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Amazing Grace	By : Kooldragon400 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 41309 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any recongizable characters, nor do I make any money off of this story.

Chapter List
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Yay! It wasn't like three weeks before I updated again! Whoot whoot!

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Sirius was curled up under his mound of blankets, the only visible part of him being his hair, which was spread up and out over his Gryffindor red pillowcases. He was deep in the land of Nod, dreaming of a party which involved him, three naked Veelas, and a bottle of chocolate syrup.

“Sirius.”

He grunted softly, stretching out and letting his feet poke out from under the soft covers.

“Sirius!”

This time he felt someone shaking him, and opened his eyes blearily. He pushed the covers off of his head, and saw Tom standing by his bed, shuffling his feet nervously. The lad was already dressed, and was in a neatly pressed dark green shirt with khaki slacks, and polished brown dress shoes. Sirius’ eyebrows rose a bit.

“Why’r you dressed to the nines, my boy?” he asked. Tom flushed a bit, and found his brown loafers very interesting.

“It’s Sunday.” He replied. Sirius let his head fall back against the pillow, still watching Tom.

“Yes. A day of rest.” Sirius said easily. Tom swallowed.

“It’s a day of worship, too. I…Sirius…I made a promise to myself and…and God. I promised that if I ever got out from behind the Veil I would go to church and be a good boy.” He whispered nervously.

“Church? You promised God you’d go to church?” Sirius asked. Tom looked up, his dark brown eyes flashing.

“He’s real, you know as well as I!” Tom argued. Sirius raised himself up off of the bed, putting his hands up in surrender.

“I know, kiddo. The dead are privy to so much more knowledge than the living. I know as well as you the reality of eternity. If it means that much to you, Tom, then of course we’ll go.” Sirius said. Tom shot forward and hugged Sirius around his waist.

“Oh thank you, Sirius! This means so much to me!”

~~

They stood in the book store, staring at the rows of bibles.

“I want a black King James Bible.” Tom said decisively, looking up at the shop keeper. The bookshop was the only one open this early. Tom wanted his own black bible to carry to church. He’d had one at the orphanage, but it had been nigh on forty years old when it had gotten to him, and half of the book of Leviticus was missing.

“You sure, kiddo? I’ve got some nice New Internationals in, much easier to understand.” The book keep said, a bit surprised that the young boy wanted quite literally one of the most difficult translations to understand.

“No. I always dreamed of having a black King James Bible with new gold gilding.” Tom said, pointing to one of the hand-sized bibles. “That one.”

“That’s a difficult one to understand for someone your age. There’s a fantastic English Standard study bible for ages six to nine…” he said half-heartedly, looking to Sirius for support.

“It’s whatever he wants, mate. If he’s got his little heart set on a King Jimmy, then I’d let him have it.” He said.

“The King James bible is on a Year thirteen reading level.” The man pointed out.

“Well then it’s a good thing I’m not going to sit and read it like a novel, then, hmm?” Tom said snidely, and Sirius almost laughed at the look on his face. He saw a bit of his counterpart in the impatience etched in his face.

The shop keeper shrugged, and picked the cellophane wrapped bible up from the shelf.

“Might as well grab another one. Wouldn’t do for me to look clueless while we’re in service.” Sirius said, reaching out and grabbing a handsomely bound bible with a crimson leather cover and a lion’s head pressed into the buttery soft leather. They ended up spending well over £70 for the new bibles, and in a matter of a few minutes the shop owner had pressed their names into the covers of their bibles.

Tom stared at the black cover, and the gold name in curlicue letters.

Tom R. Black

He hugged the book to his chest, unaware of the soft, amused look he was getting from Sirius.

~~

The nearest church was a small, intimate little Baptist church pastored by an American preacher who’d moved to England very many years ago. His hair was salt and pepper, and he was in a neat, but worn looking suit that reminded Sirius of Remus. He wondered what had happened to the old wolf.

The pastor was shaking hands with people as they walked in the door, and he regarded Sirius and Tom with a bit of surprise. Sirius had decided to be funny and do a mish-mosh of Muggle and Wizard fashion. He was wearing black slacks, a red cotton shirt, and a loose black over robe that fluttered as he walked.

“Good morning.” The pastor said, regarding Sirius’ clothes. “You’re new faces. I’m Jonathon Smith, the senior pastor here. It’s good to meet you.” He said, holding out his hand. Sirius reached out and took the man’s hand.

“Sirius Black. This exuberant fellow here is Tom, my son.” Sirius said, gesturing to Tom as he released the pastor’s hand.

“I hope you both enjoy the service.” The man said kindly, and the two went inside to find a seat. Sirius and Tom sat somewhere in the middle of the modest sanctuary, and Sirius looked a bit uncomfortable when people began to stare at them. Tom seemed oblivious, looking around joyfully.

After a few minutes, he was distracted by the clearing of a throat. Sirius looked up to see a couple standing near their pew, looking annoyed.

“This is our seat.” The wife said snidely, looking over Sirius’ clothes nastily. Sirius looked down at himself, looked back up at her, and then shuffled forward on the pew, turning to look at the wooden back rest.

“Gee….your name isn’t on it…” he said, looking back up at them. The woman scoffed. “Now far be it from me to argue…I’m not exactly familiar with the whole church scene…but I’m pretty sure God doesn’t assign seats.”

“Well I never.” The woman said. Tom was looking up at the couple curiously.

“And you never will if you keep acting like that.” Sirius replied evenly. She gasped, scandalized.

“You’re not being very Christ-like.” Tom argued. She looked down at him. Now, anyone with eyes could see that Sirius and Tom looked very different. They didn’t have a father/son resemblance. So there were a few explanations. The boy was adopted…or he wasn’t his son.

“And what do you know of being Christ-like, little boy?” she asked. Tom’s brown eyes narrowed at her.

“1 Timothy 4:12 - Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” He quoted calmly. He’d been very good at reciting verses.

The woman’s face went red.

“It’s all right, Kathy. The boy will be gone next week. We’ll sit somewhere else today.” Her husband said gently, pulling her away. When they had left, Sirius looked down at Tom with a grin.

“Way to go, kiddo. You got her pissed off without even saying a bad word.” He said, impressed.

“Yeah well….I gotta go to the toilet.” Tom said, scooting from his seat and heading out of the sanctuary. Sirius sighed, and twiddled his thumbs boredly, waiting for the service to start. He looked up at the front, noting the steep steps that served as the kneeling altar.

Then, much to the horror of the people sitting around him, he spoke.

“What’s the purpose of having an altar if you’re not going to sacrifice a goat on it?”

~~

Tom looked around for the toilets, the call pressing on his bladder and making him skitter a bit. He finally saw the sign with a sigh of relief, and nearly ran into the room. Once his business was done, he washed his hands and left the toilet, heading back to the sanctuary.

“-no one else!”

Tom stopped, hearing the voice. It was coming from a small hallway just past the entrance of the worship hall.

“Mrs. Gibson is blind as a bat, and can barely see two inches in front of her face, much less read from the hymnal. There’s no one here that can play besides her…I guess we’ll have to go old-fashioned and sing A capella.” The voice said, and two men rounded the corner. They paused when they saw Tom standing there, and Tom gave a guilty look.

“You shouldn’t listen to other people’s conversations, son.” Pastor Smith said gently.

“I’m sorry, sir…I didn’t mean to, honest! But…I couldn’t help but hear that you had no pianist…I might be able to help…” Tom said bashfully, his brown loafers scuffling nervously.

“Can your dad play?” the pastor asked, relief on his face.

“No…” Tom said, and the disappointment was almost palpable. Tom looked up with glittering brown eyes. “But I can.”

~~

Sirius was humming softly to himself, smirking as the horrified church goers watched him warily. He half expected one of them to throw their bible at him, or try to get some Holy water. Wait…this was a Baptist church…did Baptists use holy water?

The pastor finally made it to the front of the church, and Sirius wondered briefly where Tom was.

“We have a bit of change in the program today, folks. Mrs. Morgan, our normal pianist, is out of town for the week, and we have a special treat for you all today. This young man is a visitor, but God brought him to us for a reason, so everyone make our little visitor feel welcome. Come on up, Tom.” The pastor said. Tom came up to the piano through the side entrance, where he’d been standing.

A few people looked at each other incredulously. This boy was going to play for them today? Really…if they were that desperate they should have just sang without music.

Tom sat down at the piano, and risked a glance to where Sirius was. He was looking up at him curiously. Tom had never shared with Sirius… he nervously opened the hymnal as the pastor instructed everyone which page to turn to. Tom took a deep breath, and laid his hands against the keys. It had been so long…but as soon as he pressed down the silky keys, it all came back.

The congregation was so shocked that they missed the cue to begin, and it took Tom a few moments to figure it out. He stopped with a sheepish look to the pastor, who was staring at him open-mouthed.

“We’ll….we’ll try again.” Was all the man said, before cueing Tom again. Tom’s hands moved over the keyboard with a grace that seemed impossible for his age. What his fingers lacked in reach they doubly made up for in the richness of the chords. He wasn’t just playing from the hymnal, he was adding notes as they sang, filling in gaps that were left from the choral layout of the hymnal.

Tom was nothing short of a prodigy. He used to wonder what his counterpart did with the talent. But he knew…deep in his heart…that Lord Voldemort had seen this talent as a weakness, and would not have used it.

They finished the hymn, and Tom finished with a few haunting chords on the piano, stretching out his long legs to press the pedal to draw out the sound. There was silence for a few moments, before the people burst into tumultuous applause. Tom looked down to Sirius.

Sirius was grinning from ear to ear, his frame shaking with laughter.

~~

Grace sat in the solarium, sketching furiously on the paper. She was working on a special drawing. She wanted to give this one to her father. He didn’t know she could draw, of course, but she hoped to surprise him with just a little trinket. It seemed so silly, but she wanted to do something nice for him, especially since he’d stayed up with her all those nights she’d been feverish and delirious.

The pose was nothing special. It was just of him sitting at his desk in his office, his reading glasses perched on his face. He was bent over a piece of parchment, quill in hand, working diligently to make sure that the Malfoy family had enough money to spend. It was a simple pose, but she was quite proud of it.

She knew she wasn’t a great artist by any means. Her sketches took on a bit of a cartoonish appearance, created by her fondness of Japanese Anime. She had tried making her drawings more realistic, but they just ended up…wrong. Her style was clean, but simple.

She finally finished the line art, pleased with the result. She then drew her wand an touched it to the paper.

“Coloris.” She whispered, and color flooded the paper, controlled by her thoughts and magic. The finished product was eyed critically, before she grinned and scrabbled to her feet. She took off towards the office, where her father was working. He was always working…

She knocked on the door, listening for his voice.

“Enter.” He called casually. She pushed the door open, bubbly with nervous excitement. “Ah, Grace. Just the girl I wanted to see. I’ve been meaning to tell you something for some time, my dear. We’ve had very many distractions.” He said, motioning for her to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Grace blinked, losing some of her excitement at the business-like façade he was putting forward. She walked forward slowly, and sank into the leather seat.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I meant to tell you several weeks ago that I had spoken with the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He told me that you would be able to attend after the winter holidays. You would be able to finish out your fifth year with your peers, and then take the OWLs at the school.” He said, smiling proudly. Grace’s precious excitement left her with a whoosh.

“What?” she croaked weakly.

“You’re going to Hogwarts, dear.” He said, a bit slower. He mistook her silence for pleasure. “We’ll be sure to get your school robes right at Christmas. You’ll need a school trunk as well.” He said, speaking mostly to himself as he made a note of something.

“But…why?” Grace managed to say. Lucius blinked, at looked back up at her.

“What do you mean, child?” he asked. She looked as if he’d told her she was going to wear a tutu and dance topless in the middle of London.

“What…what did I do?” she asked.

“Do? You didn’t do anything.” Lucius replied with a small laugh.

“Then…then why are you sending me away?”

Lucius’ countenance blanked a bit.

“I’m not sending you away. You’re going to Hogwarts.” He said, not understanding what she was so upset about. “You knew you would be going.”

“But I thought I had more time!” she spluttered. “Was…I…did I misbehave? I know I’m a little hard to get along with sometimes, and I have a smart mouth…but dad…please don’t send me away.” She said, her eyes taking on a wild, watery look.

“You’ll be able to finish out your fifth year. You’ll have more time to make friends.” Lucius said calmly.

“I don’t want friends! I don’t want you to send me off! I just got here, dad, please!” she begged.

“Grace, I’m sending you to a very renowned, very safe boarding school-”

“In Scotland!”

“It’s a floo away, child. If you’re homesick you can come home for the first couple of weekends…” he pointed out. He was a bit surprised when tears spilled from Grace’s eyes. “What exactly is the matter with you?” he asked, standing from his seat.

“I…I’ll miss you…and…and I’m scared.” She admitted, looking away from him. She heart the soft thud of his boots as he took the few steps to her, and she felt him tip up her chin.

“Scared of what? This isn’t some nervous jitter, Grace…what’s the matter?” he asked her softly, resting his hand against her face.

“I’m afraid you won’t want me to come back.” She whispered, her voice choked.

“Grace, my dear. Sometimes you can be absolutely grating….sometimes you’re loud, and rude, and have a vocabulary reminiscent of a drunk sailor…” he said softly, and she let out a small sob. “But that’s no reason to send you off. Not like you’re thinking. This is school, and no matter what you do, there will always be a place for you here. Whether you like it or not, you are stuck with me.” He said, cupping her face with both hands and using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

“I love you, dad.” She said suddenly. He looked down at her, a bit surprised. She hadn’t said anything of the sort before…

“I…care…greatly for you, Grace…” he sputtered, tripping over the words. She looked up at him curiously. Then she pulled back from his hands.

“I almost forgot…” she murmured. Then she pressed the folded drawing into his hands. “Thanks for taking care of me when I was sick…” she said, and walked away before he could open the paper. He watched her leave, his heart curiously heavy, before opening the folded paper and staring at the sketch of him.

Grace was quite good, if he did say so himself.

~~

Snape sat in the kitchen, staring at nothing in particular as a cup of coffee rapidly cooled in front of him. It had been over a week since he’d read the Prophet article about the Deadly Trio returning. Potter, Black, and…and…

Him

He yanked up the sleeve of his shirt, staring at the faded, ugly mark. He was sure it had gotten a little darker since the Dark Lad had returned. But he couldn’t be sure. He was tempted to Floo Lucius and talk to him about it.

But no.

He refused to let people think he was crazy with paranoia or something.

Stasja entered the kitchen, returning from putting Nikolai down for his nap. He hastily covered the Mark, but she pretended not to have seen. It was still too early to tell if her voice had been permanently damaged, but he had already spoke to her about her Life Debt. She was going to stay with him, in the capacity of Nikki’s mother. The boy would have both parents, even if Snape had to use a Debt to keep him one.

She didn’t seem to mind much. In fact, she'd looked a bit relieved. She probably thought that he’d have kicked her out. She was supposed to be dead, so he supposed having a safe place to stay was welcome.

He happened to turn towards her as she was bending over to retrieve the washing up liquid from beneath the sink. A small smile curled the corner of his mouth.

And if he got a few benefits from having an Indebted woman staying in the house, then who was he to complain?

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Snape, you dirty boy... >:3

So, Tom can play the crap out of a piano, Grace is still an insecure little thing, and Snape is starting to think like a normal man-with his penis. :D

There was some good stuff in this chappie...Do you agree? Feel free to tell me if you agree...
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Amazing Grace