His Mark
[Knowledge is Power]

20th August  2018

"I had an interesting chat with a boy a few days ago," stated my father.

The man sat on his wooden chair like a throne-although the chair was nothing more than a skeletal frame of wood. He watched us as if he was king, and we were subjects at the table, like there  were no bars between us.

Azkaban may have etched deeper wrinkles and eaten the muscles to the bone,but it has not broken Anthony Yaxley's pride,which was shown in the hardness of his eyes and the steadiness of his gaze.

I couldn't give a tooting rat's arse about the interesting chat with the interesting boy who was probably an idiot cellmate who had interesting (ahem, rich) connections. I was waiting for the overdue dismissal to give my parents some space so that I could finish my manga in peace- because I need to know whatthehellisinthebasementgoddammit...

"Cordelia, I believe you are firm acquaintances with Aileen Ollivander?"

All thoughts of the basement were gone.

"Yes. I guess we could be considered friends..." I trailed off. Friends didn't fit right. Too informal and a bit shallow.

My father nodded, as if he had confirmed something.

"Very good."

I stared at him for a while before replying, deliberating on what to say. I'm assuming Mother told him about our friendship over the year, though why was he questioning me about it I don't know.  
I took a while to reply though, because I've learnt it's best to plan and rehearse your words before speaking with him. Especially if you tended to rant if you're nervous or lying.

"Father, may I ask why we are conversing about Aileen Ollivander?"

I probably won't get an answer, I grumbled to myself.

But hey, life's full of surprises and today I  got a whole year of conversation packed into one day.

"Aileen Ollivander paid me a visit two nights ago. As I said we had a very interesting conversation. Very promising much like-"

"His uncle." The words were out before I could stop them.
Mother turned to give me a cowering, tiger-like glare that made me want to melt in a puddle and die.

"Cordelia! How dare you interrupt your father like that-"

"Amara, enough," My mother's rampage was immediately quelled by his controlled voice.
Anthony Yaxley turned his heavy gaze back to me. The intensity of his gaze me making me squirm.
This amount of attention was very foreign to me, sort of like someone following you with a magnifying glass.

I really wish he'd stop.

"You know of the Dark Lord's connection with Aileen?" He asked, quieter than before.

I nodded before speaking, giving me an extra few seconds to compose my sentence.

"An uncle," That's weird. I have never heard of the Dark Lord having a living male relative, I thought, "Which, as his next of kin, makes him the Heir of Slytherin."

The suspicion in my tone must have tipped off Father of my feelings right now.

I knew Aileen.
He always has a motive for something.
So what was the motive for visiting my father?
I wonder if he visited other prisoners, or just him?

"You don't trust Aileen." That was a statement.

I recoiled at that.

The thought of not trusting him after being friends for two years was false and lying to me, something that I hope I'm not. It also wasn't true,or at least partially. I trust Aileen with a blade not to knife me in the back.
I trust that he would never use Legilimency to manipulate my will to his.

In a nutshell,I 99.99% trust him with my life.

His motives towards other people however...not so much.

"I trust that Aileen has no ulterior motives towards me. However, there are things about him that don't add up. Why did he visit you?
Why is he always up at 3 AM using a translator dictionary to translate ancient Chinese scrolls? And how is his father a living male relative of the Dark Lord-when nothing is heard of him-"

"Cordelia." My father's voice cut through my speech like a silver knife, that vibrated through the still air.
I immediately froze all train of thought.

"I do not fully place my faith on him. He is still young, too young to know what he'll end up as. However I can see he holds promise that he will benefit this family, and it will benefit you as well if you continued your association with him. He bears blood of the Sacred Twenty-eight after all"

I dismissed the Sacred Twenty-eight bit as unimportant waffle and  looked to my mother. It was the tightness of lips and stiffness of her posture that gave away her true feelings-she did not agree with my father.

But she would not say anything, because even after my father's great fall, she would still follow him.

Hang on-Mother and Julius disagree with Aileen's influence-Julius because he's Julius and Mother because she wanted no more of Voldemort's influence on my name that could affect my already slim chance of a job.

So why was my father, who now can only care for the salvation of his tarnished family name, agreeing to it? Aileen came here to talk-no to promise something Father wants.

"Aileen made a deal with you,didn't he?" I demanded harshly, forgetting my composure in that moment.

Just what was he up to, and why does he need my father?

A harsh defensive light that flashed in father's grey-blue eyes was all I needed for confirmation as he stood up in his full height, and even in his diminished state he still towered over me.

"Watch your tone,young lady. Just do as you're told! Now go,and leave your mother and I."

I stumbled into my staircase, avoiding my mother's vengeful gaze. Was I going to get it when we got back home.

I turned the page of my manga, ready to drown the last few minutes with the revealment of the basement's secrets .

But I suppose this year I'll have my own secrets in the basement to find.