Chapter 102: The Underbelly of Politics

One sunny morning in April, Lyanna was sitting outside under a tree, doing her Astronomy homework. They were learning about some of the most popular stars and constellations, along with their names. A lot of the names were ones she recognized, including her own sister's name, Capella. The only difference was, the star name Capella was pronounced "Ka-pell-ah", whereas their parents pronounced her name "Sa-pell-ah", due to them living in Italy.

Some of the other names she learned were Bellatrix, Cygnus, Regulus, and Sirius. She was hoping she would learn Arcturus and Andromeda soon.

All of a sudden, a voice cut through the quiet. "Black," Peter Pettigrew said, walking over to Lyanna. "What are you doing?"

"Astronomy homework. Why?" Lyanna asked curiously. She knew this third year was trouble, and she was prepared to duel him if necessary.

"Why are you doing Astronomy in the middle of the day?" Peter asked. "You can't see anything when the sun is out."

"I don't need to," Lyanna retorted. "I'm doing the written work, not the practical portion."

"You're weird," Peter commented.

"Thank you," Lyanna said with a smile. "Blacks are very weird, indeed. Everyone is, really."

"I'm not weird," Peter snapped.

"Oh, yes you are," Lyanna said, trying to hide her smile as Peter huffed in annoyance. "I mean, bullying students, trying to poison an Heir to a very powerful pure-blood family... that's just weird!"

Peter lunged at her, whipping out his wand and pressed it against her throat.

"How dare you!" he yelled. "You'll regret ever saying such a thing!"

"Hey! Being weird is not a bad thing!" Lyanna exclaimed, her wand now in her hand, pointed at Peter. "And get your wand away from me!"

"Hey, Pettigrew!" a boy yelled. "Put your wand down!" The boy walked forward. His name was Elof Melin, Heir to the House of Melin. When Peter didn't immediately move his wand away from Lyanna's throat, Elof flicked his own wand, and Peter was disarmed. Elof caught it. Eija, the second oldest and the only girl, came over to Lyanna.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm alright," Lyanna said with a smile. "You must be Eija."

`"I am," she confirmed. "And these two are my two younger brothers Caj and Hannus." Hannus, a Slytherin like Peter, dragged him into the school to go see Professor Slughorn.

Eija stared at Lyanna's Astronomy homework, and groaned. "I do so well in all my classes except Astronomy," she admitted. "I remember being in my first year, and I couldn't remember those star or constellation names to save my life!"

"I don't have to worry about remembering anything for my classes," Elof commented. "The Melin Heirship ring gives me a photographic memory."

"That is so cool!" Lyanna exclaimed.

"But it can also be very annoying at times," Caj said with a laugh.

"So, are you guys from the group that is trying to unite the houses?" Lyanna asked curiously. She thought she remembered Yeoman mentioning them once before, Eija in particular.

"Yes, we are," Elof confirmed.

"And it's a really good group!" Caj said loudly. Eija rolled her eyes.

"Caj, shush!" she said, rolling her eyes. She turned back to Lyanna. "Sorry, my family's very loud."

"Oh, I also know some people who are loud, one of them named James Potter," Lyanna said with a laugh.

"Well, if you're up to it, we could join you for a bit, and we could get to know each other," Elof suggested.

"Great idea," Lyanna agreed just as the youngest brother returned.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, Lucius Malfoy sat in a chair, though he thought it should be a throne. There were about a dozen people gathered around him, all people who promised to follow him, the soon to be next dark lord.

As Lucius stood, the people there quieted down. "I was wrongly expelled from Hogwarts thanks to the bloody Headmaster and that good-for-nothing Auror Moody," Lucius began. "Then the dark lord Voldemort was killed thanks to the Black Family. I've had it! The Black Family needs to be taken down, along with all their other allies, like the Potters, Longbottoms, Bones, and many others. We must remind them that pure-bloods run supreme, and their muggle-loving beliefs won't save them forever!" Everyone cheered. "So, who is ready to make the pure-blood traitors, the half-bloods, and the Mudbloods suffer?" Lucius asked.

"Yes!" some shouted.

"Me!" others shouted.

"Let's go!" the last one shouted.

"Good," Lucius said with a smirk. "Now, let's find more followers. Lestrange, have you been successful in getting the Parkinson family to join us?"

Lord Lestrange stepped forward. "My Lord, I spoke with Lady Parkinson, and she said that the House of Parkinson cannot join us because of the political alliance she has with the House of Black," he stated.

"Alliances can be broken," Lucius said angrily. "Tell her to join us, or else!"

"But My Lord, cutting off an alliance will ruin the reputation of the House of Parkinson," Lord Nott said.

"Their reputation has been ruined already thanks to the foolish Black Family," Lucius sneered. "Get her on our side, or her children will be in grave danger!" He then turned to Lady Prince. "Since you know her so well, you can talk to her and convince her to join us," Lucius said. It was not a suggestion, it was an order. Lady Prince nodded.

"Yes, My Lord," she said quietly, already dreading the conversation to come.

"Good," Lucius said with a cold smile. "DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME! Now, go! All of you! By our next meeting, I expect at least a dozen more followers to come with you!" The followers scurried away as quickly as they could when he dismissed them.

Lady Prince Disapparated to go meet with Lady Parkinson, already knowing the kind of conversation that would unfold.