If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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The castle was abuzz early in the morning. Students poured into the Great Hall, but unlike the usual morning lethargy, people walked in groups, talking among themselves in whispers and peeling their ears on what others were talking about.
"Was your room locked last night?" Eddie asked. He moved around restlessly, looking around the hall.
Quinn nodded his head, "I woke up when I heard the noise. I tried to see what was going on but couldn't open my door."
"Neither could we, the door refused to budge. Though I did get to see the Dark Mark in the sky. Barton's window had a clear view of it. It was mad creepy— I mean, ugh, the snake coming out of the skull's mouth, looking at it made me feel like a snake would slither out of my mouth. . . disgusting."
"I couldn't see it," said Quinn. "I have a great lake-side view, but not of the Astronomy Tower. . . a pity, really. I wanted to break the door but felt bad for the portrait outside; it would've been wrecked if I tried something."
He had managed to isolate the ruckus of his fight with Fenrir Greyback on the seventh floor, but his fight with Snape had been anything but silent. The Defense Against The Dark Arts professor had thrown more dark curses and spells than all other Death Eaters combined. Quinn had to be on alert to make sure none of those nasty spells nicked him, so the thought of creating a sound barrier had not been the priority. Moreover, people breaking his ice barrier had also made noise.
"Did they tell you anything about what happened last night?" Marcus asked Quinn.
Quinn shook his head, "I went to the faculty office with Clarrise" — Headgirl — "and the other seventh year Prefects, but the professors sent us away— told us they'd inform us after breakfast with everyone else." He jutted his chin towards the hall entrance where two Prefects stood, sending people going out back into the hall. "We were also ordered to not let anyone leave the Great Hall."
"Someone died," said Eddie, suddenly.
Quinn froze for a moment before he relaxed his shoulder.
Eddie continued, "I mean Death Eaters only cast it when they kill someone, right?"
"Who do you think died?" asked Marcus. "I asked around, all the dorms were closed just like ours, so it must be a faculty member."
"When you went to the office, was there someone missing?" Eddie asked Quinn.
"I. . . there were a couple of them missing," said Quinn. He clenched his fist under the table. "But not all the professors come to the office first thing in the morning, so. . . ."
"No use thinking about it; the professors are here," said Marcus.
Quinn turned his eyes towards the 'back entrance' of the Great Hall. It was a small regular-sized door near the faculty table. The entrance was used by some professors who preferred not to take the main entrance for their respective reasons. But today, all the professors (including Hagrid, who crouched to save his head) entered the Great Hall from the back entrance.
The Great Hall lulled into whispers which were somehow louder than them talking usually. Their eyes followed the stream of professors as they walked to the faculty table and took their seats.
Marcus had been watching the professors as they sat down just like everybody else was doing, but then his eyes widened as he noticed something off about what he was seeing.
"O-One. . . one of them is missing," he said.
Eddie's brows were squished together, but they rose up when he saw what Marcus was seeing. There was indeed only one professor missing from the bunch.
Marcus' shocking revelation reached the ears of his neighbors and then set the trigger on what seemed like a complex, far-spreading domino chain that reached every corner of the Great Hall. In the time the professors took their seats, the whispers had blown up into full-blown heated discussions.
Quinn didn't say anything; instead, he watched the wall behind the faculty table. The Great Hall was usually decorated with four house colors. Today, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Quinn knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Snape.
Dumbledore ended Quinn's musings by standing up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which was boisterous in discussions, became very quiet.
"All of you," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "must have heard or even seen that there was a Dark Mark over Hogwarts yesterday."
He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Slytherin table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs was the saddest and palest faces after they had realized what had happened.
"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he pointed to an empty chair on the faculty table, "enjoying our feast with us. . . . I'm sorry to inform all of you that last night. . . Professor Severus Snape passed away."
The quiet that Dumbledore had commanded shattered and blusterous sound rushed into the Great Hall as if trying to fill a void left behind a vacuum. Stunned and frightened, every face in the hall was turned toward Dumbledore now.
On the Slytherin table, people could be seen hugging each other, crying with bowed heads, and trying to comfort each other. Severus Snape might have been hated by most Hogwarts, but to Slytherin, he was everything a house could want from their head— he supported them, always took their sides, taught them how to behave like Slytherins, and was synonymous support symbol to all those who wore green.
Quinn turned to his back. Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey sat directly behind him. Astoria was leaning into Daphne as her sister hugged her from the side while Tracey sat to their side with her head buried in her hands, hunched over the table.
He wanted to go comfort them but held himself back. Right now, it felt like he would be an outsider going into something he didn't understand and wasn't a part of.
'I will console her later,' he thought while watching Daphne. And as the thought passed his mind, Quinn paused for a moment and waited for something he was expecting. . . . but nothing happened.
"Yesterday," Dumbledore started again, "a group of Death Eaters broke into Hogwarts to cause harm and sow disaster. They appeared to have come to get rid of me" — there were gasps — "and the fact that I'm standing in front of you safe and sound, it is clear that they failed and were captured. . . however, in that defeat, they took away the life of Professor Snape, who bravely faced them, but tragically sacrificed for the safety of the school. . . ."
Quinn knew this was going to come. The truth of the matter couldn't come to light. If the fact that Snape swore an Unbreakable Vow to kill Dumbledore even became public knowledge, it would be a disaster and ruin Snape's reputation beyond all repair. That wasn't something the Order of Phoenix could do— even if not well-liked, Snape was still a member.
". . . his sacrifice would never be forgotten, so I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses to Severus Snape."
They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Severus Snape."
Quinn glanced back at the Slytherin table. His eyes searched for Draco, but the young Malfoy was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the Order had already hidden Draco hidden. Hogwarts was no longer safe for Draco— if Draco could be a Junior Death Eater, then others could be as well, and they might not have any qualms about taking a life, especially if their target was a 'betrayer.'
"Severus was not the friendliest of person, but those who knew him were aware of his qualities that made him a great individual," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, even better confidant, a hard worker, he valued commitment and dedication above anything else. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not."
Dumbledore looked sad. His line of sight would always be forward, full of confidence, but today his eyes were lowered as he spoke to the students. Seeing their headmaster like this was a first for all. A sense of sadness for the most disliked person in Hogwarts spread through the hall.
"Everyone in this hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered on the Slytherin students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. Once again, I say to you all— in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences in background and culture are nothing if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. Yesterday, an exemplary man was taken from our midst.
Remember Severus Snape. Remember, if the time should come when you have to choose between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a man who was good, loyal, and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Severus Snape."
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Quinn waved his hand over a sheet of paper. It wriggled over his palm and folded itself into a bird. The paper bird flapped its wings and flew away into the sky, heading into the building. On the other hand, he walked out of the castle to sit in the grass and get away from all the Snape talk that was happening no matter where ever he went.
He wanted a moment of silence and peace.
He looked around to find a comfortable spot with some shade. He didn't have to look for long as there was one right in front of him. . . but the perfect spot was occupied.
A smile appeared on his face. He wanted some alone time, but he guessed that some company wouldn't hurt.
"Fancy seeing you here," said Quinn.
Ivy Potter, who had been sitting under the shade of the tree with her back against the trunk. She opened her eyes and came across the smiling face of Quinn West. She blinked in surprise and sat up straighter.
"What?" he asked.
". . . No, it's nothing," she shook her head. "What is it?"
"May I join you?"
". . . Sure."
Quinn smiled wider and sat down under the shade, but unlike Ivy, he laid down in the shade.
Ivy continued to stare at Quinn, making him ask: "Is something wrong?"
"There's something different about you, today. . . ?" she said.
Quinn chuckled. He took a deep breath and put his hands behind his head. "I guess there's something different. The annoyance had been silent."
Indeed, there had been nothing but silence.
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Quinn West - MC - Drinking in the silence.
Albus Dumbledore - Headmaster - A simple white lie.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - Alright, that was enough of a break; we're getting back on track.
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If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
[ https://www.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis.
.
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Ivy stared at Quinn. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed. A gentle wind made its way beneath the tree's canopy and ruffled their hair, adding to the coolness to the shade, shielding them from the sun's heat.
"You are staring," said Quinn, cracking an eye open to look at her.
"It's just surprising," she said, "when was the last time you took the initiative to talk to me on your own accord. . . usually, I'm the one who to start up our conversations."
"You're making me sound bad," he chuckled.
"I'm not lying, though."
"No, you're not."
"Then what changed today?"
Quinn shrugged, "I wish I had a special reason. I came here to have some quiet away from the chatter. Saw you and decided to have some quiet time with you."
"Not that I'm complaining; believe me, I'm not. Shouldn't you be with Greengrass right now?"
"Right now, the Slytherins are holed up in their dorms, so, yeah," said Quinn and then turned on his side to face Ivy. "So, how's Gryffindor taking the news?"
Ivy shrugged. "Ron tried to make fun of the situation, but no one laughed and then got pelted when he got annoying. . . . It got really quiet in the common room, never expected that to happen for Snape."
"How do you feel about it? He must've made your life pretty miserable in his classes."
"You know I thought that too," said Ivy, pulling some grass. "Dad and Sirius scared Harry and me about Snape when we were about to start our first year. How he didn't like Gryffindor and that he hated. . . hated the Potters. And all of that was true— he doesn't like Gryffindor and hates Potters. . . . But strangely, he never targetted me. He mostly ignored me for the most part. I have no idea why."
Quinn gazed at Ivy. He could guess why. The resemblance between mother and daughter was much stronger than between daughter and father.
"I feel sad that he died," Ivy continued, "even though he was miserable to literally everyone else who wasn't Slytherin. . . and you, I guess. How do you feel about his death?"
". . . I don't know actually. I feel mostly numb."
"What's with that?"
Quinn sat up and dragged himself to sit against the tree beside Ivy.
"Enough of that; let's talk about something else," he said.
«Why are you doing this?»
Quinn internally smiled as he heard the voice lacking strength.
'You know why I'm doing this.'
«If you want to be like this, go find Daphne; why are you targetting her.»
'Come on, don't be like this. Isn't this more thrilling?'
«No, it is not. Here I thought, you'd be a little more bothered with what happened yesterday.»
'. . . You think I am not!' Quinn yelled inside while continuing to talk to Ivy with a smile. 'I have to put up a normal front while you hide inside wallowing in the dark. I'm warning you, don't take that course with me.'
«Just leave her alone. I'll stay quiet. I'm not really in the mood to fight with you anyway. Just go jack-off in the room.»
'Yeah, about that. . . not going to happen. We want her, don't we?'
«What. . . ?»
'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,' he quoted. 'The West family name already granted us with enough social and financial power, and that was already too much. But know, we're getting stronger and more skilled with magic. . . with time, we would reach a level where our personal power would allow us to roam around pretty much unfettered. And yeah, I don't really want to get drunk on power, you know.'
«What, wait, I-I. . . don't understand. . . .»
'It seems you have some sort of confusion about the Sins. I am not Pride who wants his ego stroked every other second; I don't want people around me to be yes-men. I am not Envy who would think that anyone who disagrees with me is just jealous. Or even Wrath, who would absolutely blow up if someone is a tad bit annoying.
I am you. . . just a lot more interested in the gentler sex.'
His eyes glimmered as he laughed along with Ivy.
'So before I go down that road, I need some sort of anchor.'
«. . . And you think this anchor is. . . Ivy Potter?»
'Now, you're just trying to act dumb. For someone like us, getting people who will honestly say the truth is hard— we got lucky with our friends, but how long do you think that'll continue? Even among those good people, Daphne, our girlfriend, the person who's supposed to be closest to us, is the subservient type, and we love that about her; she's always so supportive, but we need someone who's going to challenge us to act as the anchor I talked about.
And out of all the people, no one else but Ivy has questioned our actions so consistently. Keeping her close will be beneficial to us in the long run. . . and well, even you can't deny that she's quite lovely.'
«You're going to ruin my relationship with Daphne.»
'Ah, don't worry about that; you already rolled the ball on that one.'
Quinn turned his eyes towards the castle with a smile. Daphne walked towards them. Her pace hurried as she saw Quinn and Ivy sitting close together under the tree.
"Quinn, what are you doing here, with. . . her?" Daphne said, eyeing Ivy with a vigilant eye. She raised the creased-up sheet of paper in her hand, "You sent for me to come here."
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something," said Quinn.
«What the hell are you planning?»
'I'm helping you, of course,' he said, 'didn't you want to Daphne the dirty little truth? I'm going to do you a favor and do the job instead of you.'
«Stop! I will do it on my own! Don't mess with my life, you shitty fake!»
Quinn closed his eyes and took a deep breath to settle the sudden bout of headache.
'That's why I didn't want to come so down the line,' Quinn said to the one trapped inside the soulscape. 'If you're to blame someone, then blame Greed; he's the one who wanted this done. . . . I really don't want to do this, you know, I really don't, but I need to or he will. . . .'
Quinn stood up and dusted himself. He took a few steps forward till he was standing equidistance from both girls. He glanced at both of them once before turning to Daphne.
"You remember that I wanted to tell you something and asked you to wait for sometime before I could tell you," said Quinn. "It's a secret that I have been hiding for a long time. . . "
«Stop!»
The moment Ivy heard those words, her eyes widened. She hastily got just as Quinn dropped a bomb.
«Shut up!»
"I kissed Ivy last year," said Quinn even with the splitting headache.
«. . . I'm going to gut you and believe me, I'm going to enjoy it.»
'Bloodthirsty much? Did killing Snape awaken something inside you?'
". . . What?" Daphne uttered with a stunted expression.
"Last year, we were alone. One thing led to another, and we ended up kissing," said Quinn. He noticed that the voice had gone silent once again. He bowed his head and continued, "I am sorry for hiding it from you and not telling you for so long."
A score of emotions went through Daphne's emotions, surfing everywhere from sadness to betrayal, finally settling on anger with emotion draining from her face.
"Who started it?" she asked, her voice cold. It reminded Quinn of before Daphne had warmed up to him, just much worse.
"Doesn't matter," she turned her cold gaze to Quinn, "I will come to you later." Daphne turned to Ivy, "You knew that he was taken, everyone knew that we were together, so don't try to deny that. . . and you still did this."
Her wand came out. Ivy, too, took her wand out in response.
Quinn seeing that, stepped in front of Daphne and placed a hand on her wand arm to gently direct it down. "Daphne, please calm down; there's no need to point—"
Daphne pushed him away and glared at him. Her eyes were glistening as she pointed her wand at him. "Give me one reason I shouldn't curse you here and now."
Quinn once again stepped close to her and again lowered her raised wand arm. This time, she didn't resist and even let him take her wand away. She raised her other hand and punched him in the shoulder repeatedly.
"Why. . . why would you do that?" she said between her punches. "I trusted you."
"I am sorry, I made a mistake," said Quinn with a genuine apology in his tone. "Please forgive me; I am really sorry."
Quinn brought her closer as she kept on hitting him and hugged her. As he tightly hugged her, a strange smile appeared on his face. But then, the smile froze, and Quinn's expression turned from confidence to panic and horror.
His eyes dimmed for a split second before they went normal. Tranquility appeared on his face as he stroked Daphne's back and whispered his apologies into her ear with magic weaved into his voice, manipulated his body temperature, trying anything and everything that would best calm Daphne.
. . . .
Inside the soulscape, Quinn sat slumped beside the Soul. Yesterday, he had taken a life for the first time. Life of a person who didn't deserve to die. Today, one of the bedrocks of his life had been shaken. He hadn't been there to do it himself or even able to stop it.
'You didn't want to stop it,' a corner of this thought whispered the treacherous words to him. 'You were glad that you didn't need to do it on your own.'
Quinn grabbed his head and hugged it to his knees.
He was so out of it that he didn't notice that suddenly the blackness that plagued his Soul was gone, and it was back to its golden state with only a few muddled black spots. The spotty walls that had improved after Envy had been removed opened up, and only varying shades of yellow remained.
"You know, I don't think the situation is as bad as you think."
Quinn tried not to respond. He kept his eyes closed and his head down. But he couldn't restrain his anger at the ridiculous words spoken.
"You fuc—."
He raised his head up and all but growled at the personification of his sin in front of him, only for his words to die in his throat when he saw the figure in front of him.
"Hello, it's finally nice to meet you. My name is Quinn West, but you might better know me as. . . . Greed."
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Quinn West - MC - At a new low.
Daphne Greengrass - Girlfriend(?) - Betrayed and hurt.
Ivy Potter - Anchor(?) - Caught in between.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - So. . . I don't know how it turns when a partner confesses to cheating. I have been in two relations in my life, and both of those ended without cheating involved, and none of my close friends have gone through the same. I have seen the situation on TV, but I don't know how Daphne, who is in her first relationship, would've reacted, so I went what seemed right to me.
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.
If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
Just like always,
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