PART 24

CERISE streaked the scattered clouds across the dusk sky , the dying rays of the sun extinguishing like the reminiscent flames dripping from the wax of a burning candle. Efflorescent red painted the sky in hues of sanguine blood that dripped from the arteries of all the stars who had once been humans. The girl made of stardust , or any other divine core she was carved out of - with tarnished lungs caged in ivory and hummingbird-heart beating gently in it's throne sat herself across the girl with raven tresses , and the boy with alluring almond eyes.

Evanna's lips curled upwards , the zephyr flowing in through the glass windows bringing strands of her mahogany hair to her irises , which she eloquently tucked behind her ears. Gently keeping a small pile of thick rimmed books upon the table , she entwined her fingers together - cherry lips curving upwards with the hint of a triumphant smile as she uttered the words ,"I expect you have both read the book I gave to you ?" Although she had initially torn the pages of another book that housed the procedures of creating a horcrux - she had found another book containing such ideas , and had decided that as long as it was given to the people who followed her ideals - she would have no problems.

Blaise nodded solemnly , producing a book with a crinkled , amaranthine cover - silver words reading 'Secrets of the Darkest Arts by Owle Bullock', etched upon it. The book held curses , unspeakable curses that had now rooted themselves into the soils of their mind , carving into their flesh like sins that could not have been washes by even the purest of waters. They had been plunged into Tartarus , given power to resurrect from the ashes of the past , had been given jewels worth thousands of lives , had been given power that could shred their foes to rubble with the snap of a finger - and they had no wish of crawling back out from the hell they had been dragged into by the girl with the venomous undersides. The duo had the read the book Evanna had commanded them to - trusting them the most for this special task - not missing out a single word in fear of the wrath they would have to tolerate.

And in return , they had been rewarded. But a pawn could only have so much power when the Queen that had raised them bound them to the shackles of their own fears. Evanna nodded , pleased as she realised that they had sincerely obeyed her words.

In the previous meeting , her malignant words had knitted themselves into a tapestry horrifyingly beautiful. Horcruxes. How desperate the desire was to keep oneself alive for centuries to come - the dread of being embraced by the arms of Thanatos forever extinguished within their hearts. But Evanna also narrated to them , the horrors of diving their souls - enclosing them inside objects like caged butterflies with gaudy wings. She told them of all the horrifying deeds committed by the Dark Lord in the name of upholding the honour of purebloods and the grievous price he payed for disobeying the natural laws of magic. She had informed the ten members of the Third Alliance - that there were six horcruxes that had been made by the Dark Lord , and to destroy his tyranny - they must end the pieces of his soul lingering in those six auspicious objects.

Albeit , one horcrux hung from her neck , charmed to be less harmful - but that was besides the point.

"Muffliato", Evanna casted wandlessly , carmine sparks signifying the establishment of the enchantment around the table of the trio. She began saying ,"Very well. You have read of the tremendous ritual that needs to be executed in order to accomplish the making of a horcrux ?"

Pansy nodded , her lips forming the word ,"Murder."

"Yes. Six murders , six horcruxes. The first horcrux we need to track down is the Gaunt ring."

"The Gaunt ring ?", Pansy questioned , raven tresses in a disarray as her heart rose to her throat in both sick anticipation and trepidation of what was to come. She had heard of the once Noble and Most Ancient House of Gaunt - that had endorsed itself in such hideous activities that wizarding books removed most of their traces from tales of the old , thus bringing forth it's fall from grace as the last wealthy Gaunt heir squandered all their wealth away.

"Marvolo Gaunt's ring. The Dark Lord had connections with the Gaunt family. Merope Gaunt , daughter of Marvolo Gaunt , was his mother. Being a half-blood , he killed his paternal grandparents and muggle father out of rage and the act of abandonment - then blamed the Gaunts with expertise , thus leading to the imprisonment and eventual death of Marvolo and his son , Morfin Gaunt. He then took this ring that had been worn by Marvolo Gaunt , a family heirloom , and made a horcrux out of it", Evanna finished , dragging her varnished nails along the edges of the rosewood table.

Blaise's trachea asphyxiated , lungs almost on the edge of collapsing into a void of nothingness as he realised that although he had maneuvered himself carefully out of the web of Death Eaters - he had landed himself into another abyss he couldn't possibly crawl out of. Chills crept down Pansy's spine , the ivory spiral of staircase shuddering with alarm. Both fell into a void of nothingness - an oblivion of antipathy , panic clawing at their amaranthine lungs like the talons of a dragon - tearing their veins apart to flood their body with the blue-blood.

"The task we need to accomplish is - finish the ring. Destroy it till it is drained of the last drop of dark magic , pull it apart from it's roots so it finds no host to feed off. But before we actually finish it - we must collect all the items of the horcruxes , because destruction of each horcrux will cause immense pain to the creator - the Dark Lord. And he will piece it together before we are alive to see the light of the sun again" , Evanna spoke - enunciating her words with a small sigh of satisfaction.

"Hypothetically speaking , if we do collect the items - how do we destroy them ? As given in the book ordinary magic cannot destroy a piece of a soul", Pansy asked , forehead beaded in drops of cold sweat as she asked her question in a voice lower than an equinox's zephyr. Evanna only smiled , and said -

'Basilisk fangs , and the fiendfyre curse are the only known methods of destroying the horcruxes."

Both the girl with olive irises and the boy with copper hair nodded , before lending a duteous ear to the Ravenclaw.

"As I said in the previous Alliance meeting - the Dark Lord made horcruxes out of the founder's items. That is , Lady Ravenclaw's diadem , Lord Slytherin's locket and Lady Hufflepuff's cup. The only horcrux he could not make a horcrux out of was Lord Gryffindor's sword. Other than these three objects , the diary which Ginny Weasley used to open the Chamber of Secrets in our second year and the Gaunt ring is a horcrux. Also , the Dark Lord's last horcrux is his pet snake. The diary has already been destroyed , so five are left."

Letting out another gentle sigh , that melted into the air like the dying embers of a coal fire - she pulled out a box of cigarettes from her robe pocket. The mercury coating of it coruscated like a piece of brilliantly polished gold , shimmering like a glass of champagne in the carmine hue of the dimming sunlight. Pulling one of them out , she put it to her cranberry lips - covering the end with the palm of her hand - muttering a non-verbal 'Incendio' to light it. 

A mist of unclear , ashen smoke , coiled upwards through the spiral of air  - carving itself into an angel's halo atop her head. She regarded the two others - as they stared at each other with a myriad of emotions knitted into their regal features. Taking in a long drag of the cigarette that dangled from the ends of her nimble fingers , she ejected firmly ,"Pansy will be accompanying me to Little Hangleton , where the ring is. Blaise and I will then travel to Albania - to know the whereabouts of the Ravenclaw diadem."

Both the students in question nodded , though trepidation crumbled their innards like the skyscrapers of an overthrown civilization. Both thought , in the safety of their minds - about how different the girl had become over the course of a year. Both were aware of the unlikely loyalty and fear that blossomed in their hearts like honeysuckles in a meadow of spring flowers for the girl ; they knew. They knew that just as she was the tyrant , she was also the saviour.

The only Fate that could pull them away from the currents which meandered towards joining the Dark Lord. And so , they did not question. Only obeyed.

Obeyed the ruler.

                                                                _________________

The sky darkened to a lilac backdrop - the daintiest of ivory stars sprinkled across the vast sward like pearlescent strings against a canvas of strewn cerulean paint drawn from the seven seas themselves. An aeonian supernova of glistening candles , dying stardust feeding the flames that took centurions to reach the soil of Gaia. The sky , as it bled into a myriad hues of melanoid , violet and mercury all at once , grazed the horizon of emerald mountain peaks like a knife dragging deeply against a lacerated heart. The moonlight kissed the shimmering waters of the Black Lake , ominous water creatures lithe and invisible in the unchartered territory.

"Did you know that when you are looking out towards the stars , you are actually looking at the past ?", Evanna asked softly , eyes glued firmly to the mosaic only the angles of heaven could have painted across the realm of Zeus. She thought how a nebulae of stars - formed of stardust , embellished by nitrogen , a thousand catalytic elements clashing together like an aeonian of waves to morph into something so enchanting - an immortal proof that destruction could be beautiful. She wondered how long ago , the stars had passed away - their fires finally extinguished - and she got a glimpse of their clusters eons later.

"I know. Muggle science , very fascinating", ejected a weary looking Dumbledore - the ghost of a smile on his lips as his fingers curled around another one of his amber treats he was known to adore. 

Both stood in front of the arching window that provided a glimpse of the blade of galaxies that conflated together to manifest into a mesmerising scenery of amaranthine and pearls. Dumbledore tilted his gaze towards the Ravenclaw who stood a few feet away from him - royal blue of her collar gleaming with the sheen of pure moondust.

"It is a dangerous game you are playing , Evanna", He whispered - the zephyr carrying his voice over to the girl , who only smiled pleasantly.

"What you are doing , pulling yourself into a board of chess meant for two - is exceedingly treacherous. You are treading on thin ice , endangering the life of several others along with yours."

"Quite minacious it is , if I do say so myself - but I know my way through the currents Professor", She inferred. 

"You are wasting away your potential on something out of reach."

"I am aware that I am aiming quite high , the only difference is that I am not afraid to risk."

The aged wizard sighed , furrowing his brows as the usual twinkle in his cerulean eyes seemed to be absent. The flames of the torches casted shadows that danced across the circular walls of the room - Fawkes squawking in the distance.

"You are disrupting peace , Evanna. There have always been two sides , and by raising a third side you are only prolonging what should have ended years ago. Chaos is ensuing , and what is normal is slowly drifting away" , He spoke softly - fingers creeping towards the wand that lay unused in his pocket.

Evanna's eyes glinted - and her retinas studied the intricate wand half-hidden within the loose pocket of the wizard's powder blue robes.

"The Elder wand. Say , Professor , hadn't you been friends with Grindelwald before he rose to power ?"

"I was. Why do you ask ?"

Evanna waited for the fleet of a moment , before etching clearly ,"You are trying to seize power too. Don't deny it , Professor. You had concocted the plan of purging magic , filtering the issues that prickled like a thorn on your path. Your eyes opened only when both of you engaged in a duel - leading to the death of your sister. After that , you stopped trying to help him out - instead opposing him. But deep down , your greed never ceased. Even now. You like to be perceived as a hero , but you are not one."

"Say , is this the reason you never straight away tell Harry what he is up against ? Using him as a  pawn to achieve your own means. You are no less than him , sir."

Her fingers brushed against the sapphire of her ring , which scintillated in the dim pearlescent light of the thousand stars and the crystal moon. Her hair appeared to have bits of ivory , filaments of forest green gleaming within her deep azure irises.

"Besides , normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider , is chaos for the fly."

"So what side are you serving ? Your father's , or the Light Side ? As much as you deny it , there are only two pairs of kings and queens in a battle - even as it rages with the flame of magic" , He asked.

A cheshire like grin came over her cranberry crushed lips - as she threw her head back , a laugh escaping her throat like the reminiscent embers of a dying fire. She was aware that she was not a queen , nor a king in the battle that would eventually ensue - but she was no servant either , and so she spoke -

"I will serve my own side for I am not the king , nor the queen , nor a mere pawn. What no one has realised yet is that I am the traitor. The traitor that brings about the downfall of the dynasty and employs others as pawns for themselves."

[ A/N : THAT WAS GHASTLY. THANK YOU FOR EIGHT HUNDRED READS !

WITH ALL MY HEART , 

ORPHIC_MOON ]