1The Heirs of Heaven and Hell
Chapter: 28
By: Celeste Jacobs
Beta: Maria
Rated: M
A/N: I just want to start of by thanking Maria. She is a great Beta and one of the factors in helping this story come alive.
A/N2: I would also like to thank you readers. Many of you, though you don't know it, have inspired me in some way. Especially those that have stuck with this story since the first chapter was published. Thank you. Thank you.
The entire Great Hall turned when Millicent Bulstrode burst through the doors screaming and crying hysterically. "Professor Snape Professor Snape " she cried, running towards the head table.
Severus pushed himself from the table and made his way over to Millicent.
"Miss Bulstrode I hope there is a reason for your hysterics," he growled.
The girl immediately collapsed into his arms and said something that made the whole room gasp,
"Pansy is dead!"
-----------------------------
It had taken a while to calm Millicent down enough to send her to the infirmary. After she had told the professors and the headmaster what she had seen they all went rushing to the Slytherin Common room.
Professor Slughorn was the first to cover his mouth.
"Don't even think about it Slughorn," said Snape.
The man looked at Severus before swallowing the bile that had risen to his throat.
Albus walked over to Pansy's body and conjured a white sheet.
"This is a very dark day" he stated.
"Is that all you can say Albus " shouted Minerva. "We have a murderer on the loose and all you can say is that this a very dark day?!" What if it is You-Know-Who?"
"I don't think so Minerva. He hasn't been active in years," interjected Lupin. "Besides I think we would have known if he was here". He slid a sidelong glance at Severus and the Potions Master noticed.
"I'll have you know Lupin that the Dark Mark disappeared when that maniac did," Severus snarled.
"Gentlemen this is not the time. We must first take care of the students and make sure no wind of this gets to the outside. Before we know it, parents will be pulling their children out of our establishment," said Albus.
"But Albus" started Minerva.
"But nothing Minerva. Do as I say or find yourself another job." Albus's half-moon spectacles had slid down his nose a bit and he glared at Minerva over them.
Minerva opened and closed her mouth like a fish several times before finally snapping it shut and storming out of the room.
"All of you leave except for you Severus, you stay behind," instructed Albus.
The professors left the room, many of them grateful to get away from the grisly sight. Albus made sure that the others had successfully cleared the room before speaking again,
"Get rid of the body and I'll take care of Miss Parkinson's parents. No one will know about this,"
"I don't like this idea of yours Headmaster. What about the students?" Severus inquired.
Albus allowed a smile to grace his face, "They have already forgotten,"
And indeed they had except for four. Cain was confused when the students, who had been in hysterics only moments ago, suddenly began to chat and laugh normally, as if Millicent hadn't just announced that one of their own was dead.
"It was if it never happened" he thought.
The same confused expression was on Abel's face, "What just happened here?" he finally asked.
"It seems" replied Siena. "That the Headmaster is trying to cover up Pansy's death"
"And why would he want do that?" wondered Harry aloud.
Siena shrugged.
"Well, I believe something should be done about it," said Abel.
"You get right on that" said Harry, smiling mockingly.
Abel glared at him before returning to his breakfast.
---------------------------------
Draco sat in the kitchens chewing on a green apple. His face bore a frown and the House Elves around him only chose to come near him if his teacup needed refilling. Draco thought that was a wise decision.
When he awoke that morning he'd felt himself filled with an anger that was not his own. He also had memories of people that he had never seen and places he had never been. He could only conclude that the memories belonged to Harry.
He had fished through many of them and did not like what he saw. He now held a rising hatred for his father and Lilith. Yes, he knew every last member of Harry's family and it dawned on him that his Potions partner was Harry's sister.
Draco also found that he had a better grasp on people's auras. He could now feel even the slightest darkness in a person and it made him sick to his stomach. How could such evil be allowed to roam the world when they should be rotting away?
But for now he had more pressing matters to attend to. When he was only an Angel he could not see that Blaise was not a mortal. In fact Blaise wasn't even Blaise, he was Jack the Ripper. Draco felt his skin crawl at the thought. The man was up to no good and the only way his soul could be released from Limbo was if an Angel did it.
"Not just any Angel" he thought. "One with father's blood".
Draco tightened his grip on his apple. He would not allow Adam to continue with any plan he might have concocted. Draco tossed the apple core onto the table and grabbed his books. He decided that he would destroy Adam and Blaise. "But first," he thought. "I will make sure Harry rules by my side in Heaven".
Albus walked back into the Great Hall and smiled at his handiwork. The students were chatting amiably and the professors were discussing their lesson plans. Albus wanted to pat himself on the back. All that was left was to obliviate Slughorn who wasn't in the Great Hall. Then, he would only have McGonagall to worry about since he knew that Severus would keep the incident to himself.
Albus made his way to his chair and looked to his left to find Remus smiling at him. Albus smiled back. He hadn't been sure that the spell would affect the werewolf and he was glad that it did.
When Albus turned away from him to talk to another professor, Remus's happy smile abruptly disappeared, replaced by a confused frown. He wasn't stupid. He'd noticed the difference in everyone immediately and realized that a spell had been cast to cover up Pansy's death. He'd also noticed that the three students huddled at one end of the Hufflepuff table had not been affected either. Remus knew he, at least, had an excuse, being a werewolf and all, but they were just regular students, right? He decided that he would keep a closer eye on them. Remus looked down at his plate. If he didn't eat soon he was going to be left with cold eggs. He was just about to lift his fork to his mouth when he saw Albus get up from his seat.
"Students I have an announcement"
Professor DeaThrena swept into her classroom with her nose buried in a potions book "borrowed" from Professor Snape. She figured that since class did not start for another ten minutes she would finish reading the last couple of pages. She made her way to her seat and propped her feet on the desk.
"And what do I owe the pleasure of being in the presence of one of God's son?" she asked aloud.
Draco smiled from his seat and twirled his quill with his fingers.
"How did you like my handiwork?" he asked.
"I have no idea what you are talking about". Angelina continued to leaf through the book, not even bothering to break eye contact with the pages.
Draco smirked. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Angel of Death,"
Angelina paused in her reading and finally took a good look at the boy before her. "It seems that you have had the pleasure of receiving the Mark of Judas,"
"And how would you know that?" asked Draco.
"Because Mr. Beelzebub, only a Halfing can sense me and two days ago you weren't a Halfling," Angelina replied.
Draco stopped twirling his quill and decided to tap it on the desk instead. "He has your eyes." he finally said.
"And you have his essence". Angelina couldn't help but start to laugh.
"What is so funny?"
"I just find it amusing how history repeats itself," she said, walking towards him.
"You're talking in riddles" said Draco. He leaned back further into his desk and crossed his arms. When Angelina reached him, she leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I'm the Angel of Death, Mr. Beelzebub. I'm supposed to talk in riddles".
As soon as Angelina stepped back Hermione Granger came bounding into the room.
"I hope that your lecture today Professor will focus more on the truth and not on these lies you insist on teachings us,"
Angelina rolled her eyes.
"Miss Granger I do believe that you are in the wrong class today. Bibliology is with Slytherin and Hufflepuff,"
Hermione allowed a smirk to appear on her face and stared at Professor DeaThrena as though she knew something the other did not.
"Well Professor, if you had been at breakfast this morning then you would have heard the Headmaster's announcement. It seems that the majority of students have dropped out of your class forcing him to combine the remaining students,"
Hermione didn't let the smirk disappear from her face even when she sat down at her desk. Angelina watched as the other students filed in and she realized that Miss Granger was right. She noticed that she retained most of her the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins but only one Ravenclaw remained and a little over half of the Gryffindors.
"I'm surprised that you are still here Miss Granger. After your last stunt, I didn't expect to see you or your boyfriend," she eyed Ron for a minute, "back in my class"
"Well, someone has to be here to tell the truth,"
"I think you're full of shit Hermione " interrupted a voice.
Both Angelina and Hermione turned their heads and found themselves looking at Seamus Finnigan.
"You're just another one of those close minded individuals. I mean, if we all took the Bible word for word slavery would still exist, women would be subservient, and polygamy would be legal."
Hermione was about to respond when three students came rushing into the classroom.
"Sorry about our lateness Professor but someone had to get in a last muffin," Siena threw a scathing look at Abel who grinned sheepishly and made her way over to an empty seat. She plopped down next to Draco and immediately started to unpack her supplies. Harry sat next to Neville, much to Hermione's chagrin, but her spirits immediately lifted when Abel sat down next to her. She had heard of the Ravenclaw's mental ability and she also found herself drawn to his handsome features.
Abel could feel the lust radiating off the Gryffindor and chose to ignore it. The only person he wanted to lust after him was sitting next to his friend Draco. Abel quelled the jealousy that threatened to surface. He would not allow the Sins to invade his soul.
Siena had just finished settling into her desk when she felt Draco's eyes on her. She turned to looked at him and immediately felt the familiar presence within the other boy. Draco merely raised his right eyebrow at her.
"Welcome to the family," she whispered.
Draco smiled in response.
"Well, now that everyone is here Seamus" said Angelina. "Why don't you finish up your discussion with Miss Granger,"
"I'm just saying that this," Seamus held up the Bible that was given to them in class, "and this" he flashed the modern day Bible, "are completely different".
"Well of course they are different Seamus. The modern day Bible is the correct one," responded Hermione.
"Okay Hermione. That's dumb. That's like saying a dictionary from 1960 is the correct version and not the dictionary from 2007. Yes, I'm sure there are similarities but words change, meanings change, and new words are created every day. I'm sure the dictionary from 1960 does not have the definition of the word "bling" in it."
"Yeah" said another voice. It was Dean Thomas. "I'm also sure that a certain offensive word to African-Americans has a different definition now. I'm sure according to the 1960s Webster it wasn't considered offensive at all."
"Do you have to bring race into everything Dean?" Ron cut in.
"I don't know Ron. Do I? I mean would you be upset if I said that I think that Jesus was black,"
"Yes I would!" shouted the red-head.
Ron's comment sent Dean flying up out of his chair, causing it to fall over in the process. "You take that back Ron. You and I go a long ways back and if you value our friendship you will take that comment back!"
The silence in the classroom was deafening. Suddenly, it was interrupted by Luna Lovegood.
"I think Jesus was just Jesus" she said.
All eyes turned to her.
"What do you mean by that Miss Lovegood?" asked Angelina.
"I mean…" Luna paused for a moment. "I mean everyone is so stuck on his color that they forget about his teachings. Who cares what color Jesus was? For all I care he could have been lilac with green polka dots."
No one responded. Luna took it as a cue to continue.
"I already know that we are going to disagree in this class but we have to respect each other. Dean, if you think Jesus was black that's okay and Ron, if you think Jesus was white that's okay too. But no one can know for sure until they meet him so for now let's just agree to disagree."
The silence in the room continued, but now it was more contemplative than angry. Many of the students were staring at Luna with something bordering on awe and looking at the blonde-haired girl, Draco immediately knew that he would be seeing her in Heaven one day.
Dean visibly relaxed revealing more hurt than anger. To him, Ron's comment was like a smack in the face.
Ron felt his face turning red in shame. He had known Dean since they were eight and he'd almost let his stupidity tear up a friendship. He looked to his girlfriend Hermione and noticed her shaking his head. "Don't do it" her eyes read.
Ron knew that everyone looked down on him because he allowed Hermione to make decisions for him. None of the guys in his dorm (except for Dean) wanted to hang out with him and even the girls ignored him. For once, Ron decided to think for himself.
"I'm sorry Dean."