Illusory § Order of the Phoenix

XXIV. REDEMPTION

"You did not!" Devon gasped.

Antares feigned innocence. "I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about," he said, leaning back against the stone bench, a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Okay, alright, so you won't mind if I spill some of your secrets, yeah?" The blonde goaded.

"I have nothing to hide, Dev. Lay it on me."

Devon chuckled, tipping his bottle in Antares' face. "Remember that Skizze girl from Darwin? You were what? Sixteen?"

The Kelly immediately sobered, his attempt at feigning nonchalance faltering. "Darwin's a big place, mate. You'll have to be more specific."

Sensing that he had struck a nerve, Devon leaned back with a triumphant smirk. "Oh, you remember," He teased, turning to Fred and George. "So, there we were, in Darwin for a Skizze music festival, plastered off fire whiskey, when Ares sees this girl selling bracelets."

Antares groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Please, spare me the details," he said before leaving for the drink table to get a refill.

Devon and Cole laughed as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, don't stop there," Fred exclaimed. "Do you know how hard it's been trying to get him to crack?"

"We've been trying since we met him," George added. "Nothing."

"You just have to know what buttons to press," Cole snickered. "Anyway, Ares gets it into his head that he's going to impress her by buying all the bracelets."

"Except we didn't have any of that paper money they carry around," Devon butt in, "Ares ended up stealing a wallet off some drongo—"

"And that guy with the tie-dye shirt—"

"and that guy with the tie-dye shirt, yeah," Devon continued, chuckling at the memory. "He stole the wallets and then went strutting back up to this girl, but Ares didn't realize that he snagged the wallet of this chick's boyfriend." Harry choked mid-sip. "Right? So this guy storms over, straight pissed, and grabs Ares by the collar, ready to pummel the living daylight out of him, and instead of apologizing like a normal person, you know what Ares did instead? He blew the wanker a kiss."

The group's roaring laughter echoed into the night. Fred and George were falling over themselves while Harry looked over to where Antares stood at the drink table in disbelief. It seemed so out of character for his pseudo-mentor. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person? He threatened to use the Imperious Curse on me."

Kerrianne, who was still chuckling, shot him an amused look. "Oh, mate, you've only scratched the surface. Ares is like an onion—lots of layers, and likes making you cry."

Fred nodded. "The Imperious Curse, though? That's bold."

"Actually, that seems pretty tame," George said, giving his twin a knowing look. "Especially since he didn't end up doing it." After a moment, Fred hummed in agreement.

Unbeknownst to Harry, Fred and George were reminded of the lengths Antares was willing to go to achieve his goals. The Midnight Marbles incident weighed heavily on them, and it was clear that Antares hadn't said anything about it to Harry. They weren't sure if he would. The decision to poison Harry for the greater good of defying Umbridge had left a lingering sense of guilt, and the longer the twins sat by the bonfire, the more they were sure Antares brought them here as some sort of indirect apology.

"He still threatened me with it," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Mate, Ares doesn't threaten; he simply does. Man's a bit extreme like that," Cole informed.