Arcturus Black
By: Katerinaki
Published: 10/7/2014
Beta'ed: No
Notes: Dear Readers, please pay attention to characterization in this chapter. I think I'm pushing the boundaries of OC in this one. Let me know what you think! Cheers, Katerinaki
Chapter 8: Revenge and Relatives
Despite the best efforts of the professors, Arcturus and his cohorts went unpunished for their game-day prank. Still, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall always looked to them as if they knew, they just didn't have the evidence to punish them. That was fine with Arcturus, except now Snape had it doubly out for him. Just him, not the Weasleys or Lee. By the time Halloween came around he'd cleaned every cauldron Snape had at least five times and he'd done more detentions with Filch than anyone else in the school. He and Filch were actually getting along well, if "well" meant Filch knew him by name and gave him a twisted sort of smile and grimace every time he walked into the office. All the dirtiest tasks Filch saved for Arcturus and of course he wasn't allowed to do magic.
"You could become a fine janitor some day, Archie ole' boy," George joked with him as Arcturus knelt in the boys' bathroom scrubbing with a little hand brush. Fred and George had taken to hanging around while Arcturus did his tasks and in some cases, if they were feeling particularly generous, they would help.
"Stupid Snape," Arcturus muttered as he scrubbed. He imagined the brush had steel bristles and that he was scrubbing Snape's face raw as he worked the tiles.
"Here, here!" Fred agreed. "Gryffindor has lost more points this week than all the other houses combined."
"It's because I had double Potions. Greasy git takes points off for 'improper stir-rod technique'." Arcturus adopted the cold, drawl of the Potions Master and Fred and George laughed.
"That was pretty good," Fred snorted. "Sounded just like him."
"Indeed."
All three boys leapt to their feet as the Potions Master himself stood in the doorway, clearly not amused.
"I believe this detention is Mr. Black's," Snape hissed. "Unless you would like to join him, I suggest you return to your dormitory."
Fred and George were quick to go and Arcturus didn't blame them. There was another Gryffindor game coming up and he wouldn't put it by Snape to ban Fred and George from playing. The match, after all, was against Slytherin. As Arcturus looked up from his spot kneeling on the tiles, he could clearly see that Snape had heard every word. The professor was livid as he watched the Weasley twins leave before turning back to look at Arcturus. He smirked, seeming to take vicious pleasure in the fact that Arcturus was cleaning the bathroom like a common Muggle. Arcturus, for his part, went back to scrubbing, trying to ignore his most hated professor.
"You've missed a spot. Just like your father, too proud to do proper work."
Arcturus struggled to stay silent, even going so far as to bite his lip, but it was no use. Snape knew precisely which buttons of his to press.
"You don't know anything," Arcturus growled.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape declared. "Would you care to elaborate, Mr. Black? I believe Gryffindor still has a few more points."
But Arcturus put his brush to the floor and focused on scrubbing until his arm burned and his knuckles were raw. Snape watched and waited and just when Arcturus seemed to have control over his emotions, he struck.
"It really is fortunate your mother is no longer alive to see how low you have brought the Black family name."
Arcturus threw the brush and it clattered across the floor, skidding under one of the stalls. He leapt to his feet, his blood boiling and his hands clenched into fists, ready to pummel Snape into the ground.
"Shut up! You don't bloody know anything! My mother hated her family and you don't get to talk about her, you slimy git!"
Snape smirked as Arcturus raged. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and weekend detentions through Christmas. Looks like you will be missing the next few Quidditch games, Mr. Black." With the damage done, Snape swept from the bathroom leaving Arcturus fuming. He waited just until he was alone before lashing out and punching the wall. There as a sharp crack and shooting pain up his wrist.
"ARGH!" he screamed, both in pain and in rage as he cradled his broken hand. He hated Snape, but perhaps more he hated the rage that Snape was able to inspire in him, just with words. He sank to the floor and sat there on the cold tile for far too long. By the time he got up and began to make his way to the Hospital Wing it was long after his detention was over and he should've been in bed. However Arcturus was well-practiced by now at traversing the castle after hours and even injured and in pain had enough mind not to be caught. Although this might be one time where a teacher might let him continue on.
The Hospital wing was dark, but Arcturus knocked on the door and just a few minutes later Madam Pomfrey, the schools medi-witch, came bustling from her office. She took one look at Arcturus's hand and ordered him to a bed.
"Dare I ask what happened at this hour of the night?"
"I punched a wall," Arcturus mumbled. He was always truthful with Madam Pomfrey for some odd reason. The first time he'd been to the Hospital wing had been after he'd gotten into a fight with a first year Slytherin over his father. The Slytherin had come out worse for it, but Arcturus had his fair share of cuts and bruises. Madam Pomfrey had briskly mended him up and warned him against fighting, but she didn't take any points or tell him he'd been in the wrong. She just fixed his injuries, as she did now. There was brief pain as the broken bones in his hand and wrist shifted back into place and then it felt hot before going cold like it had been set in a bucket of ice. The coldness felt relieving on his hand and Arcturus sighed, sinking back onto the Hospital bed.
"Ferula," Madam Pomfrey said and a splint wrapped itself around Arcturus's hand and wrist, immobilizing it. "It's late and you shouldn't be roaming the corridors alone. You'll stay here the night and return in the morning." She conjured a pair of plain, hospital pyjamas and pulled the curtain to give Arcturus privacy as he changed. The splint was awkward as he tried to do up the buttons, but it was surely only for the night to let the hand rest. Madam Pomfrey was an excellent healer; Arcturus would be as good as new by the next morning.
As he lay back in his bed and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, his mind raced. Snape had struck, now it was Arcturus's turn. He had to think of something. Arcturus was jerked out of his thoughts by a great crash. He bolted up and wrenched the curtains back. There, across the room a girl had tripped over a cart on her way from the loo. She was sprawled out on the floor, clutching her foot. Arcturus leapt up and hurried over to help her, avoiding the broken glass.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Didn't see that there." It was Tonks, the clumsy Hufflepuff from the train. She looked up and recognized him too. "You're Arcturus, right?"
"Yeah. Here, let me help."
It was a comedy of errors as Arcturus tried to help the clumsy Tonks to her feet with just one hand, all the while trying to avoid the mess on the floor. It was amazing Madam Pomfrey didn't hear all the racket and come out to scold the two of them.
"Why are you in the Hospital?" Arcturus asked when Tonks was at last standing. She rested her weight gingerly on her injured foot but otherwise seemed fine.
"Potions accident," Tonks replied. She didn't seem to want to elaborate. Instead she took out her wand and performed a quick Reparo. The shattered vials pieced themselves back together, but there was no hope for the potions on the floor. Those she vanished, murmuring about apologizing to Madam Pomfrey in the morning. Arcturus assisted her back into bed to which Tonks gave him a quick "Thanks".
"That was pretty wicked, what you all did for the Quidditch match."
Arcturus froze. Nobody had said anything to him about his prank before. For all anyone knew, it was done by a group of seventh year Gryffindors. Those are the only ones who could have possibly performed such advanced charms and illusions. Nobody pointed any fingers at the two second years and their first year counterparts.
"It was pretty cool. I wish I knew what they'd done."
Tonks snorted. "You don't have to worry. I'm not a prefect. You won't get in trouble."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Arcturus smirked.
"Alright, play coy." Tonks lounged back on her bed, lacing her hands behind her head. "I guess I won't tell you how to get into the Hogwarts kitchens then."
That perked Arcturus's interest. As a young boy he was always hungry and while he was used to getting food whenever he wanted at the Squibs' house, at Hogwarts it had been three meals a day and that's it. He wouldn't mind being able to pop down for a snack every so often.
"Okay," Arcturus conceded. "I'll make you a deal. You show me into the kitchens, and I'll show you those paint orbs."
"With the Permanent Charm. I was red and gold for a week before it finally disappeared."
Arcturus grinned. That part had been a stroke of genius on George's part. Not even the Headmaster had gotten it off. Dumbledore had walked around with a red beard for five days before the magic had worn off. Oddly enough, he'd seemed perfectly content with the colour change, but then Dumbledore had always struck people as a little odd, particularly as he grew up in years.
Despite the early hour and the fact that they were both supposed to be resting on Madam Pomfrey's orders, Arcturus and Tonks stayed up talking for quite some time. As Tonks was in Hufflepuff and Arcturus was a Gryffindor, they hadn't had much interaction beyond their first meeting on the train. But the more they talked, the more Arcturus came to like his distant cousin and wish he could've been sent to live with her and her parents rather than the Squibs. Tonks seemed to understand his ostracism from the family better than the Squibs or Remus even.
"My mom was burned off the family tapestry after she married my dad. He's a Muggle-born. I have two aunts, but I've never met them."
"You don't want to," Arcturus assured her. "My mom was a Malfoy and the Squibs make me go to the stupid dinner parties at Malfoy Manor all the time. It's boring and everyone walks around like they just smelled something rotten."
Arcturus scrunched up his nose and threw it in the air before prancing in a circle like he'd seen the Pureblood elite do so often before. Tonks laughed and snorted as her nose transformed into a pig's snout. As soon as she realized what happened she clamped her hands over her fact and scrunched her eyes closed. A few moments later her nose was human again.
"Sorry," she apologized, flushing a bit. "Sometimes I don't have the greatest control over my morphing."
"You're a Metamorphmagus? I saw you change your hair on the train."
"Yeah. My mother says when I was born my hair was turquoise. It baffled St. Mungo's until one of the apprentices suggested I was a Metamorphmagus. It's very rare and sometimes I can't control the changes. One time I had dog paws for a whole week! You don't appreciate thumbs until you don't have them."
"Can you show me now?"
Tonks hesitated and her hand wandered up to her nose, as if to make sure it was still human. "I'd...rather not just now..." she replied.
"Okay, that's fine," Arcturus assured her quickly. "Promise you'll show me later, though?"
Tonks grinned. "You bet. So tell me what it's like in Romania."
By the time Madam Pomfrey came to open the Hospital in the morning, Arcturus and Tonks knew just about all there was to know about each other. They were scolded profusely for staying up and talking when they were supposed to be sleeping, but Madam Pomfrey still released both of them after taking off Arcturus's splint and a brief moment behind the curtains with Tonks. When Tonks came out again she was a little red, but seemed relieved to be getting out. They walked to the main staircase together before Tonks had to go down and Arcturus had to climb up.
"It was nice talking to you, Arcturus," Tonks said.
"Same," Arcturus agreed.
"Maybe you can come to my parents' house for Christmas this year."
"It would be much better than staying here or spending it with the Squibs."
"I'll send them an owl and ask. See you around."
"Bye, Tonks."