about others noticing him.

So as the rain poured down on him he stood in the shadow of a tree roughly a mile away from the castle and held Perun, his sword, above his head. Electricity was crackling around it. He swung his blade downwards with as much strength as he could muster and it created an electric aftershock that flew about ten feet before dissipating.

"Still weak," Vergil sighed, he looked down at Perun and proceeded to practice basic swings with it, no electricity, or darkness, just basic swings. An hour later his sword disappeared, and he took a couple of deep breaths, taking in the comforting feeling of cold drops hitting his skin. He even reached up for his bandages but decided against taking them off.

Finally, he went back to the castle and the moment he was out of the rain he let a surge of electricity course through his body and dry him. It was as if he never went into the rain and no one could see the electricity drying him.

~X~

Something was out of place. Whatever was going on it just felt wrong. It was too bright, and Vergil struggled to open his eye. He tried to put his hand between the annoying light and his eye. He was sensitive to bright lights; such was the nature of darkness devils. "Turn that damn thing off," he pretty much demanded.

"Finally, I thought I would never wake you up," Draco's kind of annoyed but at the same time very slightly amused voice was the only clue Vergil needed to guess who was behind the tormenting light at the tip of a wand.

"What's going on?" Vergil asked, now feeling much better, though he still blinked a few times to get the image of light out of his mind.

"What do you mean? It's 23rd, it's your birthday," Draco reminded him incredulously.

It dawned on Vergil that it indeed was his birthday and that he actually managed to forget it for the time being. "Oh, I kinda forgot."

Draco smirked. "I figured as much. Here, I figured you should hide it and keep it a secret," Draco handed him a package obviously containing a book.

"Thanks," Vergil was too surprised to really offer a proper 'thank you'. Vergil took his own wand and muttered "Lumos," he didn't want his ability to see in the dark to be out on a display. What he saw shocked him to say the least. "Moste Potente Potions?" he read incredulously, it was a book from restricted section in the library and for a good reason. "How the- how did you get this? I mean thanks, but how? Why?"

Draco sat down on Vergil's bed, laughing as quietly as he could in order to avoid waking up anyone else. "My father got it and sent it here. We're friends, I figured you'd like it," he replied.

"I love it, but this is… You're a bit of a lunatic, you know that?" Vergil chuckled, not entirely sure what else to say.

"Just don't let professor Snape find it, I bet he'll be mad," Draco whispered with a slight smirk on his face.

Vergil snickered at that. "Yeah, no kidding," he looked Draco in the eyes and smiled. "Really, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

~X~

Halloween came by, which meant the feast. Unfortunately, Hogwarts seemed to have a tradition of peace being disrupted on Halloween. This time though it was after the feast, while students were going back from it. The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat, Mrs. Norris, in the corridor. Furthermore, Vergil saw Hermione, Potter and Weasley were there, all alone.

Vergil looked at the cat from the side and then noticed writing on the wall illuminated by the torches.

'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE'

From where he stood it looked red as blood, but if it was blood, and more importantly that much blood he'd be able to smell it due to his devil half. 'Paint? Maybe? Definitely not blood,' he figured.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Draco's claim broke the silence and snapped Vergil out of his thoughts. Draco pushed to the front of the crowd. He was grinning at the sight of the immobile cat.

His shout was probably what attracted Filch, the caretaker. "What's going on here? What's going on?" And then he saw her, his cat. He fell back, clutching his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

For once Vergil pitied the caretaker, if there was one thing everyone knew Filch loved, and it was probably the only thing he loved, it was his cat. Not even watching the caretaker accusing Potter of murdering the cat and even promising to kill Potter because of it lessened the pity. Vergil probably would have been way worse.

Vergil sighed and took another look at the petrified cat before turning around and leaving. It was too crowded and he figured he'd just head to the dungeons. He did keep thinking about what Draco said though. His housemate knew something; he was sure of it. What he failed to notice though, was Gemma watching him carefully.

~X~

Gemma loved quidditch, she was rubbish at it, but she loved watching it. So even when the weather wasn't the nicest she never missed a match, even if Slytherin wasn't playing. This time though, Slytherin was playing and against Gryffindor no less. What did surprise her was seeing familiar white hair where other second year Slytherins were.

"Vergil?" she said his name, surprise heavily outweighing any fear, he never showed interest in quidditch. And then it hit her as she looked at their team. Of course he'd be in the crowd if Draco was playing. She frowned, was he really that bad? Just because he wasn't fully human?

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and fourteen players rose up to the sky.

"We're winning this," Russell, her friend, declared, just as confident as she was in the victory.

"Hard not to with those Nimbus 2001s," she smirked lightly, but the game was already looking strange.

Potter seemed to be targeted by one of the Bludgers and that forced Weasley twins to protect him. With them out of the way and with the speed of new brooms Slytherin quickly took lead and just kept going. Within minutes they were leading sixty points to zero and in all that time Bludger kept targeting Potter and no one else.

"It's strange," she muttered. Focusing on the heavy ball.

"Yeah, something's definitely not right. You don't think some of our guys tampered with it?" Russell pondered.

Gemma shook her head. "No way, that would be too obvious."

Gryffindor team asked for a time-out which resulted in Weasley twins leaving Potter on his own. "That's mental!" Gemma shouted, Gryffindor or not she didn't want anyone to get seriously hurt playing Quidditch.

Russell on the other hand whistled. "Potter's got some balls," he sounded way too impressed for Gemma's liking.

"Language Russ," she berated him as Potter zigzagged and spiraled around the field dodging the Bludger. She looked at Draco and her eyebrow twitched. "Draco is being an idiot…"

Russell gasped when he realized what she saw. "That little, he's so focused on Potter he can't see Snitch right next to his head."

What followed next was the downright stupidest way to lose a match. Potter got hit and he dived for the Snitch, while it was still next to Draco and of course Potter caught it. Why wouldn't he? He wasn't the one so caught up in making fun of the other seeker.

~X~

It was the worst day of his life by far. He made an embarrassment of himself in front of entire school by letting Potter get the Snitch that was right next to him. He cost his house an entire match. He got yelled at, was scolded and was being ignored by most of his house even though he spent half the night in the common room. The ones that didn't ignore him, well they didn't care in the first place so he was on his own.

At the moment he was acting all busy by pretending to flip through some textbook he randomly picked up.

"How's the first taste of proper defeat?" Vergil sat down to his right and leaned back against the sofa. His tone was neutral, but the question still annoyed Draco.

"Leave me alone Vergil," he muttered, refusing to look at his fellow Slytherin.

"Yeah, that really wasn't a good way to start a conversation," Vergil admitted and from the corner of his eye Draco could see he was focusing on the water above them. For some reason Vergil often did that. "You failed, so what? Tell me though, what do you do now?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, confused by what Vergil meant.

"Are you going to keep sulking over one mistake or are you going to get back to your feet and improve?" Vergil elaborated.

He had a point. It really couldn't get worse than this so it could only get better. "I'll show Potter next time."

Vergil smirked at that. "Why wait? You could have Potter squirm as soon as tomorrow."

That definitely got Draco's attention and he leaned in closer. "Get him into trouble?"

Vergil chuckled at that. "No, that's a passing moment of annoyance at best," but he wasn't saying anything else.

"Insult him and his friends?" Draco guessed again.

"Nope," he made a small pause and just when Draco was about to press him for answer he gave it to him. "Be better than him."

That was ridiculous. "Huh?"

"Think about it. Potter hates you as much as you hate him, so he likes being better than you, at quidditch, at magic, in classes. So be better than him; he's about as sensitive to detention and bullying as rock is to paper," it made sense, it really did.

"That'll get under his skin, you're brilliant Vergil!" Draco's mood was definitely improved.

"And don't rub it in his face, let others do it. Just focus on being better," Vergil stood up and offered Draco his hand. "And we could start now by going upstairs and practicing some spells."

Draco was definitely liking this side of Vergil and the idea of being acknowledged as better than Potter was definitely appealing.

~X~

Another attack, and this time the victim was a student. Gemma sat in the corner of the common room, separate from most of the students. This was bad and it didn't help that there was someone in her house that maybe could be a danger to others.

"Sickle for your thought?" Russell came up to her.

Gemma sighed. "I have some suspicions about those attacks," she muttered, barely loudly enough for his to hear.

His brown eyes widened and she offered him a small smile. "Who?"

She took a deep breath. "Vergil," the moment she actually said it something told her she was probably wrong; and skeptical look on Russell's face wasn't helping her shake that feeling off.

"Same Vergil you've spent a lot of time with last year?" he inquired and she nodded. "Isn't it time for you to tell me what happened between you two? You took instant liking to the kid and then out of blue you avoid him like a plague," he pointed out and not for the first time. "I actually feel sorry for the kid."

Gemma looked away, refusing to say a word. How was she supposed to trust someone who was half-devil? She needed to tell Dumbledore. "Sorry, I've got to go," she mumbled and went to her dormitory to write a letter for the headmaster.

~X~

Accusing a student, especially one that was in her own house, was a very serious statement to make. One that caused Gemma to be in Dumbledore's office mere hours after her chat with Russell. She was so certain Vergil was to blame for the attack, but now that she was actually supposed to say it her evidence felt circumstantial at best.

"Miss Farley, could you explain why you believe Mr. Leonidas is responsible for attack on Mrs. Norris?" Dumbledore's voice was calm, soothing to her and it offered her comfort she didn't realize she needed.

"Vergil, he's," she took a deep breath, steading her heartbeat and gathering courage to finally say it. "He's a cambion, a half-devil," there was no reaction, Dumbledore didn't show any signs of surprise. 'No…' her heart sank as the most horrible realization came to her mind. "Headmaster you… you know, don't you?"

Dumbledore sighed, it wasn't tired sigh, she wouldn't associate it with any similar cause. Rather it was merely a small expression of a man understanding the task ahead of him. To explain why he knew he had a dangerous creature in his school. "I've known even before Mr. Leonidas arrived at Hogwarts. He has a certain fondness for you, Miss Farley."

Gemma's eyes widened. "Vergil? That's impossible! I- I mean he is a devil!" there was no way that was true.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, as if he expected her reaction. "He most certainly is; but I assure you Miss Farley that he hasn't done anything to hurt another student. He's not even aware of consequences of such actions."

Any arguments she had about punishments Vergil would receive for going out of line if caught were immediately shut down by that realization. If it was truly the case than Vergil wasn't restraining himself. "But if not even you can help Mrs. Norris than it can't be something a human can cause, right? Vergil certainly has the potential to do it!"

Dumbledore nodded. "Devils, at least some of them, could theoretically petrify someone. However, this kind off petrification isn't something Mr. Leonidas could do even if he had the necessary earth soul to do so. You see Mr. Leonidas has control over lightning and darkness, neither of which can petrify." he explained and for the first time Gemma knew for sure what kind of powers Vergil could use.

Gemma leaned back into her chair and took her eyes off headmaster for a few moments, taking in the office. The sorting hat was there, and she remembered how happy she was when the kid she met on the train got sorted into Slytherin. "Are you sure? That Vergil isn't dangerous?"

If only she looked back at Dumbledore she would have noticed his eyes twinkling with something she would only associate as knowing something she didn't. "I'd very much like it if you'd answer that question to me, Miss Farley."

The statement puzzled her. How could she know? She'd been having nightmares for months now. A few minutes ago her answer would be obvious. Now there was a seed of doubt, she was feeling like she made a mistake, came to a conclusion without taking everything into consideration. "He's a half-devil. I- I don't know how to feel."

Dumbledore nodded. "That he is. But he is also a half-human; wouldn't you agree?"

Gemma's eyes widened. All this time she was so concentrated on Vergil's devil half that she forgot it was just that, a half.

"Ah, it's about time for dinner, off you go Miss Farley, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you," Dumbledore's words were merely half-registered as Gemma slowly got up, offered a brief nod and a word of thanks for the headmaster's time before she left.

~X~

Vergil woke up to the whispers coming from… everywhere around him really. As he slowly opened his eye he noticed a hand mere inches away from his bandages. In an abrupt lunge to the side he collided with Zabini and stumbled to the floor. "What the actual fuck Draco?!" he yelled when he realized his best friend tried to take his bandages off.

"That's my line Leonidas! You hit like a truck!" Zabini whined next to him. He was lying on the ground, rubbing his left side.

"I told you he'd wake up," Nott hissed at Draco who was having a sheepish grin on his face.

"Well he wouldn't have if Crabbe and Goyle weren't so worried he'd wake up," Draco rubbed the back of his head.

"He was the louder one!" Crabbe quickly pointed at Goyle.

"What? No you were!" Goyle was quick to defend himself.

"Thanks you two," Vergil rolled his eye, happy that he somehow woke up just in time. And it probably did have something to do with Crabbe and Goyle whispering. He did still glare at Draco. "You do understand I wear this for a reason, right?" he jerked his thumb towards the bandages and got back up to his feet.

Draco actually had the decency to look away in embarrassment. "We were just curious. Sorry, Vergil."

Vergil sighed, his annoyance dissipating slightly. "Just don't try this again."

"I know I won't," Zabini muttered, now just sitting on the floor.

"Oh, quit whining," Vergil smirked and offered him his hand.

"Easy for you to say, it's like you're built out of bricks or something," though he said that Zabini did accept Vergil's hand.

Nott surprisingly chuckled at that. "I'm just glad he didn't get up on my side."

Before anyone could say anything else Bulstrode came in. "Guys, a student got petrified."

Vergil looked around the room. Crabbe and Goyle were indifferent, mostly waiting for Draco's reaction. Nott was indifferent for different reason; he just didn't care. Draco on the other hand was grinning. Finally, Vergil looked at Zabini, and for the first time he saw a tiny bit of worry in Zabini's eyes.

"Not good," Zabini whispered, barely loud enough for Vergil to hear.

"Damn it," Vergil cursed and picked up his robes. Whatever attacked Filch's cat wasn't going to stop anytime soon.


And that's a chapter I don't think you ever expected to see pop up. Yeah, it happened. Now, I do need to point out that I've gone through a bit of a redesign as far as Demon World is concerned and the only change worth noting in removal of Vergil helping Gemma about her essay.

Also this chapter, man it was difficult to write. I've had quite a big break from writing this story and writing in general and original story was bare bones in this part. So you can imagine how slow my progress was on this chapter.


Answers on reviews:

TragicFiction – Uh, yeah…

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Guest – Yeah, not exactly soon.

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