Next Generation 2

[choki]

"Muggle acid..." Nikolaus answered, "and what is that supposed to mean?"

[salemboy]

"It means," Damien said, taking a step towards Nikolaus, getting them almost an armlength apart. "That should I catch you performing any dark magic, and I mean any, or should I learn of you endangering the students, including Geneve, then I will personally pour this acid down your throat."

[choki]

The stiff atmosphere between the two became almost unbearable like the rising temperature of the chamber. The terrible silence lasted for a brief seconds before Nikolaus gave a smirk.

"We'll see about that when the time comes," he replied smugly.

"Don't push your luck too far," Damien gritted his teeth, and swore that he would, one day, wipe the smug out of his face. He then strolled past Nikolaus to the exit, picking up Suge on the way.

"Dark wizards always betray one another." With that, Damien vanished down the hallway.

For the first time, Nikolaus thought he sensed a tinge of regret in Damien's voice.

[salemboy]

Damien bitterly held back tears as he strode down the corridors to the great hall. It was only when he came to the great doors leading into the mess hall when he balked. He looked up at the doors in front of him, tears beginning to stream down his face, even against his will. The great flurry of emotions held within his body-regret, anger, sorrow- began to overcome him. Instead, he turned and made his way to the dungeons. He went down to his class-room, entered his office, locked the door, knelt upon the floor next to his bed, and wept.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia sat in her seat at the High Table with unease. Galena had posted a new Transfiguration teacher, and the woman kept glancing down at her like a predator to prey. After a moment, Valencia decided that it was only nerves. After all, she planned to have a word with Nikolaus tonight. He still hadn't come to dinner, which irked her. Her thoughts jerked back to the present as Galena got to her feet and gave a short speech introducing the new professor. Valencia clapped with all the rest, but her thoughts were far away. Unfortunately, the new professor struck a up a conversation with her, ending all musing.

[choki]

Nikolaus stroded past nonchalantly as the students casted curious glances at him, amidst with the soft mumblings about the spectecular scene that occurred earlier today.

Over at the teachers' bench, he spotted Valencia with an unfamilar looking woman. However, through his early encounter with her, Nikolaus decided against going to her at this moment. Perhaps a day or two, might cool her down.

He took an empty seat besides one of the Hufflepuffs and asked in a gentle tone about the woman whom Valencia was talking to.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve felt something pressing lightly on her chest. She opened her eyes. The house elves had lit the lamps because evening had fell. A pleasant purring started and Geneve focused on two feline eyes looking into her face. They reflected back blue from the lamp light. Geneve brought her hand up slowly so as not to frighten the delicate siamese cat and stroked his back and head so that he purred louder. She lifted it's light body off of her and set him down beside her as she sat up. She looked at her watch. She still had time to go to dinner, and her stomach responded happily with a hungry squeal. Geneve smiled. She turned and looked at the cat again, and brought her face down to his level. "If you'll have me, I would like very much if you would be my pet." she said to him. His round blue eyes blinked dreamily in response. Geneve observed him for a moment. Then she said, "And I will call you......" and she laughed. She stood up. She could not call him that, she thought. But she thought it was a good name just the same, and her grandfather had rejected it. "Tom." she said, and nodded. If she had to bare the legacy of her grandfather, she decided she would embrace it. The best way to overcome any downfall is to look it in the face and laugh. She went to the bathroom, washed her face, tidying her hair, smoothed out her clothes and left the comonroom with Tom at her heals.

[choki]

"The lady talking to Prof Marcellus... she is the new Transfiguration teacher...erm... I think her name is something Feles if I heard correctly," the hufflepuff girl said, a bit flabbergasted by the sudden conversation with Nikolaus. In fact, the whole bench of girls were more focused in staring at Nikolaus rather than eating their dinner.

"Well ladies, I sure you won't mind me joining this table for dinner... would you?"
"No... of course, you are...welcome... we were just... talking about you when you appeared," said one of the more outspoken girl.
"Oh... is that so? Mind sharing what's so interesting about me?" Nikolaus charmed them with a smile.

[salemboy]

Damien slowly lifted up his head and wiped his tears. As he had been crying, he had drifted into a momentary... trance, where he was in between sleep and being awake... almost similar to hypnosis. In this half-sleep-half-awake state, dreams had entered his mind, mingled with his fear, and had become a dark trip down memory lane.

It had not been a pleasant trip. The truth was, as a younger man, Damien had screwed up a lot, and going over those memories hadn't been pleasant.

And the worst part was, he could look around himself and see similar things happen to good people, and The Dark Magic eventually tears at them until finally, the temptation, the knowledge, all cause them to crack. They give into the temptation and become psychopathic killing machines. All members of the Sadistic Six, including Damien, had fallen to this temptation. Damien was lucky enough to have the morality revived in him.

He did not credit himself for this victory over dark magic, in fact, it had been the doing of Yuta Tanuki that had made him prone to moralization, although the final push, the last thing that finally gave him back his morality... had been when Inu had killed his mother. If it hadn't been for those two things, Damien would have probably stayed with the gang and would have gone on killing until a) they ran out of people to kill or b) they themselves were killed.

Weak from the activities of the day, and the simple fact that an auror in his forties normally meant that you have age-old wounds that never seem to go away, Damien slowly crawled into bed, and fell into a deep sleep, not having a single dream the entire time.

[choki]

The laughters coming from the Hufflepuff table, particularly the section where Nikolaus was sitting, drew Valencia's attention regularly during the course of dinner, although she, herself, was preoccupied with the conversation with the new teacher even though she wasn't doing most of the talking.

"Ah, here comes the treacle tarts." The timely appearance of the desserts indicated the dinner would soon be over. As he enjoyed the last bit of the delicious dessert, Valencia drew nearer.

"Can I have a word with you?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure." He answered, then turning back to the tables of Hufflepuffs, he continued, "Ladies, it has been a great time chatting with you all... Have a good night."
"Mr. Herrmann, we look forward to hearing more of your stories at Durmstrang and your adventures," said the girls merrily. He nodded as the girls started to leave for their dormitories.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

As the students began to leave the Great Hall, Valencia beckoned Nikolaus to follow her. She walked out onto the grounds and over to a secluded spot by the Quidditch pitch. The crescent moon shined an eerie light over the two as Valencia turned to Nikolaus.
“What do you think you're playing at?” she demanded in a harsh whisper.
“What are you talking about?” Nikolaus asked innocently in a joking manner.
“You know very well what I am talking about! How could you put the school in such danger?”
“I thought we were over with that issue… The auror has cleared me of all charges… there isn't any Dark Magic involved,” he replied, with a slight irritation in his voice. How long more did he have to explain? Everyone had been bugging him about this the entire day.
“Dark Magic or no Dark Magic, it still endangered innocent lives! I just wanted to warn you that if you ever do anything in that fashion again, I for one will make darn sure that you are banished from the grounds!” Valencia continued adamantly.
Nikolaus eyed her in disbelief. Did she even hear him out? Was she even listening to his explanation?
“You don't trust me at all?” he asked in exasperation. Valencia sighed.
“You never did?” he added, sounding a little unexpected.
“Your actions are somehow-,” Valencia paused, searching of the right word to use. She did not want to come out as being stone cold.
“-unconvincing…”
“Unconvincing? So what exactly have I done?” he roared.
“That's the issue! All you have done is to meddle in Dark Arts! There were so many preceding instances where one would fall to the dark side. I thought you would change for the better.” Valencia stated, choosing to be calm over Nikolaus's outburst.
“Oh, so you are telling me it is for my own good that I quit meddling with Dark Arts?” Nikolaus retorted, his temper rising rapidly. He was infuriated. He had thought Valencia would somehow understand him, able to see that it was his talent, his passion, not his shortcoming.
“It is indeed for your own good!” She was getting a little upset. Clearly the two were not listening to each other, nor did they understand each other.
“I know exactly what I'm doing!” Nikolaus replied, pointing his own chest. He was getting more agitated by the minute. He had no idea what made him so angry in the first place.
“Do you, Nikolaus? Do you really? That's exactly what I thought! I thought I had a handle on the Dark Arts but I was wrong, and it nearly killed me!”
“It's not my fault you weren't strong enough!” He rebutted.
“Well if I wasn't strong enough, then you certainly won't be, that's for sure! I have the ability to become a powerful Dark Witch if I just embraced Darkness! But I don't, because I'm not so stupid and egotistical that I think that if I let myself fall into darkness that I won't be conquered and eventually killed by it in the end!”
“You never gave me any chance! A chance to show you how talented I'm.” Nikolaus was not behaving like what he normally did. What he didn't realized then, was how deeply he was affected by Valencia's words. No one ever did affect him that much. No one, except a certain person from his past, who changed him totally.
“No.” Valencia stated, still fairly calm, “I've given you it but you're wasting the chance.”
“Wasting my chance?” He gave a cold laugh. “So this was what? A test… to see if I can be 'civilized' enough? To see if I can be 'good' enough for you? Dark arts is my talent. I thought you were different! This is just like a woman, to make sure a guy can be changed before accepting him!”
“What?” Valencia asked in disbelief. But Nikolaus wasn't done. He was far too enraged.
“You know, I'm actually kinda surprised you could even think of something like this! A half-blood filth trying to change me?” Nikolaus spat. He was not even thinking straight when he spurted out an insulting term to Valencia.
This, however, was the last straw for Valencia. She was greatly incensed by the crude remark from Nikolaus. Without any hesitation, she gave him a huge slap across his cheek.

“I'll never…ever see you again in my life! And go ahead! Be my guest! Revel in the Dark Arts for all I care! But don't say I didn't warn you when you end up suffering a fate worse than death!” She then stomped off in teary eyes, hurt by someone she thought would be her soul mate. She left behind the stumped Nikolaus with a stinging pain on his cheek and yet, for the both of them, a bigger ache in their hearts.

[salemboy]

Damien awoke early the next day to the sound of a growling stomach. Not opening his eyes, he went over the events of the previous day in his mind, recounting every detail, remembering every word. It wasn't pleasant. Days like yesterday were the reason Damien wished he had a Pensieve like Dumbledore had.

It would seem that more had happened between Geneve and the others than he had previously imagined. During that time where she shared bodies with Voldemort, she had learned many things she shouldn't have. Many secret things that would tear most girls apart. Especially at the age of eleven. Geneve was a very strong little girl. Still, Damien would have to keep a watch on her. Not one of suspiscion, just one of caution. If yesterday was an example of anything, it was to be careful to not upset the girl.

He looked at his watch. Five in the morning. "I guess old habits die hard," he muttered to Suge, who had just barely woken up. Yawning, Damien rolled out of bed onto the floor, blanket and pillow coming with him. Standing up, he bent backwards, effectively popping his back. Waddling over to the sink, he brushed his teeth in the mirror, checking that he didn't have anything in his teeth. Nice thing about his haircut was it was so short that a comb wasn't needed.

Being satisfied with his current appearance, he pulled on a cloak, let Suge onto his arm, and promptly stepped out the door into his class room. It was less than a month into the school year, and there were already hundreds of burns and stains on the floor. Strange that stone floor was capable of that, but with potions, anything's possible. Damien had proven that plenty of times.

He would have to clean the floor soon, or the build-up of different chemicals could end up dangerous... and smelly. It could wait, though. He exited the classroom, being sure to lock the door behind him (not that it would do much to keep out anybody). He headed out of the dungeons and up the stairs into the entrance hall. Then, he went out onto the grounds. The sun was barely rising. Damien made his way down to the little hut on the edge of the grounds. He would have to take Hagrid's advice on this. On all of this.

[choki]

Nikolaus cursed himself over and over as he flipped and turn on his bed, unable to fall asleep throughout the night. Valencia's words kept rewinding inside his ears... "Revel in the Dark Arts for all I care! But don't say I didn't warn you when you end up suffering a fate worse than death!”...

"Great... just great," Nikolaus mumbled. He sat up, relinquishing any intent to sleep. After a quick refreshing wash up, Nikolaus stepped out of his room and wandered around aimlessly, just wishing to kill time before the breaking of dawn. Somehow he wished that the next day would never come, at least, not before he know how to face Valencia again.

A familiar figure sleeping near the edge of the stairs was what he noticed as he was descending down. A cat was purring softly next to her. Nikolaus approached the soundly sleeping girl. "Ha.. at least someone is still able to sleep tight." He laughed quietly. A light breeze blew through the hallway. Without hesitation, he removed his own outer coat and attempted to place it on the girl when the cat hissed loudly. The sleeping girl stirred.

"What the matter, Tom?" Geneve said in a groggy voice. She rubbed her eyes and was surprised to see Nikolaus kneeling next to her with a coat in hand.
"Sorry... didn't want to wake you up seeing you are in sweet dreams." Nikolaus spoke.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve sat up and looked around her; it was still dark outside, but in the distance the daylight was creeping over the forbidden forest. She stretched, reaching her arms up in the air, and Nikolaus took one of her hands to help her up. "Thanks." she muttered. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail she had it in and let it fall long around her shoulders. Then she bunched it back again, pulling the stray strands back, attempting to look presentable. She peered up at Nikolaus, who watched her patiently. "Dreams." she said out loud. She looked down, thoughtful. Had she been dreaming? And why was she on the stairs? Oh yes.. she remembered now. After dinner, Tom had bolted off, and she had chased him all night, almost through the whole castle. She didnt' remember finding him, only that while chasing him she had forgotten all her other troubles. She had sat down for a moment on the stairs and fallen asleep. Then all at once she remembered. "I did dream." She looked up at Nikolaus, urgency in her face. "I dreamed I could control it, but I was still me. Not deep in the future with a black cloak and red eyes, but me, as I am now. I was laughing.." she paused, looking away, grasping at the memory. "I was laughing and spending time with my friends. Liam was there, and he was... he looked so happy with me. " She stood very still. "Can it be true? Can I control it? Can I USE it without it destroying me? I know that you are able to... but you are older and stronger than me..."

[choki]

Nikolaus gave a soft but hearty laugh. Geneve looked at him, confused with his reaction.
"Oh no no, I am not laughing at your dream. Thank you, Geneve." The poor girl was now utterly confused. Did something happened to him?

Before Geneve could ask, Nikolaus continued, "Thank you for having confidence in me." He smiled, thinking how he wished Valencia would have the same confidence in him.

"Now... keep that dream in your mind and believe in it, no matter how difficult things can be. With that dream to uphold, you won't go to the other... let's say... undesirable end of the spectrum. I can't make any promises about how events will unfold. Only you, yourself, have the final say in what you would become. If you believe in that dream, you will be what you like it to be. The choice is yours."

"Then teach me." Geneve stated determinedly, "Teach me how to be in control."
"Alright, follow me, I might have found a suitable place for your new subject, The Dark Arts."