#serpentinadia

Hogwarts wasn’t what James expected. He had expected something more than this. James was bored. And disappointed. Huffing and crossing his arms, he hiked through the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest on his way to Hagrid’s hut. At least Hagrid he could trust. He could trust Victoire and Molly, too, but they weren’t even in his House. Or, rather, he wasn’t in theirs, since they had both wound up sorted into Slytherin. He couldn’t begrudge them that and they had classes together which made it easier, but he had no one to spend his down time with. At least not anyone who didn’t judge him by his last name. He couldn’t tell if they wanted to be his friend for him or for the fame that was attached to his name. So James was left on his own, kicking at the rocks in his path, restless. There was so much adventures that surrounded Hogwarts’ walls, so much to explore, but he didn’t want to go at it alone.

Sighing, he continued along his path when he heard voices. Lifting his head of messy, black hair, James’ eyes locked on the four kids in front of him. Walking closer, carefully so that he wasn’t detected, he listened in on the conversation. They were all boys, all of which he recognized as fellow Gryffindors. Three of them, older than first years, were swarming around the fourth who appeared to be James’ age. “No, really, Ahn, you should totally go in there,” one of them was saying to the one that, by the body language, James could tell was the ‘outsider’ of the group. “No one ever listens to the rule that we shouldn’t go in there. And there’s this really cool thing in there.” Another one of the kids piped up in agreement. “Yeah. There’s this creature that’s like part bunny, part kangaroo.” James’ nose scrunched, knowing there was no such thing.The last of the three twat kids (as they were called in James’ head) pushed at the younger kid, pushing him towards the forest. “Come on, don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to see? It’ll be like nothing you’ve seen in the muggle world.” They continued to push at the kid, who seemed dubious and James rolled up the sleeves of his robes, turning his walk into a sprint. “Hey!” he called out, pushing at the backs of the older kids once he got there. “You’re gonna get him killed.” Not even eleven year old James had enough nerve to think that he could walk into the Forbidden Forest on his own. “Potter,” one of the kids spoke his last name snidely, the others with a snicker. “We’re just teaching our naive friend here a lesson. Just trying to show him what our world is like.” Another spoke up. “Yeah, we just want to give him a tour.” James’ face further pinched, reaching into his robes to take out his wand, poking it up and into the nostril of the shortest boy. “Unless you want my wand to take a tour of your nose, you’ll leave him alone.” He reached with his free hand to grab at the younger boy (Ahn, hadn’t they called him that? James vaguely remembered that from the sorting.) “Oh, look at what we have here, another hero just like his old man.” At those words, James further stuffed his wand up the boy’s nose. “Just. Leave. Him. Alone.” James took a step back, his wand retreating. “Or I’ll sic Victoire on you and we’ll see how brave you all are then!” His nostrils flared and he crossed his arms, stepping in front of Ahn as a shield. The three older bos looked at each other, shrugged, one saying that it wasn’t worth messing with a Potter, and they walked away.“You totallly shouldn’t go into the Forest on your own, just so you know. But if you ever want to,” he pointed to himself, “I’ll go with you, if you want me to.” Stupid older boys just wanted to take advantage of this kid because he knew nothing of their world. They were all pricks, the lot of them. “And if you want to get back at those blokes, let me know. I totally know a trick or two that we can pull on them.” 

Ahn smiled at him and James immediately felt at ease in a way he hadn’t since he’d arrived at Hogwarts. “I’d love that, bro.” He extended his hand. “I’m Lance Ahn, bromeo extraordinaire. At your service.” He then tilted his head. “Why didn’t they want to mess with you anyway?”

 Death Eater!James

“You’re a fool if you think something like that will work.” James spoke boldly, bravely, the true Gryffindor that he was. He stood where he was seated, squeezed Nadia’s shoulder in reassurance that he knew what he was doing. “You think you an take over the Minsitry, just like that? And here I thought the lot of you had gotten smarter after last time.” James stood in front of Astoria, Fenrir, and Rabastan. The great “leaders” had learned nothing from their past. “Leaving Hogwarts to merely students is also an ill-concieved notion. Most of your children don’t have the gaul that they need. They’re just following after Mummy dearest,” he threw a look to Astoria, then to Rabastan, “Or good ol’ dad. Their heart isn’t in it.”The three looked at each other, clearly not caring much for the doubt in their leadership. They were quick to call an end to the meeting and before she apparated, Nadia threw him a significant look. He nodded to her, telling her it was fine for her to leave. She was one of them who’s heart wasn’t in it, not truly. She merely wanted to protect her brother, do it for the sake of her family. That wouldn’t be good enough. James did it in spite of them. As far as he saw it, he was the Death Eaters’ greatest asset. “You want to do this, you need to do it properly,” James spoke up once more now that it was down to just the four of them. “You need to take out McGonagall. After school is session, otherwise parents might not send their children, won’t think it’s safe.  Even then, there’ll be resistence, and that’s what you’ll want. Hogwarts isn’t important for takeover. You’ll just want to lock it down to keep the students’ efforts focused on the school, not outside of it. Most of your children are weak but even they are capable of at least ruffling up their feathers. My family’s especially. They’re a bull-headed lot, most of them already suspicious of anyone with a name such as Lestrange.”He reached into his pocket and unfolded the map, tapping it with his wand. “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good.” The map unveiled itself, as trusty as it ever was. He used his wand as a pointer, outlining his plan. “Keep the students concentrated on each other. Have your little underlings meet somewhere other than the Room of Requirement. It’s too obvious of a choice and will be where the resistance will also likely meet. We’ll have the map, so we’ll know if anyone dares to approach us. Keep the students’ tasks simple, just enough to divert attention while you are all at work taking over the Ministry.” He closed the Marauder’s Map and opened another, one that was similar in nature. Only this one unveiled the layout of the Ministry, a place he had spent countless hours in, and all of the workers in the office, every Auror, was marked and named. “You’ll want to take out Shacklebolt first.” He tapped his finger over the Minister’s name. “However you want to do it ought to work. Make a display of him. Soon. Rip out his throat. Should be simple enough for you, hmmm?” He looked to Fenrir.James then turned to Rabastan. “As for him, well, I know you won’t let me do the honors. I know you all still don’t trust me. Even though I took your stupid, crass mark, even made a Vow.” This was what James had been longing for, waiting for. And these three were just crazy enough to do it. They wouldn’t win. No, the Death Eaters never would. They were too fanatical, too messy. But they could at least accomplish what he wanted them to. Too long James had been cast in the shadows. He had stayed in that darkness casted b the names of his grandfather, his father, all of them that his heart had been morphed by it. His light snuffed. He had always caused his parents trouble growing up. Always been a little too much for them to handle. Too much for them to hope to control.“So let me do this then. You can’t expect Fenrir to be able to do it. You’ll need to be trickier about it, make a mystery of it. A fallen hero,” he spoke the word with contempt, poison on his tongue. “Who was killed so simply. What’s a better story than that, a bigger horror? Shock the world with it, shroud his death in questions. The Boy Who Lived becomes the Man Who Died. In his office. Drinking. Talking to a dear old friend. Family.” He considered his options, going up to the window and glancing over his shoulder, “I hear Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione have been having troubles lately. Who better to seek advice from over a drink than their best friend?” 

“Love is a fairytale told to children.”

     “Um?” Amma snorted, a glint in her eye somewhere between sharp judgement and amusement. She flipped dead straight, blonde hair over her shoulder, taking a drawn out moment to exchange blank, slightly smirking glances of ‘is she fucking serious right now’ between the gaggle of girls flanking her.     “Okay, then. I appreciate the level of deep you tried to go to with me just then, but, like, hun, I’m not following.”She rolled narrow shoulders into a shrug, flashing a somewhat feigned and purposefully awkward apologetic smile. Then she leaned forward, as if to share a secret with Nadia despite having not lowered her voice half a decibel.     “Maybe because my parents actually love me, y’know? I don’t need to tell myself love isn’t real, because, well, I’m loved. I guess I’m just lucky, right?”

“What a fake smile.”