The Veiled Black

Theo was leaning onto the door of the Room of Requirement, his arms crossed, when he saw Hogwart’s currently only human coming his way. With his vampire strengthened senses and all, he could tell from miles away something was bothering his friend.

“You seem in deep thought,” he said when Marius was within range.

“Hmm, yeah,” the other replied, almost nonchalantly. “Pansy Parkinson defended me.”

Theo’s eyebrows shot up hearing what Marius said. He clearly didn’t foresee that answer. “You were attacked?” At that, he gave up his previous position and instead, approached Marius to check on him, making sure he was okay.

Marius’ eyes softened at the worry his friend is show him, trying to make the other sure he was certainly okay and let go of the topic. “My wounds are already healed. Hermione did a pretty good job at it.” Unfortunately, it didn’t look like Theo was about to forget this matter anytime soon.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” said the vampire. His eyes sharp.

Marius inwardly sighed before nodding his head. He summarized the events the best he could without revealing that Ron was Pansy's mate. When he finished, the aura Theo radiated was cold enough to rival the winter.

“I think Flint needs to be reminded some manners.”

Marius let out a smile in reply. “I’m fine, Theo. No need to waste your energy on him.”

Theo hummed, clearly not satisfied but also not wanting to cause Marius discomfort. So he waved his hand as if telling an alright. He then took a step back. His mind was reeling with questions as he crossed his arms. He knew Marius obviously didn’t want any pity or him blindly charging the other vampire to take revenge, but he just couldn’t help himself. He was in the middle of calculating how many rules he would break if he somehow catches sight of Flint when suddenly Marius spoke.

“Theo, why won’t they just claim their own mates?”

This made Theo stood up properly, his hands falling to his side and worry etched on his features.

‘Who is he talking about?’

“What do you mean by that?”

Marius sighed deeply. “I just found out that another werewolf is mates with a vampire.”

As soon as those words left his lips, even though Marius didn’t say it, Theo understood. ‘Ah, so that is the reason why Weasley was looking at Pansy with those weird eyes,’ he thought grimly.

“It wasn’t like this before, you know,” he said, trying to cheer Marius up. He went as far as ruffling the younger boy’s hair, making Marius look up at him with a pout.

“Then, how was it like before?”

He contemplated telling it for several seconds. “Well, if I tell you the whole story, it would take us the whole day.”

“Then tell me.”

Theo covered his mouth to chuckle. “You want to skip classes?”

That was when Marius realized he apparently didn’t have the whole day for himself. He pouted once again. “Tomorrow, then,” he offered. “Harry told me things about the war but only the gist of it. Besides, I want to learn it from your side as well. I want to understand.”

Theo let out a soft sigh. “You are so thoughtful Marius, but some things are just hard to change.”

At that, Marius’ eye flashed with so much determination that Theo couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback. “The past may be hard to change,” he said, “but we have the present to make sure that we will remake the future that our past has written for all of us.” Silver piercing eyes held Theo for a while, challenging him to disagree. When he thought Theo didn’t have anything to say anymore, Marius turned around, about to open the door, but it seemed like he thought wrong. A soft whisper from the vampire stopped him.

“Why are you even thinking of doing this Marius?”

Marius tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Theo fidgeted, unsure whether to tell the truth of what he was thinking or not. It was kind of hard to say, but he decided to tell him anyway at the end. “I mean, no offense, but you are human. Whatever happens in this war has nothing to do with you.”

Marius looked calm when he answered. “This is the world I have chosen to live in. Not the muggle world, but here, the world my mother also lived in. She might’ve kept me away from it before, but now I want to see the world for myself,” said the human. He paused a bit before continuing. “Also, don’t you think it is time for this world to have peace and harmony once again? I mean, don’t we all deserve some happiness?” Theo’s eyes widened, full of wonder. It didn’t last long, though. Soon it turned to be an amused look as he saw Marius grinned at him. “Besides, I’m really bored,” the human finished.

Theo chuckled before it died down several second later. The vampire took a deep breath before saying, “Orion.”

Marius’ eyebrow shot up in confusion.

“If you really wish to cause a change, Orion is the key. Get him to side with you and Slytherin will follow.”

“Orion is volatile,” he countered.

Theo then began shaking his head. “No, and you know that.” He ended that with a smirk. “I have seen you, Marius. You do not fear him like others do. I think you might be the only one capable of bringing our friend back to us. Pansy might’ve seen this too.”

Marius blinked. “Why, do you fear him too?”

Theo flinched at the accusation that he lowered his gaze to the ground.

“That idiot. He distanced himself from us, as soon as Sixth Year began. He became someone we did not know.” He scoffed at no one but himself and continued. “We tried, you know. But he just won’t let us in, he even almost wounded Blaise to death during our training the past month. And I was so mad, I convinced Blaise to stay away from him.”

Theo looked so hurt when he said that, almost as if the memory itself harmed him physically. Marius sighed before putting a hand on the vampire’s shoulder in a calm reassurance.

“Leave wounded animals to me,” he grinned.

Theo couldn’t help himself but laugh. “I can’t believe you just indirectly called him an animal.”

“Hey! Just so you know Beau was a wild dog before till I made him all soft and now he won’t even let me leave his side!” The human said with so much smugness in his face that made Theo wanted to burst into another wave of laughter. But then a line caught his interest that he spoke in a thinly veiled curiosity.

“Wait, you have a dog?”

Marius nodded eagerly.

“Here?”

“Yep!” and Theo laughed again.

“I wonder how the Gryffs will react to seeing your dog,” the vampire said, his lips twisted in amusement.

Marius looked smug once again. “Ha! That would be a spectacle to see, huh?”

Theo can only chuckle at his friend’s antics before he asked, “So, where is this beast anyway?”

“Oh, you can meet him tomorrow at my common room, if you want to,” Marius answered him with a smile.

Theo mirrored that. “Great. Now, I guess we should open the door. I fear for Neville’s sake.” The human nodded and turned towards the door. This time, no one stopped him from opening it a little and soon, the duo peeked through the crack. When they saw no one, they entered the room silently and Marius began looking around.

“Where are they?”

“Shh,” Theo placed his index finger at his mouth and signaled for Marius to walk toward the couches. There they saw the two tangled up in each other’s arms, sleeping in peace. Neville’s head was snuggled to Blaise’s neck while the latter’s chin was resting on Neville’s head, his hands clutching Neville’s waist protectively.

“I guess they were able to work things out huh?” Theo nudged Marius, his face was smiling.

“This is a proof that our future could still turn out brightly,” Marius stated as relief streamed through his veins. Theo merely nodded his head as he conjured a blanket provided by the Room and placed it on the sleeping couple.

…..

It was later, after ensuring Theo watched over the sleeping couple in the Requirement Room, that Marius found himself heading towards Professor McGonagall’s office to pass his essay on Vampire and Werewolf studies. Since that was the only subject he did not have with his classmates, Dumbledore decided that Professor McGonagall would be the one to teach him.

The hallways were, as usual, calm and bare. Or at least, that was until he rounded a corner and a sudden spark flew right in front of him, missing his nose by millimeters. When he turned around, he saw his classmate, Luna Lovegood, facing off another witch who seemed to be a year older than them. There were other two witches who merely stood on their places behind the senior, watching the scene as if an enjoyable show. That, and they seemed pretty smug that the older witch was about to defeat Lovegood.

Marius stared as Lovegood evaded spell after spell and casting jinxes on her own. He could see the sweat trickle from her forehead as she casted a protective charm when one of the females joined to hex her. He could see the shield wasn’t enough and that it was about to break any time soon. The fact that the other one was preparing to attack her too was screaming danger in Marius' ears. He ran towards the direction of Lovegood and pulled her away at the right time before the other witch casted bombarda. That was so going to be a fatal attack.

The females gasped as Marius held Lovegood to his chest protectively. He turned back and glared at them. “What do you think you are doing?” The anger in his voice wasn’t veiled at all.

They looked at one another before one of them spoke up. She looked like an Asian, but when she spoke it was clear that she was born and raised in England. She had black hair and her bangs were almost covering her brown eyes. She looked smug as she looked down at Marius and the now unconscious Lovegood.

“You shouldn’t interfere things that do not concern you.”

Marius scoffed and spat in return. “She is a witch just like you and yet why—“ he was cut off by the same female that was now looking at him with waves of disgust.

“Just like us? Please. She is a Dark witch. Impure, filthy and practices the Dark Arts. How dare you defend her?”

Marius was this close to hex her himself. “Just because she is a Dark witch you attacked her? Then what makes you any better? Three seniors attacking a single student, a junior, without any reason at all?” The other two flinched as silver eyes glared at them with malice.

The Asian stood her ground, though. “Then what proof do you have that we attacked her at all?” She made her point by looking around to make sure no one in sight. “I mean, look around you. Nobody is here.”

Marius sneered at that. Now he understood why Professor Snape was so bitter, what’s with dealing bunch of bullshits like this every day.

“Why would I need a witness when I can just offer Professor McGonagall my memories to prove it?”

This stunned the Asian girl for some time that Marius almost laughed at her misery.

“Y-you are just a human! You know nothing of the spell that allows you to do that!” she said in desperation.

His sneer turned even more deadly. “Ah, but I do know the spell. Legilimency, isn’t it? And if Professor would wish to view my memories on a Pensive, the spell would be—“

“Stop!” the other girl shrieked. Her brown complexion convinced Marius she was from somewhere in India.

“What do you want us to do?!”

“Padma.” The last one of the trio struggled to hold the Indian back. “You—“

“Marietta!” Padma yelled back. Her eyes shot a glare at the girl named Marietta, who has blonde curly locks and pale complexion. She was about to yell some more but was stopped by the Asian.

“Shut up Padma. I can handle this.”

Padma didn’t listen. “No. Cho, if you ever cast a spell on that human, do you really think the Headmaster is going to let this go?” Her sharp eyes made Cho shut her mouth and gritted her teeth in frustration. Then Padma turned to Marius and asked once again.

“What do you want from us?”

Marius sent them a smirk. His suddenly piercing grey eyes boring to every single one of them cruelly. “Don’t repeat this again, or else.” The real threat remained unspoken, but he said everything so icily that Padma took a step back in fear, a shiver running up her spine.

She took a deep breath before shakily said “Done,” and walking away as fast as she could, all the while pulling a furious Cho and a stunned Marietta with her.

As soon as he saw that they were out of sight, he immediately went to check on Lovegood. When he noticed that she had some serious injuries, he slung his bag over his shoulder. He carried her bridal-style and began running to the Hospital Wing.

Once he rounded up on one of the corners, he almost bumped into one of his classmates, who is headed to her own class which Marius remembered as DADA. Her red bright-hair reminded him of Ron, though he never asked.

“Woah, what happened?” she suddenly asked him.

“No time to explain. Can you tell Professor McGonagall that Lovegood is in the Hospital wing?”

“Uh…yeah, I—“

He did not let her finish her statement as he ran down the hallway as fast as he can. He was already near the Hospital Wing that he noticed there were now a lot of students who were out in the hallway. Most of them were higher years and were staring at him weirdly as he carried the unconscious witch.

It wasn’t long until he was surrounded by the vampires that seemed to have smelt the blood of Lovegood from her injuries. “I don’t think I want to let you pass, especially since you are carrying a very enticing meal in your arms.”

Marius did not know what to do, so he clutched Lovegood closer to him in hope that her smell is covered by his non-existent scent.

“Let me pass.” He glared at the one standing too close in front of him. When it was clear no one was backing off, Marius was ready to shield his body from their attacks. That, until he heard a very familiar voice.

“Why are you blocking the way?”

All eyes snapped to the direction of the voice, only to reveal a dangerous looking Orion who looked pissed as hell.

“Lestrange, we—“

With a wave of his hand, the higher year who spoke closed his mouth instantly.

Orion’s eyes landed on the center of attention before they met Marius unwavering gaze. Within second, he was already standing feet away from the human. He closed his eyes as he savored the smell of blood in the air and when he opened his eyes, it was swirling blue with a hint of it turning red.

He then took a step back and began walking away. Such gesture seemed like a permission for the other vampire as they suddenly regained their previous formation. Circling the human and witch, as if a feast. Though this time, it didn’t last long for the clicking of Orion’s shoes were heard when he stopped.

“Ah,” his voice was clear, bouncing on the hallway, and when he continued, he didn’t look back at the vampires who stopped at his words. “You should let them pass.”

It wasn’t very well received, though.

“And why is that Lestrange?” One of them hissed.

Orion turned back to see the one who talked back to him and stared down. “Potter and his puppies are coming.”

“Do you think we would back off?” the higher year said smugly.

Orion only shrugged his shoulders at the comment. “Well, if you are in the mood to brawl with him then do so. Don’t expect me to fight your battles with you.” His tone that clearly challenged anyone who was stupid enough to do what he said, combined by the grin coming a second after, had the higher year that spoke paled. Happy with the impact he made, the Lestrange vampire walked away.

It wasn’t a heartbeat later, as soon as Orion disappeared, that Harry, Ron, and Hermione rounded off the corner.

“What is going on here?” Harry said, his voice turned into a growl as he realized the vampires were surrounding Marius and Lovegood. The smell of blood in the air didn’t help as it only made his growl turned even more animalistic.

Sensing Harry’s obvious deadly state and truly not wanting anymore blood splattered anywhere, Marius took a deep breath before shooting his very best glare to anyone in the vicinity. “I don’t have time for this,” he snapped, “move!” His voice was so demanding that the vampire moved quickly as if to evade his wrath. He soon began his quick strode to the hospital wing. Harry and the others followed suit, not before the werewolf sending another warning growl to the vampires.

“What happened?” Harry asked as soon as they were in another less crowded hallway, but Marius ignored his question. He opted to turn to Ron and began handing Lovegood to him.

“Hey, wh—what?”

“Hospital wing. Now!” Marius commanded sharply. Ron quickly obliged, leaving his shocked friends in his wake. No one could command Ron that way. Not anyone except Harry, as he was the Alpha.

Said Alpha’s shocked state didn’t last long though because soon, he turned his attention to the human in front of him. Marius’ clothes were smeared with blood and the fact that he didn’t exactly know whether that blood was only Lovegood’s or not made Harry instantly checked any injuries on the blond.

“I’m fine,” Marius sighed, “Rather than worrying me over nothing, don’t you guys want to know just what happened?”

He didn’t wait for them to answer as he ran at his own pace as well to the hospital, again, leaving the Granger and the werewolf standing behind for exactly two seconds before the both of them quickly caught up to him.

…….

Madam Pomfrey was humming to herself as she stirred her cup of tea inside her office. In total, it was a good day, no student was sent to the hospital wing from their training. She began to savor the smell of Earl Grey, closing her eyes, when a bang was heard.

“Madam Pomfrey!”

She spluttered her drink, causing the tea to splash on her documents and even her white uniform. She was muttering profanities as she banished the stains with a wave of her hand. Obviously annoyed, she opened the door to her office. A badly injured witch in the arms of Ronald Weasley made her completely forget she should have lashed at anyone behind the door.

“Oh good gracious, Mr. Weasley! Quick gently place her here!” She hurriedly motioned to one of the empty bed. Ron did the best he could to ease the blonde girl to the bed. When the girl was finally out of his arms, only did he notice how badly injured she was.

“What happened, Mr. Weasley?” Madam Pomfrey asked without looking at him as she casted spell after spell to heal the girl.

“I—uh...I was just ordered to bring her here by—“

The door was pushed open at that time, revealing a panting Marius whose clothes were covered in red stain, followed by his two friends. He sighed as he did not know what to say to the old witch.

“She was attacked, Madam Pomfrey, and the fastest way to get her here was to ask Ron here.” Marius gestured to Ron who seemed proud to be of help.

“Quick thinking, Mr. Clarke. Had she been brought here any longer, she would’ve lost too much blood,” the witch said before she added, turning to Ron. “Mr. Weasley, would you please help me in turning her around? I need to tend to her back.”

As soon as they turned her on her stomach, she hissed in pain. There were four huge lashes on her back that were caused by magic, her clothes were now in tatters. Madam Pomfrey gasped at this. Out of curiosity, the other three looked as well and they were all equally shocked.

“Who did this?” Hermione asked, her voice shaking.

“Why don’t you ask your fellow Light Witches?” Marius said, sarcasm dripping his voice, without turning his head to face her as he helped Madam Pomfrey apply a salve to the poor girl’s back.

Hermione choked off a reply. “Wh—what?”

“You heard me,” Marius snapped back and Hermione seemed offended.

“I am sure that there are no Light witches who would dare do such a thing. Only a Dark witch would do this to one of their own,” she defended but even her voice was wavering.

Finally, Marius turned to her. Unshed tears in his eyes making his irises looked like molten silver.

“You were probably thinking that if you left the Dark witches alone the others would also do the same. But have you seen it? Most witches being brought to the hospital wing are Dark witches. I have only been here for a few days and I have already noticed. Just how blind are you?” he hissed venomously.

Clearly seeing dangers flashed around the human, Ron then stood in front of Marius in defense to his friend silently. Hermione looked like she had been slapped and she felt tears started forming. Before they could fall, she turned to Madam Pomfrey, asking quietly. “Is it true, Madam Pomfrey?”

The old witch merely closed her eyes before nodding.

Hermione was now fighting an internal battle inside of her head, her body shaking. Marius sending daggers at her through Ron made the battle no less easy. If anything, it made her felt cold all over.

“No. That is not true. That must be a lie. We Light witches will never—“

She was again stopped when Marius snapped at her, his patience wearing. “How thick can you get?!”

“Marius that is enough,” Harry voiced out sternly before the human could get his voice any higher. Marius glared at him before he turned again to the girl. This time, his voice was lower but colder.

“The Ravenclaws look up to you as a leader, Hermione, but please. Don’t turn your eyes away from the Dark witches just because you are a Light witch. Don’t you dare allow your prejudices to block your view of the truth that is right in front of you.”

“Marius. Enough.”

“You are the same, Harry.” The human chuckled darkly.  “You only protect those under your wing, but what about those who aren’t?”

Harry had heard enough. He started approaching Marius, his fists balled at his sides.

“You know nothing of our world,” he spat. “You know nothing about me, about Hermione. You are nothing. You are just a human.”

Hurt flashed in Marius’ eyes the instant the last line was out of his mouth and Harry realized that. He knew he had just made a horrible mistake, but his rage clouded his head. When Marius met his eyes once again, they were empty. Cold.

“Leave,” he said. “Now.”

When none of them moved, too stunned, Madam Pomfrey took this as her cue to enforce her rules. “I think it is best if you all leave.”

Harry was gritting his teeth as he left. Ron was holding onto Hermione’s arm who was now lost deep inside her own mind as he also glared at Marius before they followed suit.

It took the human three deep exhales and inhales before he finally could turned his head towards Madam Pomfrey and bowed his head.

“I apologize for the scene I have caused,” he said, perfectly prepared to hear a lashing tongue directed at him. Surprisingly, all he felt was a hand patting his head.

“What you did was brave, Mr. Clarke. You stood up for the sake of another student. Not just any other student, but a Dark witch one who is known to have a dark history with your race.” She turned her eyes to the sleeping blonde and Marius followed her gaze. “Had she heard of it, she would’ve been happy.”

“Is this really how twisted the world is?” he asked as he watched the way the wounds on Lovegood’s back healed slowly.

Madam Pomfrey’s eyes went to him then back at her patient. “It wasn’t all like this before.”

Marius blinked once, twice, before his lips turned upwards and then, he was chuckling.

The old Medi-witch couldn’t help herself but to feel confused at the extreme switch of emotion. Not that she thought it was bad. Rather, seeing the boy’s expression brightened this fast was a great relief for her. Still, she asked him what caused such action.

“You said the same thing as Theo,” answered Marius.

“Theodore Nott?” The shock on her voice slipped without her consent. “You are acquaintances with a vampire?”

Marius smiled sheepishly as he sat down on the bed where Lovegood lay, her back bare to allow the wounds to heal. “Two vampires, actually, but back to the point. Did witches have this much hostility with each other before?”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. “No. It began with the Black sisters, Andromeda and Bellatrix. Surely you know of them?” Marius merely nodded his head.

“While Andromeda was born a Light witch, Bellatrix was her opposite. The latter was promised to become the High witch, but when their mother retired, she announced that Andromeda would be her Heir. This caused Bellatrix to go on a rampage. She was stopped by the death of their mother but she swore to take back everything Andromeda has taken from her.”

Growing more curious than ever, Marius asked. “What about their other sister? Narcissa?”

“Ah. Kind, neutral Narcissa. Had she become the High Witch, no Dark witch would ever be judged by their nature. But alas, she loved them both so much that she could not bear to choose a side. That was why she ran away from fate despite having the power to stop her sisters from destroying each other. Then the war happened, she reappeared and after she did her role, she once again vanished.”

Marius felt like he was missing important pieces that he needed to know, but asking too much would make the old witch wary of him. He sighed, then opted to say thanks instead. Madam Pomfrey only waved her hand.

“It is fine, dear. Now, will you be staying here?”

Marius nodded. “Yes. It would cause Lovegood distress if she suddenly finds herself here alone anyway.”

“Very well. I will write you a slip for whatever class you missed.” And with that, she left. Marius then decided to sit on the chair instead after sitting on the edge of Lovegood’s bed. Pulling out one of the books in his bag, he decided to read while waiting for Lovegood to awake.