Chapter Five - Javier
Javier's POV
Past
Madrid was unusually cold the night I asked my Father for an answer. "...Father, why did you choose Mother?" El Día de Los Muertos was approaching, and the increase in activity made it difficult to seek both sustenance and material for the ofrenda. The question was both for my closure, being the cause of her death, and curiosity on my Father's motives in marrying a human, a witch nonetheless.
"..." Father wilted slightly at the inquiry. "Life is empty, Javier. Our kind are shunned for our nature alone." With pale hands and practiced movements, he decorated a sugar skull. Setting it down, he plucked the picture of Tonia Lucia Caro Cortez, whom I knew simply as 'Mother'. "She did not care about how I was forced to live, but rather who I was underneath the monster others took me for."
Black hair, longer than my own, brushed the floor when Father sank to the ground to sit beside me. Black eyes, inhuman in their depth, searched my face. The grief etched in his spirit was visible in my own as well. Human lives were fleeting, even with those gifted with magic and longer spans. Father reached for my face, giving me a glimpse of his true pain. "She loved the man she saw, and was not afraid of the monster that shares my body. And she loved you, hijo, even when she was dying."
Abruptly, he stood, and slung the hood of his cloak over his head. Understanding, I followed, closing the door softly behind. Like shadows, we passed unseen. "I choose those that would seek to harm our kind, and close me off from the world that she loved so." Thus, the hatred between man and being continued.
I had surpassed trials all my life, but my true test would lie in Hogwarts, in the world I only inherited in part.
"Oi!" Snapped from my memories, I noted that the table was mostly empty. My food sat before me, mostly untouched. A Slytherin with blonde hair and stormy eyes stood nearby with a few others. "Oi, mate. Why are you still sitting here? Cortez, isn't it?" The wizard was flanked by two dim-looking boys of his year, and a tall wizard of Moroccan descent, if his scent was any indication. "Cortez, like the pompous Squib that defeated the Aztec empire with nary but a disease?"
His conclusion nauseated me. "Lucian, please. Cortez is my father." I don't mention that my ancestor's affliction was closer to vampirism, and his contact with dragon pox. The English words rasped off my tongue like sandpaper, though I understand fully what each word of my language would translate to. English, to me, is simply a collection of harsh vocalizations, not remotely close to the liquid romance of Spanish.
"Oh?" The boy's eyebrow rose. "I'll wager your mummy calls you Lucian, doesn't she?" The two dolts behind him snickered, but the dark-skinned boy remained solemn, his eyes aware as he studied me. "You're in Slytherin now, Cortez," he sneered, taking some pleasure in calling me by that forbidden name.
Anger boiled in my veins, surging to the surface before I could stop it. I stood instantly, towering above the blonde, even at a year younger. "Mi madre está muerte, que la polla insufribles!" A snarl curled my lips as I stormed away from the table, red clouding my vision and my canines threatening to sharpen. Rage pushed at my restraint, whispering of blood and revenge. How dare he insult my mother, insult my family, insult me.
A hand on my shoulder stopped my pacing, and I looked back quickly to see the dark-skinned boy with the exotic scent. "I apologize for Draco." His voice was deep for his age, and I glimpsed a reflection of my own life in his brooding eyes. "Malfoy doesn't always know when to stop, but he is a good friend and a true Slytherin. My name," he sighed, "is Zabini. Blaise Zabini. Crabbe and Goyle are the two back there with Malfoy." His lips curled in a sneer of disgust when speaking of them.
"I'll take you to the Common Room. As it is," Blaise glanced pointedly at the staircase before my feet, just as it started shifting, "you're more likely to fall down to the dungeon than walk." With a final look towards the shifting staircases, he turned and strode back the way I came. The bloodlust left my body, and I exhaled strongly before following. My thoughts wandered to the Japanese girl in my House, and her mysterious scent. Perhaps I will summon the courage to speak to her soon. It would be wise to avoid being companionless in this English world, where we are the outsiders.
A/N - I'm so, so sorry about not updating! Things have been rather hectic, and life has been throwing too many lemons to make lemonade. One of my dogs had a seizure today, scaring the stuffing out of us, and half my family is stuck two days away due to a snowstorm. So. Anyway, here's chapter five, with Lucian, and I hope it'll hold you over! Vida's chapter should be up soon! :) Please drop a review and tell me how I've done; such feedback makes me want to update faster. :D