((( Let us start our journey with how it all began...obviously..)))
A cold wind rushed over Candis and Severus as they plummeted through the dark pensieve. Not long after touching their noses to the silvery surface, Severus's feet touched solid ground, landing gracefully. He was no stranger to doing this. That was more than could be said for Candis, who's knees gave way beneath her, making her face meet the ground. She immediately got back on her feet, nearly tripping over her robes as she did so, and finished it off by dusting her cloths with her hand and looking around as if nothing had happened. She paused, her crimson eyes darting to her left and landing on Severus, who was watching her with a cocky smirk.
"...What?" she asked, her expression of pure indignancy. "It's not like I do this every bloody day.." she grumbled, glaring up at him.
"I've noticed." he said smoothly, his expression unchanging.
"...Shut it." Candis snapped, reaching into the pockets of her robes. She pulled out what looked like a black and silver remote control that would go with a muggle TV, but instead it was very thin, seemingly lacking any electronics. Severus looked at it apprehensively as Candis waved it in front of his face. "I may not be as experienced in entering pensieves as you, but I believe I'm the one who actually bothered to make a control for it" she said with a smirk.
"you made it?.." Severus asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I had hoped to leave with all my limbs intact.." His smirk broadened at the glare Candis gave him, one that would chill a dementor, yet he seemed unfazed.
Grumbling to herself, Candis fiddled with the remote then pointed it in front of them. "I'll show you then...Just shut it and watch" She pressed a button and suddenly everything around them changed.
A forest, huge bushes carved in the shape of serpents, then a vine covered mansion appeared before them. They were standing in the middle of a courtyard. The serpent shrubs were standing guard on either side of the rod-iron gate leading to the mansion, their lengthy bodies forming many large arches that followed a cobblestone path leading to a set of marble steps, at the top of which was a huge ebony door. In the center of the door was engraved a giant family crest, a vampire and serpent on either side of an ornate symbol for potions and alchemy. The skies were cloudy, but not dark as early evening fell over the grounds.
Severus looked around at the scene with mild interest, his eyes falling on the massive mansion before him. "This place is somewhat reminiscent of Malfoy Manor. What memory is this?" He asked as he glared down at her in curiosity.
Candis gave him a light smirk as she looked over the courtyard. "This is, or was, my home...Poisonblood Estate. I grew up here for the..er..first 9 years of my life...needless to say, we were a rich family." she said, her smirk becoming more defined as she took off down the path, a bit more strut to her step than usual.
Severus followed close behind, taking in every detail, his interest noticeably peaked. "Oh, you're so modest Candis.." he said with a smirk, walking clear through the front door after her and into a very expensive looking foyer and sitting room. Candis pressed another button on the remote, and movement could be heard nearby.
Two young children could be heard laughing down a dark hallway, their quick footsteps growing louder until they ran into the sitting room. One looked to be about nine years old, the other about seven. The eldest of the two was a thin girl with cold black eyes and spiked hair, her bangs covering one eye. Her expensive looking black robes flared behind her as she chased after her younger brother who was laughing loudly and shooting pretend curses at her with a long glass stick. He was just as thin and pale as his sister, his black silky hair falling just above his icy blue eyes.
Candis pressed another button and the scene suddenly paused, the children left suspended in the air as they lept over the sofa. "Yes?" she asked in a sigh, turning her attention to Severus who had been looking at the kids in a way that screamed he was going to speak and interrupt. He gave her a smirk "Sometimes I feel you know me -too- well.." he drawled, walking up to the frozen children and examining them. "Is this.."
"Yes, it's me." she said simply. "I think that now would be an appropriate time to show you why I despise aurors so much, which would be much easier without interruption...just saying" she shrugged and returned his smirk. Severus just scoffed as she clicked the button again and movement continued.
"Damien you brat! Give me back my stirring rod!" roared young Candis as she slashed her hand out to grab his robes, missing by inches. The two ran about the sitting room, jumping over furniture and running in circles around the big glass table in the center of the room.
"Avada Kedavra!" Damien yelled, giggling as he waved the glass stirring rod around. Even at a young age Candis was always working with potions kits, her pureblood parents always rich enough to buy her the best, though often times the best would get stolen by her mischievous younger brother and broken. "Why won't this stupid thing work?" he grumbled.
"MUM!! Damien's been stealing my stirring rods again!!" Candis yelled in desperation as Damien proceeded to tap the rod against the tabletop. Damien rounded a corner into the hallway, only to run right into a very disgruntled looking mother. She was tall and well proportioned with long silver hair down to her lower back and the same icy blue eyes as Damien had. Her arms were crossed as she looked down her long pointy nose at him, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Damien! What have I told you about stealing from your sister?!" she scolded, her voice sharp and waspish. She looked like a woman that had been through a lot in her life, holding a strong air about her that said she was very powerful despite her thin frame.
Damien lowered his head and handed her the stirring rod. "Not to.." he replied quietly. "I'm sorry mother." Candis walked up to them and her mom handed her the rod. She threw a smirk to her brother who glared back and stuck out his tongue.
Their mother sighed and shook her head. "Can't you two ever get along?" she said with a light laugh as she pulled them both to her in a tight hug, ruffling their hair. " Now go tidy up for dinner before you're father gets home" she said, releasing them and pushing them along.
Again Candis pushed the button and the scene paused. Severus looked over to her with a cocked eyebrow. "I wasn't going to interrupt this time you know." he said. Candis looked troubled, not taking her eyes off her mother and brother. Severus looked at her for a moment in silence, his expression showing sympathy and understanding. He now knew what this memory was and knew how hard it must be on her. "Candis..we don't have to.." he said softly, taking her hand and pulling her to him. "you shouldn't relive it, I don't want you to be hurt."
She allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace, wiping away a tear that had ran down her cheek and closing her eyes."No..I want you to see it. You of all people should know what happened." she said as she hid her face in his chest. "I..just won't watch. It's played through my head enough..I don't need this to remember it." Before Severus had another word in the matter, she pressed the button.
"Yes mother." the two replied, bowing their heads to her and turning to head back down the hall. Their mother screamed as a loud bang echoed around the room coming from behind her. "Must you do that?!" she shrieked, grabbing a pillow and whacking a tall handsome man behind her over the head with it. It was Candis's father. He had short black hair gelled back with two long spiky bangs on either side of his equally dark eyes. He was also thin but looked rather built all the same with sharp features and a thin goatee.
"I'm sorry dear but I was in a hurry! I have just returned from a meeting with the Dark Lord and he has told me and several others that that bastard Karkaroff released the names of a good number of death eaters, including us! The ministry has already sent out aurors on raids to kill off those on the list, they'll be here any moment, we must leave now!.." His words of urgency were cut short as ten successive bangs were heard outside. He and his wife looked out the window and gasped.
"Run children!! Run and hide!!" her mother screamed. Suddenly the wall behind them was blasted to pieces, the explosion throwing everyone to the ground. The children screamed and ran as their parents backed up and immediately started firing curse after curse into the cloud of dust where the wall had previously been. Candis slid under a table in the back, her eyes wide with terror. Her brother looked the same as he hid behind an overturned chair.
Both parents looked livid, baring their teeth in ferocious snarls as they protected their children. Aurors swarmed inside, surrounding them and firing curses. Green and red flashes flew back and forth, destroying anything they hit. Both parents seemed to be very skilled at dueling, holding their ground against the aurors even though they were outnumbered five to one. They managed to pull some impressive tricks, ducking curses just in time to have them fly over their heads and hit another auror behind them, who fell to the floor dead. Other curses were reflected back on their senders as the pair succeeded in amazing teamwork, one focusing on blocking enemy spells and the other firing killing curses, taking out several aurors.
By now Candis and Damien were in tears, fully aware of the danger they and their parents were in. Candis was curled in a ball under her table, shivering as she watched the scene before her. She screamed loudly in pain as her blood splattered against the wall, a stray curse from one of the aurors slashing her across her back, leaving a deep thin cut that ran from her left shoulder to her right hip. She cringed but stayed strong, not willing to give up her consciousness in case she was needed in aiding her parents.
Her mother had seen the attack on her daughter and lost it in a fit of anger. She doubled the spells she sent, running at the auror who had sent the damaging spell. "No! Yersinia come back!" called her father who quickly took off after her. Her mother tackled the auror, tearing into his neck with a decent set of fangs and slashing her sharpened nails down his already scarred face. She made sure to stab her ebony nails into one of his eyes, hooking it and ripping it from its socket as warm blood gushed down his anguished face. None of the other aurors dared attack her for fear of hitting their partner instead. After a moments struggle and the auror yelling in pain, he managed to throw her off of him and into the glass table which shattered. Her father roared in anger and went to shoot a curse at him, but his eyes widened as he saw a green flash shooting towards his fallen wife. In an instant he had jumped in the path of the curse, which hit him full in the chest, and he fell to the floor dead.
"Father!!" Damien cried, climbing over his upturned chair and running to his slain father, hugging onto him as tears streamed down his cheeks. His mother was in hysterics from her husbands death and panic, feeling around for something, anything to put in front of her to protect her, but all she found was shattered glass. Damien glared up at the aurors, tears still filling his eyes, and he ran at his fathers killer. He did the only thing her could do and latched onto his leg, biting him hard and doing anything to injure him, including grabbing a shard of glass and stabbing him in the thigh.
In retaliation to Damiens attack, the auror aimed his wand down at him and uttered the word "Crucio!". It was intended to be like a taser is for muggle police, and force his attacker to release him, which definitely worked. Damien screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, his small body contorting as it writhed in agony. Candis and her mother both screamed as they were forced to watch their brother and son tortured, her mother shaking uncontrollably and attempting to crawl to her son, her hands leaving a trail of blood as they raked across the glass.
Candis' sobbing stopped as her eyes fell on the floor beneath the couch where she found, of all things, a water pistol she and her brother had been playing with earlier that day. She grabbed it quickly and uncorked a potions vial from her belt, the same belt she still wears to this day, and poured its green contents into the pistol with shaking hands. With a final green flash, her brothers screaming ceased and his body laid limp on the floor. All the aurors returned their attention to the mother, aiming their wands, but suddenly several started screaming as Candis shot the potion at them from the shadows. Where her potion touched their flesh, it began to boil and get eaten away by the strong acid. She managed to give a few aurors a good shot in the face, her eyes flashing dangerously at the sound of their screams.
It didn't take long for the aurors to determine where the attack was coming from. Though many were blinded and busy wiping off their skin, only to have their hands begin to be eaten away as well, one was quick to fire a blast of purple flames that hit Candis hard, knocking her back against the wall. Her body slid to the floor, leaving a smear of blood on the wall behind her. It had felt like a car hit her, and her life was slowly slipping away. The last thing she saw as her vision blurred, was her mother. For the first time in her life, she looked broken, as if all her will to live had abandoned her. She raised her head slowly to look into the eyes of the auror before her, tears mixed with blood dripping from her pale cheeks. "You call us evil..but you see not..where true evil lies" she hissed softly, her voice shaking. The auror just glared and raised his wand, and in a flash of green, Candis watched her mother, hero, and her last living relative, fall to the floor of broken glass never to speak to her again.
The scene faded back into darkness as young Candis fell unconscious. Severus just stared into the darkness where the images had been moments before, silent and apparently shocked at what he had just seen. Many things passed through his head including 'how could the ministry allow this to happen?' and 'Poor Candis..I never knew..'. Once the thought of Candis popped into his head, he snapped out of his state and looked down, seeing her in a way he had only seen very few times. Although she hadn't watched it, she was still silently crying as she clung to him for comfort. He watched her sadly, stroking her hair softly and whispering words of comfort to her as he held her close to him.
After a minute or two, she spoke. "Severus..I..I'm sorry if you didn't want to see it..Maybe I shouldn't have.." she said quietly, lowering her head further. Severus lifted her chin and leaned into her, brushing his warm lips gently against hers, holding the kiss before slowly pulling back and looking into her eyes. "Candis, thank you for showing me this. I'm glad you did. There's nothing to apologize for." he said with a loving caress in his low silky voice while giving her a small but warm smile, two things she and she alone ever had the privilege of seeing and hearing. "Thank you." she said as she looked into his eyes, her own red and still glassy from her tears. She sighed and nuzzled into his chest, smiling as he kissed the top of her head. "Shall we continue?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. She nodded. "Yes, we shall. Let us take into account that we already know that I woke up later and ran away into the forest. I don't think you need to see me living off carey and looking a mess, and you already know I was found by one of your old friends on vacation and allowed to live at Hogwarts by Dumbledore. So, for the sake of time, let us time skip to a few years later...You know what day I'm talking about." She said, looking up at him with a wide smirk. She held up the remote and pressed a button. Visions appeared, but blurred, as she fast forwarded. A few could be caught here and there, one of her tackling a rabbit, eating a rat raw, curled up shivering in a ball during winter, being found by a shaggy looking man, speaking to snakes...After a moment she pressed yet another button and they were standing inside the entrance hall of Hogwarts. A few loud gongs could be heard from above them. "Ah...Time for Potions." they said in unison.
(( You'll never really know what to expect from chapter to chapter, each having a different genre and emotional effect. This one obviously was drama, rather depressing I think. You'll just have to read on to see how ch3 goes. I hope you enjoyed ch2 ))