#6 ~ A Matter of Matrimony

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR (except Marcus Delaluci). All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Introducing Marcus Delaluci ~ Dark Arts Professor


The night sky was bulleted with stars, and the voices of magical night creatures sang their dark and feral songs to the new moon. Marcus Delaluci, current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher walked toward the edge of the forbidden forest, his hands deep in his robe pockets. He was a tall man, with a stooped walk. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but he had an interesting face, broad-nosed, square-jawed, bushy-browed, blonde-haired with startling violet eyes, a gift from a distant magical ancestor not of human origin.

He was a quiet man, with little to say, preferring to observe than participate for the most part, but dangerous, very dangerous when it came to defending himself against Dark Magic. Marcus had been one of the Ministry’s elite Eradicators, a secret branch of ministry enforcement whose purpose was to “maintain” balance in the wizarding world’s power structures. In other words, he had been an assassin.

To be considered as Eradicator a wizard or witch had to have two basic qualifications

1) Be an individual with no living relatives, no relationships, no emotional ties
2) Be able to follow orders with no lapses of conscience or remorse.

A wizard was inducted into the Eradicators at age eighteen and stayed in service for the rest of his life. Once inducted, a wizard could never leave. The training was rigorous, and those unfortunates who did not complete the course, simply “disappeared”.

The Eradicators looked for loners to recruit. Orphaned children, with little or no friends, spotted backgrounds, but bright, intelligent and preferably angry at the world. Marcus had been all those things. His parents died under mysterious circumstances when he was nine, and he had been a ward of the wizarding state, moved from orphanage to foster home to fending for himself on the streets. He had taught himself the spells necessary to make other young wizards back off him, when they laughed at his patched robes, run-over shoes, his second-hand wand. They didn’t laugh long…the wand may not have been chosen for him, but it worked well. He was on his way to Durakan, the prison for underaged wizards for hexing a young wizard to the point of madness, and refusing to tell what spell he used even under the influence of Veritaserum, when he drew the notice of the Eradicators. An assassin that could not be forced to tell the truth was an asset.

Eradicators worked directly for the Minister of Magic and followed his orders explicitly. Marcus had served under Fudge, who for all his bluster, was a dangerous and vindictive man, who believed in striking fast and hard, and using all forms of subterfuge to cover up his deeds. Marcus had killed a lot of wizards and witches for Fudge, and several of his predecessors, wiped out entire families at times. But that was his job. It was nothing personal. And he did it just as instructed, often making the scene look like the work of deatheaters. But now Fudge was out of office, in Azkaban and the Wizengamot dissolved the Eradicators without fanfare, deeming it better the wizarding world proper never knew they existed.

After a life like that, it was easy to understand why the man formed no bonds. He had been indoctrinated not to care. It was easier to live that way. After the Eradicators had been dissolved, he did some work for Gringott’s as a mercenary, cutting a swathe through unfriendly territories, killing in the name of High Finance. When he returned to Britain, he was approached by a strange old man, with long white hair, and a long braided beard, wearing robes of bright orange with blue stars, and half-moon glasses, who introduced himself as one Albus Dumbledore, who offered him a job at Hogwarts teaching. He thought it over a few days, tired of all the blood and secrecy, and accepted the post. Albus was a leading member of the Wizengamot, and well knew his history. Marcus rather thought the Headmaster had a “stray dog” complex. After all, he had taken in an active deatheater on staff. How much further could he stray?

Marcus had been taught how to “blend in” and “get along”. So he fit in with the Hogwarts staff, on agreeable terms with everyone but one Severus Snape, who was a former deatheater, and epitomized the “five D’s”: Dark, Difficult, Disagreeable, Dangerous and full of Disdain. Not that Marcus tried to befriend him. If he had his choices, he would rather duel him. He seemed as if he would be a worthy opponent, for a little while at least. What interested him was Snape’s relationship with a bookish but decent looking young staff member, Hermione Granger. How he managed to get a woman half his age was beyond Marcus. He seemed a cold man, incapable of any affection or passion. And the young woman seemed preoccupied with things cerebral, never effecting anything remotely sexually stimulating. Maybe they were just made for each other. He kicked a stone and continued to walk along the perimeter of the forest.

He liked to walk along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, sometimes even entering it, hoping something would rise from the dark and challenge him to a life or death struggle in which he must win or die. But it never happened. It was as if the creatures that inhabited the forest recognized a wizard with the potential to be more vicious than they, and avoided him. He needed excitement. Teaching was too tame. He was good at it, but it left him dissatisfied.

Suddenly, he heard a crunch of a foot on dry leaves, and melted back into the shadows. He saw someone walking, holding up a dimly lit wand. He adjusted his eyes, and the darkness flared away. This was a special magic all his own. His violet eyes could see in total darkness, which was one of the reasons he excelled as Eradicator. Hmm. It was Hermione Granger. What was she doing out here on a night like this, all alone, near a dangerous forest?

Marcus’ eyes shifted right…he saw a movement in the wood. Someone darting, tree to tree, following the young witch. Marcus felt no inclination to move or go to her aid, or even warn her. This was interesting. The most interesting thing he’d seen since he arrived at Hogwarts several months ago. He watched the shadow, his vision telescoped, and he recognized Severus Snape, drawing closer. What was this?

Suddenly Snape leaped on his supposed lover and dragged her to the ground. There was a struggle, some screaming, and then silence. He could see Snape on top of the woman, his robes spread over them. Then the screaming started again, but broken and rhythmic. He was raping her. Marcus’ eyebrows raised in surprise.

Snape was fucking her hard, driving her across the ground. The rape seemed to last forever. After a while, the screaming stopped and Snape rose, brushing off his robes. Then he pulled the young witch off the ground. Marcus adjusted his vision so he could see her face. It was flushed, but sated. Satisfied. She had liked it. They both started walking back toward the castle.

Well, well. Now wasn’t this the dragon’s tail? No wonder she favored Snape. It seemed he gave her what she needed. Marcus found himself aroused by this. He wondered how much she needed? Would she like a twosome? A threesome? He suddenly saw Hermione Granger in a new light. At last, something interesting at Hogwarts. Something worth investigating. Exploring. Maybe even indulging in.

And the fact that she belonged to the deatheater, Severus Snape, made the challenge of getting to know her intimately, even more arousing.

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A/N: So, what do you think? Could this wizard be an interesting antagonist for the story \"A Matter of Marriage?\" Please review.