Disclaimer. As Always.
The unhappy aura did not improve upon entry to the Common Room. Hermione, in an uncharacteristically tactless moment, had implied that Ron was the reason training had gone badly. It wasn't entirely inaccurate, but Ron flew off the handle and stormed off to his room. Sarah and Orion slumped in the armchairs next to Hermione, who looked hurt.
"Nicely done. I haven't seen someone hit an ego that hard in years." Sarah commented. Hermione flushed in embarrassment or anger- Sarah couldn't tell which- and Orion sent them both a warning look.
"Play nice." He drawled. They both scowled at him, but he maintained his unruffled appearance.
"I've stared down Voldemort, even the two of you aren't as scary." A brief pause. "Yet."
"So we will be as scary as Voldemort at some point?" Sarah asked. Orion nodded fervently.
"Oh, definitely. Look at Theia- she terrifies me far more than Voldie."
Considering the existence of hunter killer books and what was apparently a series of progressively nastier traps littering the Ravenclaw tower Sarah was inclined to admit that he had a point. Theia could be pretty frightening. Hermione seemed to dismiss the conversation, leaning back and going back to knitting what looked like…a liver. Or a kidney, maybe. It was probably a woolly House-Elf hat, but…it was also an abomination. Remembering their discussion about Hermione and her House Elf freedom crusade Sarah gave Orion a meaningful look. Her alternate seemed to twitch slightly, and his eyes flickered between her and Hermione. Sarah didn't need to be a Legilimens to know what he was thinking: he was debating which of them he wanted annoyed least. Sarah was fairly confident that she would be the winner, though- she was a considerably better duellist that Hermione, and rather sneakier and more vindictive. Orion cleared his throat.
"So. What are you knitting, Hermione?" he started. Hermione beamed.
"Some more hats for the House Elves. They must be taking them all the time, I'm barely keeping up."
Orion blinked and swallowed.
"Ah, yes. About that…the House Elves haven't actually been taking them for any night apart from last night."
"What?"
Hermione's voice was very soft and calm, and Sarah felt a chill in her spine. Orion was sitting very still and his left hand had coiled backwards, ready to draw his wand. Sarah approved of his paranoia. Caution. Whichever one it was, it was justified.
"I've been…Vanishing the hats." Orion admitted. Hermione took a deep, deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I must have misheard. I thought you said that you have been Vanishing my hats."
The last words came in an ominous hiss, and Orion sighed.
"You aren't going to let me explain, are you?" he said tiredly. Hermione pointed at him.
"Oh, I am. I want an explanation, Orion."
She must have been furious, Sarah reflected, because her voice was low and entirely steady. Orion, to his credit, met the eyes of the furious girl without flinching.
"Very well then. I'll explain. Hermione…the House Elves don't want freedom. You can't force it on them."
Hermione seemed to swell ominously.
"They don't want freedom? They don't know to want it, because-"
Orion cut her off.
"If you are going to say that they have been brainwashed, don't bother. Look at Dobby- he wanted freedom, but if any Elf should have been brainwashed it's him. And even if they are brainwashed, do you really think that randomly trying to give them clothes would help? They would be out in the world with the wrong mindset to survive. In that case, wouldn't it be murder?"
Hermione froze, seemingly stunned by the logic of that. Orion pressed his advantage ruthlessly.
"And even with that in mind, what makes you think you can free them? The owners aren't the students, the owner would be the Headmaster, and a non-owner cannot free a House Elf. All you are doing is insulting them, and by extension Dumbledore. Besides, do you really think that the Headmaster would abuse his Elves? Look at Dobby- he gets paid and holidays, but the others just don't want those things. Maybe some Elves are treated badly, but to change that you have to change the mindset of the Purebloods, and poorly thought out crusades are not the answer, Hermione. They will be dismissed and ignored as the actions of another outsider ignorant of Wizarding culture. You have to change things at the higher levels first. Think on that."
Sarah was impressed. Orion had put together a fairly good argument, but his greatest advantage was his style, giving Hermione no time to build up a head of steam and slip into a rant. Sarah mentally recorded this as the best way to win an argument with her friend.
Hermione was finally speaking again.
"I…think I'm going to bed. I have a lot to…think about." She said mechanically, standing and walking off. Orion looked at Sarah with a slight expression of worry.
"Do you think I went too far?" he asked, worried. Sarah shook her head.
"I don't think you broke her, Orion. She's just having a hard time coming to terms with being wrong, I think. She'll take a day or so to absorb this and then she'll be researching laws and trying to get rid of Pureblood prejudice- you know what she's like."
"Just about." Orion murmured, reclining in his seat and losing the tension that had marred his frame. Sarah waited for a few minutes before asking a question that had been preying on her mind.
"Orion…why have you forgiven Snape?"
Orion had his head tilted back, eyelids closed, but now he brought his face back down and cracked open one grey eye.
"Why ask?"
"Because…I want to know why. And how. I just…I don't think I can forgive him for what he's done."
"And there it is. The truth of the matter…I haven't forgiven him, Sarah."
Sarah stared at Orion, who opened his other eye and met her gaze seriously.
"I understand that it must have seemed like I had forgiven him, with the way that I was going on about not killing him. But there is a difference in not wanting to kill him, and forgiving him. I know that what he did was brave, but what does that matter? Any beast can be brave. Any monster can be brave. No one would call Voldemort a coward…does that redeem him?"
"Well…no. I suppose not. It's just…he betrayed my family as much as Wormtail did."
"Not exactly. He didn't know who the Prophecy was referring to, but that's no excuse. He begged Voldemort to spare Lily, but for selfish reasons. He still joined the Death Eaters. Snape is, at heart, an exceedingly selfish man driven by a lust for revenge and a hefty dose of self-hatred. He is a bad person by almost any measure. But he has his uses. He is an excellent spy, after all. And…well, I'd consider it a mercy to kill him and spare him the agony of knowing that he was responsible for the loss of the one person he truly cared for without limitation. I'm not fond of mercy when Snape is involved."
"That's remarkably…vindictive." Sarah said. Orion shrugged.
"I am who I am."
"That has…almost no relevance."
"Sounded wise and philosophical though, didn't it?" Orion said, smiling. Sarah twitched fractionally, wondering if she could get away with cursing Orion silent. She had been looking up variants of the Silencing spell recently…Orion was starting to smirk. Oh. He knew, didn't he? There was no point even trying unless she got the drop on him, so Sarah reluctantly let go of her idea. Orion almost looked disappointed.
"You know," Sarah started thoughtfully, "Sometimes I wonder if Ron and Hermione would be able to get along if I wasn't here. They certainly seem to argue a lot."
Orion got the hint, and sighed.
"If you wanted to know, you could have just asked." He said, in mild reproof. Sarah smiled.
"But this is more fun." She replied. Orion mumbled something about women driving him insane, then straightened in his seat.
"As it happens yes, the two of them can just about manage without us. They just need to be a little more…well, how can I put it? Ron needs to work harder. Hermione needs to relax. They both need to be a little more sensitive."
"Sensitive." Sarah said in a flat tone.
"Of each other." Orion hastened to add. Sarah considered that. He might have a point…Ron could be rather lazy, and Hermione had a tendency to be somewhat insufferable about what she knew. Luckily she had grown out of that a bit after years in the company of Ron and Sarah.
"Then again, I think they managed fine while they were in Grimmauld Place together over summer." Sarah said. She was still a bit annoyed over Ron and Hermione not telling her anything, but with Orion and Theia arriving she hadn't really had the chance to bawl at Ron and Hermione, and she would feel stupid doing it now.
"Annoyed that they listened to Dumbledore and didn't contact you?" Orion asked. Sarah frowned at him.
"How did you-"
"I'm you, remember? The first thing I did when I saw my Ron and Hermione was bawl them out. A good five minutes worth. Was fairly therapeutic, if I recall rightly. Of course, I was a week or so away from being put on trial for use of Underage Magic, with the prospect of having my wand snapped and being expelled from Hogwarts, so I was fairly short-tempered." Orion admitted.
"You were put on trial?"
"Mm-hm. Like in the Pensieve you saw last year, except without Dementors. Fudge looked so smug I almost started rooting for Voldie to usurp him."
"That's worrying. But understandable. He can be quite an idiot." Sarah agreed.
"Yes…bit of a mystery how he got elected as Minister. Or maybe not. After all he's pliable and complacent. I've no doubt Lucius was delighted to get him."
Sarah nodded.
"Speaking of Malfoys…what are we going to do about him? He seems to have recovered from his little, ah, episode on the train, and I get the feeling he'll cause us trouble this year."
"And the next if we don't do something. Little creep…this year he'll toady up to Umbridge for power. Next year…well, that's when things get serious for him."
"Serious?" Sarah questioned. Orion nodded.
"Haven't I told you what Draco spent his Sixth Year doing?"
Sarah shook her head.
"Odd. Thought I had…oh well. I can tell you now just as easily. Good old Draco…you see, Lucius failed in his attempt to nab me and the Prophecy in Fifth year and got thrown in Azkaban. Voldemort promptly demonstrated that he is an awful boss by deciding that his most trusted and up until that point effective Lieutenant needed to be punished. The Dark Lord then concluded that the best way to punish Lucius was to induct Draco into the Death Eaters and give him the job of killing Dumbledore, with the price of failure being the death of his family."
"That sounds remarkably stupid. Does Voldie have no concept of loyalty or preserving useful tools?" Sarah interrupted. Orion shook his head.
"He does not. He'll quite happily sacrifice anyone if it suits him, which is probably why he has relatively few Death Eaters. Regardless, throughout the year Draco attempted to kill Dumbledore in various ways, all but one of them ill thought out and carrying considerable risk of collateral damage. This is where Dumbledore demonstrated that the Light side could be as stupid as the Dark by refusing to stop Draco, intent on 'redeeming' him."
"He…" Sarah trailed off, struck by the sheer stupidity of that. "What plans did Draco try?"
"Firstly, he Imperiused Madam Rosmerta into Imperiusing Katie Bell into taking a cursed necklace into the castle and giving it to Dumbledore, ignoring that Filch was checking every student coming through the door with a Dark detector and that the necklace had a blatant aura of darkness that made the fact it was cursed obvious to a skilled witch or wizard. Even worse the paper the necklace was in then ripped and Katie brushed it with her skin…she nearly died."
"And Dumbledore let that go? Even though he must have known…"
"Who knows how the man thinks? I respect him but he can be too forgiving sometimes. The second attempt I know of involved a bottle of poisoned mead that he gave to our then Potions Professor, Slughorn, ignoring the little issues that Slughorn is very fond of mead and quality items."
"Oh dear. He didn't pass it on, did he?"
"Kept it. Ron ended up drinking it, long story, but it was a good thing that there was a Bezoar at hand and I thought to use it."
"And the third attempt?"
"Ah. That one. It was rather clever actually, clever enough that I have my suspicions that it wasn't Draco's plan in the first place. Do you remember Borgin's and Burke's, in Diagon Alley?"
"Mm…vaguely."
"Right. Well, in that shop there is something called a Vanishing Cabinet. Now, the name is actually misleading: the Vanishing Cabinet is part of a pair. Something put into one is transported to the other when the doors are closed. The second is here, in this castle. The one here was broken- in this year, I believe- but Malfoy somehow managed to repair it: no easy feat that, especially since he did a good enough job that it didn't scramble the brains of anybody using it, and got a bunch of Death Eaters into the castle. Dumbledore and I were out Horcrux Hunting, and Dumbledore was ill when we returned. Malfoy jumped us but didn't have the guts to make the kill…Snape on the other hand…"
"Snape…it all comes back to him, doesn't it? Why didn't you-"
"Stop him? I couldn't. Dumbledore Body Bound me the instant Malfoy appeared, and I was under my Invisibility Cloak. I can't say I blame Snape for killing Dumbledore…later I found out that he had promised the Headmaster he'd do it, and made an Unbreakable Oath to Narcissa to that effect as well. I wouldn't wish the consequences of breaking an Unbreakable Oath on anyone, not even him."
"An Unbreakable Oath? Are they actually…"
"They aren't unbreakable, as such, but they do have very nasty repercussions if broken. Like, say, death. Horrible death, to boot."
"I have this odd feeling that you're understating." Sarah commented. Orion shrugged.
"I don't actually know the repercussions beyond death via the Oath twisting the oath breaker's magic back upon themselves, but I can guess that it is, well, icky."
Sarah's brain halted for a moment at the use of the word 'icky'. It was just so…childish. Almost adorable, really, despite the topic.
"Uh…Sarah?" Orion said cautiously, waving his hand in front of her eyes. Sarah blinked and shook her head, trying to jolt her brain back to something resembling normality. Unfortunately, that manifested itself as fast talking and rather stupid questions.
"Oh. Right. So, Snape swore an Unbreakable Oath and killed Dumbledore?"
"Didn't I just say that?"
"Um…yes. But you didn't say why- other than the Unbreakable Oath."
Orion looked confused for a moment as he sorted through what Sarah had said before replying.
"Dumbledore already wanted Snape to kill him. It was practical really, as Dumbledore was dying from a curse on one of the Horcruxes-"
"The Ring?" Sarah interrupted. Orion nodded and continued as though she hadn't spoken.
"-and it helped Snape secure his position among the Death Eaters. I also think that he promised Dumbledore he would kill him before he made the Unbreakable Oath, but that was something he would have had to do anyway since from what I understand Bellatrix was there, and she wasn't likely to react well to any hint of disloyalty to Voldemort."
"Does Bellatrix react well to anything?" Sarah wondered aloud. Orion laughed.
"Nope. She's completely off her rocker. Although she has that weird crush on Voldemort…"
Sarah held up her hand.
"Stop. Orion, stop. I'll accept you and Sirius making cracks about me and Malfoy. I find Padfoot making comments about you, Theia and Luna hilarious, but I will not allow you to make jokes about Bellatrix and Voldemort. It's just…icky."
And now she was using the damn childish word. Was that triumph she saw in Orion's expression? Hopefully not.
"Right, right…back onto what passes for a topic, do you have any other questions that can fuel your hatred for Snape?" Orion asked. Sarah hesitated briefly before replying.
"Actually I don't. I'm feeling almost…sorry… for Snape. I mean yes, I still can't stand him, he's a horrible person, but he's not all bad points. It must have been unpleasant to know that he would have to kill Dumbledore. I mean, the Headmaster is just about the only person who supported him and believed he could redeem himself." She said quietly. Orion tilted his head.
"Contradictions, how humanity is forged of them." He intoned. Sarah blinked at the somewhat odd statement.
"When did you become all philosophical?" she questioned, remembering the hat evil lurks in the hearts of men' from not long ago. Orion had the grace to look embarrassed.
"I haven't, really. That last one was mine, but the one when I entered the Common Room was, well, a comic book hero quote."
Sarah gave him a deadpan stare, and his expression became more and more sheepish.
"And on that note," she finally stated, "I think I'm going to bed."
The next morning Sarah found herself in the position of having no idea where Orion was. The two of them had agreed that they would head to the Room of Requirement to recommence the duelling practice they had begun at Grimmauld Place, but with one of them missing Sarah suspected that might be difficult. However, given that the Marauder's Map showed no Orion, Sarah guessed that he was in the Room already and made her way up there. What she found was...unexpected.
"Reducto!" Sarah screamed, the spell shattering an onrushing humanoid figure into shards of what looked like pottery. It had to be said that Sarah was only peripherally aware of what the shards looked like because there was a mob, no, a phalanx of identical figures right behind the first, charging towards her. Sarah drew on her bag of tricks learned from Orion and cast the considerably more powerful Bombardment curse, blasting most of the group to fragments. A flying fragment cut her cheek, and Sarah started to cough as thick dust surrounded her. Thinking fast she did what Orion usually did in his duels, casting a modified Bubble-Head charm that caused a mask to form across her mouth and nose. It would only last for ten minutes or so, but that should be long enough.
"Damn it! Ventus!"
A sharp blast of wind blew the dust away, but Sarah immediately had to dive for cover from a rain of what looked like pottery construct frogs. She suspected it was Orion's doing, simply because of the way the heavy Transfiguration and subsequent dust clouds suited his duelling style, but she had no idea what he was doing, or why frogs would be involved. Tiring of it all, Sarah went for more powerful and destructive spells- if Orion wanted to play dirty, she would match him.
"Ventus gladii!"
An odd spell, this one, an offensive variant on Ventus. Orion had been coy as to where he had learned it, but it was one of the spells that Orion and Theia referred to as 'sweepers'- a wide area effect spell, in this case causing a blast of wind that was enough to cut skin in a circle around the caster. At the power Sarah cast it, it would be an annoyance that would probably leave paper cuts on human skin. To the ceramic frogs it was a wave of destruction. A repeat of Ventus to clear the dust and…damn. More bloody pottery soldiers. Where were they all coming from?
"Orion! What the hell are you doing?" yelled Sarah as she ran for it. There were too many constructs, she wouldn't get the time to cast Ventus gladii with the power she would need, and most of the rest of her offensive repertoire was sadly similar. A lot of magic just wasn't suited for brawls like this. And then she stepped on something yielding, and the world turned upside down. Even worse, her limbs suddenly seemed afflicted by a full body version of the Jelly-Legs Jinx, and the constructs were still coming.
"Oh, bugger."
The soldiers abruptly disintegrated into puffs of dust, leaving Sarah blinking stupidly and oddly disappointed. What was the point of psyching herself up for potential bodily harm when it wasn't going to happen? Sarah hastily dismissed that undoubtedly unhealthy thought and turned her glare upon Orion. Her male alternate looked unbelievably smug, but there was a gleam of pride in his eyes. Pride over her, and it made her temper lessen slightly. Only slightly though.
"What the bloody hell was that you bastard?" Sarah shouted. Orion flinched at her sudden explosion into sound, but she wasn't finished.
"Attacking me like that without warning, I could have been…and what did you do to me to leave me like this, I'm starting to feel sick!"
Sarah found herself abruptly terminating the first line of argument as the logical part of her brain reminded her that any Death Eaters probably would, in fact, attack without warning, and instead focused on the more palatable second part.
"Consider this a lesson learned." Orion said, cancelling the spell that held Sarah up so that she flopped into his arms in a boneless sprawl. He caught her with a slight grunt of exertion, before laying her on the floor and taking away the second spell. Sarah, still annoyed, used the first return of motion and feeling to her limbs to punch him.
"I suppose I deserve that." Orion admitted after a few seconds, rubbing at his jaw. Sarah scowled.
"Yes, you did. Now. Answers."
"Yes'm. Well, since Death Eaters aren't going to play nice, so I thought I wouldn't either. Besides, if the Order thinks Voldemort might jump out at you from behind a dustbin, we should take them seriously."
The second part of the sentence was delivered in a perfect deadpan that Sarah had to respect, but she was still annoyed at Orion so she didn't laugh. Much.
"Regardless," Orion continued, "I am impressed. I hadn't expected you to last so long against my constructs."
"Constructs?" Sarah asked, rotating her shoulders to try to get full feeling back in her arms. Orion nodded.
"A Transfiguration. Well, a Conjuration and then an animation. Not without its issues of course…"
"It must take a lot of power." Sarah noted, letting her hand drift towards her wand as she regained use of her limbs. Orion nodded absently.
"It does take a lot, yes. Means that the actual constructs aren't very tough or smart…took me ages to get this many together. And then you destroyed most of them. And the last ones had been around too long and the Transfiguration reverted-"
"Expelliarmus!" Sarah shouted, cutting Orion off and catching him off guard. He reacted quickly enough to grab his wand before it flew away from him, but her follow-up Banishing Charm launched him across the floor in an inelegant sprawl. Sarah stood up, grinning fiendishly.
"Constant Vigilance!" she mocked. Orion looked up, and smiled.
"Oh, very good. You caught me in the middle of a monologue. You know, that's something that works extremely well on Voldemort…"
Sarah went to move as he flicked his wand, but the floor had been turned to ice around her and she slipped, landing in a heap. Orion laughed as he stood up.
"Works both ways, Sarah!"
Sarah growled under her breath, using an overpowered warming charm to melt the ice around her. Orion was moving his wand in quick, circular motions around himself, each pass causing a whitish vapour to rise from the ground and surround them. Sarah flinched from its cold touch: fog. This was a new one.
"Fog, Orion? Really? Are you trying for the horror movie look?" Sarah called, standing carefully. The laugh from Orion came back curiously muffled by the vapour in the air.
"Yes, it has a certain ambience doesn't it? I have to admit, I quite like it. You don't need a mask like with my usual dust storms, after all."
Sarah scowled into the whiteness, quickly concluding that almost all of her senses were useless. The thick whiteness made sight unreliable past a few feet, and hearing was prevented by the muffling effect. If she had a tracking charm on her she would be a sitting duck. With that in mind Sarah ducked to her left and cast the most powerful Finite Incantatem she could manage on herself. Not that that was any guarantee.
"Do you think I should go for the full on horror theme? I think it might work pretty well." Orion called from the fog, making Sarah want to curse him out. Fortunately, he appeared to reconsider.
"Tarantallegra!"
A dancing curse. Oh, how droll. Sarah dodged more by instinct than anything else, and returned a Stunner. The red light shot off, but was quickly swallowed by the fog. An amused chuckle indicated that she had missed.
"I was thinking about music, creepy children's songs, the whole lot, but I think I've changed my mind. Maybe another time." Orion called, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that they were duelling. The fog seemed to be getting colder, Sarah's breath beginning to cloud. She might have dismissed it, but Orion showed a certain liking for ice and fire based spells which put her on edge. In fact, the fog was starting to stir around her, and sting a little, tiny motes of ice brushing against delicate skin. Sarah frowned, mind working, and began to prepare her own spell, a powerful variant of Incendio. The fog was stirring more, and Sarah could tell that it wasn't good, even if she couldn't pin down the origin of that instinct. And then-
"Sarah. Something new…Ventus."
Wind. Ice. Movement…blizzard. Oh. Oh dear.
"Incendio Maxima!" Sarah screamed, casting the most powerful fire spell in her arsenal and twisting it to form a shield around herself as the fog turned crystalline and whirled in towards her. She felt a momentary stinging as tiny shards of ice scraped on her skin, before the roaring heat of her own spell forced it back, surrounding her in a cocoon of crimson-yellow. It was uncomfortable in the centre of such heat, but she would rather that to the freezing, flaying blizzard. After what seemed like an eternity the fire petered out, leaving a tired, panting Sarah surrounded by a patch of dry stone that was slowly being overtaken by the slush that filled the rest of the floor. Orion looked impressed.
"Not many people could have reacted so quickly." He complimented. Sarah managed a tired, defiant grin.
"You're…too predictable." She panted, feeling exhausted from the magic she had put into her spell. Orion shrugged.
"Maybe. But in the end I think I win…Transfiguring the fog and casting a circular wind spell has apparently taken less out of me than that rather impressive Incendio Maxima took from you."
Sarah chose not to reply to that, instead focusing on taking deep breaths while her tiredness faded somewhat. Magic could be hard sometimes.
""Are you alright?" Orion asked, seemingly concerned. Sarah let out a last deep breath and stood straight, nodding.
"Yes. Just…shouldn't have used so much magic on that Incendio. Bit tiring." She said. Orion nodded in understanding.
"One of the bigger problems with spells like that, they need a lot of energy. Probably didn't help that you just used Maxima with it. It isn't very efficient."
The Room shifted around them, the remaining fog and slush vanishing and being replaced by a pair of squashy armchairs. Sarah slumped into one with a sigh of relief: using a large amount of magic in such a short time took a toll.
"Maxima isn't very efficient?" she asked. Orion lowered himself into the other chair and shook his head slowly.
"Maxima is an…all purpose power up, I suppose you could say. Any spell that you add it to the end of becomes more powerful, but costs more to cast. And the extra increase isn't done very well. For example, Incendio Vulcanus would have had a similar effect, but with less power used. Hmm…come to think of it, you could also have used Ardesco or Conflagratio…"
"Orion? Focus, please." Sarah said. Orion looked up at her and blinked.
"Sorry. Got caught up in possibilities. That's the thing with casting in Latin or near-Latin, magic begins to…conform…to words. Which is why Incendio is low level while Ardesco is much higher, despite the two words having similar meanings."
"Magic has conformity?"
Orion shrugged.
"I…it's hard to say. Mainly because this is getting into deep level theory, and while Voldemort understood some of it he was rather cleverer than I am, so I understand even less. But yes, magic conforms somewhat to the words used, otherwise the words would be meaningless and you would need an in-depth knowledge of what you were doing in order to cast it."
"That actually makes sense." Sarah admitted. "How did you get that blizzard to form in the first place?"
"Ah, that was easy enough. I Conjured the fog, of course, that took a fair bit of power, but then I cast a spell that began to cause the water droplets forming the fog to freeze into shards of ice."
"Sharp shards. Right. And then you cast a spiral Ventus to create the whirlwind effect. And I guess that you altered the spell to keep the shards small enough to not cause much damage?"
"Correct. I think I could probably make the combination lethal, but then it wouldn't have much use."
"Wouldn't have much…oh. I take it that there's no way of preventing friendly fire, then."
Orion nodded.
"Yes. It's what you might call a battle spell, for dealing with crowds, but like most of those it hardly gets used because it hurts everyone around you, which means that it could only really be used as overkill in a single duel or if you were alone and thoroughly outnumbered. And it happens to be a power hog."
Sarah narrowed her eyes and leaned forwards. Actually, now that she looked more closely she could see that Orion looked tired, even though he was a good third more powerful than her. Sarah guessed that he had used a fraction less magic than her, but his greater reserves let him bear the burden more easily.
"I guess that practice is over for today then?" Sarah tried. Orion laughed.
"If you want, Sarah. But on the other hand, if you want to try and catch up to swap Ancient Runes for Divination…"
"Damn you and your temptations."
The night of the next day found all of them in the Gryffindor Common Room, with Orion talking to Theia over the mirrors and Sarah watching Ron work on his Astronomy homework. Annoyingly, Orion had refused to help her on that one, but she had managed it without too much trouble on Saturday, while Orion had been going over what he wanted to teach her in the impromptu Ancient Runes lessons he was giving. Ron, who hadn't been as lucky and had elected to sleep late instead, was now working on an essay about the moons of Jupiter at half past eleven. Sarah was paying almost no attention to the mild argument Hermione had set off by pointing out a mistake in Ron's work- really, Ron needed to be less touchy sometimes- and so was the first one to notice the screech owl stood on the windowsill, giving Ron the avian equivalent of a narrow eyed stare.
"Uh, Ron?" Sarah said, poking his arm and pointing. Ron opened his mouth to snap, but the words came out quietly.
"Blimey, isn't that Hermes?" he said. Sarah and Orion gave almost identical glances to Hermione, who mouthed 'Percy's owl' to them. Ron had crossed to the window and opened it: Hermes promptly flew inside, landed on Ron's essay and held out a leg burdened with a heavy letter. The owl left almost at once, leaving inky footprints over Ron's work. Ron, looking curious, opened the letter and scanned down, his expression changing from interest to a disgusted scowl as he went. When he reached the bottom of the scroll he thrust the scroll towards Sarah and Hermione, who leaned together to read it- mindful of Orion and Theia, Sarah began reading aloud.
"Dear Ron,
I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister for Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.
I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations."
"He writes like the most stereotypical snobby Englishman." Orion commented, as Sarah paused for a breath before continuing.
"I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the 'Fred and George' route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and decided to shoulder some real authority. Ick. Even reading this, I can feel the pomposity. And Fred and George aren't stupid, if they put the effort in they'd probably do almost as well as Percy. Anyway…
But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and awkward questions."
At this point Theia chipped in.
"This reads more like an illicit love letter than anything else. I have plenty of awkward questions raised by the tone of what we've read…no wonder he didn't want this read out at breakfast."
There was a pause while everyone present worked through the implications of that, paled and then forcibly repressed the thoughts. Sarah hurried on, hoping to forestall any more inappropriate remarks.
"From something the Minister let slip while telling me you are now a Prefect, I gather you are still seeing a lot of Sarah Potter, and now this Arcturus Argent. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternisation with such a pair."
"Oh Ron, that boy is no good for you!" Orion commented in a falsetto voice. Theia snickered, and Ron went red- a welcome change from the green tinged white induced by the last comment from Theia. Sarah tuned out her alternate and continued.
"I am sure you are surprised to hear this- no doubt you will say that the girl has always been Dumbledore's favourite, and Argent seems to have gained a similar favour- but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different- and probably more accurate- view of Potter's behaviour. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing- and see if you can spot yours truly!"
"Five Sickles on deranged." Orion said. Theia laughed quietly over the mirror.
"That's a sucker bet, Orion. No one's going to take it."
"Worth a try." He murmured, as Sarah swallowed to relieve her dry throat and continued.
"Seriously, Ron, you do not wish to be tarred with the same brush as Potter and Argent, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school, too. As you must be aware, Argent is the son of Sirius Black, and that Potter would willing consort with the child of the man who betrayed her parents speaks ill of her character. It speaks worse of Argent that he sees nothing wrong in what his father did, going so far as to claim him innocent, and Potter supports him."
Here, Sarah had to stop, in order to force down a wave of rage. From what she could see, Orion was not handling it much better, for his features had settled into a cold mask and his voice, when he spoke, had lowered to a whisper.
"Rarely," Orion said softly, "Has murder sounded more appealing. I am disappointed in Percy, however. I would have thought that one so intelligent would possess a modicum of curiosity, and would not dismiss my claims of Sirius' innocence out of hand."
Ron and Hermione were looking frightened, not at Orion, but at Sarah, and she realised that her hair had turned midnight black. She forced it back, and Hermione still looked petrified.
"Sarah…your eyes are red." She whispered, and Sarah grimaced. It was a good thing the Common Room was empty. She concentrated, and eventually Ron and Hermione relaxed somewhat. Ron tried to pull the letter away from her, but she held firm.
"Best to get this over with in one quick go. Like pulling off a plaster." She said, ignoring Ron's question on what a plaster was.
"It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with them- I know that Potter can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent, while the Black family are well known as practitioners of the Dark Arts- but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in their behaviour that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful women who I know will be only too happy to advise you.
This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that, so far, Professor Umbridge is encountering very little cooperation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (Although she should find this easier from next week- again, see the Daily Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this- a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years!"
"Ah, ambition, the root of all evil." Orion commented. Sarah agreed, and added her own thoughts.
"He writes like he's swallowed a thesaurus."
Theia added her own input.
"I've never liked the term 'regime'." She said, in a dreamy tone of voice that conveyed a frowny face through the fixed features of the mirror.
"It makes Dumbledore sound like someone who kicks puppies and throws kitten off towers while twirling his moustache and laughing." She concluded. Sarah, while Ron and Hermione gaped at the mirror, fielded a glass of water that Orion had produced from somewhere- probably kept on him for a situation like this. The cool liquid felt like heaven to her throat, dry from speaking.
"Continuing on…I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticise our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. (If you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders.) I count myself to be very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people- the Minister really could not be more gracious to me- and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realise how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.
Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Sarah Potter and Arcturus Argent, and congratulations again on becoming Prefect.
Your Brother,
Percy"
There was a long silence, eventually broken by Orion.
"I think," he said carefully, "That for that letter, I owe Percy three instances of 'I told you so' and elven punches to the face. Sarah?"
Sarah cleared her throat and handed the letter back to Ron.
"Rest assured, Ron, if you want to, ah, 'break ties' with me, I shall not hold it against you. I shall, however, unleash Luna and the Twins upon you. But I swear I will not, personally, become violent."
Ron was flushed angrily now, and with jerky motions he tore the letter into pieces and scattered them into the fire.
"He is the world's biggest git." Growled the Weasley. Sarah cocked an eyebrow.
"No, I think Malfoy has that one."
"Which Malfoy?" Theia asked. Orion and Sarah replied together.
"Both."
Ron leaned back, eventually pulling his essay back towards him.
"Come on, I've got to get this done." He said briskly, and Hermione leaned towards him with a smile that was almost fond.
"Give it here." She said, pulling it from Ron. The boy looked indescribably grateful.
"Thank you, Hermione. You're a lifesaver."
"Maybe you won't leave it so late next time." The girl responded, but she looked amused all the same.
It was now past midnight, the common room deserted but for them, and Sarah leaned back in her chair and gazed emptily into the fire, were the letter burned. She had never really thought on it before: she knew that almost half of Hogwarts thought her mad or a liar, regardless of what she had done over the past years, but it had never truly struck her how many people might believe that. There was something wounding in the way that Percy, who had known her, who had always been nice enough, if aloof, was now thinking of her as deranged, unstable. And it angered her that Orion was slandered just for who he said his family was. It was as bad as Sirius…everyone thought he was a maniac who supported Voldemort. Sarah could see a sick humour in that. The only two people who could understand what she was experiencing, and one was her and the other a criminal on the run. It almost made her laugh, until an idea struck her.
"I'm going to bed," she announced, before lowering her voice, "I need to talk to Snuffles." Orion nodded at her.
"Say hi for me." He said before bidding her goodnight and returning to his thoughtful silence. Sarah made her way into her dormitory, sinking onto her bed and warding the bed curtains to isolate herself while she called Sirius on her two-way mirror. She would admit, this was far better than trying to speak over the Floo, and much harder to interrupt. Sirius, when he answered, did not look as tired as she had expected.
"Hey. What is it?" he asked. Sarah shrugged, momentarily at a loss for words, until something snapped and a flood of words came out, explaining all about the letter, about Umbridge, about nobody believing her. Sirius listened in sympathetic silence, until eventually there was nothing left and she fell quiet. She had not realised how much of a relief it was to be able to do that: yes, Orion might understand, but it wasn't the same. He was her, almost. With Sirius it was more like a parent, and it made her feel…comforted.
"I'm not sure I can say much." Sirius admitted eventually. "I know it's hard, but…well. Umbridge is the big one, isn't she? Nasty piece of work, you should hear Remus talk about her."
"Remus?"
"Oh, yeah. She drafted a bit of werewolf legislation a few years ago that made it almost impossible for him to get a job, poor sod. I don't think she's a Death Eater, but she's driving non-humans right to Voldemort with her bigoted laws. Not that he's much better, but he's better at hiding it. So, she isn't teaching you magic? And Orion called her out in class? Kids got balls, I'll give him that. Proud to call you my godchildren."
"You're a ray of light, Padfoot. Have you heard any news recently?"
"Apart from you? Nah. Haven't seen anyone from the Order all weekend, they've been busy. Just me, Buckbeak and Kreacher…not that I'm bitter or, you know, increasingly homicidal."
Sarah laughed.
"Hang in there, Padfoot."
"Hey, what about next Hogsmeade weekend? I reckon the dog disguise worked well at the station, I can come along…"
Sarah frowned, remembering Malfoy's comments.
"I don't know, Padfoot…I think Malfoy might have recognised you at the station."
Sirius' face fell, and Sarah hastily reassured him.
"But I'll talk to Orion, see what he thinks. Maybe we'll be able to think of something."
The smile Sirius gave just before he said goodbye lit up her night, and made her feel like maybe, things weren't so bad after all.
Firstly, my apologies for the Latin. It's probably wrong, but I did what I could. Secondly...well, this was a long one, whew. And lastly...enjoy. Read and Review!