My Dear Dark Lord

Chapter 64: Karma

When Astoria opened her eyes, she was greeted with the apologetic face of Tom Riddle.

"Look, before you say anything. I was no part of this plan. This is completely Hadrian. If you want to blame anyone, it's him and Sirius." Tom said hurriedly.

"Who's Sirius?" Astoria asked. She still felt a bit disoriented. A blinding light and magical transport did not make a good combination. There was a reason why most of the Wizarding community preferred to close their eyes before using a floo.

"He's Hadrian's godfather. Sirius Black."

"Oh." She might've felt a bit dumb for asking the question. After all, which Sirius would be related to Hadrian Peverell? Sirius Black was an infamous wizard.

As Tom helped her to sit upright, Astoria looked around.

She was resting on a couch in some lounge, which she hoped was in the Peverell Manor. Next thing she noticed was that she was apparently the last one to 'wake up'. Well, it wasn't her fault anyways. She was really hungry even after having breakfast, so she had eaten three sandwiches before going to the Whomping Willow. Ugh, periods! That made her even more irritated. Today wasn't a good day (with the exception of seeing Tom).

Every other member of the Court was seated on the couches spread across the room. They seemed a bit tense.

That's when she noticed the four black robed people and a floating girl inside the room.

They were no doubt the Reapers.
(She had no idea what the purple haired girl was. She looked like a cross between a fairy and a human.)

Well, that made her understand why each of her friends were sitting quietly on the couches instead of glaring and shouting at Hadrian.

Still, it took a lot of mental strength not to snap at the man. The transportation was one of the worst experiences of her life.

When she was properly seated on the couch, Hadrian, or should she call him Dark Lord, since his eyes were green (which looked terrifying in her opinion. They weren't the usual green eyes people had. They glowed.) started to speak.

"I apologize for bringing you all here like this." He did not look sorry at all. "But I had my reasons. Anyways, as you know, I'm Dark Lord Hades, these are my Reapers, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Cedric Diggory, and Neville Longbottom. And she is Aurora." He said, pointing his wand at each of them. "Now, because of the oath, none of you will be able to tell about this to anyone or discuss this in front of others. Though usually, an Unbreakable Vow kills you if you break it, I'm the Master of Death, and I can delay your death. That means you will die after I torture you and your family, if you betray me. Understood?" He asked, staring at each one of them coldly.

Each one of them nodded fearfully, knowing the man wasn't bluffing.

Astoria wondered what exactly he meant by 'Master of Death'.

Satisfied, the Dark Lord stood up from his seat and said, "Very well, Tom will explain to you about the rest." With that, he and the rest of the black robed men left the room.

The floating girl, Aurora, started to speak, "Tom, do you need me to stay here or should I go?"

"Hmm.... you can go, Aurora. I heard Florence was searching for you." Tom replied, smirking at her.

"Really! Oh, Florence! Well, goodbye, Tom!" With a slight blush on her cheeks, Aurora went out of the room, shutting the door close behind her.

"Who's Florence?" Orion asked.

"He's a fairy who lives in the garden outside."

Oh yes, she remembered Tom telling them about the fairies. A part of her wanted to go outside and see them. Fairies were nearly extinct creatures. Seeing them was rare. And having them stay in your garden was rarer. Her great-grandmother had told them about meeting a fairy when she was eight. Astoria remembered her telling them how she used to be called for different events just to describe how a fairy actually looked and to talk about them. She had been the last person in Britain to see a fairy.