Onwards
A year later Cepheus turns eleven. It’s a very important age in the wizarding world. This is the year he finally gets to go to Hogwarts. His Mère almost considers sending him to Durmstrang because apparently “Hogwarts was falling off now that fool Dumbles running it”. His mères words, not his. Fortunately for him, Durmstang was too “international” and “not befitting of his station as an English wizard” to attend. Which translates into “not English enough”.
On his birthday, his mère and he celebrates Beltane like always. His mère ignores him most of the day like always. Then a couple hours after they are done celebrating Beltane, she gives him a gift like always. She’s giddy and more excited than him for it like always. Except it’s a little different this year. Normally he gets some useful dark object or some potion ingredients. Or maybe a poison or two. This year, however, it’s a beautiful knife. Its handle is black goblin metal with snakes carved around where his fingers would go. Each snake's eye is encrusted with small rubies. The blade is also black and shiny goblin metal. There seems to be dried blood left on the blade. He’ll clean it off later.
“Do you like it my little Cephi?” Mère coos out his name.
“I love it Mère. Where did you get it?”
“It's a black family heirloom…once when I was younger my father took me down to the family vaults and I saw this knife….I just knew….it had to be mine. I’m only giving it to you because I love you so.”
“Thank you mère…” Cepheus’s face softens at his mother's way of showing love. Even through her violence and crazy rants, she was still his mother and cared about him. Even if it was a little unconventional.
“Now I know your grandfather isn’t the nicest to you but two should go out and do something fun together.” She smiled brightly at him.
“Grandfather has an extreme distaste for me.” She giggles a litte.
“Yes, maybe so.”
“Could I just stay home with you? We could do something fun together…” he slowly suggests.
“Mmh maybe my little raven. It is your birthday after all.”
“Are you busy today? I could just go to my room and read.”
“A little. I have a meeting with a special friend from school.” Now Cepheus wasn’t stupid. He knew who the special friends from school were.
“Of course. Maybe I could come along?”
“To do what?”
“I wish to inform myself of the current political movement of course. Many of your old colleagues are in the ministry right?”
“Yes, they are. To answer your question, you can come along but you can’t come to the actual meeting.”
“Of course” disappointing but not surprising. The problem was that Cepheus knew what the meeting was but not where. It’d probably be in Malfoy Manor but that wasn’t ideal.
An hour or so late, his mère calls him down to the apparition point in the manor.
“Raven! Come on! We mustn’t be late.” Cepheus sprints towards his mother and grabs onto her as she aparates them to the meeting. Cepheus immediately regrets asking to go as his stomach tries to fight him.
“Ughhhh” he groans out as he turns green.
“Tsk. Honestly child. You need to learn how to control yourself. Only weak women can’t handle apparition.”
“Sorry,” he groans as she casts a quick spell to make him feel better.
“Now stand up tall. She should be here in a second.” He does as he’s told only for a second later a tall, dark, and beautiful woman with gorgeous curls enters the room. Her makeup is smoky with dark red lipstick. If looks could kill.
“Oh, darling!” She exclaims in a thick Italian accent. Cepheus is surprised. He didn’t know his mother spoke to any Italian witches.
“Viviana! How are you and the husband?”
“Oh well..he passed a couple of days ago. We’re all so sad of course. Especially poor Blaise, he had become such a father figure to him these last couple of months.”
“Oh my. Tragic of course.”
“Yes, Bella dear. Quite.” The woman, Viviana apparently, smiles a little. It’s cruel and a little creepy. It reminds him of his mother quite a bit.
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought along my son. He didn’t want to be alone on his birthday, you see.” She gestures towards him.
“Oh no. Of course not. Piacere mio!” Cepheus did not speak Italian. It wasn’t important to his mère or grandfather enough to learn. He felt a little out of his depth and uncomfortable. He didn’t like when people had conversations around him he couldn’t understand. “I’m sure you know my son, Blaise?”
“Yes. I do. Sorry for the late notice madam.”
“It’s fine Caro. My son is going to need someone to keep him company while he’s grieving right now. The passing of his stepfather had been so hard on him.”!
“Yes, I’m sure.” He tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Zabini didn’t have feelings in his opinion. He hung out with his whiney cousin Draco, which automatically made you suck.
“Let me send for him real quick.” She claps her hands and summons a house elf to go fetch him. While they wait Viviana and his mother talk animatedly with one another. Again, no idea they even knew each other. When Zabini enters the room he looks like he always does. Tall, dark, and looking disinterested in anything and everything.
“Mother, you called for me?”
“Ah, Blaise! Why don’t you take Cepheus to go off and go play or something? I’m sure you need some help to grieve..”
“Yes Mother”
“Good boy. Now run along. We’re busy.”
“Come along, Cepheus.” Zabini motions to the way he’s going as if to say follow. So he does. He follows him out of the apparition point of the manor and to a sunroom. It has glass walls to the greenhouse and was nicely furnished with a large sofa and chairs. The room was huge with a lot of open space making the room have such a cozy environment.
Zabini sits on one of the seats and snaps to summon some tea. “Sit”. He does. He sits across from him and has some tea. “Why are you and your mother here?”
“Who will hear me?” He asks cautiously, glancing around a bit.
“No one. We have wards.” He stirs his tea slowly.
“Why should I tell you?”
“A trade.”
“For?”
“Information. You tell me what you know and I’ll tell you what I know. Simple as that.” He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and Cepheus cringes at the plebeian act. It still seemed to be done gracefully.
“We are here for a meeting.”
“I got that already.”
“Can you not read in between the lines? What could my mother possibly have a meeting about.”
He tries his best to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He takes a sip of tea instead.
“Ah, well your mother will be sorely disappointed.” He says matter of factly.
“And why is that Zabini?”
“My mother is and always will be neutral. There is not anything your mother could do to change my mother's mind.”
“Hm. I see.”
“Good. Now when did you notice that they were starting to be active again?”
“They always have been. It’s just very slow progress right now. They have a small meeting about once a year.”
“And will you be joining them?”
“My mother will force my hand no doubt.”
“Ah.”
They lapsed into silence for a good while. They just sat and drank their tea. It was a nice silence. You could hear the birds outside and the flowers smelled lovely.
“Are you ready for Hogwarts?” Zabini suddenly asks.
“Yes. As is every child in the British wizarding community.” He dryly retorts.
“Well, I was just asking because you have no alliances with the children our age. At least not in kids going to Slytherin for sure. “
“That’s because Draco is a whiney prat. And so are you and his other friends.” Zabini’s eyes narrow.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes, you heard me. I dislike my cousin and you.”
“I don’t remember doing anything to offend you.”
“You hang around my cousin.”
“Is that it? It’s the smart thing to do. Malfoy is an influential name. He’s also the heir to two houses.”
“Ugh. No, he’s not. I have more claim to the house of Black than he does. My mother is older than Narcissa by many years.”
“Oh.” He raises an eyebrow.
“You can tell him I said that.”
“I won’t.”
“Hmm. Your choice. Off topic but when did my mother and yours get so close? They were acting as if they were very close friends.”
“I am unsure. My mother has never spoken of her before.”
“I didn’t know my mother even knew an Italian witch! Your mother called her ‘Bella’! My grandfather doesn’t even call her that most of the time.”
“Weird… now I must ask. Why do you and Draco not get along?”
“Like I said, Draco is a jealous prat. He doesn’t like me so I don’t like him.”
“Boring…”
“Huh?”
“Well, I was hoping for more drama than that. Deludente!”
“What does that mean?”
“Disappointing. Like it’s disappointing you don’t speak Italian. Aren’t you supposed to know the most languages out of all of us?”
“I speak English, French, and Latin. My mother has no reason to care about Italian.”
“Whatever.”
“You have poor manners. How does Draco put up with you?”
“Draco hates me. He only keeps me around because I’m almost as powerful and rich as him.”
“He’s not even powerful.”
“Influential wise yes. More than you.”
“And why is that?”
“Your father is a convicted death eater. And while most people don’t trust Lord Malfoy because of his past, he was never convicted.”
“Well, that’s annoying.” Cepheus goes to say something else only to be interrupted by a house elf popping into the room.
“It is time for Heir Lestrange to bes leaving.”
“Yes, thank you.” He says as he stands up. Zabini followed suit to lead him down. The house elf leaves.
“Well then. This has been eventful and informative. You must call me Blaise.”
“Just because we shared information does not mean we are friends. It was an exchange not bonding.”
“Ah, I see.” He smiles and then leaves the room with Cepheus following behind. “I thought maybe we had connected a little bit.”
“Why did you think that?”
“You told me private stuff about your family.”
“We were trading information, were we not?”
“No, you are correct.” He stops speaking right outside of the apparition point. Once inside he stops fully.
“Mother, Lady Lestrange.” He bows. Cepheus silently copies.
“Ah, Blaise! We were waiting for you. Our meeting is over and Bella here is ready to leave now.” She looks at Cepheus. “It was nice meeting you, Caro!”
“You as well Lady Zabini”
“I trust my Blaise was a kind host to you.”
“Yes, my lady. “
“Come Cepheus.” His mère motioned him over and then apparated them home.
It was a good birthday.
The morning before Hogwarts starts, Cepheus wakes bright and early. He eats breakfast and reads the paper. It’s all about Harry Potter and his great return to the wizarding world tomorrow. He doesn’t care and throws the paper down. Who cares about the golden boy savior? Not him.
The day of Hogwarts is as exciting as it is underwhelming. He’s excited to be finally leaving his mothers grasp for a while. He loves her of course but she is a bit of a control freak. It’s underwhelming because this is not some great adventure like some of these kids believe. Hogwarts is a school. He’s going there to learn not to be a fool.
He boards the train without much fanfare. His mother couldn’t come along because she was busy with a warding job and his grandfather didn’t like him enough to see him off. He was fine with that. He sits in an empty compartment and stares out the window. He was truly alone in the world right now. It’s so liberating. He smiles.
The train starts. The whistle blowing signifies the start of his journey in life. Onwards to Hogwarts.