A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 2 - The Portrait

The pouring rain didn't stop throughout the whole day, leaving everyone stranded inside the Manor. The fireplace cracked softly as the fire warmed up the living room of the cold and quiet house. The only other sound in the room was a teaspoon hitting the sides of a teacup, which almost made Travers empty the liquid of his own cup onto the head of the man sitting on the sofa next to him.

"I was counting how long it will take until your eye starts twitching." his friend sitting on his right said, his green eyes glinting from the light of a fireplace.

"Funny. Let's see how fast your eye will start twitching once he adds some whiskey to your chocolate." the tone and a following eye-roll told Alden plenty about how the man in front of him was feeling currently, it was enough to conclude that Evander was not in the right mood for teasing.

"Both of you act like idiots." Lorcan Avery couldn't let the situation go without his input, considering he was trying to enjoy his evening by the fireplace nursing a glass of whiskey in his hand, preferring the numbness of alcohol to the burn of almost too-sweet chocolate.

"Both of you have sticks up your asses longer than Malfoy's." Alden wouldn't let the sour mood of the surrounding him people lower his own. He would keep the smile on his face and joke around, just like he always did.

Alden Viridian was well known for his undying smile and bubbly attitude, being one of those who would joke even when death was looming over his head. Not that it often did, but even in the moment of a dagger flying over his neck he would make sure to make everyone remember the joke he would come up with instead of the brooding man he considered everyone else to be. He believed that the Manor could use some more sunshine, some more warmth, but was left alone in such beliefs for a long time.

Until Travers came around, he was younger than them but just as skilled and smart, some would call him smarter than a particular member of Tom Riddle's group who was probably enjoying another cigarette right now. Something Travers never liked or understood, he was a quiet man but in a better sense of the word. He kept to himself, which made him perhaps more dangerous than the others in a way. He often deemed their methods non-ethical or unworthy of execution, he didn't enjoy hearing threats or showing much at all when it came to a task they had to complete together.

He shared some of the positivity Alden radiated as he walked, the man a ray of sunshine himself with his blond hair and a radiant smile. Some would consider him unfitting in the group he was currently a part of, but his position was saying otherwise. He was considered Riddle's right hand by the man himself and that was saying more about him than anything else could. He didn't attend Hogwarts, getting his education in Durmstrang and moving to their regions later, loved hot chocolate and looking into the mirrors, but most importantly he loved himself.

Considering himself good-looking was one of his traits he didn't hide, he might be radiating unnerving positivity and never show a frown on his how he would call it - pretty face, but beneath that laid a thick layer of confidence and power. He might not be the most powerful wizard even among them, but he surely knew what he was doing when he did it. He didn't enjoy unnecessary violence like Lestrange did, loved to think he doesn't have a stick up his ass like the ones sitting next to him do right now.

Was his positivity and countless smiles a deception? Perhaps. Was he going to show his true nature to others? No. Some of them did treat him like an outsider, a stranger brought into their ranks and "promoted" over all of them who had been loyal to Riddle since their years in Hogwarts together. He faced hostility in the first months at the Manor and still did sometimes, but that didn't stop him even for a minute. He would smile in their faces, feeling their anger bubble up to the surface at the sight of his amused face, thrived in the effect he had on people was it pleasant or the opposite. He would allow others to see what he was showing them and kept himself hidden in his mind.