Author's note: I am back from my vacation, so I will be back on a regular schedule for updating. Thank you for your patience!
Chapter 103: Severed Ties
Lady Prince met with Lady Parkinson at Parkinson Manor.
"Lady Prince, what can I do for you?" Lady Parkinson asked after her house-elf had gotten them tea.
"Lady Parkinson, thank you for agreeing to meet with me today," Lady Prince began, setting her tea down. "Lucius Malfoy, the Heir to the House of Malfoy, is gathering followers that believe in pure-blood traditions and ideals. I am proud to say I am a follower of Heir Malfoy, soon to be Lord Malfoy, seeing as he is our next dark lord."
Lady Parkinson raised an eyebrow. "So, you are telling me that you are following a man who is only the Heir, not the patriarch, of the Malfoy Family?"
"Well, Abraxas is getting old, and Lucius will most likely become Lord Malfoy soon enough," Lady Prince defended Malfoy. "We need to go back to pure-bloods having control, and those half-bloods and Mudbloods do not have a say in our world. My question to you, Lady Parkinson, is, will you join us? Will you follow the soon to be Dark Lord?"
Lady Parkinson sighed. "Lady Prince, you know I have a political alliance with the Black Family," she explained, but Lady Prince interrupted.
"So what?!" she spat. "Who cares if you have a political alliance with the Black Family! Alliances can be broken. Lord Black is just using the Parkinson Family to get the votes for whatever he wants!"
Lady Parkinson glared at Lady Prince. "I may not always agree with Lord Black," she began. "In fact, I rarely ever agree with him. But he has been respectful to me, and I have been respectful to him. He is just playing politics, which is part of a political alliance. Besides, you know as well as I do that I cannot just cut off this political alliance. If I did, the House of Parkinson would be dragged to the ground. The Black Family would make sure of that. That is why political alliances are rarely ever broken. Look what happened to the House of Weasley! They're traitors!"
"But Lucius could save your family reputation," Lady Prince pointed out. "The House of Malfoy has a lot of influence."
"They might have a lot of influence, but not as much as the House of Black," Lady Parkinson shot back. "Besides, after a political alliance is broken, there is no turning back. The person in charge of the alliance has all the power, and can drag you through the mud! I will not let the House of Parkinson be dragged through the mud like that, especially from the House of Black!"
"Alright, then who cares about a family?!" Lady Prince shouted, losing her temper. The Prince Temper was on full display. "Loyalty to the Dark Lord is much more important than any bloody family!"
Lady Prince's words seemed to hit a nerve. Lady Parkinson whipped out her wand, and sent a stinging hex at Lady Prince.
"GET OUT OF MY MANOR!" she screamed. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY LIKE THAT! YOU HAVE NO CONCEPT OF FAMILY, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE YOU GAVE YOUR SON AWAY TO SOMEONE ELSE INSTEAD OF DIVORCING YOUR DRUNK MUGGLE HUSBAND! SO YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING! GET OUT!"
"But the Dark Lord!" Lady Prince tried to interject.
"I WILL NOT BE ENDING A POLITICAL ALLIANCE AND RISKING MY FAMILY'S REPUTATION JUST FOR A DARK LORD!" Lady Parkinson shrieked. "NOW, GET OUT BEFORE I DECIDE TO HIT YOU WITH THE CRUCIATUS CURSE!"
Lady Prince stood, knowing that Lady Parkinson would go through with her threat. When she got to the door, she turned around and said, "Lady Parkinson, I promise you, Lucius Malfoy will know about this, and he will come after your family. You will regret not joining us."
Lady Parkinson responded in a quieter tone, but no less cold. "I would suggest you keep your nose out of other people's business. Oh, and while you're at it, you may want to tell your son that you are following Lucius Malfoy. If you don't, I shall tell Lord Black, and trust me, you do not want that." Lady Prince glared at her one last time before leaving.
Severus Snape was in the Gryffindor Common Room, doing Potions homework. It was the last Potions assignment for the year, because the next two weeks would be full of studying for exams. He was looking forward to going back to Prewett Hall for the summer, or at least part of it. He was going to Spain with the rest of the Blacks in late July. He was pulled out of his thoughts as an owl landed next to him with a letter. He groaned when he saw the Prince crest on the front of it. Why would his mother be writing to him? He tore the letter open to read it.
Severus,
I do not want to write this letter to you, but Lady Parkinson has threatened to get involved if I do not. I will make this short, so read carefully.
Lucius Malfoy, Heir to the House of Malfoy, is recruiting people to help him rise to power and take over the Wizarding World, wiping out Mudbloods and half-bloods. Lady Parkinson has declined to join us, just because of a stupid political alliance with the House of Black.
Now, I despise half-bloods, but I will protect you, if you join us and leave the House of Black. Otherwise, be prepared to meet the same fate as all other half-bloods will.
I hope to hear from you soon with your decision, and it better be the right choice.
Lady Prince
Severus wanted to throw the parchment into the fire right then and there, but he had someone who needed to see it first. He stormed out of the Gryffindor Common Room, fuming. He would never join his so-called mother. He had a family now, and it was not her.
"Severus!" Sirius and Regulus called out, rushing after him. Severus didn't stop. He kept walking towards his destination.
"Severus!" Sirius repeated, catching up to him. "What happened?"
"Later," Severus said shortly, more focused on his destination than talking to people. Sirius and Regulus followed him to the headmaster's office. Severus opened the door without knocking, which would usually be considered rude, but no one said anything, knowing that Severus was just very angry at the moment. He threw the letter onto the desk, and declared, "I'm done! I'm ready to change my name!"