From the Stars to the Stars → Draco Malfoy

xxxiii. Hydra

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     Orion Mikaelson was no stranger to the Dark Arts, hell, even her family was a creation of Dark Arts itself, part of the curriculum that Hogwarts taught. If there were anyone who could understand the Defence Against the Dark Arts better than anyone, who would it be rather than the Mikaelsons and Marcellous' themselves? Too bad people tend to overlook them over house-biases or ignorance over the sins that were done by the people before them. Not to mention, their family was not one who was known to be generous–they only ever made a deal with someone who could benefit them, or just plainly the ones they knew how to screw over. After all, the Mikaelson were the snakes of snakes.

     The Mikaelson family had at least three symbols that represent their family crest, the Mikaelson "M", the one symbol that most people knew, the one Orion has on her necklace; a Fleur-de-lis which was only used in New Orleans–which means French royalty and was used when their family was trying to get back the French Quarter of New Orleans; and the last one, the one they ever rarely used, but was put under their M emblem in front of every Mikaelson house, was a Jörmungandr–a big, dragon-like sea serpent from Norse Mythology–eating a man. The last symbol was the only symbol that represented Orion's grandfather, Mikael, merely because of its relation to Scandinavian folklore.

     The dragon-like sea serpent symbol used to throw Orion off when she was a kid, why would any family want a disturbing symbol as the emblem of their names? But then, Orion got it. It was a reminder of how Mikael saw himself as a creature of chaos, the monster even monsters were afraid of, the destroyer. He was the one person that the Mikaelson family was ever afraid of, their own father–also the one who inspired the Mikaelson siblings to vow to each other, the infamous Always and Forever. But, the symbol was also the reason why no one would dare to trust them. After all, it was known in most folklore–tales that parents read their child to before they go to sleep, to never trust a serpent.

     Unlike what people said about the Malfoy family, that people would never find one at the scene of the crime, though their fingerprints might be all over the guilty wand, the Mikaelson never had any trouble worrying about being caught at the crime scene. No, in fact, they would leave their own family emblem at the crime scene to make sure people know not to mess with them.

     The sentence 'never trust a Mikaelson' was as ingrained as the sentence of 'never trust a serpent' in people's brains, sometimes even without them knowing it. People could think of themselves as someone who would never judge others too quickly, but still, they would prefer to die rather than making a deal with the Mikaeslons. Oh, yes, the Mikaelsons were known as the people who would stick to their words no matter what, but at the end of the day, when it comes to choosing their family or sticking to their words, they were always the master of finding loopholes.

     That was why Hermione Granger never really trusted Harry Potter's favourite Ravenclaw witch.

     Orion was about to rush to the Great Hall for breakfast when she was stopped by the Gryffindor Trio just in front of the Grand Stair. Harry gestured to her to follow them into one of the vacant classrooms in the long hallway.

     They were about to step into the classroom when Orion caught Hermione whispering something to Harry's ear.

     "But, Harry, her family is–"

     "My family is what?" Orion asked as soon as she stepped into the room with Ron behind them, closing the door almost in an instance.

     Hermione's eyes widened, she cocked her chin to look at Orion's eyes without actually answering her. Before Orion could ask her one more time, Ron let out a loud huff from behind her, walking over to stand beside Harry.