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Numen Pumilum	By : AuctorRubra Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 15661 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Disclaimer: *Sniffle* Harry Potter and his wonderful
world do not belong to (Blows nose) Some of this popped out of my crazy
little brain, but if you recognize it, chances are that it belongs to J.K.
Rowling. *sob* I�m not getting paid for this, so
please don�t sue me or anything like that.

Chapter 11: Blood and Betrayal on the Scale

August 8^th, 1997

Sirius just wanted to put his head
in his hands and block out the bickering that surrounded him. One week, they�d been arguing for one whole
week with no end in sight. Every time
they agreed on one point regarding Eris, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, or Charlie
would bring up something else that was concerning them about the girls. At least Ron had kept his mouth shut since
that first great blow out. Of course,
that meant that he wasn�t sticking up for Eris either.

Harry was as fierce as the lion of
their house, snarling and roaring at anyone who he felt stood against his
sister. Even poor Tonks, whose arguments
even Sirius had to admit were at least presented kindly, was served the bitter
sting of Harry�s tongue. Remus was no
better and Sirius wondered what had gone on in his absence every time he saw
pain in Tonks� eyes. If they had been
involved it was quickly falling apart in the face of Remus� fierce
protectiveness of his goddaughter.

Sirius himself had tried to remain
as silent as possible, trying to discern how he really felt about all
this. So much had been thrown at him
since his �rebirth� (as Moony had dubbed it) that his head was still swimming. He felt strange whenever he was in Eris�
presence and couldn�t stop thinking of that jolt of electricity that rushed up
through his fingers when he touched her that first time. He felt himself being drawn towards the
hospital wing, but he tried to stay away.
He had received odd looks from bother his cousins, Moony, and Harry
whenever they caught him hovering about the Hospital Wing door peeking in at
the girl. Moony and Draco had both had
strangely knowing looks that made him feel a bit ashamed of himself,
something he had thought was no longer possible.

It probably was quite wrong of him
to feel so drawn to a young woman around twenty years his junior. Still, with twelve years in Azkaban, three
years hiding from the world, and one year spent in limbo�well, it was bound to
happen eventually. He hadn�t exactly
been surrounded by possibilities up �til then.
Nothing but married women, relatives, and a pair of
under aged schoolgirls.

Sirius winced. Eris was a schoolgirl too, even if she had
reached her majority. Her beautiful
viridian eyes and the well-formed features of her face, so like Lily�s even
with the transformation she had under gone, made her appear quite a bit older
than she really was and Harry was no better.
It was harder than ever not to do a double take every time he saw his
godson, just to make sure it wasn�t actually James. Eris looking like Lily was also making things
difficult. He had fancied himself in
love with Lily for a few moments before he realized his best friend was hooked. Of course, there wasn�t a boy in Hogwarts who
hadn�t been in love with Lily at some point or another. Even Snape hadn�t been immune and that had
been just cause to hex the git on a daily basis.

Sighing at the thought of Snape,
Sirius dared a quick glance around the table.
He had been quite noncommittal whenever Harry brought Sirius� old school
nemesis up. He was forced, after
reviewing all of Harry�s pensieve memories, to admit that Snape really had no
other choice. A Gryffindor might have
been willing to take on the Death Eaters and succumb to the Unbreakable Vow,
but a Slytherin would do no such thing. A Slytherin would have quickly analyzed the situation and realized
that there was no way out without paying in blood, and better for it to be
someone else�s. It was killing
him that he actually understood what Snivellus had done, and it didn�t make him
hate the bastard any less, but the question now was did Dumbledore know it was
going to come down to that?

______________________________________________________________________

August 9^th, 1997

Harry sat gazing out the Astronomy
tower window as he sifted through the emotions he could reach within Eris. He could tell that she was trying to keep him
out, but her current state of sorrow and fear were preventing her from blocking
him. His own emotions were kept under
tight control. He had told Eris and
every member of the Order that he understood his sister�s actions and forgave
them, but the sting of betrayal was still strong within him.

Ginny had offered many comforting
perspectives on Eris� Death Eater involvement.
She was convinced that Voldemort lost Eris as soon as she and Harry were
finally reunited. The youngest Weasley
believed that Eris had been engulfed in a sense of loss and her own sense of
betrayal. Harry agreed with her up to a
point. He was not so certain that Eris
had truly made her decision before Felicity�s attack. He felt a bit guilty that he had been leaning
so heavily on Ginny for emotional support and guidance. She was the only one that he truly felt
comfortable voicing his concern to.

Draco had been willing to listen
quietly, though Harry wasn�t certain he trusted the blond not to run and tell
Eris of Harry�s confessions of doubt. Surprisingly,
Draco had been very understanding, quietly adding his own insights to Ginny�s. He had not wanted to burden Remus with his
fears, not with how strongly the older wizard was supporting Eris. Sirius seemed too preoccupied to be bothered and
Harry assumed that he was still trying to catch up on the time he had missed
and sort out his emotions. His godfather
had been getting several pensieve memories from the Order members to help fill
in the gaps in his mind.

Harry sighed softly, wishing he
could just make himself go and speak with Eris.
He could feel her loneliness and realized that she had lost a good deal
of her companionship. Jackie and Zack
had been sent home by Miss Roslyn, who remained behind to continue offering her
opinions on Eris, as one of her teachers.
Felicity was still in a magical healing coma and Draco was splitting his
time between Eris, the Order�s questioning, and helping Harry cope. Then there was Nox, whoever he may really
be. Harry hadn�t sent eh ferret since
the night Eris took off and he couldn�t help but wonder where their mentor had
gotten to. Wasn�t this the sort of
situation that he should be attending to?
Wasn�t it about time for him to reveal his true identity?

Harry had tried to deduce who Nox
really was, but none of his guesses seemed anymore likely than the rest. Draco refused to give any information and insisted
that he didn�t know where Nox was. The
harder he though, the more likely it seemed that Nox was a Death Eater, perhaps
a reluctant one. Harry did not like this
idea at all, uncertain as to how a Death Eater could
be willing to protect him. Maybe if he
would just talk to Eris for longer than it took to check on Felicity he could
get her to tell him.�

�There you are, Harry,� said a gently voice
from behind him. He turned to see Remus
and Sirius giving him stern looks.

Harry eyed the two men
warmly. �Why do I get the feeling that
I�m in trouble?�

�When�s the last time you talked with Eris,�
Sirius asked quietly.

�I checked on her this morning and asked how Felicity was doing.�

�No, Harry,� Remus said firmly. �When is the last time you actually sat down
to talk to her.�

Harry sighed and ran a hand
through his hair. �I guess we haven�t
really spoken since before this all began.
I just have been��

�Afraid,� Remus said softly. �Afraid she�ll realize how angry you really
are?�

Harry hung his head and Sirius
growled. �Harry, if you�re on her side
you have to do more than act it. You have to believe it!�

Harry frowned at his
godfather. �I didn�t think you really
had an opinion on the situation.�

Harry�s eyes narrowed in suspicion
when Sirius became slightly flushed. Remus
noticed as well and Harry saw the werewolf�s nose twitch. �Padfoot, is there something you�d like to
share with us?�

Sirius reached up and rubbed the
back of his neck with a dark and confused frown. �I�ve been having some�er�odd reactions to
Eris.

Harry gave Remus a significant
look and he knew the man had an idea of what was going on when his amber eyes
went wide. �No, Harry�I wondered�but�do
you think?�

Harry nodded. �Sirius, what have you been feeling,
specifically?�

The young wizard was a bit amused
to see his godfather blush a brighter read and shift uncomfortably. �Well, that first night when I touched her,
it was like lightening shot through me and ever since then I�ve just felt drawn
to her.�

Sirius mumbled something else
under his breath and Harry strained to hear him. �What was that?�

Sirius sighed. �I said that it doesn�t help that she�s
bloody gorgeous! Hell, both of you
are. Did that happen because of the
elf-thingy?�

Harry snorted at Sirius� choice of
words. �Yes, it happened because of the elf-thingy! And I would thank you not to suggest that I
wasn�t gorgeous before.�

Harry smiled as both Sirius and
Remus laughed. They knew well enough that
Harry had never really thought overly much about his looks. Of course, it was nice to know that his elven
inheritance had caused an improvement.

�Fine, pup,� Sirius said with a roll of his
eyes. �Now, weren�t we supposed to be
talking about you?�

Harry stifled a laugh as Remus
gave the grey-eyed wizard a quelling look.
�Padfoot, we will have to talk
more about this later. I would say it�s
a safe bet that you�re one of Eris� potential mates and a strong competitor,
and I think Harry agrees with me.�

Harry nodded, not minding at all
that Sirius might be the one to end up with his sister. He knew that his godfather would never cause
Eris any harm, though he might drive her to hexing anything that moved. Of course, the age difference was a bit�extreme
in his young eyes. �We�ll just have to
see what happens. As for what you guys
were talking about before�I�ll try to speak with her within the next two days. You did say yesterday that the Order would
have a complete decision for Eris by Monday?�

Remus nodded and Harry sighed in
relief. �And just so you know, they have
finally decided that Moody could stop trying to confiscate Eris� wand.�

Harry rolled his eyes. �Draco will be happy to know that. The poor prat was having a heart attack every
time he had to face Moody down to keep him from getting it. Slytherins. They�re definitely not cut out for guarding
people they care about.�

�Speaking of Draco,� Remus began slyly.

Harry gave him an evil look. �I don�t care what you think you saw or smelled,
Moony. Keep it to yourself and let me
figure it out on my own.�

Harry watched as Sirius looked
between the two of them and then groaned.
Remus simply chuckled as though none of it was going to be any problem
in the end. �What can we say,
Padfoot? It looks like the Black family
blood turned out to be good for something!�

Harry burst into a strong gale of
laughter as he watched Sirius chase Remus from the room, shooting Bat-Boogey
Hexes at him all the way.

_______________________________________________________________________

August 11^th, 1997

Draco slowly ran the brush through
Eris� hair. She had to sit on the high hospital
bed in order to make his job easier. A
sad smile was pulling at his lips because he knew that his friend�s eyes never
left the still form of Madam Prince. He let
the silky, black locks slip over the fingers of his left hand while the brush
pulled through with his right. It had
taken nearly ten days, but Draco had finally pulled Eris away for a short hour
so that she could actually bathe rather than use a quick Scourgify. Now she sat
before him in soft, green robes, instead of the Muggle clothing she had sported
for most of the summer, and he was happily playing with her hair to help it dry
out naturally.

�We should charm it up in some weaving
braids,� he said quietly. �You need to
pull in some attention from that mate of yours.�

Eris snorted softly. �He�ll notice on his own. The magic makes sure of that.�

Draco sighed. �You should let me try some things out
anyway. We need to decide on a style for
tat Weasley-Delacour wedding.�

Eris quickly pulled away and
slipped off the bed, shuffling towards Madam Prince�s bed. �I doubt Bill and Fleur want a Death Eater in
their wedding, Draco.�

Draco threw the brush on the
floor, startling the two aurors guarding the door, and stomped over to
Eris. He grabbed her firmly by the
shoulders and shook her a bit. �You are
NOT a Death Eater! You were never really
on of them. Ever. They didn�t give you any real choice. Moreover, I happen to know that you are still
in the wedding. Ginny says that they�re
bringing your dress around in a day or two to size it.�

�There�s always a choice,� Eris said in a low
his, jerking away and completely ignoring everything he said about the wedding.

�What choice did you have,� Draco
shouted. �What options did they give you? What the hell did my father do to you?�

Eris blanched and pulled
away. �It�s none of your business what
happened. I made MY choices. I weighed the options and, BIG SURPRISE, I
made the wrong decision!�

Draco threw his hands up and
growled in frustration. He had a very
unMalfoy-like desire to yank at his hair.
The volume of his voice had steadily risen throughout the argument. If he shouted his last questions, he shrieked
now. �Bloody hell, woman, I want you to
tell me exactly what your choices were, word for word!�

Eris stared blankly at him and he
hated how dull her eyes looked. They no longer
glittered like finely cut emeralds, but were like dieing moss in the fog.

�Well,� said a voice from behind them, �it was
probably something like �Join us or Die� or �Resistance is
Futile�. Those sound like good Death
Eater recruitment posters.�

Draco turned to see Sirius, Harry,
and Miss Roslyn standing close by, with the latter being the one who
spoke. He glared at the witch. �I�m glad you find it amusing.�

Harry looked torn between
confusion and fury and Draco didn�t blame him.
He would have probably looked the same way if he had walked in on the
same scene with Harry standing in his place screaming at the top of his
lungs. Glancing back at Eris, he saw his
friend looking a tad panicked, though he doubted anyone but Harry would notice,
and him only through their bond. Looking
back at his cousin, he saw that Sirius was staring quite intently at Eris, a
contemplative and somewhat hungry look in his eyes. He desperately wanted to have a talk with the
wizard about what Eris had told him, and about her fears, the ones she�d voiced
at least. For the thousandth time he
cursed himself for promising to keep the obstinate witch�s secrets. He was convinced that she needed her mate,
especially without Snape around at the moment and Harry so conflicted.

�Calm down, Draco,� Harry said in a hard tone.

Draco swallowed hard and started a
bit when Eris glided up next to him and placed a hand on his arm. He felt her tremble and quickly wrapped her
in a tight hug. Leave it to his best
friend to wind up being mated to a wizard who hadn�t gotten any in nearly sixteen
years. He would have been scared
too. �Sorry, Harry.�

It was odd hugging Eris these
days. Since her transformation, he was a
bit shorter than she was and it made it hard to emanate a protective aura when
he felt so small and young next to her.
Harry made him feel this even more intensely. They were both so�grown up now. So ageless and eerily
powerful. It radiated off them even
when they were distressed.

�If you all don�t mind,� Harry said in an even
tone, �I would like to speak with my sister alone. All
of you are to go to the staff room to vote on the final verdict. Send someone to get us when you are ready.�

Everyone else left immediately,
but Draco held onto Eris for a moment longer, looking at Harry the whole
time. The other wizard was definitely
rising to the occasion, the stress of Eris� predicament and the arguing in the
ranks forcing him to find it within himself to be a leader. For the first time, Draco felt rather proud that
he was now on the side of the Light.

He released Eris and gave her a
soft kiss on the cheek. As he walked to
the doors, he paused when he was even with Harry, placing a hand on his
shoulder. He suppressed the urge to
shiver as the gentle tingles of electricity ran through him and wondered again
if Harry felt them as well. Eris wasn�t
letting on if Harry had found any potential mates yet and it was driving him
crazy.

�It�s going to be okay, Harry,� He said
quietly locking eyes with the young savior.

A small smile tugged at Harry�s
lips and Draco felt his heart jump. �I
know. Now go show them why a Malfoy
always gets his way.�

Draco smirked and strode from the
Hospital Wing feeling a bit elated. Harry�s
confidence that Eris would remain free reassured him, but more importantly, Harry�s
confidence in him made him feel like
he could take on the world. Now if only
he could convince the Boy-Who-Lived to invest a few other emotions in him as
well�

______________________________________________________________________

Eris stared warily at her brother
as Draco left them alone. Harry had
barely said three words a day to her and he always seemed jumpy. She knew that he was fighting against several
members of the Order of the Phoenix
who wanted to lock her away in either Azkaban or St. Mungo�s, but he didn�t
seem too sure of her when they were close together. It didn�t help that seeing Black had unnerved
her further. As soon as she had seen her
mate she was instantly glad that Draco had insisted on grooming her�and two
seconds later she was disgusted for caring at all.

Locking eyes with her brother,
Eris sent a silent plea to Merlin that Harry was finally going to tell her how
he truly felt about her Death Eater involvement. �Hello,
Harry. You had something you wanted?�

�I owe you an apology,� Harry said softly.

Eris gave him a sharp look. She had thought that everyone would be expecting
apologies from HER, Harry included. No
one on the side of the Light owed her anything in her opinion.

She watched as Harry sighed sadly
and stepped closer to her. He moved slowly,
carefully, as though she was a wild animal that might bolt. She was reminded of that first day they
met. �I�ve been telling everyone that
you belong with us. I�ve been biting off
the heads of anyone who dared to speak against you. What I haven�t been doing is dealing with
you, speaking to you.�

Eris tensed. �This isn�t something you have to do.�

Harry took one step closer. �I�ve shut you out of our bond, terrified
that you might sense the last bits of lingering doubt and resentment. I�ve done you a disservice by not coming to
face you so that we could work through this together.

The bond was wide open now and she
could feel his struggle. It was a battle
between what he knew to be true and the hidden details he feared. Details he couldn�t know and understand
without her help. She could feel his
struggle to move beyond the fact that she had consorted with their parents�
murderer.

�Eris, I�ve�well I�m sure you�ve�but I�� Harry three his head back and stared at the
ceiling and Eris bit her lip wondering if her twin was feeling stable at the
moment. �I�m sure you know that I�m
struggling with this. I still support
you, that�s the easy part, but I can�t stop the fact that what I know about you
know hurts. Maybe it shouldn�t�or maybe
I shouldn�t be so ready to forgive you and welcome you into our midst.�

Eris took a deep, shuddering breath. �Why then?
Can you tell at all?�

Harry was staring hard at
Felicity�s still form and Eris knew that he was trying to figure out the old
witch�s worth compared to their dead parents.
He was trying to comprehend how Felicity had taken the place of James
and Lily Potter in her heart. �Part of
it is everything I�ve felt through our bond, how devastated you�ve been. I know you felt cast aside and please believe
me when I say I know how if feels.�
Harry was now within touching distance.
He slowly brought up his hand and rested it one her shoulder. �I also know that you�re keeping secrets, but
I sense that they�ll hurt no one�no one but you. I hope you�ll open up to me so I can help you
heal.�

Eris stared into the green eyes
that were so much more expressive than her own.
She felt Harry pushing love through the bond and it seemed to wrap her
in warmth. For the first time since her
birthday, Eris smiled. �When did you
grow up so much?�

Harry laughed and pulled her into
a hug and she surprised herself by returning the embrace fiercely. �Oh I�ve always been to a certain degree, but
I�m just learning how to show it.�

Eris frowned. �No one�s ever really let you be a child.�

Harry offered her a lopsided
grin. �Not for those first eleven years,
but I�ve been given a lot of slack since I came to Hogwarts. What about you? Felicity seems to have been awful strict with
your upbringing and with how advanced you are in some of your studies��

�Don�t worry, Harry,� Eris cut in. �She made that mistake once and she was
determined not to do it again. I was
allowed to play and get dirty. Felicity
did tend to hold me at arms length, but the house elves hugged me and kissed me
so often that I always felt loved while I was in the manor.�

Eris froze. The elves�what had become of them? Did the Death Eaters kill them? Her voice was shaky when she spoke
again. �Harry, has anyone been back to
the manor?�

�I don�t think so.� Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. �I think everyone has been too busy arguing.�

�No matter what the Order decides, I have to
go back long enough to find the house elves.
They might still be�I have to know what�s happened to them.�

�I promise that you�ll be allowed to go,�
Harry said softly.

The sound of a throat clearing off
to the side brought their attention to the hospital doors where Sirius was now
standing. �They�re ready for both of you
now.�

They started off down the
hall. Harry and Sirius walked a few
steps ahead of her as they made their way to the staff room. She felt secure knowing that her wand was
just up her sleeve despite the fact that it would be very foolish to try and run
when three aurors would be in the room.
As they entered the staff room, Eris was struck by the sheer number of
witches and wizards crammed into the moderate space. She recognized very few of them and was
grateful that when she sat down it was between Draco and Harry. Sirius sat on her left on the other side of
Draco and she felt this was still a bit too close for comfort. The haze of golden light that surrounded the
wizard was quite distracting.

Looking around the room, Eris
found another strange sight. It was
Ginny and she was glowing ever so slightly with a strange, pale green
light. It was barely noticeable, but
Eris knew that it would have to be looked into.

Professor McGonagall stood and
calmed the buzzing voices that filled the room.
�Eris, I�m sure Harry has told you what a battle it has been to decide
on how we would handle your special situation.�

Remus spoke up. �It had been decided that you will not go to
Azkaban unless it is discovered that you lied about being blackmailed by Lucius
Malfoy.�

Eris nodded. No worries there, so why did Remus and Draco
both look so grim. �There�s more, of
course?�

McGonagall nodded. �In order to confirm what you have told us
and what Draco has told us, we must see your memory of Mr. Malfoy�s original
threats to you. We also require a
viewing of an unbroken stream of memory from the moment Mr. Malfoy arrived to
take you to You-Know-Who until he accepted you into his ranks.�

Eris felt all the blood fall from
her face and pool somewhere in her stomach, making her feel sick. �I�I will agree if you are willing to
compromise a little.�

The Headmistress regarded her
critically. �What are you requesting?�

Eris swallowed hard. �That you choose one of your members, only
one, to view the memories.�

Moody spoke up then, his voice
gruff and angry. �Trying to get one of
your supporters to lie for you now?�

�No!�
Eris shot to her feet, her hands balled and shaking at her sides. �These
are private memories, private shames.
I�m asking for you all to choose someone you trust who will be fair to
both sides.�

�Even if its me,�
Moody asked with narrowed eyes.

�Be my guest,� Eris spat. �I welcome you to go through it.�

�Very well,� McGonagall said warily. �I�ll fetch the pensieve.�

�Hold on,� Harry said. �I have one right here.� He pulled it from his pocket, conjured up a
jar for the memories currently stored in it, and set it before Eris.

Eris let her wand slip from her sleeve
and brought it trembling to her temple. She
pulled the two memories from her mind and set them to swirl in the
pensieve. With a swish and flick of her
wand, she sent the pensieve levitating to Moody. �Have
at it old man.�

�Wait a minute, Mad-Eye,� Tonks said
softly. �Eris, will it be all right for me
to go in with Moody? You might want a
slightly more compassionate eye to join with his critical.�

Eris most certainly did not want
Remus� current love interest seeing her darkest moments, but she knew the witch
was right. �Very well. I would ask you both to please keep what you
see to yourselves beyond confirming my truthfulness.�

Tonks nodded and placed her face
to the pensieve. Moody merely stared at her
for a moment before following suit. For
the next forty-five minutes, Eris sat rigidly in her seat. If Draco hadn�t been holding her hand she
would have bolted from the room.
Everyone seemed to be staring either at her or at the pensieve. Remus and Sirius stared mostly at her and
while Remus� amber eyes were comforting, Sirius� gray gaze was unsettling. Draco and Harry were both eyeing the pensieve
hungrily. She decided to banish the
silvery memories as soon as the two aurors finished their viewing.

Just as the tension in the room
seemed to be coming to a peak, Tonks pulled her head from the pensieve. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she
looked furious. Moody was close behind,
his scarred face set like stone in the moments before he spoke. �I�m satisfied. You�ll get no more arguments from me about
you staying with us.�

Eris nodded and quickly banished
the memory. Tonks gasped. �What are you doing?! We could send the bastard to Azkaban with
that!�

Eris blanched and fought to stop
herself from flushing. Surprisingly,
Moody came to her rescue. �Tonks! Calm down, its all in her head if we need it.�

�Fine,� Tonks said dejectedly. �I want that creep�s head on a pike. We�ll just have to take care of it
ourselves.�

Eris glared at the witch. She was giving too much away. It was obvious that she was talking about
Lucius and not Voldemort. �If anyone
will be beheading him it will be me. It
happened, its over, deal with it. I
have.�

�Have you?�
Moody�s magic eye was pinned on her and she glared at him defiantly.

�Is it any of your business,� Eris snapped.

Moody�s face was still like
stone. �Perhaps not, but it will be
somebody�s someday.�

That was when Harry stood up,
pulling Eris along with him. �Thanks all
of you for your time. Eris and I have
something important to take care of at Prince Manor.�

Draco jumped up. �I�m coming with you!�

Ginny followed his example, as did
Ron and Hermione. Remus and Sirius seemed
convinced that they needed to come along as well. As they walked through the halls towards the head
office, Eris frowned at the small party.
�We don�t need this many people.�

�We still don�t know how the Death Eaters got
into the manor,� Remus said gently.

Eris sighed. �I do.
They flooed in from the American Academy of Transfiguration,
Charms, and Defense�my school.
The floo is only connected to the American school and Hogwarts. There is no way for them to get onto the grounds
otherwise without physical contact with myself, Felicity, or one of her blood
relatives.�

�Snape,� Harry hissed. �He could let whoever he wants on the grounds.�

Eris sighed. �He didn�t though. He wouldn�t do that.�

�And how do you know that,� Sirius asked
suspiciously.

�We respect each other and I was placed under
his tutelage by Voldemort,� Eris said slowly, weighing her words. �He would have known the outcome of betraying
my trust in Voldemort�s ability to protect Felicity.�

�You�ve seen him this summer then,� Harry
asked sharply.

�Yes,� Eris said carefully. �Voldemort told him that my potions were lacking
creativity, a.k.a. cruelty. He was supposed
to get me to expand the artistic effects of my poisons and death dealers.�

Sirius snorted. �I�m sure Snivellus enjoyed that.�

Eris glared coldly at the man she
was meant to be mated to. �No, actually. He
rather thought it was stupid since I�m at the level of a beginning master. He knew that I could do it if I wanted
to. Mostly we just brewed and
talked. He�s the reason that Draco and I
know about the special potion Voldemort intends for me to take.�

She noticed that Harry appeared
very confused at this point. �He�he
helped you? He was�nice?�

Eris sniggered. �Nice wouldn�t exactly be a word I would ever
apply to Severus. There are some people
who cannot deal with anyone who they perceive as less intelligent than
themselves.�

Hermione let loose a bitter
laugh. �So, basically, he tolerated you
because you understand potions.�

Harry and Ron both looked
disgusted. Harry�s expression was
dark. �Well, we should just be glad that
he didn�t kill you too.�

Eris stiffened and then tried to
act as though she didn�t care. �I
suppose you�re right.�

_______________________________________________________________________

When they exited the fireplace of
Prince Manor, it was immediately apparent that the sitting room and entrance
hall were in shambles. No piece of
furniture was left whole and scorch marks marred the carpets and walls. The sitting room doors had been blown off
their hinges and even from the fireplace, Harry could see the dark red stains
adorning the entrance hall carpet. It
seemed that the Death Eaters had seen fit to torture Felicity within her own
home before taking her to their master.

He tried to hold his sister back,
but Eris broke away and ran through the entrance hall and into the dining
room. He hurried with the others to
follow her and they entered the dining room just in time to seem her blast the
kitchen door to bits.

�Bombarda!� Bits of wood and
metal flew every which way and Harry watched as his sister dropped to her knees
and held her arms open to a small flood of especially tiny house elves who
rushed out. One was holding what looked
like an impossibly small baby, the infant elf�s eyes
screwed tightly shut and only its tiny face poking out from its swaddling.

�Missy! Missy,� one of the taller house elves cried,
tugging on Eris� sleeve. �Telly, Iggy, Sary and Lolly is�they is dead. Bad
wizards hurt them in front of Mistress to punish her. I is hiding us all
in the kitchen to wait for you or Mistress.�

Harry smiled sadly as he watched
his sister pull the quivering elf into a gentle embrace. �You did the right thing, Jelly. I�m sorry about your mother and father. Is baby Slinky doing all right without
Lolly?�

The tiny house elf holding the
baby spoke up in a shrill voice, �He is crying a lot at first, but I is taking good care of him, Missy!�

Eris smiled. �I know you take good care of your brother,
Sloopy.�

Harry took a step towards the odd
group. �Eris, are all these house elves Madam
Prince�s?�

Jelly seemed to take offense to
this suggestion. �I is
belonging to Missy Eris. I is belonging to Missy since the day I was born. My mother is giving me to Missy to take care
of when I was a baby and now I is taking care of her.�

�Sorry,� Harry said timidly.

Eris chuckled.
�Sorry about that. Jelly is
rather proud of taking care of me. Sloopy
and baby Slinky are technically mine as well.
They are Lolly and Sary�s children.
Jelly, and the three quiet ones, Linken, Tinken, and Gog are all the children
of Telly and Iggy. Link, Tink, and Gog
are triplets and Telly didn�t think I would be able to handle three babies at
once so she and Lolly took care of them and let me watch.�

Harry felt Draco peek over his
shoulder. He shivered a little as the
blond�s breath ghosted past his ear when he spoke. �I didn�t know you liked kids so much, Eris,
and I was certain that you were terrified of babies.�

�I don�t like human children,� Eris said with
a frown. �I happen to adore elves. They are rather mild infants if their needs
are tended to and they make wonderful playmates.�

Harry laughed as all the little
elves beamed up at Eris. They seemed genuinely
happy and not maltreated at all as Dobby had been. �I�m glad you had them.�

Eris regarded him with an odd
expression. �It might interest you to
know that Iggy and Lolly were brother and sister and both Potter house
elves. They came here not long after
mother and father were killed, according to Felicity. They said that their father, Eggert, went
looking for you and they never heard from him again.

Harry looked down at Sloopy and
Slinky. �So these two are technically
our family�s house elves? Can we set
them free?�

Harry looked back at Hermione to
see her beaming at him. Ron and Draco were
rolling their eyes and the house elves were all shrieking and clinging to
Eris. His sister glared at him. �Harry!
How could you say something like that and scare them? Where would they go? What if some horrible family took them in and
treated them poorly? Look at this,
you�ve scared them half to death and they just lost their parents!�

Harry tossed a helpless look
towards Remus who put a calming hand on Eris� shoulder. �Its all right, dear, no one is going to make
them leave if they don�t want to. Harry
has had an�interesting experience with house elves
that leaves him more willing and open to freeing the whole race.�

Eris nodded and Harry breathed a
sigh of relief. �Well, will all these
little ones want to stay here, or will they want to come to Hogwarts?�

Jelly huffed. �I is not going
anywhere until I is knowing about Mistress.�

�Felicity was hurt badly, Jelly. She is at Hogwarts in the hospital wing,� Eris
said gently.

Jelly nodded.
�I is staying here to clean up bad wizards�
mess then. Link, Tink, and Gog is
helping me I think. Sloopy and Slinky is
too little.�

Harry smiled. �That sounds like a very good plan,
Jelly. Will you four come to Hogwarts
when you�re done here?�

Jelly nodded enthusiastically and
they all laughed quietly. Harry hoped
that he would be able to finish the job that Eris had started on the wayward
Death Eaters. Even the families of house
elves weren�t safe from Voldemort.

_______________________________________________________________________

Severus crept down the steps in
his guise of a ferret. He was certain
that he heard voices echoing through the halls and he hoped that it was Eris or
Draco coming to look for him. He had not
anticipated that it would take so long for them to arrive and he had been
feeling a bit panicked for the house elves who were barricaded
in the kitchen. He had cleaned up the
remains of four older house elves from the entrance hall and was glad that the
youngsters had been wise enough to hide.

As he made his way down a few more
steps he spotted Eris and let out a loud squeak, rushing down the remaining
steps towards the young witch. She
looked to him immediately and shrieked, �Nox!�

Springing into the girl�s arms as
she lowered herself to her knees, he allowed himself to be fussed over. He lovingly nipped at her fingers and ears,
happy to see her in one piece and smiling.
The emotions that he had been sensing from her had been beyond
distressing and, annoying as it was, the emotions that had radiated from Potter
had been no better.

�Oh, I�m so glad that you�re all right,� Eris
cooed and he did his best to glare at her and she scratched his stomach. �I�ve missed you and you shouldn�t have run
off like that! What if something had
happened to you?�

Severus tried to snort but it came
out as a squeak. He proceeded to chatter
angrily at her in an effort to express his disapproval of HER running off
first. The impudent girl simply
giggled. �Oh really,
Nox. What was I supposed to do?�

Severus squeaked again and
positioned himself around Eris� shoulders, nuzzling her neck. He looked over at Potter, who was regarding
him with a frown, and squeaked at the boy.
He smiled slightly and reached a hand out, and tempted as Severus was to
bite the brat he decided to suffer the attention in silence. Both his charges were safe for the time being
and he would simply be grateful for that.
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