Maeglin Yedi and the Order of the Serpent

Chapter 6: Old friends and new enemies


When I wake up, I have no idea what time it is, since my room has no windows, and I haven\'t been able to find a single clock yet in this house. But I feel rested, so I figure I\'ve slept for quite some time, and get up, stretching and yawning along the way.

I pat down the stairs in my comfortable nightgown, intent on getting a cup of strong tea – I\'m pretty sure these guys don\'t keep instant cappuccino around, since they are British after all – to go with my morning smoke. I also hope to find a scrap of breakfast in the kitchen before I\'ll have a nice long shower and try on one of Madam Malkin\'s robes. And that\'s about all I have planned so far, and frankly, I have no idea what to do with the rest of my day.

Pushing the door to the kitchen open, I shuffle inside, and give the two occupants who are standing near the sink a curt nod. \"Good morning, Remus, Snape.\"

Yawning, I grab a chair and take a seat while I --

Wait a minute.

Snape?

I blink up at the two men, and I\'ll be damned. It\'s the greasy git. In the flesh. Crossing his arms, narrowing his eyes, and giving me one of those often described trademark glares.

\"I see you have finally decided to grace us with your presence, Miss Maeglin.\"

I glance at Remus, who\'s sipping a cup of something, leaning against the counter, wearing nothing more than a blue dressing gown. He gives me a half-shrug, pointedly not looking at Snape.

\"Lupin decided I was not to wake you, since, according to him, you needed your beauty sleep, after having visited the Dark Lord. But I must say, you look awfully healthy for a Muggle who has recently been victimized by You Know Who.\"

\"Huh?\" I can\'t produce anything more coherent after having just woken up and with Snape looking at me as if my sole purpose in this world is to make his life miserable. I try to blink the last remaining bits of sleep away from my eyes, and look him up and down warily.

Holy hell, this man is truly ugly. Everything JKR has ever written to describe him is true. And then some. Greasy hair, sallow skin, cold, black eyes, and my god, will you look at thak oak on this bloke.

Not to mention his obviously charming personality.

\"I have come here to deliver a message from the headmaster. You are to stay here, and not leave this house under any circumstances. The headmaster will contact you at his earliest convenience to discuss your future.\"

\"Um...my what?\" I stutter, hoping to gods I didn\'t just hear that correctly. \"What do you mean, I can\'t leave this house? Like hell I can\'t. Thanks a million for rescuing me and all, but I\'m going home as soon as I can.\"

Snape advances on me, slowly and predatory, resting his hands on the edge of the table, glowering over me. \"I do not think that you understand the severity of the situation, Miss Maeglin. Now that the Dark Lord knows your identity and your particular \'talents\', he will cease at nothing to get his hands on you again.\"

\"So?\" I ask, since I don\'t see the problem.

\"Are you really this thickheaded, or are you just trying to irritate me?\" Snape glares at me, and yes, it\'s a pretty impressive glare, but that doesn\'t keep me from getting highly annoyed with this man.

\"Look, Voldemort didn\'t treat me all that bad and --\"

\"Do not speak his name!\" Snape snarls, and I raise a very cocky eyebrow.

\"Voldemort.\"

Snape bares his yellow teeth.

\"Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort!\"

Snape reaches for his wand, and I realize that it might not have been a good idea to piss him off. This is Snape after all. But then again, I\'m not Harry Potter, nor any of his other students he can treat like crap. Snape doesn\'t hold any authority over me, and I\'m about to tell him so when the kitchen door swings open and a very ruffled-looking Sirius shuffles inside.

\"Snape,\" Sirius states the moment he spots the Potions master.

\"Black.\" Snape pulls away from me a bit, narrowed eyes now fixed on Sirius, wand still clutched tightly in his hand.

\"Is there a problem?\" Sirius looks from Snape to me and then to Remus, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. I really want to explain what is going on, but I\'m momentarily distracted by Sirius\' bare chest - since he\'s only wearing plain, cotton pyjama bottoms – and more importantly, the faint scratch marks and obvious hickeys around his throat.

\"This is none of your concern, Black, \" Snape drawls, straightening himself and tucking his wand away. \"I was merely trying to explain to Miss Maeglin here that she\'s to stay inside this house.\" Snape looks down at me. \"Unless she wants to be captured again.\"

\"Of for-\" I grit my teeth and throw my hands up in the air. \"As I was trying to explain to you before you went all psycho, Voldemort didn\'t hurt me. He treated me well. He invited me to dinner. He let me touch his wand. We-\"

Remus drops his cup of something, Snape pales even further, and Sirius seems on the brink of hyperventilation.

Ah, yeah. The wand thing. Forgot about that for a moment.

\"Yes, I touched his wand,\" I say irritably before any of them can ask me to explain myself. \"We were having dinner, I had a little wine, I asked if I could touch his wand, and he let me. Please spare me the lecture. Walden already gave it to me.\"

\"I believe this is something the headmaster must know as soon as possible.\" Snape gives Lupin a curt nod, ignores me and Sirius, and hurries out of the kitchen.

\"What a very unpleasant man,\" I say to nobody in particular when the door closes behind Snape.

\"I really like her,\" Sirius says to Remus while he nods in my direction.

He likes me. I smile happily while Sirius gives Remus a chaste kiss.

Oh, come now, boys. Don\'t be modest on my account. You sure didn\'t seem to have a problem with letting your wild sides out last n.
.

Sirius notices my dreamy smile, and gives me a wide grin as he seats himself opposite of me. After cleaning up the mess, Remus summons three cups and a pot of steaming tea, and joins us at the table.

\"I feel like we owe you an apology,\" Remus says as he pours tea for the three of us. \"For...um...keeping you up last night.\"

\"Oh, that\'s okay,\" icklickly say, waving my hand dismissively. \"Besides, Phineas and I had a bit of a party of our own.\"

Both Remus and Sirius give me a blank stare.

\"Oh, yes.\" I light up a cigarette and take my time exhaling the smoke and letting these two men wonder what went on in their guest room. \"Your great-grand-whatever turns out to be quite the passionate lover,\" I tell Sirius with a crooked smile.

\"My great-grand-lover...what?\" Sirius looks very, very lost, and I briefly purse my lip to stiffen a giggle.

\"Phineas. My, my, who knew portraits would be so good in bed?\" I lean back a little, and trail a hand down my front as seductively as possible while letting out a wistful sigh.

\"Phineas? That old blob of paint?\" Sirius asks, bewildered, and I nod.

\"Hmm. And it turns out I\'m not the first of your guests he\'s shown what a remarkable lover he is. If I am to believe his stories, he and Harry had a wonderful time together when Harry was staying in that room.\"

\"That bloody bastard!\" Sirius roars, jumping to his feet and sending his chair flying backwards. \"I\'ll rip him to shreds!\"

Sirius already has the doorknob in his hand by the time I can\'t contain my laughter anymore. I hear Remus chuckle beside me, and Sirius slowly releases the door and turns to the both of us.

\"Oh, very funny,\" he mutters, stomps back to the table, picks up his chair, and sits down with a scowl.

I share an amused smile with Remus and take deep breaths to calm myself.

\"That was for the corset,\" I tell Sirius, and he glares in return, arms crossed firmly over his chest. But then I see the corner of his lip twitch up, and a moment later he\'s grinning at me.

\"So,\" Remus starts, then takes his time to take a sip from his tea. \"Voldemort\'s wand.\"

Staring down at my cup, I let out a very tired sigh, because frankly, this subject still confuses me. A lot. \"Yeah,\" I whisper. \"Voldemort\'s wand. I had no idea it meant anything. I was just...you know...curious.\"

\"Curiosity killed the cat,\" Sirius offers, and I give him an amused smile.

\"Funny. Voldemort said the exact same thing.\"

Sirius scowls, but Remus turns in his seat to look at me.

\"I\'m not sure it means anything in your case, since you\'re a Muggle. But it is an old custom among pureblood Wizards when one wants to express their interest in the other, to touch their wand. It\'s usually the first step in courting, which often results in marriage.\"

\"Ha!\" I sit up, and give both men a victorious smile. \"But I\'m not a Wizard and Voldemort is not a pureblood, so this whole thing doesn\'t go for us.\"

I dare not wonder why I don\'t feel more relieved after concluding this, or why there\'s this annoying feeling in the pit of my stomach that resembles disappointment an awful lot.

Both Sirius and Remus nod their agreement, and our conversation becomes less serious as Sirius and I spend some time bashing Snape while Remus prepares breakfast.

After we finish our food and enjoy a smoke while chattering about anything and everything, I make my way upstairs to get dressed. I manage to identify the shampoo in the large bathroom and enjoy a long, warm shower before making sure Phineas is nowhere to be seen as I get dressed.

The cotton underwear feels comfortable, and I select a plain, black robe to wear.

It\'s weird.

I\'m not a dress person, nor a skirt person, and wearing a robe is definitely a new experience for me, since I have the idea that I\'m naked from the waist down. But when I look myself over in the mirror, I have to conclude that the robe covers all potential embarrassing parts and that I look all right. The mirror agrees with me, and after I recover from a near-heart attack, I thank it for the compliment, and make my way downstairs again.

Where I encounter a showered and dressed Sirius in the hallway. Who looks at me, narrows his eyes, and shoves me against the wall, his hands roaming over me before they dive inside my robes.

I\'m speechless, and look at Sirius with wide eyes as I feel his hands stroke across my skin.

Oh yes. Just a little lower, dearest. That\'s it.

But before any good stuff happens, Sirius withdraws his hands, pulling the hem of my robe inside out, and shows me the small, white label.

Which has a tiny Dark Mark on it.

Ah. It appears I selected the standard Death Eater robe to wear. I give Sirius a sheepish grin, while I feel my cheeks flush.

\"I assume this is Macnair\'s all?\ll?\" Sirius asks, releasing my robe and crossing his arms.

\"Um...no, not exactly,\" I mumble, embarrassed. \"But I didn\'t pick it out. Really, Walden did. I had no idea it was what it is when I put it on.\"

Sirius doesn\'t say a thing, but gives me a stern glare, his lips pursed into a thin line.

\"I\'ll put on that nice dark-blue one then.\" I smile apologetically, and quickly run up the stairs to get changed, making a mental note to check the labels of all my black robes before wearing them from now on.

~~~~~~~~~~

\"Would you like to play a game of chess?\" Remus asks as I step inside what looks like a comfortable living room. He\'s sitting on the couch, opened book on his lap, glasses on his nose, and his hair still a bit damp from his recent shower.

\"Well, it\'s been a while since I\'ve played chess,\" I answer a bit hesitantly. It\'s been more than a while, actually. And I can\'t really remember any of the rules. Still, it would be fun to play a game with Remus. Any game, for that matter.

\"No worries. I\'ll help you along,\" Remus assures me, and while I sit down in a large chair opposite of the couch, Remus summons the chessboard, a pot of tea, and two cups.

\"White always starts,\" Remus says after he\'s set the board up. All the white pieces, which are standing on my side of the board, turn to give me a suspicious look.

\"Okay.\" I move one of the white pawns, and then Remus moves one of his pawns, and we\'re playing chess.

Within a few moves, Remus\' pawn kicks the shit out of my pawn, and while the little fellow drags his battered arse off the board, I whisper: \"Sorry.\"

All the white pieces turn to look at me again, their expressions now lacking any confidence in my abilities to get them through the game in one piece. I can\'t say that I can blame them, since I have a feeling Remus will be needing half a new chess set after we\'re done.

Two more white pawns are beaten beyond recognition, and then a loud, female voice interrupts us. Mrs Black, if all the \'Blood traitors\' and \'Scums\' are any indication. Remus grabs his wand, and with a flick he closes the door, shutting the horrible noise out.

\"Where\'s Sirius?\" I inquire, watching my knight getting kicked to pieces.

Remus smiles. \"He\'s trying to remove his mother\'s painting. Has been trying to get her off the wall all summer, but hasn\'t succeeded yet.\"

I nod, and very hesitantly move my tower, who is struggling bravely.

The morning passes quickly. Remus patiently instructs me as we go through several games of chess, and I\'m very happy to see that he won\'t be needing new chess sets, since he repairs them with a flick of his wand after each game.

Just as Remus goes down to the kitchen to fix us some food, Sirius steps in, scorch marks on his face and hands.

\"No luck?\" I ask politely, and he shakes his head as he steps up to me.

\"That\'s my seat,\" he states, and after rolling my eyes, I get up to take a seat on the couch. Sirius flops down in *his* chair, stretches his legs and rests his feet on the coffee table, and lights up a cigarette.

I want to follow his example, but as I lean back something hard is pressing against my arse, and I stick my hand between the cushions to see what is poking me.

I retrieve a string of balls, and I hold it in front of me to examine it curiously. Of my god, those are anal beads.

\"Oh, we were looking for those.\" Sirius gives me a wide grin and snatches the beads away from me. I repress a shudder, because I really don\'t want to think about where those beads have been.

And just then Remus steps inside with a plate filled with sandwiches, and offers me one. I inconspicuously wipe my hand on my robes, and take one with a polite nod and a muttered \'thank you\'.

Sirius and Remus discuss some spell that didn\'t work on that rotten painting, and I listen with half an ear, wondering if playing chess is what I\'ll be doing in this house to keep myself busy. I really miss my computer. And my dogs. Maybe I could ask for some parchment, so I can write a bit anyway. But then again, I really don\'t want to explain myself if Sirius or Remus should happen to find out exactly what I\'m writing.

The doorbell rings, and while we\'re treated to another serenade of \'Mutants\' and \'Mudbloods\', Sirius hurries to open the door.

A moment later, he steps back inside the room, closely followed by two identical looking redheads, who almost bounce inside, but halt when they see me sitting on the couch beside Remus, their expressions rather...disappointed.

\"We have a guest,\" Remus states, and then gestures between me and the twins. \"Maeglin, meet George and Fred Weasley. This is Maeglin, a Muggle who will be staying with us for a while.\"

Getting up to shake their hands, I can\'t hold back a very wide grin, because, well, these are The Twins, and I\'ve always thought they were pretty cool.

\"Man, that stunt you pulled at the end of last year...the fireworks and telling Umbridge off the way you did...that rocked!\" I tell them, and they both look confused for a moment.

\"Maeglin is a seer,\" Remus explains, and the twins beam at me.

\"Thanks, luv,\" Fred - because he\'s wearing the blue sweater and I forced myself to remember their names when they introduced themselves to me – says.

\"She had it coming,\" George – brown sweater – says, patting his brother on the back.

I wonder if they are straight. Or bi. And interested in a threesome.

\"I see we came in time for a bite to eat,\" Fred...or George...damn, which one was wearing the brown sweater again? I really should try to keep my thoughts together instead of trying to ogle their arses. Which look very nice, by the way.

\"Help yourselves,\" Sirius says as we all find a seat. We continue the meal while I ask the twins about their planned shop, and they tell me how they\'ve been busy with inventing new things and trying to find a proper location to open their store.

I like the twins. They\'re a happy, enthusiastic couple of lads. But be wae way they keep glancing at Sirius and Remus, I think I don\'t have a chance with them. They seem awfully queer as well. Just my luck, to be locked in a house with four gay men.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the day, I manage not to eat any of the candy Fred and George offered me, not to end up in any truly embarrassing situations, and basically behave myself as the good little Muggle that I am. The day went by fast, and soon enough I find myself in my bed, wearing my comfy nightgown, paging through one of the books Walden bought for me.

Walden. I miss him. Sirius and Remus and the twins are very nice company, but there is something about Walden that made him very good company as well. Maybe because he is a homicidal ax-murderer. Or maybe because he was just nice to me, I\'m not sure.

Whatever it is, I do miss him, and I so hope Voldemort didn\'t kill him or cut any important bits off.

Voldemort. I miss him as well, oddly enough. There\'s something about being in the presence of an evil Dark Lord. Well, as long as he doesn\'t want to kill you, that is. And he did treat me good, so I have no reason not to like him. Besides that he\'s a homicidal murderer who\'s killed many, many people in the past. But somehow, it\'s easy to overlook that part, since it\'s not something that has hurt me, personally.

I wonder if I will ever see them again. It\'s hard to imagine there\'s a war going on between all those people I\'ve met during the past few days. And it\'s hard to take sides, even though I know I should side up with the side of light, of course. Because that would be the good thing to do. Still, it\'s hard to do, because then I would have to look at Voldemort and Walden as enemies, and I don\'t want to.

Trying to ease my indecisive mind, I read a bit in the book, but it\'s hard to concentrate, since my thoughts keep wandering back to everything that has happened.

Why am I here? How the hell did I get here in the first place? And does the fact that I touched Voldemort\'s wand mean something? Other than that I\'m incredibly stupid.

A door creaking open and closed alerts me, and my curiosity gets the better of me. Sirius and Remus, and the twins, who stayed over for the night, went to bed as well, so I\'m really curious to see who is out and about at this time of the night.

Sneaking out of bed, I crack my own door open, and catch a glimpse of two scarcely dressed redheads slipping inside the canines\' bedroom.

Very interesting.

And bloody annoying because I want to know what\'s going on in there. Even though I already have a strong suspicion it won\'t be a secret Order meeting.

Last night I was too exhausted to busy myself with very interesting thoughts like that, but at the moment, I\'m wide awake, and dying to find out what is happening behind that closed door.

Turning around, I worry my bottom lip for a moment, trying to come up with a way to find out more about the nocturnal life of those four Wizards.

And then something hits me.

\"Phineas!\" I stare at the blank painting on my wall. \"I know you\'re in there.\"

\"Have you changed your mind, Milady?\" Phineas asks as he appears in the painting, already opening the top button of his robes.

I roll my eyes. \"No, I haven\'t, so please keep your clothes on. I need a favor.\"

\"A favor, you say? And what might that favor be?\" Phineas crosses his arms, leans against the frame, and gives me a curious look.

\"Well,\" I start, and then take a deep breath, unsure of how to continue. Oh, come on, you silly twit. This is just a painting, after all. Get your act together. \"Is there a painting in Sirius\' bedroom?\"

\"There is indeed,\" Phineas answers, a slow smile playing around his lips. \"A very nice landscape, with a couple of large trees to hide behind. Why do you ask, Milady?\"

\"Um...well...you see,\" I stutter, and sit myself down on the edge of my bed, looking up at Phineas with a frown. \"Ah, what the hell. I want you to go inside Sirius\' bedroom, and then tell me what they are doing with the twins.\"

Phineas\' slow smile turns into a wide grin. \"Ah, the lady is curious. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.\"

\"Yes, I know by now,\" I say irritably. \"I just don\'t care.\"

\"Very well. And why should I do this?\" Phineas asks, studying his fingernails. \"Out of the goodness of my heart? I\'m a Slytherin. I have little goodness in my heart.\"

\"Tell me what you want,\" I say with a tired sigh. I knew that bastard wouldn\'t just do me a favor.

\"Quid pro quo, Milady. I want to see you wearing that lacy number Sirius found in your belongings yesterday.\"

\"No way!\" I get up and glare at him. If he thinks for one moment that I\'ll ever put that stupid thing on, he\'s sorely mistaken.

\"Fine. Then just show me your breasts.\" Phineas shrugs, and looks at me expectantly.

This is so fucking unbelievable. The only guy who shows any interest in my breasts is a bloody painting! I growl, and sit down again, arms crossed firmly over my tits. \"I\'m not showing you a bloody thing.\"

\"You can\'t blame an old man for trying,\" Phineas says, giving me a very amused smile. \"Just tell me this then: you\'re not really a seer, are you?\"

I snap my gaze up, surprised. Phineas gives me a knowlooklook, and I blink a few times, unsure of what to reveal to him. It would be good to drop my charade for a moment, since the only reason I ever pretended to be a seer was not to get killed.

\"I\'m not a seer,\" I whisper, and Phineas nods for me to continue. \"But I do know things. I just don\'t think it\'s a good idea to tell anyone how I know those things. I only pretended to be a seer so Voldemort wouldn\'t kill me.\"

\"Something each of us would have done if it would have kept us alive,\" Phineas assures me. \"I\'ll just take a look then what\'s going on in there. I\'ll return shortly, Milady.\"

And he\'s gone, and I sit on the bed, tickling a couple of the tiny red dragons on my nightgown to amuse myself while I wait for that old pervert to return.

\"You\'re missing quite a show, Milady,\" Phineas says as he appears again. \"I don\'t think they have names for some of the positions I saw in that bedroom.\"

I stare up at him with my mouth opened, and Phineas chuckles.

Damn. But I have to see this!

If only because it would make very good research material.

Ah, who am I kidding. I just want to see those blokes shag. I\'m only human, after all. And a slasher to boot.

\"Thanks,\" I whisper to Phineas, get up, and sneak out my room towards their bedroom. I really hope there\'s a keyhole in their door.

But I keep forgetting that this is a Wizard\'s house, and thus they don\'t have Muggle things like keys, since they use things like locking spells. So, no keyhole.

I let out a quiet, disappointed sigh, and look the door up and down.

Ha! Near the bottom, there\'s a tiny creak in the wood, light from inside their room shining through it. Crouching down, I press my face against the door, and try to see through the creak.

I see...the bed...and limbs...lots of limbs...oh, and bodies...yes, there\'s bodies...moving...hard...

\"Are you enjoying the view, Milady?\"

Stiffening a shriek, I turn around and see Phineas elbowing some old tart out of her painting.

\"Sshh!\" I say softly yet urgently, and quickly turn back to the door.

Bodies...red hair...there\'s lots of red hair...and oh my god, someone slamming into someone else\'s arse...hello! Lemme see more of that!

\"I would like to remind you that young master Black is related to me, Milady. That offer I gave you last night still stands.\"

\"Would you be quiet, Phineas!\" I hiss, giving him a murderous glare. Letting out a deep sigh, I want to turn back to the door, but suddenly the door comes to me. Why didn\'t I notice before these doors swing out instead of into the room?

A loud crack, followed by blinding pain.

\"Godverdomme!\" I yell, because when I\'m in serious agony, I swear in Dutch. And I\'m in serious agony. My nose feels as if it\'s been shattered into a million pieces, and I reach for it, to feel warm blood drip between my fingers.

My eyes watering, I squint them shut against the overwhelming pain, and try to look up, to see someone staring down at me.

Then the someone disappears, and is back only moments later, crouching down in front of me, cupping my chin. I hear some muttered words, and more pain shoots through my face, before it disappears and my nose feels normal again.

Wiping away some of the blood from my face, I blink up at the someone to see it\'s Remus. Very naked. With a very hard, glistening cock pointing straight at me.

I blush. And quickly stare at the floor, biting my lip miserably.

\"Care to explain what\'s going on?\"

No. Not really. But well, since I don\'t want to be kicked out in the middle of the night, I suppose I\'ll just have to give it a try. Oh please, someone kill me now. Okay, maybe not kill me, but just...something.

\"Um...I was...and then...and...\"I mutter, and glance up at Remus, who is looking at me with one raised eyebrow.

\"It\'s all his fault!\" I state, turning to point at Phineas. But he\'s nowhere to be seen, and the old tart in the painting gives me an indignant look.

\"Did Phineas put you up to this?\" Remus asks softly, and I have to admire his ability to stay calm and reasonable after he\'s just caught some Muggle twit spying on him and his three lovers.

\"Yes,\" I lie.

\"I\'m not surprised. He\'s a bit of a pervert, that old bastard,\" Remus whispers with an amused smile, and I give him a very weak smile in return.

\"Go back to bed and get some sleep.\"

Remus helps me to my feet, and I catch a glimpse of a very naked Sirius and a pair of twins looking at me curiously. I quickly look away, mutter an apology, and shuffle back to my room.

\"I warned you that curiosity would kill the cat,\" Phineas says as I close my bedroom door behind me.

\"It just broke my nose, thank you very much.\" I have the odd urge to point my tongue out at him, but resist, and flop down on my bed instead.

\"I could go to them and tell them you lied, you know. After all, it was all your idea, Milady.\"

\"You wouldn\'t!\" I sit up, and grit my teeth.

\"Oh, but I would.\" Phineas is studying his hands again. \"Quid pro quo, Milady.\"

\"What do you want this time?\"

Phineas turns his cheek to me, and taps it with a crooked finger.

Sighing, I get up, and making sure he doesn\'t quickly turn his face, I press a kiss on his cheek. He tastes like a painting. Which isn\'t odd, I suppose.

\"Thank you, Phineas,\" I say, giving him a forced smile.

\"It was my pleasure, Milady. Have a wonderful night.\"

Yeah, I\'m sure it was, you old pervert. Then again, I was the one getting caught spying on four men shagging, so I suppose I shouldn\'t be calling him names.

As I lie down on my bed and crawl under the covers, I can\'t help but hope that I\'ll magically reappear at home again before the night ends. Because somehow I don\'t think I\'ll want to face any of those men tomorrow morning after this night\'s fiasco.