Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
AN:
Hi, here's a new update, and it's a long chapter, though most of it revolves around war-planning, so it might not be too exciting for many readers. Ah, and I don't think that I'll be able to update soon, I'm very busy with my studies. But I'll make the next chapter an interesting one, in compensation *winks*
A reviewer asked why Arian is so powerful –more than Orion- when he has supposedly only killed his father to absorb his magic, and given that Orion killed Grindelwald to absorb his. And since both of them killed one person, they should have the same level of power. Well, my reply is quite simple. For now, all we know about Arian are mostly speculations, and it could be that Arian's father was inordinately powerful, and therefore what Arian absorbed was so much that it made him more powerful than Orion –if indeed Arian did kill his father. On the other hand, it could be that Arian was already born being very powerful and that he developed it further along the years, and under the Flamel's tutelage. And, lastly, we have to remember that Arian already considers himself to be the Vindico Lumen, and that has to mean something. Orion supposedly can become the VA after passing a test of some sort, which will change him, according to Grindelwald, and also make him more powerful. So, it could be that Arian has already gone through something similar, since he's already the Vindico Lumen. The possibilities are many, and at some point Orion will figure it out.
Enjoy & review, please!
Chapter 30
The moment he crossed the front doors, Calypso was standing in front of him, staring at him with wide eyes, as she rambled out, "I saw it all from the window! Were those things wings? Are they real? How can he…" She shook her head, as if yanking herself out from her bafflement, and mumbled, "Oh, but before I forget…"
She trailed off as she plucked out an envelope from her robes' pocket and handed it to him. "It arrived to Black Manor and Dobby fetched it back when you were outside with Arian."
"At last," muttered Orion, as he saw 'Greyback' scribbled at the sender's side of the envelope. "Took him long enough."
He pulled out the small chain and pendant that Remus had once given him for Christmas, which was also the portkey to Lycaon, and swiftly pocketed it.
The moment he saw that Calypso was about to barrage him with questions again, he shot her a grave glance, and said quickly, "I'll explain what you saw in a minute. We have a larger problem in our hands. He can See into the past."
Calypso's eyes impossibly widened, a completely flummoxed expression spreading over her face. But in a second she swiftly composed herself and pulled him into the parlor, forcing Orion into a seat, and demanding to be told every single detail of his conversation with Arian.
"How can he be a Seer?" asked Calypso perplexed, the moment Orion ended his narration, and he found it slightly amusing that that was the issue which now shocked her the most, instead of the whole Veela-wings and religious thing.
They were sitting across from each other, Orion stretched out on a plush couch, rubbing his forehead, while Calypso was rigidly seated on an armchair, her back straight as a rod, with an expression of deep pondering and puzzled calculation.
"The Seer ability is a blood trait that only manifests in females," she continued sharply. "Even Trelawney told you that there are no male Seers. So how can it be-"
"I haven't the foggiest idea," interrupted Orion with a sigh, shooting her a frazzled glance. "Maybe what he can do isn't Seeing, maybe it's called something else. Maybe he's something else. But it doesn't matter what the bloody hell it is. The point is that he can See into the past, and the immediate one as well, I would say. And that poses a serious problem, because-"
"Because by tomorrow he could have Seen the meetings you'll have today," interjected Calypso, gazing at him with consternation. "And he'll know about all of the Dark's war plans."
"Exactly," sighed out Orion, lifting up a hand to rub his forehead. "I only see one solution-"
"To contact Trelawney?" piped in Calypso, frowning.
"Yes," replied Orion shortly, while he massaged his temples. "She has to be powerful since the Spirits chose her to be an Aux Atrum. And I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Seers can block each other out – though it wasn't explained in depth, from what I recall. But maybe if I take her along with me during the meetings, she could block Arian from Seeing what goes on."
"Alright," said Calypso, shooting him a weary glance. "Yes, I think it would be the only solution, if it's possible." She leaned towards him, and added worriedly, "I think Arian must have already used this ability of his lately. Two days ago, when you were still sick in bed in Voldemort's room, a Death Eater raid was crushed. The moment they started raiding wizarding Birmingham, they were confronted by the Order of the Phoenix, and they were greatly outnumbered since it had been planned as just a small raid. My father barely made it out unscathed, and many of the other Death Eater in the mission were badly injured." She sighed, and nibbled on her bottom lip. "My dad told me that Voldemort was furious. The Dark Lord thinks there has to be a spy in his ranks-"
"Well, that does it, then," interrupted Orion, swiftly conjuring inked quill and parchment and starting writing to Trelawney, while he continued thinking out loud. "If Arian saw Voldemort planning the raid and then alerted the Order, then it's clear that McGonagall knows about Arian and she must also know that Dumbledore is alive. I doubt the rest of the Order has been told, because I think Snape was right when he told me what Dumbledore would do… play dead until deciding to pop in during some important battle to uplift Light morale and such… yes, it would make sense…"
He trailed off as soon as he finished the letter, and instantly called out for Dobby. The house-elf was swiftly given precise instructions: to go to wizarding Liverpool and send from there the letter to Trelawney by public owl-post; and then stay at the owl-posting office until a reply arrived, after which Dobby would have to instantly apparate back to Potter Manor with the response.
The moment Dobby popped away, Orion leaned back on his seat, and gritted out angrily, "Voldemort didn't breathe a word to me about the raid. And by Circe, I don't know why he persists in doing raids and having small skirmishes with the Order -"
"To spread terror in the light wizarding community," stated Calypso firmly.
"It's not the way to do it!" snapped Orion, leveling her with a hard gaze. "This war has to be won swiftly, as fast as possible!" He carded his finger through his hair, and clenched his jaw. "Having small skirmishes only wastes our time and effort, they exhaust our people, and give the Light side time to gather more forces." He pierced her with his eyes, and added sharply, "The longer we take, the greater chances that the French will come to their aid. Dumbledore is already working on it! We need to have one or two great battles to settle who controls England, and that's it!"
"I see your reasoning," said Calypso quietly, before she shot him an intense, piercing glance, "but one or two battles won't be enough. We don't only have to take control over wizarding London, but also over Dublin and Edinburgh, so that the conquest of Great Britain is complete. As a first step, England is not enough. It would be best if we took control of all British Isles."
"You're absolutely right. And they should be taken at the same time," interjected Orion, frowning musingly, "without letting one help the other. If we count with werewolf and vampire fighters, then we won't be spread too thin. After all, taking those cities only means that we have to take control over their Ministries of Magic, hospitals like St. Mungo's, and perhaps even their prisons like Azkaban, so that the freed prisoners can be added to our ranks. Once we take over that, control over commercial centers such as Diagon Alley, and the like, will automatically fall in our hands."
Calypso broadly smiled at him. "If we can pull it off, then Hogwarts will also fall into our hands without needing to do anything-"
"No," said Orion sharply, glancing up at her. "I have other plans for Hogwarts. It shouldn't be touched or meddled with, even after we have control over the English Ministry of Magic."
"Why on earth not?" demanded Calypso, frowning at him. "What plans do you have for it?"
"I'll tell you later," said Orion shortly, waving a hand dismissively, "after I come back from my meetings. I still have to see if what I propose will be accepted."
"Fine," granted Calypso with a sigh. Then a frown spread over her face, and she intently gazed at him. "You know, if Trelawney can somehow block Arian from Seeing, you can use her for your meeting at Lycaon, but you cannot take her to the Dark Allies meeting. How would you explain it to Voldemort?"
"I will not be taking her to that meeting," said Orion impassively. "I'll simply tell Voldemort about Arian's past-Seeing ability, and he'll have to find his own Seer. In fact, I'll do that right now, to give him enough time…"
Calypso seemed about to say something, but she kept silent when a look of concentration spread over his face.
In the blink of an eye, Orion slightly lowered his Occlumency shields, and called out inside his mind, 'Tom! Answer me, I have important news-'
'I'm very busy, boy,' hissed an impatient voice in his mind. 'Your news rather be crucial or-'
'They are,' snapped Orion briskly. 'I saw Arian today, he appeared outside Rosier Manor, and I discovered something. I think he can See into the past-'
'Dumbledore's alleged grandnephew went to Rosier Manor to see you?' hissed Voldemort's voice in a low, deadly tone, as a stab of pain flared in Orion's forehead. 'Why did you allow it?' His voice became more enraged, and Orion gritted his teeth against the increasing onslaught of pain, as the voice continued hissing, 'Why would you meet him, and why would he-'
'That's of no consequence,' bit out Orion impatiently. 'The point is that he can See into the past. I'm sure of it. As I'm sure, as well, that he was the one to alert the Order about your raid, the one you didn't tell me about! Anyway, he's some sort of Seer, so you should get one for the Dark Allies Meeting.'
When he heard Voldemort start to furiously hiss something, he snapped shortly, 'Look, just find a bloody Seer and make sure that he or she can block from other Seers what goes on during the meeting!'
And without giving the wizard the chance to hiss anything else, he slammed his Occlumency shields up, and slumped back against his couch, angrily rubbing his aching forehead.
"That's it? You told him already?" asked Calypso, staring at him with a frown. When Orion simply nodded at her, she pressed her lips into a thin line, and said reprovingly, "It only took you a couple of seconds, so you couldn't have been very friendly to him. And if that's how you always interact with him, then I'm not surprised he dumped you-"
Orion snorted loudly, and said acidly, "What, did you expect me to give a long-winded explanation and be all lovey-dovey with him? I learned my lesson about being 'loving' with Voldemort, and I'm not making the same mistake twice. I have my bloody pride, and we get along just fine by being crisp with each other."
She let out an exasperated sigh, but seemed to find that discussing the matter was pointless. Finally, she pierced him with her eyes, and asked quietly, "You told him to get a Seer for the Meeting, right?"
"Yeah," replied Orion, still rubbing his pounding forehead. "I only hope it's true that Seers can block things from each other, because if not… Well, we're screwed, as simple as that."
"Don't worry, I think they truly can," she said quietly. "I also remember having read something about it. But…" She shot him an uneasy glance. "Well, you know who Voldemort will force to attend the meeting, don't you?"
Orion's head jerked upwards, and he stared at her with round eyes. "You think the rumors are true?"
"Yes," replied Calypso, nodding firmly. "I have always believed it. How else would she have known when her husband of turn was cheating on her, or plotting to kill her to get her fortune and the like?"
"Well," said Orion pensively, "that would answer the question of why she disposed of her husbands-"
"Yes, but my point is," interjected Calypso, shooting him a concerned glance, "that they wanted to stay out of the war. They wanted to remain neutral. And he will not be happy that you made Voldemort drag his mother into it."
"There isn't any other choice," said Orion curtly, leveling her with a hard gaze. "Blaise will have to deal with it."
Calypso was about to say something when, abruptly, Dobby popped before them, looking a bit haggard as he handed a small letter to Orion.
Orion quickly dismissed the house-elf, and urgently ripped the envelope open, a frown spreading on his face when he read the short missive.
"He will not See clearly as long as you're present at the gatherings," read Orion out loud, his frown deepening when he turned the parchment around to see if there was more written on it. He handed the letter to Calypso, and shot her a perplexed glance. "That's it. Trelawney doesn't say anything else. What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
Calypso frowned as she read it for herself, and finally quizzically gazed up at Orion, as she said musingly, "You told me that your visions about him are always very brief and foggy, right? And you've always had them merely hours before you met him and they came true… Just today, you mentioned that you had dreamt something about wings… and then it happened, but your vision didn't show you any of the rest…"
She tapped a finger on her chin, as she continued pensively, "Then, if we take into account what Trelawney wrote, there must be something about the both of you that makes it impossible for either of you to fully see anything regarding the other. It must be something about your unique kind of magic, and also his, I suppose. But it's clear that Arian didn't tell you the complete truth about his past-Seeing ability."
Pausing, Calypso looked up at him, and shot him a triumphant smile. "I think we can safely deduce that when it comes to you, he cannot See clearly, in the same way that your visions about him are always very brief and rather worthless, just mere glimpses of foggy images. From everything you had talked about with Grindelwald before you killed him, Arian only mentioned knowing what you had said about 'putting wings on him'. That's all he Saw, he didn't discern much else! And what he knows about VA matters, he could have learned from Seeing an Aux Atrum meeting, or any time in which the Spirits must have talked to Karkaroff, Vagnarov or later Komorov – never when you were present."
She waved Trelawney's letter, and added with satisfaction, "So it must be as she says. As long as you're physically present in any meeting or moment in which war-plans are discussed, Arian will not be able to See what goes on. He won't be able to learn much about our plans. And now, neither will he about any Death Eater meeting since Voldemort will surely force Blaise's mum to be present in all of them from hence forth."
Silently, Orion nodded in agreement, while his mind rushed, trying to figure out one last, crucial matter. If Arian couldn't See him clearly, did that apply to all his past lives as well? If so, if Arian didn't know about his past lives through his past-Seeing ability, then it could only mean that the light wizard actually remembered all his own reincarnations, including the ones during which they had supposedly known each other…
And it was rather mind-boggling and confusing, since he didn't know how the wizard had been able to remember all his reincarnations. It was something that just didn't happen. His own one-week experience was an exception, since it had been brought on by Cadmus' doings when he had disposed of the Dementor.
Feeling utterly clueless about the matter, and deciding to ponder about it at some other time, Orion sighed and wearily carded his fingers through his hair.
Then he snatched the letter from Calypso's hand, and angrily stared at the short sentence, as he grumbled out, "Trelawney could have explained a little bit more, couldn't she? I mean, it's obvious that she knows about Arian, more than we do, apparently. Yet, besides clearly refusing to go to any meetings with me, she doesn't even explain how his ability works. Or how it's possible that he's a Seer when she herself told me that there are no male Seers. And to top it, she doesn't even confirm if she could have been able to block him out if it had been necessary!"
Calypso huffed, and said matter-of-factly, "Well, I didn't expect anything else. Seers are known to be very secretive. In fact, it's believed that they take an oath of some kind when they become full-fledged, pledging to never interfere in wizarding business, no matter what they See. I don't think they're allowed to act on what they See of the future, or to tell anyone else-"
"Yeah, well, then Trelawney broke her Seer oath several times, didn't she?" interjected Orion sourly, crumbling the letter in his hand, flicking his wand at it and then watching as it burned to dust. "First, by becoming an Aux Atrum, who have always interfered in wizarding matters, and then by purposely spouting the prophecy when Dumbledore interviewed her for the Divination post!"
He shot to his feet, still feeling very annoyed and angered, and said shortly, "I'm going to get dressed."
"I'll come along," piped in Calypso, hurriedly following him as he briskly strode out of the parlor and towards the family-wing of the manor.
"I don't know what Arian is playing at," hissed out Orion, as they made their way along a hallway. "He evidently wanted me to know that he could See into the past. And he openly disclosed to me his plans about revealing himself to the muggles." He shot her an angered side-glance, and gritted out, "What kind of wizard reveals so much to his enemy? And why? It makes no sense."
"Well, that's just it," huffed out Calypso, letting out a pant as she hurried to match his long, brisk strides. "From what you've told me about your interactions with him, he likes to play with you. He obviously sees you as his enemy. But, on the other hand, from what I saw from the window, I would almost say that he seems to be infatuated with you..."
She trailed off, a frown spreading on her forehead, while Orion almost missed a step as he blanched. The only thing he hadn't told her about, nor anyone else, was what Vagnarov had taken to the grave – about his past lives. Thus, he hadn't told her either the stuff that Arian had said about the matter, nor about the wizard's blatant hints that they had known each other quite intimately during several reincarnations.
"But he's a light wizard," continued Calypso matter-of-factly, her frown vanishing to be replaced by an unfazed expression, "and they do stupidly tend to want to be all noble and fair. So perhaps he wanted you to know about all that because he wants to play fairly with you-"
"Not this light wizard," snapped Orion sharply, as he yanked open the door of his bedroom and made way to his closet. He rummaged through his clothes, as he continued angrily, "He wanted me to know to make me panic, or worry me, at the very least."
"Oh, let me do it!" said Calypso impatiently, bumping him out of the way as she started going through his closet, inspecting all the robes and attires with a critical and connoisseur's eye. "And do you really believe that he'll do it? You know, appear before a bunch of muggles, in one of their cities, coming down from the skies, glowing and with wings and all?"
"Yes, I have no doubt that he wants to reveal himself to them," replied Orion shortly, as he crossed his arms over his bare chest, standing to a side while he observed her peruse his closet. He sighed, and added quietly, "And by Circe that if I was a light wizard with his same aims, I would have hoped to come up with an idea like that. It's brilliant, if you think about it. Well, if he knows how to pull it off, that is."
"Ah – this is perfect!" she said victoriously, and she flicked her wand repeatedly, making an ensemble of clothes and accessories fly from the closet to lie neatly on his bed. "But do you think muggles would believe him? I mean, what would be their reaction if they saw something like that?"
"In this time and age," said Orion, coming close to the bed to peer at what she had chosen, "I have no idea what muggles would think if Arian appeared before them as he's planning on doing. Either they would believe that he's a weirdo doing special effects stuff and he wouldn't be taken seriously, or they would try to commit him in some mental institution, or he would be shot. So, you see, the question is how he's planning on doing it. With wings and spouting religious non-sense?"
He scoffed, and continued tartly, "I doubt it. At least not at first, because it could put him in a very dangerous and tricky situation. But will he make a display of some sort of magical feat that would validate his claims? Yes, that he will do for sure. And considering how powerful he is, then he could easily convince even the most recalcitrant muggle that he is indeed some sort of messiah. After all, even the most mediocre of wizards can do spells that would astound and dazzle any muggle. And about eighty-five percent of the muggles believe in some religion or other, and many take it very seriously and devoutly-"
He clamped his mouth shut, shot her a glance of disbelief, and pointed at the attire she had selected for him. "That's what you want me to wear to the meetings? Isn't it a bit too much?"
"That's what you're wearing," she said firmly, leveling him with a hard gaze. "Every single detail about your appearance is important. Each detail conveys something about you. And you have to look formal, dashing, intimidating, and mouth-watering powerful. So start unfolding that black aura of yours as you get dressed."
Orion sighed with resignation, eyeing the attire that Narcissa had once ordered for him. It was elegant, but also very formal, a bit severe, and all together too much of it. The ensemble was comprised of so many items that it would take him forever to get dressed and to have all of it in its proper place; cravat, cravat-pin, shirt, waistcoat, vest, doublet, breeches, belt, boots, cufflinks and over-robes. Except for the shirt that was white, the rest were black or of a very dark gray, with silver-thread linings on lapels and hems, and with small Black crests embroidered also in silver-thread on the cuffs.
"It's summer," he grumbled, shooting her a wary glance, "I'm going to die of suffocation, wearing all that."
"Don't be a prat," snapped Calypso impatiently, "just use a cooling charm, like everyone else. Stop whining and start getting dressed, or you'll be late for your first meeting."
With another resigned sigh, Orion got to it, while she stood to a side with crossed arms, supervising his endeavor.
"So," said Calypso, intently gazing at him to make sure he was putting on everything she had chosen, "in essence, muggles believe in some god or other, in a similar way to how we believe in Magic?"
"Yes, kind of," replied Orion, his voice becoming muffled when he pulled the shirt over his head. "What we call Magic, they call a higher power –name it God, or whatever else." His head popped out through the shirt's collar, and he continued, as he started slipping his arms through the sleeves, "But the point is that many muggles could end up believing Arian, especially with the power he has and the things he must be able to do. And to top it, he has the Veela hypnotizing allure thing, which he can apparently blast off in waves. That thing even affected me, and that's a first. It never happened to me with Fleur. So the power he could hold over those muggles could be great indeed. I shudder to imagine it, or the consequences, but he could have a fanatical cult of millions."
As he started pulling on the breeches, he shot her a glance, and added gravely, "I'm hardly an expert, but if we count Christianity alone, I think there are about two billion muggles that believe in it. There's also Islam, as the following largest religion in terms of adherents, with about one and a half billion believers. And then I think comes Hinduism and Buddhism."
Orion huffed with exasperation as he hopped on one foot, trying to tug the breeches up one of his legs, and he snapped briskly, "Lengthen and enlarge the bloody thing, will you?"
"You've had a growth spurt," said Calypso surprised, then watching him with amusement as he wrestled with it, before she took pity and flicked her wand at it. "My, I would even say that now you're taller than I am."
"I've always been taller than you!" bit out Orion, incorporating himself to a standing position as soon as he managed to get the breeches on.
"No, no," interjected Calypso, loudly chuckling. "This is recent."
Orion shot her a dark glare, and then proceeded to put on the rest of the ensemble.
"So what Arian plans to do poses a serious threat?" said Calypso musingly. "You really think that?"
"Yes!" snapped Orion with vexation, as he struggled with the form-fitting waistcoat. "Now I don't only have to watch out for Voldemort attempting to use the Mayan Stone to annihilate muggles, but also for Arian revealing himself to them. And either of those actions will obviously make the muggles become aware of us."
"And what can you do to stop Arian's plan?" pressed on Calypso, deeply frowning at him.
"Well, it depends when he's planning on doing it, doesn't it?" replied Orion shortly, yanking the vest from the bed. "He said he wouldn't do anything in the immediate future, but that can mean months, a year, or several, who knows. But if he attempts to do it after I have become the Vindico, then I hope I'll be powerful enough to kill him swiftly. And if he plans on doing it before…"
He sighed, and shot her a worried glance. "Well, I don't know. I will have to stop him, evidently. But I still have to think what could be done, even under the scenario that I don't manage to stop him from revealing himself to the muggles. I will have to consider every scenario and all possible ways of stopping him, or of dealing with the consequences if I don't stop him in time."
When he finished buttoning up the doublet, he added firmly as he shot her a glance, "But two things are clear. First, we don't know yet what his true goals are. I don't believe for a second that he doesn't care about Light magic dwindling out. Nevertheless, I do believe that he truly wants to integrate the muggle and wizarding worlds as peacefully as possible, by using and manipulating the muggles' religious beliefs. So his plan to reveal himself to the muggles must also somehow contribute to make the Light stronger, against dark wizarding kind but also stronger magically. He's the Vindico Lumen, for Circe's sake, so everything he does must be for the purpose of making the Light side stronger, so that they can dominate us in the end."
He paused, hopping as he fitted his feet into the black dragon-hide boots, and finally straightened up, and shot her a piercing and hard glance. "And second, it's clear that we need to know more about all muggle religions. Particularly how he can use those beliefs and how we can use them as well to turn the tables on him. Because if he can influence muggles directly, we can do it covertly. There are a lot of factions amongst them, and if subtly done, it would be easy to pitch muggles against each other. They have a very bloody history, even more so when it comes to religious wars."
Calypso's eyebrows shot upwards, before a determined expression spread over her face. "Alright, then I'll go to muggle London today and I'll get books about their religions and every other thing that can be of use to us. I can take care of the chore of researching the subject."
"Great," said Orion, shooting her a grateful smile, while he pulled the over-robes on his shoulders. "But I think you should enlist Titania's help as well, or you'll never finish by your own. You can work on it with her during the month I'll be at Zraven Citadel."
She nodded at him in agreement, and he shot her a glance while he started wrapping the cravat under his shirt's collar. "Have you written to the Elite yet?"
"No," replied Calypso calmly, "I'll do it once you leave." She shot him a smile, and added, "But I think they'll agree to stay here during their holidays, so don't worry."
"I hope so, it would make matters simpler," said Orion, gazing down at the cravat with an annoyed frown. "And where's your dad? I haven't seen him today."
"He's still sleeping - oh, let me do that!" she snapped with exasperation, swatting his fumbling fingers away from the cravat as she expertly started to tie it. "He must have come back very late at night, because when I checked on him, he was deeply asleep. So it's obvious that the Aux did have a meeting last night."
"I feel like a hubby," grumbled Orion under his breath, as she kept arranging his cravat and then proceeded to straighten out his cuffs and lapels.
"And I'm supposed to be acting like your wifey?" scoffed Calypso with a roll of her eyes, slapping away his hand when he attempted to interfere with the way in which she was arranging his attire. "Your stint with the Malfoys served to give you some sense of style, but your appearance lacks a witch's unique touch. So stop fussing and let me do my work!"
Orion glanced down at her, and groused out, "You're very bossy today."
"I'm always bossy," she piped in, shooting him a smug smirk. "And that's the way you like me."
"No comments," muttered Orion under his breath.
Calypso shot a punch at his arm, accompanied by a smile, and then took a step back to contemplate him. "There, almost done – ah!"
She instantly flicked her wand, and the cravat-pin and cufflinks zoomed towards Orion and quickly clicked into their place.
Pensively tapping her wand's tip on her chin, her gaze focused on the top of his head, and she said musingly, "Now we only need to do something about your hairstyle."
"My hair is just fine, Scaly!" snapped Orion, hassled. "I'm not going to a bloody ball-"
"What did I tell you?" said Calypso sharply, shooting him a reproving glance. "Let me do my work." She tapped her wand's tip on her chin again, her gaze fixed on him, while she mused out loud, "Now, we could make it long, like Lucius Malfoy's or the Lestrange brothers', but you're too young, so it isn't proper. And I don't think it would suit you at present. But this young pureblood hairstyle that you usually adopt doesn't suit you either. It's too school-boyish. You need something different." She speared him with a glance, and widely smiled at him. "A cool, rebel look, I would say."
And with a flick of her wand, Orion felt magic tingling on his hair, and he approached the full-body mirror to see what the witch had done to him.
"The just-shagged look," he scoffed out, staring at his reflection as Calypso appeared on it when she stood by his side, "that's what my dad would call it."
"Well, I dare say your dad knows what he's talking about," she said, shooting him a grin through the mirror's reflection. "You look good. It suits you."
"I always look good," interjected Orion, widely smirking at her as he pointed a finger at their image on the mirror. "Aha! See, I'm much taller than you."
"Now, you are," said Calypso pointedly. She swiftly turned around to face him, and pulled him back to the middle of the room, as she said with a large smile, "Alright, now let's see more of that aura of yours."
Orion calmly obeyed, and instantly felt and saw the difference when he released control over his magical core, as he had began learning to do all over again during his stay with Voldemort.
"More?" asked Orion, side-glancing at her.
Calypso widely smirked at him, her beautiful, large black eyes glinting. "More. Much, much more."
"Perfect," she breathed out at last, when Orion had completely let go off any restraint over his magical aura, her gaze trailing over him like an artist's evaluating her masterpiece, her expression one of appreciation and smug satisfaction. "You're ready to go. Oh, and give my regards to Remus."
Orion shot her a large grin. "Ow, and none to poor Severus? Your paramour will be crushed."
His grin instantly dropped when Calypso paled, and with a worried frown, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him. "Did he say something nasty to you when you saw him during the bond-breaking ritual? You know that he's snarky and cranky with everyone. You shouldn't take it personally."
"I know," she said sharply, instantly squaring her shoulders and jerking up her chin with a hard expression on her face.
"Er, well," said Orion waveringly, trying to uplift her mood. "If you truly like him, you'll have a chance, Scaly-"
Calypso scoffed, and said matter-of-factly, "He sees me as nothing more than a pathetic little schoolgirl."
"And, as I was saying," interjected Orion, shooting her a large smile, "you'll have a chance to change his views during the war, won't you?"
"Perhaps," she said skeptically. She sighed, and then wanly smiled at him, as she said pointedly, "Don't you need to go?"
"Yeah, I do, but I want you to cheer up!" said Orion, as he started gathering the last things he needed before leaving the manor.
Once he had the pendant-portkey and the rings in his pocket, and his wands secured in their holsters, he turned around to face her, and said warmly, "I want to see Draco before leaving. Do you want to come along?"
"Of course," said Calypso instantly, no longer looking as dejected as before as a bright smile spread on her face.
"I was thinking," said Orion, as they made their way to Draco's room, which was just across the hall from his, "that I want you to tell your father all the details about my conversation with Arian. And I want him to inform Komorov. The Aux need to know about Arian's plan, and perhaps they'll be able to help as well."
"Consider it done," said Calypso, shooting him a large smile.
"Thanks," said Orion gratefully, as he opened the door of Draco's room and gestured at her to get inside.
They both reached the bedside at the same time, and Orion gazed down at Draco's unconscious form, frowning as he lightly grazed his fingers along the young wizard's locks of platinum blond hair.
"You know," he murmured quietly, his gaze riveted on Draco's face, "Arian cares about the seventy million muggles that died 'the last time', as he puts it. I, on the other hand, care about the wizards who died in Grindelwald's wizarding war. A quarter of a million wizards died, forty percent of the whole adult wizarding population of Europe. Something like that cannot happen again, or there'll be nothing left of us. The wars must be short, and won very swiftly, with one or two major battles per country conquered. No more. We cannot afford to let it drag for eight years like happened during Grindelwald's time. So it will have to be swift, and thus, brutal."
With his gaze still fixed on Draco's face, and his fingers still caressing the wizard's hair, he continued quietly, as his frown deepened, "And I don't know who I was kidding before. Arian is right about me, in a couple of things." He glanced up at Calypso. "I want it all, Scaly. I want to be the Vindico. I want to fight the way I see myself fighting in my visions, I want to hear those voices hailing me, yelling and chanting my name as if it was the most important thing in their lives, as if their lives indeed depended solely on me. I want my dark magic to sweep over the battleground, I want to be there, seeing it, living it, leading vampires, werewolves and dark wizards." He gestured at Draco, adding firmly, "And I want him. I want Lezander. And I also want Voldemort. I don't want to choose, not between them, nor between my goals and one or the three of them."
Calypso stared at him with wide eyes, apparently too struck to say anything. Finally, she cleared her throat, and murmured quietly, "Alright."
Orion arched a quizzical eyebrow. "Alright? That's everything you have to say? You're not going to berate me-"
"No," huffed out Calypso. "Of course not." She widely smiled at him. "You want it all. I understand. So attain all."
"Right." Orion shot her a large grin, as he chuckled under his breath. "I intend to."
"And I'll be there to help you along the way," said Calypso, her smile spreading as she grasped his hand.
"I could have never asked for a better friend than you, or for a better plotting-partner," said Orion, still chuckling, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Indeed, he felt a pervading sense that it was right; to want the three of them, to love the three of them. He didn't care if it was selfish of him, he didn't care if it was unfair to them, and he didn't care about Gellert having repeatedly said that the VA had 'no mate, no equal, no love, his path is one of darkness, pain, and solitude'. He didn't care about the prophecy either. And he didn't even fear the visions he had of himself, about that all-black eyed unscrupulous and ruthless wizard whose magic raged over the battlefield.
That vision had always perturbed him, making him feel ominous dread and fear of what he could become. But strangely, he didn't feel that anymore. Strangely, that fear had slowly dissolved, and he realized now that it didn't worry him any longer. He had the certainty that whatever happened to him, however much he changed, it was meant to happen and it could only be for the best. And he was sure that he was strong enough to remain unchanged where it mattered; in beliefs, in thoughts, in personality and in essence.
In short, he felt as if he had finally admitted and embraced what he truly was and all his desires and ambitions, with no shame, doubts, fears, or remorse. And it left him feeling, for the first time, self-assured in everything he did and would do in the future, no matter what the consequences were.
"I must leave now. I'll see you at night to tell you how the meetings went," said Orion, shooting her a last smile before he made his way out of the room.
When he reached the threshold, he halted mid-step, and shot her a glance over his shoulder, as he said quietly, "When you go to muggle London to buy the books, also buy several about muggle warfare, their technology and all their different kinds of weapons. Please, also research into that with Titania and the rest of the Elite, and start thinking how we could counter muggle weaponry, especially the ones of mass destruction. It would be nice if you came up with a list of spells that could be useful, and if you started thinking about the ones that should be created."
Calypso stared at him with wide eyes, and she gasped out in alarm, "Surely you don't think it will come to that! Open war? Against the muggle world?! But- "
"Using Arian's words, not in the immediate future," said Orion calmly. "But in a couple of years, if Arian cannot be stopped, then it's a possibility we must prepare ourselves for - as of now."
And with that he left the room, leaving her in shocked and perturbed silence, and he soon plucked out the pendant from his pocket, and tapped it with his wand, as he murmured, "Padfoot."
The moment his feet landed on grass-covered grounds, he flicked his wand, sighing with relief when the cooling charm wrapped around his body, battling off the wave of heat that had assaulted him. A blazing sun was shining high up in the clear sky, making the forest surrounding Lycaon look as if it was thrumming in vibrant greens of tree leaves and bright purples of the wild flowers scattered around.
As he made his way through the dense foliage towards the werewolf town, Orion flicked his wand again and hissed under his breath the parsel-invisibility spell. With a few more strides he reached the edge of the forest and halted before entering the clearing that spread in front of the warded wooden fence of Lycaon.
A few paces in front of the entrance to the town, there was a large wooden table, surrounded by chairs, only occupied by a very few who were obviously waiting for him. And none of the occupants looked content with the situation. Behind them, the town was bustling, people coming and going while doing their tasks, apparently knowing about the meeting that would take place but not deeming that it was appropriate for them to forsake their duties in the community to stand as an audience.
Meanwhile, Orion took time to observe the occupants at the table without being seen, before revealing his presence.
Seated at one side of the table, Remus was flanked by Fenrir Greyback on one side and Sirius on the other. Remus' expression was one of calmness, though there was a certain stiff tension on his shoulders, as one of Greyback's arms was draped over the back of Remus' chair. Indeed, Greyback didn't look as if he could be any closer to Remus. Their sides were touching, obviously purposely on Greyback's part, but besides the rigidity of Remus' shoulders, there wasn't any other sign of discomfort from Remus or any attempt to pull away.
Yet, in contrast to Remus' mask of impassivity, Greyback looked slightly uneasy and uncertain, repeatedly casting glances at Remus. And to Orion's surprise, even though the older werewolf looked impeccably groomed and much healthier and content than the last time he had seen the man, there were several deep scars on his face – of recently inflicted wounds, which looked to have been made by claws. It was evident that Remus had been the one to scratch Greyback's face at some point, to fend him off, most probably. But there wasn't any anger on Greyback's expression, but frustration and a certain glint of remorse and plea in the man's golden eyes as he shot Remus another glance.
All in all, Remus seemed to have taken Greyback's reappearance into his life with cool-headed equanimity; as if Greyback was just an inconvenience that had to be dealt with and somehow disposed of. On the other hand, Sirius looked sickly pale, as if he was suffering from a gut-wrenching indigestion from merely watching Remus with Greyback.
Orion observed his father with bemusement. It was clear that Sirius had been told just what Greyback was to Remus, and the man had obviously not taken it well. Though, he was also certain that the more sordid details of Remus' relationship with Greyback hadn't been disclosed to Sirius. He doubted his father would be sitting there without attempting to rip off Greyback's throat if he knew just how Greyback had claimed Remus when Remus had been a ten-year-old boy.
However, Sirius' gray eyes were dangerously narrowed at Greyback, glowering at the werewolf's attempts to catch Remus' attention. And Greyback often shot Sirius a snarling growl when their gazes met, the older werewolf inching closer to Remus with a possessive and marking-territory attitude, while Sirius' lips thinned and a fierce scowl spread over his face. And Orion realized that besides the tension between the trio, jealousy was rampant between Greyback and Sirius, both measuring each other up and silently fighting over who had more claim over Remus: a rejected mate or a life-time best friend. And in the middle of it, Remus simply ignored both, staring straight ahead into vacant space, waiting.
The only ones who seemed to be affected by Sirius' and Greyback's attitudes were Patrick Connolly and Severus Snape. Connolly was seated across from the trio, his expression one of veiled exasperation as the young werewolf's amber eyes flickered from Greyback to Remus, and with narrowed-eyed suspicion and his typical dislike for wizards when his gaze landed on Sirius. On the other hand, Snape was seated at the other end of the table, as far away as possible from the others. The wizard's expression was one of sourness, with a sneering curl of his lips and open disgust for the company he was being forced to be in.
Suddenly, Snape's black eyes snapped in Orion's direction, narrowing and searchingly flickering through the trees. Knowing that the wizard had sensed his presence, Orion finally flicked his wand, cancelling his invisibility, and he calmly strode towards the table.
Their reactions to the way he looked, and most importantly to the thick dark magical aura that pulsed around him, were as dissimilar as could be. Snape's eyes had narrowed to slits, fixedly staring at him with a calculating glint in his eyes, undoubtedly with his brilliant mind fast at work and probably quickly reaching all the right conclusions regarding recent events. A flash of surprise and awe had spread on Connolly's ruggedly handsome face, before it changed to an expressionless mask. The young werewolf now stared at him with guarded wariness, as if he was gazing at someone who had become a force to reckon and a valuable ally to retain.
On the other hand, understanding had instantly dawned in Remus' eyes, accompanied by a flicker of sadness and resigned acceptance. Greyback looked unfazed about the whole matter, his lips merely quirking upwards as his golden eyes roved over Orion, before taking the opportunity of Remus' distraction to make his arm touch Remus' back. And Sirius looked as if all his worse suspicions had become true. All color had drained from his face, making the dark circles of sleepless nights stand out more markedly, as a pained and slightly frantic expression spread over his features, his lips thinning while he shook his head in mute denial.
The moment he saw that his father was about to say something, Orion held up a hand while he drew out a chair to take a seat. "Before anyone starts demanding explanations, I need to know what you two are doing here."
He gazed demandingly at Greyback and Connolly, as he sat down and calmly stretched out his legs under the table. "Well?"
"What do ye mean, Black?" snapped Connolly gruffly, narrowing amber eyes at him. "I'm m'Alpha's Beta, and this will be a meeting with the Alphas of continental Europe. It's my right to be present."
"They will arrive in fifteen minutes," interjected Orion pointedly, as he quickly checked his wristwatch. "And I was counting on those minutes to discuss certain matters with them." He gestured at his father, Remus, and Snape, and glanced back at Connolly, as he added, "I cannot discuss matters openly if you're here-"
"It seems that power has gone to your head, boy," snarled Greyback, leaning forward to pin him with threatening golden eyes. "I'm the co-Alpha of Lycaon, you're my guest here, and anything you need to discuss with my mate you'll discuss with me as well."
"Oh, so you're the co-Alpha already?" said Orion, shooting him a nasty smile as his gaze flickered to Remus and back to him. "Really? I know the pack must have immediately accepted you back into their fold, but I didn't know that your mate had." Greyback's jaw tightened in anger, a muscle pulsing underneath the shaved skin, and he added coolly, "Look, I have no problem if you and Connolly want to listen to our conversation, but you'll have to agree to have a compulsion mind-web cast on you. I don't trust either of you with my secrets, so it's that or nothing."
"I'm not goin' to allow a wizard to muck about in my mind," bit out Connolly harshly, piercing him with angered, narrowed eyes.
"It was cast on the three of us," interjected Remus, calmly gazing at his Beta while he gestured at Sirius and Snape. "And given the nature of what we need to discuss, what Orion asks for is fair. The spell has done no damage to us, it's merely a precaution."
Seeing that Remus' words seemed to instantly reassure Connolly, Orion shot Remus a grateful smile, but it wasn't answered back. It was clear to him that Remus was not very happy with him, undoubtedly due to what he had done to Nymphadora Tonks and also because he was the reason why Greyback was back in Remus' life.
Nevertheless, Orion wasn't fazed by it. What mattered was that he wanted Connolly and Greyback to accept his terms, especially in Connolly's case since he had long ago decided that he wanted to make the young werewolf become one of his followers, at some point. He needed that direct liaison with the werewolves, and Connolly was someone he wanted to brand with his mark. Therefore, it was the perfect opportunity for Connolly to learn more about him.
He didn't care about Greyback either way. But he knew that Connolly would make sure that Remus and Greyback solved the issues between them. Connolly saw Greyback as a father-figure and he liked Remus as his Alpha, so he was certain that the young werewolf would be the driving force behind the reconciliation between Remus and Greyback. Therefore, at some point Greyback would have to be privy to all VA matters, and the sooner that was dealt with, the better.
It seemed that Remus' words had done the trick. Connolly still seemed reluctant and suspicious as Orion aimed his wand at him while hissing the parsel-spell. And when it was Greyback's turn, the werewolf snarled several menacing words regarding dismemberment if the spell did any harm to him, but the man ended up accepting it with an expression of dislike but also with a stoic attitude, no doubt because he was being watched by Remus.
Once it was done, Orion tucked his wand back into its holster, and said calmly as he gazed at the two werewolves, "Since we don't have much time, it would be better if you only listened without asking any questions. There's much you don't know about, but Remus will be able to fill you in about everything later."
Before either of them had the time to agree or disagree, Sirius had already jumped to his feet, seemingly unable to control himself any longer, and he barked out sharply, "Can I speak at last?!" His gaze frenziedly focused on Orion's face, as if searching for answers in his expression. "What's all this that the papers are spouting about?! About Lily, you, and Grindelwald! Am I supposed to believe that rubbish?!" His hand jerkily gestured at Orion, and he snapped angrily, "And this thing around you… this... this dark magic, it means what? That you killed the mass-murderer as you said you would? As the prophecy foretold? And then, what? I demand to know what has been going on, pup! That statue ice thing, did you do that? Why did it say that Grindelwald was a grandfather-"
"Your cognitive abilities are as pathetic and deplorable as ever, mutt," sneered Snape, contempt oozing from his silky voice. "Even your pea-sized brain should be able to deduce and comprehend what happened and the implications of it." He shot Sirius a scathing, contemptuous glare across the wide distance between them, and continued tartly, "It should be evident to you that Lily was Grindelwald's daughter, and thus, that your son is his grandson, as stated by Orion when he created the monument for Grindelwald's grave."
"Shut your hole, Snivellus!" spat Sirius without glancing at the wizard, his dark grey eyes still intently fixed on Orion's face. "Your mother couldn't have been Grindelwald's daughter, pup! Lily was a muggleborn and a light witch-"
Snape scoffed, and a nasty smirk curled his lips as he stared at Sirius with vicious and cruel enjoyment. "Lily was much more than she appeared. The moment I first met her when we were children, I knew it. I felt it. She was like me, a halfblood dark magical child. And all this time, you've been in love with a dark witch. It must crush you to know that you loved that which you despise so much."
In the bat of an eyelash, Sirius had his wand aimed straight at Snape's face, as he snarled enraged, "Shut your trap, Snape, I won't say it again! Lily was light – she couldn't have been that psychopath's daughter! Everyone who knew her –"
"When you first met her?" interjected Orion, ignoring his father's increasingly loud and blustering voice, as he pierced Snape with his eyes. "What do you mean?" He deeply frowned, and demanded sharply, "That you've always known?"
"No," replied Snape impassively, shooting a jeering glance at Sirius who was being gently calmed down by Remus and persuaded to calmly take a seat again. His black eyes flickered back to Orion, and he continued dryly, "When I was a child, I lived in the same muggle area at the outskirts of London in which Lily and her parents also resided in. I met her before we received our Hogwarts letters. I used to observe her playing with her sister-"
"You stalked her, you mean, like the pathetic slimy little man that you are, Snivellus!" hissed out Sirius, a harsh, mocking chuckle issuing from his lips. "Even then you drooled after her-"
"Stop it, father," snapped Orion angrily, leveling him with a hard gaze while feeling very tempted to cast a silencing charm on him. "This is important, so if you can only spit out insults, keep quiet. You two can rip each other's throats when I'm not present." He pinned Snape with his gaze, and waved his hand. "Continue."
The dark wizard's lips curled with annoyance, but in the next second his black brows furrowed slightly, and he said shortly, "The first time I spoke to her, I felt that she was like myself. I felt that slight recognition that we, all dark wizards, feel in the company of each other. Later, when she was sorted into Gryffindor, I was surprised by it, and I soon started believing that I had been mistaken in my first impression of her. Nonetheless, she was powerful beyond anyone's expectations. I thought it strange that a muggleborn could be so magically gifted."
He pierced Orion with his eyes, and added tartly, "However, no matter what kind of magic she innately had in her core, by the end of her Hogwarts years, she had become a light witch who had never dabbled in the Dark Arts. If she had, it would have left an imprint in her, and I never felt it. Yet, these past days, when I read the newspapers, I realized that I had been right about her, all those years ago."
"You're telling me this," said Orion slowly, searchingly gazing at the man's pale face, "because if you felt it in her when she was a child, then Dumbledore did as well." Snape sharply nodded, and he asked crisply, "You think he did something to her?"
"Not necessarily," replied Snape, a pinched expression fleetingly crossing his features. "I don't believe that Lily's dark magic was developed enough to pose a threat in Dumbledore's opinion, and he was able to mold her before it happened. I think it's very likely that he purposely and covertly guided her during her school years."
He briefly glanced at Remus and Sirius, and sneered acidly, "Pushing her towards certain individuals, perhaps even setting up the right circumstances to make her befriend light-oriented children, and thus molding her views to that of the Light's side and instilling in her a dislike for dark magic." His gaze pinned Orion again, and he added quietly, "Even if at some point she felt tempted to try dark spells, as would have been natural given her innate magic, she wouldn't have felt the need to do so, as normally happens to us, and she would have lacked the power as well. The teenage years of a magical child are crucial for the development of his or her type of magic. If your type of magic goes unacknowledged, undeveloped and untrained, then it's almost lost to you, weak and locked in your magical core. After so many years of complete disuse, it's almost impossible to retrieve it." His jaw slight tightened, and he murmured quietly, "That's precisely what Dumbledore must have counted on."
Orion glanced at Remus and Sirius, to discern how they were taking Snape's words. Remus had a sad and resigned expression on his face, but he was nevertheless offering some type of assuaging support to Sirius, by gently grasping the man's arm in comfort. And Sirius, on the other hand, was resolutely glancing away from everyone, his lips drawn into a thin line, his expression one of disbelief and troubled thoughts, but he didn't say a word.
Finally, Orion gazed back at Snape, and nodded at him in understanding. "That's more or less what the Spirits said to me when I asked them about it."
"Spirits?" interjected Connolly, in his low, harsh voice, piercing him with narrowed amber eyes. "What spirits are ye talking 'bout?"
"Before you were bitten," said Orion coolly, arching an eyebrow pointedly, "you spent your first years of magical education at Durmstrang. You should know who I'm talking about."
Connolly's amber eyes marginally widened, and he said with sharp gruffness and scathing disbelief, "That the Founders'-"
"That Morgana's and Mordred's spirits linger on this plane, yes," interrupted Orion shortly. "And that I count with their support."
"That's not possible," said the werewolf quietly, staring at him as if he had never seen him before, suddenly looking pale and very shaken. "That would mean that ye are-"
Orion waved a hand, and said impatiently, "Remus will tell you about it, as I said before."
"I will," interjected Remus instantly, when both Connolly and Greyback seemed to want to pitch into the conversation. His gaze landed on Orion, and he said with a firm and uncharacteristic cold voice, "Perhaps it would be best if you finished explaining to us what happened. We do not have much time left before the Alphas arrive."
"Right," said Orion crisply, slightly annoyed at the werewolf's tone of voice, however much he knew he partly deserved it. He glanced at his father, Snape and Remus, and said coolly, "You don't need to know the details and I'm not going to waste my time giving lengthy explanations. The crux of the matter is that my mum was Grindelwald's daughter, and that he was Antioch Peverell's descendant. Thus, in me, the lines of the three brothers are joined. That's what the Spirits wanted to accomplish."
He shot a hard, piercing glance at his father. "And it's the irrefutable truth, no matter how much you would like to deny it. Furthermore, I did kill Gellert and his unique dark magic merged into my core." He widely spread out his arms, pointedly glancing down at himself. "That's what you're seeing now. And-"
"And your next step is to kill Voldemort," cut in Sirius sharply, pinning him with hard, gray eyes.
"What I decide to do with Voldemort is my business," gritted out Orion. "I don't want to hear anything about what my next step should be. I don't care what the prophecy says, what the Spirits want, or what your opinion is in that regard." He angrily narrowed his eyes at him, and added sharply, "And I'm not the only one who has to give explanations. What were you thinking about when you jumped in to protect Bill Weasley?!" He vaguely gestured in Greyback's direction. "If I hadn't been there to stop him, he would have mauled you, Dad! Of all the irresponsible, stupid things you have done-"
"You were there?" said Sirius puzzled, frowning at him without looking remotely contrite about his actions.
"Yes," replied Orion crisply, scowling at him. "I used a time-turner and I was under a parsel-invisibility spell-"
"That is how you saved Draco," interjected Snape musingly, intently spearing him with his black eyes. A deep frown furrowed his brows, and his gaze roved over Orion's face, as if trying to see into his very soul. "It was your time-travelling self who broke into my mind… using Legilimency without the need of eye contact, wand or spell… but there are very few Legilimens in the world who are able of such a feat. It's not something you learn in textbooks. I certainly never taught you that, and the only person to whom I ever disclosed that ability to was…"
The dark wizard trailed off, all color suddenly draining from his gaunt face, his thin body becoming rigidly stiff, as he stared at Orion as if abruptly seeing a ghost from his past.
At the man's words and reaction, Orion visibly blanched, feeling a frantic surge of alarm, and he gasped out, "Don't say anything!"
Remus frowned at them, and Sirius confusedly glanced from one to the other, as he demanded impatiently, "What's going on?"
Orion shot Snape an imploring glance, and the dark wizard jerkily nodded his head once, still gazing at him with shock, bewilderment and a pinch of horror, a sickly greenish tint coloring his pale face. Seeing that the wizard would keep quiet about the matter, Orion relaxed a bit, but he couldn't help thinking that Snape was too damned smart for his own good. He didn't even want to consider the consequences of Snape having discovered what he hadn't breathed a word about to anyone, except the recently deceased Vagnarov.
He cleared his throat, pulling a mask of utter impassivity over his features, and glanced back at his father as he said calmly, "Yeah, well, as I was saying, I used a time-turner and such. But the point is that, despite what the newspapers are saying, I didn't kill the old coot-"
"You didn't?" interrupted Sirius, all previous confusion having seemingly flown out of his mind, as he gazed at Orion with a slightly relieved expression.
It wasn't missed by Orion, and he narrowed his eyes at his father, and said crisply, "No, I didn't. And I need to know what has been going on during Order meetings."
"We all thought Dumbledore had died!" said Sirius vehemently, wildly gesturing with his hands, as if representing the havoc he had been thrown into during the last couple of days. "It was utter chaos! Moody's blasted eye never roved away from me for a single second, the Aurors interrogated me for hours, making me swallow flasks of Veritaserum, and Moody and Minnie badgered me with questions as well." He paused, and a pensive expression fleetingly crossed his face. "Now that I think of it, Minnie did look more composed a couple of days ago. Her eyes weren't all teary, at least-"
"Minnie?" gritted out Orion, narrowing his eyes at the wizard.
"Minnie, Minerva," said Sirius, blinking at him in obvious confusion regarding the reason for his anger. Then he chuckled, winking at him as he added with a cheerfully mischievous tone of voice, "Oh, I know, I know, she hates it when I call her that, and that's why I do it. Ever since I was a kid-"
"It's McGonagall, not Minnie!" snapped Orion sharply, briskly carding his fingers through his hair. "First, you put yourself in danger to protect a Weasley, then you call McGonagall 'Minnie', as if she was one of your closest friends." He leveled his father with a hard gaze, and spat angrily, "They are our enemies, Dad!"
"They are good people!" barked out Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest as he gazed at him with firm determination and self-assured, righteous stubbornness. "I don't regret having protected Billy. He's a good lad, and I like the Weasleys. The twins are a blast, Molly is a dear and Arthur is a good chap."
Feeling as if he was at the end of his rope with angered exasperation, Orion shot Remus a glance, silently asking for support. But the werewolf didn't seem to have any intention of getting pulled into the argument. Indeed, Remus looked as if Sirius' attitude was something he had been expecting all along.
"And Billy is about to get married," continued Sirius firmly, shooting at Orion a hard gaze of his own, "so I wasn't going to allow anything to happen to him if I was there to prevent it." A fond expression swept over his face, as he continued nonchalantly, "I like the whole Weasley bunch, and the new additions as well." He chuckled merrily under his breath. "Fleur is a witty beauty and Arian is an interesting and charming fellow, and I decided not to hold against them that they're French, they cannot help it-"
"Arian?" choked out Orion, feeling as if he had been knocked over by a bludger. In the next second, he had jumped to his feet, slamming his hands on the table as he leaned over to be nose-to-nose with his father, and he demanded loudly, "When did you met him? Why? How do you know him?!"
Sirius flinched backwards, looking utterly bewildered and alarmed by Orion's reaction, and he mumbled out, "He's Fleur's cousin or something of the sort. I met him four days ago when Billy brought him to an Order meeting, to induct him to the group. Everyone welcomed him with open arms, and Minnie and he seemed to know each other from before. She looked glad to have him with us. And like Fleur, he's staying with the Weasleys until the wedding celebration." He shot him a frown. "How do you know him? Did Fleur introduce you to him when –"
"He was accepted into the Order as just another common member?" demanded Orion sharply, as he plopped down back on his seat, intently spearing his father with a demanding and frazzled gaze.
The moment Sirius nodded in reply, he forced himself to gather back his composure while his mind sped with a thousand thoughts per second. It was clear that his suspicions were correct: McGonagall knew that Dumbledore was alive, and apparently she knew that Arian was the old coot's grandnephew. Moreover, it wasn't likely that the rest of the Order knew either of those things, or Arian would have been welcomed into the group in a different manner, and Sirius would have known if Arian had been treated as someone important.
It was also clear that, since Dumbledore was playing dead, he had sent Arian to become part of the Order, to supervise matters. And most probably, Arian had agreed to it for several reasons of his own: to be in the midst of things when the open war in England broke, and also to measure up the Order members, possibly to ascertain if he could use the old coot's followers for his benefit. The most important matter was if Arian was planning on revealing to them who he was. Would he tell them that he was the 'Vindico Lumen'? And if so, when?
Orion's jaw clenched and he jerkily carded his fingers through his hair. The latter posed a big problem to him. If Arian claimed to be the Vindico Lumen and gathered all light wizards around him, before he became the Vindico Atrum and did the same with dark wizards, then he would be in a great disadvantage.
Finally, he gritted his teeth, and pierced Sirius with his eyes as he said acidly, "The Order thinks he's just another member, eh? I bet you anything that your Minnie knows the truth. Arian is Dumbledore's bloody grandnephew, Dad! There's nothing common about him, and he claims to be the Vindico Lumen!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Sirius, looking slightly flummoxed.
"It means," hissed out Orion with annoyance, "that he's my worst enemy, that at present he's much more powerful than I am, that he's out for my blood, that he wants to destroy the Dark side and that his magical prowess supersedes even that of the old coot himself, that's what it means!" He angrily gestured at him. "And there you were, happily mingling with the 'charming fellow'!" He pierced him with narrowed eyes, and demanded crisply, "Do you understand now that those people aren't your friends but our enemies?"
"You're not making any sense, pup," groused out Sirius, scowling at him. "Arian knows that I'm your father and he was nothing but friendly with me when we met. When everyone in the Order started turning against me after you had supposedly killed Dumbledore, he was the only one, besides Billy, who didn't judge me for it. He was sympathetic, and he was even interested in our lives. He asked me about you and he didn't seem to think you were evil, like the rest of light wizards now believe-"
"Think why!" spat Orion with angered exasperation. "He asked you about me because he was gathering information to use against me, father! How can you be so bloody naïve? How can you have fallen for his charming and good light wizard act?!" He held up a hand, an idea suddenly entering his mind, and he snapped briskly, "You know what, never mind about that. Tell me about this wedding thing. I assume it's Bill's and Fleur's wedding celebration, so when is it going to be?"
Sirius stared at him, looking a bit startled at the sudden change in subjects, and he muttered, "August the first, at the Burrow – the Weasley's home."
Orion's green eyes widened and sparkled, his lips curved into a large, bright smile and he almost squirmed in his seat with jittery elation, as he breathed out, "Perfect. Wonderful! And it will be filled with light wizards and most of the Order will be there for sure! Oh my, I couldn't have planned it better myself. That's when we will strike!"
He flashed a smile at everyone, happily chuckling under his breath, and he loudly slammed a fist on the table. "Bam! All at the same time, Order of the Phoenix at the wedding, English Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo's, Azkaban! All in one swift strike, without giving them time to know what hit them! And – bam! At the same time, wizarding Dublin and Edinburgh, as Calypso said. It's perfect, it's flawless if we can orchestrate it, and I have a whole month to plan it. And by Circe that the Zravens will give me a bunch of their fighters to lead, and the Alphas must as well!"
To his annoyance, his plan didn't seem to be well received by everyone. Remus looked alarmed, his dislike evident on his grave, stern and reproving expression. Sirius looked as if he was combusting in enraged anger, his mouth flapping open and close, without being able to express how much he opposed the idea. And, inexplicably, there was a hurt expression spreading on his reddening face. The only exceptions were the other three. Connolly and Greyback were sporting almost identical expressions of anticipation, with a feral smirk twisting their lips, as if the whole idea of crashing a wedding and attacking numerous governmental dependencies was very tasty to their blood-thirsty palates. And Snape was staring at him with an arched eyebrow, a pensive glint of sly calculation sparkling in his black eyes.
"The Weasleys' home will be heavily warded, brat," said Snape calmly, finally breaking the tense silence that had spread at the table. "Moody, McGonagall and Shacklebot will surely cast many wards in preparation for the wedding, and some Aurors might also be asked to help with the task." His quirked eyebrow inched even higher. "How are you planning on breaking such powerful wards-"
"He can find out the details about the wards," interrupted Orion swiftly, gesturing at his father, before a frown marred his forehead. "Oh, but it could be that they won't trust him with that information, so…" A realization struck him, and he shot the wizard a large grin, as he said excitedly, "I can use Hermione for that! She would be perfect. Ron and she are sweet on each other, so it wouldn't be strange for her to want to stay at the Weasleys for the rest of the holidays. And during her stay there, I can make her be interested in the warding process! No one would think it strange of her to want to know about it, and McGonagall likes her and I don't think that even Moody would suspect her. Yes, she's perfect for the task - I can even make her disable some of the wards from the inside, just before the attack!"
Snape's lips quirked upwards, and he slightly nodded at him, conceding that it was an acceptable idea.
"Absolutely not!" spat Sirius, swiftly rising to his feet, looking imposing and ominous as he towered over the rest who remained seated, while he gazed down at Orion with a thunderous and enraged expression on his face. "You go too far, pup. What you're planning is unprovoked brutality. I will not seat here and listen any longer. I will not let you do this. There will be children and young witches and wizards at the wedding celebration, there will be innocents! It's in the Weasleys' home, with their kids, friends and close ones. I will not let you butcher them!"
"I didn't say anything about butchering!" snapped Orion angrily, jumping to his feet as well, narrowing his eyes at him.
"You are going to tell Voldemort about this plan of yours, aren't you?" demanded Sirius harshly, meeting his narrowed gaze with one of his own. "And Death Eaters will be involved, so there will be butchering! Not to mention the vampires and werewolves-"
"Of course, I'm going to plan it with him," interjected Orion sharply, balling his hands into fist as his jaw clenched. "And yes, I think it would be best if the Death Eaters attacked the wedding celebration, along with my Elite. But I was planning on sending the vampires and werewolves to take control of the Ministries-"
"Voldemort's minions will kill everyone at the wedding celebration!" yelled Sirius madly. "They will not show restraint, pup! They will be vicious-"
"And they will surely meet their match with the Order members, Aurors and the rest of the guests," spat Orion impatiently. "I doubt that it will be an easy victory for us. If there are casualties, they will be on both sides-"
"Innocents will be hurt or killed!" screamed Sirius, looking quite deranged in his fury. "I will not be a part of this, and I will not let you do it! I'd rather alert the Order about this, before allowing it to happen."
Orion's whole body froze, and his eyes narrowed to slits, as he said coldly, "Really? How will you tell them, if I may ask, father?" A chilly smile curved his lips, and he whispered acidly, "Try it, and you will see that not one word will come out of your mouth. The compulsion web on your mind will not let it happen. So you see, however much you would like to betray me, you can't."
An indecipherable expression spread over Sirius' face, a mix of pained hurt, disbelief, impotence and rage. And without another word, the wizard spun around and briskly strode away from them, making his way into Lycaon and barking at everyone who got in his way.
His father's reaction left Orion feeling a bitter taste in his mouth, while a chilling coldness seemed to be piercing his chest. He had never expected such betrayal, not from his father, not from the man he had worked so hard to bring back to life.
He glanced at the others, who had remained silent not wanting to get mixed up in the father-son brawl, and his gaze finally landed on Remus, and he bit out with frustration, "I don't understand him!"
"You should have expected it," said Remus quietly, piercing him with a hard glint in his eyes. "From the start, I told you that sending your father to spy on the Order was a bad idea. You placed him in the midst of people who had once been his friends, of light wizards and witches he had once liked and felt welcomed by. You tempted him with what he desired the most. Is it so hard to believe that he prefers their company to that of dark wizards? That he still cherishes them and thus wants them to be safe?"
"He's a dark wizard himself!" spat Orion with exasperation. "He had time to get used to the bloody idea, Remus. How long will it take him to accept who he is? I cannot fight with him every time we discuss attacking light wizards!"
"I will talk to him," said Remus calmly, before he shot him a glance full of reproach. "But you didn't deal with him well. Accusing him of betraying you, without wanting to understand his position and feelings-"
"I understood perfectly well," bit out Orion crisply, "but I can't accept it." His hands balled into tight fists, and he gritted his teeth as he leveled him with a hard gaze. "And it's you who doesn't understand my position. He should have never threatened to tell the Order about my plans. Don't you see? If either you or my dad ever helped the Light side in any way, I would kill you!"
A menacing growl issued from Greyback, but neither of them paid him any attention. Remus stiffened at his words, gazing at him with piercing amber eyes, as he said softly, "Would you, cub? After everything you did to resurrect him? After all the support we have given you-"
"I would," interrupted Orion, staring at him coldly. "Precisely because you and he are the ones closest to me, the ones I care about the most, any betrayal from your part would be much worse and have greater repercussions than that of any other. I cannot afford to have anyone close to me switching sides! I cannot afford to pardon betrayal, or I would be seen as being 'soft'. And that would not only undermine my position, but also lead to more problems and treacheries. In this, I cannot show mercy, or I would be ripped apart!"
"I'm sorry for you, cub, that you have come to feel this way," said Remus quietly, intently gazing at him as he steepled his fingers on top the table. "Nevertheless, despite the words that Sirius said in anger, he would never betray you. Do you remember when I came upon you, all those years ago at Hogwarts' grounds, where your father found Peter? Do you remember what he said to him? That he would have rather died than betray James and Lily? That sentiment was heart-felt and true, and he applies it to you as well. In that regard, you have nothing to fear."
Orion stiffly nodded, and briskly sat down on his seat again, before he pierced the werewolf with his eyes, and said coolly, "And what do you think about my plan? Will you support it?"
"You will only count with my support and that of my pack," replied Remus calmly, "if you vouch to make sure that no children will be hurt, and that includes the Weasleys'."
"I cannot promise that," said Orion through gritted teeth. "I'm not omnipotent, Remus! How can I control everything and everyone during the attack?"
"It's something you will have to solve," interjected Remus impassively, shooting him a pointed, hard glance, "in some way."
"I see," said Orion scathingly, a humorless, harsh chuckle springing from his lips. "And so it begins. This is but the initial stage of the first war, and you and father are already flinging obstacles in my path."
"You always knew it would happen," said Remus, his tone one of assuaging diplomacy. "We are the voice of moderation and reason, in my opinion, and I hope you will always listen to us."
"Fine," grumbled Orion reluctantly. "I'll somehow make sure that no kids are hurt." He shot him a pointed glance. "And you'll talk to Sirius and make him understand and accept my plan."
A small smile tugged Remus' lips. "You have deal, cub."
"As much as this chit-chat warms my heart," sneered Snape, standing up and stalking to Orion's side, his long fingers instantly wrapping around one of Orion's arms to pull him up, "you and I, brat, need to have a word – in private."
In the bat of an eyelash, Orion was being forcefully dragged into a nearby secluded corner of the forest. At last, Snape spun him around, so that they stood facing each other, and after a flick of the wizard's wand, a silencing spell was cast around them.
The wizard's fingers tightly grasped Orion's chin, pulling it up, and his black eyes intently bore into Orion's green ones, as he muttered under his breath, "Regulus?"
Orion jerked backwards, and bit out with a scowl, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me, boy," hissed out Snape, his grip on Orion's chin tightening, as he forced their gazes to meet again. His eyes narrowed to slits, as he searchingly stared into Orion's. "I only ever used my ability on Regulus, once, and there is no other way you could have known how to use it yourself. So tell me the truth. Are you-"
"Him?" said Orion through clenched teeth. He squared his shoulders, narrowed his eyes at the wizard, and finally admitted nonchalantly, "Yes, I was him."
Snape dropped his hand as if it had been burned, and he took a step back, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he muttered, "How can it be? How can you-"
"When I confronted the Dementor," interrupted Orion, speaking quickly while he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at some point over the wizard's shoulder, "he did something to me. Before I made him go through the Necromancer's Gate, Cadmus… unlocked something inside my soul, I guess. And during a week after that, before I asked Vagnarov to block it, I had flashes of my past reincarnations. Regulus' life, being my previous one, was the one I experienced the most."
"I see," said Snape quietly, his tone of voice making Orion flicker his gaze back to him. The wizard looked ill, as he continued, "And you remember about… everything?"
Orion scoffed, and said wryly, "About the 'punishment' that Voldemort made his Death Eaters inflict on me – on him? Yeah, I remember." The dark wizard, if possible, looked green, and Orion added with a sigh, "And I remember how you helped me, Severus, no matter what else you were forced to do. I – he killed himself with your aid, but it was willingly. You have nothing to reproach yourself about. You helped me."
Snape seemed to snap out from whatever was affecting him, and a cold mask of utter impassivity spread over his face, and he demanded sharply, "Do you still have flashes of his life?"
"No, as I said, Vagnarov blocked it," replied Orion shortly, frowning at him as he tried to discern where the wizard wanted to get to with the discussion. "I mean, I still remember everything I experienced during that week, and sometimes those memories are triggered by things, but I don't have new flashes."
Snape's jaw tightened, and he said tartly, "Then you shouldn't meet Lucius today."
"Why on earth not?" spluttered out Orion, staring at him in bafflement. "Everything is set already, isn't it? Dobby contacted you and you must have told Lucius to meet me at Durmstrang, after the Dark Allies meeting-"
"Must I spell it out for you?" snarled Snape impatiently, darkly glowering at him. "Lucius was imprisoned before you confronted the Dementor. You're going to see him today, for the very first time after remembering Regulus' life. Do you think memories will not be jostled in your mind, boy? Surely you saw what kind of relationship Lucius and Regulus had-"
"We - they were lovers, yeah," said Orion stiffly. He sneered at him, and added crisply, "I think I can manage it."
Snape regarded him with piercing, narrowed eyes, and finally said sharply, "Have it your way. But never let him know that you were him."
"Why not?" demanded Orion with curiosity, searchingly staring up at him.
"Because he doesn't need that complication in his life, and neither do you," spat Snape acerbically, looking as if he would rather be anywhere in the world except there having that conversation with him. "Let bygones be bygones."
Orion felt a coil of uneasiness twist in his stomach, and he jerkily nodded his head in immediate understanding. He didn't want to rehash past memories either. As far as he was concerned, he had enough on his plate, and his life was already more complicated than he could easily cope with.
He shot the wizard a quizzical glance when he saw the man staring at him with a weird expression on his face.
"Regulus," murmured Snape under his breath, fixedly staring at him with glazed eyes that seemed to see past him, while looking as if some cord was being strung deep inside him.
Feeling increasingly disturbed and restless, Orion loudly cleared his throat and tentatively placed a hand on the wizard's shoulder. Snape momentarily stiffened, before his lips tugged upwards with a wry twist, shooting him a glance as he mutely shook his head.
Orion carefully eyed him, before he said quickly, "I must warn you that Voldemort will probably attempt to kill you at some point. He doesn't know that I'm the master of the Elder Wand, and given what happened at the Astronomy Tower, I think he'll try to dispose of you and Draco after he obtains the Wand. And since I'll do nothing to prevent him from getting the Wand, because it suits my purposes, then you should stay on your guard around him."
Snape appeared momentarily taken aback, before he looked as if he was being forced to swallow a sour lemon. He waved a hand dismissively, silently accepting the warning. And without another word between them, they made their way back to the clearing.
When they reached the table, Remus was nowhere to be seen, the only ones still there were Connolly and Greyback, and Orion checked his wristwatch with impatience. Thankfully, the Alphas would arrive in any minute.
Before he could even pose a question, Connolly reached his side, and said gruffly, "M'Alpha went to deal with yer father. It was a bad idea to include yer father in yer plans, Black. It's clear that he doesn't have the backbone to do what is necessary."
Orion glared at him, even if he knew that the werewolf was partly right. But he stopped glowering at the man when he detected a certain unease and nervousness in werewolf's posture.
With amusement, he shot him a wide smirk, and said silkily, "What is it, wolfie? Are you scared of me now?"
Anger swept across Connolly's ruggedly handsome face, and he snarled, "In yer dreams, cubbie." He pierced him with narrowed amber eyes, and growled in a low, harsh voice, "When ye killed the bitch, ye told me that ye wanted me to become part of a group of yer followers. Ye said they were-"
"I was referring to the Aux Atrum," interrupted Orion, quizzically staring at him. "They are selected by the Spirits, and marked by them, to become the followers of who they call the Vindico Atrum. And that's-"
"Ye," cut in Connolly, closely regarding him with narrowed eyes. "I was able to put two and two together, Black. I'm not daft." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he said brusquely, "If I'm to believe that Morgana and Mordred are still alive in spirit form, and that they support ye, then I know exactly what this Vindico Atrum is." He scoffed, and added snidely, "Before my parents disowned me when I was bitten, they raised me as a dark pureblood. I know the legends, Black. Ye're talking about the Prophet." He speared him with an intense gaze, and demanded harshly, "Is that who ye are?"
Orion regarded him in silence, before he said coolly, "Apparently."
"Apparently?" growled Connolly impatiently, leveling him with a hard gaze. "Ye mean ye don't know for sure?"
"I mean that at present I'm the only candidate who can become the VA," said Orion calmly. "There's a test I have to pass first." He shot him a glance, and arched an eyebrow. "Remus will tell you all about the matter. What do you really want to ask me, Connolly?"
"Patrick," said the werewolf gruffly, his expression turning grave and determined. "Call me Patrick."
Orion's eyebrow arched even higher, before he said smoothly, "Very well, Patrick. So what do you want?"
Connolly shifted his weight from one foot to the other, before he speared Orion with a piercing gaze, and said in a low voice, "Ye offered to make me one of yer followers, and I accept." His amber eyes narrowed to slits, and he added brusquely, "Once I see with my own eyes that Morgana and Mordred truly exist in spirit form, and that they hail ye as the Prophet."
"Alright," said Orion, shooting him a large smile. "Then be prepared to be marked soon. But you will not be an Aux Atrum. I want you as one of my own."
Connolly sharply nodded at him, before he spun around and made way towards the table, looking as if he had much on his mind.
And Orion only had a brief moment to feel triumphantly content with this turn of events before popping sounds broke the silence that had pervaded in the clearing of the forest.
With supreme calmness, he turned around to gaze at the new arrivals, just as he caught sight of Remus dragging a stern and displeased looking Sirius across the gates of Lycaon.
When the two of them reached his side, Sirius didn't even glance at him, but Orion put up with it with equanimity and focused his attention back to people who had just portkeyed a few feet away from him.
It was Remus and Greyback who instantly approached the group, and Orion closely inspected them. They were four men and one woman, and one man in particular caught his attention the most. There was an imposing and commanding air about him, and the others stood behind him, by his flanks, as if recognizing the man's superiority over them, even though Orion knew that all of them had to be Alphas.
The female Alpha was almost dressed in drabs, and even though she looked sturdy and physically strong, it was evident that she didn't have an easy life. Her face looked slightly haggard, with several old scars marring a face that would have otherwise been pretty. And like with the rest, it was hard to tell her age, about in her mid forties, he would say. The other three men were dressed in plain muggle clothes, some as frayed and worn out as the woman's, and some others with attires of slightly better quality. Yet it was evident that none of them had money to spare in things like clothing. The only exception was perhaps the man leading the group, the one who had caught his attention.
He also looked in his forties, dressed in a cheap yet impeccable muggle suit and towering above the rest. Orion had thought that he would never meet anyone as tall and strongly-built as Greyback, but the man was a full head taller, very broad shouldered, looking like a giant compared to the others. His face was rather weather-beaten, as would be expected on a sailor of old times, with lines crinkling his forehead and around the corners of his eyes. He had a rather prominent straight nose, thick eyebrows, cropped black hair, a short beard along his jaw line, and dark brown eyes that seemed almost black.
"Wulfric!" said Greyback joyously, reaching the man's side and strongly slapping a hand on the Alpha's shoulder, his unusual friendly tone of voice making Orion quirk an eyebrow.
"Fenrir, it has veen many long years, my vriend," said the man, his rough voice laced with a thick Russian accent, as a small, sharp smile curved his thin lips. "I'm glad to see that you're looking vell." His dark brown eyes flickered to Remus, and a corner of his lips seemed to hitch up. "Remus, as I understand, you must be the reason behind my vriend's improved vellbeing."
Remus looked momentarily uncomfortable, before he thinly smiled at the man, and said cordially, "We are glad to have you here."
It didn't escape Orion's notice that Remus treated the man with respect, but not open friendship as Greyback had. It was clear that Remus regarded the man as a fellow Alpha worthy of the respect that the man's presence demanded, but their relationship didn't go any further. It didn't escape his notice, either, the 'we' Remus had used. And he began thinking that whatever Greyback was doing to engratiate himself with Remus seemed to be slowly working.
Wulfric's dark brown gaze landed on Orion, and the man took several steps forward to tower over him, his gaze marginally narrowing as it rove over Orion's magical aura.
"And you must be ourr much talked-about ally," said the werewolf, his lips curling into a chilling smile that unnerved Orion.
"Yes," interceded Remus calmly, briefly shooting Orion a glance that he couldn't quite decipher, only that it seemed a warning to tread carefully with the man. "Wulfric, this is Orion Black. Orion, this is Wulfric Vasiliev, the Alpha of the largest pack in Russia."
"Nice to meet you at last," said Orion smoothly, extending out a hand.
Wulfric's sharp eyes glanced down at the hand proffered, and for a second Orion inwardly stiffened, thinking his gesture would be ignored as a way to humiliate him or as a way for the werewolf to state his dominance and superiority over him.
But in the next second, Wulfric tightly grasped his hand and shook it, shooting him that unnerving smile again, that had nothing of friendliness or warmth in it.
"I'm also the Head Alpha of continental Eurrope," said the werewolf, shooting a stern glance at Remus for omitting the incontrovertible fact. His sharp gaze pierced Orion once more, and he continued in a tone of voice that brooked no opposition, "and as such, you vill be dealing vith me." His lips quirked upwards, and he gestured at his companions. "I speak in behalf of my comrade Alphas."
Orion shot them a glance, and the others silently nodded, except the woman, who seemed slightly irked but didn't beep a word.
"Very well," said Orion nonchalantly, as he gestured at the table. "Shall we take a seat, then?"
Wulfric didn't waste any time in taking a seat at the head of the table, leaving the rest of his entourage to seat along his sides. And for his part, Orion sat at the other head of the table, shooting a narrowed glance at Greyback when the werewolf attempted to do the same. Small details such as hierarchal seating was important, especially given Wulfric's attitude, and he wouldn't be outmatched in the subtle power-struggle games.
Greyback didn't look too happy that he hadn't been quick enough, but with a low growl, the werewolf took a seat by Remus' side, along one of the sides of the table. The only ones who didn't seemed fazed by the undercurrents were Remus, who evidently didn't care about stating his importance, Sirius, who didn't seem to have grasped the subtleties of what had transpired, and Snape, who looked contemptuously disgusted by the whole affair.
"In yourr behalf, Remus has already negotiated vith us the terms of our alliance vith you," started Wulfric, piercing Orion with his sharp, dark eyes. "Thereforr, I find myself vondering why you set up this meeting." He arched a thick eyebrow challengingly, and added in his rough voice, "Could it be that you're not ready to follow through vith all yourr promises-"
Orion waved a hand, and instantly cut in, "Not at all. It's because I know that Voldemort-" He noticed how the other Alphas flinched or winced at the utterance of the Dark Lord's name, but Wulfric didn't bat an eyelash "-offered the packs a potion to be able to transform during non-full-moon nights." He pierced Wulfric with narrowed eyes. "And I wanted to make sure that you're not thinking of switching allies."
"Ah," said Wulfric, his lips curving into the chilling smile. "Da, the Dark Lorrd contacted me, in fact." He leveled Orion with a hard gaze, and added sharply, "I haff no wish of exchanging you for him, but we vant that potion. Many in our packs arr muggle werewolves, and since there vill be fighting involved, it's best in both our interests that they can also participate in their transformed selves." His smile stretched. "If not, you vill find yourrself with a very small force of werewolf fighterrs."
"I see," said Orion curtly, not liking the covert threat. "I can attempt to garner the potion recipe from Voldemort, but I cannot make any promises."
Wulfric's smile widened icily, a mocking tilt curving his lips. "Surely yourr husvand-"
"Spouse," interrupted Orion crisply, leveling him with a cold gaze. "I was his spouse, and he was mine. He wasn't my husband since I wasn't his 'wife', but his equal, obviously in gender and in all other aspects. And we're not spouses anymore. Our marital bond was severed."
He instantly caught sight of his father's reaction, it was impossible not to. The reproving and stern scowl that Sirius had been sporting since the beginning of the meeting vanished, and his face lightened up as if he had been suddenly struck by a ray of sunshine. Sirius was staring at him with a happy bright sparkle in his eyes, as if he had just received the best gift of his life.
Wulfric, on the other hand, didn't seem to take such news very well. A hard expression spread over his rough features, and he said sharply, "If you're not in the Dark Lorrd's good graces anymore, then vhat good arr you to us? If you're not his spouse, you haff no influence on him. You no longer haff the standing to vouch that the dark wizarrds vill fulfill the promises you've made to werewolf kind. You haff no standing at all now-"
"Is that the only reason why you allied yourself to me?" interjected Orion harshly, narrowing his eyes at him. "Because I was Voldemort's spouse? You're a fool then. I don't need to be anyone's spouse in order to have my own standing. I'm a leader of the Dark, equal to Voldemort-"
"That is vhat you claim," snarled Wulfric, an enraged glint spreading in his dark eyes. "And based on vhat? On the ludicrrous speculations that arr being printed in the newspapers – that you arr Grindelwald's grandson? Arr those fallacies the base for your claim of veing powerful enough to be considered the leader of the Darrk?"
"It is the truth, Wulfric," interjected Remus calmly. "He is Grindelwald's-"
"I don't care if you believe it or not," interrupted Orion sharply, still spearing Wulfric with a hard gaze, not wanting Remus to butt in and fight his battles. "The point is that I'm the most powerful dark wizard alive, and that's precisely why I'm the leader of the Dark along with Voldemort. And that's precisely why you should value your allegiance to me. All the promises I made, I will be able to fulfill." He calmed down, and flashed him a grin, as he added smoothly, "If you still doubt it, I can demonstrate how powerful I am in a duel against you."
"That von't be necessary," bit out Wulfric stiffly, narrowing his eyes at him, and Orion couldn't suppress the smirk that stretched on his lips.
"I'm glad to hear it," said Orion warmly, his tone of voice irking the Alpha, as intended. "Now, as we were discussing, I'll do my best to get the recipe from Voldemort, and if not, I can ask someone to concoct some other potion that could be useful to you."
He shot Snape a glance, and the wizard, though looking sour at the request, nodded his head once. Satisfied, he gazed at the Russian Alpha again, and continued pointedly, "And according to the terms of our alliance, you and the other Alphas will provide me with fighters for the war. I'm planning to have the first battle on August the first. So I would like to know how many of your fighters will be available to me."
"In a month from now?" interjected the female Alpha, looking startled, her voice carrying a thick French accent. "C'est ne pas possible! It's too zoon…"
She trailed off the moment Wulfric shot her a dark glance, before his sharp gaze settled on Orion once more, and he said in a low, growling voice, "Amadine is right, it is too soon." Suddenly, he shot him a large, icy smile, and added casually, "We vould need several things in exchange, not contemplated in ourr previous agreement, if you vant to count vith our help at the date you proposed."
"Such as?" asked Orion impassively, already having expected something of the sort.
"Funds," said Wulfric shortly, as he gestured at the werewolf town at his back. "All of us admire vhat Remus has built, and we vould like to provide something similar to our packs." His lips thinned, and he continued curtly, "We haff no financial means at our disposal. We cannot haff jobs in the magical world, and almost none of us arr qualified to keep high-salary jobs in the muggle world. And unlike Remus, we don't haff wealthy and generous vriends."
Orion quizzically glanced at his father, and Sirius flashed him with a large grin, apparently loving the idea of spending some of the Black fortune to help werewolves – surely because his mother would be rolling in her grave and her portrait would screech like a banshee the moment the news reached her ears.
"Alright," said Orion, shooting Sirius a grin of his own, before he smiled at Wulfric as well. "The more Lycaons that are built, the better in my opinion. I can offer you the same amount of galleons that I gave Remus."
"Spassiva, we appreciate it," said Wulfric curtly, in his rough voice. "We arr not asking for charity. We vill repay you as soon as we start producing goods that can be sold in the muggle worrld."
Orion nodded gravely, showing how seriously he truly took it in order to not wound the Alpha's pride.
"There's one morr thing," said Wulfric, his lips curving into that unnerving, cold smile of his. "Become a werewolf. I, myself, vill bite you."
Orion almost choked on his tongue, and he saw Remus restraining Sirius, who looked about to jump to his feet to curse the Alpha.
"Oui," interjected the female Alpha firmly, gazing at Orion resolutely. "We discuzzed it amongst uz before this meeting. It iz necessary. It would reassure uz that you truly mean to help uz, and not merely uze us and then cast uz away-"
"Amadine!" growled Wulfric deep in his throat, making the woman blanch, though in the next second she was already shooting him a rebellious, dark glare.
Wulfric's sharp, dark eyes zeroed in on Orion again, and he said sharply, "It has reached ourr ears that you're bonded vith a vampirre-"
"Partially bonded," corrected Orion instantly, glaring at him since he didn't like the turn the conversation was having. "It's not complete. And I don't see how any of my personal affairs are any business of yours-"
"They arr," interrupted Wulfric with a snarl, narrowing his eyes at him. "I make it my business to know everrything about my allies, especially one vith such close ties to our naturral enemies. You're 'partially' bonded to the Zraven heir, to the one who vill lead one of the most important vampirre clans, and I assure you that we arr not happy about it. Werewolves and vampirres don't mix, yet you have forged an alliance vith both. You vill haff to decide which is more imporrtant to you." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he added sharply, "Vampirres arr very devious creatures, they vill do anything to turn you into one of them, and we cannot haff that. Become a werewolf, and solve the problem."
"No," said Orion shortly, leveling him with a hard gaze. "I promise that I will never become a vampire. I don't have any need to become one, just as I don't have any need to become a werewolf. And as you said, I'm forging an allegiance with both of you, if I turned into one or the other, I would lose my alliance with the other kind. I cannot afford that. What you ask for is not something I will ever consider."
"This is a deal breaker," said Wulfric warningly, piercing him with hard, narrowed eyes.
Orion clenched his jaw, and said crisply, "Then so be it."
Wulfric's eyes narrowed to slits, and he snarled enraged, as he slammed a fist into the table, "Is your alliance vith the leeches more important than yourr allegiance to us?!"
"Both are equally important to me!" snapped Orion with angered impatience. "Ask for any other thing to reassure you-"
"I vouch for him, Wulfric," interjected Remus firmly, leveling the other Alpha with a stern gaze. "Orion would never betray us. He truly wants to give us equal rights to that of wizards, and he has offered us more than he is offering to the Zraven clan."
"And yet the Zravens vill haff him as the mate of their son!" growled Wulfric, a thunderous expression spreading over his rough features. "How can we place the fate of our kind in the hands of a vampirre-lover!"
"I vouch for him," repeated Remus curtly.
Wulfric pierced him with hard eyes, and demanded harshly, "Personally and by yourr standing as an Alpha?"
"Yes," replied Remus calmly, "as I always have."
To Orion's amazement, that seemed to settle the matter, and he wondered precisely what consequences Remus had agreed to face. Not that he would ever break his promises to the werewolves, as they seemed to fear, but it left him feeling a bit worried about what Wulfric could supposedly do to Remus.
"You seem to garner a steadfast loyalty," said Wulfric gruffly, narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't take it lightly. And needless to say, that our packs vill not fight side-to-side vith the leeches. If you don't vant us tearing each other apart instead of battling light wizarrds, then keep it in mind."
"I know," said Orion coolly. "I wasn't planning on sending you to the same places that have to be attacked." He pierced the Alpha with his eyes, and asked pointedly, "So now that we have a new deal, can you tell me how many werewolves you can give me for August the first?"
"Vithout counting the muggle members of ourr packs," replied Wulfric curtly, "about thirty to forty werewolves per pack, since those vould be the ones who vould be prepared to fight in such short notice. They vould be wizarrds and witches, and thus useful in battle even vithout the potion."
Orion frowned pensively. "So, two hundred werewolves in average?"
"Da, vith us Alphas included," said Wulfric, spearing him with a piercing gaze, "since we vould be commanding our fighterrs."
"And I would be leading you," interjected Orion pointedly.
Wulfric narrowed his eyes at him, but then stiffly nodded, and Orion shot him a dazzling smile, as he said contently, "Perfect. I'm having a meeting with Voldemort and some of our international Allies after this, and if my plan is accepted, then we will have much to plan for. During this month, it would be best if the five of you, and of course Remus, Greyback and Connolly, attended battle-planning sessions with Voldemort and his Inner Circle, along with my own Elite. I'm sure Voldemort will agree that you must be included. Would you accept?"
"Da," said Wulfric, curtly nodding at him.
"Good," said Orion, shooting him a wide, satisfied smirk. "And now I think you should know exactly what I'm planning for August the first."
He noticed how his father stiffened at his words, but thankfully, Sirius didn't voice his opinions, and the rest of the meeting went on without any altercations, as they focused on the details of the plan that had formulated in his mind. And, despite Wulfric's attempt to the contrary, Orion subtly made the other Alphas participate in the discussions as well, to get to know more about them, since Remus had never told him much.
The other three male Alphas were the leaders of the largest packs in Germany, Spain, and Italy. And Orion was particularly glad for the latter two, since in those countries light wizards predominated the most. And the woman, Amadine, was the Alpha of the packs in France. She was the one he liked the most, once he got to know her a little better. She seemed to be a fighter to the core, and was the only one who didn't kowtow to Wulfric as much as the others.
All of them were dark wizards, or witch, in her case, even though their formal magical education was pretty scarce, since they had been bitten very young. And he soon discovered that Wulfric, like Greyback, was a naturally born werewolf, also the son of a previous Alpha. It became clear to him that being a naturally born werewolf gave the werewolf in question a sort of higher status to those who had been simply bitten, and that, besides the man's personality, could explain why Wulfric commanded such superiority over the other Alphas.
In the end, the rest of the meeting went as smoothly as it could, and despite his tiredness, Orion was brimming with excitement by end of it. He only briefly wondered how he would manage to do everything in just a month. He had initially thought that he would spend all his time at Zraven Citadel, but it was clear to him now that he would be incessantly coming and going to take part in all the battle-planning meetings. And besides that, he would also be occupied with his vampire-training, studying for his PRIMEs, and also with some training sessions with his Elite, so that they could be prepared.
He would not have a spare moment. Indeed, now he regretted very much that the time-turner had broken. And for a second, he considered that he would need to take a potion to be able to do everything. But remembering Voldemort's snide comment about his 'potions addiction', he swiftly pushed the idea away – he rather be dead on his feet every day than put up with the man's sneering jibes.
Nevertheless, despite that he knew that it would be a very intense and busy month for him, it couldn't be helped. The date of the attack couldn't be changed; the occasion of the wedding celebration was perfect and couldn't be passed.
The moment the Alphas portkeyed away, looking as satisfied with how the meeting had gone as he felt, Orion relaxed on his seat and stretched out his legs while he soothingly rubbed his forehead. A few minutes before the meeting had ended, he had felt Voldemort pounding into his skull from his end of their link. He had ignored it, of course, but he had known what was going on when Snape had briskly stood up, grasping his left arm and merely shooting him a pointed glance before dissapparating without bothering to say a word to anyone. In that way, he had known that Voldemort was having a meeting with his Inner Circle, as the wizard usually did before any gathering with the Dark Allies.
He knew he should be apparating straight away into the meeting as well, but at present he was nonetheless taking a few minutes to rest a bit. Connolly was still frequently glancing at him, with a pensive and calculating glint in his amber eyes, as if both measuring him up and thinking about their conversation and everything he had discovered. It didn't escape Orion's notice that the Beta also gazed at him with a mesh of veiled awe, guarded fear and wariness. It was evident that the whole Morgana, Mordred and VA matter had deeply shaken him.
Gratefully, the werewolf didn't approach him to press on about the matter. Connolly seemed content in simply shooting him glances from his seat. On the other hand, the ones who weren't keeping still were Remus and Greyback. The older werewolf seemed to almost have Remus boxed in his chair, since Greyback had him pinned in between his arms, looking fed up and impatient while he growled something to Remus under his breath. To his chagrin, he wasn't the only one who had noticed. Sirius was already jumping to his feet, wand in hand, as he rushed to the pair.
Orion took that as his cue, and he swiftly stood up and stated loudly, "I'm off. I'll see you later!"
Sirius halted in mid-step in his rescue-mission dash, shooting him a startled glance, while Remus took the opportunity to wrench free from Greyback, standing up and checking his old wristwatch. "It's not time yet for the Dark Allies meeting, cub."
"I know," said Orion coolly, "but I rather put up with Voldemort and his minions than see father attempting to beat Greyback to a pulp." He shot Sirius a pointed glance. "And you know you don't stand a chance, Dad. So let it go, it's their bloody business, not yours. And Remus can protect himself, Greyback's pretty scars are evidence enough."
To his amusement, Greyback snarled angrily at him, Remus' face slightly flushed – he didn't quite know if it was from embarrassment or a pinch of remorse- and Sirius spluttered indignantly, due to wounded pride, no doubt. Connolly merely smirked, and he shot his soon-to-be-follower a wink, before he plucked out the Black Heir ring from his pocket and gave it a tap with his wand's tip.
The moment the sensation of being squeezed through a clenching rubber tube ended, Orion's feet landed on marble floors, and his eyebrows shot upwards.
He pointed a finger at the unconscious witch dangling in mid-air above the grand, ornate table, and he shot Voldemort a quizzical glance. "Who's that?"
The scene that had greeted him was a bizarre one.
