living in a fantasy || open

[Melantha Cunningham]

Melantha leant on the bar “A firewhiskey please” she asked, She could feel Zeina slithering around her ankles. Someone stepped on her tail, and both Melantha and her snake hissed. Kneeling down her murmured in parselmouth. “did that moron hurt you?” she cooed to her snake, lifting it up into her arms. She left the snake slip up her arm and hang around her neck. Frightening the men at the bar next to her.

She laughed. It was pitiful. The bar man looked over her once. 'You old enough to drink?' he asked. Melantha ignored him, she took the drink placed on the bar and sashed off to the back of the pub. She probably shouldn't drink, but it was so delightful. Not that she cared about what was right or wrong.

Mel sighed and gulped at her firewhiskey. The liquid scolded her throat, but she just winced and drank again. She enjoyed doing this. Just sitting in the pub on her own, and watching as people failed to recognise who she was. She had gotten so used to calling herself Melantha Cunningham that she almost forgot her name was really Melantha Slytherin, though her ability to talk with snakes reminded her.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts, about her father and snakes, that she didn't realise another person had sat down in front of her. She half expected it to be Niklaus and was almost disappointed when it wasn't. She frowned. She was thinking about being disappointed about not seeing him now. That was new. She focused on the person in front of her.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

Viktor was in Hogsmeade, just to taunt the founders if any of them arrived to that place, one day he would kill them all, he just had to be patient, the dark wizard just entered the inn, looking around, there didn't seem to be any Hogwarts student there as he approached the counter, ordering a fire whiskey as his gaze surveyed the room, eventually noticing a strange girl, something about her seemed a wee bit familiar but he didn't know what. He was intrigued.

Once he received his glass, he approached her table, uninvited he took a seat in front of her as he eyed her curiously, she seemed familiar, yet he never met her before, he looked at her for a while, in silence wondering who she might be. He shrugged, perhaps she had a father that he somehow met, ironically she did but of course he didn't know who it was he just kept looking at her for a while.

"I don't believe I saw you before..yet something about you.." He said trailing off, he eventually shook his head. "So are you perhaps a student?" He finally managed taking a sip of his fire whiskey as he looked at her intensely.

[Melantha Cunningham]

The blonde girl, frowned at the person in front of her. “You've not seen me before.” she stated bluntly. She wondered if the man in front of her knew her father. Probably. Everyone knew Salazar Slytherin. She picked up the firewhiskey and sipped at it. The drink burned her throat, but she fought not to show how it affected her.

She leant her elbows on the table in front of her. “I am not a student of Hogwarts” she said vaguely. She was learning, but under her father's tutelage. She flicked a strand of blond hair from her eyes, and wiped her hands on her deep blue gown. “Are you?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. Zeina slid up the chair leg and around Melantha's leg to rest in her lap. The snake lifted her head up and looked over the table at Viktor. "Who is that?" Zeina asked her. Melantha looked down at her snake and whispered in parselmouth "I don't know."[/colour] she replied, before looking back up at Viktor.

Sighing, she lifted a delicate small hand and held it out. “Melantha Cunningham” she introduced, her palm lingering in the air for him to shake. She spoke with the air of someone who had practised a line so much, they were beginning to believe it true. Her father would probably be really annoyed with her, if he found out she was here.

He had been angry enough when she'd sneaked into the castle. She was getting quite good at sneaking around. She picked her glass up again, and swigged back the drink. This time she couldn't hide how the drink burnt her throat, she coughed shortly.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

He listened to her as he looked at her, she wasn't lying he didn't see her before, yet somehow she seemed familiar, he just shook his head, probably his imagination playing tricks as he looked at her. Who was she? He just looked into her eyes but couldn't see any indication, she seemed like a cunning person though, he could see that much.

He took another sip of his whiskey as he heard her mentioning she wasn't a student, what was she doing here when she looked like she'd be a student, he scratched his hair he was confused but just shrugged it off. "I was yes, was sorted in Slytherin, good times, I'd give them trouble a lot." He said with a chuckle as he looked at her, he heard her mutter something, and looking at something else, was she having hallucinations or perhaps an imaginary friend?

He looked at her, wondering if she was unstable, she didn't strike to him as odd, as he introduced herself, he grabbed her hand, giving it a soft kiss. "A pleasure... I am Viktor Mercus Lorrein but just call me Viktor... soon the name will change." He said calmly, mostly to himself as he finished his fire whiskey he looked back at her when she started coughing, he just chuckled. "First time drinking huh?"

[Melantha Cunningham]

Melantha grinned at Viktor though her smile fell a little when he said he was a Slytherin. He would have known her father. Rather well probably. At least that meant Viktor was a pureblood. She bit her lip idly. Her hand rested on Zeina's scales. She looked back at Viktor when he stared at her eyes, but made sure to strengthen her mental defences. She couldn't be sure if he was able to read minds or not. She decided that Viktor was not the kind of person who you'd want around, but that was fine by Melantha. Much more exciting that way.

“I wish I'd studied under Salazar” she sighed softly, though she was lying. Salazar Slytherin had taught her. He'd taught her everything he knew, but not in school. At their family home. She had to stifle a smile at the look she got from Viktor, he hadn't seen Zeina poking her head over the table. Luckily he hadn't heard her speaking parselmouth she reasoned eventually. Parselmouth was not a very common talent. In fact it was very rare due to the fact it was genetic. If he had graduated Hogwarts, that would make him older than her.

“Nice to meet you Viktor” she smiled at him rather flirtatiously. She wasn't sure what to make of him kissing her hand. She had never had anyone do that to her before. “What do you mean the name will change?” she asked curiously. Melantha had changed her name, and she hated it. Though it wasn't a legal change, and she was still technically Melantha Slytherin, she felt like she was betraying her family name.

“Not the first time, no. I just don't have the chance to drink often” she admitted. “Do you drink often?” she asked. She fiddled with the strings at the front of her dress.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

He looked at her, seeing her smile fell a little, he was finding it curious though he didn't ask about it, instead listening to her he just chuckled. "He is but a potion teacher, I find him worthless, unable to defy the other founders, unable to fight them nor kill openly. He is weak." He finally said, coldly, even if Salazar was generally considered to be the second best duelist compared to Godric, he shook his head. "Perhaps if he taught dark arts, perhaps I would of thought highly of him." Viktor said, he knew that he had the strength to fight both Salazar and Godric and still win it as he looked at her.

"You will see, soon enough.. this magic world won't be the same once I get what I want." He said giving her a little smile as he kept looking at her, he nodded. "You should drink the fire whiskey slower than that, until you get used to the taste. Yes I do drink often and mostly socially.'' He said calmly as he looked at her. "So...earlier you were muttering something...did..the fire whiskey already affect your senses?"

[Melantha Cunningham]

Melanha felt her admiration for Viktor melt aware when he called her father worthless. Though he did not know that she was Slytherin's daughter. No one did. “He is a very good potions teacher – so I've heard” she defended her father. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “M-Salazar does not seem weak to me” she growled. She had been about to say 'My Father' but she caught herself quickly.

“What do you want?” she asked curiously. She drank from the glass again, drinking it in small sips. It was far more bearable that way. Melantha's hand ghosted over her curls, lightly pushing the soft hair back out her her eyes. Her blond hair was unruly and the same blond colour as her fathers. She often cursed him for having such unruly hair. She had managed to take on the gene. Though she loved looking a little like her father.

“Thank you for the advice” she eventually spoke. “Drinking with company is better than drinking on your own” she said slowly, as though unsure of her own words. She wasn't sure whether she preferred being alone or with Viktor, she hadn't had many other drinking companions. So far he'd insulted her father. When he asked about her mutterings, she was a little taken back and the thought about what she should say crossed her mind, before she began laughing hysterically.

The jolting movement of her laughter caused Zeina to slither off of her lap and onto the table, effectively answering the question, she was not insane or drunk, merely muttering to her snake. Which could be seen as insanity she supposed. “No, it did not” she said as she sobered up. “I was muttering to Zeina” she said, gesturing to the snake that was looking curiously at Viktor, ”What's he want? He already insulted Master Slytherin” Zeina hissed at her, she wanted to answer back, but that would give her talent away.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

He chuckled when he heard her growl. "What's this, someone is in love with Salazar?" He said jokingly of course, not realizing the irony of the situation as he looked at her calmly. Something about her was a bit odd. He listened to her a bit taken aback that she remembered, he looked at her, giving her his typical evil and cold smile.

"The world.. once I get my plans working no one will stop me.. the mudbloods will die, the world will belong to wizards... I will slaughter all the mudbloods..and any wizard that might get in my way... I am afraid I will have to get rid of the founders in Hogwarts as well...but my powers are growing.. a duel against Godric and Salazar together will be easy." He said calmly, he was arrogant but he still had plans and he would execute them when the moment comes.

He heard the snake and the look it was giving him looking over at her, he was a bit suspicious but it didn't seem like she could speak parseltongue. Hr just looked at her calmly. "Want a refill? I'll pay for it." He said calmly as he looked at her, something about her interested him.

[Melantha Cunningham]

Melantha blanched at his words. He meant a romantic love she was sure, which the idea was just weird. Too weird for her to dwell on, and the idea that his words were rather close to the truth was worrying. Had she slipped up that badly? She composed herself after a moment. ”I merely admire him as a teacher” she replied with a forced casualness to her voice.

“The world sounds a very daunting and challenging prospect. I agree that the mudbloods should die. They had no right using magic. Maybe its why purebloods give birth to squibs. Muggles have stolen the pureblood magic, and used it for themselves” she said enthusiastically, then her eyes widened. Kill her father? How dare he even think about it. Her hand was itching to move to her wand and curse him right there, but she couldn't he'd wonder why and she'd have to make up some stupid reason. She didn't want to kill purebloods anyway, they deserved to live and prosper. “Why kill Slytherin? He has no love for the mudbloods” she added after a moment, trying not to sound too fond of Slytherin.

She ignored the further mutterings of her snake and soon Zeina got the gist of what was going on, and curled back up in Melantha's lap. “I'd love one please” she said, before quickly finishing off the last of her drink. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, before rubbing any liquid on her hand onto her dress.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

Viktor observed her calmly, her responses, her body tics though it was hard to notice anything else, he didn't have piercing eyes like Salazar after all, he couldn't take in all the details. He just shrugged as he looked at her. "Granted he is good at potions other then that, I don't know, but he is a weakling for being unable to defy the other founders and the headmaster." He said as he looked at her, staring into her eyes, he just gave her a smile, eventually calling for the barmaid to pour more fire whiskey on their glass.

"Squibs are but a disease they should be put down as well, only the pureblood should be ruling the world and alive." He said calmly. "For the exception of those founders, Salazar is a fool that can't fight against former friends, I wouldn't expect anything from him, he can't even kill the mudblood students in his class all he can do is fail them." He said, he was disgusted that such a founder was nothing more but a weakling unable to oppose the others. "He didn't do anything to get rid of them and rule hogwarts himself." He took a sip of his fire whiskey as he looked at her.

"If he is in my way, he will die, if not he will live, it's as easy as that." He finally added and gave her a little smile, in truth he wanted to butcher all of the founders, test his powers against them.

[Melantha Cunningham]

She bit into the skin of her bottom lip. “I have only ever met the man once, I suppose he is a little bit of a weakling” she shrugged. sorry father she thought to herself. “He should have broken off from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff by now. They do him no favours” she added. Zeina looked up at her, shocked at her words. ”You don't mean that do you?” she asked, and Melantha was shocked.

“I have no feelings on squibs, they are pure in blood, yet they have no magic like the muggles. I am not sure whether they should live or die. Surely they are still purebloods.” she frowned in thought. She hadn't ever really thought about the squibs.

Her snake thought she meant what she had said. That was a first. She slipped her hand down to her snake, and snapped her hand down on it's body, ”Ow!” it hissed at her, and started grumbling at her, before settling back down. “He must have done something, seeing as he is said to oppose their values so much” she sighed. Her father had tried to do all his work from within the school, and it had failed. She frowned at Viktor's words, but thought about it for a little while, he had done nothing to kill the mudbloods. Surely he should be killing them off more prominently, since his wife and her mother were killed by muggles.

She allowed Viktor a small smile. Melantha would warn her father, tell him to leave Viktor alone, make sure that he was not in his way, and then hopefully her father would live. Though she wasn't sure if she should trust his word. "Once the other founders are out of the way, I am sure he would act" she eventually spoke.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

Viktor tilted his head as he looked at her curiously when she bit her bottom lip, something about her told him she had a big secret, though he didn't know what, but her eyes the way her face looked seemed really familiar, he just shrugged it off and smiled at her. "It is difficult for people to break away from their friends, no matter if that friendship has been lost." He said, looking at her curiously.

When she talked about the Squibs he just chuckled. "Any squibs I see will suffer, it doesn't matter if their parents are pureblood, they can't produce magic they are useless." He gave her a smile, though his smile did seem to have a vicious look to it. As he took a sip of the fire whiskey.

He heard some sort of hiss, wondering what it might be, it was probably her pet snake which was a bit odd, to him at least. He looked at her calmly. "Doing something? He can't even oppose them, his plans all go down the drain, he probably can't even kill the students because he is afraid of getting killed or imprisoned for his act, such fears when you are supposed to be a wizard of his reputation." He said shaking his head as he looked at her. "Hmm..I find it curious that you talked about your pet snake when you can't even speak in parseltongue.. such a curious language." He said, observing her to see her reaction.

"Act? He will probably be mourning their losses, that's probably how pathetic he is." He said with a chuckle as he took another sip of the fire whiskey. "Only thing I can admire is his secrecy, legends about him slaughtering a mudblood family has been spread around in the past, not sure if it is true, he is also difficult to understand but it won't change the fact that I see him as inferior to me."

[Melantha Cunningham]

“I have no friends to break away from. I wouldn't know” she spoke, though there was no sadness in her tone. She didn't mind not having friends. Being alone worked for her, mostly. “I think that attachments like that are detrimental to any plans” she shrugged. Her fathers friendships had ruined his plans, and she wasn't about to make the same mistake. Though she loved her father. She shrugged when he spoke about the squibs. “I suppose” she said, running a hand through her blond hair.

“He must have tried?” she offered with a shrug. Not really sure what to do. She didn't want to reveal her secret by putting her foot in it. Her father would never let her out again. In fact she feared what her father would do if she told someone who she was. Someone likely to expose their secret.

“I just observe her body language” she replied trying to keep her voice casual. “It would be much easier if I were able to speak parseltongue” she added. Zeina seemed to realise that by talking to her, she was making it harder to lie, so she simply curled up in her lap, and tried to go to sleep.

She sipped at her drink again, and frowned as she realised she was almost done. She'd not order another one though. If her she returned home drunk. She'd be in trouble. “I had heard that, it is rather impressive” she sighed. “He does seem the secretive type” she closed her eyes for a moment, and brushed at her lashes with her free hand. She ignored his comment about Salazar being inferior to himself. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, before smiling at Viktor.

[Viktor Mercus Lorrein]

Viktor observed her carefully, but couldn't see anything wrong in her facade. She didn't show any anger to the way he treated Salazar, it made her lie believable and Viktor fell for it, he just nodded calmly. "Friends? Heh such a waste, even love is a waste of time." He managed to say as he looked at his drink before finishing it, he refilled his glass as he looked at her calmly. "Doubt that you don't have friends though with your looks, you'd be popular among girls and boys alike." He said as he kept looking into her eyes.

He wasn't like Salazar so he couldn't notice anything except her eyes feeling awfully familiar, he just shrugged it off. "Perhaps he tried, perhaps not, I do not know, nor would I really care, he isn't powerful nowadays." He said with a chuckle. "I was able to take his appearance thanks to a polyjuice potion, too bad I didn't manage to kill Rowena, would of made things easier." He said with a smile, remembering that day.

He listened to her calmly, finding it a bit odd. "So you can understand her by her body language alone? Putting that aside.. how can you discern the gender of snakes?" He looked at her, pondering about it for a while, but he just shrugged it off, looking at her glass, he realized she finished so he ended up asking for a refill for her glass.

"Gotta live a little, have some more fire whiskey." He said giving her a smile as he looked at her calmly. "His secret nature.. .yes it is even though I hate to admit it.. he is far too cunning even for the likes of me.. but I'm positive I would win in a duel."

[Melantha Cunningham]

“Love is for immature fools, who have nothing more to do than dream all day” she laughed, her head dropped forwards for a moment, and her hair slipped from behind her ears, covering her face. She tucked the fallen hair back so that it wasn't obstructing her view. She looked up at Viktor from under her eyelashes. “Why thank you, but I don't socialise a lot. My father would kill me if he knew I was out” she sighed. Had she been someone else, she would have blushed at the comment. “I usually go out when father isn't home” she added with a small smirk at her own antics.

Her eyes widened when he explained to her that he had managed to take her fathers appearance. “How long ago was that?” she asked, her father had never mentioned anything like that. But maybe he didn't know himself. “What did Salazar think when he found out do you know?” she asked.

“Yup. I've had her since she was very little, so I grew to recognise what her actions meant” she shrugged. Mel blanched briefly “I just guess. Wishful thinking” she laughed. Of course Zeina had told her she was a girl, when Melantha had suggested naming her Xavier, but she couldn't very well explain that to Viktor without undermining her cover.

She stared at the glass he'd just had refilled, and mentally argued with herself about whether to drink it or not. She picked it up after a moment “Thank you Viktor” she smiled, as she took a sip. “Isn't that one of the traits of Slytherin house? To be cunning, and pure of blood?” she asked. “You must think very highly of yourself then” she spoke, and then added “Its very refreshing. So many damn modest morons these days” Melantha shook her head slightly, she couldn't bare the idiots who put themselves down.