Keiran Black was a mystery for everyone. He was a silent Slytherin who showed the signs of immense power but he insisted on poor spellwork. He harbored a strong grudge for the Girl-Who-Lived but he ended up as her closest friend. He was supposedly Draco's lost cousin. Keiran thought he had himself all figured out. But then he is more of a mystery than he himself knows. Dark! Harry.

Disclaimer: This isn't mine, but tomorrow it shall be, and it will have been forever. I'm going to get a time turner and undo it all, muahahha (calms down)….so, do you know where I can buy one?

A/N: I could've posted this earlier but then the storm Ondoy (what a stupid name) hit the Philippines and then suddenly there was water everywhere. It was amusing to be stranded on my couch typing on my laptop while my slippers floated away from me. But then I was lucky compared to those who got stranded on their roofs elsewhere, while I was just on my couch, typing this. (Now, that is what you call dedication!)

Still unbetaed, because I don't have one. Gwah. I need one. I have this darn problem with showing emotions.

Living a Lie

"Why exactly do we need to let in a troll again?" Keiran asked as he drank hot chocolate while in is fathers office. Voldemort had taken over Quirrels body again and was pacing in front of the fire, causing him to cast a long shadow on the wall. Nothing but darkness was discernable through the window and the castle was quite except for the flickering of the flames and the sound of Voldemort's shoes scuffing against the carpet.

"Letting a troll in would make the headmaster suspicious that something is happening to the stone. He'd suspect it to be a diversion" Voldemort said, not even bothering to look in Keiran's direction. "He wouldn't automatically suspect it to be a mere guiding force so that he would do what we want him to do. Thus, he would check on the stone, or send one of his people do to it. The latter would be better, as whoever that person would be, he'd be easily overpowered."

"And you, being indisposed in the hospital wing, or elsewhere because of your 'faint' in the great hall," Keiran continued his father's line of thought in a bored drawl. "Will be able to follow whoever this person is, who is sent to check on the stone, and be able to go in after him."

Voldemort nodded. "It isn't a full-proof plan." He conceded, "But you know as well as I do how maddening it is to just sit here and wait for more news on wards from your mother. It has a possibility to work, but if it doesn't, we still have the main plan."

"And if you get caught?" Keiran asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"If I'm caught you shall push through with the plan, it is possible even without my help; though it would take a longer period of time."

"I suppose." Keiran said, nodding, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that. An uncomfortable silence came after that; one where they both realized how much they were risking by just sitting in that room to talk to each other. But it was worth it in the end, if, no, when they succeeded. He couldn't doubt now.

"How is your mother's progress with the Order?" Voldemort asked suddenly.

"She's gotten through to Uncle Sirius. The anti-veritaserum pill worked and she's going to be introduced to the rest of Order in there next meeting." Keiran replied, sipping his drink.

"Good. Good." Voldemort smiled, nodding his head, "We must remind Keelan to not bring his snake with him when he goes over to their headquarters."

"It wouldn't matter whether he brings Ramses or not. I have Sarah and she hasn't given me unwanted attention, and she never will as long as she doesn't poise to attack anyone or if I don't talk to her in public. So long as Keelan and Ramses do the same there shouldn't be any trouble." Keiran argued, he knew just how close his brother's familiar was too Keelan, he wouldn't want them separated.

"Eh, I suppose that's true. But enough talk about snakes. Tell me, how are you and Violet?"

Keiran snorted, "She is as easy to manipulate as a five-year old child when you wave candy in front of her. Though I wish she wouldn't cling like she does. It's like I have to drag around a dead weight around everywhere." He complained.

Voldemort only laughed at him, "I guess that means that things are going well."

"You could say that." Keiran acquiesced swirling his mug of hot chocolate so that all the last dregs would mix with the liquid. In his opinion, things were going too well, way too well for his comfort.

-

"I heard that the other day, you saved her again, from a bunch of Gryffindor bullies. You seem to have a habit of saving people. That isn't becoming of the Dark Heir." Voldemort half-teased half scolded.

And for some reason that Keiran couldn't fathom, he suddenly felt angry, angry at Voldemort for questioning his actions, angry at himself for saving Violet, and angry at Violet for being such a weak person that had to be saved.

He chose not to answer, even though he could feel something burning wretchedly inside him. He stared down at his cup of cocoa with blank eyes while his mind whirled in a tornado of thoughts and feelings. He didn't know what to say, and that was a first for Keiran. Voldemort had been expecting to get a stronger reaction from him, even just a short reply would do. But this lack of reaction worried him.

"Be careful boy." Voldemort warned, suddenly stern, "Do not get attached, she is the enemy."

"Don't worry." Keiran said, lifting his eyes up from the cup and meeting his father's red ones. "I won't" and as he saw the redheaded girl smiling at him with her emerald eyes sparkling in his minds eye, he certainly hoped that he wouldn't.

Living a Lie

Violet did all that she could to prevent her tears from falling. She bit her lip and stared down at her shoes, she didn't want to see his disappointed gaze as he removed the sorting hat from her head and looked down at her in anger. She tried her best to dissuade the hat from putting her back in Slytherin, she wanted to please him after all, but it wasn't enough. Turns out that wanting to prove your worth was a Slytherin trait. But he was never going to understand that.

"I'm sorry for this waste of time headmaster." James said stiffly, and Violet could feel his brown orbs at the back of her neck as she began twisting the charm on her bracelet again. "I guess I was wrong."

"No matter," the headmaster said with a deadened voice which caused Violet to wince. "It didn't hurt to check."

She could feel both of them looking down at her now, and all she wanted to do was to run away and cry. But then, what would crying do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Well then, Albus, I have to get back home. Lily will be asking for me." and then he left through the floo, without even sparing her a single glance.

Tears began to blur Violet's vision but she held them back. She refused to cry in front of the headmaster, it would be degrading, as if she wasn't degraded enough. She heard the rustle of clothing and she knew that Dumbledore had returned to his chair opposite from her, back at his desk. She wished that he would just go away, she didn't need him, she didn't need anybody. Not now.

"You do understand, Violet, don't you?" Dumbledore spoke in his would-be caring voice, but Violet heard what he tried to hide behind it, he was disappointed too. "You're father worries of what would happen to you in Slytherin. He worries that the hat was only tricked so you could be sorted to the house of the snakes. It was for your greater good."

"For my greater good." Violet repeated under her breath, it was an absurd idea. They told her that something must have gone wrong in the sorting. She couldn't be in Slytherin. The only ones who went in Slytherin were evil. How could that be for the greater good if all it did was tell her exactly what they thought of her? Unclean. Dark. Evil. What Harry would never have been. Violet shut her eyes against the pain.

"You can return to your dorms now Miss Potter. Please take care." Dumbledore said, and Violet couldn't have been happier. She was out the door in seconds, and before she knew it, she was running through the halls with no sense of where she was going, all that mattered to her was that she had to get away. She had to escape. It was too much. Far too much. So she ran.

Living a Lie

Keiran was strolling back down to the dungeons when he heard it. The faint shaky sobs came from a window around the corner, and the sound echoed down the empty hall. Keiran walked toward the sound, curious to who could possibly be crying at this time of the night. He cast a silencio charm on his feet so his footsteps would not be heard. But that charm did not prevent his gasp when he saw who stood there.

It was Violet. She stood facing the window, her hands on either side of the frame. The window was open, and the cold night air blew into it, and through Violet's red hair which shone in the moonlight. She was looking at the moon, and it reflected in her green eyed. She'd been crying, the tear tracks running down her cheeks were proof of that. Her nose was slightly reddish and her eyes were bloodshot. But she was still beautiful.

"Vi." Keiran breathed.

She spun around quickly in alarm, and that alarm only faded slightly when she saw who it was. She backed up against the window and for a split second, Keiran was worried that she was going to fall, but she regained her balance quickly and avoided his gaze. Her hands forming into fists her eyes were wide, and filled with tears, showcasing her hurt, confusion and anger for all the world to see.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped in a shaky voice, her tone of voice took him aback. He had never heard her with a confrontational tone before. She was usually just plain vulnerable Violet. What had changed?

"I was going back to the Slytherin common rooms. Would you like to join me?" Keiran asked, hoping that it was a right choice to not mention that it was obvious that she had been crying bucketfuls lately. It would only lead to awkward discussions and he would be forced no act like he cared, and to pretend that he was still actually acting.

She looked up at him and bit her lip, and Keiran gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay."

The walk back down to the dungeons was quiet. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it wasn't eerie either. At first it was awkward, but as they got closer, and Violet suddenly slipped her hand through his, Keiran learned to relax and cherish the moment. But then, he couldn't help himself from stealing glances at the girl who walked beside him, the one with the flowing red hair and the emerald green eyes. Because he couldn't just forget that if he hadn't arrived in time, if he'd just stayed a minute longer in his father's office, the savior of the wizarding world would have thrown herself outside the castle window.

Living a Lie

Keiran sat by the edge of his seat, his muscles tense and his fingers tapping against his desk in impatience. He was in charms class, and today the professor who he suspected was part goblin, was teaching them levitation charms. It was a useless lesson, as far as Keiran was concerned, and his mind kept wondering off to what would happen later, when their plan was enacted.

Quirrel had finally found a troll in the mountains, a task that shouldn't have taken as long as it did but as it wasn't topping their priority list the time it took to do it didn't matter. Later, the troll would be released, and hopefully, their stay here would end with his father back in his true form. But it was aggravating to wait, especially when you were just spending the time by sitting in a class you took when you were the age of five. Ridiculous. Keiran shook his head.

"It's win-Gar-dium levi-O-sa, not wingardium leviosa! Make the gar nice and long." He heard a bossy voice say from the Gryffindor side of the room. Granger, as he learned the bushy-haired girl was called, was prone to making know-it-all statements like that often. The girl must have been blind not to notice that she was getting on everybody's nerves. She was too pushy and overbearing it made one wonder if anybody had ever taught her any manners. Honestly, muggleborns, Keiran shook his head once again, so uncouth.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Violet continued to chant beside him. Keiran smirked. She hadn't been able to even make her feather twitch yet, so much for being the savior of the light side. He'd been able to do it on his first try, but she looked like she'd been attempting the patronus charm with a dementor in front of her rather than the simple levitation charm. Humph, when Voldemort returns to his body, taking over would be a piece of cake.

"Mr. Black, if you have time to daydream then you must have mastered this spell already. Show me your progress." A suddenly very stern Flitwick said, for he had caught him while he was gazing at Violet.

"Yes sir." Keiran replied nonchalantly, he brought out his wand and pointed it at the feather, and to be sure that the spell wouldn't hit the desk like it did before, he made his wand touch the feather as he chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The feather rose up in the air, as he expected it to, and Flitwick clapped in delight and gave Keiran points for being the first one to accomplish the spell. The little man had totally forgotten that he had been angry at Keiran just a few minutes before. Flitwick didn't notice that behind him, Granger had also accomplished the spell. Granger glowered at Keiran for outdoing her again. And Keiran just had to smirk back at her, it's not like he tried to overshadow her, on the contrary, he tried his best to do badly at class. But it just wasn't working.

"How do you do that?" Violet huffed angrily beside him, having warmed up enough to be able to complain without worrying that she sounded like a whiner, "you just try it once, and you just get it results!"

"I don't know really." Keiran replied with a hint of amusement, "It just happens."

"Well, that was helpful," was Violet's snarky reply. She returned to her work and didn't spare Keiran any of her time anymore.

Keiran eyed her curiously. She had changed drastically since the 'window' incident, as he liked to call it. She had become sarcastic and almost as bad tempered as Kiara was. Kieran couldn't say why, but he definitely liked the change, though.

Later on, to his mixed relief and glee, the bell rang, signaling the end of the last period. Everybody shuffled out the door and Keiran made to follow but he was held back by Flitwick, who was holding on to the cuff of his sleeve (it was probably the highest part of Keiran the mini professor could reach).

"A word, Mr. Black." The little man said, he was bouncing on his heels in joy over something.

"Uh, sure." Keiran said uncertainly. He motioned for Draco and Violet to leave without him and turned to look at Flitwick with weary eyes.

"Mr. Black, have you ever considered getting an apprenticeship?" Flitwick asked squeakily, his eyes shining in excitement. "You're skills in most subjects are far beyond the level of even our most advanced third years, or maybe even the newt students if you cared to let us test your skills."

"N-no." Keiran said, shaking his head, the idea of an apprenticeship looked attractive, but it would gain the same attention as becoming the youngest seeker in a century, it was regretful, but it had to be done. He doubted that he needed it anyway. "I'm sorry professor, but I don't think I'm ready for that sort of stuff yet."

"Are you sure, Mr. Black? You won't have a hard time getting a job if you have a mastery; especially at a young age such as yours!" Flitwick's eyes were still shining in a way that reminded Keiran of a little puppy begging for something. He had his hands clasped under his chin and was looking up at Keiran imploringly.

"I'll think about it, Professor." Keiran said, just wishing to shake off the Professor so that he can witness the success (hopefully) of his Father's plan. "But I honestly don't think I'll be able to do that this year."

"Oh well," Flitwick sighed, shaking his diminutive head. "This may be the best that I can do. Go on then, enjoy the Halloween feast!" He said, turning around and waving Keiran off with his hand.

"Yes, sir." Keiran murmured, before running out the door. No on was standing in the hallways anymore so he assumed that everyone was in the Great Hall already. When he saw that the Great Hall doors were still open, he let out a sigh of relief. Looks like the show hasn't started yet.

"What did Flitwick talk to you about?" Draco asked curiously once he'd dumped himself unceremoniously on the empty space beside him.

"Something about getting an apprenticeship. Seriously, why can't people here just leave me alone?" Keiran grumbled as Violet dropped a chicken leg on his plate.

"Thanks." He murmured, his eyes flickered over to the teachers table and he noted with satisfaction that Quirrel wasn't there anymore.

"You really hate attention don't you?" Violet chuckled, as she watched him rip of chicken meat from the bone moodily as Flitwick entered the Great Hall.

"It's bloody irritating." Keiran growled moodily, though inside he was bubbling in anticipation at what was about to happen. As though the world sensed his impatience, the Great Hall doors burst open and Quirrel came rushing down the aisle towards Dumbledore. All heads turned to look at their flushed Professor while Keiran fought hard to keep his smirk off his face.

"Troll! Troll in the dungeons!" he shrieked, a look of alarm crossed Dumbledore's face, but it was wiped off quickly as Quirrel's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground in a dead faint. Pandemonium came in an instant.

Keiran watched in concealed amusement as several in the Hufflepuff table fainted in their chairs while all the others practically jumped of their chairs and ran screaming towards the doors. Thankfully, none of the Slytherin's acted that way. But that didn't mean that none of them were afraid. Draco was paler than he usually was and his eyes were frantically searching for an exit, Keiran could tell that if he wasn't there to witness the event, Draco would long have rushed to the door while pushing everyone out of the way. He hadn't bothered to tell Draco about the plan, and it looked like he was going to have a really embarrassing chat with him later.

BANG!!!

Everyone fell silent as Dumbledore lowered the wand he used when he conjured the firecrackers. His eyes were blazing when he told everyone to return to their common rooms. The prefects quickly began ordering the students to fall in proper lines and proceed to their houses calmly. Yet Keiran stayed rooted to his spot, his ears ringing and his eyes widened in disbelief. Just how dumb was this man? The troll was in the bloody dungeons, Slytherin house was in the dungeons, and he wanted them to go there? Christ, he was stupid!

"C'mon." Violet whispered urgently to him, pulling him in the direction of the doors when she noticed that he hadn't moved. Keiran allowed himself to be lead out of the Great Hall and running off with the rest of the Slytherin's as they headed off to their house. He was troubled. What was he to do if they came across the troll? He couldn't dispatch it. That would go against their plan. And even if he was allowed to kill it, he would find it hard to do that without showing his unnaturally good skill with the wand. He could only hope that they wouldn't meet the troll. Damn Dumbledore.

They were rushing around a corner when a hand suddenly came out of nowhere and pulled him away from his peers. A flash of red hair and a panicked voice revealed that the person who had pulled him was Violet. She wrung her hands and paced back and forth in the small enclosure she had dragged him off too in obvious distress.

"What was that for, Vi?" Keiran groaned, rubbing his sore shoulder slightly as she had stretched it when she had suddenly grabbed his arm. Violet shot him an apologetic look but then she plunged right on about what she was worried about.

"Granger's in the loo, crying her eyes out. She doesn't know about the troll!" Violet griped, biting her lip.

"Granger? You mean the bushy-haired, know-it-all who shoots me murderous glares during class?" he asked incredulously, causing Violet to glare at him and Keiran raised his open palms in surrender.

"The very same." Violet agreed unhappily. And then without warning she began pulling Keiran out of the enclosure and back into the now deserted hallway. Keiran half-heartedly hoped that she would drag them off to the Slytherin common room now, but it was in vain. Violet began walking towards the direction opposite to their common room, tugging Keiran along with her.

"Hey! You're not dragging me to Hermione are you?" Keiran protested, wanting to pull away from Violet but daring not to. Violet rolled her eyes at his questions and Keiran could only feel irritated and slightly amused by his question. "I mean, she's in the loo! The girls' loo!" he hissed at her, putting emphasis on the 'girls' part.

"It's just a room, Kei." Violet said, rolling her eyes again.

She continued to pull him while Keiran tried to pull away from her without causing her harm. He tried prying her fingers off his arm but her grasp was too tight. He could just do a back flip and have her tumble away from his but he couldn't do that to a 'friend' now could he. He struggled for a few more seconds and he'd just been trying o wriggle his arm from her grip when her fingers suddenly slackened and he fell backward because of the force he was exerting.

"You could have given me a warning, Vi! That smarts!" he groaned and hopped to his feet, preparing to run away from his forceful companion. It was then that he realized that Violet hadn't moved since she had released him. She stood rooted to her spot staring in fright at something in front of her. Keiran knew then and there what it was that had caused her to stiffen in fear. He should have known that after several uneventful weeks his luck would run out again. But then he had to check to be sure.

He slowly lifted his eyes from the enormous shadow on the marble floor to the dirty feet of the creature. Keiran's heart jumped to his throat as he looked at the enormous troll standing in front of him. It was huge, and smelly and utterly ugly. And that moment, it was snarling down at both of them with his teeth barred. The troll raised both of his hands above his head and that was when Keiran realized what the troll was holding. In one hand it held a club taller than Keiran himself. While the other hand held a bruised and unconscious bushy-haired girl.

"Granger!" He and Violet breathed simultaneously.

The troll growled in response.

Living a Lie

A/N: I am soooo sorry, but it had to end there. It just seemed like the right place to end! It just wrote itself!

So what do you think?

And now a few question!:

You guys already know who Keiran and Kiara really are, right? Who do you think should be their godfathers? Do you think Hermione should be their friend? Or should she die in the hands of the evil troll (literally). It wouldn't affect the overall plot but then, I want to know what you guys think. I just might change my mind and make her a key character.

Is Dumbledore going to be evil, manipulative or just plain clueless?

Till next time!