His Mark
[Knowledge is Power]

15th September 2016
Thursday

"...and that's when I took-,"
"Your shirt off!"

Juliet and Rosaline started to howl with laughter, rolling on their beds and clutching their sides.
I indignantly started to protest.

"It's not funny! They were on me! They could've gone down my bra!"

"Cordelia,you are as entertaining as a soap opera," Juliet managed to squeeze out through fits of laughter.

Rosaline and I frowned in confusion.

"What's a soap opera?"

"Oh...never mind. Wizards...," she muttered under her breath.
Juliet's father was a muggle, so I assume a 'soap opera' was some sort of muggle entertainment, but how do muggles managed to charm a bar of soap to sing?
And why are they so entertaining?

"But seriously, the first time you're alone with Aileena-,"
"Don't call him that!"
"Aileena-nerd, you strip right in front of his eyes. Too bad you don't have much of a figure." Juliet said while eying my flat chest.
"I'm only eleven! And please don't call him Aileena-nerd." I hugged my knees to my chest.
"Don't tell anyone about this ok? I don't want anyone thinking I'm a-"
"Slut? Stripper?" Rosaline offered while scribbling something on her parchment.
"Don't worry, we won't tarnish your perfect record."
"Thanks." I muttered and pulled myself over to her, peering over her shoulder to read her essay.

"Dragon blood is a great oven cleaner," I added as she struggled to recall the twelfth use of dragon blood.
"Oh,great, I knew it was something weird and out of place. Dragon blood is so expensive, why would you use it to clean an oven if you already knew Scougify?"

I open my mouth to answer, only to close it shut as a siren like voice pierced the air, which cut off after two seconds, followed by a crash and a series of angry curse words.

"Did a guy just try to get in our dorms?" Rosaline asked with renewed interest.
"Don't be too excited, it's my brother and he's going to kill me." I looked around and eyed the space beneath Juliet's bed.
"Prefects can get into any dormitories, so if he comes, I'm not here. Got it?" My voice lowered as I crawled under the bed, pulling the sheets over.

As soon as I pulled the rest of my anatomy under, our door slammed open,followed by heavy footsteps which immediately silenced the chatter of my friends.

"Where is Cordelia?" Julius spoke in his 'don't mess with me or you'll regret the day you were born' voice.
"You're Cordelia's brother?" I heard Rosaline say incredulously.

There was a pause as he surveyed her.

"Cordelia told you two about me,didn't she?" He said sharply.
"If you're looking for her,she's not here," Juliet replied coolly.
I could imagine my brother raising a disbelieving eyebrow.
"Really?"

Please, oh great and wonderful Merlin,please don't make Julius look for me!

"Really. She left five minutes ago, said something about looking for her Potions book in the common room."
I was struck by how smooth and natural her voice was.
No one ever dared to lie to my brother...ever.
"Fine. If she shows up, could you send her to the boys dormitories?"

I sent my utmost thanks to Merlin as the door slammed shut.
I crawled out from under the bed, sneezing from the dust gathered there.

"Thank you so much." I gratefully said as I plopped myself on my bed.
"That's your brother?!" I turned my head to Rosaline, who was staring at the closed door with a gaping mouth.
"Yeah..."
"He's hot!"
I blinked.
My brother was not that handsome!
"Rosaline, sorry to burst your bubble, but he's got a girlfriend." Juliet pointed out rather bluntly.
"Damn. All the good ones get taken."
She murmured before blushing at what she said.

I'm sure my smirk mirrored Juliet's devilish smile as she pounced towards Rosaline.

"So we have a little crush on Cordelia's brother hmm? Cordelia, do you give your blessings to the marriage?"
"Absolutely" I suppressed a snort as Rosaline's face grew crimson.
"I don't have a crush on him. And if you dare tell him..."

I watch the two bicker, and as the seconds turned to minutes my mind switched over to Aileen as per usual.

He was a Ravenclaw.
Yet he had a Slytherin hoodie and a Slytherin knife. My brother looked into his memories and confirmed he was the Heir of Slytherin.

That was clear.
But for the life of me, I could not find the connection between the Dark Lord and him-and there was a definite connection for sure.
The Dark Lord was the Heir of Slytherin, so if there was a next heir, it should be his son.
But the Dark Lord's death and Aileen's birth didn't match up, being seven years apart.

Perhaps the title falls on the next of kin, which in Aileen's case, was possible...

But what was his aim?
Was he going to try wipe out the muggle borns like his predecessor?

I had almost dismissed this as a preposterous thought when I suddenly recalled his oh so casual mention of blood beneath the Slytherin crest-was he trying to frighten me off?

It really wasn't safe being with him...

But what if he was trying to annihilate the muggle borns?
A dark voice whispered.
Isn't it the mandate of Slytherin's Heir to purge the school of those unworthy to attend in his eyes?

As from a distance, I watch Juliet and Rosaline slam each other with pillows. If the muggle borns were killed, Hogwarts would definitely shut down. I didn't want to leave Hogwarts...Hogwarts is where I found my friends, where I could hide being a Yaxley...

Aileen's gentlemanly gesture flashed through my mind, his genuine bashfulness as he respected my privacy.
His vulnerability as he talked about music and his subtle claims of abuse.
Surely that boy couldn't possibly have such awful motives...

But still-it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him,right?

And I knew exactly how to do it.

****
"So have you decided on auditioning for the orchestra?"

We were in the library, researching for our essays.
Aileen claimed that he had gone back and stewed the lacewings-and apparently has no trouble hacking the wings off.

"Well..." He started without averting his eyes from Advanced Potion-Making by Emeric Switch.
"As long as it doesn't take too much time from my studies- I don't see why not." He answered briefly looking up.

Yes! Score one for Cordelia!

"We practise two hours five days a week,is that ok?"
"Sure..." He mumbled and refocused on his book.
Aileen hasn't spoken much since we stepped foot inside the library his answers in Defense Against The Dark Arts were kept to a minimum, and he has dark circles under his eyes.

"Oh, in Herbology, I've talked to Professor Longbottom and he said he'll pick the fluxweed tomorrow at midnight. Oh, I almost forgotten," I dove in to my bag and brought up three pages of parchment.

"I've written all the properties of the ingredients in the Polyjuice potion,so it's only a matter of sussing out the main ingredient and the catalyst for the potion." I peered closely into his face.

"Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"
"What?" He asked with a puzzled expression, and closed his book.
"I'm done with my part of the work..." He mumbled whilst packing his things.
"What time does the Orchestra practice start?"
"It starts at Twenty past three and ends at five. I've just come back. Now, did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Do I look like I got enough sleep last night?" He asked and then proceeded to stifle a yawn.
"I dunno, for all I know, you could've been taking muggle drugs" I muttered the last part under my breath so he didn't hear me.
"I don't think that Hogwarts would let students smuggle that in," He said whilst rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"I'm going to the kitchens...you can come with- or not." He said in a low voice, looking expectantly down at me.
"Are you inviting me to come,or not?" I inquired,packing my things into a messenger bag.
"It would be nice to have some company whilst eating..." He started and then quickly continued.
"Although I don't think that your brother would approve if you spent more time with me than necessary..." He trailed off and averted his eyes from me.
"I'm avoiding my brother as much as possible now. What he doesn't know won't hurt him,right?" I shrugged and pushed my chair in.
"Let's go, I'm starving"
Aileen took one look at me, proceed to take the books I was holding from out of my hands and started walking towards the double doors of the library.
"Are you coming?" He called back at my stunned self.
"Yes, coming" He waited as I manoeuvred through the obstacle course of bags and chairs.
"You really didn't need to carry my books, I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself."
"They looked heavy," he answered matter of factly as he held the door open for me.
"Do you want to go directly to the kitchens, or do you want to drop off your books at the common room first?" Asked Aileen as we edited the library.
"If you don't mind, we can drop them off along the way," I suggested and looked carefully down the corridor before proceeding.
"What if what's her face sees us? Or even worse, what if Julius sees us?" Aileen's words shook me out of my Julius filled thoughts.
"Who's-oh Cleo. Cleo wouldn't tell, and Julius...you can just head along to the kitchens while I go to the common room. Julius wouldn't kill me...much" I said carefully.
"I'm not letting you carry these heavy books down the stairs, lets go." He said and we made our way down to the dungeons.

Wow...he's so chivalrous.
Like a gentleman from the 1800's, I thought, feeling my cheeks heat up again.

When we reached the dungeons, Aileen handed me my books, which I took with some difficulty.
"Thanks, I'll be back in five seconds. Watch out for Julius, kay?" I swung the portrait door closed and ran as fast as I could to my dorm while being burdened with books that could double up as sledgehammers.

I could hear some excited voices coming from the common room as I made my way back down.
"Who's that cute Ravenclaw that's standing right outside our common room?" I heard Catherine Devaughn, a third year ask (to what I assumed was) her group of giggling friends.
"I know right? Did you see the way that Salazar Slytherin's portrait was smirking at him? The poor boy looked really uncomfortable..." I heard someone else answer who's voice I couldn't quite place.

No way! I thought snidely to myself.
If a creepy portrait was smirking at you,you would be uncomfortable too! And by the way, he's two years younger than you,you imbeciles!

I shook my head at the stupidity of those third years and opened the door, my smile a little forced.
"Lets go. Now." My voice was sharper than I intended, as I noticed a small crowd of Hufflepuff girls lurking around the stairs giggling wildly. I attempted to pull him away,fuming silently to myself..

"Your upperclassmen are...strange." Aileen suddenly broke the silence as I tickled the pear,which revealed the entrance to the kitchens.

"More like annoying,stupid and shallow," I muttered.
I frowned at my choice of words- why was I so mad?
"Shallow?" He asked me whilst raising an eyebrow, and proceeded to bite down on a strawberry muffin.
"I love these things," I heard him murmur to himself right before taking another bite.
"Slow down, or you'll choke," I chided with faint amusement. I plucked a grape and started to eat.
"You're supposed to eat these while they're warm and fluffy," He answered with a mischievous smile, and placed the remainder of the muffin into his mouth downing the whole thing with a glass of pumpkin juice.

Boys will be boys..., I thought with a smile as he started on his next strawberry muffin.

"These are for you Master Gaunt," We both turned our heads to a very old and wrinkly looking house-elf.
"Kreacher has backed these especially for Master Gaunt- Mrs Black often spoke about the Gaunt family, an old and pure blood line they had...very pure..." The old elf trailed off, bowed down to a confused looking Aileen and shuffled off muttering something about bloodlines.

"The Black family was a really old pureblood family that prized pure blood beyond anything.
I believe their family motto was Toujours Pur, which means 'Always pure'. They died out years ago, so I guess their house elf respects any high ranking pure blood families, such as yourself," I explained to Aileen.

"I've seen that elf thing in Diagon Alley before, it was lurking around behind me..." He mumbled the last part while looking down at the strawberry muffins in front of him.
"You don't think that it would poison my food- do you?" Aileen asked peering at my face.

"First, it's a he not an it. Secondly, why would he want to poison you? Thirdly, house elves can only do the wishes of its master. I'm sure Professor Livingstone doesn't hate you that much," I answered, casually nipping a cookie from a platter.

"Ok then, could you maybe tell me why the house elf followed me around Diagon Alley? It was definitely that one, I heard him mumbling to himself when I went to buy my books at Flourish & Blotts." He said with a serious expression.

"I dunno, do I look like a house elf to you? Maybe the Professor wanted to keep on eye on you." I suggested.
"I don't know, do you look like one?" He said standing up and pulled my cheek on his way out of the kitchen.
"Hey! At least I'll look like a cute house elf,where as you would look like an old, crappy one!" I retorted while following after him.
"Thank you so much!" I called out to the elves before closing the kitchen door shut.