November 21, 1976 – Serena PoV
I was really starting to hate Dumbledore, finding books on ancient magic was practically impossible, I was only able to find books that briefly mentioned it, even after sneaking into the restricted section practically every night since then, so my progress regarding its use was advancing marginally.
It was truly a relief to be able to sense the traces in the Athenaeum and Map Room, now I knew what to look for, the feeling of ancient magic was unique, but harnessing that power was now the problem, I was able to figure out some things and use it for very minor spells, nothing impressive that I knew ancient magic could do if harnessed correctly.
Maybe I shouldn't have antagonized the director so much, but I didn't really regret how everything had happened, it was just annoying that I didn't have an easy way or a teacher to teach me how to use ancient magic, everything would have been much easier if not, I tried to look for tutorials on the company's internet, but apparently they had blocked their content until I had at least learned the basics on my own to a certain level, it was annoying.
There was still the option to buy someone who knows how to use ancient magic, but it was only limited to a whopping 3 people.
So here I was now, in a corner of the common room near the windows overlooking the black lake reading another book stolen from the forbidden section, I saw several people reading and recognizing the book in my hands, but it was surprising, or not, how little the Slytherins cared that I was reading a book about dark magic in public, purebloods for you.
"Hey Snivellus! I have some words for you!" I wanted to moan in annoyance, the only thing missing was Rabastan Lestrange leading his pack in my direction, I didn't give him the satisfaction of a reaction, I just continued reading my book "Hey, Snivellus, I'm talking to you! " I gulped and decanted my metals, this could only end one way.
"What do you want, Potter? I mean, Lestrange, pardon my confusion, it's just that you never have an original thing to say," I dragged out my words without looking up, I could see him getting visibly angry, how easy it was to provoke him.
"Listen to me Snivellus, I won't repeat myself, stay away from Bellatrix, she's engaged to my brother, so if you know what's good for you, stay away from her" Lestrange growled, I rolled my eyes, of course that was what it was about.
"Excuse me what? Your voice was boring me and I didn't listen to you." I turned the page of my book, ignoring him.
"You-!" Lestrange growled as he pulled out his wand.
"What's going on here?" Lucius asked firmly, his brow furrowed, "Lestrange, I thought I told you to leave Serena alone," the corner of my lip lifted at the tone of Lucius' voice. When he wanted to, he could talk like a pureblood with a stick up his ass. It was hard to achieve that tone of voice, but Lucius managed it. It was an arrogant, haughty, slimy tone full of contempt, all wrapped in a layer of cordiality.
"Go away Malfoy, this is none of your business" he growled sideways.
"I am Serena's employer, Lestrange. I know you are less intelligent than your brother, but I want to believe that you understand what that means," Lucius drawled monotonously. I let out a snort without even looking up from my book. From here I could hear Lestrange gritting his teeth.
"Then tell your whore of a ward to stop sleeping with other people's women! It's her fault the Blacks broke off the engagement! " roared Lestrange.
"Careful Lestrange, remember who you're talking to," Lucius hissed, eyes narrowed, "also, Bella, there's something you want to say." He looked over his shoulder, Bellatrix had walked over with Narcissa and crossed her shoulders.
"Rather dead than date your brother's trash, Lestrange." she said boredly, staring at Rabastan as if he were an insect. "Sera, take care of the trash." Hell, she couldn't continue to ignore him now, she would be insulting Bellatrix if she didn't, or would that also insult Narcissa, which in turn would insult Lucius, a third-degree insult by far? Politics and perception, she hated it.
Also… as that idiot Lestrange said, Bellatrix's engagement to Rodolphus Lestrange had ended rather quickly, I didn't know what the hell Bellatrix had sent as a letter to her family, but they were quick to cut off the marriage with the Lestranges, and here I thought it would be a lot more complicated.
Apparently the Blacks' reputation for doing whatever they wanted was no joke.
So now, I was 'officially' dating Bellatrix, I still didn't understand how the hell steps were taken, but it happened.
To my surprise, there really wasn't much of a scandal, I mean, it had already spread throughout the school that we had been sleeping together for months, even though we hadn't completed the act, but having sex was one thing and dating was another.
And in fact, most of the students seemed to approve more now that we were dating than when we weren't, ridiculous, I guess the same sensitivity towards casual sex that Bellatrix had was shared among the other wizards and witches in the wizarding world.
Luckily, my relationship with Bellatrix improved a lot, I spent time teaching her magic, she had a lot of magic that Severus knew that Bellatrix didn't, and as expected she took to it like a fish to water, we still had our duels, but most of them didn't end in heavy caresses, in fact, I was enjoying her company.
She helped me train, which was something I really needed, and even though Bellatrix still couldn't compare to my reaction and movement speed while she was enhanced by my metal arts, she was a good opponent.
I tried not using my metal arts once to make the fight more even and Bellatrix was extremely offended, she didn't speak to me all day until I explained that I was experimenting with something and that no, I wasn't looking down on her so using my metals in the fight was something she forced me to use, and despite winning every time so far, it helped a lot.
Bellatrix was awfully smart and cunning, she was able to corner me a couple of times so I had to work hard to really beat her without having to burn her completely with my alchemy or use my magic and minion like Baiser.
Besides that, we spent a lot of time together, like I said, smart, so we'd spend it talking about magic or some other nonsense, it really wasn't exactly like talking to Narcissa, who loved gossip and somehow had a large enough network to know what was going on all over Hogwarts and I forced myself to be her sounding board.
With Bellatrix it was more... organic, more reciprocal, don't get me wrong, I love Narcissa as my best friend, maybe as a sister, but I wasn't really interested in knowing who dated whom, how Alice finally started dating Longbottom or about Dorcas Meadowes and her partner and their breakup that curiously ended with the boy crying.
…and I won't lie, the kisses and everything with Bellatrix were more than pleasant.
"You! Whore! Should be honored d-" BAM I silenced Lestrange's pathetic screams by slamming the book in my hands shut.
"Shut your mouth Lestrange, I actually liked you more when you had your brother's cock in your mouth, less stupid things came out of it" I could see Lestrange furious, I got up and took out a coin "I'll tell you something, if you can resist or take this coin away, I'll leave Bella alone" that seemed to surprise him as well as the rest, I took advantage of his dizziness to place the coin on his chest, I decanted my iron mind to increase my weight and... pushed, I saw Lestrange fly out from the force of the push and crash against the wall.
"AH!" Lestrange growled in pain, I could see his wand fall to the ground when he hit it.
"Snape! What did you just do!? " Rosier had taken out his wand and was pointing it at me, the rest of his group imitated him.
"It's just a game Rosier" my smile was now sadistic "the coin is enchanted, it will be pushed towards my body, the closer I get to the coin, the harder it will push" I ignored his wands and walked towards Lestrange who was practically stuck to the wall while I increased my weight and the force of the push against the coin.
"AHH! Stop!!! " Lestrange cried in pain.
"Release him Snape! Now!" I looked at him with a big sadistic smile, I knew my fangs were showing, but I didn't care.
snap My smile grew wider as I heard the screams of the group, I had burned their hands that were holding their wands long enough for them to let go.
"Excuse me, what did you say?" I asked lazily, Rosier gave me a hateful look and bent down to grab his wand with his good hand.
Snap
"AAHHH!" He knelt down in pain as he looked at both of his burned hands tearfully.
"Anybody else want their wand?" I asked the others in the group with a huge grin, I could see them turning even paler than they were as they cradled their burned hand "well, at least they can learn" Lestrange growled.
"I-I'll kill you Snape! When my brother finds out y-"
"Little thing, do you think you'll have time to tell your brother?" I asked with a sadistic smile and began to walk once more in his direction. "Now, how much will your ribs be able to resist the push of the coin? I'm sure I can make it go completely through your chest."
"S-stop!!" I could hear the panic in his words as I got closer crack "AAHH!! STOP! STOP PLEASE! "
" Aaww , you gave up after just one broken rib, what a shame" I whined childishly, but I slowed down the push of the coin, not enough for him to get off the wall, but enough so that the rest of his bones were no longer in danger.
" Y - you're crazy !" Lestrange yelled at me, I just smiled with all my teeth.
"Now Lestrange, flattery will get you nowhere," I purred but finally released him, pulling the coin out of his grasp and snatching it up in the air, Lestrange fell to the ground and clutched his chest in pain, "and remember, try again and I will put several coins all over you, the more the better, so please try again." I said happily as Lestrange writhed on the ground, I turned around and saw the others staring at the display in fear, luckily for me, Lucius and Narcissa were watching the spectacle dispassionately, in fact, Narcissa had smiles on her face, the one that bothered me the most, or would bother me, was the one of pure hunger and lust that Bellatrix was directing at me.
"You'll pay for this Snape! When you least expect it! Starting with that Mudblood of yours! I'll make sure we have our fun with her first before I kill her!" That stopped me stiffly and I lost my smile and turned around.
"you know, I was going to leave you alone, you're a little vermin, an insect that could really cause me nothing but annoyance, but you crossed the line" I approached Lestrange again "I don't care about you Evans anymore in case you didn't find out, but threatening me? I can't let that go" certainly Lily didn't matter to me as a friend anymore, not after what happened a couple weeks ago, but I wasn't going to let her get raped and murdered by a group of stupid kids looking for revenge, she was my problem so with a movement of my hand "I will make you disappear Lestrange and you won't be able to do anything to stop it" I grabbed Lestrange's jaw and smiled sadistically, he tried to free himself but when I decanted pewtermind I was really stronger than him.
"W-what are you doing?!" Lestrange asked with a shaky voice, I smiled terrifyingly at him.
"It's that simple, one moment you're there, the next you're not, no one will find your body, no one will be able to locate you, there's no magic that can tell what happened to you, you'll just disappear, and you won't know when it happens."
I needed the credits with The Company, and there was no better way than selling slaves in it, it was a very good solution to get credits, and I was not going to waste the ones that Lestrange could give me, I needed the credits sooner rather than later.
"Y-you wouldn't do it!" I smirked at him.
"Of course I would Lestrange and I want to see you try to stop it" I stood up, dusting myself off "and by the way, you can try to get help, it's going to be completely useless of course, good luck Lestrange, see you in three days" I gave him one last smile "or not" with that I turned around once more.
" Crucio !!" okay, I was getting tired of people cursing me from behind, I gritted my teeth to take the impact but I felt Aria lift herself off of my body, I quickly looked over my shoulder and saw her extending in the path of the unforgivable curse, my eyes opened wide, I certainly didn't expect it to be able to cover the cruciatus, maybe the killing curse was more physical, but the torturing curse didn't have any light beam to intercept, but it seemed that blocking the caster's view of their target seemed to do the trick, it was good to know, but that didn't matter now.
"Serena!" I didn't hear who shouted it, it didn't matter.
"LESTRAANGEEE!!!!!" I roared in anger as I turned around and glared at Rabastan, I could see his eyes widen as the curse failed to take effect.
" Crucio !" I didn't even make an effort to dodge the torturing curse, Aria flew in front of me again and spread out once more cutting off our vision of both before shrinking, I stood up to my full height with a sneer and walked over to Lestrange, I could see Rabastan panicking the closer I got " Avad -" Snap "AAAHHH !!!" Fire erupted from his mouth burning everything inside, Rabastan grabbed his hunched mouth, without hesitation I grabbed him by the jaw and lifted him up to look me in the eyes, his skin against my hand began to freeze.
In the end, I had gotten the water alchemist tattoos on the palm of my hands, and it was fantastic, manipulating water in all its states was much easier than my fire alchemy so it was pretty easy to get used to the new type of alchemy to use during a fight.
And it was much more comfortable than clapping, using alchemy, even on a single element, with only one hand, was much better than constantly clapping, luckily, my tattoos didn't interfere with that type of alchemy, so I could still continue using any alchemy I could think of, only fire and water were now much easier, the only problem I had was that I couldn't use both at the same time, due to my problems obviously, the manipulation of oxygen and water were different so I ended up making calculation errors in one over the other when trying to use them at the same time, I had to practice more.
"I would kill you Lestrange, I would kill you for what you just did, I could turn you to ashes at any moment and I couldn't care less what happens next" I hissed with hatred as his face filled with frost, I saw him shudder "but no, I'll watch as you despair, as you look for a solution to fail miserably, how all your attempts fail until I make you disappear" I could see the fear in his eyes so I smiled widely "before your pathetic little curse I would have given you a chance, if you crawled and begged, I would forgive you, but now? Enjoy your days Lestrange, because they are your last on this earth" I grabbed his jaw tighter and the ice spread faster, I threw him to the side before it caused any permanent damage, he fell with a thud to the ground as he whimpered in pain.
"Serena are you okay?!" Lucius asked frantically as he approached with Narcissa and Bellatrix.
"I'm fine, it just took me by surprise," I wrinkled my nose, "I'm grateful for my paranoia for having enchanted my clothes for just such cases," I lied lightly as I extended my hand in Aria's direction, who followed the silent command and approached in my direction before covering me once again, already dressed I felt Narcissa hug me tightly.
"Do you need something? Do you want us to take you to the infirmary? " Lucius asked again, concern written all over his face.
"No, I have to go"
"What? no!"
"I'm going to the Room of Requirement, I doubt people will be comfortable with my presence after that." I muttered under my breath, Narcissa and Lucius seemed to understand, but still didn't seem convinced "seriously, I'm fine, besides, I need you to take care of the rest" I looked at the crowd that was still staring at us and Rabastan's group, Lucius' gaze hardened.
" Leave it to me," I nodded in his direction. You had to love and hate Slytherin politics. No one would really talk about what just happened here. All matters were completely internal, even with my threat to make Lestrange disappear.
I looked at Bellatrix who had been unusually quiet until now, and I wanted to moan loudly, of course she would have a hungry look in her eyes, I rolled my eyes.
"If you want to come come, but we won't do any of that, I have some things to do." I chided Bellatrix, she grimaced, but approached me as she started walking "I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded in the direction of Narcissa and Lucius.