Ares Salazar Riddle| a hp fanfic

chapter ten

—"AND NO SMILING," SAID LUCIUS SERIOUSLY. "Showing emotion is considered a weakness in the pureblood world." Ares was at his morning lesson with Lucius. He nodded and drank the warm tea in front of him.

They were in Lucius's study, where they always did their morning lessons.

The room was filled with bookshelves and books. A desk was in front of Ares with a chair, where Lucius was sitting. Ares was sitting on one of the two singular couches in front of the desk, where he always sat.

Lucius stood up and grabbed a few books from the bookshelves. "Here." He put the books in front of Ares. "Read these to get more information about the pureblood world."

"I will." Ares nodded.

"I think that's enough for this morning—"

"Can you tell me a bit about my father?"

Lucius stopped and stared at the boy, then nodded. "Of course. What would you like to know?"

"How was he?" asked Ares as he looked at the man. "His actions, how were they? What was his personality like?"

"Do you want the truth, Ares?"

"Yes."

"He was a cold man," started the man. "A very cold one. He would torture anyone who denied his orders. He would kill anyone who wouldn't let him go forward with his plans as a dark lord. In short, he would kill anyone in the way, no matter who they were to him."

Ares listened intently.

"He was very into the dark arts, obviously. He was known as the most powerful and dangerous Dark Wizard to ever live." Lucius seemed proud at that. "His hunger for immortality led him to do the vilest act known to mankind."

"How, exactly, did he die?"

"He had horcruxes." Lucius shuddered— actually shuddered.

"What are horcruxes?" Ares asked. Whatever they were, it put Lucius Malfoy into an uncomfortable position.

"They were pieces of his soul, split. It made him immortal. He was known to have a few pieces at that time. Nobody knew about it but Dumbledore somehow found out about it. The Order of Phoenix destroyed them all before he went to Godric's Hollow and tried to kill Harry Potter."

Ares nodded and looked away. "If.. if he was alive.. would he have liked me?"

Lucius's eyes softened. "He would've been proud of you, Ares. But he would make you his heir and do vile acts."

"I don't think that would've been a problem."

Lucius smirked. "You really are your father's son."

Ares turned around when something— or, rather, a snake?— slithered in. He straightened up. "What's that?"

"Ah," Lucius motioned for the snake to come closer.

The snake was huge. Ares immediately fell in love.

"This is Nagini." Lucius introduced the snake. "Your father's snake."

'Father?' hissed Nagini. 'Ares?'

'How do you know my name?' Ares replied in parseltongue without even realizing it. How did he even understand the snake?

Lucius's eyes widened in delight.

'Tom talked about you.' Nagini slithered closer to Ares and started to curl up on his lap.

Ares looked at Lucius for help. "How can I understand him?"

'Her,' corrected Nagini.

"Her." Ares corrected himself.

"Parseltongue. The language of snakes. You can talk to snakes, Ares. Oh, your father would've been so, so proud!"

Ares relaxed at his words. That made sense.

"Can I take him with me as a pet for school?" Ares looked at Lucius desperately. "Please?"

"You can have her, Ares, but I don't think you're allowed to take Nagini. She's known as the dark lord's pet. Dumbledore wouldn't allow it."

The young boy sighed and started to pet the snake on his lap.

"Maybe not this year and not the next, but I will have a talk about it with Severus for your third year." Lucius promised Ares.

Ares looked up and seemed grateful. "Thank you."