Black Beauty

[Professor Starr Kimaki]

Starr wrenched away from the desk, her blood boiling with rage. "It is none of your business, Ericus Black! You have no clue what you're about to put both of you through by persisting. I showed you what I thought you alone should know, Black. You, out of all people, should have enough experience to know why no one else should know any more! Especially him," she hissed, jerking her head to one side in Syn's direction.

She backed stiffly away from Ericus' desk, turning toward one of his office windows, her blue eyes now flaming. "You have no right to my past or any of my thoughts. What happened, has happened. There's no way to change any of it. All we can do," she said, turning her head to look pointedly at him, "is be wary of the present." As she spoke, her voice got softer and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. She flipped through her memory, seeing again what was on his desk when she approached.

The Dark Mark.

A pained expression wove its way onto her stricken face. She was no longer thinking about what the men in this room wanted to know. Her mind had wavered, slipping into the dark, painful corners in which she rarely ventured. "You said," she whispered to the window, her breath fogging the glass, "they were both Death Eaters." She flinched at her own voice, the words causing a burning pain to rip down her throat - like choking on poison.

Starr, her face abruptly masking over, turned and approached the desk once more. She moved around the corner to where Ericus sat in his chair and knelt in front of him. She spoke low again, not because she didn't want Syn to hear, but from fear. "You said you would grant me access to your thoughts. Show me, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

[Professor Ericus Black]

Ericus just continued to smirk as Starr yelled at him. She wasn't going to change his mind. After all the years they had known each other, you'd think she would've known that. He watched Starr make her way over to the side of his desk. He listened to her request and felt happy to oblige. It was good that he was going to show her, because she needed to know what was going on. "Fine. I will show you. Just know, that the images won't stop unless I stop them. You may see more than you want to." He said. Ericus grabbed his wand off the desk and touched it to his head. He spoke softly and pointed the wand at Starr. A small glow emitted from his wand and started to swirl around Ericus and Starr's heads. She was about to see what the life of a death eater was like. Ericus eyes turned white as he began to reveal memories to Starr.

The first scene settled upon a forest in eastern England. Ericus was walking, cloaked in black, alongside a figure whose face had just become visible. It was James Singer. "So is this really where he is hidden? And you spoke of attempting to defeat him again. He is weak." Ericus said. James turned to look at Ericus. "Yes, this is where he is rumored to hide. If so, it will take both of us to defeat him. He may have weakened but he is still the Dark Lord." Ericus turned to look ahead and noticed a small light coming from a clearing. It was just past the trees. As Ericus and James entered the clearing it seemed completely empty. Almost suddenly there was a sudden rush of air and the clearing was surrounded by Death Eaters. And standing a few yards in front of Ericus was Voldemort himself. Ericus quickly pulled out his wand, but heard the spell, “Expelliarmus!” His wand flew from his hand, and he looked to the left to see James, arm extended, point his wand towards Ericus. “You set me up.” Ericus shouted. “You have no idea.” James said, twisting his wand. Ericus kneeled to the ground. Voldemort’s voice slithered on the air. “Master Singer, he is yours, do the honors.” Ericus ooked from Voldemort to James, and noticed that James was pulling his arm up. From his robe came a knife. James grabbed Ericus by the wrist and plunged the knife into his arm. Ericus’ mind transferred the horrible pain he had felt to Starr. His arm began to spurt black ink and as James pulled the knife away, Ericus saw that the Dark Mark had taken form in his skin. Before he had been able to speak, he was cursed multiple times. Initiation.

That memory faded into a completely new one. Ericus and James watched from the balcony of a castle down at the groups of people wandering its streets. James spoke, saying only, “To finish your obligation to the Dark Lord. You must destroy that which you lo..” The memory began to fade in and out. “She is all that stands in the way, and..”It had now disappeared.

Ericus now sat in a pub speaking with a man at the table with him. “Jayak, you’re spirit and power astounds him. He wants your allegiance. You know this is what must be done.” Jayak just sort of stared blankly at Ericus for a moment, and then agreed. It quickly fast forwarded to Ericus bringing Jayak to Voldemort’s camp. Ericus kneeled in the center as Voldemort appeared. “My lord, he is here.” Ericus looked up to see Voldemort signaling to James. “It is good you have brought him Master Black. His life is nothing. And it will be nothing. He is your charge Ericus. Dispose of him.” Ericus stood and slowly drew his wand. Jayak held nothing and stared at Ericus. His wand held forcefully, Ericus was trying not to bring himself to do it. Just that moment, James Singer entered the memory and shoved Ericus aside. “You are weak!” James shouted as he placed his wand to Jayak’s throat. Ericus rose to charge James and felt himself hit in the chest and knocked against a tree. As the memory began to fade, the last Ericus saw was Jayak being engulfed by a green light. This was the same night Ericus was tortured, not only for information, but because he had refused to do the Dark Lord’s bidding.

It now showed Ericus and James walking into the home of a man whom James had referred to as a relative of Syn Kimaki, the Dark Lord’s biggest threat. James stood in the doorway and said, “It is your task to destroy him. Do not disappoint me. I have a woman nearby who is also supposedly linked to him.” With that James apparated. Ericus stepped forward, noticing how empty the house seemed. As he walked through a side door into a much larger room, he moved his head just in time as a red blast smashed into the wall next to him. “I knew you were coming for me. I thought I had hid my relation to Syn better!” The small man shouted at Ericus as he pointed his wand at him again. Ericus flicked his wand and the man’s wand broke and fell to the ground. “You do not keep secrets from the Dark Lord. He knows all.” Ericus pointed his wand at the man and ripped it sideways. The man’s throat appeared to be slit, but he had not been killed. “You are in the way no longer.” Ericus rose his wand. “Avada Kedavra!” With that, Chi was blown through the wall of his house into the night.

It was now back to that familiar memory. The day the ministry was taken over. Only now it was showing Ericus along with Voldemort, James, and the Death Eaters as they entered the building. Voldemort spoke to Ericus, “You are to kill as many as you can before we enter. You are expendable.” Ericus entered the ministry, alone. As the doors closed behind him, and he was sure Voldemort could not sense him, Ericus raised the alarm that there was to be an attack. The ministry workers scrambled, but it was to no avail. Voldemort and his army had entered and were now proceeding to kill anyone that was in their way. As Ericus began to run for it, he saw green blasts following him and heard Voldemort shouting for James to kill him. As Ericus turned a corner, he sunk against the wall and as James ran past Ericus blasted his back with a spell and sent him sprawling. James stood and shouted “You were weak. Always weak! He only needed you because of your ties to the ministry. You were a pawn. And now you die.” As James began to speak the curse Ericus shouted it before him, “Avada Kedavra!” And it collided with what had begun to form on James’ wand, causing a small explosion slamming Ericus into the wall, and killing James and twenty nearby witches and wizards, 13 of whom were death eaters.

Ericus’ memory began to fade, as the mental pain had begun to become to much for him to handle. He broke the connection between him and Starr and dropped his wand. He sunk into his chair, sweating and losing the color from his face. They were painful. But they seemed important. Ericus just needed someone he trusted to show them to.

[Professor Syn Kimaki]

Syn leaned against the wall and looked at the ground as he pretty much zoned out. He heard Starr and Ericus talking about something, somewhat arguing, but he couldn't figure out what they were arguing over. All of the sudden Starr started looking into his memories again. He glanced over at her, her eyes were rolled behind her heard and she was sweating. Ericus was too.

Great, More Reasons To Hate Me.... He thought. He assumed Ericus was showing her reasons why she should leave Syn and go to him. He hated it, he felt so helpless. He wasn't exactly 100% free and some of the blame of the events that were happening that night should definitely have been put on him, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself. He hated Ericus so much at the moment.

He could put his hate off though. Nothing mattered more to him than his wife... err, ex wife? Whatever she was to him now. She was his other half. He felt like someone had just dropped a bowling ball on his glass table. It would take him forever to fix that table...

He looked over at them again. What was he showing her?