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Practice to Deceive	By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 12424 -:- 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
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Disclaimer: Any characters & situations you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling. Any characters you don�t recognize belong to me. You can borrow them, but email me first and check on the characters.

Author�s Note: This story is AU after book 5. It contains NO REFERENCES to book 6 or 7 in any way, shape or form.

CHAPTER 19: CHRISTMAS

Christmas morning was gloomy and bitingly cold. Even the magically heated parlor had a nip in the air. Everyone gathered near the fire to open presents.

Following normal Christmas tradition, the children swarmed over the presents under the tree, sorting them and piling them until everyone�s presents were in front of them.

Two of the presents handed to Voldemort were messily wrapped and labeled in barely readable printing that wriggled when the package was picked up. The Dark Lord smiled a bit as he opened the first one of them.

When the wrapping paper opened, Heather�s childish voice said �Happy Christmas, Grandpa!� and then started singing �We Wish You a Merry Christmas�, off-key.

Voldemort smiled at Heather as he set the makeshift card and its wrapping aside.

�That was very thoughtful of you, my dear,� he said. �Thank you very much.�

Heather beamed under his praise, and then turned her eyes to where Bellatrix had picked up a similar package.

Bellatrix turned the package over, and she smiled a bit when she saw the lettering writhe. The madness in her eyes receded just a bit more as she opened the package and received a similar message. Her card sang the same song, punctuated by squeals of excitement from Sarah, who had apparently been present when the recording was made.

Bellatrix smiled at Heather and thanked her, and then picked Sarah up from a nest of blankets near the Christmas tree and cuddled her, speaking to her so softly that no one could understand what she was saying.

Sarah understood her, though. Her little mouth gaped into a toothless grin, and one tiny hand reached up and touched one of Bellatrix�s cheeks. The witch looked over at her husband, a genuine smile revealing the kind of beauty she must have possessed when she was younger.

The adults opened the rest of their presents quietly while the children tore through mounds of wrapping paper and shouted or squealed in delight when they found what was hidden.

Halfway thorough the unwrapping, Lilith suddenly sat up straight, dropping her tea on the rug. Moments later, Astrid set her own tea aside, and stood up.

�Bella,� she said quietly. �Please take the children into the gallery and the house elves will help you get them into the nursery, upstairs. Father, please be prepared to get Bella and the children to your sanctuary, if something should go wrong.�

�I would rather stay to assist you,� Voldemort said. �You are carrying my grandchildren, as is your sister.�

�Father, we cannot risk all of us being killed, and we cannot risk you being involved, identified, and possibly taken by Aurors or, worse, Dumbledore�s people.�

�Very well,� he said. �I yield to your logic. I will, however, take what steps are necessary if I lose you.�

�I won�t begrudge you that, Father,� Astrid said. �I�ve formally adopted the children, as has Lilith. If something happens to us, they can claim the lands. Make sure that they know the truth, not Dumbledore�s truth.�

�You may depend on it,� Voldemort said. He turned and picked up Heather and followed Bellatrix out of the parlor, headed for the gallery.

Astrid followed her sister to the front door of the house in time to hear a thud, some soft conversation, and then footsteps to the door.

A knock on the door made them both jump, their nerves frayed to their limit. They looked back at their husbands, arrayed in supportive positions behind them, and smiled sheepishly.

Smiling, Max brushed past both of them and pulled the door open.

Padma and Parvati Patil stood on the porch, in their nightwear, with brooms in their hands. Behind them was Cho Chang, still straddling her broom, and holding two young children on the broom in front of her. All of them had reddened eyes and tear-streaked faces. In addition, they all looked like they were nearly hypothermic.

�Professor Malfoie,� Cho said from where she was. �We need help.�

Astrid quickly brushed past Max and pulled the Patil twins into the house. She pushed them at Alfred, and then approached Cho.

�Let me help you with them,� she said. �Let�s get you inside, with something hot to drink, and you can tell us what happened.�

The young boy sitting in front of Cho looked up at Astrid with wide brown eyes, and then turned his eyes to where Severus stood in the doorway.

�Are you P�fessor Snape?� he asked timidly.

�I am,� Severus said, his black eyes scanning around for signs of what had brought three Hogwarts students to Castlemoor Manor without their parents.

�Then we�re safe,� he said simplistically. He carefully let go of the broom handle and held his arms up to Astrid. She bent over a bit and pulled him off of the broomstick and into her arms. Max came up next to her and pulled the other child, a few years older, off of the broom as well.

�Come in, Miss Chang,� he said. �I will admit to more than a little curiosity as to why you came here, instead of going to Hogwarts.�

�Is Harry here?� she asked, dismounting the broom and following him into the foyer of the manor.

�Yes,� Max said. �He�s in the parlor.� He waited while she handed her broom to a house elf and followed him to where Harry and his future spouses sat around the tree.

�Cho!� Harry cried, jumping to his feet. He looked at the girl that Max put on the couch, and the younger boy that Astrid put next to her, and then looked back at his schoolmate.

�What�s going on?� he asked.

Now in a safe environment, Cho�s face twisted up, and then she burst into tears and crumbled to her knees in the middle of the parlor.

Astrid turned to ask Severus for a calming potion, to find him waiting with it. She smiled her thanks and knelt next to the sobbing girl.

�I hate to do this,� she said. �You need to drink this, or we�ll never get the story out of you.�

Without hesitation, Cho took the phial from Astrid and downed the potion. Within moments, her sobs had ceased and her tears had stopped flowing. She looked doubtfully at Astrid, and then turned her attention to Harry.

�We were attacked this morning, Harry,� she said. �We were just getting up and went to get the presents from under the tree. Someone blew the door down, and people came running in, cursing everyone that moved. My mum put my broom in my hand and told me to get my brother and sister out of there. When we were flying out of the house, I saw a green flash behind me. I know what it means. It means that my mum is probably dead. The people that attacked us were wearing Death Eater robes and masks. I saw several of them when I flew away.

�I saw something else, Harry,� she said, tears welling up in her eyes again. �I saw something under one of the Death Eater robes. I saw Professor Moody�s fake foot.�

The calming draught she had taken did not allow for hysterics, but the tears spilled down her cheeks in an unending cascade. The betrayal she felt at seeing what she knew was a supporter of Dumbledore was causing more distress than the calming draught could handle.

�Do you think we should tell her everything?� Harry asked as Hermione and Ginny moved forward to wrap their arms around the crying witch.

�I think she might be ready,� Astrid said. �I�m not changing my orders, though. I want the house elves to move the presents into the playroom upstairs, and all of the children to go up there.� She looked around, and then snapped her fingers.

�Jewel!� she called out.

A house elf with a neat tea towel toga appeared in response to her summons.

�Yes Mistress Astrid,� she said. �What is Jewel doing for Mistress?�

�You and the other house elves are to take the children�s presents to the playroom,� Astrid said. �Tell my �aunt� that I want her to take the children up to the playroom and stay with them. She is our last line of defense. Please tell Father I would like him to make sure that her husband and his brother assist her. Then please tell Father that I would like his presence here, in the parlor.�

She turned to the Patil twins, who were being tended by Lilith. They were less hysterical than Cho, but that was partly due to emotional shock.

Finally, Lilith turned towards the others in the room.

�They heard a voice they recognized, coming from behind a Death Eater mask,� she told them. �They want to talk to Harry, and then they want to know what to do.�

�Father is coming in,� Astrid said. �What voice did they recognize?�

�An Auror,� Lilith replied. �Kingsley Shacklebolt.�

�So Dumbledore seeks to make me more the villain,� a voice from the doorway said. The Patil twins and Cho all three turned to face the speaker, gasped in shock and fear, and then drew their wands.

�Please tell them of the pact we made, three months ago, Harry,� Voldemort said. �I don�t want them to worry about their safety around me and my followers.�

�He�s right,� Harry said. �Cho, Parvati, Padma, I made a pact with Voldemort at Halloween. Dumbledore�s been lying to everyone, including me, for a long time. I told Voldemort if he kept away from everyone that went to Hogwarts during my school years, I wouldn�t fight him in the final battle.�

�But Harry,� Cho said. �He�s going to destroy everything. How could you promise that?� Her Ravenclaw mind was working around the calming draught.

�He�s not what Dumbledore says,� Harry said. �You could ask Professor Tyler, there. She�s his daughter.�

�Daughter?� Parvati and Padma Patil said in unison, staring at Astrid. �Does Dumbledore know?�

�Yes, he does,� Astrid said. �Keep in mind that this is the same Dumbledore that sent Auror Shacklebolt to attack your family, and sent Ex-Auror Moody to attack Miss Chang. This is the same Dumbledore that decided to take Harry and his mother from Harry�s father and give them to his father�s worst enemy.�

The both turned to stare at Harry, who solemnly nodded.

�This is also the same Dumbledore that used the Kinship Curse to destroy Grindlewald,� Astrid said. �He put a sixteen year-old girl in front of a dark wizard, and allowed her to be killed, so he could take the credit.�

�What do we do, now?� Cho asked, looking from Voldemort to Harry, and from Astrid to Snape.

�That depends, my dear,� Voldemort said, coming into the parlor and sitting down. �What do you want to do?�

The conversation was interrupted by frantic pounding on the front door.

Snape kept Astrid where she was with a hand on her shoulder while Max and Alfred went to answer the door.

They came back in followed by Blaize Zabini, Justin Finch-Fletchley and a woman that resembled him carrying a baby, and an older boy accompanied by a woman who resembled him. Blaize immediately crossed the room to Cho and put his arms around her protectively.

�It looks like someone is working overtime,� Alfred said drily. He watched while the Hogwarts students and their companions drew their wands in response to the presence of the most feared wizard in the world, sitting calmly on a sofa next to a five year-old boy.

�Please come in and sit down,� he said. �It seems that my name, and those of my followers, is being unfairly maligned. I give you my word that none of you is in any danger.�

�Perhaps you�d like a cup of tea,� Astrid said. She summoned a house elf and sat down to pour a cup and hold it out to one of the older women.

Her confusion clear on her face, the second woman came forward and took the cup from Astrid�s hand. She did not lower her wand, but she looked at Harry.

�You must be Harry,� she said. �Oliver�s told me a great deal about you. I never expected to see you and the Dark Lord in the same room, voluntarily. Will someone tell me what is going on?�

�This is Oliver Wood,� Harry said. �This lady must be his mother, Moira.�

�What is happening is simple, dear lady,� Voldemort said. �Dumbledore is trying to give Harry more of a reason to hate me, by pretending that I am attacking his friends.�

�Well, he�s doin� a good job,� Oliver said, sitting down next to his mother. �What are we gonna do about this, Harry?�

�We�re going to let him think he�s won,� Harry said. �Astrid, I know you invited your father for Christmas dinner, but I think that we need to keep up appearances. I think you need to contact Dumbledore and tell him that Death Eaters are attacking my friends. I�m sure that these aren�t the only friends of mine that he�s attacked.�

�Are you sure that it�s not Death Eaters, Harry?� Oliver asked.

�I saw Professor Moody�s foot under a robe,� Cho said. She had collected her scattered wits and now she sat down on the sofa near Voldemort. Blaize sat down next to her.

�Well, I guess that answers that,� Oliver said. �So what are we going to do?�

�After Dumbledore sees you, traumatized and everything,� Harry said. �We�ll find a safe place for you to go.�

�That�s fine for my mum,� Oliver said. �I have Quidditch practice for Scotland. I�m glad that I didn�t take Dumbledore up on his offer.�

�What offer?� Harry asked.

�To join the Order of the Phoenix,� Oliver said. �My mum didn�t want me mixed up in this war. Now it looks like we�re in it whether we want to be or not.�

�What do you want to do, Oliver?� Harry asked.

�I just wanted to live my life,� Oliver said. �Now it looks like I�m going to have to fight this war while I play Quidditch.�

�You are not ze only one,� Viktor said. �I, also, must both fight ze war and play.� He pulled up the sleeve of his robe to show his Dark Mark.

�What happens now?� Oliver asked. �I�ve flown with my arms uncovered. I can�t take a Mark.�

�I have a solution for that,� Astrid said. �There is another organization that Dumbledore is unaware of. No one knows the mark that this organization uses, and it would not be noteworthy without prior knowledge.�

�What is that?� Oliver�s mother asked.

�The Serpent�s Tooth,� Astrid said. �I have learned things about Dumbledore that are terrifying. I am determined to stop him, at all costs. My father has changed his plans in accord with some other information he received. The Serpent�s Tooth will support the Death Eaters, undermine the Order of the Phoenix, and do what we can do to stop Dumbledore.�

�All right,� Oliver said, standing up and walking over to stand in front of her. �What do I do?�

�Kneel,� Astrid said, drawing her wand. �Raise your wand.�

Oliver did as she told him, his eyes never leaving her face.

�Now give me your Oath that you will be my vassal,� she said. �The first move must be yours, for the Oath to take form.� She lowered her wand so that the tips of the two touched.

�Alright,� Oliver said. �I, Oliver Wood, give you my Oath as a Wizard. I will obey you as my liege lady in all things. I will not hesitate to obey any instruction you give me, without reservation. I will give you my support with all of my strength, laying down my life if necessary. May my magic desert me, never to return, if I fail to fulfill this Oath.�

The same glow surrounded them both that had begun when Sirius had spoken his Oath.

�I, Astrid Evans Tyler of the House of Slytherin give you my Oath as a witch,� she said, smiling down at him. �I accept you as my vassal. I will never ask of you anything that I will not do myself. I will care for you and yours as though they were my own. I will avenge wrongs done to you as if done to myself. I will provide for you and make sure that you want for nothing, no matter the outcome of our cause. May I meet the fate I intend for my enemies, if I fail in this Oath.�

She moved their wands to Oliver�s chest and touched them to a place near his shoulder. He hissed as they touched, and the glow seemed to be sucked into his flesh. He looked up at Astrid, and when she nodded, he rose to his feet and went back to join his mother.

�What about us?� Parvati Patil asked. �Can we join, too? Dumbledore�s killed everyone in our family. We can�t go back there.�

�You have to go back there,� Astrid said. �I will take steps to protect you, but you may not take a Vassal�s Oath until you are of age. That won�t be for a while. You can support from the sidelines, but I will not make this the Children�s War.�

�We aren�t children,� Padma protested. �Why can�t we be part of this?�

�Legally you are still children,� Astrid said. �I don�t think you are incapable, but it would be irresponsible to involve you directly. There are other things you can do that will help, and when the final time comes, I promise you a chance to fight.�

�What about in the meantime?� Parvati asked. �We can�t just wait.�

�You can train,� Astrid said. �You can learn all the combative magics and potions that you can. I�ll have Professor Snape and Professor Malfoie assign the right material. You apply yourselves to be the best fighting witches you can. You have seen what we can do. It takes aptitude, studying, and practice.�

�We could revive the DA,� Harry said unexpectedly. �We could train fighters, but just train one group different from another group.�

�That�s a sound idea, Harry,� Astrid said. �The old man will think that you�re being a good boy and preparing for your �destiny�.�

�I�m in too,� Cho said. �I want you to protect my brother and sister, though.�

�No problem,� Astrid said. �Let me get a few things, and we�ll get things going.� She left the room quickly, before anyone could find out what she had in mind.

When Astrid returned, Justin�s mother was holding a cup of tea in both hands, and Lilith was cradling the baby, looking down at it.

Without saying anything, Astrid tossed bracelets into the laps of all of the Hogwarts students, and sat down to fasten one around the wrist of the boy that she had carried in.

�What�s this?� Harry asked, lifting the bracelet and turning it over in his hands.

�Membership badge in the underage branch of the Serpent�s Tooth,� Astrid said. �The bracelet is made of two enlarged snake�s fangs and stone beads. It has a location spell, so I can always find the wearer; a welfare spell so that I can find out whether you are hurt or frightened; and a portkey spell. If you feel that you are in terrible danger, you touch the bracelet and say �sanctuary�, and it will transport you to Father�s latest headquarters. If you get knocked out or wounded, it will transport you automatically.�

�The bracelets for the younger children are a bit more complicated,� Astrid went on. �It has the same location and welfare spells, but I had to do something else with the portkey spell. It has a proximity spell attached to it. I crossed the proximity spell with a variant of legilimens. If someone of ill intent comes within ten feet, or if a spell is fired at them, they will be portkeyed to safety.�

�Congratulations,� Voldemort said. �How are you going to explain the bracelets?�

�That�s why I gave all the kids one,� Astrid said. �I can say that I wanted to give our unexpected guests a Christmas gift, and I threw these together.�

�And we loved them, and wanted ones of our own,� Ginny supplied, fastening hers around her wrist.

�Father,� Lilith said. �Please go upstairs with Bella and the others. We need to contact Dumbledore. He�ll wonder why we haven�t.�

�Of course,� Voldemort said. �Shall I send your children down?�

�No,� Astrid said. �We can tell Dumbledore, truthfully, that we sent the children to the nursery with the house elves for security.�

Lilith waited until Voldemort left before she went to the fireplace and threw a handful of floo powder into it.

�Hogwarts Headmasters office,� Lilith said while she mussed her robes a bit. When the flames turned green, she bent over and put her head into the fire.

Moments later, she pulled back and stepped away to allow Dumbledore and McGonagall to enter the room, followed by Amelia Bones.

�Madam Bones was just informing me of the numerous Death Eater attacks early this morning,� Dumbledore said.

Lilith gestured for them to sit down, and Astrid moved to pour cups of tea for the new arrivals.

�I recognized everyone but this young man,� Astrid said, gesturing to Oliver and his Mother. �I would hazard to guess that the Aurors found no survivors when they reached the sites of the attack.�

�None,� Amelia said. �I don�t know what we�re going to do about these children. The Creevy brothers flew to the castle. They have no other family, except a maiden aunt that lives somewhere in France.�

�Lilith will take them,� Harry said. Everyone turned to look at him.

�Harry�s right,� Lilith said. �If you would be so kind, Madam Bones, I will take responsibility for them. I don�t believe that Wizarding children should be raised by Muggles. I will foster the children that have been orphaned by Voldemort�s actions today. Please have the Ministry send me the necessary paperwork.�

�That�s very generous of you, Lady Castlemoor,� the other woman said. �I was at the celebration of your Pact, and I saw the alliance you made with the Lady of Darkshire. It�s amazing to think that the feud that has lasted nearly a thousand years is over. I�ll have the proper papers sent over.�

�Thank you,� Lilith said. �I�ll get rooms for them, and we�ll do what we can to get them settled.�

�Where are your other children?� Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.

�When the others started to arrive,� Lilith said. �We sent them up to the nursery, with the house elves. The elves have instructions to take them to Hogwarts through the nursery floo if something happens.�

�I didn�t know your nursery was hooked up to the floo,� Minerva said, sipping at her tea. �Is that safe?�

�It�s a one-way floo,� Lilith explained. �You can�t come into it, only go out.�

Astrid saw the grimace on Minerva�s face and picked up a bottle of brandy from a side table. She sat down next to the older witch and pulled the cork out of the bottle. She tipped the bottle and let a small measure of the alcohol trickle into the cup.

Minerva smiled her thanks and took another sip of her tea.

�That�s a tremendous amount of responsibility for one so young,� Dumbledore said. �Are you certain you are up to it, my dear?�

�Astrid will be there to help me,� Lilith said. �She�s not going to be allowed in the Potions classroom much longer.�

�Don�t remind me,� Astrid growled. �I�m still upset about that. I mean, I know that I have to think of my children, but how dangerous can potions be?�

�You know that answer, Professor,� Snape said. �It may be an inconvenience, but it is one that you will have to live with.�

�I know,� Astrid said. �I�m just upset that I won�t be able to work on my research for another six months.�

�You could always see if Miss Granger would be your research assistant,� Snape continued. �Her potions work is more than acceptable, and she is not likely to be forbidden to brew anytime soon.�

�Wonderful idea,� Astrid said. �What do you think, Hermione? Would you like a part time job as a research assistant?�

�Well, things seem to be in hand here,� Dumbledore said, setting down the teacup he was drinking from and standing up. �I�ll let the Creevy brothers know, and you can bring them up here, when you come down for Christmas dinner this afternoon.�

�Thank you, Headmaster,� Lilith said. �I�m very much looking forward to it.�

She kept the smile on her face as Dumbledore and McGonagall flooed back to Hogwarts, and then she threw her teacup into the fireplace with a snarl.

TBC
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Practice to Deceive