A/n: Hey guys! Well, I hope that you all enjoyed the last chapter. Again, sorry that last chapter was out ridiculously late. And sorry that this one's out ridiculously late too. It's been over three months since I last updated, and that's like a personal record. Anyhoo, hope you enjoy this one!
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Chapter Four: Letters and Apprehensions
In the privacy of her dormitory, Eve sat at her desk writing a letter to her father. Her pet snake, Bello, lay coiled at her feet, flicking his tongue out and tasting the air. The only sound in the room is the scratching of Eve's quill as she writes a report of her own actions and those of the various people that she's been told to watch. A tapping at the window interrupts Eve and she looks up to see a raven sitting on the windowsill, its red beady eyes fixedly staring at her.
Bello starts writhing towards the window, hissing.
"Ssh, there's no need to get defensive," said Eve, reaching down to stroke her pet's glossy scales.
She rose from her chair and opened the window, allowing the raven entrance. It circled the room and then dropped a letter at Eve's feet before cawing loudly and leaving as quickly as it came.
Eve picked up the letter and looked at the envelope. Her name was written in shining scarlet ink, and she realized that it was recently written.
"I wonder…" Eve murmured to herself. She gracefully sank back into her chair, crossed her legs and opened the envelope with her wand. A single sheet of paper fluttered out, written with the same shining ink.
"Go to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest at midnight. Make sure that you are not followed. You will know where to go."
The letter was 'signed' with the stamp of a skull with an emerald snake writhing as the tongue. Eve turned the card over, looking for further instructions. She didn't need to guess who the letter was from. None other than Lord Voldemort had written to her, giving her instructions to meet him, or his followers, later that night.
"Well, Bello, it seems as though I will be initiated into the Dark Lord's inner circle tonight. Father will be proud," Even purred, her gray eyes glinting in the torchlight.
She looked back down at the letter and saw that the ink started to run. Within a matter of seconds, the entire letter was covered with the ink, which suspiciously looked and smelled like blood. Eve gasped and immediately dropped the letter to the floor when it combusted in flames.
Eve smiled to herself. This day is going to be better than she thought it would.
"Emily, sweetie, are you alright? Remus said that you were acting kinda weirdly earlier," said Lana.
She entered the dormitory and walked over to Emily's bed, which had its curtains drawn.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just a little tired and worn out from all of that studying," said Emily, smiling and drawing the curtains.
"Em, you look a mess!" Lana said. Jesus. Her eyes are bloodshot and she's all pale and clammy. Lana sat down on her bed with her. "Seriously, you can talk to me. There's obviously something going on, and I'm gonna sit on my ass right here until you decide to spill."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Seriously, it's nothing. I was just kinda disappointed since that study date didn't go as planned."
Lana sat and waited for Emily to continue, getting comfortable and taking her time to do so.
"I thought that it was just going to be me and Will, but when I got there Adam Pelham was there too, which totally caught me off guard. I was expecting to spend a nice little afternoon with William under the pretense of studying together for that bitch of a test coming up," said Emily.
Lana sat silently for a while, and Emily looked at her, waiting for her to say something.
"Get up," said Lana, getting up herself.
"What?" said Emily, obviously confused.
"You heard me, get up," said Lana. The clothes that Emily had borrowed from Lily were folded neatly on Lily's bed. She walked over to it and threw them at Emily. "Get dressed. We're going to Hogsmeade."
"What? Why?" Nevertheless, Emily obeyed Lana's commands and started getting dressed to go out.
"Because you and I need some chocolate. And some ice cream. Damn, I can really go for a triple chocolate sundae right now," said Lana.
Emily rolled her eyes. "You're such a freak."
Lana shrugged. "I never said I wasn't," she said, closing the door behind them.
"Where're Lily and Lex?"
"They're both in the common room waiting for us," said Lana, leading Emily down the stairs.
Immediately, the noise level rose several decibels when the two reached the bottom of the stairs.
"There you are! We were looking for you earlier," said Lexi.
"I don't see why you would, but sure," said Emily.
"Come on, let's go. Time for a girl's night out," said Lily, standing up. She pulled Lexi to her feet and stepped over Remus and Peter who were playing Exploding Snap on the floor.
"What about the dinner you promised me, Em?" asked James, looking up at her and pouting.
"You didn't think I was serious, did you?" she said, raising her eyebrows.
James shrugged. "Just hoping to spend more time with you."
"Alright, let's go. I'm famished," said Lexi.
"We'll miss you," said Sirius, grinning maniacally.
"Fuck, I'm bored out of my mind," I said. I sighed and blinked lazily, looking at the world upside down. Candy wrappers and discarded bits of parchment littered the common room floor. I wrinkled my nose. "You know, we live like pigs. This place is filthy."
"Persephone, you say the same thing every day and you never do anything about it. Now get up and sit properly because you're making the blood all rush up into my head," said Madison, flipping her head upside down to put her long brown hair into a ponytail.
"Shut up. The blood's all going to your head since you're upside down, you idiot," I said, rolling my eyes, but getting up anyway. "Whoa… Major head rush," I said, standing up. I attempted walking and ended up falling over, giggling.
"Congratulations, Seph, you've discovered one of the legal highs—head rushes," laughed Madison.
"And now we're going to attempt another one!" I said, getting up and grabbing Madison's hands. "Come on, up you go!" I said, shouting with glee. I heaved Madison up and started spinning her around the common room.
"Jesus, where did you get all of this energy? You're crazy! And you're damn lucky that everyone's at dinner right now," said Madison.
"Faster!" I cried.
We started spinning around even faster and colors that represented couches and tables and lamps started flying past us in a blur.
"Oh my god, imagine if we let go of each other!" said Madison, giggling hysterically.
"Okay, ready? We're gonna stop on three. 3…2…" I started counting down.
"Persephone, no!" cried Madison.
"1!" I let go of Madison's hands and stopped moving. Or at least, moving on purpose.
"Whoa," breathed Madison. She started walking, scratch that, attempting to walk, and tripped over her feet.
I giggled. "What'd you fall over for?" I walked over to Madison, gripping onto chairs and tables as I went to prevent me from losing my balance. I reached her and literally fell into a fit of giggles.
"Madison, stop laughing! You bloody idiot!" I said, laughing at her.
"What the hell, are you guys high or something?" asked Sapphire, Madison's older sister.
"Maybe…" said Madison, giggling.
I had to hold onto my head to keep the room from spinning. Closing my eyes only made it worse.
"Just so you know, we're high legally," I said.
"You guys are like 3 year olds on crack," said Sapphire, shaking her head. She plopped down into an armchair and watched us lying on the floor, giggling like the idiots we are.
"Shouldn't you be going out right now or something? Use that privilege of yours and leave the castle! It's so boring here," said Madison to her sister.
Sapphire shrugged. "I'm not really in the mood to go out. Besides, I already ate."
I shook my head at her. "Sapphire, you've gone daft."
"No, just tired."
"Sapphire, have you visited our dear cousin recently?" asked Madison, suddenly sitting up.
"Who, James? Why?" asked Sapphire, turning to face us.
Madison shrugged. "Just wanted to know how the 7th year Gryffindor boys are, that's all."
Sapphire narrowed her eyes at us. "Do you want to know about anyone in particular?"
"Like who? Who would we, 6th year Ravenclaw girls, possibly be interested in?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know," said Sapphire sarcastically. "James? Sirius? Who knows, you might even fancy Remus, even though he's with Lana. I was a sixth year not too long ago, you know."
"Well, despite what you think of us, we're not interested in any of them," said Madison.
I looked down and examined my ring. Au contraire, my friend. Au contraire.
I rose from bed, thinking about the events that are about to unfurl. The other girls in my dormitory are all asleep already. Except for Bellatrix, of course. She's off fucking Adolphus. And will then probably move on to (insert name here). That little slut.
I stripped down to my underwear, and then pulled on black robes and my cloak. I fastened it around me and then checked to make sure that my roommates are still sound asleep as I pull my hair back into a low ponytail.
A faint hiss emitted from an unknown location in the dark as I moved to open the door to the dormitory.
"Ssh, Bello. I have to take care of some official business. Make sure that no one realizes that I'm gone," I whisper into the darkness.
I step outside into the dimly lit hallway and shiver in anticipation.
As I walk through the Forest, owls hoot around me, leaves rustle, and I hear twigs snap under the weight of some beast. Obviously, I am not alone. I ignore it, however, and let my feet follow a path that they somehow know, leading me to the Dark Lord, to my salvation. I smile to myself, knowing of the work that I will be doing after my initiation. Mudbloods will learn to stop strutting around as if they own everything; they'll realize that they're not as smug as they think they are.
After what seemed like 10 minutes of walking, I come to a halt in a clearing in what I presume is the middle of the woods. There is a merciful opening in the canopy of the trees, allowing one to look up into the night sky with an uninterrupted view. The moon waxes high and bright. It will be a full moon tomorrow, and a certain Gryffindor will feel animal lust and hunger.
I extinguished the small light from my wand tip and waited patiently. Soon, the sound of people Apparating filled the quiet air. I was surrounded by about 10 Death Eaters, all cloaked and masked. One of these men stood proud. He was not masked like the others. This man has such pale skin, that one would think that he is near death. His red eyes were placed in his head in the shape of the eyes of a cat. His long, bony white fingers lovingly stroked the handle of a thin, elegant wand as he put it away.
He slowly and purposefully walked into the center of the circle that the Death Eaters formed and then turned to face me.
My breath caught in my chest. Even though I had heard of him time and time again, I had never come face to face with him. I can't even begin to describe the emotions that I feel right now, except for deep reverence and respect.
"My lord," I breathed, bowing before him.
"Eve Blandus, you have shown your loyalty to my movement during these past couple of months, and your reports have caught my attention. You are an invaluable asset to me, and I would like to acknowledge your presence in this community of believers. But first, you must prove yourself to me one last time," said Lord Voldemort.
I nodded my head, and immediately a man was thrust forward into the circle. I coolly looked at the man, neither caring who he was nor what he did.
"Eve, my dear, you are to kill this man. I understand that you have been taught the Killing Curse. Kill this man, and you will bear the markings of a Death Eater," said Voldemort. His eyes studied me, and they flashed when he spoke of the man.
I turned my gaze on the poor, pathetic excuse of a man. He lay whimpering in the middle of the clearing, begging for mercy and nursing some invisible wound. "P-please, don't. you d-don't know w-w-what you're doing. If you kill me-"
"Shut up," I hissed. And without a second thought, I raised my wand, and immediately a green light filled the clearing, rendering everyone blind for a couple of seconds.
One of the Death Eater's assessments proved the man dead, and Lord Voldemort smiled evilly.
"Excellent," he purred. He approached me, his long, slender fingers reached into a pocket in the inner recesses of his robes, and he produced a wand, which had an unexplainable aura about it. "Lift your sleeve," he ordered.
I tucked my own wand away and did as I was told, watching his wand the entire time.
His icy fingers closed themselves around my left forearm, sending an eerie chill throughout my body. My Lord took his wand and sliced open my arm, and my blood began to run down my arm in the shape of a skull. I gasped at the searing pain, but didn't dare to cry out. I would not show any sign of weakness. As fast as the wound was inflicted upon me, it was healed. The only difference was the tattoo of a black skull with a green snake imprinted on my arm.
Lord Voldemort stepped back into the middle of the circle as I inspected my arm. What caught me unawares was when the entire circle started clapping. I looked up agape, totally caught off guard.
"Oh," I muttered. No one's ever clapped for me before. This is going to be an interesting experience…
Sirius sat at breakfast in the Great Hall only half listening to Peter's rambles about finding a family of rats in some abandoned corridor, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for the post to come in. The sky reflected the general mood of the crowd—it was a brilliant sapphire blue without a cloud in sight. He smiled to himself, thinking about how happy and carefree 90% of the people here are.
"Hey, are you okay? You seem a little out of it," said Emily, putting her hand on Sirius's arm.
"Hm? Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just, you know, waiting for the post to come," answered Sirius, turning his gaze to Emily.
"Who have you been writing to anyway?" asked Lily, totally unattractively shoving a forkful of banana nut pancakes into her mouth.
Emily winced at Lily's actions. She looked down at her own plate and slid a slice of cantaloupe over to the other side with her fork.
Sirius shrugged. "No one, really. It isn't all that important anyway."
"Bullshit. That's a lie if I ever heard one," said James, snorting into his goblet.
"Aw, come off it, mate. Besides, think of it this way—who the hell would I write to?" said Sirius, grinning it off.
At that second, Lexi came running into the Great Hall throwing her messy blonde hair back into a ponytail, with half of it eluding the elastic because of its length.
"Oh my god, I thought I was late for bloody class. You guys are all complete bitches for letting me sleep on like I did. Bloody hell…" muttered Lexi, plopping down next to Lily and helping herself to a massive pile of bacon.
Lana shrugged. "It's your own bloody fault, you bumbling idiot! You told us that you were going to get up in 5 minutes."
"You know to never leave me alone when I say that! After 7 bleeding years, one would think that you would know my morning habits by now," said Lexi, viciously tearing off a piece of bacon with her teeth.
James rose his eyebrows to himself. Poor pig. Turning in its grave right now… Or maybe it's turning on a spit on a rotisserie thing. What I would give for roasted pig right now…
"James, stop drooling. That's completely unattractive," said Lily, throwing a napkin at James.
"Eh," he grunted.
"Oh, excellent. Right on time," said Sirius, checking his watch when he heard the screeches and ruffling feathers of the post owls.
He looked up into the mass of brown, white, gray, and black looking for no owl in particular, but trying to see if any one of them was heading in his direction. He noticed that his friends all around him were getting letters or packages from home. Remus started gloating when he got sent a package of his mum's famous seven layer cookies. A fabulous mix of graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate chips, coconut stuff, some type of nut, and other deliciously redundant ingredients.
When he least expected it, a letter fell into his lap. He eagerly tore open the envelope and began reading.
'Dear Mr. Black,
We are sorry to inform you but the flat that you are trying to purchase on Flatbush Street, London, has been closed on by a couple whose offer was higher than yours.'
Sirius sighed and didn't finish reading the letter. He stuffed it back into the envelope and idly looked around as he stuffed the envelope into his bag.
On his right, Emily started choking on her juice when she started reading her letter, and immediately got up to leave.
"Guys, I have to go. I'll see you later," she said. And without further explanation, she took off for the exit.
"Um, I think I'll go and see what's up. Prongs, save me a seat in class, will you?" said Sirius. He gathered up his belongings and took off at a jog so that he wouldn't lose her.
Sirius found her sitting on the front steps of the school, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth.
"Hey, hey, it's ok. Ssh, it's ok," he said comfortingly, enveloping Emily in an embrace. "What's wrong?" he asked her tentatively.
Emily just buried her face in his shoulder and held up an envelope with a quivering hand.
Keeping one arm around her, he used his other hand to take the envelope and read the letter inside.
"It's from Aunt Christy's lawyer," Emily whispered, her face still in his shoulder. "It's a letter that she wrote to me before she died, along with her will."
Sirius was surprised at the gravity of the letter that he held in his hand. Who in their right fucking minds would ever send this letter to a 17-year-old girl to read over her morning porridge? Those goddamn fuckers.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Emily. I'm so sorry," said Sirius, stroking Emily's back. "If you want, we can go over this together later. We can sort all of this stuff out, okay?"
Emily nodded.
Sirius mentally kicked himself for coming up with such a lame response to something like this. Obviously Christy's death had a huge impact on Emily. Jesus. Sirius cursed the woman for selfishly committing suicide. He knew that some people might consider suicide as something noble in some circumstances like killing themselves for god, country and religion, but he considered it to be something downright selfish. By ending your own misery, you make others' misery multiply at least ten fold.
"Come on, let's go back to the Tower. You should just take it easy for the rest of the day. I can tell our teachers that you're not feeling well," said Sirius, raising Emily's chin with his fingers.
"Yeah, okay. I should really go to class though. I'm being really stupid," said Emily, shaking her head and getting up.
"Bullshit. I'm taking you back to the Tower and you're staying there. McGonagall will understand," said Sirius. He took her bag from her and held the door open.
Emily sighed, knowing that it's useless to argue with Sirius. "Alright, fine. But I'm not taking anymore days off. We've only been at school for like two weeks and I'm already cutting class. Some student I am, huh?"
"Put it this way: we're two weeks into term, and I've already had four detentions," grinned Sirius.
Emily snorted. "God, you're hopeless."
A/n: So that's that. I'm gonna start writing the next chapter tonight. And since I'm out of school already, I'll have more time to write, so hopefully there'll be more updates coming up. Anyway, as always, please review, and I hope that you guys like it! Oh, and check out the stories on my favorite's list. They're all incredible. Ciao darlings.
Here's Your Letter
Blink-182
Cut this skin to the boneFall asleep all alone
Hear your voice in the dark
Lose myself in your eyes
Choke my voice say goodnight as the world falls apart
Fuck I can't let this kill me
Let go
I need some more time to fix this
Here's a letter for you
But the words get confused and the conversation dies
Apologize for this past
Talk some shit take it back
Are we cursed to this life?
Fuck I can't let this kill me
Let go
I need some more time to fix this problem
I need some more time to fix this problem
I need some more time to fix this
I'm talking to the ceiling
My life just lost all meaning
Do one thing for me tonight
I'm dying in this silence
The last star left in heaven
Is falling down to Earth
And do you still feel the same way
Fuck I can't let this kill me
Let go
I need some more time to fix this problem
I need some more time to fix this problem
I need some more time to fix this