Author's Note
Look at me! Two days of updating in a row! Woo! Anyway, here's the next chapter in The Blood of Kings. It's pretty long, and Adeline definitely goes through some inner turmoil during this chapter. So, without any further ado, here it is!
Also, please, please review! It inspires me to write more, and lately I've only gotten like one or two reviews a chapter, which is sad :( It doesn't have to be long, or even positive, just give me something! Thanks!
Read, enjoy, review! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own HP!
9. Deceiver
I was terrified as I stepped out of the town car that had driven me home from the train station and stood outside of the Villori Mansion. It seemed sick, really, that the one place I had always felt safe and at home was actually the headquarters of the dark side. What was even sicker was that I knew, and I was still going inside.
I tried not to dwell on these thoughts as one of the servants that waited on my family came to the door and opened it, allowing me to step over the threshold. My skin was prickling, the hairs on my arms standing up straight, and I had the urge to reach for my wand as I gazed around the giant foyer of the home I had once loved. Now I wanted to turn tail and run: I didn't belong here, and I knew it.
A door opened to my left, making me jump, and Roy came striding towards me, a big grin on his handsome face. "Adeline, wonderful to see you! I've so missed my little sister!" he engulfed me in a big hug as I fought the urge to push him off me.
It was almost surreal, seeing Roy. He was my brother, and a small, irrational part of me wanted to forget everything I knew about him now, and think of him only as the confident, powerful brother I had always idolized, not the sick, twisted murderer I knew that he was.
"Roy." I said, trying to keep my wits about me, and act like the Adeline that my family had come to recognize. "I've missed you too." My voice shook a little bit at the end from my own fear. Of course, he wasn't going to hurt me, but just seeing his face brought to mind everything from a few weeks ago, when I had imagined him killing that muggle-born girl, time and time again. The image, and everything about that day, still haunted me.
He must have detected that panicky note in my voice, because his smile faltered, if only for a moment. "Ah, so you've probably seen the news." He scratched the back of his neck, then shrugged. "Well, it's nothing for you to worry about. All will be explained soon! In the mean time, how about we go find everyone else? Dinner is about to be served, and I know everyone is dying to see you!"
He put a brotherly hand on my shoulder, steering me towards our large dining room, smiling at me reassuringly while I mulled over his words in my head. All will be explained soon! What did he mean by that? Could it be that everything the Prophet had said was just a big misunderstanding? My heart leapt at the thought, even as my brain told me that I was being ridiculous. My family was dark and murderous and I had to accept it.
We walked into the dining room and were greeted by smiles and greetings from my mother and other brothers, as well as a few family friends—death eaters, I thought with a grimace—that often dined with my parents. Finally I came face to face with my father.
My dad, Samson Villori, is a tall, intimidating man with black hair and green eyes like mine. He's muscular, despite the fact that his hair was peppered with gray, and has a handsome face much like that of a fox. And he was as clever as a fox, to be sure. He hadn't become such an authoritative, rich, feared man just by chance.
I felt my palms start to sweat as a bit of a hush fell over the dinner party and I met my father's green eyes with my own. It was amazing to me, how I had gone from Samson Villori's pride and joy to a disgraced member of the family in so short an amount of time, but the enormity of that situation seemed to suddenly hang in the air.
"Hello, father." I said, holding my chin up a little higher in the air, a bit proudly, a bit defiantly, just as he had always taught his children to do. "Never let anyone look down on you. You're a Villori, you must demand respect…"—his words, spoken to me so many times during my childhood, rang in my ears as I stared up at my father.
He eyed me carefully for another moment before seeming to come to a decision. "Hello, Adeline. You seem well." He said with a nod, and I breathed an inward sigh of utter relief as the entire room seemed to relax around me. I might not be back completely in my father's good graces, but he had accepted me as a member of the family again, and I could now breathe easy.
We all sat around the table, me at my customary place between father and across from Roy, in a spot that so familiar to me that for the briefest of moments, I almost forgot that I had ever left at all. I felt like a real Villori again, with the pride and the riches and the respect that had followed me my entire life.
I ate my dinner mostly in silence, listening to the conversation that buzzed around me. Everyone was careful not to mention Hogwarts, lest my induction into the Gryffindor house suddenly come up, but in all honesty I barely even thought about Hogwarts or my friends there or even the reason I had come back to my family in the first place. I just allowed myself to be carried away by the feeling of acceptance. Sitting at a table surrounded by powerful, ambitious people, I thought of nothing else except what good jokes my brother told, and how my father's booming voice commanded the attention of every person in the room, and how happy I was to be sitting at his side again, his trusted, beloved daughter.
Dinner ended in good time, and I headed up to my room, snuggling into the covers of my big canopy bed and heaving a big sigh. Nothing had been explained during dinner, I realized then, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. No one had even mentioned the murders or Roy's arrest or even the war. Had it really all been one big mistake, or was I missing something? My heart longed to believe the former, but my mind was telling me to be on my guard. I thought I had come so far in the past few weeks, making friends with Lily and Sirius and the rest of the marauders, changing my views on the entire wizarding world, but now I was feeling more confused than ever.
A week passed, and every day it seemed that my father and the rest of my family accepted me more and more into the Villori circle again. My father praised me, my mother smiled at me as she walked by, and my brothers told me jokes and treated me just as they had before.
I thought less of Sirius and Lily and Hogwarts all together as the days passed, assuring myself that everything had just been one big misunderstanding. There was no way that my father led the death eaters, he was too kind. There was no way Roy had killed those people, he was too outgoing, too personable. Sure, my family disliked muggle-borns, and maybe they sympathized with Voldemort's cause, but they weren't that extreme.
I was in a happy mood on Christmas day, having received gifts of clothing and jewelry and candy from my brothers and parents. Around six o clock though, an hour before Christmas dinner was to be served, I was walking by Father's study when I heard a voice call out from inside. "Adeline," said my father. "Please come here for a moment."
I had been in my father's study only a handful of times, and I hesitated for a brief second, my hand on the door knob. This is where he conducted all his dark business, I knew. But what did he want from me?
I shook my head gently, shrugging off these worries—he was my father, after all—and stepped inside the dark room, looking up to see him sitting at his big mahogany desk, Roy leaning against a bookshelf near the back, smiling at me.
A shiver ran down my back, though I didn't know why. There was a feeling in the air that unnerved me, and my hand immediately flew to the emerald necklace Sirius had given me. I hadn't taken it off since the day he had given it to me, and even if I hadn't thought about my school friends in a while, the necklace, and the weird, Sirius-y aura that it seemed to give off, comforted me greatly. "Yes father?" I said quietly, peering at him from across the dark room.
"Adeline, sit down." said my father firmly, gesturing towards the seat in front of him. "I would like to talk to you about something."
I sat, looked at him expectantly, and he continued.
"Dear Adeline, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while now." he said, as Roy crossed his arms behind him, looking rather menacing. "I was really hoping to wait until you were older, but since your little incident with the sorting hat at Hogwarts—" I cringed, "—I have been encouraged by many friends of mine to ensure your loyalty to our family's noble cause." he smiled at me here, as if we were sharing some special secret.
I stared back blankly, for once not understanding in the least what my father was trying to say. He must have noticed my lack of recognition, because he continued speaking, a little more firmly this time.
"What I am asking, dearest Adeline, is that you join our ranks. Your brothers, of course, as well as myself, have been the Dark Lord's servants for many years, and I assure you that you would be a greatly valued member of our little group." he smiled at me. "You're so very intelligent Adeline, and I have no doubt you are loyal to us, though for a while there I was worried otherwise. You've done well, representing our family, and I know that you can shine by following in your brothers' footsteps, especially Roy. His efforts have done our family such honor in the past few weeks." at this point, Roy smiled as well.
I felt unable to speak, or breathe, or even move. My gaze traveled back and forth between the pleasant faces of my father and Roy, as they waited patiently for me to respond.
"I… um…" I finally managed to choke out, resisting the urge to scream and race out the door as fast as I could, as all the fear and distrust and revulsion I felt towards my family that I had so stupidly forgotten about over the past few days suddenly rushed back into my heart and mind like a giant tidal wave.
I don't know whether Father sensed my panic, or if he was too blinded by his own twisted ideals to notice, but he suddenly spoke, the slightest bit of warning in his voice. "It's a great honor, Adeline, so I understand if you're a bit shocked. But just think: with that mind of yours, and those skills, and goodness, your blood, you will rise through the ranks of the Death Eaters in the blink of an eye. The Dark Lord will like you very much, I'm certain of it. This is where you belong, dear. Don't try to fight it."
His words seemed like they were meant to comfort, but I could detect the hidden warning behind them, and those unspoken words made my stomach twist.
"You don't have a choice, Adeline. Join, or else."