Chapter 10 - [Pt.4]
"You're late"
"By 3 minutes Black. I'd hardly called that late, and what are you doing in the Headmasters chair?" replied a very flustered looking Lily Evans.
"I wanted to see what the view was like," Antares said whilst standing up and descending the stairs, "Although I must say your appearance really does improve the overall aesthetic of the room".
Lily only half blushed at Blacks compliment as he walked passed her and into the entrance hall, before following him out of the room.
"Where to first?" asked Lily as she fell into step beside Antares.
"Uh-uh" grinned Antares, "You're the boss Evans, I'm just along for the ride".
"What are you even doing here anyway Black? Professor McGonagall only said that you were covering for Remus, not the reason why".
"As punishment for not conforming to Professor Graves demands in Defence Against the Dark Arts class the other day" replied Antares as they turned down a dimly lit corridor.
"What kind of demands?" asked Lily curiously, "I had him the other day and he seems like a good enough teacher to me".
"He wanted me to duel Helena. I refused. He gave me detention and here I stand" shrugged Antares, as if was the simplest explanation in the world.
Lily nodded her head, understanding the reasoning behind his actions.
"I heard about your betrothal to Greengrass, it's all anybody can talk about," admitted Lily after a while, "You have my congratulations by the way".
"It's hardly a thing worthy of celebrating" remarked Antares.
Lily frowns, unsure of what she was hearing. She would have assumed that being betrothed to Helena Greengrass was something Black would be happy about. Apparently that wasn't the case. She wandered why he would have chosen to marry someone he obviously didn't like. She decided to voice her thoughts.
"Why even be betrothed to her then?"
"Like it's my choice to marry her," chuckled Antares, "my parents made the arrangements".
"Why would they do such a thing? Knowing that it makes you unhappy?" asked Lily as she turned to face him, her expression softening somewhat.
"But shouldn't you have a say in the matter?"
"It doesn't work like that Evans. Not in my world at least".
"But why doesn't it Antares? Why should they get to dictate the rest of your life for you?"
"Just drop it Evans. You wouldn't understand anyway" replied Antares quietly.
But Lily wouldn't drop it. She wanted to know why
"Then make me. Make me understand. Make me understand why you're betrothed to someone you don't love. Why your ruining your life for the sake of your parent's approval." asks Lily, her green eyes boring into his, looking for something only she knew what.
"Of course I would," snapped Antares loudly, "Don't you think I want that? I want a wife who loves me for who I am, I want to kiss her and make love to her because it is what we both want, not because some contract stipulates it must be so. And yet I live everyday knowing that such fantasies will never be reality, that I am destined to do as my family commands and marry someone I know nothing about because it is expected of me. I do it because it's what a pureblood is supposed to do. It's what I'm supposed to do".
Antares turned away from an open mouthed Lily, and began to walk away from her.
"Antares. Wait. Antares come back, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Lily called to Antares's retreating form.
Antares came to a stop. He hadn't meant to get angry at her, but she had brought up all of his own insecurities with her constant questions regarding his betrothal. The same sort of questions he had asked himself since his father had walked into his bedroom and told him he was to be betrothed to Helena Greengrass.
"I'm sorry Evans. I didn't mean to snap at you back there" admitted Antares as Lily finally stood in front of him once more.
"I'm sorry too" replied Lily, "I shouldn't have tried to pry into your business. It's none of my business who you choose to marry".
"Tell me about yourself Evans" said Antares after a while, trying to dissipate the awkward silence that had developed between them.
"uhh Sure" replied Lily uncertainly, "What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about your life before Hogwarts. Before you knew you were a Witch. Tell me what it's like growing up a Muggle".
What followed was an hour-long discussion of Antares asking Lily various questions about what it was like growing up in the Muggle world, how certain things worked and what it was like growing up without the aid of Magic.
Some of the things Lily had told him sounded very fascinating, and others downright scary. He especially like the sound of something called a 'car', Lily described it something similar to a train, but much smaller and without the need for tracks. The way she described her world and her upbringing made him wander if Muggles were actually as horrid as his family had described to him. It unsettled him how much he neglected to learn about the people he had thought of as savages. His general opinion of them hadn't changed of course. It would take more than a few anecdotes to change his mind about them, but the situation definitely called for reassessment in the future.
Eventually there shift came to an end and the two of them found themselves in front of the portrait of the fat lady. Being a Prefect meant that Antares knew the location to all of the school dormitories.
"Thanks again for walking me back to the dorms Antares. You really didn't have to though."
"No problem Evans. A pretty lady should never walk alone at night. Even in a school as safe as Hogwarts" replied Antares, his most charming smile once again in full effect.
"I enjoyed our conversation tonight. It was nice getting to know the real Antares Black" said Lily, smiling brightly at him, her cheeks tinged a light shade of pink.
"I did also. It was … refreshing, and insightful, to say the least. You've given me a lot to think about where Muggles are concerned" Antares admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm glad you think so. Who knows, maybe one day I'll even give you a tour of Muggle London"
"I'd like that" said Antares, giving her a warm smile.
"Well, I uh, I guess I should head on up to bed. My friends are probably wondering where I am" commented Lily after she had whispered the password to a very annoyed Fat Lady.
Antares smiled at her softly. "Goodnight, Lily."
"Goodnight Antares" she whispered to him as she grabbed hold of the door handle, closing the portrait quietly behind her.
It was only when she was on the other side of the portrait hall that she realised he had called her by her name for the first time. Grinning to herself, she couldn't help but have a slight spring in her step as she made her way up to her dormitory.
Humming slightly to himself, Antares slowly descended the many moving staircases that occupied Hogwarts. From their he made his towards his dormitory in the dungeons. Standing in front of the Portrait of Salazar Slytherin, he quickly gave the password ('Serpent's Lore') and made his way into the still very populated common room.
Xavier, Sophia and Caroline were still up, sitting in front of the fireplace with several of the other 6th years. Huddled in a dark corner of the room was his brother Regulus and his brothers friend Severus Snape. They weren't alone however, at least 7 others were with them, all of them older than his brother.
"I'm back. Did any of you miss me" said Antares jokingly as he took seat in the last empty chair beside the fireplace.
"It's about time Ares," commented Caroline with a huff, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "You were supposed to be back twenty minutes ago".
"Yeah, sorry about that. Patrol took longer than I thought it would. What's been happening whilst I've been gone" he asked them.
"Not a lot. Homework mostly, McGonagall's essay on switching spells is particularly brutal this year" replied Jensen Sayre, a tall, average looking, fifth year student that often hung out with them in the common room.
"Switching spells are easy. Wait until you get to Human Transfiguration, then you'll really know the meaning of brutal" said Sophia with an evil grin, the others nodded their heads in agreement.
Human transfiguration was the most difficult and most dangerous branch of transfiguration. was a reason it was only taught at N.E.W.T Level. One wrong mistake could kill you. Become proficient enough at the subject however, provided endless possibilities and a multitude of uses.
Advanced Magic seemed for to be the favoured topic of discussion for the night, all of them discussing which branch of each subject was the hardest. With the most popular opinion being that Transfiguration was clearly the winner, followed closely by rune-chains in Ancient Runes.
"I think I'm going to hit the sack. I'll see you guys in the morning" he said, getting to his feet.
He was halfway across the common room when he heard it. Someone had Voldemort mentioned from the direction of his brothers group.
He was halfway across the room when he heard mention of something he had not expected to hear in his own common room, especially from his own blood.
"And your certain about all this? About his plans, and his power?" asked Regulus Black in a hushed whisper.
"One hundred percent. He wants to restore the wizarding world to its former glory, promising to clear the world of all Mudbloods and Blood Traitors. He also promises power and wealth to all of those wise enough to join him from the ground level of his operation" replied, a seventh year Slytherin by the name of Curtis Selwyn.
Curtis Selwyn would describe himself average wizard. From his brown hair and brown eyes, to his average height and average ability at magic. So when he his father had introduced him to someone who said he could give him the power and respect he deserved, he had of course accepted. Recruiting his fellow students was his first mission.
"How do we know that he will actually follow through with these plans, or that he is worthy of following. Any wizard can claim to want to change the world, but few are willing to actually do what it takes to make a difference" asked Severus Snape, a fifth year Slytherin who was good friends with his brother.
"That's enough Selwyn! I won't have you corrupt my brother with your delusions of grandeur" commanded Antares, finally making his presence known to the group of teenagers. The room became deathly silent in an instant, all of the occupants turning around to see what all the commotion was about.
"Antares, I -" began Regulus.
"Quiet Regulus. I'll deal with you later" commanded Antares, glaring down at his youngest brother.
"Whatever you say Black" said Selwyn as he got to his feet, "But I'd hardly call them delusions. There's a new power in the world and it's only a matter of time before everybody knows it. I would have thought that, given your family's reputation, that you would be supportive of our movement".
"I may be a pureblood Selwyn and my family may be anti-muggle. But that doesn't mean we want all of them dead," replied Antares, "To side with this monster will be political and economic suicide, not to mention downright suicidal. None of which I intend to indulge in."
"Your wrong Black, You'll see." said a now smirking Selwyn. "Power and glory await those who are loyal to the cause, especially to those who prove themselves worthy".
"Your dreaming if you think he'll share his power with you," Antares sneered, "He would see you bow before him like the lowly creature you are. If History has taught us anything, it's that Dictators don't share power".
Selwyn's eyes narrowed at the insult, but he remained from drawing his wand. Antares Black was a fearsome dueller and there was no way he was going to do anything in front of so many witnesses. Black would get his comeuppance in the future, he would make sure of it.
Looking around the room, Antares saw that he had caught the attention of everyone in the common room, and more than half them looked upon with complete and utter confusion. This was the perfect opportunity to impart some knowledge on his housemates, lest anyone else get anymore thoughts about joining Voldemort in the future.
Clearing his throat loudly, Antares turned around so that he was facing the rest of his house. Clearing his throat, he began to speak.
"Listen up, students of Slytherin House. No doubt all of you have heard about the attack on the various Muggles over the last several weeks. Of the countless deaths of men, women and children at the hands of several unknown wizard and witches."
Upon seeing their nodding heads, he continued speaking.
"Well the person responsible for these attacks goes by the name of Lord Voldemort. And this wizard, this so-called Lord Voldemort, claims to want to bring about a golden age of Wizardry, and to do this he has promised to bring end to all Mudbloods, Blood-traitors and Muggles. To make it so that we do not have to hide who we are from the outside world. No doubt he will promises power, riches and glory to those who follow him, but what he really offers is a lifetime of servitude, unimaginable pain, and even death. He will see you bow before him, enslaved to his every will. Making you do as he commanded and torturing you if you refused. He would see us caught up in a civil war, a war that nobody here wants. He would pit brother against brother, father against son and friend against friend, and would laugh at the chaos he would cause. You may very well join this Voldemort in hope that he may share but a fraction of his power, but a man who is willing to do anything in order to get what he wants, isn't a man to follow."
"Heed my words," said Antares, his piercing grey eyes looking around the room, assessing each of his housemates individually "each and every one of you. Siding with this murderer will be the worst decision you'll ever make".
Casting one last look around the room, he turned on his heel and made his way towards his room, but not before one last parting statement.
"oh and Selwyn" called Antares over his shoulder, "involve my brother, or any of his friends, in any more conversations regarding this so called Voldemort, and you'll have me to deal with".