Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
It was a summer day when it had happened. The throne-room, located in the big castle of the Slytherin kingdom was dull as usual. Not even the strongest rays of the Sun could light up the face of the Queen, who was famous for the way she ruled the kingdom. There were rumors that the Queen had the help of Dark Magic, for no normal human could be that evil.
He was sitting on his chair, already bored and the day had barely begun. It was too hot to even function, and Sirius was not so lucky to be able to sleep in, for they had to discuss how to stop the ‘rebellion.’
If Sirius was honest, the so-called rebellion had a few good points to make, but of course they were peasants making those points and they deserved nothing more than to be paraded and flogged. So, as always, his face was trained to be a blank canvas as he was sitting on the chair that was nearest to the throne, signifying his power as the unofficial (but forced) crown prince. Today’s agenda included, just like every other day of his life, to spend four more hours on this same exact chair wearing extremely impractical clothes, pretending he was comfortable, pretending to listen and pretending to agree with all the selfish decisions made by the Queen, this is what he meant when he said he hated being a prince. He couldn’t wait to go to his chambers just to sneak out and go down to the kitchens, or the wine cellar, or even Regulus’ bedroom and tell him about his day. Regulus was sixteen, merely two years younger to Sirius, was not old enough to sit in the court but had all the excitement about the court proceedings and Sirius should have had but lacked. Hell, he didn’t mind just going to his chambers and staying with his dog. His dog, that no one knew existed because apparently dogs are not ‘royal-enough’ pets. His mother had said, “We don’t have pets, and even if we do, it should symbolize the royal legacy and be some animal like a tiger or a jaguar, or even a snake!”
See, Sirius cared about his people, actually cared about those in need and those had been fighting for their rights and their lives for a long, long time. However according to the Queen, people who deserved rights only included those who were belonged to the noble houses, the so-called ‘pure-bloods,’ and landlords who exploited the poor ‘mudbloods’ under them. The pure-bloods and the Queen wholeheartedly believed that the peasants and servants and dead-weight of the country and that all of their discrimination against them is justified. Sirius, could see right through all of this. There have been numerous occasions where he a gotten a reality check of his privilege by people who he now considered his true family.
He was about to start his daily zoning-out, when there was a huge clatter and the courtroom doors flung open. The Minister walked in, behind him there were at least eight guards surrounding a criminal who was hidden from the view. Nevermind, today may be fun. His interests peeked up trying to get a look at the shadowed figure that was hanging behind the royal guards. Why would there be so much fuss about this kid? Sirius thought. Something suddenly dawned to him, he straightened his back. Unless the kid was...
The Minister, Lucius Malfoy, walked forward and quickly bowed in front of Walburga.
“Your Majesty. After four months of searching, we finally present to you, the leader of that so-called Phoenix cult, Remus Lupin.”
Ah, so this was the infamous Remus Lupin. He looked up and was shocked to see the other man. He was not as muscular or ugly as their spies had informed them. Instead, he was extremely thin and extremely tall. He looked as young as Sirius, maybe even younger. Sirius was sure that he couldn’t have been more than 19 years old. It was hard to believe this lanky kid had caused so much chaos throughout the kingdom, especially in the courtroom. Sirius wanted to thank him for all the free entertainment he had gotten because of the drama Remus had stirred. The other man was still fiddling with his handcuffs, the panic was clearly masked by a neutral expression on his face. Sirius almost felt sorry for him, knowing that he was going to die within a few days.
“Order of the Phoenix” The kid, Remus, correct, his voice lacking any kind of fear.
One of the guards whipped his back as the minister chided over him, “You speak too much and too proudly for a man who is to be dead within twenty-four hours. If I were you, I would have bowed down and pleaded for mercy!”
Remus looked like he wanted to spit on the minister’s face, but he did nothing. Not bowing, not even lowering his eyes. His green eyes were fierce and challenging as Lucius presented a long list of crimes committed by the ‘vigilante’ over the past year. It would be a waste of a beautiful face if he died. However, no one, including Remus was surprised when Walburga announced, “He is to be hanged tomorrow at noon.”
There was no panic, masked or not, on his face now. He surely didn’t seem like the person who would give up without a fight, he was a rebel after all. But it seemed as if Remus was ready for his fate, almost as if he had already planned the outcome of his death. Interesting.
“Wait, don’t kill him,” Sirius was shocked to hear his own voice echoing throughout the room, his eyes were firmly on the other man, whose face shot up. This was the first time he had looked at Sirius since entering the courtroom, Sirius could finally see the other’s eyes to realize his eyes were not green but hazel. However, those eyes, along with the whole court were looking at Sirius with either confusion or anger, or a mixture of both.
“Think about it, your Highness. He is the people’s leader, they love him. Is killing him really the solution?” He turned to face his mother, trying to hide his smirk, “Killing him will not stop all the small protests scattered across the kingdom, but it will join the people to rebel together. And we don’t want that. We neither want to let him die a hero nor are we strong enough to resist the force of everyone rebelling at once.” He faced the court, shot Remus a quick wink, and continued, “Your Majesty, he can also be useful in giving us some very essential information about the rebellion from him, given the fact that he would know everything about the rebellion... he is the leader”
Remus’ face fell. Hah! so, this was his masterplan. To be a martyr. Walburga looked as if she was actually considering Sirius’ words.
“Good job child. It is as if you are finally using your brain to talk sense. Alright. Remus Lupin, consider yourself lucky. You are sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment instead. Dismissed”
Now Remus started fiddling more and more with his handcuffs, desperately trying to escape. He screamed and tried to fight away the guards. Sirius watched him with an amused grin, he liked how Remus reacted when things didn’t go as planned. Maybe Sirius can break him down, not that he cared about getting vital information about the ‘The Order of The Phoenix,’ but it could be fun...