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I doubt everyone is as studious as the two of us, although it's quite an honorable notion to attribute this silence to industriousness.

Although, on the topic of essays, what did you think of the one Slughorn assigned last week?

Oh I don’t like it, reminds me too much of home. I enjoy the buzz of the students. Perhaps they’ve all gotten lost in their books, the teachers have assigned quite a bit of essays in the past week.

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I wish it were that simple; we both know that they will resurface no matter how many times we beat them down.

Indeed. But perhaps it’s for the better for the filthy muggleborns are finally out of our sight. 

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Very much so. I do prefer this quieter version of things, but simultaneously, I can't help but wonder where everyone's disappeared to.

It is isn’t it. It’s a bit unsettling don’t you think?

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The silence of the castle has been...most unusual.

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If the armchair by the fire in Slytherin common room is not mine by unspoken birthright...

...it should be.

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-- Such rudeness is unbecoming, and frankly, quite befouling, of a lady of your stature.

       Go away. I’m studying, and I’m sure you’ve got something better to do than watch like a vulture.

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So long as Amortentia is not what you seek, I'd be more than willing to oblige. You need no potion to make men fall vastly in love with you, Miss Rosier.

There you are! I was looking for you. 

A little house-elf told me you have a certain affinity for potions and I may need your expertise with a petite problem.

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Such frivolities stir the masses into quite a vexing frenzy; were it not for that, perhaps I would share some of your amusement, dear cousin.

How lovely. All Hallow’s Eve is approaching and I for one cannot wait for the ghouls to come out and play. 

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Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

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Orion was trapped by propriety; should he leave now, he would appear cowardly, rude, or churlish. Perhaps all three at once. To be anything other than the immaculate visage of correctness and honor, to represent his family with nothing but valor and dignity would be a stain on his name that he could not live down. Every fiber of his being wished to turn his steps away from Riddle, but, begrudgingly, he moved forwards. Orion inclined his head politely to Tom's invitation to stay, exactly as he was expected to do. He fished in his own pocket for a cigarette -- one of his few vices -- and ignited it with the tip of his wand. The sharp inhale of smoke somehow calmed his nerves, an action that he had repeated under far less strenuous circumstances.

"Solitude, yes," Orion answered. "The hustle and bustle of the castle can get quite tiresome, and after having an entire summer to myself, I find myself unused to the buzzing activity of Hogwarts." He gave a nonchalant shrug, brushing some dark hair off his face. His tone was neutral, unreadable, when he continued. "However, I'm not opposed to your company; in fact, I appreciate the honor most deeply." The words were a lie, of course; the man standing next to him was, as he was beginning to see, the catalyst for a war that none of them could have ever imagined. There was no honor in bringing about so much senseless death. "What brings you up here at such an hour?" he asked. And why are you interrupting my solitude?

The Delight of Wicked Games || Orion & Tom

Orion Black. He had seen doubt in his eyes, perhaps a fear for what was to come and never had he heard him swear his loyalty to his leader outloud. It was with a penetrating gaze that Tom would meet this young man as he approached. The smoke would pass between his cold lips twice and as the emerged from him it looked like slithering serpents. Fascinating, the young man thought to himself before he turned his attention to his intruder. A slow smile spreading over his lips as he gave Orion a respectful nod. The other was a Black, placed high above many for the purest of blood which cursed through his veins. Thus he would be a perfect vessel, follower but never a friend. Friends were for the weak and Tom was anything but.

"Leaving so soon, mister Black?" He said in the darkness as the other turned to leave. Now amusement would fill his eyes and hands as they gestured for Orion to stop. A game, it was what this meeting would become and one of the most delightful games of them all. "There is no need to leave the premises so quickly." An invitation and with one more movement he gestured for the other to come closer. "Tell me, was it solitude you sought when you climbed the steps of the tower?"

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Orion felt a chill stir through him, his breath catching in his throat. Walburga's thinly veiled hint towards the most powerful man in the school -- Tom Riddle -- hardly settled well with him; while others venerated and lauded the man, Orion saw only the destruction that he would reap. He saw the lives taken for a cause that needed no champions, and he saw what would happen should Riddle fail in his undertaking. The very idea of using the man to settle a Black family discrepancy, a slight against their house and no one else's, seemed wholly wrong to him. "Cousin," he began slowly, calmly, rationally, "if we need bigger and better men to fight our battles for us, then who shall fear the wrath of House Black? Who shall respect the honor of House Black? Should we taint our reputation with those outside of ourselves, we open our family to destruction." He noticed a certain tiredness overcome her features, and, almost hesitantly, rested a hand on her shoulder, keeping her steady. "We will make this right, Walburga," he assured her. "I promise you. Somehow, we shall."

She deflated before his eyes. That look of his, that one of self-knowledge, of calmness in the eye of the storm, weakened her. Perhaps it was some sense of pity that she had for him, stowed down deep in the part of her darkened heart that felt such things. He did not want to follow her, yet he did not run from her like many did. Others, brave but more foolish than he, idiotic even, would have fuelled her ire, drunk themselves to a point of intoxication from her destructiveness. But he— he stood with contempt for such behaviour, to a point where an inkling of shame crossed over Walburga’s ivory cheeks. What in Salazar’s name was she doing? No words came to her, and her anger turned inward. She was acting like a child, willing to cause her own ruination for a taste of tainted blood. If she were not careful, she would be the one to destroy the ancient noble House of Black. “Orion—” She began with hollowness in her usual velvet tone. His name wrapped itself on her tongue wondrously. Stead-fast, strong, yet a sense of lovely mystery to it. “—we must act, but in a manner that you see fit.” Her lips gather together, her eyes find a corner to dig themselves into. “One appropriate to such an act.” She nods her head several times, lost to herself. “We have our friends to help us, Orion. Turn to them, perhaps.” She suggested absentmindedly, a small smirk on her lips at the word ‘friends’. A particular friend. She felt herself swaying. That temper of her had always drained her. “Oh, Orion.” She whispered as a small comfort. 

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It is not flattery if it's true, my dear.

Flattery, the simple path to many women’s hearts. I thought you were above it, mister Black. Or is this one of your darling truths that you are whispering to me?

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And I am most certainly inclined to agree, but alas, my dear, you don't possess the right sort of light to illuminate my Charms textbook.

Some may argue that light radiates from my being, darling Orion.

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Find someone else to endure your incessant prattling, McLaird. I am not and will not ever be in the mood to entertain your ego.

See that’s the kind of closed mind that starts wars. Maybe I am the light? When you think about it that way I’m actually doing you a favour…

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You know how much I would have enjoyed being there.

Alas, the impetus of my mother's sentimentality kept me away; she wanted to spend the last summer of my youth as a family, I suppose.

My summer was eventful to say the least; filled with debauchery and bloody games. The muggles provided quite the entertainment for our hunts. A shame you weren’t there, Orion.