Gregory was getting the feeling that Oriana was going to make him have to do this the hard way. She really wouldn’t want that, as she should be well aware of what he was capable of. Although he knew that Oriana knew a bit about the cause that he was fighting for, Greg didn’t think she knew the extent of it. Miles was recruiting from everywhere, and of course that meant that he had people in Hogwarts already. Asking how she was doing had been a bit of a test, really, as he already knew quite a bit on how Cecilia had been. All it took was asking one of the younger men apart of their group that was in her year, and now he knew more than enough to prove to Oriana that she was muddling in dangerous waters. “Yes, you wouldn’t want to come off like you actually gave a damn, Ana,” he said, dryly, wondering what the best way would be to tell her just how much he knew. Making a show of getting more comfortable, he took a look around the establishment, slowly, before his eyes moved back to his ex-wife, “And how are things between her and that boyfriend of hers?” Greg asked, casually, “Roman Ruldophi, correct?” His parents were apart of the cause, which had given him hope that potentially that would be a good relationship for his daughter, until he learned that the boy apparently had no desire to be apart of it. From what he’d heard, he had a grudge against purebloods now, simply because of the very correct choices that his parents had made. That simply wouldn’t do. “I’m surprised you’re allowing her to be with such a regrettable choice... especially for, what, a year and three months now?” The more details he could provide her with, the better. When she realized just how easy it was for him to get information, then she would realize that it would be better to cooperate with him then make him work against her.

It had been the cousin of Roman that had given him the information to begin with. Now that bloke was certainly more suitable—he might not have been a pureblood, but he was making the decision to fight for the rightful cause. That was a hell of a lot better than some boy that pouted on the sidelines. “I certainly will be trying. It’ll be a lot easier to get ahold of her, I expect.” More likely, it would be incredibly simple to find her out and about, unless Oriana and that ponce lock her into the damn house. For some reason, that really wouldn’t bloody surprise him. Oriana’s stubbornness was something that he did remember, and something that he was sure that Arnesen would have stomped out of her by now. “We’ll see.” Greg said, knowing that he would get to her one way or another.

At first, Oriana had thought that perhaps she still held some feelings for this bloke sitting across from her. However, the more she sat here with him, the more she realized she really hadn’t missed him, irritated that he was using up her time. He had abandoned her and their daughter many years ago and she wasn’t about to give him too much more of her time. He could go fail with the rest of the lot, thinking that a revolution would actually do any good. They weren’t the majority and they had failed before, even with a great leader such as Voldemort.

“Oh, you still know me too well, Gregory,” Oriana stated sweetly, not at all affected by his words. If a few words had an effect on her, then she wasn’t worthy of being where she was. She supposed that because she was selfish, something she could admit, that it really didn’t matter what people had thought. She did what was necessary and had absolutely no regrets along the way. Oriana picked up the mug sitting in front of her, taking a slow drink as she pondered his next statement, her eyes never leaving where he was sitting. Finally pulling the mug away from her lips, she looked around the place carefully before returning her gaze back to him. “She’s a teenage girl with uncontrollable hormones, apparently. You remember what it was like to be that age, correct? Doesn’t matter how long they’re together. It won’t last,” she shrugged. Relationships out of school hardly ever lasted, no matter how sincere the children were about them. Although she didn’t prefer that Rudolphi boy, he was only a temporary problem, one in which she would wait for Cecilia to correct herself. “You know kids; if I tell her that I don’t approve of him, it’ll only make her want him more.” That much was certainly true as it had been that way for Oriana as well, as long as every ‘girlfriend’ she ever had.

It hadn’t been a surprise that Gregory had his own connections, able to get the information he wanted of their daughter. It was his right, after all. As long as Cecilia was underage, the parents had every right to pull whatever sources they had to get the information they needed. They were on the same bloody page with Cecilia and he was acting like they weren’t, which was slightly frustrating. “I expect it will be,” Oriana shrugged. Oriana was quite confident that Cecilia wouldn’t want to be seeing her father after all of these years, especially if she was dating a bloke so against the cause, as disgusting as that was.

What was particularly amusing was that Oriana certainly felt the same way that he did about getting rid of those in the magical world that didn’t deserve to be there. Just as Gregory knew that her irritating foreign husband agreed as well. But they were content to sit back and do nothing, watching it go down and expecting that they would be untouched at the end of it. In this fast approaching war, there was no middle ground. Either a side had to be picked, or one would be picked for them. They either were with Miles, and neutrality would be seen to be against him. Of course, Arnesen was a pureblood, but not choosing a side was all but saying that they didn’t support ridding their world of Mudbloods—practically making them come off as blood traitors. That was fine; they could dig their own graves, as long as he had removed Cecilia from the situation by then.

This rebellion would come quickly, he knew. It felt as though it was taking forever, but he had been patience and would continue in that. Oriana’s perfect little world would come crashing down soon enough, and the walls of her expensive manor wouldn’t protect her. It would be amusing to see her reaction to that when it happened, and when she would more than likely regret her decision to remain neutral. But he had plenty of time to think about that, and he had to focus now on what he was there for. Clearly, Cecilia couldn’t be left with this woman. “Unfortunately, you’re hard to forget.” Greg stated, which he supposed wasn’t necessarily true. He was far too busy to think about her and her ridiculous life, but it seemed that being around him could remind him of what she was like. Obviously this made it more important than ever to get Ceclia away from her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like he could go to the Ministry for custody as a Death Eater. So he would have to go about this with other means. It was lucky for him, really, that the smarter of the younger Rudolphis was amidst the group already even at his young age. He would certainly come in useful if it came down to it. “I’m sure your disapproval is quite clear, as always,” he replied, chuckling under his breath. Even if she didn’t say it in so many words, Gregory was sure that Cecilia was quite aware that the boy was disapproved of. It figured that Oriana and her husband were filling his daughter’s mind with nonsense, and in the one situation that they might actually agree on—her not being with the pureblood-hating imbecile, and that was what she decided to let Cecilia make her own decisions on. Especially when he was sure Oriana was planning on marrying her off and shipping her from the country or something ridiculous like that.

He was quite sure that Oriana thought the odds of him actually getting to see Cecilia were relatively slim, but that wasn’t the case at all. No matter what he had to do, he would figure it out. If he had to trick her into meeting up with him, he would do so. The summer months presented him with a hell of a lot of time to figure it out, and luckily he had more than enough connections to make it happen. “After all, I suppose she’s out of the house as much as possible to get away from you and your ridiculous Norwegians.” He said, derisively. Apparently, she was so desperate after he left her that she had to marry a foreigner—but he always had known that she was incapable of taking care of herself. Manipulating situations to get her way—that, she was good at, but anyway to make money that didn’t require marrying into it? That was not quite her forte.

It was no wonder why in school, it was a very well-known ideal that Gryffindor and Slytherin simply do not get along. Although they both had their stark differences, they also had a few traits in common. It was disappointing that Cecilia had been placed into Gryffindor, especially when she came from such a strong line of Slytherins, but it was hopeful that she would dispose of those irritating personality traits that Gryffindors contained. It was certainly no secret that Gryffindors were known for their ridiculous acts of ‘bravery’ and their goodwill, and it was no secret that Slytherins were known for their selfish and cunning behavior. However, they both shared in ambition…both just as stubborn. There had been a few good Gryffindors amongst the ridiculous bunch that smartened up and joined the proper forces, but they were far and few in between. Oriana was hopeful that Cecilia would not be a disappointment to their family, betraying the cause that mattered. A part of her was afraid that Cecilia would turn out just like that Roman boy, stupid.

A small smirk spread across her features as she relaxed into her seat. “Thank you,” she replied carelessly, accepting that she was hard to forget as a compliment. That was her goal…well, one of many, anyways. “That’s the hope, anyways,” she shrugged lightly, knowing that it was most likely the case. Even if she didn’t say it, Cecilia knew when Oriana disapproved of something. This was useful when they were out in public and Oriana had a front to uphold and she certainly would utilize other communication methods than verbal. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that relationship. From what I hear, he isn’t too fond of Death Eaters or purebloods. I have a feeling Cecilia hasn’t informed him of such information. It’s only a matter of time before things are split,” she shrugged. It was for the best for all of them, but especially Cecilia. Her mind was still being formed and associating with people in that sick mindset would only be dangerous…especially when she was a Gryffindor.

She didn’t trust him, not that that was surprising. She didn’t trust anyone…not even her ex-husband, apparently. Her ex-husband was a snake. If he wanted to meet up with Cecilia, he would find a way. It was how snakes did things, looking only towards what they wanted and not caring what they had to do to get there. It was her favorite part of it all…except when it was used against her…like this. “You know teenagers,” she laughed at his comment, brushing it off. “Well, you would have, anyways,” she continued, shrugging lightly. She was silent for a moment, lost in her thoughts before looking back to him and continuing, leaning closer. “In comparison to before,” she stated, being vague about Voldemort’s control, “what’s the probability of success?” He was still her connection to what was going on and knowledge would be helpful if they did so desire to choose a side.

Apparently, Oriana was doing a poorer job of parenting than Gregory had originally thought she would. It wasn’t as though the woman was that suited to parenthood to begin with, he had known that from the moment he’d found out that she was pregnant. She was far too self-serving and manipulative to truly be good for any child, not that he had exactly wanted to be a damn parent either. He hadn’t exactly dealt with Cecilia too much as a child, finding kids to be irritating and far too much work. But now Cecilia was at an age that was actually useful, where she could choose to fight for the right side and help bring honor back to her family. Hell, if she helped him, maybe he would let her change her surname to a more respectable one, though he was glad to hear that she had refused to take that Norwegian’s last name. Really, Greg was surprised that she’d even been given a choice in the matter, but he was pleased that his daughter wasn’t Cecilia Arnesen, that was for certain. “Not in a good way, Ana,” he stated, finding it far too amusing to stop using the nickname he’d had for her back when they were married. It would either irritate her, or remind her of the ‘good days,’ which could work to his benefit as well. She had clearly married that Norwegian tosser to get over him, amusingly enough, and he did wonder if that had worked in the slightest. More than likely not, as he was obviously a hell of a lot better than that prat.

Suddenly, an idea formed that he found incredibly tantalizing. He doubted that Oriana’s unspoken disapproval was enough to do anything, but Gregory certainly could actually take action to get Cecilia to stop dating such an unfortunate bloke. After all, he could hardly sit around and know that she was dating someone that he absolutely didn’t approve of. Oriana probably wouldn’t realize that she handed him just what he needed to make that happen, but she could thank him later. He could do what she couldn’t, clearly. “Well, then, I suppose you’re content with leaving things up to chance—but I’m not.” Gregory replied, smirking. Knowing that his daughter’s boyfriend did not know of his allegiances to the Dark Lord could come in handy—particularly since he knew the boy’s cousin. Cecilia would thank him later as well, he was sure.

Over the summer, he knew that he would be able to get ahold of Cecilia. As much as Oriana brushed it off, Cecilia was surely out of the house as often as possible to get away from them. Oriana’s skills at parenthood seemingly had gotten worse over the years, probably due to whatever that Norwegian was influencing her with. A woman being seen and not heard wasn’t something that he fully disagreed with, particularly where his ex-wife was involved, but he drew the line at his daughter. Yet another reason why he had to resolve this situation. Greg raised an eyebrow at his ex-wife’s question, chuckling under his breath. She would want to know the probability of success in case the time ever came that they had to pick a side. Cowardly. Greg wasn’t a Gryffindor, bloody thankfully, but even he wasn’t a coward enough to only pick a side after making sure the probabilities were in its favor. He was pure of blood, and every damn pureblood deserved to be back in their original positions of power, as well as any halfblood that was smart enough to side with them. He would go down with this cause if he had to, he just bloody doubted that it would happen that way. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Ana.” He replied, still chuckling.

Marrying Gregory had so obviously been a mistake, Oriana was realizing as each minute had passed by. He was incredibly difficult, per usual. In school, he had been mostly difficult simply because he had appeared to do everything that Malfoy had bid him to do, though anyone could have seen through time that Gregory had become more of his own person. Now, he was just back to following someone else again, though this person was a hell of a lot more important than Malfoy had been. Now, they were adults and couldn’t mess around as if they were a bunch of kids where nothing seemed to matter. They had lives. Well, at least she had a life that she would prefer to keep it as it was. Of course she didn’t want purebloods and Death Eaters to be getting punished as they had done nothing wrong except be the perfection that the world needed, but she also didn’t care enough to help them change her fate as long as she wasn’t affected. She had her nice mansion, a loving husband, sort of, a perfect son, and an improving daughter. Well, her daughter was rather rebellious. She had hoped that perhaps Klaus would be able to help her straighten their daughter’s path, lest she become just like her father, or worse, just like her mudblood or muggle lover ‘friends’. Clearly, Gregory was going to prohibit this change, but Oriana would be patient and let their daughter see how bloody ridiculous he was.

Oriana let a sweet smile cross her features, using a spoon to stir the tea in her cup before taking a sip. Putting it down gracefully, she responded again. “I take things how I’d like, Greg,” she shrugged, giving him a look. He obviously knew that much about her, insults never hindering her any. It wasn’t passing her thoughts that he continued to use her old nickname, the nickname only he had called her. Otherwise, it sounded simply silly, really. She rose an eyebrow at his next statement, amused. “Not chance, dear, careful planning,” she replied. Never leave things up to chance, that much she had known. She had done her research on the boy. Had they not broken up by the summer, she would have let it slip, accidentally of course, who her father was. It was for Cecilia’s benefit.

“Of course you don’t,” Oriana replied, smiling politely. “Always the dreamer,” she mused, laughing lightly as if they were having a friendly conversation and they were old friends just having a good time.

Clearly this work that Arnesen had been doing on Oriana was not all that affective, as she progressively was acting more like herself as every moment went on. Somehow, he doubted she ran her mouth around her new husband, or even talked all that much unless it was agreeing with whatever ridiculousness came from his mouth. It was too bad, really, that the bloke was a pureblood, because he would have been a worthy addition to their cause just based on his blood alone. But it seemed that he, and his son as well, was content with letting others do the work while expecting to reap the benefits. Oriana was like that as well, even if she was only a halfblood; she would expect this new world to benefit her when she’d done nothing to bring it about, which was just bloody ridiculous. There was either Brant’s side, or the Ministry’s, and staying in the middle ground would not last all that long. But they would see that soon enough, surely. Then, they would be wishing that they had chosen a side, even if Greg was a bit glad he didn’t have to deal with them being around in the group.

His purpose for coming here was quickly being met, as every word that his ex-wife spoke gave him a better idea of what was going on with his daughter. It didn’t matter if she attempted to be casual, Greg had known her far too long to not be able to tell what she was thinking and what she was not saying. “That you do,” he agreed, slowly, straightening up in his chair. He would be able to leave soon with more information than he’d entered with, and that was enough to deem this a success. When Cecilia got out of school for the year, it would be easy to get in contact with her. Even easier, if the plan running through his mind could be brought to reality. Luckily, he did find some people categorically easy to predict, and that would certainly be helpful in this situation. “They’ve been dating over a year… some plan,” Greg chuckled, narrowing her eyes as he examined Oriana carefully. Why had she let this go on so long? It was almost interesting that she hadn’t immediately figured out a way to break them up for someone more suitable. But the reasons were irrelevant, because now he had a better plan in place that would benefit him even more. So really, it all worked out quite nicely… for him, at least.

Greg took a casual glance around the restaurant, finding that he really didn’t miss these people at all. Yes, he missed the money, but he absolutely didn’t miss the obligations. But he was looking forward to the return of just about everything he’d been denied since the fall of Voldemort. “All dreams are obtainable,” he replied, his eyes focusing back in on Oriana. It was only a matter of time now.

He was most certainly the most irritating bloke she had ever met, but she supposed that was what had attracted her to him in the first place. She was young and she was stupid. When she had found out that she had been pregnant, she had been petrified to inform Gregory, but she had and they worked through it the best way that they had known how to. They shouldn’t have gotten bloody married, but they did. Apparently they were both young and stupid, though she supposed every set of young parents fell under that category, making rash decisions. Her relationship with Gregory hadn’t been horrible and they got along well enough…until he started spending more time with other Death Eaters, hearing of this bloke that was developing some group to rebel. She had been concerned about him joining ranks with them, concerned what that would do to their family, and then her concerns were made a reality as Gregory left her and Cecilia. Oriana never worked a day in her life and suddenly, found that she had to find work real quickly in order to provide for the household, a man’s duty. She had found that working wasn’t all that bad, but she did enjoy getting the chance to do her own thing when she wasn’t working.

“Apparently you don’t know young women as well as you once did. How many relationships do you know of that have lasted beyond Hogwarts besides that irritating Potter and Granger nonsense?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. “The bloke hates Death Eaters; you really think he knows about her daddy?” she whispered, smirking slightly as she looked down at her empty tea cup. “We weren’t always on different pages on everything, Gregory,” she pointed out, shrugging slightly. In fact, they definitely had the same viewpoints on a lot of things…as most snakes had. She supposed she could consider his side at some point, but only when her daughter was old enough.

“Only when you decide to take it,” she finished off, giving him a look. Maybe he wasn’t all that wrong in joining the side that he did, though she wouldn’t verbalize that to him. That would be just what she had needed…to make it seem like he was right about another bloody thing. “Well, it looks like my time is up here. All else is well?” she asked in a friendly manner, wondering if he was done with all he had wanted to say.

Greg had no bloody idea where he would be if he hadn’t left Oriana all of those years back. Being apart of this rebellion was far more important than she was, and he was sure she was quite bitter about that. She liked being taken care of, apparently, and she couldn’t have been happy being left to her own devices. He hadn’t been surprised to hear how quickly she had remarried, knowing that she needed a lot of money to be happy or as happy as the manipulative bint could possibly get. Yes, he surely would have Avada’ed himself if he’d made the decision to stay with her as opposed to joining the worthy cause that he now fought for. Of course, it had never really been a choice at all, the answer had been very clear. Leaving Cecilia had been the only regret, one that he was well on his way to rectifying, whether either of them liked it or not.

“That’s still quite the assumption to leave up to chance,” Greg said, frowning slightly at the mention of Potter and Granger… or well, Potter and Potter, now. He was sure that they would be dying quickly once the rebellion began, and he did hope he could be the one to do it. But more relationships lasted past Hogwarts than Oriana had stated, clearly, which didn’t ease his mind that without his interference, this could become one of them. “Hates Death Eaters… that is a risky thing to be open about.” He said, more to himself than Oriana. If the bloke hated Death Eaters so much, it might be time that more permanent action was taken against him, eliminating him for good. No one that was against them would be living long, after all. But since he knew the ridiculous bloke’s cousin and his parents, he would have to wait on that, unfortunately. “No, we most certainly weren’t.” But that had been a long time ago, and Oriana was luckily someone that he no longer had to worry himself with. He just needed to worry what she was teaching his daughter, apparently, and what her detestable husband was up to as well.

Greg very much doubted that Oriana had the slightest idea just how close they were to Brant’s plans beginning to go underway. Recruiting for as long as they had been was the right move, obviously and just earlier that day, Gregory had finally convinced Draco to join them. Their numbers were higher than anyone could begin to guess, hell, he was unsure that he knew just how many people Miles had gotten on their side. The man used different techniques, but they were all apparently incredibly damn affective. “And I always do,” he replied, knowing that he could go now that he had proven his point. There was no reason for him to stick around and watch her try to figure out the odds of the success of Brant’s group; she would only join a side when it benefited her, and he didn’t have the patience to deal with her any longer. Hearing that she was apparently done with this conversation as well, Gregory got to his feet. He certainly wasn’t going to have her exit first and leave him sitting in a damn teashop. No, he had done what he’d needed. “I’ve said all I needed to… for now,” Greg stated, taking a step back from the table, before pausing, “We’ll be seeing each other sooner than you think,” he added, an amused smirk on his lips before he finally headed toward the door.

With the summer approaching quickly, Oriana wouldn’t put it past Gregory to find a way to get Cecilia alone. Oriana wouldn’t stop him for the mere fact that this was his daughter, as well. Even if he barely raised her, he was still a father and she wouldn’t take his daughter away from him. Oriana was a lot of things, selfish included, but even she wouldn’t stoop to be that childish. She was confident that Cecilia wouldn’t want anything to do with her father, though that was her daughter’s choice. She did strongly believe that Klaus would be able to help her correct the poor behavior of Cecilia this summer and that before Cecilia did graduate, she would be such a wonderful woman, well on her way to marry a strong bloke as attractive women did deserve the best.

“I think you’ll find my assumption correct in just a short while. Mother does know best, after all,” she smirked before turning it into a sweet smile as someone walked past. “Clearly,” she agreed, having told him for a reason. If her methods failed at breaking apart the pathetic relationship, she was certain that tidbit of information would go a long way with the Death Eater before her. It was no secret to her what crowd he was running in, even if the world thought that it was some small rebellion. Death Eaters hardly went small, hence why they all went into bloody hiding, seemingly, at the first time it seemed that the Dark Lord had fallen. Holding to their cause without someone strong enough to lead them to potential victory was simply absurd.

“Always a pleasure; until next time, Greg,” she smiled, watching as he left before getting up herself, her thoughts a million miles away. Why she ever married that bloke, she had the faintest idea.

--End Thread--