Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Meddling with Darkness	By : zoy_grey Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 32786 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 11
Disclaimer: I do not own nor make profit off of JK Rowling's world of Harry Potter, the characters or the timeline. Though I do own the plot that I came up with in this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
A/N: First of all, I'm terribly sorry for a long break, but I had a huge writers block ^^' thankfully I managed to get over it and here is the next chapter ;) Also, next chapter is also in progress. And big thanks to Jan and GeminiFaerie for sweet reviews ^__^
Chapter 18
Albus and his brother Aberforth entered their old house in Mould-on-the-Wold. Neither one of them visited that house since the accident with their sister and their father’s arrest. Now, however, the headmaster decided the place was the only alternative as a new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.
“Do you really have to use this place?” asked Aberforth, following his brother without much enthusiasm. “What’s wrong with the current headquarters? The location in London is far safer than this one.”
“But it belongs to the Blacks,” answered shortly Albus and concentrated on repairing the interior of the building.
“It didn’t bother you half a year ago, when Sirius offered it to you,” when the older Dumbledore didn’t say a word, Aberforth sighed heavily and asked, “You started to distrust Sirius again?”
“This conflict is about the future of our wizarding community. I can’t and I won’t risk the good of the entire country by making foolish mistakes,” Albus was smiling while saying this, but his brother could tell just by looking in his eyes, that the older wizard was far from calm and happy. “The Blacks can be unreliable at times. Regulus Black showed up out of nowhere after fifteen years and Sirius is just unpredictable. I told him to wait, but instead he ran off to capture Pettigrew and then even pulling out the case with the boy.”
“You can’t blame him for wanting to have his son back.”
“That’s selfish thinking, Aberforth,” protested the older wizard examining his finished work with renovating the drawing room of the house. “The boy is a symbol, a hero figure for our community. By his actions and announcing that Harry Potter is not a Potter, he took that little light of hope from others.”
“It’s his son! It’s only natural that he wants them to be together,” the younger brother was reaching his limit of patience; Albus could be so stubborn at times, especially when it was concerning his vision of better future for the world. “And that boy is a living being. He suffered enough already…thinking he’s an orphan and living with people who weren’t his family. He deserves a normal life and not to be a tool to win a war.”
“You’re cooped up in that inn of yours and you don’t see the danger. Voldemort’s influence is reaching into the Ministry already. Haven’t you heard about the changes and new people in the Ministry?”
“You’re out of your mind, Albus! Again you’re focusing on the greater good more than on people and their feelings,” said Aberforth angrily. His brother was missing the human aspect of the situation; just like in the past. Albus has made the same mistake with Ariana and even with Gellert. “This is ridiculous! I’m not going to stop you from fixing the world, but I will not be a part of this! Mark my words, if you meddle and distrust the Blacks again, it’s going to backfire at you.”
Watching his brother leave the building the headmaster tried to calm down his breathing. He was furious at his younger brother for not understanding his actions again. He didn’t understand how anyone could be so blind not to see what was going on.
Only yesterday the Daily Prophet announced new employees in different departments of the Ministry. It was obvious things weren’t going in the good direction; and definitely not according to his plan. Fudge gave a job to his nephew, who was easily influenced by others; there were new people in the Department of Magical accidents and Catastrophes, Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as well as in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. But the most worrisome changes were in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where they hired four new wizards, including Yaxley – the man, who Dumbledore knew, was a Death Eater.
The problem for the Order of the Phoenix was that, so far, Voldemort was very cautious and didn’t do anything that would alert the Ministry. This was frustrating for Dumbledore, because things were slipping through his fingers and he was losing control over the situation. The longer Voldemort was hiding, the more people believed the headmaster to be crazy and Albus couldn’t afford for that reputation to stick to him.
Even more annoying was the fact that something felt wrong about the Blacks even more than during last war. Sirius was more engaged in the Order’s actions, but he was keeping secrets from them, like the fact that he was married and had a child. The last conversation he had with him, the man refused to tell him who was his spouse, but also protested against the idea of lying about having an affair with Lily Potter. That was complicating things and Albus couldn’t stop thinking about it; he was certain the boy had to be the son of Sirius and Lily; that’s why he pitied James and placed a glamour on the boy.
“Sirius…Sirius…he’s having secrets from me again,” muttered Dumbledore to himself. “Regulus’ come back is also no accident…younger Black must have returned to serve Voldemort again…It’s time to reveal Regulus’ true colours to the world and then Sirius might be more willing to cooperate with the Order.”
For the last two weeks after Sirius’s trial Orion was sneaking out of the Gryffindor Tower more often than before. He noticed Dumbledore was only searching for any opportunity to look him in the eyes and get into his mind. That’s why the teen decided to listen to his dad’s advice and ask Severus for help with learning Occlumency.
For some reason it didn’t come as a big surprise to Orion that his father immediately agreed to the extra lessons with him. With every day he spent with the potions master, especially during their Occlumency practice, he realised how much he misjudged the man. When Severus didn’t hold a grudge against someone then he could be a very carrying person. He was still one of the most strict teachers anyone could have imagined, but now Orion really saw positive side of the wizard and he had to admit that he even started to look up to him.
“It’s not bad, you’re making progress, but you need to try and clear your mind a bit more,” told him Severus after an hour of another one of their secret lessons. “Let’s try one more time.”
Orion took a deep breath and focused on clearing his mind. That was the most difficult part for him. At the beginning he couldn’t stop thinking about things and it resulted in the potions master easily accessing his thoughts. The teen was absolutely embarrassed that his father saw all his deepest fears and concerns; even the bad memories of the times when he still hated the potions master’s guts. He remembered that on that day they ended the lesson quickly; for which he was grateful to Severus, but he was sure it was partly because the older wizard was hurt by what he saw in Orion’s mind. Now however, the teen managed to block the intrusion in his mind for a few minutes. He still needed time to create stronger shields around his thoughts, but he was already proud of himself for the progress he has made so far.
“Keep that shield up, Orion,” told him Severus and without any warning he attempted to enter his thoughts once more, but with more power this time. “Albus will try all his magical strength to find the information he’s looking for…don’t let him do that. He’s already suspicious of your relation with Draco and his family…he’ll try to know more about Sirius. Will you let him get those information? They’re all going to die if you don’t protect your thoughts.”
Ten minutes later, the potions master lowered his wand and broke the spell. Orion felt as if someone was trying to strangle him and just at this moment loosened their grip on him. He stood up from the chair on a bit wobbly legs and tried to catch his breath. It was extremely exhausting; even more than learning the Patronus Charm.
“Drink this,” said Severus and handed him a glass of some light golden potion. The teen looked at the liquid a bit sceptically and hesitated to drink it. “Don’t worry, I remember you have the same dislike for potions as Sirius so I added something to make it taste better. It’s going to strengthen you up.”
“Thank you,” said Orion smiling sheepishly and taking a sip from the glass; indeed, the potion didn’t have the usual awful taste, but a bit sweet. “That’s actually good. Is it possible to do that with every potion? Change the taste, I mean?”
“No, but there is a vast variety of potions that can be altered like that,” answered Severus, calmly observing his son. It made him feel a bit better to see that the boy was gradually becoming more relaxed in his presence. “It’s the first time I see you interested in potions.”
“Well…I got to like them lately…I was even thinking about continuing this subject and get my NEWTs in it,” revealed Orion a bit hesitant; he wasn’t sure how the man would react to such information.
“First you’d have to get an Outstanding in your OWLs in Potions, but I think that’s a wonderful idea,” answered Severus and stunned his son completely by his words. “You still need a little bit more practice to gain confidence in brewing, but you can always come here and practice after your regular classes.”
“That would be great, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to sneak out even more. Hermione and Ron might come up with the idea to handcuff me to them so that they know where I am and what I’m doing,” the teen laughed at the vision of going everywhere with his friends.
“If you officially hand in a written request to use one of the potions’ classrooms to prepare for the exam, then I don’t see a reason why Mr Weasley and Ms Granger should stop you from doing so.”
Orion couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the suggestion, but rushed with an explanation to the potions master, “That’s a brilliant idea and I will definitely do that. It’s just that recently with all the changes my housemates can hardly recognize me…I mean, I study more, I disapprove of Moody’s teaching…I even helped one Slytherin girl, I tell my friends to call me by my real name and I decided to go along with the ritual to take off the glamour of me. Now if they see me asking for permission to study Potions more, they will start to believe I’m an imposter.”
The man fell silent and stared at his son with a mix of happiness and concern. “Are you sure you want to go through with this ritual? I’m going to be honest with you… this kind of rituals are never fun; they tend to be painful and a bit risky.”
“I know,” said quietly Orion, not happy to be reminded of what he’s going to have to go through. “But I want to be myself again. Everyone tell me I look exactly like James Potter…”
“But with Lily’s eyes,” interrupted Severus and the corners of his lips moved slightly up at the memory of his childhood friend.
“Yes,” admitted the teen. “But in fact, I look exactly like my dad and I want to look like that again.”
“Yes, when you were an infant and someone compared Sirius’ childhood photos with you, most people were confused, whose pictures they are looking at. You looked like a mini version of Sirius…”
“Except for my eyes,” this time it was Orion who interrupted and waited for the potions master’s reaction.
“Yes…except for your eyes…you inherited your eyes from me,” said Severus feeling proud, especially that the teen didn’t seem to be repulsed by the thought of inheriting some of Severus’ features.
Sirius got out of the elevator in the Ministry and headed to the main hall to use the Floo Network to go home. He could finally walk around freely, but he still got a lot of shocked and confused stares from other witches and wizards. He couldn’t help but make a show of his every visit to a public place. Black dressed in the best clothes he had; he even wore one of the Black family rings to show off. And of course, the reaction he got from all the ladies was the one he enjoyed the most – even though he loved Severus and was interested only in him, it always boosted his ego when women showed interest in him.
“Sirius!” he heard a familiar female voice calling after him, when he was almost by the fireplace.
“Nymphadora,” he noted with a smile when the witch approached him. Now that he thought about it, he hasn’t seen the witch since he was captured over two months ago.
“Don’t call me like that,” said the normally friendly witch, in a strained voice. “My mother made a bad joke on me giving me that name.”
“Seems like there still is a bit of the mean side of Andromeda there…even though she married your father,” laughed Sirius and apologized to the young woman for his earlier behaviour.
“What are you doing here? Is the Ministry bothering you again?”
“No, not this time. I just handed in the request for the ritual for Orion,” the man informed her proudly. “He decided himself that he wants to go through with the ritual. To be honest…I’m happy and excited that I’ll be able to see how my son has grown up. After all, the last time I’ve seen him looking like himself was when he was barely six months old.”
“Yes, I can only imagine how painful that must have been for you. But you never told anyone about your son…mother didn’t even know you were married,” said Tonks.
“It was safer to keep it a secret,” answered Sirius. He noticed the witch didn’t have anything important to tell him but still kept close to him. “If you’re after work already, then I invite you to my place. We could get a cup of tea…or something stronger.”
“Thank you, that would be great,” she nearly squealed out of joy.
The witch’s behaviour was amusing for Sirius. It seemed like his cousin’s daughter thought no one noticed how she acted towards Remus. Sirius noticed that she liked Lupin, but he also noticed that Remus felt the same way about the young auror. Black was just amused by the way they acted; it was almost like kids hiding their crush on each other.
“Did you get any information from Albus about the new headquarters?” asked him Tonks as soon as they flooed to the kitchen in Grimmauld Place.
“No, not yet. To be honest, I have more pressing matters at the moment than information on where we’re going to meet,” answered Sirius and took off his coat.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that I don’t really see the reason to change the headquarters…”
“Shhh! Did you hear that?” interrupted her the wizard and listened carefully. He was certain he has heard someone upstairs, but it was odd – Remus was supposed to be out on some mission from Dumbledore; this worried him even more, that it might be Regulus entering the house again to meet with him. Even though everyone knew already that he was alive, Sirius didn’t need the trouble of explaining to Tonks how his brother was able to enter the heavily guarded house.
The both of them immediately took out their wands and quietly headed upstairs. On their way there, they noticed traces of blood smeared on the floor and door frames. This didn’t give them a good feeling, but they continued walking up the stairs, following the traces. When they reached the third floor they heard someone’s groans of pain. Sirius was the first to check what was going on and he froze when he spotted his school friend curled up on the floor, not far from his room.
“Remus!” he hid his wand and quickly ran to his friend. Nymphadora did the same and kneeled by the man she loved. “Remus, my friend, what happened?”
“Werewolves…the entire pack…” Lupin muttered something, but it was obvious he was in a lot of pain.
“Did they attack you?” asked Tonks while casting the basic healing spells on the man. “I knew it…I told Moody that werewolves were unpredictable…no one can control them and they will never help the Order.”
“No…it wasn’t them. They were reasonable…they wanted to talk,” Remus desperately tried to explain what happened, but he did that with difficulties. He stopped only when Sirius and Tonks levitated him into his bed and healed his wounds. “Aurors…they showed up out of nowhere…and they…they attacked everyone…”
Seeing that it was almost impossible to heal the wounds properly with Lupin being conscious, Sirius sent Kreacher to fetch them some calming draughts and healing potions. Two hours later the two of them were awfully tired but proud of themselves that they managed to heal Remus as much as possible; now it was only a matter of getting enough rest.
“I don’t understand it, Sirius,” started Tonks. “Why would anyone attack them if they were acting civilized? And why attack Remus?”
“Well…we know that not every werewolf is aggressive and evil, especially with the Wolfsbane potion, but there are many witches and wizards who prefer them to be dead anyway,” Sirius contemplated for a moment if he should continue the subject or not, but in the end he thought it was the only opportunity he had. “You know that even though Albus was always accepting of Remus, he and the Order didn’t take an official stand towards werewolves. Dumbledore wants to kill Voldemort and make the wizarding world a better place to live, but…we never discussed the details of that…and I’ve definitely haven’t heard anything about there being a place for werewolves in that new, rearranged world.”
Tonks didn’t say anything, but Sirius could tell that he did cause her to doubt Dumbledore’s goals and views. The wizard smiled to himself realising it; everything was going according to the plan – he was going to get as many of Albus’ followers to doubt him that they will all willingly turn against the headmaster.
Draco slipped into the enormously big bathtub in the Prefects’ bathroom and enjoyed the warmth of the water and pleasant scent of the bubbles. To say he was tired after having secret training sessions with his housemates almost every day, was an understatement, but it cheered him up to see everyone was getting better and more confident with duelling and other spells; after all, it all served to protect Orion and their family in the future.
“Naked? Really Draco?” asked a shocked but slightly amused voice coming from the entrance.
“It’s a bathroom, what did you expect?” laughed the blond when the other teen took off the Invisibility Cloak and hesitantly moved a bit closer, but not too close. Draco couldn’t help but notice how adorable was Orion’s embarrassed face whenever he tried to look away from the bathtub, even though the bubbles covered all Draco’s private parts. “As far as I remember, it was your idea to meet up here.”
“I guess you’re right,” sighed Orion and by the bathtub, but in a safe distance to allow the other boy enough privacy.
“Weasley and Granger allowed you to get out of the dormitory?” asked Draco, still laughing a bit at the innocence of his cousin. “I’ve thought they will keep even closer eye on you now, especially before the ritual.”
“Well…they aren’t very happy about the ritual. I’m getting the feeling no one is apart from me and my dad…”
“I’m happy,” interrupted him Draco swimming closer to where Orion was sitting and leaning a bit over the edge of the bathtub. To be honest, he was thrilled to see his cousin in his real body; he was smirking whenever he thought about the reactions the entire school would have when they see Orion Black. He himself was dreaming of that handsome teen every night since he first saw him in Paris.
“You don’t like me now?” teased him the black haired teen.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Of course I like you no matter how you look, but I’m happy for you that you will regain your real looks,” explained the blond and went back to his bath and cleaning routine. “I just think it’s good that your look will not allow them to keep calling you Harry Potter…it’s about time they stopped thinking of you as their Saviour and pushing their expectations on you.”
The black haired teen suddenly became really serious and seemed to be deep in thoughts. He didn’t even realise Draco was closely observing him with concern.
“What’s wrong? Did someone bother you?” the blond asked out of the blue and put his hand on Orion’s shoulder to catch his attention.
Young Black got out of his thoughts immediately and stared at his cousin dumbstruck. At first he was surprised to be dragged out of his daydreaming, but then his mind focused on the sight before him. Watching Draco’s features getting more and more mature with every week, he couldn’t help but notice his bare torso wonderfully shaped by all the training sessions; his arms that seemed to have gained more muscles; wet blond hair were causally combed to the back and almost reaching his shoulders. All in all, Orion had to admit his cousin was becoming really handsome and it scared him. He didn’t want to think of the time when Draco would really start showing more interest in girls and chose them over him. He thought it ridiculous, but now that he had a friend and cousin in the blond, he wanted to enjoy spending lots of time together; he just didn’t feel like sharing him with others.
“Hey! Orion! Are you alright?” asked Draco again.
“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts,” brushed it off the other teen. “It’s just that everyone seems very surprised…offended even by the thought that I want something else than I originally wanted.”
“Such as? Are they still bothering you about the ritual?”
“No, they already know nothing is going to make me change my mind about that,” smiled Orion. “Now that everything has settled down a bit, I finally started thinking about my future…my OWLs, NEWTs and future job. Everyone thought I’m going to be an auror…but now after everything with Sirius, Ministry etc. …I don’t think I want to chase dark wizards. Especially that I don’t think every dark magic is really that bad.”
“Now that’s a change. Who would have thought?” snickered Draco teasing his cousin. He knew already that Orion’s view of the world has changed drastically due to the recent events, but he liked to tease him about it.
“Shut up,” the black haired teen laughed and splashed some water getting Draco’s hair and face all wet again. “I’m serious about this. I honestly don’t know what to do in the future. I had a meeting with professor McGonagall, but all the job folders she showed me are not good for me. I don’t feel like working in the Ministry or St Mungo’s. I definitely don’t see myself teaching in Hogwarts. I kind of think the Curse Breaker career is interesting, but I don’t want to work for the goblins. Theoretically the Black vaults are full and I don’t have to work, but I want to contribute to the family fortune too. The only other option I see is opening a shop, but then comes the question what am I going to sell in that shop.”
“You definitely seem to have given it more thought than I did,” smiled kindly Draco and leaned over the edge of the bathtub again. “The way I see it you don’t have to focus on the already set job offers available. As heir of the Blacks you’re in a good position for start after school graduation. You can use all your skills and interests and start a completely new thing…a career that no one has even thought of before. You have enough money to invest in anything you feel like. For example my mother…she doesn’t have a regular job, but she finds people connected with her interests and hobbies and invests in them. She gains from their job and that’s a profit for our family. You could do the same until you decide what job you want to do yourself.”
“Are you sure I could do that?” asked Orion not completely convinced, but with a tiny bit of hope in his voice. After all that was giving him some alternative for the time being.
“I have invested some of my money in a group of witches and wizards travelling around the world and collecting rare potions’ ingredients,” explained the blond. “Now we’re selling some of those ingredients at the Malfoy Apothecary and it does bring us quite a bit of profit.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Orion thought aloud. “I might do that…hopefully until we graduate, I’ll have some idea of what I want to do in the future.”
“First think of those branches of magic that really interest you and things that are important for you in life. Maybe something that annoys you in the wizarding world and you’d like to change it,” continued Draco. “Just preferably some innovative idea that doesn’t come in conflict with the Dark Lord’s vision of the world.”
The black haired teen got deep in his thoughts again, thinking about Draco’s words. There was something that annoyed him in the wizarding world and he actually knew how to fix it. He just had to do some planning to figure out all the details. And just like Draco suggested, he had to make sure it didn’t stand in conflict with Voldemort’s plans.
“Seems like you already have something in mind,” noted the blond with a smirk.
“Indeed,” Orion smiled at him, but his smile vanished only seconds later when he suddenly felt someone’s magic trying to force itself inside his mind. He immediately set up his Occlumency shields and glared at his cousin, who was now looking at him apologetically. “Draco Malfoy! Don’t you dare try entering my mind without my permission!”
“I was just checking how well your Occlumency lessons are going,” smiled sheepishly the blond. Not getting any reaction from the other teen, Draco simply got out of the bath and summoned a towel to dry himself up.
Orion was still a bit mad at his cousin and refused to look his way, but when he finally did turn his way he saw Draco’s nicely shaped muscles. He could clearly see water running down his body over the pale, flawless skin. Young Black couldn’t stop himself from staring at his cousin and that caused a flush of embarrassment. Good thing for him that Draco was standing with his back to him and couldn’t see the deep red shade Orion’s face was at the moment.
“Do you really have to do such things!?” yelled at him Orion, not sure if he was more angry at himself or at his cousin. “I really don’t want to see you the way nature created you!”
Malfoy smirked to himself hearing the embarrassment in the black haired teen’s voice. He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and looked at his cousin with a smile, “But I definitely want to see you the way nature created you.”
Orion’s lips were moving on their own, opening and closing, but no words came out. He couldn’t decide what to say to Draco’s words; they were so ambiguous he just didn’t know what to do.
“That’s why I’m going to be there when you leave for the ritual at St Mungo’s,” the blond smirked seeing the mix of relief but also disappointment showing on the other teen’s face. He simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him even more. “What else did you think I had in mind?”
“…N-nothing…It’s just…nothing,” Orion sighed resigned not sure what he was really thinking; he was embarrassed that he even thought for a moment that Draco was feeling about him the way his fathers felt about each other.
Molly Weasley was almost falling asleep seating in an armchair in the Burrow. She had an awfully long day; not to mention she had to spend the entire evening with Fleur Delacour, whom she disliked greatly. Mrs Weasley wanted nothing more right now than for her husband and son to come back from their secret mission for the Order.
It was almost three in the morning when someone’s hand, placed gently on her shoulder, woke her up. Molly blinked a few times to make the sleep go away. Before her stood her husband smiling to her lovingly. She barely spotted her eldest son quietly heading towards his room, where Fleur was waiting for him; she only shook her head resigned seeing how attracted Bill was to the young witch.
“What’s bothering you, dear?” asked concerned Arthur Weasley sitting next to his wife. He was tired himself after the long day and the pointless mission at the Department of Mysteries, but he found enough energy to chat a bit with Molly. Mr Weasley noticed the annoyed look the witch sent in the direction of Bill’s room and he understood immediately what was going on. “Come on, Molly, I’m sure you and Fleur can get on good terms. I know she’s not exactly your perfect daughter-in-law, but you have to remember that she’s in a foreign country, with completely new life, new job, new people…it will take time for her to adjust. One thing you have to admit about her is that she really loves Bill.”
“…alright, I admit,” mumbled Mrs Weasley still not entirely convinced about her potential future daughter-in-law. Seeing her husband’s smile, she sighed heavily and said, “Fleur is not the real reason of my bad mood.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“Our family was always happy and strong because we were together and supported one another…but lately I’ve been having the feeling we are all drifting apart. You work long hours at the Ministry and then those late night secret missions for the Order; Bill is either in Egypt or France, and even if he’s here he’s hardly ever home because of the same secret missions you do; Charlie went back to Romania and doesn’t answer Albus’ requests for help in the upcoming war…now Charlie hardly ever answers even my letters; Percy seems to have completely cut his ties with us; Fred and George seem completely occupied with their plans for their future shop; Ron and Ginny also hardly ever write to us now, especially with everything happening with Harry,” Molly sighed heavily again. “I’m just worried, Arthur…the war with Voldemort and Death Eaters is coming again and we’re drifting apart.”
“I understand your concerns, but trust me…our children know what’s the strength of our family and when the time comes they will be here all,” ensured her Mr Weasley.
“But why can’t they be here now? I understand Ron, Ginny, Fred and George…but I don’t understand Percy…and now even Charlie refuses to help in the fight against Voldemort.”
“I don’t think Charlie doesn’t want to help fighting in the war…but I’m almost certain he doesn’t want to go along Albus’ plans.”
“That’d the problem! Why doesn’t he want to help the Order? He can’t fight Voldemort alone…no one can!”
“Molly, we shouldn’t think badly about Charlie and his decisions,” Arthur started reasoning. “I’m following Dumbledore’s plan because at the moment I truly think he’s the only wizard that can stand against Voldemort, but to be honest…some of the ideas he suggests are far from what I feel comfortable doing. Look at Harry…making him live with those awful Muggles, who in the end turned out not being related to him. What about Sirius? If he stayed obediently at Grimmauld Place, he’d be still a wanted criminal and now he’s a free wizard. Not to mention this last idea about guarding the prophecy at the Department of Mysteries…Molly, we’ve been guarding that prophecy for the last two months and not even once did Voldemort or his followers show up there.”
“I don’t like some of Albus’ methods either, but what other option do we have?”
“That’s the point, dear…we don’t have any alternative, that’s why I decided to trust Albus’ better judgement, but I see how Charlie or Sirius can disagree with the old man,” commented Mr Weasley letting out a heavy sigh and hugging his wife reassuringly. “Everything is going to turn out fine, love.”
Voldemort concealed himself with an invisibility spell and observed one of the duelling sessions in his castle. By now, most of his Death Eaters got used to those unusual trainings and, to the Dark Lord’s satisfaction, most of his supporters were getting really good at duels.
Most of the times he left the coordination of the trainings to his most trusted Death Eaters and Regulus, but today he felt the need to check on the progress. He didn’t want to distract his followers, especially the young ones, so he waited patiently in the corner of the great hall. Today’s training was especially interesting, because they were practicing their Patronus charms. Tom laughed inwardly seeing indignant looks on some of the Death Eaters’ faces when they heard about this particular charm. It was no secret that Patronus was an exceptionally powerful light magic spell, but Voldemort believed it was necessary for his supporters to know how to use it. Even if they never use it in their private lives, it would benefit them to know how to cast this spell in case the Ministry ever tried to publicly accuse them of practicing only dark magic.
“This is ridiculous! We’re dark wizards, we’re powerful, we don’t need the stupid light magic spells!” shouted infuriated young wizard unable to form a corporeal Patronus.
Everyone in the room stopped their practice and looked in the young man’s way. Some of them seemed to agree with such opinion, but Voldemort knew his followers had to learn this particular spell and wouldn’t go easy on anyone who disobeyed his order to learn it. The Dark Lord glanced at his most skilled and loyal Death Eaters who fought alongside him during last war and he saw disapproving looks on their faces; they knew questioning Voldemort’s orders was plain stupid; while others knew genuinely agreed with the decision to learn the Patronus Charm.
Seeing he had to interfere Voldemort got rid of the invisibility charm and stepped closer to the rebellious young wizard. He stood there, behind his back, wearing his terrifying snake-like glamour and waited for the man to turn around and look at him. The younger wizard was barely an adult and fright was clearly visible in his eyes when he realised who was standing next to him.
“You’re powerful you say, eh?” asked Voldemort in his hissing voice and smirked viciously. “Let’s see then.”
The Dark Lord touched the man’s forehead with his index finger and created an illusion based on what he saw earlier in the wizard’s mind. Everyone in the room could see it, but the young man thought he was not in the training chamber anymore – he thought he was in a completely different room; in the centre stood his parents and younger siblings; moments later the room was filled with dementors attacking his family. He pointed his wand at them and tried to defeat them with all known dark spells, but they didn’t have any effect on dementors. He started to panic and scream helplessly watching his family members being killed one by one by the grim Azkaban guards. When the last of his siblings fell to the ground lifeless, he tried using the Patronus Charm, but he couldn’t do it. Dementors finally noticed his presence and attacked him and yet he still couldn’t do anything to protect himself. Suddenly he felt weak and fell on his knees, helplessly crying watching the dead bodies of his family. Immediately the creepy Azkaban creatures vanished and the young man noticed he was still in the training chamber surrounded by Death Eaters.
“Didn’t you want to save your family?” Voldemort hissed dangerously to the young man, who was still kneeling on the ground with helpless expression. “You may be a dark wizard and hate others, but everyone has something they want to protect…even if its themselves.”
Severus and Lucius, who were standing not far from the Dark Lord, only smirked hearing those words; they knew perfectly well what Voldemort meant – in Hogwarts they were thinking just like this young wizard, but then both of them got married and had children and their priorities have changed. The potions master was asking himself amused, how other Death Eaters would react if they found out that Lord Voldemort was actually a loving husband and part of the Black family. His musings were interrupted when he spotted Nagini slithering fast towards the Dark Lord. For a moment the snake was hissing something to her master and the dark wizard answered her in Parseltongue; Severus didn’t understand a thing from the reptile language, but he had a bad feeling; something was wrong and he knew it, it was obvious by the Dark Lord’s actions.
“Severus, Lucius,” the dark wizard said a short command and glared their way. “You’re going to assist me…now!”
The two men obediently followed the older wizard out of the training chamber. Voldemort guided them to the private part of the castle; a place none of them ever entered before because it was heavily warded, but at this moment the Dark Lord didn’t seem to worry about it.
“Do you know what could have happened?” Lucius whispered to his friend. He was a bit uneasy, especially because of the older wizard’s odd behaviour.
“No…but that mysterious Death Eater, who is always there during trainings,…he wasn’t there today,” suddenly realisation struck the potions master – if Regulus wasn’t there and Voldemort was obviously leading them to the private chambers then something must have happened to young Black.
Before anyone could say anything, the three of them walked into what looked like a very solid wall, but surprisingly it was just an illusion. They walked through the illusionary wall and now they headed down the corridor towards large wooden doors at the end of the hall. The Dark Lord was slightly faster than them and entered the chamber looking around nervously.
Malfoy had no idea what to expect in the room, but the moment he walked inside he spotted the most feared dark wizard kneeling on the floor by someone’s body. He immediately recognized the Death Eater mentioned before by Severus. Lucius stood dumbstruck, not sure how to react to the scene before him – this was the first time he saw Voldemort show this much concern about someone; he was also asking himself why this Death Eater was in the private quarters of the Dark Lord.
“I didn’t bring you two here to stand there and stare,” hissed dangerously the older wizard, lifted the unconscious man from the floor and gently placed him on the large double bed.
“My Lord, I need to take his mask off and examine him,” informed him quickly Severus, who suddenly felt equally concerned about his brother-in-law; he knew that Sirius would kill him if anything bad happened to his younger brother. Seeing that Voldemort was honestly nervous and worried about his husband, the potions master said to his friend, “Lucius, I will need your help. Bring me box with standard healing potions.”
Without a word Malfoy went to the cupboard pointed out by the Dark Lord, to check for the needed potions. He completely didn’t understand the situation, but he didn’t want to disappoint Voldemort again. The moment he walked over to the bed with the potions he froze seeing the unconscious wizard without a mask. “Regulus?...He was here all the time? What’s wrong with him?”
“Nagini said he was about to go to the training session when he lost consciousness and fell on the floor,” explained Voldemort. “He’s been feeling not too well for a few days now. What’s wrong with him, Severus?”
The potions master didn’t say much, but silently worked with different potions and spells. He had a pretty good idea of what caused Regulus to lose consciousness, but he wanted to make sure before he got the Dark Lord’s hopes up or shock Lucius to death. Thankfully by the end of his examination the younger wizard opened his eyes and tried to understand where he was and what happened.
“Regulus,” was all Voldemort managed to say. He dropped his terrifying snake-like glamour and kneeled by his husband’s side. “You’ve scared me to death…don’t ever do that.”
“Seems like you’ve allowed more family members in,” Regulus smirked seeing Lucius’ stupor. It might have been the first time anyone apart from young Black saw the Dark Lord in his real body and acting affectionate.
“You really gave us all a fright,” said Severus moving away from the bed and allowing the couple more space. “You drank the potion I’ve brewed, am I right?”
“What potion?” asked Lucius feeling a bit baffled. Seeing knowing expressions on other men’s faces Malfoy quickly understood what they were implying. “Regulus drank THAT potion?”
“My Lord,…Regulus,” started Severus with a genuine smile gracing his face. “Congratulations. It’s a very early stage, but Regulus is, with no doubt, pregnant.”
Draco was marching fast through the corridors. His Malfoy-upbringing forbid him to run, but he knew it was already very late. He was on his way to the Great Hall to wish good luck to his cousin before he went to St. Mungo’s, but he was stopped by a group of first year Slytherins who were having problems with Peeves.
“Draco! What took you so long? Dinner is almost over, you barely made it,” asked Pansy as soon as he walked over to Slytherin table.
“I was stopped by first year Snakes,” Draco answered shortly, but he was obviously not interested in food or his housemates; he stood there and scanned the entire Great Hall, looking for someone. “Did you see Orion?”
Pansy only managed to roll her eyes annoyed by the mention of the Gryffindor, when they were interrupted by arrival of a group of Gryffindors.
“You’re not a very good friend, Malfoy. Harry is leaving for a very dangerous ritual at St. Mungo’s and you’re not even there to see him off,” commented viciously Ron. He, his siblings and the rest of Gryffindor’s from their year stood there proud that they managed to be there for Harry and Malfoy wasn’t.
Draco felt a tinge of pain realising that they were right – he promised Orion he’d be there for him today, but he was too late. However, he wouldn’t let it show that their words hurt him. “Well then good for me that family members are allowed to visit Orion in St. Mungo’s.”
For a moment there was silence and only Slytherins were smirking seeing confusion on Weasleys’ faces.
“What are you talking about, Malfoy? You’re not Harry’s family,” protested Ron.
“Actually…he’s right, Ron,” said Neville hesitantly. He received confused looks from his housemates, but continued his explanation. “Well, Mrs Malfoy was Narcissa Black before marriage and Sirius Black’s cousin…so if Harry…I mean Orion’s dad is Sirius Black then it makes Orion and Malfoy second cousins.”
Hearing Neville’s words Draco only smirked and said, “What a disgrace for a pureblood not to know anything about other old families, Weasley. At least Longbottom is making progress.”
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Meddling with Darkness