434A/N: Here's the latest chapter I promised. I know it's a little later than I said I would have it up, but my beta is in Scotland right now and has no access to the internet until she gets back on November. Now I couldn't possible wait that long to have this chapter up so I took it upon my self to read it through at least one more time and check it for errors I might have missed. It's not entirely error free, I'm sure there's bound to still be some errors. I'll probably repost this chapter once my beta hands in her corrections. But bottom line is, I've tried correcting this and I am now posting it for all of you to enjoy!
I'm not really sure when the next chapter will be up since I've not written it out yet, but I will try not to have a very long interval between the chapters, like what happened to this one. Rest assured though that despite my terrible posting schedule, the idea for this part of what will probably be a seven part series, counting for all of Erebus' years at Hogwarts, is still very much fresh in my mind. So no worries about my muse dying or anything. My only real problem is time management.
Disclaimer: Any thing unfamiliar here is mine. However those that are familiar belong to the wonderful JKR.
Chapter 14
Hogwarts' student body was feeling very restless. A massive blizzard had been raging outside the castle for three straight days forcing its occupants to remain within its protective walls. All classes and activities held outdoors had been cancelled until further notice causing a restless drone to spread all over the ancient castle as it meant that Quidditch was also cancelled. Erebus was no exception to the restlessness that was spreading throughout the castle. However his agitation was brought upon something entirely different, whereas everyone else was fidgety at being kept indoors, Erebus was simply tired of being in the company of far too many hyper children. In the three days that the blizzard raged throughout Northern Scotland, Erebus had not found a single solitary moment, let alone hear himself think, and he had a lot of things to think about.
First of was the Philosopher's Stone hidden within Hogwarts that his father was obviously after, and to make matters more complicated, three Gryffindors knew about the stone as well. But as thought provoking as his other problems were, nothing compared to the unease he was feeling about the entire situation. There were just certain elements that did not add, like why a wizard as powerful as Nicholas Flamel would be willing to part with his precious stone? Flamel was more senior to Dumbledore and was just as powerful in his old age; he did not need someone else protecting his stone for him. Then there were the questions of why of all the Gryffindors in Hogwarts, it had to be Longbottom and his little group of idiots that had to find out about the stone. There were simply far too many coincidences to keep Erebus' analytical mind at ease.
In an effort to keep himself from hexing the next person to sigh and whine about being cooped up in side the castle, Erebus found himself a nice, dark niche in the upper floors of the ancient castle where he could meditate and mull over his thoughts. Shiva, who had insisted on following him, was also quite tired of the ruckus in the common room, but had left him an hour ago in pursuit of a mouse she'd seen lurking around. It was while he was doing a rather complex third year hex on a passing spider that his familiar slithered back up his arm, a tuff of what looked like brown fur stuck on one of her fangs.
"Ssshiva, didn't I tell you to clean yourself after a meal before ssslithering up to me?" cried Erebus indignantly, spelling the fur off of his snake.
"Sssorry massster, but I wasss in a hurry." replied Shiva coiling around his arm.
"And why were you in a hurry?" asked Erebus, curious.
"To tell you sssomething massster. But look, he'sss here." hissed Shiva, her pointing at someone walking towards them. "Lookie lookie who'sss here massster…"
Erebus looked up to where his familiar was staring at and saw Longbottom, all alone, walking in their direction. A conspiring smile then graced his face.
"Ssstay where you can be ssseen, Ssshiva." said Erebus. It was a good thing that their current location was so perfectly secluded in darkness that no one would ever seen them unless they really looked. He waited until the Gryffindor was only a few steps from him before emerging from the shadows.
"Good morning, Longbottom." Erebus said cheerfully, as if greeting an old friend.
The timid Gryffindor stopped in his tracks, nearly colliding with him. "W-what do you want, R-riddle?" said Longbottom, stuttering and paling at the sight of the rather large snake coiled up in the Slytherin's arm.
"Oh, nothing much, Longbottom." Erebus stated, looking the boy up and down. "Just wanted to ask you a few questions."
"What could I possibly know that you'd want to know?" asked Longbottom, taking a step away from the Slytherin and his snake, who had by now taken to hissing profanities at the Gryffindor. It said a lot about Erebus' self-control when he managed to maintain his aloof expression despite his familiar's highly amusing, albeit vulgar comments.
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Longbottom." stated Erebus, cutting the distance between them. "Tell me, how was your meeting with the Headmaster?"
Erebus watched as the chubby boy's eyes widened, "What's it to you?" Longbottom cried, a spark of his Gryffindor bravery briefly shinning through.
The Slytherin aristocrat raised a perfectly amused brow and smirked. "You'll find that everything concerning you concerns me, Longbottom." Erebus broke through the Gryffindor's personal space and his softly whispered words caused Longbottom's hair to stand on end. "Or have you forgotten why you live with your grandmother?"
Longbottom paled dramatically and Erebus could see the boy clench his fist tightly. "Y-y-y-o-o-u…" the Gryffindor stuttered horribly.
"I, what, Longbottom?" drawled Erebus condescendingly, crossing his arms before him and straightening out to his full height; slight though he maybe in height, the effect was still threatening, especially with a large snake coiled up his arm.
"Don't talk about my parents like that!" Longbottom breathed out harshly.
"And why shouldn't I, Longbottom? Your tragedy is very much part of wizarding history that it pretty much becomes public property. Everyone knows what happened on that tragic night and as a prominent member of our society, I have the right to know about the wellbeing of our two most celebrated Aurors. They after all stood up against the forces of Darkness." said Erebus, circling around the visibly enraged Gryffindor. Erebus then leaned in and whispered disdainfully in the Gryffindor's ear. "Brave, unlike you!"
Erebus pulled back immediately just as Longbottom clumsily tried to punch him the face, a satisfied smirk plastered in his face.
"So, Longbottom, care to tell me what trouble Gryffindor's Golden Boy has gotten himself into that he has to go see the Headmaster?" asked Erebus with genuine curiosity. The sudden change in both topic and attitude caused the slight panting Gryffindor to stare owlishly at Erebus.
"T-t-that is none of your business!" replied Longbottom in a soft trembling voice.
"Perhaps you believe yourself better than us for being the Headmaster's chosen protégé that simple school rules no longer apply to you." taunted Erebus angrily, a mad glint in his eyes. "But of course the Headmaster being a former Gryffindor will perpetually favour his former House, and with you, his Golden Boy in the same House, you'll always be treated like a saint, incapable of getting into trouble."
Longbottom clearly looked uncomfortable, and just as Erebus was about to speak again, the Gryffindor spoke up in agitation. "Look, meeting Fluffy was an accident! We didn't mean to end up in the third floor."
Erebus fought hard not to openly smile victoriously at the easily manipulated boy who looked like he was about to sick up at having just blurted out what he did, to a Slytherin nonetheless. Erebus therefore contented himself by starring down the horrified Gryffindor. "Fluffy?" he intoned incredulously.
"Riddle, please, you'll get Hag–" Longbottom clamped and shaking hand over his mouth before he could cause further damage and stared beseechingly at Erebus.
"So it was the oaf who informed you of this. And the Headmaster has not seen fit to dismiss him for divulging school secrets to a mere eleven year old boy?" drawled Erebus, enjoying the look of dread on Longbottom's face.
"Please, Riddle…" begged Longbottom, reaching out towards the Slytherin. But before he could get any closer, Shiva hissed menacingly at the boy.
"Touch me Longbottom, and you'll wish you'd never been born." exclaimed Erebus with a cold sneer, his familiar hissing ferociously on his arm
Fortunately better their interaction escalated into something else, a stern, rather obnoxious voice drifted into the corridor. "What is going on here?"
Erebus closed his eyes briefly, schooling his expression to that of complete innocence before turning around to face the newcomer. The bespectacled young man was of medium height, had a head full of red hair and a face splattered with freckles.
'A Weasley' thought Erebus disdainfully.
"You're that Riddle kid, aren't you?" said Weasley.
"And which Weasley are you?" replied Erebus in voice that clearly indicated he didn't care.
"Percival Weasley, Gryffindor Prefect." said Weasley with a frown but then puffing out his chest to show his Prefect badge. "And mind your manners, boy!"
"You can't tell me what I can or cannot do, Weasley." intoned Erebus haughtily and the turned his eyes away from the eye sore that was Weasley hair. "Well Longbottom, it was nice talking to you. But I fear I must leave now."
"Just wait a minute Riddle." demanded Weasley, flustered. "I don't remember snakes being included in Hogwarts' allowable list of pets."
Erebus' eyes flickered upwards, meeting that of Longbottom's wide brown ones, causing the boy to step back in surprise, before turning around to face the prefect once more. "Then report me, Weasley." he said coolly and nonchalantly, oblivious to the fact that both Gryffindors had taken a step back at the dark look on his face.
"I-I will!" cried Weasley, surprised at ominous look on the Slytherin's face.
'Very well now may I take my leave?" asked Erebus, his tone patronizing.
"Yes," said Weasley in a hard voice. "And ten points from Slytherin."
Weasley looked rather smug with himself but Erebus merely gave him an indulgent smile before walking away from the corridor, though not before turning his piercing green and red eyes towards Longbottom. And as he was walking away he could hear Longbottom talking to the prefect about how he should not have taken any points from Slytherin. Erebus smiled happily at that and began stroking his familiar's scaly head.
"That wassss fun, wasssn't it, Ssssshiva?" hissed Erebus. "Ruffling Gryffindor featherssss."
"Yessss, Masssster."
Walking back to the portrait that concealed the Gryffindor Common Room, Longbottom felt himself shivering in fear at that sound of cackling coming from the floor below.
sSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
"What did you do?"
"Excuse me?"
"Weasley and Granger are staring daggers at you while Longbottom looks like his toad has just died, not that that would be horrible. You did something to them, now what was it?"
"Ray, you wound me with your accusation."
"Reby, you reek with excitement."
Erebus glared at the name and turned away from his cousin to find that Weasley and Granger were indeed staring murderously at him from across the Great Hall. "They're just furious." said Erebus softly in way of explanation.
"That's pretty much obvious from the way they can't keep their glares off you." replied Draco
"Let's just say that they're mad that I was able to get one of their tongues wagging." Erebus smirked causing the two Gryffindors to glare at him even more, not that their glares were intimidating, Anna probably had the most intimidating glare next to the his father and godfather's.
Blaise, who had simply been listening to his friends' conversation up until now, looked up at the individual expressions on the three Gryffindors' faces and came to a conclusion. "Longbottom." he stated evenly.
"Yes, I haven't had that much fun since that day when Draco found out that Uncle Luc was in negotiations with the Parkinson's about a possible betrothal." said Erebus, seemingly lose in a memory.
"Can you please not bring up that particular event?" cried Draco incredulously.
"Come now Draco, you have to admit that was some powerful bit of accidental magic." said Erebus, taking a bite out of his Shepard's Pie.
"Yes, Lucius was left bald for an entire week." Blaise chuckled heartily, earning surprised looks from those around them.
"Well I'll admit cursing Father's hair off was funny." Draco conceded. "But still, I do not want to remember that event. It took me awhile to get Pansy to stop clinging to me and for the nightmares of a shrieking future Mrs. Malfoy to stop."
Erebus snorted at the mental image and said, "Yes, Pansy is better suited to being the future wife of someone who can handle and has an affinity to dark creatures." He then hissed in pain as the Italian wizard before him promptly gave his legs a sharp kick.
"So what did Longbottom spill?" asked Draco, hoping to change the topic of their discussion. "Did he tell you how they managed to find out about the Stone?"
"It's not really wise to discuss that here, Ray." said Erebus, as he rubbed his sore leg. "Plus Amanda isn't here, as much as I would love to tell you all how I managed to get Longbottom to talk, I do not like repeating myself."
Knowing that that was all he was going to get from his cousin about the matter, Draco asked, "Did Amanda say when she'll be done doing whatever she's doing in the library?"
"No, she left in quite a hurry and said that she needed to look at some more books for her research." said Erebus.
"I wonder want has gotten her attention? She's been running back and forth the library for three days now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's trying to embody Granger. " mused Draco.
"Perhaps she's found something new to her and wants to know more about it?" suggested Erebus, now getting curious as to what their friend was up to.
"Well, she could have just asked us." said Draco.
"That's the problem." Blaise uttered nonchalantly.
"What is?" asked Draco while Erebus looked on in earnest.
"She doesn't want to ask either of you or me for that matter." said Blaise as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why ever not?" cried Draco in disbelief.
"You've got to look at this through her own perspective." said Blaise looking slightly uneasy at the incredulous looks from his friends. "She grew up in a muggle orphanage thinking she's worthless but then finds out that she's the last of a Pureblood line that once served in the Circle. She's angry that her heritage was robbed from her by whoever placed her in the orphanage but on the other hand she feels lose because despite knowing who she really is, she doesn't really have any idea what it all entails."
"And you know of this, how?" questioned Erebus.
"That night during Halloween, she asked me once whether I knew of the things that are temporarily being secreted from here about her heritage." said Blaise. "She said that whenever she thought she was coming close to understanding something; something else comes along to throw her off."
"Well, she should ask us then, we'd gladly tell her what she doesn't understand." exclaimed Draco.
"Haven't you been listening Draco?" intoned Blaise, causing said boy to bristle at him. "She's angry and lose, she needs to figure these things out for herself. It probably gives her a sense of control, not having to depend on others for what she feels she ought to have known."
"That's just silly." said Draco, crossing his arms and leaning slightly in his seat.
"When was the last time you asked for help?" countered Blaise, looking at both of them pointedly.
"Well I –" Draco began confidently but soon found himself unable to think of a situation.
"You see what I mean." said Blaise triumphantly. "She may have been raised as a muggle, but she's Slytherin to the core, like all of us. We are proud and detest any signs that could point to a possible weakness. She'd rather isolate herself and figure out her own heritage than admit to her friends that not knowing who she truly is is affecting her and causing her to become insecure in her surroundings."
A thoughtful silence followed Blaise's words as the three of them contemplate on Amanda's predicament.
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before." said Erebus after awhile, causing Blaise and Draco to stare at him in confusion.
"As her friends who will not judge her for this," explained Erebus, his eyes flashing briefly towards Draco, "we should try and her help adjust more to our ways. It is after all no fault of hers that she is oblivious to her rights as the only remaining member of her family. We will not be going against my mother's wishes about not discussing these details within the castle, but we will be helping with her with etiquette and all the small details any Pureblood heir should know of. Hopefully that'll get rid of any evidence of her muggle upbringing and help her come out of her shell. I see so much potential in her and I hate to see it go to waste because we, her friends, are too thick to help her."
Blaise snorted at that and said, "I'm all for it!"
"Me too," said Draco, "And we should get my mother and Anna to help out as well, because you know, they're girls and all."
"Brilliant!" uttered Erebus, an enthusiastic smile on his face. "We should also try asking Mother for help but I doubt she has time for something like this. But I'll send them all letters later tonight, nonetheless."
With that particular problem solved, the three of them proceeded to enjoy their dinner, not knowing that it would only be later in the evening that their friend would approach them with something entirely unrelated to her heritage.
sSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
Remus Lupin had been completely immersed in his reading that he was surprised to find that he had only half an hour left before dinner in the Great Hall ended. It was the Headmaster's rule that all of the staff be present in the Great Hall for at least one meal a day and since he'd already skipped the Great Hall for both breakfast and lunch because he'd once again found himself behind his grading as result of his monthly problems, he had no choice but to run three floors down to at least make a brief appearance and grab a bite to eat. He was descending the last few steps that would bring him to the double doors of the Great Hall when he caught sight of an unguarded Erebus Riddle walking with his friends, probably having just had their dinner and were on their way back to their common room.
The boy was truly small for his age. But he wasn't particularly worried since the boy looked healthy enough and that during his own years at Hogwarts he'd seen his fair share of boys who had their growth spurt late in life, like him, for example. No, it was not the boy's height that caught his attention, it was the look on the child's face that rooted him on the spot, for as the boy laughed and smiled, the redness in his eyes faded, revealing a brilliant shade of green that he'd only ever seen in one person in his lifetime. For months now he'd been trying to ignore the nagging feeling of familiarity that seem to be drawing him towards the boy since upon looking at the boy's lineage, he found there was nothing there to indicate that he was a long lost relation to the boy. But now, seeing the boy openly for the first time, he could clearly see the similarities between a dear friend, a pack member, that was long dead.
'Lily?' he thought wildly. 'But that's impossible!'
A myriad of thoughts then passed through his head, each idea more outrageous than the last, trying to make sense on how a boy with no connection whatsoever with his deceased friend could possibly possess her aura. His thoughts however were interrupted when someone grabbed his shoulders.
"Hey Moony, where have you been?" asked James Potter.
Lupin shook his head to clear his befuddled mind before turning to answer his friend. "Just lost track of time."
Potter gave him a firm pat on the back and said, "Well you'd better get going if you want to get a bite to eat; you're cutting it real short for dinner. By the way are we still on for that drink in your quarters later?"
"Of course James," replied Lupin. But for the remainder of the evening, there was nothing on the History Professor's mind other than the bright green eyes of Erebus Riddle and Lily Potter.
sSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
After dinner, unaware of the thoughts running around his professor's mind, Erebus could be found engaging in a game of chess with Flint, who, by the look of things had not expected the eleven year old boy to be quite proficient.
"I thought you said you were an amateur?" Flint groaned out as his white king was trounced viciously by Erebus' dark bishop.
"Compared to Professor Snape, yes." drawled Erebus with a smirk on his face. Flint shook his head in disbelief before planting his face in his hands. "Well I'm always up for a rematch, as soon as you've practiced and improved that is."
The Slytherin Prefect and Quidditch Captain groaned loudly in his hands. Erebus, taking the groan as a negative said, "It's your loss."
The fifth year soon left his side and he began repairing the damaged pieces of his chess set, setting up another round playing solely against himself. It was a self meditating technique he'd learnt from his mother when she was teaching him Occlumency. It was an extremely uncommon technique to use since the mind would still be working, as opposed to the clear mental state that is required of the mental art. But Erebus found the unconventional meditation fascinating and took it upon himself as a challenge whether he could keep all his other thoughts away from his mind and keep it relatively empty but still be able to maintain high mental facilities. It was like pushing everything else away and focusing every ounce of energy towards one, extremely important object or situation. He knew his godfather used this particular meditative technique when brewing highly dangerous potions as it made one's magic more perceptive to its surroundings as a means of compensating for the mind being so closed off and focused on a singular object. One indication of a having attained the perfect meditative state for this method was when a diagnostic charm reveals that the person has no visible brain activity, meaning that clinically the person was catatonic. He'd yet to reach that level of 'catatonia' with this method of meditation, but he was a natural Occlumens, capable of blocking a proficient Legilimens. Plus he knew of other meditative methods to achieve a clear state of mind that he wasn't he in a great hurry to master the art of 'catatonia' and practiced only when he had time.
It was a good hour later when Erebus' magic sensed someone approaching him and without looking up to check who had just sat on the sofa before him he said, "Back from the library at last, I see."
"You do know that chess is meant to be played with another person, right?" said Amanda, staring at the on going match.
Erebus smirked, taking down the black knight. "Yes, I am aware of that."
"So this is just Erebus Riddle being his mysterious, I do really weird things that no one can ever hope of achieving because I am the Heir of Slytherin, Prince of Darkness, self?" asked Amanda in amusement.
The Slytherin Common Room was, for the first time, witness to the rich, ringing laughter of one Erebus Ferrox Riddle. Despite the laughter being short lived, Erebus' eyes still shone with mirth as he address his shocked friend, after all it was rare for him to ever open himself up to anyone other than his family. "Really now, Amanda, Prince of Darkness?" drawled Erebus, his amusement still obvious on his face.
Amanda shook her head, shock but pleased at the reaction she'd gotten out of her friend. "Well, you kind of are. Especially with who's in your family and standing in the wizarding world."
"Whatever you say Amanda," mused Erebus, it was then that he noticed the uncertain expression on Amanda's face and the rather large tome she held tightly in her arms. He leaned forward and said, "What's that you've got there?"
Erebus frowned as Amanda got flustered at the mention of the book she was holding. "Ahh…" she began uncomfortably.
"Does it have something to do with your family? Are you confused about something?" Erebus prompted, hoping to be able to help her. He however did not expect her to shake her head vigorously and stare at him as if she had done something bad.
"Then what's wrong Amanda?" asked Erebus, trying to figure what she could have found in the library to cause her to become like this.
'Could we go to your room instead?" asked Amanda quietly. "You know… more privacy."
Erebus stared at her, half tempted to look into her mind, but said nothing in return as he stood up and led her towards his and Draco's private room.
"Where are Blaise and Draco?" asked Amanda as soon as they reached the door to his and Draco's room.
"Inside," said Erebus, holding the door open for her. "Ladies first."
Amanda, still clutching the tome tightly in her hand, entered the room to find Blaise and Draco lying on their bellies on the carpeted floor, browsing through a Quidditch magazine. At the sound of the door opening Blaise and Draco looked up.
"You're back." said Blaise, getting on his feet.
"Good evening Amanda," said Draco, gathering the magazine before getting up on his feet as well.
"Hi guys," greeted Amanda, making her way towards them. Erebus closed the door sharply behind him and cast a few privacy spells as well to be certain before making his way towards the center of the room where everyone was gathered.
"Is there a problem?" asked Blaise, seeing the looks on their faces.
"Amanda's found something in the library," explained Erebus and Amanda took that as her cue to lay the book down onto Erebus' bed. The three boys gathered around her to get a good look at it. The book was bound handsomely in white leather with the Hogwarts crest engraved boldly on the front cover while the year '1978' was embossed right below it.
"My parents have one of those." stated Draco. "That's a Hogwarts yearbook. Why'd you get it out of the library for?" Erebus looked at the year on the book and had a feeling he knew exactly why Amanda had taken the book out of the library.
"I know we're not allowed to talk about my parents or anything else related to the Dark whilst inside the castle so I thought perhaps I could search in the library for any information about my parents instead, seeing as the Dark Lady knew them from her days here at Hogwarts. I was just hoping I might find a picture of them." said Amanda.
"Well, did you find one?" asked Draco.
Amanda looked crestfallen as she shook her head, sitting down on the bed she said, "I don't even know how they look like. I only had a family name to go by and according to school records Hogwarts has never had a student by the last name of McEvoy."
"I'm sorry Amanda," said Erebus, sitting down beside her and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I believe the McEvoys were one of the many Pureblood families that hid themselves during the war. They would have sent all their children to Dumstrang," said Draco as he took the book in his hands and began flipping idly through the pages.
"I kind of figured that out when my search turned up empty," Amanda said dejectedly.
"But then that leaves your mother," said Blaise who was leaning on the post of Erebus' four poster bed, his arms crossed before his chest.
"Yeah," said Amanda with a bit of excitement evident in her voice.
"Hey!" cried Draco as Amanda took the book from his head. "You could have said please!"
Amanda smiled sheepishly at him and then began slipping the book towards the end. "I remember the Dark Lady, or Lily as she wants me to call her, saying that she was good friends with my mother and so I tried looking for pictures of Lily during her years at Hogwarts, you know, to see if there was a picture taken with the both of them together. But then I found this."
Erebus stared at the picture where her hand had landed on and saw his mother arm in arm with none other than James Potter. There was a caption written below in a thin spidery scrawl that read 'Gryffindor Lovebirds'.
"Oh my," he heard Blaise gasp. "The stories are true. I thought mother was pulling my leg."
Erebus and Draco exchanged looks of resignation. They knew for quite sometime now that they had to tell Amanda sometime soon about their family's convoluted tale if they were wanted her to feel welcomed and part of their group. Having grown up with the rest of them, Blaise was already aware of certain rumours and secrets that tend to circulate amongst the Death Eater ranks, but this was a well guarded family secret, that if exposed at the wrong time and at the wrong person could mean the end of the Dark. After all, Lily Potter née Evans has been dead for ten years.
"You don't have to explain or anything, I'll understand." offered Amanda at the sight of their conflicted expressions. However Erebus could detect disappointment seeping out of Amanda and that propelled him into telling her his family's past, after all, come Christmas she would be well aware of her heritage and role in the Dark, she would soon be well ingrained into their world, there was no point in delaying the inevitable.
"What we're about to tell you is restricted to family members and Circle members and therefore can never go beyond this room, understood?" warned Erebus seriously. Something akin to surprise flitted through Amanda' ice blue eyes before straightening her back and nodding solemnly at them.
"All this of course happened before our time and what I'll be telling you is simply what we've been told and managed to gather through the years and a thorough interrogation of our grandfather's portrait back in Malfoy Manor. My mother is the youngest child of Giselle and Abraxas Malfoy but before she could be born Dumbledore took our grandmother away, hoping to weaken our grandfather Abraxas, the then Lord Malfoy because he opposed Dumbledore and was known to be a supporter of the Dark as well a powerful Dark wizard himself. Grandfather searched and searched for them unfortunately Dumbledore hid them too well and it was a year later that our grandmother's body was found in the shores of Azkaban, the wizard prison. But my mother was no where to be found. Grandfather was devastated at grandmother's death and according to those who knew him well; Abraxas Malfoy was never the same after that. He devoted his entire life into finding my mother whilst trying to defame the great Albus Dumbledore."
Erebus stopped and watched the look of shock in Amanda's face. It was then that Draco took reins over the tale they both knew so well. "It wasn't until my father's third year at Hogwarts that he found a red-haired first year that looked exactly like grandmother Giselle. She was soon sorted into Gryffindor but something told my father that she was unhappy with the Hat's decision."
"Uncle Luc and grandfather Abraxas tried to find out everything about this young red-headed girl," continued Erebus. "But it seemed everywhere they looked they were blocked or hit a dead-end. It was as if she'd just appeared in the doorstop of a muggle family one day –"
"Which is exactly what happened!" Draco blurted out
Frowning, Erebus nodded. "Yes, thank you for that Ray. Indeed after much searching, mother found out that she was indeed left on the doorsteps of a muggle family. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here. Dumbledore had the Marauders watching her every move and every time Uncle Luc or grandfather made an attempt to get close to her, something would always turn up, sending her further away from their reach. However Dumbledore did not count on my mother befriending one Severus Snape before attending Hogwarts and Uncle Sev was sorted into Slytherin. Uncle Luc used Uncle Sev to get my mother to see the lies Dumbledore had been weaving around her. Since they couldn't openly approach her, it took until my mother's third year for her to finally unearth everything that Dumbledore had been hiding from her. To say that my mother despises Dumbledore is like saying Kneazles are cautious."
Pausing for a moment to recall the events that followed his mother's discovery of her family, Erebus was amused to find that their two listeners were very much enthralled by the tale of his mother's life.
'If only you guys knew what she had to go through to get where she is now,' he thought sombrely, deeply proud of his mother's accomplishments.
"However grandfather Abraxas knew that Dumbledore would never let Aunt Lily go," said Draco. "And so he and the Dark Lord came up with the plan to deceive Dumbledore."
"Father told her that in order to be free of Dumbledore's hold she had to go along with the Headmaster's plan. Of course Mother greatly opposed the plan since she had just about had enough of the Headmaster's manipulation. But Father soon got her to agree and they even went on to have her date Potter." The name was spat viciously as Erebus pointed towards the still open yearbook. "They had to make Dumbledore believe that my mother was still oblivious to her heritage while slowly Father taught her everything he knew. And that is Lily Riddle nee Malfoy's tale – as we've been told of course."
"You think there's more to it?" asked Amanda, staring at the picture of the seemingly happy couple. But now that she knew the story behind the fake portrait, she could see the gleam of sadness and anger that would briefly flicker in Lily's eyes whenever Potter was looking the other way.
"Of course there is." said Erebus matter-of-factly. "This is Lady Moraga we're talking about, my mother, the Lady of Darkness; of course there is something more to her."
"Like her ability to come from the shadows?" said Amanda, recalling that time when the Dark Lady suddenly emerge in their Head of House's quarters.
"Ah…" intoned Erebus with a smirk. "That is called Shadow Walking; mother promised the she'll be teaching me that particular art this summer. It's one of the few rare abilities only she, and now I, can perform. Do not ask me why and how though," said Erebus at once when he saw Amanda about to question him. "It's not my tale to tell and despite how great these abilities are and how they make her powerful, she acquired them at an extremely young age through exposure to evils and darkness no one should have been exposed to at her age. Quite frankly I'm thankful that the abilities, despite being blocked right now, were passed on to me rather than having to acquire them like how she did."
"You make it sound really bad," said Amanda in a quite voice.
"You have no idea," Blaise answered, speaking out for the first time since seeing the picture.
"You know?" demanded Draco and Erebus at the same time, whipping around to get a good look at their friend.
"I've heard rumours," said Blaise softly and a visible tremble shook his body.
Erebus and Draco closed their eyes at the image that came to their heads, their body shivering slightly despite the non existent wind.
"If that's how you guys react to it, I don't think I want to know anymore." said Amanda timidly.
Erebus shook his head at that and looked at her intently. "No, you should ask her, you have the right to know, you'll be part of the Circle once you grow up. I promise she'll tell you. I simply cannot give the tale justice if I tell it to you now because simply put, I will never be able to experience it the same way she experienced it in her youth."
Amanda took the book in her hands once more and slipped through the pages, hoping to still find a clue on her mother's identity. It was then that she stumbled upon the last picture in the yearbook. It was once again a picture of a seventeen year old Dark Lady, this time however she was sitting under a large tree in the grounds with a dark haired boy who could be but none other than an equally young Severus Snape.
"They look so young," mumbled Amanda
"Hard to imagine they were once as young as us, right?" Erebus said in return.
Looking up from the pages of the book, light blue eyes met with piercing reddish green eyes then turned towards a pair of cool silver one and finally towards deep brown ones before uttering sincerely, "Thank you guys, for telling me all that you can."
Erebus smiled a warm smile that made her blush. "You're welcome Mandy, and I promise that by Yule, you'll know everything there is to know about your family."
"I'd like that." smiled Amanda.
A/N: Next chapter is going to be the start of Yule, and as we all know, that is when Lily promised to tell Amanda who she really is. I can't wait for you all to find out who her family is. Here's a tidbit, she still has one remaining family member and I am positive I placed a few hints on who it is in the earlier chapters. The one's who are able to guess gets to have the next chapter dedicated to them and a shout-out to their fics if they have one.
On another important note, who here is excited to watch DH part 1? I know I am. And who here thinks 147 minutes is way too short?
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dan4eva