Ares woke up on his plush velvety bed in his room. Sitting up and stretching his legs, he looked around the room with a faint sense of loss. He missed his bed, he missed his favorite juice, and he even missed the batty old elf trying to pull away the covers. Most important of all, he missed his Pad, his father, Sirius Black.
Ever since he had started to learn more words, Sirius had always encouraged him to call him Padfoot (Pa 'foo sounded way too baby-ish, even for him) which had shortened to Pad. They had discussed the issue of what Ares would call Sirius and had arrived at the solution. Sirius was his Pad, his father (when being talked about or in public) while James and Lily would remain his Dad and Mum respectively. The trunk Sirius had collected from Godric's Hollow before he left Britain with Ares had been of immense help as well. His mum and dad had carefully stored months of memories in little vials in the trunk. Along with the memories, the trunk contained the school journals of his Mum and Dad, and the Potter Family Grimoire; though Ares had not been able to open it until he had claimed the Lordship of the House of Potter. The trunk also contained a map, with small dots and obscure symbols written all over it. He and Sirius had spared countless hours trying to decipher the map, but their efforts were for naught. Sirius had never married and had made Ares his life; and Ares had enjoyed every moment of his life so far.
Breaking out of his thoughts, Ares looked down at his right hand. The two wands were sheathed in single holster. He had developed the habit of sleeping with his wands since his tutor had started special training methods. When he was eight-years-old, Sirius had decided that he would begin his wand training; They had approached the premier wand maker of Bulgaria, Mykew Gregorovitch, and commissioned him to craft a wand for Ares. His white wand.
The wand was made of Deathwood, and covered in ivory casing made from the teeth of a Grim. The core was the heartstring of an ice-dragon. It was quite a rare core and to say that Gregorovitch was surprised would be an understatement. Gregorovitch was downright excited to the point that he had constructed the entire wand and not even added a ministry-tracer to it, at Sirius' request.
As for his other wand, his dad's mahogany wand worked perfectly in his hand. The core was the heartstring of a Hungarian horntail, and the wood was enclosed in a holly casing. It was his black wand. The white wand was extremely good at offensive magicks, even amplifying their power by a small factor, while the black wand was efficient at transfiguration. Surprising the duo, Ares was found to be equally proficient with utilising two wands simultaneously. Ever since the day he had acquired his white wand, Ares had practiced using both wands simultaneously, to devastating effects.
Sirius had never forbidden him from learning any arts of magic, only reminding him repeatedly of one single statement:
No knowledge in the magical arts is forbidden; only certain practices are. Everything is available to you if you are in control of your magic – The inverse of which has only served to bring destruction.
The fact that Ares could cast simultaneously with two wands was a secret that he and Sirius had gone to great lengths to hide, even resorting to obliviations when necessary. Sirius had done his best to turn him into a fearsome wizard, while working alongside him, keeping himself in proper shape and skill. The effort had nearly tripled after Ares had acquired his lordships.
Remembering he had classes to attend, Ares shook himself off from his reveries and stood upon the cold stone floor, causing a shiver to go through him. Need to do something about this!
He twisted his wrist and, with a zip-like noise, his black wand was in his right hand. Waving across his wand across the floor, a couple of plastic plates were conjured, and then transfigured into a plush carpet that covered the entire floor.
Looking over his work, Ares nodded to himself. That will suffice for now! That reminds me, I will need a guard for my room.
He twirled his wand in a clockwise turn and then cut a straight line through the curve and cast his spell in silence. Serpensortia!
A silvery black adder was summoned out of his wand tip, the adder immediately curling on the floor and turning towards the human it regarded as a sudden threat. It hissed dangerously at being summoned from its own habitat. Ares looked at the adder and hissed in Parseltongue. "I am sorry for summoning you, but I need a guard!"
"A speaker? Oh, as you wish; speaker!"
He smirked. Parseltongue was a handy thing. Apparently, a Parselmouth, or as the snakes would say, a Speaker, could command snakes and the snakes were magically bound to do their bidding. He had done extensive research on Parseltongue, especially after finding out everything he could about his ability from the Slytherin Grimoire. Apparently, when a Speaker talked with a snake, the snake would gain a momentary increase in its intelligence and thus, was able to conduct a few simple tasks at the Speaker's bidding. After the snake had been dismissed, it reverted to a 'normal snake' and lost its increased intelligence.
Ares looked straight at the adder and hissed clearly. "I wish for you to rest in my room. I will bring you food regularly. In return, you shall watch out for threats. If anyone enters my room without my permission, you have my permission to stop them; you may only bite them, if that is the last option available."
The snake bowed to him and went under his bed, coiling itself to sleep.
"Time to get out for the first day in the Snake pit." Ares chuckled to himself and began his preparations for the day.
Opening the door, Ares found himself facing Daphne and the rest of the gang. His luxuriant hair, remaining an untidy mess despite his best efforts at taming it, was a lost case for him. He had tried everything he could, but the bush just had to grow and sprout out all over. Daphne had playfully dubbed his hair as 'after-shagged'; for which he still teased her to this day.
"Morning Daph! Morning Miss Davis!" He wished them, half swallowing a yawn that escaped his mouth.
"Morning Ares, and please call me Tracy!" Tracey gave a bright smile and Ares nodded in acceptance to her words.
"Morning Black!" Blaise wished, and so did Theo; and Ares returned it equally.
"So, going up for breakfast?" Ares gestured towards the common room.
"Yea!" Blaise replied. "Daphne over here, wanted to wait for her lover." He replied surly, but Ares could see that he was just teasing.
"Why Daph? Is that true?" Turning to Daphne, Ares waggled his eyebrows at her, causing Daphne to roll her eyes.
"Come on everyone, let's go!" Daphne began walking off towards the common room; Ares and the others quickly caught up with her. They had hardly crossed the corridor when Ares suddenly grasped her hand and pulled her aside to a narrow alcove in the shadows.
"What are you-" Daphne began but Ares shut her up with a kiss. When the others stopped by to wait for them, he called out. "We have some- err- stuff to talk about. You people go on. We will join you soon!"
"What are you DOING?" Daphne hissed- her voice limited to a coarse whisper, as her friends left for the Great Hall.
Ares smirked. "Having some quality time with my girlfriend."
Daphne looked saucily at him, and placed a finger on his cheek. "Is that so, Mr. Black? Is it the same girlfriend whom you avoided all through the journey on the train so that you could have a nap?" She asked in a sweet voice.
Ares gulped. "You-erm- You heard about- the- that, Daph?"
"Yes, my dear boyfriend!" Daphne continued in her overly-sweetened voice.
Ares looked clumsily at her face. "Will a couple of kisses help in decreasing your anger by a tiny little bit?"
Daphne shook her head in denial.
"Then perhaps this?" Ares closed the distance between them and kissed her full on her lips. Kissing Daphne, the feel of her full pink lips, with one hand on her waist and the other on her... it was wonderful; better than firewhiskey, better than elven wine; just him, Daphne and that sweet perfume she always wore; an aroma that was strictly... 'Daphne'.
Their lips separated after an entire minute, proving that even the most passionate lovers needed oxygen. Daphne's face was flushed, her lips swollen and her hair slightly disheveled. Ares' lips were colored by a tinge of Daphne's lipstick. His hair was just as untidy as it was before the entire kissing sequence had begun.
"Does that eviscerate a tiny little bit of your anger?" Ares asked, still regaining his breath.
Daphne nodded. "But a lot of anger is still left."
Ares smirked and Daphne blushed deeply."Do you think you should go for that breakfast?" He asked, Daphne nodded, and Ares continued. "Not that I'm saying that this breakfast is any less."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Let's go!" she replied, and the duo went to breakfast together, hand in hand. Neither of them thought about leaving the other's hand.
The great Hall was swarming with people. Students of all houses, wearing their House robes, occupied seats at their House tables for breakfast in the Great Hall. Ares and Daphne joined the rest of the group whistles and catcalls began when students spotted their joined hands. The pair realized what the matter was and immediately separated their hands, which resulted in more sniggering amongst the fourth and fifth years. Just as he and Daphne approached empty seats near their friends, Ares heard someone clear his throat behind him. Turning back, he found the blond ponce, and the two henchmen, who interrupted his nap on the train standing there.
"So, you are Harry Potter." Malfoy asked, a trace of sneer in his voice.
Ares nodded. "Yes, but my official name is Ares James Black. I would be gratified if you would refer to me by my official name."
Malfoy seemed to give him a calculating look, nodded and then turned back as though to return to his seat, only to turn back and remark. "You know Potter; you should stick by Potter. After all, that is also an Ancient Family name. After all, I shall be the Lord Black when I come of-age. So, rather than live under my influence and name, I would have thought you would choose to call yourself Potter."
Ares eyed Draco queerly. "Tell me Malfoy, why... do you have the confidence that you will be the Lord Black?"
Malfoy gave him a haughty look. "Because I am the only Black Scion here in Britain and the Heir Apparent. Apart from being the heir to the Noble House of Malfoy of course." He finished, his voice blustering with self-proclaimed importance.
Ares wondered how very similar Malfoy sounded to a Ministry employee he had the misfortune to meet a couple of months ago. "Hmm. Mister Malfoy, do you remember what I told you on the train?" he asked in an innocent tone of voice.
Malfoy looked back at him as if talking to a simpleton.
Ares smirked at him, his voice turning to a tone of condescension. "Of course, why would you! You must have hit your head really hard! I did tell you to make sure of the merit of the knowledge you hold, before speaking of such matters. Anyway, it was a thought from my father." Lifting a finger, he continued "No wait, scratch that. It was a thought told to me by my father, Lord Sirius Black, The Lord Black. And this," he shoved the shiny Black heir ring, that appeared on his right hand, in Malfoy's face, "—is the ring worn by the Heir Apparent of the Noble and Ancient House of Black. Just like this-" Another ring appeared on the same hand. "—is the ring worn by the Lord of the Noble and Ancient House of Potter. Do you understand, Draco Malfoy of the Noble House of Malfoy, what I am trying to convey?" He finished in a lecturing voice, as if trying to impart knowledge to a particularly stubborn student.
Draco's face changed color from pale to green in jealousy and finally turned to crimson in anger. He stared at Ares for a long moment, and then shouted. "This isn't over, Potter!" Turning back to his henchmen, he marched off towards his seat.
Ares just sighed at the blond' antics.
"Let's get some breakfast!" Daphne suggested. Ares nodded and sat down beside her and began piling his plate with food. He took a bite of a rather delicious looking ham sandwich and turned to observed the students at the various House tables.
A redheaded, tall and dangly boy entered into the Great Hall followed by two of his friends. The boy and his parley were all wearing Gryffindor robes and unlike every other Gryffindor who had made his or her way towards the table of red and gold, this group approached the Slytherin table.
Just as Ares took a bite of a delicious treacle tart, he felt Daphne touch his arm from underneath the table. He turned towards her, an eyebrow raised in question. Realising she was pointing her chin towards the end of the table, he turned to find the redhead and his two friends approaching his direction. Heaving a mental sigh, he readied himself for the possible altercation that was about to happen. Not even a day at Hogwarts and already this was probably the fourth person to try to confront him. Ares wondered, not for the first time, about the possible tomfoolery that was Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The redhead and his friends stopped in front of Ares and stared at him for two seconds, as if judging him from his table manners. After his possible scanning was over, the redhead's face shifted, almost funnily, into a scowl and he began to speak, with spit coming out of his mouth. "You disappoint me, Potter."
On reflex, Ares waved his left hand over the table and a silver shield appeared, protecting the meal from the redhead' spit. Daphne, her friends and several of the students sitting at the table, including the redhead's friends, glanced at him in awe at such a blatant display of wandless magic.
The redhead however, had completely ignored the display, especially given how he began his diatribe with "How dare you Potter, mingling with slimy Slytherins? What would your parents think of you?"
The entire hall including the teachers had fallen silent at the redhead's words and were watching the proceeding's with avid interest.
Ares shook his face and inclined it at an angle, observing the redhead as though he was a particularly odd specimen of the human race. "And who might you be?"
"I am Ron Weasley." The declaration was coupled with a snort from the blonde ponce, but he ignored it.
Ares looked at Ron Weasley with a speculative look, almost akin to the way in which a zoologist notices a particularly annoying bug he is about to catch. "Let me rephrase my statement. What I meant was, what is it to you where I am sorted and why did you yell like a moron, not to mention, strictly endanger the dedicated cooking of the Hogwarts house elves?"
Due to the silence enveloping the hall, Ares heard a spoon fall over on the Gryffindor table, followed by some quickly muttered comments about condemning elves to a life of slavery, how the food was slave labor and a backward society living in the middle ages. Turning his focus back to the redhead, he sat, waiting for an adequate answer.
Ares and his friends were treated to the sight of a ripe tomato. The redhead was possibly so angry that his face was imitating a ripe tomato.
Ron Weasley banged the Slytherin table, getting filthy looks from the other slytherins at the table; Not that he noticed, Ron was too busy staring at Ares with what seemed to be irrepressible hatred. "You are Harry Potter. The bloody boy-who-lived. You should have been in Gryffindor, and been my best mate, but instead you do not turn up at all. And now that you are finally here, you join the house of snakes and hang out with that harlot, you-"
Ron continued ranting and after a whole minute, he realized that he was not making any actual noise. His voice had been silenced – he couldn't see a single wand pointed in his direction - while Ares Black stood in front of him, a cold, calculating glare on his face.
Ares left his spoon on the table and put a finger on Weasley's chest. "Listen up you imbecile. Since I do not know you and this is the first time we have met, you get one chance. Do not expect mercy from me. One more insult about me, my family or Daphne, you will learn to fear me more than you ever feared that wanker you called a Dark lord."
Daphne looked all around the hall. She wondered if it was a good thing that the teaching staff was absent from the Hall. When Ares had compared himself with the Dark Lord, Daphne noticed the entire school eye him with curiosity, fear, anger, challenge and interest.
Ron was quite intimidated by the cold threatening pose but his Gryffindor bravery rose back in him. He sneered. "Of course, you are a snake after all. It is obvious that you will become a dark wizard, if you're not already one, and follow You-Know-Who. You are a shame on your parent's memory, you bastard, and you-"
The rest of Ron's diatribe was immediately cut off as he was pounced upon by a large Asiatic lion with jet black fur and frightening emerald green eyes that oozed power. The entire beast was covered in voluptuous manes and was greater than eight feet in length. Ron found himself spread-eagled on the floor of the Great Hall, with the 800-pound creature above him, and two gigantic paws on his arms, both of which were broken and were slowly oozing blood, sharp spikes of pain spearing through him.
Silence pervaded the Great Hall.
Pin. Drop. Silence.
It seemed as if everyone's breath was taken away the instant the boy, who had compared himself to the Dark Lord, had suddenly morphed into a ferocious beast and pinned Weasley to the floor. Even his brothers and sister from the Gryffindor table were silent. Nobody's mind seemed to be functioning at that instant.
The great lion let out a formidable roar and Ronald Weasley's pants became wet, as a watery fluid seemed to seep out of his robes and spread out on the floor of the Great Hall.
The lion brought its extra-large and shiny fang deadly closed to Ron's neck as he whimpered in pain and fear. Then, it morphed and Ares Black was standing there, his left leg still on one of Ron's bloodied hands.
"I will speak just this once." Ares spoke, rage churning in his voice. "So listen to me, and listen well. I am Ares James Black, the son and heir of Sirius Orion Black, The Lord Black. And this is warning to everyone; Next time anyone insults my parentage, it won't turn out nice for you." He looked down upon the fallen redhead. "And next time Weasley, mind your tongue before I feel I need to tear it out of your meddlesome mouth!"
Glaring at the redhead for a second longer, Ares stalked out of Great Hall.
Silence.
Daphne stood up, and raced out after her boyfriend, leaving her friends to watch her run after her boyfriend. She arrived at the entrance and took a sharp left to follow Ares.
Pandemonium ensued.
The Great Hall was in complete chaos. There were noises everywhere, from cries of pain (the Weasley on the floor) to complete indignation (Ron's sister and friends) to silent discussions (the Weasley twins) to complete chaos (the rest of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff). Ravenclaw was divided into two groups; one was busy trying to figure out how the fifteen-year old had been able to morph so effortlessly into a lion. Such ease was only demonstrated by their Transfiguration teacher, and for a fifth-year to do that was baffling. The other group was politically inclined and were busy discussing over the facts in reference to Harry Potter —ahem—Ares Black being the heir of one and Lord of another Noble and Ancient House.
The Slytherins, however, were divided into multiple factions. The sixth and seventh years were either happy that a soon-to-be dual lord, a magically powerful wizard at that, had joined their House; or wary about Ares Black being a potential opponent towards their power block and existing hierarchy. Draco Malfoy was of a similar mindset as the latter. Tracy, Blaise and Theo were both in awe of Harry's innate magical power and skill, and quite impressed at his not so subtle threat and the ruthless domination that had followed it.
Blaise, in particular, was extremely impressed by the ruthlessness shown by Ares Black. For years, Ronald Weasley had grown from an obnoxious loudmouth to a potential problem for many Slytherins, especially the juniors. Weasley and his band of merry men would randomly capture a Slytherin firstie and hex them. The irritating part was that the grand old moron they called a Headmaster would simply pass it off as 'childish immaturity' and a 'simple prank'.
Another major problem was Draco Malfoy. The obnoxious peacock held the innate belief that he, with all his father's connections, had the right to rule Slytherin House and his fellow students. The problem was that the house seemed to allow it, and even believe it. During the initial years, Draco was simply a loudmouth with not an ounce of Slytherin cunning and subtlety in him; but as he grew older, his tantrums seemed to increase. To top it off, the Head of House was Draco's own godfather. Suffice it to say, Draco Malfoy, the arrogant peacock of Slytherin, had been damaging the reputation of the house for years.
Then, Ares James Black had entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The sorting night, Ares declared himself as a perfect pureblood scion and follower of the old customs. Ares might not know that, but Blaise Zabini knew quite well that he had attracted the attention of the more egalitarian Slytherins. It was no coincidence after all, that the seventh year Prefect had introduced himself to him. It might have been a common thing in Hufflepuff or even Gryffindor, but this was Slytherin. Not one hour of being sorted, and Ares Black had already made his first masterstroke.
Now, Ares Black had already taken the sting out of the fangs of the likes of both Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy in less than twenty minutes. The former, with a subtle demonstration of political power and cunning; and the later by a more formidable projection of his magical prowess. While many would have considered Ares's actions as Gryffindorish, Blaise Zabini knew it in his heart- after all, there was a reason why Black was the Lord Slytherin. That reminded him, Black had not even mentioned his Slytherin lordship to anyone. If anything, he seemed to be working to keep the fact a secret. Was it his ace in the hole for some future altercation, or was it that Ares Black simply played his cards close to his chest?
Blaise smirked. Oh yes, Ares James Black, or should one say, Harry Potter, was definitely interesting.
The professors had quickly ushered into the Great Hall, owing to the developing chaotic situation. The formidable roar of a lion inside Hogwarts also might have added to the cause. McGonagall and Snape were the first to enter, quickly followed by the rest. McGonagall fired up a loud explosive sound from her wand, and the hall fell silent.
"Now, someone please come up and tell me what has happened." Mcgonagall stated coldly.
Dean Thomas was quicker than the rest, and jumped off the Gryffindor table and stood in front of the old Transfiguration professor. "Harry Potter changed into a big lion and pounced on Ron, Professor, breaking his arms."
"WHAT?"
Mcgonagall and Snape had uttered the same word in unison. The fact that the duo had shared the same expression, even if said expression was limited to a single word, was completely loathsome to both of them. Minerva and Severus glared at each other with a distasteful expression and she turned towards the Thomas boy.
"Mr. Thomas, are you impliying that Mr. Black intentionally attacked and injured Mr. Weasley?"
"That's exactly what I am saying professor. That filthy snake-" Dean began, but Snape cut him short, "Ten points from Gryffindor for unwanted name-calling." That shut Dean up.
"Please professor," This time, the voice rose from the House of green and silver. Tracey Davis stood up. "Ares and everyone else were busy having breakfast when Weasley came up to our table and started throwing insults about him and Slytherin House. He denigrated Black as a dark wizard and insulted his family. Black even gave him two chances to fall back but Weasley . ." She ended her diatribe, with her last words punctuated loudly.
Blaise stood up and faced Professor Snape. "Ares gave Weasley two chances to back-off. Then, Weasley also insulted Daphne and Ares's birth-parents. It was then that Ares morphed into a black lion and pounced on him. Then, he simply morphed back and threatened him to be more careful of his words in future."
"He threatened to bite his tongue off!" Seamus sneered.
"That was basically a cold threat to back off, Slytherin-style." Blaise countered.
"ENOUGH!" Snape thundered, "Now I am going to ask this once. Where are Ron Weasley and Ares Black?"
"Ron is here, Professor." Someone cried out from the crowd. The two professors quickly approached the parting crowds and found Weasley still lying down on the ground; his two arms fractured and bloodied. The floor all around him was smeared in either blood or some kind of pale yellowish liquid.
Severus quickly muttered a few incantations and the cuts on Weasley's arms healed, and then he levitated the injured boy from off the floor. "Now, where is Ares Black?"
"He stomped out of the Hall, after nearly killing Weasley, Professor." A boy in red and gold answered.
Looking towards the Slytherin table, Severus replied. "I want one of you to find Ares Black, and inform him that he needs to report to the Headmaster's office. This is urgent and not negotiable." The boy, a certain Terry Midgen, looked blankly at the professor and nodded. Severus stared at the Slytherin table for a moment and then stomped off, levitating Weasley with his wand, in the direction of the Hospital wing.
Minerva watched him leave, and seeing that the matter was temporarily resolved, followed him to the infirmary.
"Ares! Ares! Stop!"
Ares turned back to stop his stride and looked behind to see his girlfriend standing a few feet away, holding her hands on her stomach and panting slowly.
"Where are you off to?" Daphne asked, exasperated.
"I need to cool my temper off; else I'm not sure what I will do. Does this damned school have any such place?"
Daphne thought for a moment, and then recognition hit her. "There is one room which you can use, but we have to be discreet. It is not exactly an open spot."
He might have been in anger at the moment, but not enough to not take advantage when he saw a chance. Especially when it was a chance to make his girlfriend blush.
"I see how it is. First day at school and you are already sneaking me away to secluded places. If I didn't know any better, I would say that's incredibly forward of you, Miss Greengrass."
Daphne's face imitated a fresh tomato for a moment as the subtle dig hit her, and she looked away from him in embarrassment. Getting her blush under control, she proceeded to punch him on the arm, but Ares had simply removed his arm in time. Merlin knew the girl had a solid right-hook. He had been on the receiving end too many times to not know it.
"So where is this secluded - I mean, where is this not-so-open spot?" Ares asked, changing his words mid-speech on seeing his girlfriend turn scary. Yes, Daphne was damned scary. Even Scylla, his pet adder, accepted that. The adder was ferocious, but would suddenly run (slither away, that is) like a terrified puppy when he would call on the pet to save himself from Daphne's wrath.
So yes, Daphne was one scary girl.
"Follow me!" she commanded and Ares, knowing that the wise thing to do would be to silently follow her command, simply walked off in unison to her footsteps.
Standing in front of a rather plain wall on the seventh floor, Ares wondered, not for the first time, if his girlfriend was a bit... barmy. Daphne was walking back and forth in front of the wall, her face scrunched up.
"Are you... thinking about something, Daph?"
Daphne paid no heed to his query and continued her pacing. After the third time she paced in front of the wall, Ares was surprised to find a door materializing out from the blank wall.
Nice Illusion!
The door opened and Daphne stepped in, with Ares following behind. It was a near-empty room, with the walls and floor nicely cushioned and a few well-placed couches.
"Come with me." Daphne muttered and walked up and sat on one of the couches, which did look comfortable. Ares walked towards her and then heard the door close. He turned back to find the door had vanished.
Taking a long glance around the entire room, Ares asked "What... is this place?"
"This is the Room of Requirement. House elves call it the Come-and-go Room." Daphne answered. "It has the ability to transform itself into-"
"—whatever the user wants!" Ares finished for her.
Daphne raised her eyebrow. "How did you know that?"
"Slytherin Grimoire." Ares replied off-handedly. "Slytherin wrote about Ravenclaw building one such Chamber, something that was unequivocally as good, if not better, than his fabled Chamber of Secrets. Of course, he also stated that if asked in public, he would vehemently deny that he had ever praised Rowena's creation at all; forget comparing it to his fabled Chamber."
"Salazar Slytherin praising Ravenclaw! Now that is something spicy. You remember I told you about the Chamber of Secrets being opened and all?" asked Daphne.
Ares nodded.
Smiling, Daphne said "You told me that it was a bluff, but it was true. A body was indeed taken into the Chamber, and never brought back."
"Who was it?" he asked, curious.
"Romilda Vane. She was a Gryffindor first year. There were some rumours pertaining to a book and Ginny Weasley also, but it was all shushed-up. The headmaster silenced up the entire issue and put the information on lockdown."
Ares mused on the information as he absently replied "He seems to be that type. No wonder Pad hates him."
"How is Sirius? Won't he come back here?" Daphne asked, interested.
"Pad, he has some matters he needs to take care of. After he is done, he will probably come back, but not until something drastic happens; you know, something drastic for a Marauder." Ares winked towards her.
"I can only wonder what could classify as drastic, then!" Daphne commented sassily.
"Well, there are a few. I kill someone. I prank the Headmaster into insanity. The world gets doomed. I get someone preg-" Ares stopped midway, seeing the sudden blush forming on his girlfriend's cheeks and an equally red tinge forming on his own. "Anyway," he circumvented, "I do not think he will be here before Christmas anyway. Till then, I am on my own."
Fighting down her blush, Daphne asked "What is so special about Christmas?"
Ares shrugged. "I don't know. He told me that he would come and have some important and unavoidable meeting with your dad about our possible-" He tried his best to avoid her eyes. "-engagement. And then there was something else, but he told me off!"
The couple did not look at each other for a couple of seconds until Ares decided to break the ice. "So, what does this Room do? Does it have any limits?"
"Not that I know off." Daphne shrugged casually.
"So if I were to imagine a large swimming pool and a-" he paused temporarily as he saw water slowly forming out of nowhere, and the sudden reddish tinge on Daphne's face, "Hey! I was just kidding! I need a place to vent out my anger." He shouted out, rather unnaturally loud. The water receded and a couple of practice dummies started to be conjured out of nowhere.
Seeing the room respond to his words, a smile rose on Ares' face. This is exciting! Dad always limited me to five dummies! "Daph? Can you do me a favor?"
Daphne replied "Sure."
"If I'm wounded or incapacitated, can you please take me to the Medi-witch or wizard, whoever is in charge?"
"Medi-witch. Her name is Madam Pomfrey, and yes I will, but why?"
"I am need to vent. But now that I think of it, I have a better idea." Ares took out his moleskin pouch and took out a miniature closet. Walking towards Daphne, he handed her the closet.
"There are medical potions inside. If I am injured, please just feed them to me. The vials are marked. I don't want to show myself as injured the first day around here."
Daphne nodded.
Ares stood up and walked towards the dummies. Upon reaching a certain distance from Daphne, he closed his eyes, a thought flitting through his head and the room granted his wish. A transparent shield formed between him and her, with him facing the dummies and her on the other side of the shield, still seated on the couch. The dummies multiplied in number and in seconds, all of them surrounding him dangerously.
"Ares?" Daphne asked in worry. "What are you doing?"
Ares smirked and twisted his wrist, his black and white wands held firmly in both hands. He twirled the wands in his fingers, as was his habit. A smirk on his face, he looked at the dummies and replied. "Enjoy the show!"
The dummies were moving and firing spells at him in quick succession. Blasting curses, piercing and cutting hexes, bludgeoners and bone breakers and crushers. Ares weaved through them, avoiding the most powerful curses just at the last possible moment. His hands, and by extension, his wands moved on instinct, as if they had developed an independent sentience of their own. Colors and bright lights consistently hurled out and radiated out of them. One moment, there would be a glow of silver; the other, it would vanish and several javelins and knives would fly all over the place. One moment, a large golden dome would be present, shielding Ares from the spells splashing against it. Another, there would be sounds of shields shattering and nasty looking purple spells hitting against one or more dummies, blasting chunks off of them.
Daphne was mesmerized. It was like a dance. A dance with Death. The spells he was using and fighting against looked and felt deadly, and Daphne was sure that most of them were at least borderline dark, if not more.
Daphne just stood speechless, her eyes filled with awe and fear. On one hand, she was shocked at the casual way her boyfriend was playing with deadly magicks; while on the other, a part of her was being highly turned on by the dazzling display of sheer brilliance and power. She knew she was good, even better than most of the school. In Slytherin, there were very few who could fight to a standstill with her. But here, she knew that she would lose, hands-down, if he fought against her. Sure, she had had mock-duels with him before, but the humbling realization hit her. They were, indeed, mock-duels. This was a real duel.
Thirty long minutes had passed and the show was still on in all its extravagance, until a stray spell slipped past Ares' defenses and hit him on the leg. Unfortunately, for him, he was about flip when the spell hit him hard. The result was that his jump turned against him and he was banished to the wall, a great thud resounding through the Room.
"ARES!" Daphne wailed out, and cleared the room of dummies and the shield with one single thought. She rushed towards the unconscious form of Ares, picked up the battered body of her boyfriend. The last banishing charm, if it was a banishing charm, had hit him quite hard. Sending his two wands back in his wand-holster, Daphne levitated the wounded boy towards the couch and put him down gently. Opening the closet, she quickly summoned a blood-replenishing draught and an invigoration draught. She held her wand out on his wounded arm and leg and whispered "Episkey!"
The injured tissues began to heal themselves and she opened his mouth gently and poured the blood-replenishing draught. Ensuring the potions were swallowed, she pointed at wand at him and muttered "Ennervate!"
Ares woke up with a start. After three seconds of blurry vision, he looked Daphne and gave a roguish grin. "Took a bad one at the knee. The pain will stay for at least another hour." He took the invigoration draught from her hand and gulped it down. His energy returning shortly, he held his wand at the broken knee and whispered "Ossis Dispersimus."
"What was that spell?" Daphne asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Oh that, it removed my shattered knee." Ares answered casually. Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say.
"WHAAAAT?"
Ares cringed at the explosive reaction. He dared to look up and convinced himself that he was simply staring at a fire-breathing dragon. After all, Daphne could not be so scary. Would not. Maybe…
"It removes the bones of my-" Ares tried to say but shut himself up as Daphne's glared intensified.
"You. Just. REMOVED. A. BONE. From. Your. KNEE?" Daphne asked coldly, punctuating her every word.
Ares gulped. "I have a lot of practice, doing that." Daphne looked more fearsome and he winced. Me and my big mouth.
Incidentally, he shifted his knee, causing pain shot through his spine and he hissed. Her anger forgotten, Daphne's face shifted into an expression of concern as she sat down and held his knee.
"What do you need?"
"Skele-gro! Inside the closet!" Ares bit out the words through the pain.
Daphne summoned the said vial and handed it over to Ares, who swallowed the entire content of the vial in one gulp. A distasteful expression spread over his countenance.
"Always tastes nasty!"
"Serves you well." Daphne challenged. He did not counter back.
Headmaster's office.
"That brat! I sent for him nearly an hour ago, and he is still not here!" Severus snapped.
"Did you send anyone for him?" Dumbledore asked. Severus nodded.
"Apparently said person must not have found Mr. Potter. So-" Dumbledore whipped his wand out, the beads on his slender wand visible to all.
Not for the first time, Severus wondered why the Headmaster's wand seemed so different. Even the dark lord's wand was ... quite normal to look at, despite the skull casing.
Giving a stabbing motion, Dumbledore uttered the words. "Expecto Patronum!"
An ethereal silvery phoenix swam out of the wand and circled the office before hovering in front of Dumbledore who spoke to the patronus. "Find Mr. Harry Potter. Tell him - Come to the Headmaster's office. Urgently." The patronus nodded at his words and departed through the walls.
Dumbledore put his wand back into his sleeve, leaning back on his plush chair. "Minerva," he smiled at the old Transfiguration teacher, "Do you wish to stay? I mean, Mr. Potter is of Slytherin House and-"
"The wounded belongs to my House and as such, I demand to stay!" came the blatant cold scoff.
"Very well."
Ares and Daphne had just come out of the Room of Requirement when a silvery Patronus flew out from somewhere. He saw the bird fly around him before choosing to hover in front of him.
"That's a phoenix Patronus." Daphne commented.
The phoenix opened its beak and the voice of the Headmaster reverberated out. "Come to the Headmaster's office. Urgently."
Cocking his head to the message, Ares spoke. "Let's go see what the Headmaster wants, now."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: (22-12-2017)
As one of our readers suggested, we are going with IAN SOMERHALDER for the role of Sirius Black. No offence Pine, but I suppose IAN is a better fit. Thanks for the suggestion, lojosmom.
Now, a message to reviewers out there.
First, all those who favorited and are following this story. We are not sorry about the rewrite. Yes, the fic went from twenty chapters to four. But no, it is not a simple rehash. The scope of the story has changed and we have written the chapters to match that. You will see the changes SOON.
Now, for the reviewers who are complaining about the rewrite incessantly, please don't. We don't care. We are writing the story for ourselves and for people who appreciate the work being put in the story. We are putting in the time and work. Stop nagging.
For those of you looking for an update schedule, I can't really promise one. I will say that we have a deadline to finish this fic, and finish it we shall. AS I SWEAR, SO MOTE IT BE.