HP - Shadow Monarch! [BOOK 1]

Chapter 186 - Alliance.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV

Black Manor.

...

...

The Black Manor hall fell silent as Snape left with Rosaria through the door and disappeared.
"What was that?" the man from the Lestrange family couldn't help but ask as he saw the two of them leaving through the entrance.
"Nothing important. I'm busy now. I ask you to leave, after all, our negotiations are over." Astraea replied with a tone that indicated she wouldn't speak on the matter any further.
"... Alright," he said after a moment, still narrowing his eyes.
Then, he headed straight for the fireplace in the entrance hall, casting one last narrow look at Astraea and throwing Floo powder before burning away and disappearing.

As soon as they arrived at their mansion, his son immediately turned to his father. "That's Severus Snape."
"Yeah, I heard it clearly... Astraea said his name. I wonder what he was doing with that vampire's daughter and Astraea's granddaughter at Black Manor, as if he were a resident too," the man murmured. Snape was a half-blood, he shouldn't have such connections, and still being a sixth-year student at Hogwarts with no support as far as he knew until now.

There was something there that didn't make sense. And he himself had some issues with Snape, still remembering the Death Eaters who wanted to get him during the Hogsmeade attack, and also feeling a certain anger toward that figure upon learning that he had hit his son, affecting his name.
"You said that boy used to leave school a year ago, didn't you? Even so, he shouldn't have access to the Black family. What's going on? Maybe the Dark Lord should know about this. I'm sure he'll be asking Miss Black daily," he murmured at the end, as he walked ahead with his son right behind him.

At the same time, Astraea sighed upon seeing the two members of the Lestrange family. That would certainly bring trouble, and she needed to prepare herself.
"What was that with the young lady?" Astraea said directly to Bellatrix, who was still in the place.
Bellatrix looked away, not wanting to face her grandmother. She could face a two-hundred-year-old half-vampire and even try to kill her risking her own life, but she still didn't have the courage to look into her grandmother's eyes after being questioned.
"Bellatrix, that jealousy outburst is unacceptable," she said, already anticipating the reason for her granddaughter's behavior.
"It wasn't jealousy," Bellatrix murmured.
"Spare me, Bellatrix. I want you to behave. I'm sure you can't deal with that person, and we cannot turn her into an enemy."
Bellatrix stayed silent, arms crossed, even seeming like she wanted to challenge her grandmother, stubbornly, but held herself back.
"Bellatrix, what if we gain another enemy for our family? We're in a difficult situation..." the grandmother tried to warn, but then an explosion happened beside them, as a Phoenix cried out, announcing its presence.

Snape stepped out from the purple and black flames, surprising the two women there.
"Don't worry. Rosaria won't hold anything against the Black family. I'll make sure of that," Snape said, having heard the conversation. After all, it was his responsibility for having brought Rosaria here, even if he didn't know Bellatrix would act that way.
"Either way, I'm here to talk, Astraea Black," Snape said directly to the older woman, who nodded carefully, watching the Phoenix disappear — exactly as her granddaughter had described when she saw it for the first time.

Snape no longer needed to hide that fact, he had already shown her his soldiers and the house portraits.
Even so, Astraea remembered the vision of a future in war, where she saw shadow-like soldiers fighting, and she immediately connected it with the descriptions circulating among the Death Eaters and what she had witnessed — beings in the shape of shadows defeating the Nott family. And Snape knew that very well.