Sorry it took so long, life got busy :(. I'll try to have the next one done much sooner. I hope you enjoy! Please please leave a review and tell me what you think :)
Sin looked uncertainly at Elena's fearful face. The absence of any sound pounded through his head, and the silence seemed to drag on before Mr Noir spoke.
"It seems we have a winner," he drawled, his sickeningly smooth voice making Sin want to gag.
That seemed to snap Elena out of her reverie, because the terror was gone from her expression. She bent over and hauled Sin out of the pit by his collar. Before the poor boy could even register her inhumane strength she was pulling him out of the crowd.
The audience seemed to unconsciously part for the two of them, and Sin could only laugh internally without humour at the similar situation to the end of his first Fight.
Elena kicked open the door, not letting go of Sin's collar but allowing him to walk. She slammed the door closed behind them, the expression on her face keeping Sin from asking any of the multitudes of questions brimming inside of him.
They were halfway down the alley when four tall, deathly pale men seemed to drop from the sky, landing elegantly in front of them. They were clearly vampires, although Sin couldn't remember if he saw them watching the fight or not. "Well, well, well. That was quite the spectacle, Elena dear," the shortest one said, an oily smirk on his white face. If Sin wasn't so completely terrified and off-kilter, he might have laughed at the absurd dramatic air of the vampire who had spoken.
Elena took a small step forward, and Sin creased an eyebrow as she clearly put him behind her. "Indeed, Bedici. You know I always impress."
Bedici let out a bark of laughter, in stark contrast to the elegant chuckle Sin had come to expect from vampires.
"You're little pet has intrigued a good many people, Elena. The chance to own a parselmouth… well, that's not something the House of Bedici wants to pass up."
"I'm not a pet," Sin spat, his indignation surpassing his fear for the moment. "And nobody is going to own me."
Bedici's gaze turned to Sin, raising a delicate eyebrow. "He speaks!"
"You won't touch him," Elena said with smooth finality. She made to pass the four vampires, but they closed ranks into a barrier. Elena took a step back.
"Oh?" Asked Bedici. "And why is that?"
"You value your lives too much," Elena said with a sickening pleasantness.
"You think you alone could stop all four of us from getting him, if we decided to take what we want instead of asking nicely? Arrogance doesn't suit you, Elena."
The fear began to creep up Sin's spine again. If the four vampires did decide to attack, he could maybe take one of them, but he'd never seen Elena fight. Even if she was spectacular, there was no way she could take three at once, especially if those three were also vampires.
Elena smiled, and Sin found himself very glad he was not on the receiving end of that smile. "It's not arrogance. But even if it were, would you risk starting a blood feud with the Noble and Most Ancient House of Van Rau, and my coven?"
Bedici's simpering grin fell. "Surely you would not react quite so -"
"An attack on my coven is an attack on me."
Bedici took a faltering step back. "Noir will back me," he said, but he seemed unsure.
Elena raised an eyebrow. "Are you willing to risk everything on that?" She asked.
Bedici scowled, but he turned away. The vampire to his right, however, took a step forward. "I think you want to hand him over, Van Rau."
Elena took another step in front of Sin. "And why is that?"
The vampire grinned crookedly. "It would be shame if something happened to that mudblood wench you're so fond of. Where does she work again? Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, right?"
Sin could sense the immediate shift in the mood of the conversation. The air seemed to crackle with tension, and Sin took an unconscious step back.
"You really shouldn't have said that," Elena said, and suddenly her fangs were out and she was at the throat of the one who had threatened her. The five vampires became blur of motion, and Sin could do nothing but watch. If he had been able to see any of the attackers he might have tried to help, but as it was, he would just as soon hit Elena with a blast of magic as any of the others. So he stayed out of it.
He needn't have bothered. The fight was over as quickly as it started. Sin stared, wide-eyed, at Elena. She stood in a circle of bodies, a black liquid too dark to be regular blood dripping from her exposed fangs and a disembodied head in her right hand.
Sin swallowed, staring at the corpses. He'd never seen a dead body before, let alone seen someone being killed. That he remembered, at least.
There were too many thoughts swirling around in his brain, so he spat out the first one that came to mind. "Don't you have to - I don't know - drive a wooden stake through their hearts?"
Elena let out a cold laugh. "I don't know where that idea spread through muggle pop culture, but no. You can kill a vampire just like you can kill a human - although it's significantly harder because they're much stronger and faster." She wiped away the black liquid from her mouth, her fangs retreating back into her mouth. She dropped the head and began to walk away as if nothing had happened.
Sin hurried to catch up to her. He was a little disturbed that he wasn't as disturbed as he should be. Given, he had never known those vampires, and they had tried to kidnap him - at best - but he had just seen Elena slaughter four vampires in less than a minute, and he was barely shaken.
Sin followed Elena closely as she lead them out of the narrow back-alley and into Knockturn Alley's main street. They headed the opposite direction of where they had come, doing a series of twists until they came out onto a street that was far more colorful and nearly deserted.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Elena said, casting her gaze about carefully. "It's usually packed, but nobody comes here at night. The shops are all closed."
Her hand shot out to grab Sin's wrist but she seemed to change her mind and just gestured for him to follow her as they approached a small, colorful storefront with a purple door. An equally colorful sign hung over the door, reading "Slug and Jiggers Apothecary". Elena rapped her knuckles against the door sharply four times. After a short pause she knocked again, and the door swung open. A woman with bouncy blonde hair stood in the doorway, yawning in her blue nightgown. She rubbed her eyes before glancing at the two of them and she let out a quiet squeal.
"Elena!" She cried, leaping onto the vampiress and pressing her lips to Elena's, her hands buried in Elena's hair. Sin turned away, his cheeks heated.
Elena leant into the kiss with a quiet chuckle before drawing back. Her hand glided gently down the blond woman's cheek. "You're safe," she said with a relieved sigh.
The woman let out a giggle. "Of course I am. You worry too much. You gave me this amulet, remember?" She held up a small carved pendant that hung around her neck. "I've never taken it off. Besides, I can defend myself."
"I know," Elena replied, placing a careful kiss on the woman's cheek, "but that doesn't mean I can't make sure." Sin couldn't quite believe what was happening. He didn't think there were two more opposite people in the universe, and he'd certainly never heard Elena sound so… soft.
The woman caught sight of Sin and jumped, before clearing her throat. "Oh! Hello there. I'm Cecile," she said, her cheeks pink.
"Assassin," he replied, equally as embarrassed. Witnessing such a tender moment between anyone would have been weird, but watching Elena regard someone with such sweetness and adoration… it was one of the strangest things he'd ever seen.
"This is my heir," Elena said, waving a hand toward Sin. Cecile's eyebrows shot up, and she shoved Elena playfully.
"You never mentioned you had a son!" She said accusingly, but there was no real indignation or anger in her eyes.
Sin started. "Oh, I'm not -"
Elena shrugged. "Well now you know." There was a genuine smile on the vampiress's lips as she gazed at Cecile, and it was so off-putting Sin didn't register that Elena had called him her son.
"Would you like to come in? The boss is asleep, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind - is that blood?" Cecile drew in a breath, stepping closer to Elena and inspecting her sleeve. She grasped Elena's arm tightly.
"For Merlin's Sake, El! Why do you keep getting into fights?"
"They threatened you," Elena replied flatly, and Cecile scoffed.
"So what? They were most likely bluffing - it would take a fool of massive proportions to do something that would get on your bad side - and besides, I can take care of myself!" There was a pause, before Cecile inhaled sharply. "They're - you - you didn't kill anyone, right?"
Elena didn't say anything, but clearly the look in her eyes was answer enough, because Cecile sighed and let go of Elena's arm. "I thought we talked about this, El."
"I didn't feed off of them!" Elena replied indignantly. "Besides, they were vampires. And they wanted to kidnap Assassin."
Cecile's gaze darted to Sin for a moment and her stern expression softened. "Fine, but I still don't like it. Besides, what's he doing out so late? He's what, nine? Elena, it's three in the morning! Get him to bed!"
Elena nodded and drew Cecile in for a long kiss. Sin turned around again, and waited a few moments before turning back. Elena made to leave but Cecile grasped her arm. She pulled the vampiress close and whispered in her ear. A wolfish grin on Elena's face grew bigger with every word.
"Well, I'll be sure to return once I've taken Assassin home," Elena said, winking at Cecile, before the blonde blushed heavily and reentered the apothecary.
Elena watched the woman go before turning away and heading down the alley. The warmth slowly leached from her eyes the further away from Cecile they got, and as they entered Knockturn she was back to her regular, cold self.
As Sin thought about Elena, an idea formed in the back of his mind. A despicable, disgusting idea, one that he would never previously have considered, but if it helped him keep Light safe…
"You must really love her," he said cautiously, glancing up at Elena. The vampiress didn't bother acknowledging him, but Sin pushed forward. "We all have people we care about. I care about Light, you care about Cecile… we would all do anything to protect those who we love."
"What's your point?" Elena asked, sounding unconcerned, but Sin knew she was paying very close attention.
"You leave Light alone, and I don't mention Cecile to any of your possible enemies. Or pay her a visit myself."
Elena's eyebrows furrowed as she looked to Sin, and she looked genuinely puzzled. "Why would I go after Light?"
Sin stopped walking. "You - you threatened him. When you first revealed why were helping me."
Elena pressed her lips together before turning to Sin. "I was bluffing. I would never have actually touched any of your family, especially not Light. You think I would have risked alienating you? Besides, I don't touch kids."
Sin blinked. "I don't - I don't understand."
Elena sighed, resting a gentle hand on Sin's shoulder. "Contrary to what you might believe, Sin, I'm not that despicable."
"You just slaughtered four people."
"Self-defense!" Elena said defensively. At Sin's raised eyebrow, she allowed, "Okay, so maybe they weren't actually going to attack us, but they threatened my lover. Besides, there's a difference between being unnecessarily cruel and being practical. If it was kill or be killed, which would you choose?"
Sin knew his decision immediately, but he took a moment to say it. It worried him that his answer was so immediate.
"Kill," he answered finally. Elena nodded, and it made Sin feel worse knowing that was the answer Elena had expected.
"Right. Because you're a survivor. Anyone who's been through hell has a powerful survival instinct, you and I more than most. That said, you can be a survivor and still have a moral code. It's just more… flexible than others' might be."
Sin glanced up at the vampiress as they continued walking. "So… you wouldn't ever hurt him. Or - or the rest of my family."
"Well, definitely not Light. Shade's almost an adult, though," Elena mused. "If there was something I really needed you to do, and you were being particularly uncooperative…" she let the sentence trail off. Sin's fists clenched and she let out a deep chuckle. "No, Sin. I wouldn't hurt them. I just needed to throw all your chips down with me before I could scare you off."
Sin furrowed his eyebrows. "So… what's your leverage over me? What's to stop me from showing up to our 'meetings'? Or revealing all of your secrets? Or not ending our arrangement as soon as I get enough power?"
Elena smiled thinly as they stepped into the Night Prowler. Elena exchanged another formal greeting with Mr Avery but didn't stop for a chat, and as they re-entered the muggle world she said quietly, "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Van Rau has considerable clout in the wizarding world, and considerable power on the Wizengamot… even if you are Heir Peverell, as Lady Van Rau, I have the power to make life very… difficult for you. And I won't touch your family, that's true… but I can cut you and Spider off from the Fights. And I'm sure social services would be very pleased to hear about the location of a nest of runaways."
Sin glared at her, but the burning loathing he had held for her in his heart ever since she'd threatened Light had lessened substantially. Not only was the direct threat over Light's health gone, but he found it impossible to despise someone to such a degree after watching them be so gentle with someone like Cecile. He still wasn't exactly fond of her - he knew her threats weren't empty - but he didn't hate her with quite such a passion.
As they walked, one of Sin's earlier thoughts bounced its way toward the front of his mind. "Elena?"
"Mmh?"
"Why did you look so scared? When I talked to that Runespoor? And why did Bedici make such a big deal out of it? Can't… I mean, can't a lot of magicals do it?"
Elena's mask cracked for a fraction of a second, revealing a gaunt expression of fear, before regaining her composure. "No, Sin," she managed to say. "It's not very common at all. In fact, the last known parselmouth was the Dark Lord Voldemort."
Sin's eyes widened as he tried to comprehend the full ramifications of what Elena had just said. "Is - is that why everyone was so weird about it? Why you were so scared? I reminded you of him?"
"That would be why everyone coveted you, yes. But that's not - I -" Sin had never seen Elena speechless, so he was amazed to find her stuttering over her words. She bit her lip. "I don't want to talk about it."
"What do you mean, you don't want to talk about it? It looked sounds pretty damn important to me!"
"Sin?" Elena snapped, her tone dangerous. "Drop it."
December 21st, 1954
Elena wiped the blood from her mouth, shoving the drained corpse away from her. Her fangs were cutting into her mouth, and she took deep breaths of air she didn't need to try and calm the thirst that sang through her. After a few moments, once the man's blood had started to run through her veins, the frenzy subsided and the fangs retracted.
She could feel the strength returning to her limbs already, and she managed to elegantly stride out of the alley she had stumbled into. She could see the moon nearing the horizon, and she knew that she would have to seek shelter soon. She was too young to be able to survive in the sunlight.
She turned the corner, the fresh blood rejuvenating her, when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She whirled around, slamming a cloaked figure against the crumbling brick wall. Her fingers trapped the stranger's throat with a ridiculous ease. As Elena felt the blood pumping through the figure's neck, it took a very conscious effort not to drain them of blood.
"Who the hell are you?" The vampiress snarled, her fangs inches from the stranger's cloaked face.
The cowl of the the cloak fell away, revealing the heavily scarred face of an old woman. Under her right cheek, a bloody rune gleamed in the moonlight.
"I have a warning for you," the woman whispered, her voice hoarse.
Elena bared her teeth. "Spit it out," she hissed. "Who's warning? And tread carefully; I don't think you'd like me when I'm angry."
The woman didn't seem fazed by the fact that a lethal, out-of-control vampire was inches from her neck. She opened her mouth to speak, and the rune on her face glowed a heavy purple. "Your role is not the leader but the teacher. You must protect the heir from the silver-haired preacher. The fires of war you will inevitably tend, and the speaker of snakes will bring about your end."
Elena shoved closed her fingers around the old woman's neck. "What does that mean?" She demanded, trying very hard not to acknowledge the broiling mix of anger and fear inside of her. "Bring about my end? You mean my death? Who the hell are you?!"
The woman didn't flinch. "Your role is not the leader but the teacher. You must protect the heir from the silver-haired preacher. The fires of war you will inevitably tend, and the speaker of snakes will bring about your end," she repeated, the rune glowing even brighter.
"I heard you the first time," Elena snarled, digging her fingers into the old woman's throat. A thin trickle of blood ran down her wrinkled skin, and Elena's throat burned with thirst, despite having just fed. "But what do you mean? The speaker of snakes - a parselmouth?" She asked, forgetting her thirst in a flash of terror. "And a war - what do you mean, war? Will Grindelwald rise again? Or -" her breath caught, despite not needing to breathe. "Is there going to be another Dark Lord?" She asked, making a conscious effort to stay in control.
June 13th, 1969
"There's a war brewing, Elena," said the man, his face cowled, "And it's time for you to choose a side. There is no room for a neutral party. The Dark Lord -"
"- will have to make do without me," Elena replied, her velvety voice uncaring in the face of the threatening words. "Lord Black -"
"Orion," the man interrupted, removing the cowl of his cloak. His handsome, chiseled face broke into a friendly smile. "Are we not friends, Elena?"
Elena did not smile. "I appreciate the Dark Lord's interest - really, it's quite flattering - but I'm afraid I must regretfully decline."
Orion's friendly expression melted into a dangerous glare. "You would risk angering him? Did you hear what happened to -"
" I'm afraid you're about four years too late. The moment you started sicking that creature Greyback on children is the moment you lost my support."
Orion took a step forward, his gaze burning with a warning. "You would risk it? You would risk actively defying the Dark Lord, when we're on the brink of war you know he will not lose? The Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin, the first known parselmouth in generations -"
"What?" Elena cut him off, her tone lethal. "The Dark Lord is a parselmouth?" Fear sang through her bones, and she took a shaky step back.
'So this is it,' she thought privately, forgetting Orion for the moment. 'This is how I meet my end. Hunted down by the Dark Lord himself.'
"Rethinking your decision?" Orion asked with amusement, clearly enjoying the sight of the usually so poised Elena being so shaken.
'Well,' she thought, pushing the terror down, 'If he's going to kill me anyway, there's no reason to cave to his tactics.' She took a moment to collect herself and then turned back to Orion.
"Give the Dark Lord a message," she said with a smirk oozing false confidence. "Tell him," she said, extending her fangs, "to bite me."
November 1st, 1980
Elena pressed the edge of the silver blade against the man's neck. "I'll ask this one more time," she said pleasantly. "What's the Dark Lord's next move?"
"Nothing," the man whimpered, his voice hoarse from screaming. He clutched the bloody stump of his thumb and tried to keep from sobbing as he continued, "He's gone."
"What do you mean, gone?" Elena asked, not daring to acknowledge the hope soaring inside of her.
"Last night, he - he attempted to the slaughter the Potters. But… but… he couldn't."
"He couldn't?" Elena asked, her previously faux-pleasant voice now full of ice. "Is Lily Potter alive?" She asked, trying to to care about the answer. When the man shook his head, Elena's grip tightened subconsciously. "So who couldn't he kill?"
"The little boy - Harry. The little boy is still alive, and the Dark Lord is gone." Elena blinked, before sheathing the knife and piercing the man's neck with her fangs. She fed on him until he was all dried up, and then she pushed his corpse away.
'So,' she thought. 'The Dark Lord's reign of terror ends with a child.'
That night, the vampiress visited several other sources, and they all confirmed the same thing. The Dark Lord was gone, and it was all because he failed at killing the Potter boy.
But as Elena finished interrogating her sources, a dull pit formed in her stomach. He couldn't really be gone, because there hadn't been another known parselmouth in such a long time. That was either a very comforting thought - because she might live for hundreds of years, until the next one came about - or a very scary thought indeed; because the wizarding world was off-guard now, and if he came back, they would fall into the same pattern as before. The cycle would never end.
July 9th, 1989
"I expect to see you at the Fights tonight," Elena said as they came upon the alley where they would part ways. Sin looked at her incredulously.
"You want me to go back there? The place we were just run out of?" He asked in disbelief.
Elena let out a smooth chuckle. "Oh, Merlin no. The muggle ones." Sin let out a quiet sigh of relief, but he still wasn't really in the mood.
"You want me to fight on three or four hours of sleep?" He asked. At Elena's answering eyebrow, he sighed.
"See you there." He didn't bother with a goodbye before heading back to the warehouse. Taking care that he didn't wake anyone, he crept back into his makeshift bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
Shade slung a patched sweater over her head, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She stifled a yawn before staggering over to where Spider sat at the rusted table, shoveling oatmeal into his mouth.
She made sure to keep her voice down, not wanting to wake any of her kids (for that's how she thought of them, her children) as she said softly, "So I've been thinking. There's less than a month until Sin turns eleven, and maybe he'd like to go see another Fight? Obviously if he doesn't want to after last time he doesn't have to, and I don't think he should actually participate until he's twelve, but it's better for him to go watch than to fight again on his first day back, right?"
Spider swallowed and offered the pot of oatmeal to Shade as he nodded. "I think that's a great idea. I was actually thinking of going tonight, and offering Elena some sort of deal… like I could give her half of my cut if she promises to leave him alone until he's ready to fight, or something like that -"
Shade shook her head. "No, that will just draw attention to him and make her interested in him. We don't want her to know he's special. Hopefully she won't even remember his face, or his name. But you should still go tonight, if you can stomach it; we're running a little low on funds, and Sin's birthday is soon… I don't want to have to tap into that fund, it's a little depleted after Roach's extravaganza last month." She smiled fondly at the memory.
"Sounds like a plan," Spider said. "I'll go tonight." Shade finished the pot of oatmeal and stood.
Sin pulled the hood of his ratty jacket over his head pulled a fiver from his pocket. He hated lying to his family like this, but he knew that they would forbid him from going, and from seeing Elena. He was less worried about their safety now, but if he wanted to do anything in the wizarding world, be anything more than the street rat, he needed the vampiress's guidance. And his family needed the money.
He reached the end of the alleyway and handed the five-pound-note to Jerome, who waved him in without a glance. It seemed like a Fight had just ended, as a boy Toxic's age was climbing out of the pit looking dazed, blood on his face and his nose slightly crooked.
"The second win of the night for Ironheart!" Elena called over the crowd, somehow managing to project her voice loudly but still maintaining her elegance. "Do we have any challengers?"
Sin shoved forward through the crowd and jumped down into the pit, pushing his hood back.
"And it's Assassin, who is so far undefeated!" A cheer went through the crowd, who had come to root for this underdog.
Ironfist brushed a strand of blond hair from her face. She definitely had the size advantage, she was probably Hero's age and twice as broad as Sin.
As he listened to Elena hype up the crowd, his gaze swept up out of the pit, only to meet the furious eyes of Spider.