"Prince, What did Slughorn want?"
Corvus Augustus Prince looked across the long table and to his right where Warrington sat. His fellow seventh year Slytherin was burly, equal mixes muscle and fat, and had a face that wasn't exactly handsome. The fact that he also had rather poor table manners didn't help manners. But he was a pureblood, so most of his social short comings as Narcissa liked to put it, were overlooked.
He had the right blood after all.
"The usual, I suppose." Corvus refrained from rolling his eyes, but the attempt must not have been as well executed, as both Flint and Pucey leaned in to hear. His fellow seventh years were horrible gossips that would never admit to being such, and since they had seen him walk in late with Professor Slughorn, it was bound to happen that one of them would ask. "Inquiries into my future, as befit my station as Heir Prince, and of course what benefit I would bring to him through our shared connection."
"Was he that sad about the fact that you're basically not taking any N.E.W.T.s?" Flint smirked as he spoke. Long limbed with wiry muscle, Flint didn't have much going for him in the way of family inheritance, but he was deceptively smart.
"Devastated." Corvus said and noted that the doors to the Great Hall had opened in the background. The Sorting Hat was singing another rendition of the same song. He closed his ears to it and kept his eyes firmly away from the incoming first years. All in due time. "Though one mention of politics and I've got him off my back."
"You're just fanning the flames." Pucey frowned. The blond was watching the first years with more focus than Corvus had expected of him. Was he searching for a particular person? He couldn't remember if Pucey had a younger sibling among the incoming first years. "Mark my words, old Sluggly's going to have you in his office devising strategy for your eventual run for Minister, because one mention of politics and he's like a bitch in heat."
"Know much about that, do you?" Warrington smiled and revealed slightly uneven teeth. The guy refused to set them, wanting the imperfection, for some unexplainable reason. It was ever so slightly irritating.
"Don't even start, Warrington, you're still in an intimate relationship with your left hand."
"Like you have anything to say after Parkinson dropped you like a sack of wet potatoes. You sulked about her for a month."
"I did not sulk!" Pucey spoke loudly, drawing curious looks from those who sat around them at the Slytherin table, and a smirk from Delphine Parkinson who sat close enough to hear but not enough to properly engage in the conversation. Pucey flushed slightly as he leaned in and nearly hissed out his words. "There was no dropping of anyone like a sack of potatoes. It was an amicable cessation of courtship."
"Any drier and I'll start to doubt if you two did anything more than hold hands and exchange silted words of affection." Flint said.
"I'll have you know-"
"Keep it to yourself, Pucey." Corvus interrupted. As much as he was friends – or close acquaintances – with all of his fellow seventh years, he had no desire to hear about their sex lives, existent or not. Things were already complicated enough, and he didn't need mental scarring on the list. "No one needs to hear it, and you have more important things to be doing anyway, like waving back at that rather enthusiastic eleven-year-old."
The rest of his group turned to follow his gaze. There, standing next to another girl that Corvus didn't recognize, was presumably Pucey's younger sister. Corvus didn't remember her name, yet she had started waving at him the moment his eyes had passed over her, so they probably had met before. Warrington then snickered, which turned into a pained grunt, and Corvus caught the sight of Pucey slipping his wand back into his robes before he turned and smiled at his sister.
Children, Corvus thought with a small smile which was slowly soured, yet most of them are all too sympathetic to pureblood elitism.
He chided himself for drifting and refocused on the Sorting, which had started off with a first year heading to Ravenclaw table, to the light applause of those in the Great Hall. Flint and Pucey started to wager who would be sorted where while Warrington simply sat back and watched with a bored expression. Corvus on the other hand paid very close attention to the Sorting, as Severus was one of the incoming first years, and some of the others would have big roles to play.
That was, if Corvus utterly failed at changing anything, something that would not happen. Merlin's beard, he'd spent all too long planning this, and he'd be damned if that effort came to nothing.
"Black, Sirius!"
Everyone at the Slytherin table watched with a little more focus as Sirius Black made his way to the little wooden stool. Corvus spared a glance at Narcissa, who sat calmly beside Alexander, with not a hint of what she was actually feeling showing on her face. Ice Queen of Slytherin indeed. A controlled composure that didn't break as subtle wagers were made all around. Anyone who was anyone in pureblood social circles knew something about the willfulness of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black's direct line heir.
Corvus, and the second years from the looks of it, were the only ones who sat easy as the hat was placed on Sirius' head. He already knew what was going to happen, which name was going to be shouted, so there was no reason to stress over it if the outcome was a given. Most of the second-year students probably didn't even care which way the Sorting went, more focused on school and themselves, than anything else.
But that didn't mean he couldn't profit off of it.
He was a Slytherin after all.
"Ten galleons says that he's a Gryffindor." Corvus said and Pucey sputtered. Warrington snorted and quickly accepted the wager, while Flint glanced back at Sirius for a moment, and then smirked as he declined.
"He's a Black." Pucey said as the Sorting Hat took its sweet time on Sirius' head. "He's going to be the future Lord Black. There's no way he's a Gryffindor."
"If you think I'm wrong, then take my wager."
"I will." Pucey even got ten galleons out and placed them on the long table. He looked smug as word traveled down the table of the wager. Corvus spotted Alexander pointedly not looking Narcissa's way while the twins flashed identical grins his way. "You may be smart, Prince, but there are just some things that-"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Corvus watched as Pucey's mouth hung open along with several others at their table. Indeed, there were many shocked faces around the Great Hall, from the Slytherins, pureblood Ravenclaws, all of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, as well as Professor Slughorn who looked like he had been petrified for a moment. Then, as suddenly as the Great Hall fell shock silent, it filled with the noise of students and staff whispering to one another. All because Sirius Black was Sorted into Gryffindor.
"Thank you for the kind donation to my Ministry campaign budget." Corvus said as he took the ten galleons in hand and slipped them into his pocket. He kept one of them in his waistcoat for good measure.
"The hat must have made a mistake." Pucey looked more confused than shocked now. The Sorting continued, if a little stilted on McGonagall's part, in the background. The next couple of firsties were no one of real consequence. "That's the only explanation. Sirius Black should be a Slytherin."
"Well, he's not," Warrington sounded like he was already bored of their conversation. Politics, blood based or not, never really interested the guy. "and good riddance. We've already got enough pompous arseholes waltzing about the Common Room. Its turning into a damn menagerie with all the family sigils waved around."
"You're right about that." Flint smirked and looked down the long table. Corvus followed his gaze and found that it landed on Narcissa. She had no overt reaction on her face and was simply making conversation with Alexander, who looked rather uncomfortable, and he was doing all the hand motions indicative of a quidditch story retelling. "Though it is a blow to house pride. There's never been a Black that hasn't been Sorted into Slytherin, until now that is."
"More than just a blow to house pride." Pucey shook his head. "Its spitting in the face of it. The kid even has the gall to look happy about his Sorting." They all looked over at the Gryffindor table and found a smiling Sirius already chatting with his new housemates. "I've got no doubt that there will be Howlers flying through when word gets out."
"What?" Warrington asked. "Don't fancy hearing a Gryffindor get a dressing down?"
"Not when its Walburga Black doing the yelling." Pucey said and both Corvus and Flint grimaced at that. Yule Balls at the Black Manor were always interesting, in all the wrong ways, and usually ended in drunken screaming matches and at least three duels.
"Remind me to skip breakfast for the next week." Flint muttered. "That woman has the voice of a harpy."
"Evans, Lily!"
Corvus made sure to show no outward reaction. Why would he, a pureblood heir, be interested in the Sorting of some nobody first-year? It would raise too much suspicion on his part, so he simply focused on Warrington as he started to regale about the travesty that was last year's Yule Ball at the Malfoy Manor, while keeping one ear open to the Sorting itself.
"Those damn peacocks shit everywhere," Warrington was saying. "and not a single duel took place, which was disappointing to say the least. Black looked like she wanted to hex Malfoy's balls off more than once during that night."
"You might have been drunk, Warrington." Corvus said and privately wondered what the hell was taking the Sorting Hat so long. Lily Evans was almost as Gryffindor as it got. "Narcissa does not simply get annoyed at someone, not visually, and if Malfoy had truly gotten a reaction out of her, we'd have all attended his funeral."
"Seems like you know a lot about her." Flint said, his tone hinting at something more, which Corvus did not appreciate. "Manage to thaw our Ice Queen's heart, have we?"
"Unlikely," Pucey said immediately, which left Corvus more than a little bewildered, and sent Warrington into a chuckle. "Prince here is still engaged in that casual relationship with the Hufflepuff girl, right?"
"Oh, right!" Warrington slapped the long table and had a grin on his face. "How could we have forgotten about her? Pert arse, nice tits, and long strawberry blonde hair. You never did tell us how you managed to get Amelia Bones to drop her knickers for you."
That last sentence was accompanied by waggling eyebrows on Warrington's part, while Pucey flushed slightly, and Flint flashed his ever-present smirk. Corvus did his best to frown at them all. His relationship with Amelia was little more than casual sex born out of a chance encounter during her prefect patrol after curfew, but it was also a private relationship, so he wondered how these three idiots managed to get in on the know. Had someone snooped in on them?
"Not another word, Warrington." Corvus said and leveled a look at his fellow Slytherin. Once the guy was sufficiently cowed, which wasn't by much, Corvus smirked. "Just because you can't snag anyone doesn't mean you can live vicariously through me."
Flint guffawed at that while Pucey snickered with red cheeks. Warrington took a moment to understand what had been said and then he was laughing while also looking offended. Corvus grinned and chuckled along with them, it felt easy to do so, and then moved the conversation to other subjects.
He did not chance a glance towards the Hufflepuff table, not even when Flint started to regale them about his supposedly exiting summer, which caused Pucey to roll his eyes at how ridiculously embellished the-
"SLYTHERIN!"
Corvus snapped his attention towards the Sorting Hat sitting upon the little redhead. What the fuck? He looked around to make sure he hadn't suddenly experienced an auditory hallucination. What the actual fuck is going on? Warrington glanced over his shoulder for a moment before he turned back, lacking interest, so he too had heard what the Sorting Hat had said. Flint did much the same, his back facing the other three long tables, while Pucey only had a slightly thoughtful expression on his face as he sat besides Corvus. They both watched as Lily Evans, with her now very green and silver tie, took off the Sorting Hat and made her way over to the Slytherin table.
This was not supposed to happen. Corvus spared a single momentary glance down the Slytherin table and found Evans sitting next to a first-year girl he didn't even remember the name of. She's supposed to be a Gryffindor! What the hell caused the change? Why is she in Slytherin?
The conversation around him started up again after that. His friends didn't seem to notice anything amiss with Lily Evans' Sorting or his reaction to it, which he counted as small blessings, since he was going through all the plans he had to readjust while keeping half an ear on the conversation. It changed everything. With Evans in Slytherin, Severus would have a friend – nay, a close confidant – for all seven years at Hogwarts, if the secret of her parentage never got out. Unlikely as that was, it still meant that they would be closer, but it also changed the dynamic in Gryffindor. It would only serve to heighten the rivalry between the Marauders and Severus.
And this is all hinging on the assumption that she survives her first year in Slytherin, Corvus thought to himself as the Sorting continued on, in a house which has never had a Muggle-born student and for the most part reluctantly tolerates them.
He didn't even pay attention to the rest of the Sorting, more occupied with reworking his plans, and adding the occasional comment into the conversation going on around him. It had something to do with their upcoming N.E.W.T.s. Whatever it was about, Warrington was against it, while Pucey was for it, and Flint played both sides. Corvus avoided choosing a side entirely.
When everyone else had finally been Sorted, all of them – Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and everyone else of lesser importance – going to their proper houses like he had expected of them, Dumbledore started the feast.
"I'm telling you, Dumbledore plays favorites." Pucey said as he loaded his plate equal amounts of vegetables and meat. "Both Head Boy and Head Girl are Gryffindors, again."
"What did you expect?" Flint had a steak covered in sauce on his plate which he was attacking with vigor. "Its not like he was ever going to choose a Slytherin for either position."
"Corvus could have gotten it." Warrington said around a mouthful of chicken leg. He spewed bits of it down onto his plate.
"No, I couldn't have gotten the position even if I wanted it, which I don't." Corvus shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth, barely acknowledged the delicious flavor, and then swallowed it. "You need to be a prefect to even be eligible, and I have successfully avoided prefect duty, even with Slughorn's pestering."
"He does have a point though." Pucey said. "You consistently get some of the highest marks in our classes, and you ace all of the practical exams. I mean, you're even datin-" Corvus sent him a look. "-er, you're involved in a relationship with Bones, who's a prefect herself, so it would make sense. Slughorn is always going on about power-couples after all."
"I'd wager that he'll still try to pair you and Black up." Flint said. "If only to spur Malfoy into making a real effort in courting her. Look at him."
They all turned to look down the long table towards the sixth-year section. Narcissa was speaking with Malfoy, though it looked like she was only doing so because her meat shield in Alexander had joined the rest of the quidditch team for the preseason huddle, and it looked like the conversation was actually going somewhere. Pucey said something that Corvus hadn't quite caught as his gaze shifted further down the long table.
There, sitting beside the redheaded Muggle-born, was Severus Snape. His cousin looked happy, if a little guarded, as he ate his dinner. The rest of the firsties were doing that little game of seeing who stood where in the social hierarchy, trying to size up their competition, and Corvus could only hope that they were not too vicious. Slytherin House had its reputation for a reason after all.
He wretched his gaze away from them and turned back to his food. Appetite had mostly left him, but he forced himself to eat, mechanically going through the motions. Halfway through desert – treacle tart which Corvus found no joy where he usually did – the little girl that Pucey had been looking at during the Sorting came up to them. Blonde haired and short in stature, he vaguely recalled her name being Abigail Pucey, and that she was a hugger. It was a cute sight, if slightly embarrassing on Pucey's part, and it only got better when Delphine Parkinson was given a hug as well. Warrington gibed Pucey about it only after the first-year student had left.
By dinner's end, Corvus had some semblance of a plan rolling through his mind, and he hung to the back as the rest of Slytherin House started to make their way towards the dungeons. Toyne and Urquhart – the seventh-year prefects – were leading the way, with their fifth-year counterparts dealing with the first years, and the sixth-year prefects left to meander somewhere in the middle. The Hufflepuffs had their common room close by, so the two houses walked side by side for part of the journey, and Corvus suddenly found himself with a walking partner.
"You look like you've chewed on a half-digested lemon."
Corvus started at that, not expecting those words to be stringed together in the slightest, and he turned to meet those blue eyes surveying him with slight concern. Amelia Bones looked well put together in her Hogwarts robes, the orange and black of Hufflepuff accenting them, and her prefect badge hanging from her lapel. Strawberry blonde hair framed a sharp face with high cheekbones, and it was a manicured eyebrow that was raised as he continued to look upon her face, a slight hint of pink coloring her cheeks.
"Before I respond to that, I do have to ask," Corvus ignored the way Warrington gave him a horribly hidden wink while Pucey tried to subtlety nudge him. Flint was simply smirking at the two of them as they walked at the back of the Slytherin column. "do you have a little book with all these phrases? I swear you come up with a new one each time we talk."
"I'm glad you like them." Amelia said in way of an answer. He was still curious about if she simply thought them all up on the spot or not. "Though I couldn't help but notice that very unflattering frown marring that handsome face." She gave him a smile that had him questioning if she was flirting with him or teasing him. The fact that they occasionally slept together just made it all the more complicated. "I can think of a couple different expressions that could replace it."
Okay, this is definitely flirting. Corvus simply raised an eyebrow of his own at her. She bit her lip. And it has been an entire summer since our last conversation.
"Don't you have some prefect duties to take care of, Ms. Bones?" Corvus asked as he leaned in slightly. Not close enough to suggest anything untoward, but enough that only she would be able to hear his words, and hear them she did if her pinking cheeks were anything to go by.
"Indeed, I do." They had arrived at the point where the two houses split, the Slytherins heading down into the dungeons, whilst the Hufflepuffs headed down the hallway towards the Hufflepuff Common Room hidden behind a couple barrels near the kitchens. Something which Corvus was totally not supposed to know. "First watch, patrolling the seventh floor, with Stuart."
Corvus got a look from Amelia which he understood immediately. First watch started immediately after curfew, which started ten o'clock at night for the entire school and went until two in the morning, which was four hours. He knew that Amelia had picked the seventh floor for one reason, the Room of Requirement, which the two of them had stumbled upon during first year. When things had gotten more physical in their relationship, it had been the obvious choice for a clandestine rendezvous, for the room always provided what the user required. The fact that she was patrolling with Grace Stuart of Ravenclaw was just the icing on the cake.
Almost everyone at Hogwarts knew that Grace spent most of her patrols reading.
"I'll be there," Corvus whispered and then stepped back and moved to join the last Slytherins making their way towards the stairs leading to the dungeons. "and good night to you, Bones."
He caught sight of a couple of Amelia's fellow dormmates – all of whom were blushing – give her knowing looks as he turned his back. They were all probably friends with one another, Hufflepuff was basically one big hug pile, so they probably wouldn't have any ulterior motives. If they did, well, he knew that Amelia could take care of herself.
The stairs were taken two at a time, and during that time he went over his readjusting plans, while also working to wipe the grin off his face. He hadn't realized how much he had missed Amelia until right then. By the time he reached the dungeons and the Slytherin Common Room entrance he was among the last to enter, with Flint leaning against a bare stretch of stone, marked as the entrance simply because it had a snake torch sconce.
"You didn't have to wait up for me." Corvus said.
"Had to make sure you weren't kidnapped by a particular Hufflepuff." Flint smirked and dodged the Stinging Hex that Corvus sent at him. "She looked like she wanted to mount you right then and there, in front of all the innocent eyes."
"Shut it, before I hex your balls off, or let Amelia do it to you."
"Getting a little defensive there my friend, one would think my words were hitting their mark, or that there was a mark to hit in the first place."
Corvus didn't deign that remark with an answer, simply stepping through the still open entrance, and walked into the Common Room. The firsties were getting the orientation by the fifth-year prefects, Shafiq doing most of the talking while Bletchley frowned with his arms crossed, while Slughorn stood proudly beside them. Corvus didn't doubt that both of them would soon be Slug Club members, because if they made it to being prefects, they were all but guaranteed to be in Slughorn's sights.
The entrance shut as Flint came through, snapping into place with an audible click, which drew some glances. Corvus didn't recognize most of the newly minted Slytherin firsties. He had probably met them at some holiday ball or social function but didn't care to remember their names. However, there were some he did recognize. Severus, he was now finding out, had greasy hair even as an eleven-year-old. Lily Evans was quite possibly the shortest person of the group. And Pucey's little sister, Abigail, if only because she offered him a smile and a wave when she spotted him.
"Ah! Speaking of fine examples to follow, allow me to introduce you all to two of Slytherin Houses best students!" Slughorn said and gestured to them. Corvus covered the smirk as Flint faltered slightly in his step. While he was smart, Flint had made it so that he flew just under the gaze of the professors, doing well enough in their classes but not exceptionally so. "Corvus Prince and Nicolas Flint."
Corvus felt one set of eyes on him more keenly than the others as he offered a respectable nod of the head. Flint did much the same, his lips set into a somewhat neutral line, standing at his full height. Slughorn regaled the firsties about what excellent grades the two of them had achieved, expounding on how they should follow in the example the two of them had set, before letting them go on. Corvus noted the way that Severus' gaze followed him as he went, somewhat calculating, and clearly apprehensive.
What did Aunt Eileen tell him to expect out of us? Did she vilify us or encouraged him to act cautiously? Corvus wondered as he made his way towards the central fireplace in the Common Room. There were several sofas, loveseats, and chaise arrayed around it. Sitting on one of them was his brother Alexander, hosting what looked like a quidditch meeting with members from last year's team, and Corvus decided to let him be for the moment. The real work could wait until the next day when they were all well rested.
And Severus probably has enough to deal with at the moment. No need to drag family drama while he still has to settle in for the school year and deal with his new dormmates.
"Corvus, darling, how are you doing?" A silky voice called out as he was making his way towards the dorms. It wasn't even curfew yet, so he didn't really have an excuse to snub her, and he found himself turning.
"Parkinson." Corvus gave Delphine Parkinson a conservative glance before focusing on her face. His fellow Slytherin was very well dressed, finest clothes that galleons could buy, and he had never seen her makeup in any other condition than perfect. She was also rather tall, near his own height, and it was no secret that she enjoyed the attention.
"Call me Delphine, dear," Parkinson gestured to the space beside her. The loveseat she sat on was in a more secluded part of the Common Room, pressed against a corner, with the soft green glow of the Black Lake following through a nearby window. "we are friends after all."
"More like amicable acquaintances." Corvus said and remained standing. Parkinson pursed her lips slightly at that. "And that's really only because you and Pucey were courting, and I make an effort to befriend those my friends care for, even if some are more deserving than others."
"It was never going to work between Jason and I, not truly, but that doesn't mean you and I can't still be friends." Parkinson flashed him an innocent smile. He was not so easy deceived. "After all, we've known each other since childhood, and you always did enjoy my company."
"What if I said I only tolerated it because the balls we went to were truly dull?" Corvus took the open space on the loveseat, keeping distance between them.
"I'd call you a liar. You always looked dreadfully bored cooped up a corner with a book in your lap. If it weren't for me, you'd have turned out as a truly dull Slytherin, like Rookwood."
"Yes, and what a fate you saved me from, seeing as Rookwood's already received an offer from the Department of Mysteries." Corvus was a little wary about the guy. So distant, closed off, and mostly unreadable. An unknown in a time where unknowns were dangerous.
"Please, you would sooner join the Chudley Cannons than work for the Ministry, and if I hadn't consistently pulled you out of those corners than you wouldn't have been able to enjoy my wonderful conversations."
"What do you want, Delphine?" He conceded to using her name, if only to get a faster response, as curfew was fast approaching.
"So hasty, Corvus, one would think you had somewhere to be." Parkinson smirked but quickly changed tact as he moved to stand. "Wait, I actually do want to speak with you, on a serious matter." He aborted the movement and waited. "I'm sure you have heard about certain, meetings, that some of our former classmates have been attending."
"I may have." He certainly had heard about the supposed meetings. Not in detail, but the veiled words and coded language only meant so many things, and the whispers had been ever prevalent during the previous summer holiday. It had made the upcoming war very tangible. "What is it to you?"
"Me? I couldn't care less." Parkinson inspected her cuticles as if to show how little she cared. He suspected that she was deflecting. "But one can't help but listen, if only to be informed, especially about a growing political movement."
Nice way of saying terrorist focused on blood purity. Corvus thought but simply looked at Parkinson with a neutral expression. "I would advise caution, Delphine, if only to spare you from the harmful effects of politics. It can get rather bloody at times, and you already know where I stand on the issue, so don't make a decision whilst half informed. I would suggest thinking it over, really researching it, and then we'll speak on it again."
Parkinson had her lips set in a line, brow furrowed slightly, green eyes on his own. He did not look away and eventually Parkinson offered the slightest of nods. Corvus returned it, then bid her a good night and stood, making his way towards a more populated part of the Common Room. He hoped that Parkinson would truly think about the entire concept of blood purity, conclude that it was utter nonsense, and choose to not swear herself to a dark lord hell bent on power.
Then the sound of a bell rang through the castle. Curfew had arrived and most ignored it. The firsties had already headed off to their dorms and everyone else was still lingering around the Common Room. Alexander was still talking about quidditch with the rest of the team. Antonius and Marcellus had made an appearance, speaking with Slughorn who had yet to retreat to his office. Narcissa had was still putting up with Malfoy. Warrington and Pucey were bickering about something, while Flint had most likely headed to bed early.
Everyone was more or less occupied.
Which worked out rather well, as Corvus intended to work some stress off, and Amelia was expecting him. He applied a Disillusionment Charm to himself, checked to make sure no one was watching, and then slipped out of the Common Room with not a sound.