Black Family (II)
Even though Orion had thought that muggles were cruel - he could never have imagined that he would see a woman looking like his wife's doppelganger being tortured and manhandled while some sorts of terrorists were discussing matters in another language. Still, she had been able to bear the threats and the maiming, he could do the same and put in pride in his pocket and watch how the other part of their population tended to live their lives. He had spent his whole life hating her - never truly understanding the importance of their bloodline and the need to keep it pure. At the beginning, he had thought it was mainly due to the muggleborns and blood-traitors, but he finally understood that many inherent traits of their Family Magick had been lost throughout times because they had not given enough attention to their magic.
Still, their marriage had been one of convenience - they didn't have much choice and unlike others, Walburga had been groomed from her birth to become the Lady Black - even though the prospect of marrying cousins had never pleased any of them. Walburga had been a diligent wife at the beginning, but as soon as she gave birth to Regulus, she had turned bitter. She gave him his heir and his spare and told him her duty ended right then and there. Their union was nothing more than a sham and he was alright with such proceedings ; it was their duty. When she had started hating their eldest, he didn't have the courage to say anything and just let the abuse go on.
Now...everything already felt different, especially since those damn stones decided to get involved in their lives and make them feel for the new version of his despicable wife. At least, Sirius seemed the least manipulated by their efforts : he had a deep hatred for the woman who gave birth to him and then did her best to ruin his childhood.
𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞. "𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬?", 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. ""𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫 "𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚," 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲.
Ruthlessness was a human flaw, and who better than wizards than to know that? They have the ability to torture someone by uttering one single word fuelled by hatred that can bring the strongest man to his knees. Still, they were not used to corporal punishments or torture of the sorts and the children were dismayed by seeing Morgana being treated this way. Even the Black heir couldn't help but let out a whimper when he heard her soft cries begging for help. It felt wrong to pity his mother...but she wasn't his mother, was she? His mother was gone...somewhere and she had been replaced by this woman they knew nothing about but who had grown up as a Muggle - a progressive Muggle at that, oh how Walburga Black would loathe her. That was enough to soothe his heart for many years to come.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤? 𝐎𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭?," 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐇𝐦?." 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐲. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦, 𝟎.𝟏𝟓 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟏.𝟔, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏?"
The Blacks barely understood what was going on, and the use of scientific Muggle terms had them lost as soon as they were uttered in the memories. Luckily for them, Peter had always been fascinated by Toni Stark, even before meeting her - he might never be able to make a complete suit of armor, but he had seen the schematics and had learnt "Starknium" had not powered the first famous suits that Iron Maiden had used. "Palladium is a shiny, silvery metal used in many types of manufacturing processes, particularly for electronics and industrial products. I think...," the teenager looked contemplative. "I think she's going to make her armor...", he excitedly said.
It was weird for him to be in the same place as fictional characters he had read about and watched movies about in his life - but it was still less weird than being attacked by a purple giant alien and being trapped in a stone for five years without aging or even noticing what was happening to you. The wizards did not even doubt his words - in their minds, Muggles were still not advanced enough in the arts of war : that was the reason they did not fear them. Even though the previous "Jericho" had scared them, a suit of armor couldn't be that dangerous, could it?
𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞. "𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 ?," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤?," 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. "𝐍𝐨," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦. "𝐍𝐨? 𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝.
"It's sad," said Peter. As a child, he had been a fan of her, but had never noticed her lack of entourage. Even now, he could see that she had been mistreated her whole life and had accepted some dangerous behavior from the Avengers just for the sake of belonging with a group. He might still be Spiderman in this world, but he didn't think they would need a super-hero ; well, there was a Dark Lord at large, so maybe he could horn his skills? But if the Black Family was going to do anything to her that might make her feel unwelcome, he would not hesitate to convince her to pack up their things and go.
She was the closest thing he had to a mother, and it seemed like...she was his actual mother - he would not lose another parent because of some demented people who wanted the thrill of war and fighting. They already knew how this story would end - and they might mess with the timeline if anything went wrong. But just the thought of seeing little Regulus dying at eighteen and mischievous Sirius being locked up for twelve years for a crime he didn't commit...well, that sounded terrifying to just leave them to their problems.
Meanwhile, Orion, Sirius and Regulus were just spooked to see some sort of sadness in the same face they had known their whole life. Walburga would never have been so openly emotional, nor would she have given the time to someone that was less socially ranked than her. She was vain and manipulative - and it was clear Toni shared some of those traits, but she was...softer, nicer, and well, harder to hate.
𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝟒𝟏 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟔 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝟑𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 - 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 - 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. "𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤," 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝. "𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞," 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. "𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.
The young Stark had often seen this name associated with the famous CEO, but had never known why so many charities and grants had been named after him. So many people had speculated about it and knowing her promiscuous nature, most people had assumed it was a former scorned lover or something of the sort. Since she was not very forthcoming about what happened during her kidnapping, no one could have truly known it was related to it. Peter felt his heart soar at the fact that she had done the same when he was gone for five years, wanting to honor him and his demise on Titan. Still, he had no reason to go back to his own dimension ? Why would he? May was dead - and no one had any idea who Peter Parker was. Just the thought that Morgan had lost her own brother...and would never remember it was heartbreaking.
Regulus was not as guarded as the rest of his family ; they had often told him they would not be surprised if the Hat suggested Hufflepuff for him. He had never seen what was wrong with it - he was loyal, which meant he would be just as loyal to his family and never let them down. His cousin Bella often mocked him and told him he was just a little ickle Reggie but Sirius had defended him...well, used to defend him before he had proved them wrong and joined the House of Serpents. Instead of staying close to his brother and father, he decided to get to learn this Peter who had travelled more than them and knew the real Toni Stark, or well, Morgana LeFay.
𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. "𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐝. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐬. 𝐎𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲."
Peter jumped - surprising the rest of his "family".
"This...conference shook the world," he said, before finally remembering they didn't understand the importance of having Stark Industries make American weapons. "She was the best weapons contractor for the country. Imagine...Ollivander decides not to sell wands anymore and closes down his shop because he thinks he's creating weapons and putting them in the hands of children. What would happen? Well, you don't have the same quality of wands you used to have, not the same services or you have to find someone in another country - but still, it's also the loss of a legacy that was intertwined with your government ever since the Ollivanders made wands. Now, other countries look down on you and they are not afraid to scare you into submission, because after all, you need their permission to come to their magical communities and buy the wands you need. You understand?,"
He knew the examples he gave were not enough - after all, they didn't have the same equivalents to weapons of mass-destruction, even though he thought it was reckless and dangerous to let children have access to their wands so young. He had read enough Harry Potter books to know how dire things could go - and how bullying was exacerbated with that ideology. He threw a quick look at Sirius, remembering his horrifying behavior towards Snape, which prompted a deep hatred that went down from father to son - and left him without any pureblood connections to help him leave Azkaban.
𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐚. "𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞. 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝." 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐠𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚, 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐛. 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐎𝐡, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲. 𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬... 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝." 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 : 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐜-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧.
Peter gulped down - he had heard some stories about the fight that had happened that day, but like others had said, it had been a military exercise. He had been fooled by the media, but who wouldn't be? It was now that he understood how different his own perspective of things was flawed because he believed too much in the good of human nature.
𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤. "𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧."