Title: I Will Be
Good At Making Bad
Author: Agent M (loveofhavok@colourovers.net)
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Pairings: None yet. Slash to come.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything that isn't mine.
Archive: Tainted Wings (www.colourovers.net/wings) and The Underground (http://members.aol.com//michirublade//index.html)
anyone else, just ask.
Notes: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It means a lot to me that you
like my crap. Thanks to VinylNoMiko, my muse and beta reader, for everything.
** And here is the sotra boring part of the story. Please read it anyways, its not all boring. BUT there is a backstory that is important for so that you will understand the rest... **
Snape was pacing back and forth in his office. Something was foul in the state of Hogwarts and he was going to discover what it was. Really he already suspected that Potter had something to do with it, but then when didn't he? Snape paused for a moment reflecting on how much like James and Sirius Harry really was. Snape smiled for a moment than scowled. As far as Snape was concerned, Harry was a bigger drama queen than Professor Trelawney. The difference between whatever was going on now and Harry's usual escapades was that Draco Malfoy was somehow involved, and that's what perked Snape's interests.After all, it had been a surprisingly quiet week, lacking in Potter/Malfoy squabbles.
Snape briefly wondered if the two boys had grown out of their enmity, but quickly dismissed the idea deciding it was absurd. It's not like he and Black ever grew out of their petty schoolboy rivalry. Him and Lupin on the other hand…
Snape blanched, "Shit."
He quickly moved to his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and began to compose a letter.
Dear Remus,
I hope all is well at home and that Black is staying out of trouble-though I
wonder if that is possible… As much as I wish that I had no ulterior motives
in writing this letter, I am sorry to say that I do. Some odd things have been
going on around Hogwarts, and before you ask, yes; it's weirder than the time
Dumbledore wore Bermuda shorts to the Christmas feast.
I must ask you to think back to when we were in school. What happened between us to make things the way they are now? And more importantly, what tipped of Black to those changes? Yes, this is completely relevant. History, as they say, repeats itself and it seems so close that I caution you to mentioning anything to Black about this as he might react in much the same way.
I hesitate to say what I believe might be going on, though I wager that you can piece most of it together. However, I will write more later as things begin develop here. And please let me know about what Black noticed. Thanks, Remus.
Yours,
Severus.
Snape blew on the parchment and called over his owl, Taboo, and sent the letter off.
---
Caius slammed the shot glass down on the bar. He had just received word from Lucius that they were to meet the next day to discuss plans. He waved the bartender over and motioned for her to fill his glass again, watched her fill the cup and then stared blankly at it, fingering the two scars on his right cheek, thinking about Demetrius.
He had just been recruited into the Syndicate the year that the Death Eaters began to form; however Demetrius had been there nearly twenty-five years. The Death Eaters were not well known yet and were only known to the Serpent's Eye because of their one-time ties with Tom Riddle.
There were a few main differences between the Serpent's Eye Syndicate and the Death Eaters. For one, the Syndicate held both fashion and elegance in high regards, often scoffing at the disaster that was the Death Eater Brand™ robes. Secondly, blood was not a priority. As long as a wizard had money they could be asked to join the Syndicate. And lastly, yet most important, the Syndicate kept a low profile. Not many knew about them. They recruited in secret and worked behind the scenes while keeping up a prestigious image shown to the public. Unless you were in the inner circle, you would never know who was a member and who wasn't. The richest and most impressive witches and wizards packed huge social events, yet there was always an element of mystery, unlike all the Death Eaters who had been caught and convicted.
Caius, who had grown up with Lucius, was willing to bet until recently that it was the blood status that turned Lucius away from the Syndicate. Now, he was sure that it was his relationship with Demetrius that caused him to join the Death Eaters though he didn't understand the drawing power. Voldemort and his whole operation was a joke, yet he was a slippery bastard. No one in the Syndicate had ever been able to claim the money that was on his head, though many had tried.
Before Caius had become Demetrius' partner and even before he had any solid idea of the Syndicate itself, Demetrius had another partner: a wizard by the name of Tom Riddle, who had mysteriously come upon a great deal of money. It was almost instantly after his induction that the rest of the Syndicate ostracized Riddle. No one seemed to trust him, and so they put him under the watch of Demetrius and he was given control of his own strip poker ring underneath Hogshead. And for a while, despite everyone's misgivings about Riddle, everything seemed to be fine. Soon, however, things became amiss. People who went to Riddle's rings started disappearing and turning up months later with little memory working as prostitutes.
All the while the Syndicate was losing money and getting a bit suspicious. So Riddle did what any evil wizard in training would do: tipped off the Ministry to the rings giving them Demetrius' name. No one inside believed anything that Riddle said against Demetrius and so they stripped him of his title in the Syndicate and marked him with the Triple-S: the mark given to a snitch of the Serpent Eye Syndicate. Before any further punishment could be administered, Riddle vanished and the Syndicate turned their attention to covering any trace of Demetrius' operations, wanting to stay unknown to the Ministry.
Demetrius' hate for the Death Eaters was on a much more personal level than anyone knew. Caius reckoned that Lucius knew enough to know that joining the Death Eaters would piss his father off, and evidently it worked like a charm. Only now, Lucius wanted some sort of connection with the organization that he renounced so many years before and for the life of him, Caius couldn't figure out why.
Gulping down the last of his drink, Caius tossed some sickles down and swept out of the bar and into the sunlit streets of Hogsmeade.
---
Lucius looked up from "Negotiating With Evil Outfits and Other Helpful Hints for World Domination" when Stumpy entered his office. The house elf seemed to be more on edge than usual and was wringing out his ears like they were soaked washcloths.
"Sir, I is coming to tell you that Mr. Caius is arrived."
Lucius nodded in acknowledgement as he stood up and pushed Stumpy out of the way, leaving his study.He entered the lounge to find that Caius was already seated and sipping a martini. Caius stood up when he noticed Lucius and they shook hands then sat down.
"So kind of you to return, Caius. I always knew you were a good man."
"I come when I am invited, Lucius. And since I have been invited back I trust that you have thought over exactly what you are going to ask of me," Caius said fingering the edge of his glass.
"We have known each other a long time, Caius, and it pains me to have to ask anything of you that would cause you grief, yet you are the only one I can turn to at this time."
Caius rolled his eyes at Lucius. He got enough guilt trip speeches from Demetrius to know that Lucius was presently full of shit.
"Cut the crap, Lucius. Why don't you just tell me what you want?"
Lucius sighed. In his mind, kissing ass was the most tiring thing one could engage in beyond the ancient game of Creathceann and perhaps a tryst with Black-or so he heard. But if Caius wanted him to lay it out on the table for him he would.
"Fine. Here's the deal. I need connections within the Syndicate. I no longer associate with the Death Eaters and I find it humorous that you think I would," Lucius explained. "As you know, I rejected the offer that they Syndicate made to me and thus I can never be a member. But I fear the wrath of Who-Know-Who and would feel safer among my father's people."
"You expect me to believe that?" Caius scoffed. "You hated Demetrius. Why should we lend you help, if that is in fact what you truly need?"
Lucius paused for a moment considering his options and finally his eyes seemed to light up with an answer and he smiled.
"I can get you Harry Potter, the bane of You-Know-Who."
---
Sirius Black sat with his feet up on the round wooden table, leaning back in his chair, reading The Daily Prophet. It was a warm morning for February, and the windows in the kitchen were all open, letting the breeze flow through the cottage. Remus Lupin was humming to himself as he fixed breakfast for the both of them, working at the counter behind Black.
Both men looked up as a giant black owl perched on their windowsill, wings fluttering to get their attention.
"Oh, god. It's too early for this," Sirius moaned.
Remus slapped the back of Sirius' head as he made his way to the window to retrieve the letter that the owl was holding.
"Comere, Taboo," Remus called softly to the owl.
Sirius snorted and mumbled, "Typical."
"What was that, Padfoot?"
"Just commenting on the taste of that man."
"'That man' as you call him, happens to be my boyfriend, so I would thank you not to comment on his taste," Remus glared at Sirius.
"No, that's not what I meant…" A loaf of bread flew across the room and hit him in the face.
"Mature, Moony. Real mature."
"You're the one who can't get over a childhood rivalry," Remus pointed out.
"He plastered pictures of me in drag all over Hogwarts!"
"And you never hand more dates afterwards! Honestly, Sirius. Don't you think you got him back good enough?"
"That was pretty clever. I was a bit surprised about Malfoy, but…"
"Not that time," Remus interrupted not wanting to know anything about Severus and Lucius. "I meant the life scarring one involving me on a full moon, you, and Prongs? Sound familiar?"
"Vaguely."
"Forget it, Padfoot. I have a letter to read."
Sirius shrugged and went back to reading the paper. After a few minutes with no sound from Remus, he turned around to find him staring blankly at his letter.
"Earth to Moony? Everything okay?"
"What? Yes. Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Sirius gave him a strange look before he grabbed the letter from Remus before he could react. He quickly read the letter and visibly paled. Snape could only be talking about Harry…
"This is not good."
-end part 5-
This is Agent M signing off.