Ohayo, Minna-san! And yes, is know that I'm way too late with this…but I hope that a double update will make things better! Maybe not…*cringes from the vicious aura that readers are giving off*
You know, I think I've broken some kind of record. I've gotten over 121 reviews for eight chapters! And that's not even thinking about the favs and follows! *squeals* what did I do to deserve such incredible readers?! *squeals again*
Senna Sylvan:
To be honest, I just kind of figured that Charlus, after being in so many stressful and pressuring situations—as well as having parts of him that his parents rejected very fiercely—would just sort of…fracture a bit. *frowns* Now that I look back at it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense…Ugh. Honestly, this is my first ever fanfiction. Now, I know that isn't a true excuse, but I think that a few mistakes are expected. Thanks for pointing it out—I don't think I'll be editing it out though; I think I'll use it as a sort of comedic relief at times and have it resolved later on in the story. Agh! By the way, when I found out you read my story…I kinda sorta died squealing. I really like your stories!
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own. Which, sadly for me, is unfortunate…
Final Word Count: 2,254
Chapter 8
Remus cringed slightly as Dumbledore stared sternly over his glasses as he finished up his account of the event that took place in Diagon Alley. "So, the brat received special treatment, did he?" sneered Snape, his sallow face twisted with disgust. "Oh, shut up, Snivellus!" Sirius Black snarled, looking very much like the Grim that his animagus form was. "And what are the chances that these…Mafioso…will help us defeat Voldemort, Remus?" Remus blinked, and shook his head. "I don't know, Dumbledore. They are…very violent. They fought with extreme force against each other, and didn't seem to care if they got hurt. They also seem to have distaste for authority figures."
Dumbledore's kindly face tightened sadly, his blue eyes hardening. "I see. Thank you," he said, and Remus sat down awkwardly. "Well, that's everything. Why don't we get eating, then?"
Molly Weasley bustled to and fro from the dining room to the kitchen, while the other Order members busied themselves with putting everything away. Molly popped her head out of the door to holler that supper was ready on one of her trips. When the kids—Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Jasper, Julie, Ginny, and Charlus—entered, Remus noted worriedly that Charlus' face was red and flushed with exertion as he collapsed exhaustedly to his chair. James, seeing the same, walked over and placed a hand on Charlus' shoulder.
"You alright?" Charlus glanced up, seemingly unsurprised. "Yeah. Skull's regimen is just difficult is all," he said, leaning his head back. His neck popped and cracked with an almost disgusting sound, but Charlus seemed satisfied with it. "That's good," James said approvingly, though whether it was for the first part or the second part, Remus couldn't tell. "Speaking of your trainer, will he be joining us?"
Charlus shook his head. "Nah. He's got some kind of meeting he's got to attend." James nodded and returned to his own seat just as the food—prepared by Molly Weasley and the Potter house-elves—appeared and Molly bustled up and got ready to eat with them.
However, even as they ate, there was more than one troubled face.
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The day had been relatively peaceful for the travelers in Kings Cross Station on September 1st, at least, that is, until…
"VOOOOIIIII! How the hell are we supposed to get to this Platform 93/4 anyway!?" the shout came, naturally, from Squalo. Xanxus irritably snarled at his 2IC. "Walk through the wall between the platforms, trash!" he growled. Bel slung his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Ushishishi~ the Prince will go first with his Koneko-chan," snickered the self-proclaimed prince.
Squalo glowered at Bel. "VOOII! Like hell you will, fake prince!" a knife flew past Squalo's face. "Ka-ching~ the Prince is a real prince, Sharky-chan," Bel hissed. Squalo nearly unsheathed his saber, but Xanxus' snarl stopped them both. "Che, just get onto the platform, trash!" the two turned, just in time to see Lussuria and Harry vanish through the wall between Platforms 9 and 10.
"Ushishishi~ the Koneko-chan has left without the Prince?" Bel asked rhetorically, walking sinuously though to the other side. Squalo growled, but followed with the full intentions of stabbing Bel with his saber. Fran and Levi followed, Levi carrying the luggage like he had in Diagon Alley. Xanxus, following some code that only Mafia Bosses knew, went through last, irritation and the threat of violence clear on his face.
Once they were through, the group began to make their way towards the brilliantly scarlet red steam engine waiting on the platform. The crowd, seeing as the Varia had arrived with ten minutes to spare, parted for the group, their self-preservation instincts screaming at them to run. Harry and Lussuria led the way, Lussuria exuberantly doting on Harry—who had Angelica perched neatly on his shoulder and Hotaru curled up on his head—and Harry smirking creepily at everyone around them. Of course, the Varia was aware of the way people feared them and avoided them, the stares they received. They just didn't care.
Once the Varia had boarded the train, claiming a compartment for themselves, the fighting broke out again. Knives were flung at people, Squalo attempted to disembowel Bel, Levi was his usual overly loyal self, etc.
Lussuria was cuddling Harry against him with Hotaru in Harry's lap, seeing as they had let Angelica fly ahead once the train had started moving, when the compartment door opened. A head with messy dark auburn and black hair popped in, cautious hazel eyes peering at them. "Do you mind if I sit in here?" he asked. Xanxus snarled at him, but the boy persisted, not leaving. Squalo, Bel, and Levi were too busy with their fighting to truly take notice of the boy. Finally, Xanxus snorted and turned away.
The boy took this as permission, and put his trunk up with the others and sat down next to Harry and Lussuria. He glanced at Squalo, Bel, and Levi, a knife barely missing his head. "Are they always like that?" he asked Harry, who simply continued stroking Hotaru's fluffy back.
"Shishi~ of course, peasant~" Harry snickered, and the boy frowned. "My name's Jasper," he stated firmly, his eyebrows furrowing sharply. "Shishi~ whatever, peasant~" Harry smirked at the irritated boy with blue lined robes. Lussuria giggled lightly, watching Squalo, Bel, and Levi fight. "Che cosa è, Luss-okaa-chan?" Harry asked, wriggling as Lussuria's grip tightened minutely. "Non è niente, gattino," Lussuria hummed as Jasper quietly removed a book from his bag and began to read, huddled against the edge of the compartment in an effort to stay away from the fiercely violent group.
Hotaru yawned, tucking his paws under him and curling up tighter—his tail tip gently resting on his nose.
This would be a rather long trip.
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The Arcobaleno meeting was pure chaos. Not the kind of chaos that one would find in the Varia HQ, or the chaos that one found in the Vongola Mansion. No; while these two were incredibly chaotic by normal standards, they had only been influenced by the Arcobaleno due to the presence of an Arcobaleno in each group.
In other words, to the Mafia, the Arcobaleno were known as pazzo; and when the Mafia calls a group insane, it is in the common person's best interest to run the hell away to stay sane if that is their intent.
The main idea behind the meeting had been to find out just who the magic users—who called themselves Wizards and Witches—were. Reborn, using some of his many contacts, had uncovered the fact that the magical community had been hiding since before 1681; Mammon had heard rumors that the British magical community—apparently the laughing stock of the magical world, from what the Arcobaleno could gather—had turned out more so-called 'Dark Lords' than the rest of the national community combined and that the last one, named 'Voldemort' (the Arcobaleno had snorted at this. They all knew at least a bit of French, and knew what the name meant), had been 'vanquished' by one Charlus Potter but that this past year the boy claimed that Voldemort had come back; the British magical community in general refused to believe this and the British Ministry of Magic wasn't helping, apparently.
Lal Mirch watched on as her wayward student got into more fights with Reborn after the meeting ended, the two butting heads more than they would admit. "Idioti stupidi," she grumbled as the two contributed to the already inevitable and incredible chaos that she had become accustomed to. In fact, she would even go so far as to say she would miss it if she didn't experience it so much…
'Aspetta. Merdi, did I actually just think that? Agh!'
True to her Tsundere nature, Lal Mirch did a total one-eighty behavior wise. She glared at her wayward student fighting with the World's Number 1 Hitman, directing her frustrations outwards rather than internalizing them as she glared. 'Ha! Prendere che, my idiotic student!' she thought victoriously as Colonello lost his fight with Reborn—which was, incidentally, to see who could drink more and hold their liquor better—before she frowned. 'He should know better by now, though. Onestamente, challenging Reborn is rather futile at times…'
Verde had already left, mumbling something about experiments waiting back at his lab. Possible, but unlikely. If Lal knew the scientist (which she did), he was probably going to try and figure out just how this 'magic' worked, and whether it was produced naturally by the body like Flames were, or whether it was drawn from other sources like in that series she had read a while back. Mammon had disappeared after Aria had spoken with him and Skull had said something about how he was training some kid and needed to get back.
The COMBUSIN fighter grumbled and shot back the small glass of alcohol she held in her hand, feeling the sudden need to get drunk. This was, incidentally, something that she really couldn't do seeing as she needed to drag her student back to his dorm and get some sleep for tomorrow herself. Ugh. That completely ruined her plans. And since she didn't keep any alcohol in her rooms…
Lal sighed and poured herself another shot. Sometimes she really hated her job…
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In the Malfoy Manor, the self-acclaimed 'Dark Lord' Voldemort sat at the head of the table, staring malevolently at the Death Eaters sitting around the table. "So, Severus," he said sibilantly, his red eyes focusing on his Potions Master. "What have you found out about these…Muggles…that that fool of a Headmaster has contacted?"
Severus Snape frowned, a very different expression on his face from his usual sneer. "Very little, My Lord. There is very little information I have been able to obtain; all I know is that they belong to a group called the Vongola, My Lord," Voldemort's eyes narrowed, his long, bone white fingers stroking the handle of his wand. "Is that so…" he said coldly.
"There is one more thing, My Lord," Voldemort's ruby red eyes focused on the Potions Master. "What?" Severus Snape averted his eyes, his greasy hair gleaming dully in the low light. "They have a peculiar power, My Lord. It is similar to magic, but it isn't magic,"
"Oh? And what do they call it, Severus?" the Potions Master licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.
"Flames, My Lord. They call the power 'Flames'."
/End.\
Eh. Not as long as my usual work, but I felt the need for a cliffhanger right there; it just fit.
Anyway, this one's a double post, so there's going to be a second chapter posted not to long after this one. Hopefully you guys can forgive me for being so late!
Also; no one has guessed the plothole I mentioned a few chapters ago, so I'll give you a hint: It has to do with Dorea Black.
First one to guess gets to give me an idea for an Omake chapter!
Translations:
Che cosa è—"What is it" in Italian
Non è niente, gattino—"It's nothing, kitten," in Italian
Pazzo—several meanings in Italian, pretty much all of them having the connotation of 'insane' or 'wild'.
Idioti stupidi—means "Stupid idiots" in Italian
Aspetta—means "Wait." In Italian
Merdi—means "Shit" In Italian
Prendere che—means "Take that" in Italian
Onestamente—one translation of "Honestly" from English to Italian
All of my translations are from Google Translate; I double checked a couple, trying to check if they were alright, and I'm fairly certain I got the correct translations for the definitions I wanted. If I didn't, let me know! I only speak American English fluently and am currently attempting to learn Japanese, so my knowledge of other languages is limited, especially in the spoke shorthand and so on. This goes for pretty much all of my stories! I will always edit what words I use in another language if I got them wrong, so please, please, please notify me if I get something wrong!
By the way, did anyone notice the reference to David Eddings' The Belgariad and Malloreon?
Ja ne, Minna-san
~Happy Camper27