Phonixes were quirky creatures. Had a temper, never did things by half. They were in essence free souls who bended knee to no-one, never chose masters, or become attached. They could act in mentor-like capacity if they pleased. They never become familiars, or went after people for revenge. They were not petty creatures after all.
They were also supposed to be trustworthy, honest and reliable.
Emerald was not all of that.
She was lying through her teeth all these monthes, and dear sweet Severus didn't know. Oh,It was true that Phonixes went to people in need, people who wanted to end things, but the world still needed them.
And yet
It was not totally the case for her.it was not only for that reason she had came to Severus in that may-never-occur- again future. She had not risked her life and reversing back to her fledgling form for nothing.Many people would consider her a paragon of virtue, a sign of light, only if they knew…
Fawkes knew it, all about her and her past and never said a word to his master. Phonix matters stayed between them, whether dark or light. Emerald was not the latter, she was a dark phonix, albeit not by choice. When she had burned prematurly that one time,She had been caught by a presumed light wizard, nursed back to health, and then..
Fallen head first into the arms of a dark ritual.
A dark dark one, which promised two things, an heir, 100% magical, and a wish, any wish they wanted granted. The french called it the Noir, and even saying the name itself would get you a through investigation. The full effects of the Noir were never confirmed, people who had undergone it were not stupid enough to come force and spill the beans, and many of them couldn't compelete it, either because of fear, or because they lacked the skill or magical powers.
Another known fact which could be true or an utter bullshit was the place it took place in, would be cursed forever.anyone other than the participants would die a horrible death.
Fuck the ritual.
Thrice damn that night in 1959. Emeral never found out whether they had participated by their own free will, or were either tricked or coerced and damned to undergo that monsterosity just like her.
Originally it needed 5, two men, two women and a mediator. And the sacrifice plus the blood of a light magical being.
The sacrifice needed to be a human being.
One of those idiots had changed it to make it stronger, made it two sacrifices, added her blood, a phonix, even when a niffler or an owl would have been sufficient. Her blood that was forcibly taken.
The original plan only needed their own blood, but they had gone and damned her in the process. So two human victims to be tortured, maimed and killed, a phonix to draw blood within an inch of its life and a back up, in case the mediator chickend out.
The mediator was the one who signalled each part of chanting, with a sign to the group leader.because the people in the circle were far too gone by that time to know when to change from the ancient angelo-saxon to greek and then to aramic and other long lost languages.
( there were records of mediator backing out, and not one of the results were less than ugly and horrifying. It included blood, explosions and the land dying for ever. Not one plant or creature, magical or non magical could live there. )
the victims were chosen out of muggles, and because one of them, the one who captured her , the fucking back up, was a little bit of a goody two shoes, they(muggles) were murderors themselves, stolen from prison.
Emerald counted her lucky stars, at least they were not innocent. But no one deserved that kind of thing they endured…
So this was those Things they knew:
Requirements:They needed human sacrifice, a magical being blood, and 5 – 6 people. They would offer their sanity, part of their remaining years of life or memories. Good memories because who needed bad memories in a dark ritual? But they could choose which one to lose. How much of it to lose.
The blood of victims, and the magical being (she shuddered, her precious blood) was used to draw the runes. And then the inchanting would begin.
They would wear masks, with only the mediator (maybe the leader too?) aware of their identities. The ritual was said to need utmost secrecy, so the participants needed to be obliviated after the completion or suffer the consequences. No-one knew it was the ritual or aperson in the circle who was in charge of obliviation. As the ritual-thank who ever's up there- was to be performed only once in one's life, it was arguable that some part of the incantation took care of that.
It would grant each one a wish. Whatever that might be.
And Things they didn't know, things Emerald and Fawkes gone to hell and back to get their beaks on them. Unknown to the idiots who took part in the Noir.
Any child born from any participant would suffer the result. Children could be born then, or upto 5 years later . It makes those children bound by blood. So tight it could make them as good as siblings. Of course not all of them would be bound, that would make so many problems for the heir. Line theft being one of them.The other child could hypothetically claim all the other lines and their claim would be as sound as the actual one. So the bounded would be in pair. only mediator and the back up could choose to have a child or not.The children would be drawn to darkness, as thirsty for darkness as a dying fish for water. Their fates forever interwined with each other.
The signs? Being exceptionaly powerful, as much as their heritage allowed it.( So if they were a goyle, they would have show normal magical powers instead of barely above squib levels.) Another one being they would be always at odds with each other, never able to leave each other alone, either it resulted in an epic friendship, or a an epic animosity.and last but not the least: they would all be boys with black hairs.
Emerald at that time, only knew the mediator. Her memories were so much muddled she could not certainlt identify the back up who had captured her. The mediator who had chickend out. Because the magic that ritual neede was out of his reach, and he was panting and sweating madly. He had only participated because he wanted to get rich, and that did not bod well with being dead because of total magical exhastion.
He had ripped the mask when he was out of reach of the circle of inchantors, and a new mediator filled his place.probably because He had thought he could get his money another way. Merely by blackmail.
Oh, didn't she say? The mediator, Sylwan, had taken a photo of all of them. A photo, taken from his memories of that night, a memory he had saved from obliviation by him removing the memory physically to a jar just after he had left the ritual. How he had done it was irrelevent but the fact that he had…
Clever thing he was, he had ripped the photo in half. Emerald only found half of it in the then empty house, torn in half and burnt. So she could only spot Eileen.
Another funny fact they did not know.
The participants would live to the end of their lives, apart from what they had donated. Unless another participant, or a child born out of it ended them.
And it was the original Noir, who knew what it would induce in its changed form? Would it change their mind? Would it make them forget?
Emerald had lost consciousness, and part of her memory was foggy due to bloodloss. She had searched for years on end to find the participants, or the children. Among those who were born between 1959 and 1964, she had opted male black haired ones, and started from there.
It was not only participating in THE NOIR that made her dark, it was the fact that she wanted revenge, at least against the leader, who later she found out renamed himself to Voldemort.
Unfortunatly , she had managed to find only one of those kids, Severus. Born from Eileen Snape, 1960. And it was just her luck to find him when he was dying( or letting himself to wither away). By the hand of Voldemort's familiar.
She had to decide then, revenge against Voldemort, or saving the life of this poor soul.
She chose both. And she was happy to have done that, because by coming back, she finally confirmed that Regulus Black, was another one, the one bound to Severus. And the stupid thing was in danger.
Regulus had ignored the first three letters. The forth one he kept in order to show his grandfather, or Severus.
But this? This was outrages!
It was not a letter at all, but a photo showing his Mother and an unkown woman vaguely familiar. And a single word written in capital letters, red ink.
NOIR.
Ok, his french was not that bad to not understand the word. What did it mean by sending Black? Did it mean the woman had an affair with his father? His mother? Were they best friends with his mother? Regulus was old enough to know their marriage was not out of love, he was not that green. Was the woman french? How it was related to Severus?
He searched the library, the books he could read and there was nothing. He searched the archieve of daily prophet they kept, no mention of NOIR or his father and the mysterious woman. He made the mistake of asking Kreacher , and the poor thing had been distraught, banging his head against the wall and hitting himself until Reg orderd him to stop. Then he begged Reg to not ever ask about it, or go searching it, or mention it.
Regulus was worried sick now. Did the woman name was noir and she had such a reputation that his elf was scared? Was she a relative of Blacks? Did she found out about Regulus thinking of a halfblood as a brother and wanted revenge?
Was she writing the letters threatening him?
So he had replied: what do you want?
The answer came in a quil. And Regulus touched it before Kreacher could prevent him. Reg felt a powerful apparition-but not quite apparition- sensation, and he was gone.
Severus was surprisingly spending a trouble free holiday. Tobias would go to work at the crack of dawn, and he would be back for supper. He would spend an hour watching the news, God knew what he was searching in that damned box, and then he would talk with his wife. About what he wanted for tommorow lunch, or if the baby was okay and such things. He had even said good night to Severus and asked him if he needed anything. Severus, as shocked as he was, managed to politely refuse anything and thank him.
This was the most words spoken between him and Tobias. He wondered what was his agenda?
The most notable thing was Eileen. She was subtle in her glances, but not that much. Severus noticed her calculating looks, as if she wanted to measure him against some unseen standard of her to see if he was worth it or not.
Severus did not mind, as long as he was unharmed, his stomach full and no-one touched his note book he was writing about his future past in, he was ok.
The baby, did that happen last time and he was as ignorant as the little kid he was? Was it new? He could not bring himself to care about her, another person- the most vulnerable as an infant- to protect. How to protect an unborn from both his mother and father? If she was magical shit would hit the fan, and if not…
He could remember many times he had healed himself with his magic. A squib had pitiful amount of it, he couldn't think about a kid being hurt and yet.. should he go to Longbottoms or Bones? He knew he would be a burden, but maybe he could earn his- and his future sister keep? He could play the rule of an elf if needed, but leaving an innocent infant in care of a depressed and a drunk? Could he call on muggle authorities? Magical authorities? Would it tip the war against voldy's side if he did?
He already had his hands full with safegaurding Regulus and Peter. There was Andromeda and Ted, Gideon and Amelia and Fabian. Also Charity to protect from the wold, then there was Alice and Frank and Marlene.
And Lily.
He never gave a shit about Potter, but Lily was his first friend. Not his best now. There was a competition between Frank and Regulus in his mind. Could one have two best friends?how he had come to love the younger Black as a brother?
At first he was shocked. Then appalled. Then just surprised how it did not happen the last time. It felt too natural, like it meant to be.
And the restlessness…
There was an uneasiness in his stomach, as if something unsavory was about to happen which severus could not fatom why. Was Emerald gone on another advanture with Fawkes?
It was a fine evening. Severus had written until his third year when the ugly face of one Kreacher, the half mad elf of Blacks.
"master friend! Master Regulus is in danger! Master gone like puff with the magic quil. Magic quil take master regulus! Master arcturus not be home! Master arcturus be angry and iron kreacher ear! Master said to get master friend!"
Yep. Not half, he had gone compelety. He even didn't say master "mudblood" or "half boold filth" . though he still had the style as he spat the "friend" word like it was fuck or shit or damn.
Puff? Magic quil?
He was about to say to stuff it somewhere when the unwashed thing grabbed his hand and transferred him via apparition .
When he appeared in Regulus bed room, he was beyond angry.
(he knew Reg's bedroom, he had stayed here several days when he recupperated from the hospaitality of Dark lord, er.. his future self had)
"what..the ..hell..are you doing!"
He rasped. He was still not so much in tune with his magic, elf apparition was better than side along, but it was still apparition and he hated it.
Then came the second shock of that day.
The house magic smelled of blood. He could see it splashed everywhere. There were bits of dark things lurking around to catch a gallible victim. The smell of blood was so much strong he felt like vommitting.
Guess black was not wrong about the house being EVIL. All those protective spells had paid their cost somehow, eh?
Severus cursed his "perception". He inhaled deeply. Ok severus, deal with it. Your future you dealt with the aftermatch of bellatrix "fun", this just inconvienice. It is magic, not actual blood.
It took him more than a minute to take control of his mind. A minute the rock-brain elf took clawing on his skin.
"bad elf, kreacher is bad. Master Regulus must torture kreacher with breaking his fingers"
Severus was quite fed up with that nonsense" stop it now you mangled misfortunate ugly thing and tell me what HAPPENED!"
Then the elf, told him. Apparently, this Black brother was mad too. He had gone and become pen pal with an unknown third person, out of his misplaced loyalty to "him". Sev was not flattered one bit. He rather wanted to get Regulus alive, chuck him in the dungons with filch and beat him bloody to make it known how much he was displeased with his stunt, then hug him tight enough to suffocate the brat.
He asked the elf for letters, and as soon as inspecting them, he wanted to face palm. The elf had told him his plans came into fruitation at last. Andromeda was free of Sylwan, and better. Sylwan had been chucked out of wizingamot, the git. Of course it was up to Ted now, to prove his worth.
It was clear as a day, Sylwan was behind the mess, even if he had not recognized the signature handwriting of Sylwans. Writing any bloody S, like it was a capital letter. He would want revenge, and who better than the beloved – as much as one could put love and Arcturus in one sentence- not mad grandsonand heir. And all Regulus aquintances were well protected, all but one, himself. He wondered what ridiculous thing had sent Regulus ire levels up the roof.
Sylwan had most probably ported Reg to his house, behind many many wards no one could reach in time, good for severus, this time in life, he had perception, which meant he could see the wards and avoid them. He doubted Sylwans could afford more than a standard one.
"do you know where is Sylwans house?"
The hysteric elf nodded in affirmative.
"then why in Merlin's pants you are waiting for! Get me there!"
And another crack later, he was before the medium sized house. He gathered himself for a minute and the ordered " if we are not out of the house in 15 minutes go get Lord Arcturus."
"but he be out of country!"
Shit. Severus had one of the worst lucks among all his pears. Ok, so no Minerva, or Pomona, or Albus. It would take so many explaining and they had no jurisdiction here, as they were no blood relatives of him or Regulus. Lord Orion? Lord Longbottom?
Oh how stupid of him! LORD BONES! He was his eternal friend and ally, and he was an auror.
"get Lord Bones, tell him I am there and held against my will"
Then, like a real life time idiot, he marched to the house which was 100% a trap.