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.
Chapter 31
No one answered his question or breathed a word, and Orion ended up reining in his curiosity about the dangling witch to glance around the room and its occupants.
They were in the largest drawing room of Malfoy Manor, the furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls, and dim illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. He even caught sight, through the large windows, of the fountain playing in the middle of the manor's vast gardens, with several pure-white peacocks strutting majestically along the top of the hedges.
As his gaze started to grow accustomed to the dim light, Orion finally gazed at the silent people seated along the ornate table. Voldemort was seated at the head of the table as usual, directly in front of the fireplace, so it was difficult, at first, for Orion to make out more than his silhouette. On the other hand, he saw how most of the Death Eaters were fixedly staring at him, their eyes roving over his body, some gasping quietly in awe, others paling in fear or apprehension as they caught sight of his thick dark magical aura, which was animatedly pulsing all around him. He also noticed how their gazes flickered to his forehead, and he realized that none of them had ever seen before his so famed lightning-bolt shaped scar.
Tension seemed to spread through them, while Orion noticed that Jugson, Dolohov, Nott and Mulciber were also present amongst the other members of Voldemort's Inner Circle. Those wizards had been captured a year ago during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, so it was evident that Voldemort had also freed them when the wizard had broken out Lucius from Azkaban several weeks ago – which he only knew about thanks to Draco, since Voldemort hadn't bothered to tell him about it.
From everyone present, three people above all others caught his attention: the ones who weren't fixedly staring at him.
At the furthest corner of the vast room, sat a witch, almost as if she was one more piece of furniture given her isolation from the rest. And Orion recognized her immediately, even though he had never laid eyes on her before, due to her uncanny resemblance to her son. Calypso's apprehension had been founded. The witch was Jezabel Zabini, and she was a breath-taking beauty. Such a beauty, that to his surprise, he even felt a faint stirring of attraction. He could distinguish her body's shape under her rich, exotic clothing. She had a curvy, seductive figure, with a tiny waist, firm and ample bosom, and wide hips. Long, bejeweled earrings tingled and chimed softly, peeking through her long, black cascading hair, and her dark skin gleamed with a golden hue under the firelight.
It was her eyes which transfixed him the most. He knew that Blaise had inherited his dark blue eyes from her, but now, they were milky white. She didn't seem to be aware of her surroundings, and her beautiful features were infused with an expression of deep concentration.
It was then when he detected that the whole room felt as if it was wrapped in an invisible bubble. There was magic tingling all around him, and it was coming from her. It was true then: she was doing something to block the meeting from other Seers – from Arian, most importantly.
He ripped his gaze away from her, and glanced at the other two people, besides Snape and Romulus Rosier, who weren't gawking at him. Narcissa Malfoy was wearing the mask of cold beauty and superiority she usually sported in public, but there was an imperceptible tension on her shoulders, while she kept her eyes staring straight ahead, her deadpanned gaze riveted on a wall. Lucius Malfoy, on the other hand, didn't look so steely impenetrable. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. Even his usually glossy, long platinum hair looked wan and lifeless.
Orion felt a twinge of… something, and he instantly reinforced his Occlumency shields around the memories of his past lives. Snape had been right when warning him about memories being 'jostled'. Nevertheless, his gaze briefly met Lucius' when the wizard shot him a quick glance, and he detected the flash of cold fury that glinted in the man's icy silvery eyes. In that moment, he saw how Narcissa's slim fingers closed briefly on Lucius' wrist beneath the table, and the wizard instantly looked away from him.
When Orion finally glanced at Voldemort once more, he knew that the dark wizard had detected Lucius' anger towards him, since the Dark Lord seemed to be cruelly amused and satisfied by it. However, now that he saw how Voldemort's gaze was sweeping over him, Orion detected several other things in the dark wizard's crimson eyes. There was veiled desire and hunger in them, and Orion was very tempted to preen under the man's gaze. In the end, he settled on simply shooting him a smug smirk, and that seemed to pull the Dark Lord from admiring and lustful thoughts.
Voldemort answered his smirk with a cold sneer, but before he gave the wizard a chance to say anything, Orion swiftly reached his side, with his back turned to the others to block their sight, while he plucked out two things from his over-robes' pocket.
"I think you would like to have these back," hissed Orion, holding up a hand with the Slytherin wedding ring and the magicless, perfect imitation of the Gaunt ring, offering them to him.
Swiftly, Voldemort stood up to face him, and Orion caught sight of the flick of surprise that momentarily flashed in the wizard's crimson eyes.
"You thought I wouldn't give them back to you, my greatest ally?" hissed Orion, making himself warmly smile at him.
Voldemort's eyes slightly narrowed with suspicion, before he pocketed the rings, piercing him with an intense gaze, as he hissed quietly, "Indeed, always remember that, Orion. I am your greatest ally."
At the wizard's uncharacteristic mellow tone of voice, it was Orion's turn to feel a modicum of suspicion. Nevertheless, he amiably smiled at Voldemort once more, even though he knew that the wizard would be closely inspecting the rings the moment he was alone. Moreover, it was as he had suspected, by giving the rings back –particularly his wedding ring which contained one of Voldemort's pieces of soul- he had passed some sort of test. For now, that is, because he was certain that Voldemort would never come to fully trust him.
He was also aware that Voldemort had expected him to make a scene of some sort, since this was the first time they saw each other after the wizard had severed their marital bond. But he wasn't going to give Voldemort the satisfaction, and he had already decided how he was going to act during this meeting.
During his previous meeting with the Alphas, he had had no need to behave other than how he usually did. He hadn't restrained his temper or anything along those lines, because he had wanted them to know the real him. On this occasion, however, things were different.
He knew very well that from hence forth he would need to act like a 'Dark Lord' with this lot and many others. The moment he had killed Grindelwald and announced to the world –through the inscription on the statue's base- that he was the former Dark Lord's grandson, his situation and position before others had irreversibly changed. It was imperative that the Death Eaters and Dark Allies acknowledged it. That was, indeed, the first step.
Thus, he gazed at the table, and with one quick flick of his wand, he made it double in width. Most of the Death Eaters instantly pushed their seats away, though Amycus Carrow squeaked with angered indignation when he was almost trapped under the table. The squat, portly dark wizard even shot him a fierce glower, before he paled, clamped his mouth shut, and looked away from him, looking a bit shaky.
Unfazed, Orion nonchalantly flicked his wand again, and one of the unoccupied chairs zoomed towards him, quickly sliding to halt besides Voldemort's own chair at the head of the table, which was now wide enough to accommodate both.
Everyone seemed to understand his implicit statement, and no one, but Bellatrix, openly reacted to it negatively. She, on the other hand, was piercing him with dark grey eyes that seethed with fury and intense envy. However, to Orion's surprise, he also detected a glimmer of grudging respect, as her gaze trailed over his magical aura once more. He doubted if it would significantly change how they got along, but he should have known that, despite the numerous things the witch held against him, she would nonetheless reluctantly respect him given the visible evidence of his power.
Voldemort's lips curled upwards, and he settled a hand on Orion's shoulder, steering him towards his seat, as he said placidly, "My followers, behold Grindelwald's grandson, as always, my ally."
Orion shot him a surprised and quizzical glance, wondering why the wizard had helped him with that statement. Perhaps Voldemort was somewhat satisfied with him since he had given the man the rings, or perhaps it was to smooth things over with his minions and to cut short unnecessary questions, or because it suited his own purposes. Whatever the man's reasons were, it seemed to do the trick.
Even though he saw puzzled, curious or slyly calculating expressions on some of the Death Eaters' faces, not one of them demanded to be given explanations. None of them would be stupid enough to question the Dark Lord. And the Death Eaters would hear his explanations to the Dark Allies, after all.
The moment both of them had taken their seats at the head of the table, Voldemort glanced at him with an arched eyebrow. "I trust that your meeting with the werewolves went well?"
"Yes, it did," said Orion coolly, knowing that Snape wouldn't have said a word about it to the wizard.
Obviously, he hadn't told Voldemort that Snape had attended the meeting, given that the Dark Lord had never discovered how close they were or that Snape's loyalty was towards him and not Voldemort. He and Snape always acted coldly towards each other in Voldemort's presence, as if they barely tolerated each other and as if it had been forced upon them when Dumbledore had made Snape become his guardian.
Before Orion expanded on the matter, his eyes were again drawn upwards to the unconscious witch hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of the people seated underneath this singular sight were looking at it, except Bellatrix who shot the dangling witch a smug smirk, looking proud about something. And Orion slightly frowned, since there was something familiar about the unconscious witch.
Suddenly, something large and scaly coiled around one of his ankles, and Orion almost jumped in startlement before he controlled his reaction. He heard a hiss coming from underneath the table, and in the next second, a huge snake slithered up along his leg.
Orion kept absolutely still as Nagini's head poked out, while she kept coiling herself up his torso. And he met her yellow eyes with guarded surprise. He hadn't seen her in ages, and there was something gleeful in the way she repeatedly flicked her forked tongue out towards him.
She wrapped her long tail around his waist, and he saw a flicker of irritation and annoyance flash in Voldemort's expression. But in the end, Orion decided to ignore the snake and allow her to do as she liked. He wanted to know about the dangling witch before telling Voldemort just how well his meeting with the Alphas had gone.
"Who is she?" he asked again, shooting a sidelong glance at Voldemort. "And why is she here?"
Voldemort's lips quirked upwards, and he said silkily, "She is here so that we can start cutting away the canker that infects us until only those of true blood remain."
The wizard pointed his wand at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The witch came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.
"Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort, piercing Snape with intense crimson eyes.
Snape raised his eyes to the upside down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!"
"Ah, yes," said Snape impassively, as the prisoner turned slowly away again.
"And you, Orion?" asked Voldemort, stretching out his free hand to Orion's waist, to stroke Nagini's snout.
Orion saw the witch jerk up her face to stare at him with round eyes, but he simply glanced at her with a frown. She did look familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. Meanwhile, he heard Nagini hiss with pleasure at her master's caress, and she swiftly untangled herself from his waist to slither around Voldemort's shoulders.
"But you would not have taken her classes," said Voldemort calmly, petting his snake. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Orion didn't allow any reaction to show on his face, but now he did remember having seen her in Hogwarts' hallways. He fleetingly wondered how the witch had managed to get in such a tight spot, and what Voldemort was up to. The wizard must have already Legilimized her by now, so why was he keeping her alive?
Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again, and Orion saw her wide, pleading eyes flickering from the Potions Master to him.
"Severus … please … please … Mr. Black, child, please…"
"Silence," said Voldemort lazily, with another twitch of his wand, and Burbage fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance. She would have us all mate with muggles. And she was recently recruited by the Order…"
Orion inwardly groaned. Burbage had been accepted into the Order? He knew that they were frenziedly recruiting, but the witch was magically mediocre at best.
"…it is thanks to dear Bella here, that we have such a guest among us," was saying Voldemort, his tone of voice sounding dangerously soft to Orion's ears, which perked up his attention. "During the raid to Birmingham, while some of you pathetically fled from the Order, Bella captured this witch, as a gift to me."
Everyone except Bellatrix stiffened. There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. And for the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape, and then Orion. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair, and Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.
Orion, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to her, not even remotely. The part about the Death Eaters fleeing from the Order had captured his thoughts. He hadn't known they had been in such a tight spot, and that could only mean that-
"My Lord," said Bellatrix breathlessly, halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is always an honor to do anything for you. There can be no higher pleasure."
Orion shot her a scathing glance. She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, as if mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.
"No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort silkily, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."
The innuendo didn't escape Orion's notice, nor the way that Bellatrix was lustfully gazing at Voldemort, to then victoriously smirk at him. Orion didn't react to the smirk the witch shot him, but he couldn't help balling his hands into fists under the table.
Finally, he chose to have a doubt resolved, and he shot a covert glance at Romulus Rosier, before he addressed the Death Eaters in general, "You had to flee? How many Order members did you have to face?"
"It wasn't only a matter of numbers, Lord Black," said Rabastan Lestrange, piercing him with his gaze, with a glint of desire in his eyes directed at him, which didn't go unnoticed by Orion. "Somehow, they knew exactly which parts of wizarding Birmingham we were going to attack. And there was one light wizard amongst them who-"
"Who was very powerful," interjected Romulus Rosier calmly, answering Orion's surreptitious glance with those mere words.
Orion nodded at Calypso's father, and ignored the way in which Rabastan kept glancing at him. True, he had enjoyed shagging the wizard, mostly because it was the first time he had ever topped. But it was something he had no desire to repeat with the dark wizard. It was Voldemort who he wanted to have writhing and hissing with pleasure underneath him. Or Draco or Lezander, for that matter. But, at present, there were more important issues to deal with.
He shot Rabastan a neutral glance, and demanded calmly, "Did this light wizard have bronze colored hair, and was he good-looking?"
"Yes," replied Rabastan shortly, frowning at him.
"It was Arian," said Orion, leveling Voldemort with a hard gaze. "I told you that he must have Seen you planning that raid." He deeply frowned, and added musingly, "And he could have easily bested all of your Death Eaters. I wonder why he didn't. Why he allowed them to escape-"
"One sole wizard couldn't have defeated all of us who went on the raid," sneered Bellatrix contemptuously, visibly bristling with fury at his words.
Ignoring his Aunt, Orion stared at Voldemort and said with disbelief, "You haven't told them about Arian yet?"
Voldemort merely gazed back at him with supreme impassivity, and Orion was hard taxed to suppress his temper.
He trailed his gaze over all the Death Eaters, and said gravely, "That wizard's name is Arian Hyperion Valenor, and he's Dumbledore's grandnephew and more powerful than the old coot. So if you see him again, don't attempt to duel him. Escape from him, and leave him to either me or the Dark Lord. None of you have a chance against him."
A frisson of apprehension seemed to run along the Death Eaters, and he saw that everyone was taking him seriously. There was surprise in their faces, regarding Arian and his relation to Dumbledore, but there wasn't doubt concerning what he had told them.
"And you stand a chance against him?" jeered Bellatrix snidely. "If he is indeed Dumbledore's grandnephew-"
"You doubt your Lord's power?" said Orion sharply, narrowing his eyes at her. "Or mine, still? Only the Dark Lord and I should deal with Arian, and that's it. You've been warned."
He shot Voldemort a pointed, hard glance, and the wizard narrowed his eyes at him, before he addressed his Death Eaters with a disinterested tone of voice, "This Arian apparently is Dumbledore's grandnephew. I concur with Orion that he should be left to either him or myself."
That seemed to shut up Bellatrix, and reassure the rest, but Orion was still very unsatisfied with how carelessly Voldemort regarded Arian. Surely the wizard had to understand just what a threat Arian represented to them. And even though he knew that Voldemort would never show himself to be worried about anything or anyone, he had thought that the man had already told his Death Eaters something about the light wizard. And he wasn't happy to discover that Voldemort hadn't.
"Now, before we proceed with other matters, Severus…" Voldemort paused, his gaze landing on Orion, and his lips curled upwards in a faint smirk. "No. Better yet. Orion, kill her. Prove your commitment to our cause."
Orion frowned at him, before he realized that the wizard was referring to Burbage. He shot Voldemort an irritated glance, and said coldly, "I don't think anyone here has any reason to doubt my commitment."
Voldemort didn't reply anything to that, and simply pierced him with a demanding and impatient gaze. And Orion understood immediately that this was just another test. Evidently, it had been initially intended for Snape, since the wizard was still in a rocky situation with Voldemort. Snape, like Narcissa and Bellatrix, had known about the Unbreakable Vow that he had taken to help Draco with his task. And Voldemort still hadn't forgiven anyone for it, except Bellatrix, perhaps, who had undoubtedly scored some points by giving him Burbage.
Finally, Orion merely shrugged his shoulders indifferently. He couldn't care less about Burbage, and as far as he was concerned, it was best that the witch died swiftly instead of being tortured any further.
He indolently raised his wand at the magically-gagged witch, who was staring at him with teary, pleading eyes, and said lazily, "Avada Kedavra!"
The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room, and the witch fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters flinched back in their chairs at the loudness of her fall, but other than that, no one batted an eyelash.
"Dinner, Nagini," hissed Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.
Abruptly, in mid way along the table, Nagini jerked her head around to stare at Orion with her yellow eyes, her tongue flicking out, with her head swaying as if something was amusing and pleasing her greatly and she couldn't kept quiet about it any longer.
"You sssmell as-"
"Nagini!" hissed Voldemort sharply, glancing at her with infuriated, narrowed eyes. "You have your food, now leave."
A vibrating hiss that sounded like laughter came from the snake, while she tightly coiled her tail around the dead witch's waist, and slowly dragged the body down the table.
Her gleeful hissing was still resounding in Orion's ears when she finally slithered her way out of the room with her 'dinner'.
With a snap of his head, Orion pierced Voldemort with intense, demanding, narrowed eyes, feeling a flare of fury rising in him. The Dark Lord, for his part, didn't even glance his way. And Orion felt rage bubbling inside of him even further. He wasn't an idiot! He knew perfectly well what Nagini could have sensed and been happy about. His mind boggled with the gravity of it, and he had to suppress the need of somehow confirming his worst fears by pressing a palm on his taut stomach.
Nevertheless, however ill and faint the possibility made him feel -or rather, the fact, after Nagini's attitude had confirmed it to him- what he felt the most was insane fury and the blind desire to repeatedly smash Voldemort's skull against the table, to have him under a Cruciatus Curse for many long hours, to viciously tear limb after limb from his body.
He would be turning seventeen and Voldemort had always known that he didn't want to have a child so young, and in the middle of the bloody war, to boot! As a matter of fact, he had never wanted to carry a child at all. He had been sure that he could have convinced Voldemort, along the way, to do it through a surrogate witch. He was a man, and even though the male pregnancy potion was a viable possibility, he had never wanted to use it. He didn't care what he had initially promised to Voldemort, things had changed, and he was no longer the wizard's spouse, to top it!
Orion was visibly seething with rage, but he knew that now wasn't the time to say anything, so he quickly gathered back his cool composure and pulled a blank expression over his face. The Death Eaters didn't seem to know what was going on, they were merely staring at them with guarded curiosity, obviously sensing the tension in the air. Nevertheless, under the table, Orion wrapped his fingers around Voldemort's wrist, and he tightly squeezed until he knew that the wizard's bones had to be painfully aching, and he sunk his fingernails into the man's flesh, hard.
Voldemort didn't even wince, or attempt to pull his wrist away. His expression was as closed off as Orion's, as he demanded calmly, "What did you get from the Alphas-"
A 'snap' echoed through the room, and Voldemort's clenching jaw was the only sign of pain from the wizard, as Orion finally managed to break the man's wrist. Now the Death Eaters did seem to know that something grave was happening between them, and their fidgety nervousness was palpable, their eyes flickering from Voldemort to Orion, as if expecting that Killing Curses would soon be flying through the air.
Voldemort shot Orion a furious glance promising retribution, before calmly flicking his wand. And Orion icily smiled at him, while letting go of the man's wrist just as he felt the healing spell tingling on it.
He had never been forced to act before others as nonchalantly as he had to act now, but with considerable effort, Orion did it.
He pushed from his mind all his frantic and furious thoughts, and said coolly, "Yes, the Alphas. We finally agreed on several points. As a matter of fact, I would say that the terms of my alliance with them are all settled, at last. I will not go into it, but beside the whole issue of giving werewolves equal rights to that of wizards, they want that potion that you dangled before their noses. So you will have to give me the recipe-"
"I will think about it," interrupted Voldemort sharply, piercing him with narrowed crimson eyes. "What else?"
Orion's jaw clenched, before he said smoothly, "Nothing else from your part. I'm giving them some galleons to found towns like Lycaon. And in exchange for everything, they will provide fighters for the wars. In fact, the Alphas will be leading about two hundred werewolves for the first battle, and I will be commanding the Alphas."
He speared Voldemort with an intense gaze, and added shortly, "August the first. That's when it will happen. I have started planning the attacks with the Alphas, and now I only need to discuss it with you. I'm sure the Dark Allies will approve my plans, and we can convince them to help us on some matters."
"Why that date?" demanded Voldemort commandingly, his eyes narrowing to slits. "And what do your plans involve?"
"Bill Weasley is marrying Fleur Delacour and they're going to celebrate it that date, at the Weasleys' home," replied Orion coldly. "I think it's the perfect opportunity to attack the Light in several fronts. My Elite and some of your Death Eaters will attack the wedding, the Alphas and their fighters will strike Ireland's and Scotland's Ministries of Magic, and their hospitals and prisons, while I think that you, the rest of the Death Eaters and the vampires that the Zravens will give me, should strike the English Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo's, and Azkaban. All at the same time."
Voldemort pierced him with a hard gaze. "Where will you be?"
"I will be with my Elite, attacking the wedding," replied Orion coolly. He pointedly gazed at him, and added in a low hiss, "Arian will be there, for sure, since he's Fleur's cousin. I cannot defeat him on my own, but I'm planning to draw him out to the English Ministry of Magic, since I'll be apparating there to join you as soon as we finish at the wedding."
"And you want us to kill him there?" hissed Voldemort, a pensive expression spreading over his handsome features.
Looking away from him, Orion slightly frowned, but then stiffly nodded at him. He gazed at the Death Eaters, seeing that all the hissing was making them uncomfortable. Well, except Bellatrix who was gazing at Voldemort with an enraptured expression on her face, and Rabastan, who was staring at him with a lustful one. He almost rolled his eyes at them.
"I don't see any need to attack Azkaban," said Voldemort quietly. "Control over all wizarding prisons will fall into our hands once we take the Ministries. As for St. Mungo's and the other hospitals-"
"Those we must take," interrupted Orion firmly, while he mulled over it. "I concede that the prisons are a minor point, we can choose which prisoners to free and add to our ranks once the battles are over. But we need to have healers in our grasp as soon as possible, so that they can't aid light wizards and so that they can be made to help our injured."
"As you wish," said Voldemort magnanimously, waving a hand dismissively. He gazed at Orion with a calculating glint in his eyes, and said thoughtfully, "This plan of yours fits rather well with my own. I approve it, and I will openly do so before the Dark Allies. As you said, they could help matters further, especially Alistair… Yet, many details will have to be tweaked out…"
A wave of excitement seemed to ripple amongst the Death Eaters, as if Voldemort's words had sealed the deal and they were granted permission to display their opinion about it. In their faces, Orion saw nothing but anticipation, pensive calculation, and further respect for him and his plan.
"Of course, many things still need to be planned," said Orion, quizzically staring at Voldemort. "And I told the Alphas that they would be welcomed here when we gather together to plot the attacks in depth."
"We?" hissed Voldemort with a sneer, piercing him with narrowed, crimson eyes. "Aren't you going to spend the next month with the halfbreeds?"
"I will be coming and going from Zraven Citadel, obviously," hissed Orion crisply. "I will be here to be involved in all planning sessions."
A glint of satisfaction briefly glimmered in Voldemort's crimson eyes, and feeling a frisson of irritation, Orion demanded sharply, "You said something about plans of your own. What are they?"
"Yaxley," said Voldemort imperiously.
And with that, the named dark wizard seemed to have been granted permission to speak.
"I was reporting to my Lord before you… interrupted us - Lord Black," said Yaxley slowly, only slightly hesitating before saying 'Lord Black'.
But the wizard seemed to be reassured that he hadn't said anything wrong when Voldemort remained silent, and he seemed to think that the title was a fitting and deserved one, as his gaze appreciatively trailed over Orion's prominent magical aura once more.
"I placed an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse," continued Yaxley, and by the looks of others, it was something that had already been discussed.
Though, Dolohov clapped the wizard on the back, clearly proud of his friend.
"Thicknesse, that's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, isn't he?" interjected Orion musingly, as he shot Voldemort a glance. "You were planning on-"
"On surrounding Scrimgeour with people controlled by us," cut in Voldemort, the firelight casting a fierce glint in his crimson eyes, "before I brought the pathetic wizard down. But now, with your plan, that attempt won't be necessary. However, my plans that are already underway, will serve our new purposes."
"Yes, my Lord," said Yaxley enthusiastically, looking more emboldened, as his gaze flickered from the Dark Lord to Orion. "Dawlish, the Auror, is also under our control. And Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. Now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, he can not only subjugate the others to control the Ministry from the inside, but he can also slightly modify the wards so that we can easily break in. Furthermore, he can provide us with a detailed layout of the Ministry."
"The Order suspects that you have infiltrated the Ministry," said Orion warningly to Voldemort, as he remembered that his father had told him precisely that when he had been discussing his plans with the Alphas.
"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" said Amycus Carrow, sitting a short distance from Yaxley, letting out a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there with jeering sniggers along the table.
"Yaxley will simply have to be careful with Thicknesse," said Voldemort, ignoring the chuckles of his followers as he speared Yaxley with a dangerous and threatening gaze.
"Of course, my Lord. And with my work, Lord Black's proposed attack on the Ministry could go smoothly," said Yaxley adamantly, who seemed determined to receive express approval from Voldemort. "We now also have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport-"
"You do?" interrupted Orion with surprise, shooting Voldemort an admiring glance.
He noticed that it wasn't missed by Voldemort, given how the wizard superiorly smirked at him with self-satisfaction. Well, Orion felt that the man deserved to be smug. He had known before, but now it was patently clear to him that Voldemort and he could do great things together. With joined efforts, matters would certainly roll more smoothly. He would have never been able to infiltrate the Ministry as Voldemort had. He didn't have adults in key positions yet, given that his Elite were his schoolmates and that he wouldn't control the Aux Atrum before becoming the VA. At this stage, Voldemort undoubtedly had more useful 'human resources' than he did.
Pulling out of his musings, he fixedly gazed at Voldemort, and said with a hint of excitement, "Then you can have the Floo Network blocked for the day of our attacks. It would be great if no one could floo from the Weasley's, or to and from the Ministry-"
"It will be done," interrupted Voldemort, his smirk darkly widening.
"The Order has to be eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry," interjected Snape gravely. "They have always mistrusted everything to do with the place."
"It would still be useful if the Floo is blocked, Snape," said Orion crisply, while he inwardly took note of his guardian's warning.
Even if the Order and wedding guests didn't attempt to use the Floo, wards could be cast so that they couldn't apparate away during the attack. Inevitably, nothing could be easily done against brooms, but without Floo and apparition, they would already be cutting short many of their options to flee. And that was good enough. He would further think about the matter, and discuss it with Voldemort, at some other point.
A thought suddenly struck him, and Orion quickly asked, "What happened to the vanishing cabinets? Did the Aurors find the one in Hogwarts and the one in Burke's shop?"
"I shrunk and kept the cabinet the moment we went through it," said Bellatrix proudly, "as ordered by my Lord." She sneered at him, and added scathingly, "And we retrieved the one in Burke's store before the Aurors raided it. But we can hardly use them again, little nephew, the Order and Aurors know about them-"
"I wasn't thinking about using them for the attack on the English Ministry of Magic," interrupted Orion coldly, "but for one of the other two Ministries. The Irish and Scots might have heard about them, but one cabinet could be easily smuggled inside one of their Departments." He shot Voldemort a quizzical glance. "You were thinking about that when you mentioned Alistair Armitage, weren't you? I know the old geezer has political contacts everywhere he can sink his teeth into. He loves to strut around European Ministries, parading and flinging his name about. One of these days, he could make his usual visit to the Irish Ministry of Magic to see one of his mates, and plant the cabinet under an invisibility spell."
"It is an idea worthy of some consideration," granted Voldemort noncommittally.
"Well, when he pops in, I'll ask Armitage myself," said Orion firmly, not at all discouraged. "It's worth a shot." He glanced at Voldemort with some irritation, and asked coolly, "Do you have someone else in the English Ministry that could be useful and that you forgot to tell me about?"
His pointed reproach was ignored by Voldemort, and the wizard's gaze fixed on Lucius, while a vicious and cruel glint glimmered in his eyes. "I will have Umbridge, will I not, my slippery friend?"
The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, while Orion frowned as he recalled that Draco had long ago mentioned that witch to him, and none of it had been very favorable in his opinion.
Lucius Malfoy looked up to meet Voldemort's fierce gaze, looking more haggard than before, as he said quietly, "As you commanded, my Lord, I met Madame Umbridge, as I have previously done in the past, to gauge her willingness to help our cause. I pried from her a Witch's Oath to aid us from within the Ministry. She asks for a position of power in the Ministry, as a reward, once we have control over it."
Abruptly, Orion remembered exactly what he had been told about the witch, and he pierced Voldemort with narrowed eyes, as he said sharply, "Use her, if you like, but you cannot give her an important position in the Ministry. She hates werewolves and all other creatures. I will not allow her to have any influence in ministerial matters, or I would be breaking my promises to my allies."
"Rest assured that I will be using her without granting her the reward she covets," said Voldemort calmly. His lips quirked upwards, as he maintained his gaze on Orion. "Do not worry, I will not do anything that could endanger your alliances. We need the halfbreeds for the war."
Orion nodded, satisfied, for now, since he knew that he would always need to watch Voldemort's doings carefully.
The Dark Lord's gaze zeroed in on Lucius again, and he said silkily, "You have done well with Umbridge, my slippery friend. Then you must have some other reason to look so dissatisfied. I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your wife seem less than happy of late… What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"
Lucius' head jerked upwards, and he said vehemently, "Nothing – nothing, my Lord!"
"Such liesss Lucius…"
Voldemort's soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruelly twisted mouth had stopped moving. One or two of the Death Eaters barely repressed a shudder, and none of them dared to look up at Voldemort, as if their Lord's fierce gaze could burn them into dust.
"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot?" said Voldemort, his expression one of mock pensiveness. "Is my rise to power not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"
"Of course, my Lord," said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it – we do."
To Lucius's left, Narcissa made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort.
"Or perhaps the Malfoys are concerned about their wayward son?" said Voldemort in a dangerously quiet tone of voice, his eyes fixedly piercing Lucius. "You should pray like a filthy muggle for your son to be lying dead on some ditch, my friend. I haven't forgotten or forgiven, and I assure you that Draco will receive the rest of his punishment the moment he's found. Indeed, it would be better for his sake if he was dead already." His lips curved upwards, and he said in a low, cruel voice, "And it would be better for your own sake if you found him yourself, and brought him to me. You will attempt it, will you not, Luciusss?"
"Yes, of course, my Lord," said Lucius instantly, guardedly meeting Voldemort's penetrating gaze. "I'm looking everywhere for him, in the hope that you will show some mercy towards my family."
Given Voldemort's expression, the Dark Lord obviously didn't believe him, but Orion decided that it was enough. If Voldemort was indulging his sadistic streak by terrorizing the Malfoys, then it was clear that any further discussions about the attacks would be continued when the Dark Allies appeared. He quickly checked his wristwatch, confirming that he still had a couple of minutes before they popped in, and swiftly rose to his feet.
"I would like a word with you in private," he said nonchalantly, calmly gazing at Voldemort.
The wizard ripped his narrowed-eyed gaze from Lucius, and glanced up at him with utter impassivity. Without a word, Voldemort fluidly rose up and placidly strode towards the door, with Orion briskly following him.
The moment they made it into the next room, Orion swiftly flicked his wand, casting silencing and anti-spying charms around them, and he furiously yanked Voldemort by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
"What did you do to me, Tom?!" he yelled enraged, his wand's tip embedded in the wizard's neck. "When I asked you before, you said you had never done anything to me without my knowledge-"
"I haven't," hissed Voldemort sharply, painfully clutching the hand that was grasping his collar.
"Don't you dare break it," snarled Orion threateningly, without attempting to pull his hand free.
Voldemort pierced him with his eyes, and hissed angrily, "Why not? You broke my wrist."
"Sod off, you deserved it. Now tell me the truth!" spat Orion, finally deciding to yank his hand free, yet still poking his wand's tip into the wizard's neck.
"What truth?" hissed Voldemort calmly, elegantly arching an eyebrow at him. "I have never done anything to you."
Orion seethed, and bit out mordantly, "Don't play dumb, Tom. I'm hardly in the mood for it-"
"What are you in the mood for, then?" hissed Voldemort silkily, a smirk tugging his lips.
"Tell me once and for all!" bellowed Orion furiously. "Did you feed me a male pregnancy potion?!"
One of Voldemort's eyebrows shot upwards. "What gave you that ridiculous idea, boy?"
Feeling at the end of his rope with enraged impatience and frustration, Orion pierced him with narrowed eyes, and snapped, "Use one of those charms to detect pregnancy. They wouldn't work properly if I cast them myself, according to what I have read, so you do it. I want to see it with my own eyes."
Voldemort's jaw clenched, an indecipherable expression flashing across his face. In the next second, the wizard aimed his wand at him, muttering something under his breath.
The moment the beam of light struck his body, Orion saw himself glowing in a bright blue, and he deeply frowned. He had only had the time to briefly research into those kinds of charms, but he knew that they always made the person glow blue, or green, in case of no pregnancy.
"Another," he bit out shortly, narrowing his eyes at the wizard.
With a frown of his own, Voldemort complied, several times, and Orion always ended up glowing dark blue, sky blue, or forest green.
After the last charm, and before he had even the time to blink, Voldemort tightly clutched his face in a punishing grip, and snarled irately, with a murdering glint in his eyes, "What have YOU done to yourself?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Orion angrily, glowering at him. "I haven't done anything! It's you who…" He pierced him with narrowed eyes, and bit out acidly, "You were expecting me to be withchild, so you did feed me a bloody potion! By Circe that I'll make you regret it-"
"I have never given you a male pregnancy potion!" hissed Voldemort harshly, ripping his hand away from Orion's face, as he stared at him with seething fury in his eyes. "Nevertheless, it did cross my mind that you could be pregnant. Highly powerful wizards sometimes have the natural ability to bear children-"
"Please, you expect me to believe that rubbish?" sneered Orion scathingly. "I've never heard or read about it before-"
"It wouldn't surprise me," hissed Voldemort sharply, spearing him with narrowed crimson eyes. "You haven't even remotely read a minimal fraction of what I have in all my years. Your magical knowledge is nothing compared to mine."
Orion briskly carded his fingers through his hair, and closely regarded the wizard. Voldemort looked as furious as he felt, and he didn't quite know what to think about the matter. He wasn't pregnant, apparently, but Voldemort had wanted him to be so, and the wizard was angry to discover that he wasn't. On the other hand, the wizard could simply be acting, he could have been fed the pregnancy potion and the charms didn't detect it. And somehow, his body didn't give any signs about the pregnancy. But Gellert had suspected that Voldemort could have managed it, hadn't he? However mind-boggling it was, it was still a possibility. He definitely couldn't believe anything that Voldemort told him about the matter, yet the man was now furious with him and they were in a stalemate.
Finally, he narrowed his eyes at him, and said acidly, "Well, I will eventually find out, won't I? You could hardly expect me to remain ignorant if you fed me the potion. At some point, when it's…" He faltered, and his jaw clenched. "When the baby is ready, I will surely feel it and a healer will have to extract him or her from me. So there's no way around it."
His eyes narrowed to slits, and he added fervently, "And I promise, Tom, that if it's true, I'll make you regret it dearly. You knew from the start that I didn't want it to happen so soon, and you did it against my will and knowledge! The only reason why I haven't cursed you yet is because I need you for the war, and most pressingly for this month. We need each other, actually. So for now, I'll let it go. But the moment I know-"
"I didn't do anything to you," snarled Voldemort with impatient anger. His crimson eyes narrowed to slits, and he forcefully pulled Orion's chin up. "And need I remind you that you still owe me an heir? You haven't satisfied that condition of our agreement."
"I'm not your spouse anymore," spat Orion mordantly.
"That doesn't matter to me," hissed Voldemort sharply, tightening his grip on Orion's chin, as he pinned him with enraged eyes. "I didn't break any of my promises, so you will give me an heir."
Orion matched his gaze with a narrowed one of his own, and bit out crisply, "If I'm not withchild already, then I will give you one, but when I choose to do so, as we had agreed. I need an heir myself."
He leveled him with a hard gaze, and added harshly, "And if I am indeed pregnant at present, I will know that you did something to me, and I will not forgive you. Nevertheless, it would change nothing. Think again if you thought that you would sequester me in some place to keep me out of battles. And think twice if you believe I would forgive you and allow you to have any say in my heir's life."
"I dare you to attempt it. He would be mine as well," hissed Voldemort in a deadly tone of voice, his narrowed eyes seething with murdering rage.
Orion even noticed the wizard's tight grip around his wand, his knuckles turning white, and he glanced up at him, and sneered scathingly, "You want to hit me, to Crucio me, Tom. Why aren't you? What's holding you back? Despite your lies, you're now openly displaying that you think I'm pregnant-"
"It's a possibility," hissed Voldemort sharply. "A natural one-"
"Bollocks!" spat Orion seething, before he forced himself -with great effort- to calm down. He shot him a contemptuous glance, and stated with finality, "You don't want to tell me the truth, and in some months it will be evident, one way or the other. We'll deal with each other when it happens."
Voldemort seemed to accept the truce offered, though his lips still curled into an icy sneer of his own.
After a tense silence in which Orion was plunged into his own grim thoughts, he heard the wizard demanding calmly, "Tell me more about this Arian."
Startled at the abrupt change in subjects, Orion's gaze searched for Voldemort, seeing how the man was now placidly seated on a couch. The wizard was acting as if they had never had an argument, and Orion instantly decided that the man had the right idea. It wouldn't suit either of their purposes if they kept tearing each other's throats out. Neither of them could hardly do anything about the matter, if it was already done. And for his part, he rather forget about it until he had to face the consequences.
He swiftly sat across from him, and said shortly, "Send for your pensieve."
Voldemort merely arched an eyebrow, before he snapped his fingers and summoned a house-elf. Orion immediately recognized the old creature as the mute one that had looked after him during his week of detoxification in Voldemort's bedroom, and he shot him a warm smile which wasn't acknowledge by the house-elf.
"Bring the pensieve from my study," commanded Voldemort sharply, and in the next second the house-elf popped away.
Orion finally pulled his gaze away from the wizard, and closed his eyes to deeply concentrate, finding the memory and deciding exactly which parts to 'edit', as he muttered the required spell under his breath to make a copy of it and change it. It took him a while, but in the end he managed to blacken everything around him and Arian, so that Potter Manor or any other revealing thing about their location couldn't be seen. He also muted and made it foggy every time 'Vindico Atrum' or 'Vindico Lumen' was said, going as far as to also do it in the parts in which 'past lives' was mentioned.
All in all, the memory would be enough to make his point, since it would allow Voldemort to see Arian in all his glory and to know about the light wizard's plan to merge the muggle and wizarding worlds.
When he opened his eyes, Voldemort had already set a pensieve on the low tea table between them.
With his mind still focused on the modified piece of memory, Orion pointed his wand's tip to one side of his temples, and slowly started to withdraw a silvery thread. Directing it with his wand, he placed the liquid-like tendril inside the empty pensive, and once done, he silently gestured at the pensieve.
Voldemort didn't waste any time in plunging his head inside it, but Orion didn't follow him. He merely sighed, stretched out on his chair, and waited calmly for the wizard to come out of it.
The moment Voldemort's head resurfaced out of the pensieve, the wizard stared quizzically at him, his face expressionless.
"He's a veela," hissed Voldemort, impassively leaning back on his couch.
"Yes," said Orion, even though it hadn't been a question.
Voldemort pierced him with narrowed eyes. "The memory was heavily modified-"
"I didn't omit anything important," interrupted Orion shortly. "Only some stupid rubbish that Arian blabbed on about, to egg me on." He arched an eyebrow, and added pointedly, "Besides, you would never fully show me a memory of your own, so why should I?"
Anger visibly swept across Voldemort's face, but the wizard seemed to decide to leave the matter alone. It was evident to Orion that given the rocky situation between them, the wizard didn't want to kept fighting with him. Their 'truce' was a shaky one, at best.
"He is a threat," granted Voldemort quietly, elegantly crossing one leg over the other.
Orion snorted, and groused out, "You should have believed me before."
A flicker of vicious amusement glinted in Voldemort's crimson eyes, and he hissed calmly, "If the wizard wants to appear before the muggles and make a spectacle of himself, let him." His lips curled upwards, and he sneered snidely, "By all means, let him try to merge our world with the muggles', to form his little utopia. The failed attempt would benefit us-"
"It would benefit you," interjected Orion sharply, narrowing his eyes at him, "because you still want to annihilate muggles. Didn't you hear that Arian knows about your Mayan Stone?"
"And that should worry me for some reason?" hissed Voldemort impassively, arching an eyebrow. "I'm very close to fully developing the spell that will allow me to cast, through the Stone, any curse intended for those with impure blood." A vicious, exultant smirk stretched on his lips. "To wipe out mudbloods and muggles, Orion. Soon, with the Stone, I will be able to cast the Killing Curse, a hundredfold wider in scope, and the filth will be swept away."
Orion sunk into his chair, groaning while he tiredly rubbed his forehead.
He shot the wizard a baleful glance, and said acerbically, "And surely you heard that I won't allow that to happen. I don't want muggles to die! Not that I particularly care about them, but we aren't remotely ready to wage any kind of war against them. And there's no point to it either. We simply have to make sure that they never discover our world, and we would be saving ourselves a lot of trouble, Tom. What you want isn't possible and you've always known that I'm against it! Must we have the same old discussion again?!"
"I'll make you see reason soon," hissed Voldemort unfazed, his lips quirking upwards.
"Yeah, right, keeping deluding yourself," snapped Orion with exasperation, before he checked his wristwatch and sighed. "We can continue this later. The Dark Allies must be here already-"
"They can wait," interrupted Voldemort harshly, piercing him with a hard gaze. "You will soon have to decide if you're with me or against me regarding the Stone, boy."
"Decide?" bit out Orion, glowering at him. "I decided ages ago, and you know it. I don't want the Mayan Stone to be used! For Circe's sake, I will stop you if you seriously intend to go through with it, Tom. I've always been very honest about it with you."
"You previously accepted that it could be used for defensive purposes," hissed Voldemort pointedly, a large, sly smirk curving his lips, "as long as I didn't do anything to incite the muggles' attack. It seems that I won't even have the need to do it. Dumbledore's pet will do it for me. Surely now you won't go against your own word. It was our agreement."
"For defensive purposes, yes," gritted out Orion through clenched teeth, "if they bomb us, or whatever else of the sort. But casting a massive Killing Curse wouldn't be a defensive purpose, would it?"
"It would if muggles attacked us with their weapons," hissed Voldemort sharply, an angered and impatient glint flashing in his crimson eyes.
"Look, I'm seriously not going to discuss this with you again," interjected Orion with a placating tone of voice. "It would take us hours. And we already agreed on some points. Keep playing with your Mayan Stone by yourself, if you like, but you agreed to never use it against anyone without consulting me first. And you can't break your oath. For my part, I will stop Arian from revealing himself to the muggles and from starting something that we, wizards, will not be able to manage or cope with. You can do whatever you like, for all I care, as long as you keep your oath to me."
"Very well," conceded Voldemort, waving a hand dismissively. A little devious smirk tugged his lips, and he hissed calmly, "After all, I need to use the Stone jointly with you, for my plans. And I'm sure you'll see things my way, when the time comes. I doubt Valenor will leave you any other option."
Orion darkly grumbled under his breath, but didn't press the matter further.
"It didn't escape my notice that you didn't mention Hogwarts as a target for our attacks," hissed Voldemort coolly, arching an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
Perking up, Orion shot him a large smile, and said with a trace of excitement, "I think it should be left for the very end, as our last strike to conquer the whole of Great Britain." He leaned forward, and continued enthusiastically, "Think about it, Tom, once we control the Ministries, the light wizards will have no other choice but to make Hogwarts their sanctuary. We can attack it a couple of months after having the Ministries in our grasp, and Dumbledore would be drawn into it. He would have to make an appearance in the battle, since it would be an expected attack from our part. Unlike the battles for the first of August, which will take them by surprise, the light wizards would be prepared for the battle at Hogwarts."
His smile widened brightly, and he added vehemently, "Thus, they would focus all their forces on it, and so should we, to finally strike them out. Dumbledore will surely bring over his French allies for it, and if we defeat them all, then the light wizards in France will tremble. And since conquering France would be our next step, we would have already done part of the job, and their country would more easily fall into our hands."
"You're not leaving much time in between wars," hissed Voldemort pensively.
"Yes, exactly!" said Orion adamantly, shooting him a beaming grin. "That's the idea, to conquer Europe swiftly. One war after the other, without any significant pause, so that the countries cannot help each other or have time to regroup their forces."
"I will ponder the matter," hissed Voldemort noncommittally.
Orion bit his tongue before he lashed out at the wizard, and then decided to press for a straight answer regarding a more urgent issue.
He pierced the wizard with a demanding gaze, and muttered quietly, "About Arian, you do agree that he should be our prime target, over Dumbledore himself, right?"
"Killing Dumbledore is more important than killing the boy," hissed Voldemort placidly. "I don't care if Valenor lives for a while longer. But if it's so crucial to you, I will help you out." He pinned him with his crimson gaze, and demanded gravely, "You often repeat that he's more powerful than the old coot. Would he stand a chance against both of us combined?"
"If we dueled him together?" asked Orion with surprise, not having expected such an offer from the wizard, given that Arian's plan suited Voldemort's purposes in the man's opinion.
"Yesss, together," hissed Voldemort silkily, his lips curving upwards as he stretched out a hand and trailed a finger along Orion's jaw line.
"I think that, together," said Orion quietly, ignoring the distracting, devious caress, "we should be able to best him."
"To kill him," hissed Voldemort, pinning him with a piercing gaze, his fingers stilling, "you must mean."
Orion shot him a glance, and nodded stiffly. "Um, yeah, to kill him."
Then he glanced down at the floor, frowning. As strange as it was, he didn't want Arian to die yet. He wanted to know more about him. He wanted to know how the light wizard's childhood had been like, if he had liked Beauxbatons, if the wizard loved it as much as he loved Durmstrang, if he had had friends there, if there was anyone he was close to. He wanted to know anecdotes about his life, both silly and important things, impressions and cherished memories. He wanted to know from Arian what had happened with his father, how he had spent his years with the Flamels, how he had gotten along with them, what he had seen during his voyages, what he had learned, what he had experienced. He wanted to know when and how Arian had become so powerful. He felt a deep, intense curiosity about the light wizard, one that he needed to satisfy.
He wished to know when the light wizard had discovered he was the Vindico Lumen, how, what he had gone through due to it, what he had felt, and what he believed and thought. He wanted to know about the wizard's past lives. And even if he didn't want to remember his own reincarnations, he wanted to know about their shared lifetimes in which they had known each other. He wanted to know why Arian felt such a strong attachment due to them, seemingly unable to let go of them. Why Arian was the Vindico Lumen just when he had to become the Vindico Atrum, and why the two of them were linked so.
In short, he wanted to pry every answer from the light wizard. Indeed, he didn't want Arian to die yet.
Orion speared Voldemort with his gaze, and said firmly, "Rather than killing him, I would prefer if we captured him. He could give us lots of information regarding the Light's plans."
"You were affected by his Veela allure," hissed Voldemort in a low, deadly tone of voice.
Orion's head jerked, startled by the abrupt statement. Nevertheless, he conceded in a reluctant murmur, "Yes."
"Don't let it happen again," hissed Voldemort sharply, piercing him with narrowed eyes. "You were never affected by the Delacour girl."
"Fleur doesn't hold a candle to him," scoffed out Orion, as he briskly carded his fingers through his hair. "He's a quarter Veela like her, but he's infinitely more powerful."
"Doesn't his light magic feel repulsive to you?" demanded Voldemort harshly.
"Repulsive? No," said Orion sincerely. "It feels antagonistic." He gazed up at the dark wizard, and muttered darkly, "And it feels addictive and enticing to me, when he wants it to be so, when he uses the allure."
Voldemort's eyes narrowed to slits, and in a flash, the dark wizard stood up and yanked Orion to his feet, as he sneered icily, "You're a pathetic little fool if you feel any attraction towards him. That must be precisely what he wants, for you to allow your mind to be clouded by-"
"Are you jealous?" gasped out Orion disbelievingly. A wide smirk spread over his face, and he drawled, "My, my, Tom, there's no need, really-"
"Stop flaunting about your idiocy," hissed Voldemort sharply, a fierce glint of anger flashing in his crimson eyes. "Jealously isn't an emotion I would ever feel." His lips stretched into a nasty smile, and he added in a cruel, silky hiss, "And I know that I can fuck you anytime I want. What's there to be jealous about? As a matter of fact, I even know that you'll end up in my bed tonight."
Orion jerked away from the wizard's clutch, and he venomously glared at him, as he spat with contempt, "You're mad if you think I'm shagging you after what you did-"
"I didn't do anything," hissed Voldemort in a low, deadly tone of voice, his fury evident on his expression. "You've exhausted all my patience regarding the matter. I didn't give you a male pregnancy potion, and I'm not repeating it twice. Erroneously believe what you want, but don't pester me with your accusations again."
Orion regarded him with a neutral expression on his face, and finally jeered snidely, "I would be using you for sex, nothing else."
"Likewise," sneered Voldemort, his lips curling into a chilly, hard smirk.
Orion arched an eyebrow at him, and said sharply, "I'll think about it. Now I'm going to the meeting. I'm already fed up with you."
And he briskly strode out of the room, without waiting for the dark wizard. The meeting with the Dark Allies would be his show after all. As far as he was concerned, Voldemort only had to look intimidating as always, put them in their places when needed with just a glance, and support all of his ideas. And he had the absolute certainty that the wizard would do all of those things, since he expected it from him and Voldemort knew it.
Orion stepped out of the fireplace, leaving dwindling green flames behind, and he flicked his wand to make any speck of flint or dust disappear from his robes. His green gaze swept across Durmstrang's Headmaster's office and he caught sight of the two seated wizards who had glanced at him the moment he had arrived.
Roman Komorov was seated behind his desk, looking as stony-faced as always and apparently not liking the situation much. And Orion almost flinched, because he still expected to see Vagnarov behind that desk, greeting him with a warm smile or a chiding smirk on his aged face.
The other occupant in the room was Lucius Malfoy, who was now standing up, his cold, silvery gaze fixed on him. The wizard seemed to ignore Komorov, like a king would disregard a plebeian. It was clear to Orion that Lucius must have gotten there but mere minutes before he had, and he doubted if Lucius and Komorov had said anything to each other. Their mutual dislike was palpable.
Furthermore, Lucius' stance spoke volumes. The wizard had acted meekly around Voldemort, surely to avert the Dark Lord's attention from him as much as he could. Malfoys had a knack for slithering their way out of sticky situations, coming out smelling like roses. And Lucius was like a chameleon when it suited his purposes, knowing how to act and portray himself in every circumstance in order to attain his objectives.
At present, Lucius wasn't acting meekly at all. His stance was one of supreme superiority and steely self-confidence, his shoulders squared, his back straight, and his handsome face coldly expressionless. The man was still thinner than what was normal for him, his cheeks were slightly sunk in, and his long platinum hair was lank, falling limply on his shoulders, but none of it rid him from his imposing air.
Orion approached them calmly, and shot Komorov a pointed glance. If possible, the young Headmaster's expression turned even frostier, but the wizard got the point and he rose to his feet and made way to the door.
As Komorov passed by his side, the wizard whispered sharply under his breath, "My office is not a rendezvous point, Black! Think about someplace else next time."
And with that, and a forceful slam of the door, the wizard left them alone in the room. Unfazed, Orion turned to stare at Lucius and saw that the man was closely inspecting him with a cold expression on his face. But Orion did nothing to break the silence and he allowed the wizard to assess him as much as he liked, since Lucius hadn't had the opportunity to openly do so during the meetings.
For his part, while the tension between them seemed to increase, he merely regarded Lucius with impassivity, thoughts slowly revolving in his mind. Before flooing into the office, he had made sure that his Occlumency shields were tightly wrapped around the memories of his past lives, but he couldn't help thinking about what he knew of Regulus' life and Lucius' part in it.
He knew that two of the most important people in Regulus' rather tragic life had been Lucius and Severus, and it inevitably made him feel a strong affinity towards both wizards. He had lost the love and attention of his mother when Sirius had ran away from their home, he had lost his closeness to the brother he looked up to and admired so much when Sirius chose to stay with James Potter, but he had gained a deep friendship with Severus and an intimate relationship with Lucius due to it as well.
At first, feeling hurt and bitter when Sirius started ignoring him in Hogwarts in favor of spending all his time with his Gryffindor light friends, he had approached Severus as a way of attempting to regain his older brother's attention, since Severus was constantly picked on by the Marauders. He had thought that if he befriended Severus, that he would hurt Sirius and that his brother would come back to him to pull him away from Snape.
It had completely backfired. Sirius started to ignore him even more, wanting nothing to do with a Slytherin little brother who was friends with 'Snivellus'. But on the other hand, it had served to bring him closer to Severus and to truly see who the young wizard was behind his snarky, closed off façade. Something that had started as a manipulation for his own purposes of taking revenge on his brother, had blossomed into the only steadfast friendship he would have in his life.
With Lucius, two years older than them, something similar had happened. It was Severus who had been acquainted with Lucius, since the older boy had detected Severus' brilliancy, his mastery of dark curses, and his deft hands in Potions, and had thus considered Snape worthy of his acquaintance despite his tainted blood. And, Regulus, through his friendship with Severus, had come to know Lucius.
The Marauders had never dared to mess with a Slytherin older than themselves, and one known to viciously take revenge upon anyone who dared to look at him funny. Nevertheless, Sirius' contempt for Lucius was widely known, so again, Regulus had taken the opportunity of attaching himself to Lucius as a way to hurt his brother as much as Sirius had hurt him. And the initial attraction between them had slowly turned into something deeper. Lucius' had been his first love and lover before ever meeting Voldemort, and the only one with whom he had known the full pleasures and warmth of heart-felt intimacy.
Both of them had known that it couldn't last, both of them knew that Lucius was meant for Regulus' cousin, and that Lucius' parents had been already preparing the marital contract. Nevertheless, Regulus had done everything to savor every second of his time with Lucius, knowing that he would soon have to release him into Narcissa's hold. Thankfully, their separation, even though it left him feeling dejected as he lost again another person he deeply loved, wasn't as bad as it could have been, since he had always liked Narcissa. And it didn't hurt as much to relinquish Lucius to her.
But now, as Orion calmly gazed at Lucius, he realized several things. First, given what he knew of the wizard, what he had seen when he had been under his guardianship and what Draco had openly told him, Lucius' relationship with Narcissa was the kind of relationship he would have if he married Calypso. One of close friendship and companionship, deeply caring about each other, presenting a united front to the world, and working together as a unit for the wellbeing of their family and the attainment of their goals, while giving each other the freedom of looking for discrete intimate liaisons with others. And it was something that worked perfectly well for both, since he knew that the Malfoys had always shared a deep friendship between them, and socially, they were the perfect couple.
And second, now he knew that Snape had been absolutely right. He had wondered if he could somehow use his personal knowledge regarding Lucius to subtly manipulate the wizard for his purposes. But it was clear that it would mess both their lives if he ever admitted who he had been. Despite what he remembered, he currently felt no strong attraction to the man, just the lingering feeling of a deep attachment and the faint stab of a lost chance.
"I assume," drawled a cold voice, "you wanted to see me to inform me about my son's condition."
Pulling out of his thoughts, Orion gazed at him with impassivity, only detecting the wizard's veiled anger in the way Lucius was grasping his cane, gloved fingers tightly wrapped around the piece of silver shaped as a snake's head. Other than that, the wizard was coldly assessing him, yet Orion also noticed how the man's lips thinned when his quicksilver gaze focused on his scarred forehead.
"You must also want to ask me many other questions," said Orion nonchalantly, arching an eyebrow at him. "I know that Narcissa has filled you in about what happened during the year you spent in Azkaban. And I know that you must be very angry at me, because I never told you that I had been Harry Potter and I lived under your roof. I made you lose face before the Dark Lord and the rest of the Death Eaters."
A muscle clenched in Lucius' jaw, and he said with icy indifference, "Indeed. However, you should thank your Aunt. My wife persisted until she persuaded me that none of your actions were meant to discredit me or to maliciously take advantage of my family, but to protect yourself from the Dark Lord. I can hold grudges for a long time, but for the sake of my wife and son, I will not."
Orion slightly relaxed, and said quietly, "I'm glad to hear it-"
"I want to know how Draco is doing," interrupted Lucius sharply, his silvery eyes marginally narrowing. "I know what the Dark Lord did to him and I'm aware that Draco was bordering on death before you took him. Severus will not tell me where you're hiding him or anything else other that his condition is still uncertain."
"I cannot tell you where I'm keeping him," said Orion coolly, "both for his safety and mine. But I can tell you that he has been in a magical healing coma almost since the moment I took him away from the Dark Lord's Manor. A healer tended to him, and she did her best-"
"When will he come out of it?" demanded Lucius, intently piercing him with his gaze. "And what are your intentions?" His jaw clenched, and he said stiffly, "What do you want in return for keeping him safe from the Dark Lord?"
Startled, Orion stared at him, and said vehemently, "I hope that he'll come out of it soon. His condition is stable, at least. But you must know that I'm not going to ask you for anything, Lucius. I care about Draco and I'm not protecting him to get something from you. Surely you know me that much."
"I know only what I see," said Lucius with a chilly sneer on his face. "You've climbed your way up in the Dark's circles, you're now addressed as 'Lord Black', you evidently have influence on the Dark Lord, you have your very own allies, and you're an important figure in the war." His sneer intensified, as his voice turned dangerously slow, "Such expedient success. I wonder, indeed, what you're plotting and how you intend to use my son for your purposes and machinations-"
"You're getting it all wrong!" snapped Orion with irritation. "The only thing I want is for the Dark to win the wars, and the only thing I'm planning to do with Draco is to keep him safe. The Dark Lord wants to kill him, as you very well know, and given your circumstances, I'm the only one who can help Draco. I'll keep him in hiding."
He leveled him with a hard gaze, and continued firmly, "Though, I will give him the option to become one of my Elite. Obviously, he cannot participate in battles or Voldemort would see him, but I think it would be a good idea if he trained with my Elite. It would help him if he ever needed to seriously defend himself." He paused, but then added curtly, "Actually, whatever he decides, he's already one of my followers. I marked him-"
"You dared brand him?" snarled Lucius, an enraged glint flashing in his silvery eyes, his shoulders stiffening while he took a menacing step forwards, cane in hand.
The tension in the wizard's body was such that Orion knew that the man was seconds away from cursing him. It was clear that he needed to make Lucius fully understand everything.
"It was either that or Voldemort would have used the Dark Mark to torture him and finish him off!" gritted out Orion angrily. "And I might as well tell you that to save his life I had to do much more than that." He pierced him with a hard gaze. "You remember Lezander Zraven right? You met him when he was my boyfriend. And you must know through Death Eater gossip that I'm partially bonded to him. Well, I had no choice but to ask Lezander for his blood and I fed it to Draco-"
He instantly broke off the moment he saw that Lucius was half way from pulling his wand from his cane, with a livid expression on his face, and he immediately launched forwards and clutched the wizard's wrist in a tight grasp, as he said sternly, "Think twice before attempting to attack me. You must know by now that you no longer stand a chance against me, and I don't want to hurt you."
Lucius visibly shook with suppressed rage, and he forcefully pulled away from Orion's grasp. Taking a step back, he stuck his wand back into the cane, and said in a low, irate tone of voice, "You tainted my son's blood. I know what vampire blood does to a wizard. Draco is forever changed now. And you declared that you care about his wellbeing?"
He pierced Orion with his eyes, and said in cold fury, "He's no longer a pureblood. I will have no other choice but to disown him. If that was what you wanted to accomplish, I congratulate you. You've rid me from my only son and heir."
A flare of anger swept through Orion, and his hands balled into fists, as he hissed out, "Lezander's blood saved Draco's life, without it, he would have died. Yes, Draco will probably have some vampire traits, as I have, but he's still a wizard. You shouldn't consider it a reason to disown him – you're the Head of your House and you can slightly change the rules of your line! Or at least make a small exception for your son."
He paused to calm himself, and then pinned him with a hard gaze, as he continued curtly, "Draco's blood status shouldn't be considered modified. You don't need to be that strict regarding the Malfoy line. As the Head, you can decide how far to take things and you can give concessions. And I know you will. You love him, you would do anything in your means for him, and you will accept him as he is now when you think it through, Lucius. It will be hard enough for Draco without having to worry about the repercussions you might inflict on him." He narrowed his eyes at him, and bit out, "Besides, no one needs to know that he took Lezander's blood. If that's what you want-"
"It is," stated Lucius coldly, while his body remained visibly tense, as if ready to take action or enforce it in any second. "I want your Wizard's Oath that you will never disclose it to anyone."
"I'm not giving you my oath," said Orion with a sharp edge to his tone. "You will have to learn to trust me again. Only Calypso Rosier, Lezander, perhaps his parents, and myself know about it. And I can assure you that we would never have a reason to breathe a word about the matter to anyone else."
A tense silence spread between them, and Lucius finally said with an icy, warningly tone of voice, "You will not feed him anymore of that vampire's blood."
"If he comes out of the coma and isn't fully recovered yet, then I will," said Orion firmly. He narrowed his eyes at him, and sneered angrily, "For the sake of his blood purity you would rather have him physically crippled or mentally damaged? Don't be ridiculous. Lezander's blood did the trick before and it's the only thing that could help him again if it's necessary. More blood will not turn him into a vampire."
He took a step forward towards the wizard, and added crisply, "He would not be a 'halfbreed' no matter how much he takes. Perhaps his blood can no longer be considered a hundred percent pure, but the change is minimal. And it's a matter of opinion if he's regarded a pureblood still or not. And I bet you anything that when you tell Narcissa about this, she will agree with me and everything I have said. What I did, I did for the best, and I don't regret it."
Lucius speared him with an intense gaze, and said coldly, "Don't expect me to thank you for what you have done to him."
"I don't," said Orion shortly.
"Will you protect him?" demanded Lucius sharply, searchingly gazing at him. At Orion's firm nod, he pressed on with a hard edge in his voice, "How far will you go to do so if necessary?"
"I'll make sure that Voldemort never kills him or seriously harms him again," said Orion calmly. At Lucius' silence, he narrowed his eyes at him, and said curtly, "I'm not killing Voldemort, if that's what you were asking. And you shouldn't be thinking about betraying him, Lucius. Draco is safe with me and you have no further reason to turn against Voldemort, no matter what he's done. I'm not saying this because I condone what he did to Draco, but because if you betray Voldemort in any slight way, you would be betraying all of us. He's needed, and you know that I firmly stand by his side. He and I are a united front in the war, and I will not let anyone disrupt that."
Lucius calmly caressed the head of his cane, his stance visibly relaxing, and he drawled impassively, "I'm not a traitor."
"You would if it meant saving Draco from Voldemort," pointed out Orion sternly. "But since I'm helping Draco, and I'm Voldemort's ally, then your loyalty should still be towards the Dark."
"It is," said Lucius in a steely tone of voice, anger flashing in his eyes at Orion's implicit doubt and questioning.
And with a cold sneer on his face, the wizard shot him one last hard glance, before calmly making his way towards the fireplace.
Orion hesitated, not wanting to leave matters like that. He had known that Lucius would be furious at him, but he hadn't expected that their once amicable relationship would deteriorate so much. It was clear to him that it would take Lucius a very long time to forgive him, particularly about the blood he had fed Draco. Nevertheless, given the wizard's last reaction, he was now absolutely certain that the man wouldn't be betraying the Dark after what had happened to Draco. And figuring that out had been one of his main objectives for the meeting.
Nevertheless, he wanted to somehow improve things between them. So the moment Lucius made a move to grasp floo powder from the fireplace's mantelpiece, Orion called out quickly, "Wait! We should-"
He broke off and froze, at the same time that Lucius spun around with wand in hand, as coldness swept all around them. A chilly shudder ran down Orion's spine, his breath and Lucius' coming out in white puffs, but he could hardly believe what was happening.
Indeed, it took Orion off-guard in a most extraordinary way and he gazed forward at the figures materializing before them, his eyes wide as saucers, feeling as if his heart was about to frantically burst from his chest.
There, in all their revealing glory and phantasmagorical splendor, floated Morgana and Mordred. Orion's eyes instantly flickered to Lucius. He knew that if Malfoys allowed themselves to gape with slack jaws, the man would undoubtedly be doing precisely that. But since it wasn't the case, the wizard was merely staring at the spirits with marginally wide eyes, his feet rooted in place, his body rigid.
In the next second, Orion swiftly pulled himself together, and his eyes narrowed sharply as he gazed back at the Spirits. His mind was frantically rushing, trying to understand the why's of the situation, and above all, what to do with Lucius.
But then he caught sight of Morgana's expression. She looked satisfied as her ghostly gaze swept along Lucius, before she shot Orion an imperceptible little smile. And just like that, Orion knew that the Spirits had planned this beforehand, that they had appeared there purposely, already knowing that Lucius was with him. They had something in their minds and he decided that it was probably best for him to stay silent and see what they would do.
When he saw Mordred's changing expressions, he furthermore decided to mask his surprise and play along with whatever they were up to. At first, very briefly, Mordred looked as if he would rather be gobbled down by a Dementor. Then, his whole attitude changed to one of deep reverence – towards him, of all people. Orion knew how much it must be costing Mordred given that the spirit had always despised him.
"Lord Black," breathed out Mordred, floating towards him with an expression full of worshipful admiration and respect. He bowed his head down, and murmured subserviently, "My Prophet."
Orion nearly choked, he hadn't expected that much. However, in an instant, he straightened his shoulders, starting to comprehend exactly what they were doing, and he played his part.
He gazed at the spirit nonchalantly, and said magnanimously, while shooting him a warm smile that cost him some considerable effort, "Mordred. I'm glad to see you're doing well, my friend."
Lucius' reaction didn't pass unnoticed to him. The man's head jerked, his grasp on his wand had become lax, from shock, undoubtedly. But there was also recognition in his silvery eyes, and a dawning, flabbergasted understanding, as his gaze flickered quickly from the Spirits to him. Orion knew that Lucius must have instantly recognized who the Spirits were. Dark Arts History books were filled with faithful depictions of such legendary figures. Yet the wizard still looked as if he had been struck speechless.
"Ah, a Malfoy," said Morgana warmly, swiftly sliding closer to them. "It has been many centuries indeed since we had one of your ancestors gracing our Castle." She glanced at Orion, and asked softly, "Is he one of your followers, my dear? Is he worthy?"
Orion's lips minutely quirked in amusement. She knew exactly who Lucius was and everything about the man. But he masked his face quickly, and said pointedly, "Lucius is Voldemort's follower."
Lucius jerked, and his gaze swiftly flickered again between them.
"You… they…" he murmured a bit hoarsely, finally having found his voice. The man seemed to pull himself together in a flash, and he straightened up to his full height, and bowed down to the Spirits, his voice even, gracious, and full of awed, deep reverence, "Lady Morgana. Lord Mordred."
"That we are indeed," said Morgana, her voice eerie, soft, caressing even, as she fixedly gazed at the dark wizard. "Malfoys have always had a very sharp mind. I hope you won't disappoint. Surely you understand the implications, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius shot Orion a brief glance, stared back at her, and muttered hoarsely, "He… The Prophet?"
"Precisely," said Morgana with satisfaction, swooping to Orion's side to briefly caress his hair.
"You can touch him," muttered Lucius quietly, fixedly staring at them while he seemed to regain his composure again.
Morgana's lips tugged upwards. "And he can touch us. Our Prophet is a Necromancer, Mr. Malfoy. Surely you were aware of the fact." She fondly gazed at Orion, who remained absolutely still, and said softly, "Indeed, he has many wonderful abilities."
"You… lived?" breathed out Lucius, intently gazing at her. "You are ghosts? Or-"
"We are spirits, Mr. Malfoy," interrupted Morgana calmly. "In a way, we live indeed. Our souls are tied to this plane. Surely you deduce why. Surely your parents raised you in the Old Ways, Mr. Malfoy." Lucius jerkily nodded his head, and a bright phantasmagorical smile stretched on her lips. "My son and I worked hard during many centuries to make sure that The Prophet would exist, that he would arise." She warmly gazed at Orion. "And we did a fine job, wouldn't you say, Mr. Malfoy? He's everything we ever hoped he would be." She sharply glanced back at Lucius. "Is he not?"
"Yes, My Lady," replied Lucius quietly, his gaze riveted on Orion, as if he wished he could extract all answers from him with just a glance.
"He is what the Dark has been waiting for, Mr. Malfoy," said Morgana softly, piercing him with intense ghostly eyes. "And I'm sure you will be ever loyal to him. Indeed, his path won't be an easy one. He will need supporters. You will be his supporter, won't you, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes, of course," said Lucius instantly, meeting her gaze with deep reverence, looking as if the task appointed to him was one of great honor, as if he had been indeed prized with a glorious position of influence and power.
"Good," she said with satisfaction, giving him a hard smile. She pierced Orion with her whitish eyes, and murmured, "You should mark him, my child."
Orion calmly arched an eyebrow. Ah, so she finally got to the point of what she wanted from him.
"As I said, he's Voldemort's. If he loses the Dark Mark, Voldemort would suspect me. I rather that it didn't happen." He shot a brief glance at Lucius, and muttered pensively, "I could mark him in the future, when no risks are involved. He would be useful."
Morgana minutely nodded, looking marginally content with his reply. She floated towards Lucius, and said quietly, "Your son is very important to us, Mr. Malfoy. Our Prophet will take good care of him." Her gaze flickered to Orion, before it went back to the wizard. "It's imperative that they have a child together. One who would be very powerful, one who would join the lines once more. I'm sure you agree with me, Mr. Malfoy. You could have no better heir for your House."
Orion's jaw clenched but he kept quiet, while he saw that Lucius momentarily frowned with puzzlement, before the man nodded at her in resolute agreement.
Morgana smiled with supreme satisfaction, and said curtly, "Vindico Atrum, Mr. Malfoy. That is what we call Our Prophet. Remember it, but never speak of it, or of us, to others until the time is right. You will know when that will be."
Lucius took that as the dismissal it was, and courteously bowed to them. With one last undecipherable glance at Orion, he swiftly approached the fireplace, grasped floo powder from the mantelpiece and disappeared in a burst of green flames.
The second he was gone, Orion turned to the Spirits and mockingly clapped his hands together. "Great performance." He shot them a sharp glance, and demanded crisply, "May I know exactly what was that all about?"
"Surely you have figured it out," snapped Mordred, back to his usual snide attitude towards him.
"I didn't think you would be hailing me as the VA so soon," interjected Orion acerbically, his eyes narrowing to slits. "I thought you would only do it once I passed the so-called Ultimate Test."
"We merely decided to speed things up a little bit, my child," said Morgana softly, eyeing him carefully. "Revealing ourselves to Lucius Malfoy was simply a small initial step that could help you a long way."
"Fine," muttered Orion dismissively. Neither of the Spirits made a move to disappear away, and he bit out briskly, "Is there something else you wanted?"
"Watch your tone, boy," snarled Mordred, piercing him with angered, ghostly eyes. "There is in fact something that needs discussion." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he hissed out, "We know you're going to Zraven Citadel in a week-"
"And we wanted to warn you," interceded Morgana warmly, shooting her son a hard, censuring glance. She swooped before Orion, and said quietly, "My dear, you will probably encounter the Sdravkul Kraljica Mati-"
"Probably?" quipped Orion curtly. "It will be for sure. Or I'll force it if necessary." He eyed her intently, and said dryly, "I was there when Râzvan and Mireilla argued amongst themselves. They let a lot of things slip. How the Kraljica Mati's goal has also been to produce the VA but that she and you two don't get along, that you despise each other, since it seems that your tactics are different and that you don't agree with hers or she with yours."
"There are irreconcilable differences between us," conceded Morgana with a hard edge in her tone, her hatred for the Kraljica Mati almost palpable. "And we wanted to warn you that you must tread carefully with her. We won't attempt to prevent your meeting with her – we cannot." She pinned him with a piercing gaze. "However, keep in mind that whatever injustices you think we are responsible for, she has manipulated your life as well. Don't let her deceive you. She will try to turn you against us."
Orion scoffed, before he narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you saying? That she will lie to me-"
"Lie? She prides herself that she never lies, that she doesn't have the need to," hissed out Mordred sharply, briskly floating to be inches away from him, "but she manipulates nonetheless, boy." He gazed down at him, and continued in an angry, low, slow voice, "She will weave you in like a spider, waiting just for the perfect moment to strike. She will appeal to your pathetic sentimentalities, and you, no doubt, will succumb to it." He shot him a contemptuous glance, and sneered acidly, "Knowing you, you'll easily fall into her trap, and she'll pull your strings like a puppetmaster-"
"Enough, my son," interrupted Morgana with sharp annoyance. Mordred shot her a dark glance but pulled away from Orion nonetheless, while she fixed her gaze back on Orion, and said quietly, "Do not scorn what we have done for you, my child. Do not let her fool you."
And without another word, the Spirits swiftly faded away, leaving Orion with a deep frown on his face. After a few seconds, he shook his head, suddenly feeling very tired. Regardless, without wasting any more time, he cast a parsel-invisibility spell on himself before leaving the office.
Now that he was in Durmstrang, he was going to take the opportunity to pay a visit to one of his professors – Petra Podroff. He was certain that he could slip around any patrolling Danish Aurors that could be surveilling the school in the hope of catching him. And he wanted his Healing Dark Arts professor to cast those detecting charms on him, to finally put it out of his mind for a while.
The moment Orion had reached Potter Manor, he had found Calypso cloistered in his master study, making it clear that she had claimed it for herself. One cursory glance at the books pilled in several high stacks on top of the clustered desk, and he had known that the young witch had bought a whole muggle bookshop worth of textbooks regarding muggle war history, modern weapons and warfare, and all kinds of religions.
At his entrance, Calypso's eyebrows had hitched upwards, and she had greeted him with a 'You're looking chirpy and satisfied with yourself.' And indeed, he had been.
"…they gave me the third degree-"
"The third degree?" said Calypso, frowning at him confusedly.
Orion waved a hand dismissively. "It's a muggle expression."
He was perched on one edge of the desk, having cleared the spot for the sake of his behind's comfort. Calypso, on the other hand, was still seated as he had first found her; on the ornate chair behind the desk, all signs of tired drowsiness cleared from her face long ago. He had already explained in full length everything about his meetings with the Alphas, Voldemort and his minions, and with Lucius. About the latter, particularly, Calypso had had a lot to say.
Unsurprisingly to him, she had understood and sympathized with Lucius' difficult position regarding Draco and his blood purity. But in the end, both Orion and her had agreed that the wizard wouldn't end up disowning Draco, no matter what, mostly because the man did truly care about his son and also because Narcissa would never allow it to happen. That had reassured them quite a bit.
As for the Spirits' little play-acting with Lucius, Calypso thought that it had been superb, and also rather nice of them to help him out in that manner. Orion, on the other hand, was still reserving his opinion.
True, it would probably help him a long way with Lucius. And it was definitely the Spirits' first step to publicly hail him as the Vindico Atrum. But the latter was precisely what left him feeling a bit uneasy: it had happened too soon. He had never expected that the Spirits would do something like that. It felt as if they were pressuring him, as if things were rushing and speeding forward at a higher rate than he had anticipated.
Nevertheless, it had helped him to discuss it with Calypso. Sharing their opinions and ideas together always served to tranquilize him and to sort out his own thoughts.
The only thing he had left out had been the whole pregnancy issue, since he knew that Calypso would discuss it to exhaustion with him if she even got a whiff about it. And he rather not think about the matter for a very long time. Petra Podroff had assuaged his concerns – all the charms she had cast on him had given negative results. He had ended up obliviating her nonetheless. And now, 'out of mind, out of way' was his new motto for the time being, regarding that matter.
At present, he was well into recounting how his meeting with the Dark Allies had gone, since he had left the juiciest part for the end.
"I wish you stopped using muggle expressions," huffed out Calypso with annoyance. "I stopped using typical dark wizard expressions involving Morgana's and Mordred's names because you glowered at me each time I did. You could do the same for me when it comes to muggle phrases."
"You still slip from time to time," pointed out Orion, with a slight scowl.
"Well, at least I try!" snapped Calypso impatiently.
"Fine," said Orion soothingly. "No more muggle expressions. But it's hard to shake off the first ten years of my life spent like a muggle, you know."
Calypso huffed with irritation once more, and Orion muttered under his breath, "You act like a barmy witch sometimes…"
She speared him with a nasty glare, and Orion instantly beamed a sweet, innocent smile at her. "Like I was saying, the Dark Allies badgered me with questions the moment they stopped gawking at me." He chuckled under his breath. "You should have seen their expressions when they first saw me! Most of them looked like grindylows out of the water with severe cases of asthma. Their mouths flapping open and close, without being able to stutter two words together. But they did pull themselves together quickly after a few moments."
He rolled his eyes, as he continued, "But unlike the Death Eaters who took Voldemort's word for it, the Dark Allies started firing off demanding questions about what had been printed in the newspapers and about my visible magical aura. I had expected it. I mean, the Death Eaters didn't have much trouble believing that I was Grindelwald's grandson since many of them have seen me using my magic at some point, and thus know how powerful I am. The Dark Allies, on the other hand, have never seen me in action. So it took me a while, and a demonstration of what I could do with my magic –Alistair Armitage demanded it!- to convince them that I was indeed the grandson of a former Dark Lord. And you have no idea how their attitudes changed towards me, almost servile and sycophantic, and certainly fearful!"
Orion shook his head and sniggered sharply. "And it serves them right. Pretentious bastards that they are, it made a world of difference to them if I came from 'Dark Lord stock', as Bruno Constanzo, one of the Italian blokes, put it." He shot her a frown, and added, "Oh, and besides Sebastien, who obviously didn't gape at me, Titania's uncle's reaction was somewhat suspicious. Comodus Conrad merely smiled at me with satisfaction when he saw me. I'm beginning to think that he either knows something about the VA matter from Titania, or that he's an Aux himself. That didn't stop him, however, when push came to shove, from demanding that the American banks should have the right to finance the so-called Reconstruction."
He scoffed snidely, but then his eyes gleamed as he remembered something, and he chuckled under his breath. "Conrad wouldn't leave the matter alone, and Armitage and he almost came to casting curses at each other." He sighed wistfully. "I wished they had, at least the meeting wouldn't have turned so boring by the end, when all they did was bicker at each other."
When he saw Calypso's confused expression, he explained further, "They have opposing interests about the issue, Scaly. Conrad and the other two Americans are majority owners of the largest banks in the US, and Armitage has dealings with the Goblins. The Goblins have tried for ages to make their overseas Gringotts branches in America become more important than the banks owned and controlled by wizards, but they haven't succeeded yet. So Conrad and Armitage spent about an hour screaming at each other. I had never seen them lose their tempers like that - that part was actually quite enjoyable."
Smirking, Orion glanced at her with dark amusement. "It's clear that they're feeling the urgency to satisfy their little greedy hearts now that the real war in England will commence in a month. And by the way they kept going on about the Reconstruction, it's like they're expecting us to destroy all wizarding properties in Europe!" He rolled his eyes. "Galleons are sparkling in their eyes, while they imagine all the hefty loans that Ministries of Magic will have to request from their banks. It's a bit ridiculous, it's not as if we're savages who will demolish everything in sight!"
"They will still make fat earnings from any loans their banks grant," interjected Calypso gravely, with an angered scowl. "What are the Americans and Armitage giving us in return? And who got the rights for the Reconstruction in the end?"
"Well, we finally decided to divide the countries between the Americans and Armitage, who in this issue represents his interests and thus the Goblins'," replied Orion calmly. "Any loans requested by the Ministries of Eastern Europe will fall into Gringotts' domain, and Western Europe goes to Conrad and his pals. If you ask me, Conrad got the better deal. But it was Voldemort's final decision, and it makes sense because he got his hands on the Mayan Stone through Conrad, and Titania's guardian will give us more than Armitage. Comodus Conrad promised that in a year or two he would be ready to pull the strings in the Congress of United Wands, so that when the time comes for their Senators to vote, the majority will agree to send us some of their forces to help us fight a war or two in continental Europe."
"But most of their Senators are light wizards," pointed out Calypso. "In the political arena, dark wizards are a tiny minority over there."
"Ah, but it all comes to galleons," quipped Orion loftily. "Conrad and his two pals aren't politicians themselves, but they have their claws in everything. All wizarding businesses and industries rely on their banks for funds, and they are indebted to them. So, Conrad particularly, being the owner of the largest banks, has a lot of sway with most of the Senators. And those who don't owe him anything, he can bribe."
He paused, and quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know how it went during the wizarding colonization of North America. Dark wizards were the first to arrive there, because they fled from persecution in Europe. Several of the oldest English dark families have distant relatives over there. I bet you anything that even your House does, if you look into it. And as you know, it was kind of 'first-come, first-served' during the colonization era. The waves of light wizards got there when the dark wizards were already deeply entrenched, already having started their own financial system. Light wizards inevitably became entangled with dark wizards' banks soon after, to either start their businesses or boost them with new, large investments. And they always refused to take any loans from Gringotts - they have a kind of financial patriotism. Light wizards over there rather request a loan from a bank owned and controlled by an American dark wizard, than come here to Europe to ask it from the Goblins. They want the galleons to stay in their country throughout all of the loan-lending and saving process."
"How do you know so much about the matter?" asked Calypso, quizzically gazing at him. "Not even I know as much." Her lips wryly twisted. "Though, I do admit that finance or its history has never been one of my passions."
"Nor mine," said Orion with a grin. "It was Draco, actually, who initially explained it to me when we were kids. Remember the first time that he and I attended a Dark Allies meeting? Lucius gave each of us a dossier on every Dark Ally, and at first I didn't understand anything. Draco went through the dossier with me, and I started grasping what was going on. The rest I learned when Lucius was my guardian because he tutored me on wizarding finance, because 'a child from the distinguished House of Black has to know these things, boy. You have a fortune to increase!' "
He chuckled under his breath, and added dryly, "And I also learned a lot from listening to Armitage and Conrad spit angry accusations at each other. Those two hate each other with a passion. Which is funny, really, since they're so alike in their greedy ambitions."
"It figures that Lucius Malfoy was one of the driving forces behind your unexpected grasp on finance, and Draco as well," she said, faintly smiling at him. "For a moment there, I thought it had been your dad, and I found the idea rather mind-boggling."
Orion snorted, and said with amusement, "I think my dad would rather off himself than touch a finance textbook. And I would sympathize with him. I've quite decided that when the time comes for us to have a financial wiz, Draco will be swiftly appointed to the post."
"Yes, he would be perfect for it," said Calypso musingly, "and as a diplomat as well. His father trained him well."
He nodded in agreement, and suddenly, a bright glint spread in his green eyes, and he whispered conspiratorially, "Oh, I didn't tell you what happened with Jezabel Zabini."
Orion instantly saw how she perked up with curiosity, as he had expected since Calypso always loved a good mystery, and he grinned at her, while he continued, "The moment the meeting ended, she stood up and made her way to the door, utterly ignoring everyone. By then, her eyes were back to normal, and just before she crossed the threshold to apparate away, she shot me this weird tiny little smile that I think only I saw-"
"You think she knows about you?" gasped out Calypso with a startled expression on her face. "That she has Seen you?"
"Yes," replied Orion nonchalantly. "It would make sense, wouldn't it? Why else would she smile at me? Blaise and I aren't that close and she has never met me before. And she wouldn't be the only Seer who knows about me. Remember that Trelawney said that one of the reasons she had become an Aux was because she used to have visions about the future and me? Well, I think that perhaps Mrs. Zabini has also had visions regarding me."
He waved a hand dismissively, and added gravely, "But that isn't my point. We thought that she would be angry at me because I was the one who told Voldemort to get a Seer for all our meetings. But she didn't seem mad at me. Actually, she didn't seem mad at anyone, her face always remained expressionless. She didn't even acknowledge Voldemort. And the moment she left, I asked him what he had done to get her there, and… um…"
Orion shot her a wary glance, and muttered, "Well, you're not going to like this. I didn't like it either when Voldemort told me, but I understand that it was his only way to force Mrs. Zabini to help us. Voldemort threatened to mark Blaise and make him a Death Eater if she didn't attend the gathering and all future ones to use her powers to block them from other Seers. Blaise's mum finally agreed to it, to protect Blaise because she doesn't want him to participate in any battles."
"The Dark Lord should tread carefully with her," murmured Calypso quietly, her eyebrows furrowing. "Jezabel Zabini is known to have a very vengeful streak - her seven dead husbands are proof of it. She must loathe Voldemort for threatening her with her only son's safety. I definitely wouldn't want to be in his shoes when she decides to get even with him."
Abruptly, she shot him a bright smile, and added cheerfully, "On the other hand, by the sound of it, she likes you, so you have nothing to worry about. In fact, I think it would be a good idea if you got to know her better. Having the loyalty of a Seer could be very useful, and you can't count with Trelawney yet because she's an Aux and will only become your true follower once you become the VA. In the meanwhile, getting on Jezabel Zabini's good graces could benefit you."
"True," said Orion with a pensive expression on his face.
Calypso shot him a satisfied smile, but in the next second she quizzically gazed at him, and asked pointedly, "You didn't say what we're getting from Armitage."
"Ah, well keeping him happy means keeping the Goblins happy," replied Orion wryly, pulling out of his thoughts, "and that's nothing to scoff at."
He smirked at her, and added smugly, "And besides what all that entails, he agreed to my plan. Bellatrix already gave him the shrunk vanishing cabinets, and he said he would visit both the Scottish and Irish Ministries of Magic to decide in which would be best to plant one of the cabinets. He already told me that he thought that it would be more useful to us if he smuggled one inside the Irish Ministry of Magic, because it's more heavily warded than Scotland's. And he's quite confident that he can pull it off without being caught, or without the vanishing cabinet being detected. He knows the Ministries like the back of his hand. Oh, and he's also going to provide us with magical blueprints of the buildings and wards."
"So it will be like planning the break in to Nurmengard with Dietrich Emmerich," said Calypso, a twinge of sadness in her eyes. "Emmerich also provided us with all that information about the prison."
"Yeah, well, Armitage won't be sacrificing his life for the success of our endeavor," interjected Orion dryly, "of that you can be sure."
"You're right, it was silly of me to compare the situations," said Calypso tightly. "I don't think there are two Emmerichs of a kind."
Seeing her expression, Orion cleared his throat and swiftly changed subjects, chuckling humorlessly. "You know, they are all very eager to see how we do in Great Britain, but none of them committed themselves to do anything if we started losing. It was agreed that the attack on Hogwarts would be the last battle to define which side wins control of the British Isles. And even when I told them that Dumbledore was alive and that the old coot would surely appear in the battle with his forces of French allies, not a single Dark Ally offered to do something to send us help from their countries."
He glanced at her, and added crisply, "The only ones who will do something to help us during this war are Armitage and Sebastien. Armitage by planting the cabinet and giving us information about the Ministries' layouts and wards. And Sebastien, as expected, will be informing us about what goes on in France's light wizarding circles – so that we can have some estimate of how many Frenchmen will come to Dumbledore's aid. Sebastien has always worked hard to maintain his façade as a tolerant dark wizard who never dabbles in the Dark Arts and who only feels at home with light individuals, and they adore him. He has social connections with every French wizarding family, and he's certainly our best spy in France."
"Only Valois and Armitage offered to help?" said Calypso, her expression one of miffed vexation. "When will the rest of the Dark Allies directly involve themselves, then?"
"Well, I already told you about Conrad and the other two Americans. They say the time isn't right yet to propose the matter to the Congress of United Wands, so they will wait for one or two years, when we have already taken over several countries," replied Orion dryly. "As for the rest, they will help us from within their countries the moment we attack France. The idea is to form two fronts when we attack the countries where light wizards are the vast majority – Spain, Italy and France."
He paused to shoot her an intense glance, and continued matter-of-factly, "Germany and Russia are dark-oriented and already have many dark wizards in key ministerial positions. So the German Ally, Friederik Geert, and the two Russians, Anatoly Kusakov and Fyodor Bronislav, think they can move the strings in their respective Ministries so that fighters are sent to us when we attack France. On the other hand, we would also be invading the French from Great Britain. So France will find itself invaded by dark forces from the north and the west, and thus, cornered by two fronts."
"The war to conquer France will be the toughest," murmured Calypso with apprehension.
"Yes," said Orion, curtly nodding at her. "I think everything will be defined in that war. Assuming we already won in Great Britain, then we will either lose in France and end up isolated in our Isles. Or we win control over France, after which, conquering Spain and Italy would be much easier, and we would then move up north. In the end, taking over France will be our greatest challenge, one way or the other. It's the Light's main bastion."
Calypso nodded in understanding, her expression one of deep pensiveness. After a stretch of silence, she muttered, "You know, it's clear that for August the first we'll have to thoroughly prepare ourselves, and especially to do drills and simulated battles with the DA…" Her expression turned grave, and she continued sternly, "And I've talked about something with my dad and we both agreed that it would be for the best, so I want you to accept it without any complaints."
"What is it?" said Orion, carefully eyeing her.
"Well," said Calypso, clearing her throat before pinning him with a no-nonsense stare, "you are going to mark the Elite tomorrow night and they already wrote back to me agreeing to stay here during their holidays. I know you're planning on having practice sessions with them and that you also want to prepare the rest of the DA for the battles. But you can't do the latter here. The rest of the DA doesn't know about Potter Manor and they shouldn't either, because it's Draco's hideout and our sanctuary from Voldemort, light wizards and Aurors. It must be kept a secret. So the only other choice is to use Rosier Manor-"
"No," interrupted Orion curtly, scowling at her. "I will not let you do that. You told me your chief house-elf informed you that Aurors went to Rosier Manor with a search warrant, and they raided it, looking for me. So far, even though it's widely known that you're my best friend, you're under no direct suspicion. If we used Rosier Manor for the DA's practice sessions and simulated battles, you know you will have to lockdown the wards around the Manor for our safety, just like Lucius did with Malfoy Manor. And the moment that the Aurors detect that Rosier Manor is no longer plottable or accessible to them, they will suspect that you're helping me out-"
"Yes, but they can do nothing except bring me in for questioning," interjected Calypso pointedly, with a hard edge in her tone. "They can't legally use Veritaserum on me because I'm still underage. And they cannot lock me up without irrefutable proof that I'm aiding you. Without it, given my age, there isn't much that they can do to me; just keep me in one of the Ministry's cells for a couple of days, and that's hardly something that would concern me. So I won't be in any serious danger from them, Orion. And we need a place for the DA's sessions! There's no other choice, and my father and I agreed that it would be for the best."
Orion mutinously crossed his arms over his chest. But seeing Calypso's unrelenting and hard expression, and admitting to himself that she was indeed solving a problem that had bothered him for some time, he finally sighed.
"Fine," he muttered quietly, "we'll do it your way. But-" He shot her a hard glance of his own "- we'll take all the precautions we can. You will be the one contacting the DA, but you'll write to them as if you were inviting friends over for a party, a quidditch match or something of the sort. There are about eighty DA members, so you'll have to pretend that you're having large gatherings in your Manor for your own amusement and such. That way, if any letters are intercepted by the Aurors, they won't have any solid proof to use against you and you'll be giving them an excuse for bringing so many people over to your Manor. Meanwhile, we'll use the usual text messaging charm on the band of our wristwatches to let the DA know the exact date and time for all the training sessions we'll be having at Rosier Manor. And make sure that your dad modifies the wards as required. It will have to be a full lockdown, for the DA's safety and so that no one from the outside can detect what really goes on in the Manor and its grounds."
He paused, and eyed her musingly. "In fact, added to all that, we should cast a Fidelius Charm on your Manor."
"Good idea," breathed out Calypso enthusiastically, perking up as she beamed a satisfied smile. "And we should also cast one on Potter Manor. We can be each other's Secret Keepers."
"Deal," said Orion, broadly grinning at her. "We can do it tomorrow, before the marking ceremony."
"Agreed," piped in Calypso. Abruptly, her expression turned pensive again, and she murmured with a deep frown on her face, "About what we were discussing before… I've been thinking about what you told me regarding France, and…" She pierced him with a hard gaze, and continued resolutely, "And it would be better if we struck at France, Spain and Italy at the same time. If not, Spain and Italy will help France when we invade the country."
"That would be the ideal, obviously," sighed out Orion, carding his fingers through his hair. "But it's a question of numbers, Scaly. I doubt if we will have the necessary amount of fighters to wage a war in three Light countries at the same time, even counting vampire and werewolf forces."
"Then you should get more vampires and werewolves," interjected Calypso firmly. "You were the one with the idea of swift, quick wars to conquer Europe. If you need more forces, then get them. The Zravens aren't the only vampire clan, and there're more Alphas out there than the six with whom you have an alliance."
"It would take me a lot of time to forge the new alliances you're talking about," said Orion shortly. "And I doubt if I could pull it off in time-"
"At least consider it," interrupted Calypso adamantly, piercing him with her large, beautiful black eyes.
"Of course I will, I had already thought about it," snapped Orion impatiently, scowling at her. "And I will seriously think about it again the moment we win the British war, Scaly. I barely have the time to plan this war, and you already want me to think about the rest that will come? One step at a time."
She sighed, and said softly, "You're right. I shouldn't be pressuring you like this."
"You cannot let it get to you, you know?" said Orion quietly, frowning worriedly at her. "This is the second time that you're stressed about the wars, and it does neither you nor me any good, Scaly."
Calypso sharply nodded, but he could still feel the tension coming off her, and he quickly decided to lighten up the mood.
"Enough about war-talk," he said, flashing her with a grin. "Do you want to know what I'll be doing tonight?"
Her head jerked upwards, and she pierced him with narrowed eyes. "You're staying here with me to help me go through all these books!"
"Not a chance," snorted Orion, shooting a wary glance at the aforementioned thick books that piled over every inch of the desk. "You're the bookworm, not I."
"Oh, so now you're not a bookworm?" hissed Calypso indignantly, darkly glaring at him. "You were one at Durmstrang!"
"But we're not at school anymore, are we?" pointed out Orion, impishly grinning at her. "No, no, Scaly, I will not be persuaded, no matter how sweetly you keep asking."
"What will you do then?" bit out Calypso, glowering at him.
"I'm spending the night with Voldemort," said Orion, flashing her a wide, roguish grin. "And we will shag all night long, and have naughty, kinky man sex, and I will tie him up with conjured snakes and -"
"Uck!" she choked out, holding up a hand. "Spare me the details - I rather AK myself than hear it!"
Orion barked out a laugh, and shook his head. "You're such a little prude, Scaly. You're never going to get a man that way."
"I rather be a prude," she said airily, raising her chin up, "than a slut."
"Ouch," said Orion in mock hurt, his green eyes glinting with amusement, "is that supposed to be directed at me?"
Calypso sweetly smiled at him. "You said it, not I."
"Tut-tut, little Scaly," chided Orion with a smile, "you shouldn't be nasty with me, you enjoy it far too much, it's perturbing. Good little pureblood girls aren't supposed to be evil."
"Dark ones, like myself, are," countered Calypso proudly, shooting him a smug smirk. Her expression turned suddenly grave and concerned, and she said quietly, "Honestly, Orion, surely you aren't going to sleep with Voldemort, are you? I mean, he broke your marital bond, you cannot reward that with-"
"I'm looking at things from a philosophical standpoint," said Orion loftily. "I'm a teenager, I need to have sex frequently, and Voldemort is there, willing and ready." He broadly smirked at her. "He's my very own kinky shag buddy. I vastly recommend that you get one for yourself."
Calypso rolled her eyes, and said reprovingly, "You're truly your father's son if you can take things in such a carefree 'I give a pixie's blue arse about the consequences' manner."
"Oh, I do think that I have some Siriusness in me," said Orion, flashing her a wide smile. "And I'm happy to hear that you remember one of my dad's favorite expressions."
"How couldn't I?" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I learned most of my bad language from you, and you learned it from him. It's practically part of your heritage." She shot him a smirk. "In fact, both of you owe me for all the times my father grounded me for having a 'foul-mouth improper for a young pureblood lady'. He's still quite appalled. He never expected his innocent little girl to turn out like I have."
"Yeah, I corrupted you, but Lez also had a hand in it," said Orion fondly, his voice laced with satisfaction. His green eyes gleamed, and he jibed wistfully, "I still remember the time you caught us in bed-"
"We had to break into the Department of Mysteries and both of you could only think about shagging for the first time!" snapped Calypso highly miffed. "Without me to straighten out your priorities, you would have been a lost cause."
"Maybe," said Orion, grinning at her while he jumped off the desk. "Anyway, I'm off."
"Fine," muttured Calypso, rolling her eyes, "skip along and enjoy your night of wild sex."
"Will do!" said Orion, cheerfully winking at her. "Enjoy your books!"
Calypso's harrumphed 'prat' was the last thing he heard before he apparated away with a last chuckle.
