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
- 25
- 26
- 27
A/N: Yay! Finally managed to finish this chapter. Some major announcements coming up in this part, so hopefully you'll enjoy that ;) And thank you for lovely reviews, I really enjoy reading those ;)
Chapter 26
Two days have passed since Sirius locked himself in the master bedroom at Grimmauld Place and refused to come out. Black wasn’t listening to anyone, not even Remus. At the beginning, Remus didn’t understand what was the reason of his friend’s behaviour, but with every passing hour he got to the conclusion he would do the same if there was so much pressure on him from other members of the Order.
For the last few weeks, Sirius has been feeling really bad and Remus saw that, but it never even crossed his mind that it might have been caused by some curse that Black has caught in the Ministry. However, even if that was truly the cause of Sirius’ sickness, it still didn’t justify the way the Order was acting. Nearly all of the members have visited Grimmauld Place those last two days and half of them yelled at Black for being an irresponsible adult and endangering Orion if he doesn’t do anything about the curse; while the other half started questioning his loyalty to the Light side again.
This evening, the situation wasn’t as intense, since Albus has sent only Minerva and Madam Pomfrey to talk some sense into Black, but in Remus’ opinion it was all too much.
“Sirius, you have to open the door,” once more, Minerva started reasoning with the wizard. “You might be under some kind of curse and we have to check it. You know it’s the wisest thing to do. You wouldn’t want to risk your son getting influenced by that curse, now would you?”
“Oh I do hope he won’t have to deal with situation like this for a few more years alright,”
a quiet, yet audible comment came from the other side of the door.
“Sirius, please open the door right now,” Madam Pomfrey finally snapped. She was fed up with such nonsense behaviour from the wizard. Black was acting worse than some of the students she was taking care of in Hogwarts. She has spent here the last two hours and she didn’t intend to waste even one more hour of her precious time, especially that it was already middle of the night and she should be in Hogwarts in case something happened to one of the students there. “I have dealt with many curses and I can promise you it won’t take long for me to fix you and lift off that curse…but you have to come out so that I can do a proper check up!”
“Why does everyone think I’m under some vicious spell? I know perfectly well were this sickness comes from. It is nothing bad and there is definitely nothing you can do about it,” Sirius’ annoyed voice came from inside of the bedroom.
“If it makes you feel sick then it has to be bad,” retorted Minerva. “Just let Poppy have a quick look at what is going on and she will get rid of whatever is making you feel sick.”
Remus couldn’t take it anymore. He was fed up with the ridiculous behaviour from everyone around him and he was certain he will be able to talk Sirius into coming out of the room if they were left alone; he would just have to somehow get rid of the two witches for a few minutes.
“Maybe I could help with the situation?” Lupin’s train of thoughts was interrupted by an unexpected arrival of Severus. The potions master showed up on the staircase out of nowhere and calmly offered his help.
“What are you doing here, Severus?” asked him Minerva, who obviously wasn’t expecting to see him there. Remus observed the mixed feelings McGonagall had clearly written all over her face and he wondered what was the reason. Normally, the witch would be happy to see Snape, especially if he offered assistance, but right now her facial expression was suggesting that she was fighting with herself whether she should even let Severus near the door to the bedroom, not to mention fill him in on the details of the situation. “I don’t think Sirius will listen to you…out of all the people who already tried to talk with him.”
“It’s worth a try,” said exasperated Madam Pomfrey and turned away from the door. She grabbed the other witch by the arm and pulled her slightly towards the staircase, leaving enough space for the potions master to walk over to the door. “Do anything you want, Severus…I need to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible. I don’t have entire night to stay here.”
Lupin took a few steps back to make some space for the witches, but he still couldn’t make up his mind whether he was more surprised to see their attitude or by the fact that Snape showed up on Grimmauld Place to help Sirius. It ran through his mind that maybe the other wizard was simply trying to use this opportunity to bully Sirius after all those years in Hogwarts, but at that moment, something he didn’t see coming has happened. Right when the witches had their backs to the potions master, he took out his wand and used a strong stunning spell on them.
“What are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?” Remus shouted at the other wizard and kneeled down to check if Minerva and Poppy were alright. He nervously searched for his wand, but before he could even take it out of his sleeve, Severus was already pointing his wand at him.
“Don’t even think about doing something stupid, Lupin,” the potions master said in a calm, icy voice and knocked at the door. “Sirius! It’s me, Severus. Let me in.”
To Remus’ biggest surprise, it took only a few seconds and miraculously, the door to the master bedroom opened wide. Inside, by the bed, he saw tired and somewhat scared Sirius. Black’s gaze landed on the two witches lying on the floor in the corridor, but he didn’t seem to care. He then spotted Remus kneeling on the floor and his facial expression immediately changed to an angry one.
“Why, on Merlin’s beard, are you aiming at Remus?” he reprimanded the potions master. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I didn’t stun him like Minerva and Poppy only because Kreacher told me Lupin refused to tie him up in the kitchen, when he tried to help you…something Moody suggested,” commented Severus, hid his wand and walked into the bedroom. “More importantly, tell me what’s going on? What is this nonsense here? Moody guarding the Gryffindor Tower and Orion’s every move, while Albus is sending Poppy here in the middle of the night.”
“It wouldn’t get to this if you only allowed them to do the stupid check-up,” Remus interrupted their conversation. He already knew Severus wouldn’t hurt him. For some strange reason as long as Sirius was watching, Snape wouldn’t do anything to anger Black. “I don’t know what’s going on here. Why the two of you are suddenly acting all civil towards each other, but now that Severus has attacked McGonagall and Pomfrey, other members of the Order will be even more suspicious of you Sirius.”
“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let either Albus and Moody or anyone else near me,” Black started explaining nervously and subconsciously one of his hands landed briefly on his abdomen; a motion most people would have missed, but Severus noticed it immediately and right away everything made more sense to him.
“But why Sirius? I can understand not wanting Moody anywhere near you, since he is giving me the creeps recently as well, but you didn’t want to see even Poppy,” Remus continued asking his friend. He honestly didn’t understand the motives of Sirius’ behaviour. He didn’t quite understand the relation between Sirius and Snape either, although he had his suspicions.
“Since when do you know?” a simple, calm question coming from Severus’ lips stopped their conversation. Lupin was completely dumbstruck by the question that didn’t make any sense, but Sirius seemed to understand where did the question come from. In that moment, Black completely ignored his friend and focused on Severus and his actions.
“I was expecting this since winter break, but the sickness started only a few weeks ago,” Sirius explained after a long moment of silent conversation he was having with his husband. He searched for an answer in Severus’ eyes, whether the wizard was mad at him or happy about the news, but it seemed the potions master wasn’t angry at all. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t have the chance to do that so far…I know everyone will get suspicious of me right now, but I really couldn’t let Albus anywhere near me or the baby…not after traces of his magic were spotted on Orion and that horrid glamour placed on him.”
Without a word Severus walked slowly over to Sirius and completely ignoring the presence of Lupin, he pulled Black into a tight and loving embrace. He turned his back to Remus, so that the wizard couldn’t see a genuine smile of happiness, pride and relief showing on his face. Sirius was completely taken aback by how open Severus was about his feelings; he would never suspect his husband might show such affection in front of any of the Marauders.
“I was right all along,” commented Remus, although the scene before him made him nearly speechless. “James didn’t want to notice this, but I was right. You two are lovers…you were even back in Hogwarts, weren’t you?” Sirius only smiled to his friend and gently nodded in confirmation. “But that means your spouse…Severus is your…and he is Orion’s…”
“Yes. He’s my husband and Orion’s father,” explained Black.
“But that means you are…” Remus stopped midsentence, confused how to call it; he wasn’t sure how to call the mother-figure wizard, but it was rather clear that Sirius had to be Orion’s ‘mother’.
“Don’t even dare call me mother,” immediately Black’s attitude changed to pissed off, but Severus gently grabbed his hand and turned his attention elsewhere.
“I won’t let you stay here. I’m taking you home. You’ll be safe and only family will be able to visit you there,” explained Severus. Not waiting for an answer, he called Kreacher and ordered him to pack all Orion’s belongings and to transport them to their house. As soon as the elf vanished to do what he was asked to do, the potions master turned to Remus and instructed him. “You’d better pack your things as well. I’m taking Sirius to a safe place and sealing this house so that no one will be able to enter it.”
“But what about Minerva and Poppy? You attacked them. Surely they will report it to Albus and the rest of the Order will definitely treat you like a traitor. The same goes for Sirius,” said Lupin. Now that he confirmed that Sirius and Severus were married and Orion’s parents, everything made more sense. He even understood why they didn’t want anyone close to Sirius when he was expecting another child; but he also knew that others will accuse them of betrayal; some might even suggest that they have turned towards the Dark side.
“I will slightly alter their memories. They will be certain I talked with Sirius, that they did a check-up on him and that we all decided to place him somewhere safe,” explained calmly the potions master. “Kreacher will help me transport them back to their quarters in Hogwarts, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“You could go to Andromeda. I’m sure she will be more than happy to host you in her house,” suggested Sirius. “Besides, she knows that Severus and me are married, and that Orion is our son. I’m not sure if she has already figured out that I’m pregnant again, but she will understand why we decided I should hide from the Order.”
“Do you really think it’s so dangerous to stay close to Albus?” asked Remus. He was starting to question the Order’s methods and Dumbledore’s entire plan, but he still had doubts if it was wise to move away from the only powerful wizard who stood a chance against Voldemort. “Aren’t you afraid that the Death Eaters will come for you? Those are difficult times after all.”
“Don’t get me wrong Remus, I’m not supporting the pureblood supremacy idiocy and I’m far from terrorizing and hurting other people, but right now all I know is that Albus has meddled with that glamour placed on Orion, he put him with Lily’s awful Muggle relatives, he openly asked me to give him proof that would incriminate my entire family of being Death Eaters and he allows Moody to spread the hostility for one another among Hogwarts’ students. For me that is a realistic threat for my family’s safety, and so far, I have not even acknowledged any change or hardships from Voldemort or his followers,” explained calmly Black.
“From what I know, neither the Dark Lord nor any of his followers had anything to do with the attack on the werewolves that you have experienced. If anything, he got mad that it happened, because he wants werewolves to live normally in the wizarding world. He even made sure that Damocles was given a job in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,” said Severus and finished packing the last trunk of Sirius’ belongings. “I might not know who exactly stood behind that attack on werewolves, but it all seems that Voldemort is not the biggest enemy we should all fear right now. The only side I’m willing to support and trust, is my family, but in all honesty, comparing the past and recent events, the Dark Lord has calmed down and tries to focus on the future of the wizarding community; Albus, on the other hand, is acting more and more irrational. I’m afraid all of us might need to sort out our priorities once more. You too, Lupin.”
The next morning didn’t start well for Albus at all. He was waiting impatiently for report from Minerva and Poppy about Sirius. He waited a few hours but neither of the witches showed up in his office. He was slowly losing his patience and pacing around the desk in his chamber. Albus simply had to find out what has happened at Grimmauld Place.
“Albus,” he was so deep in his thoughts, he didn’t notice when Alastor entered his office. The ex-Auror looked like he had a long and tiring night, and right now a mix of annoyance and anger showed up on his face. “Albus, we have a problem. It’s about Black.”
“What about him?” this short information got Dumbledore’s full attention.
“Did Snape inform you of any Death Eaters’ meeting last night?”
“No,” answered the headmaster a bit surprised that Moody asked him once more about Severus, especially that they were supposed to discuss the topic of Sirius. “Why do you ask?”
“He can’t be trusted. I don’t know what exactly he is playing at, but last night, he left the castle and he hasn’t returned yet.”
Dumbledore started pacing and subconsciously rubbing his beard. His brain was working twice as fast as normally, trying to process all the information he just received. The fact that Sirius and Orion were acting completely opposite to what he expected them to act didn’t surprise him that much anymore, although it frustrated him; but the sudden change in Severus’ behaviour was shocking and outrageous. The potions master was supposed to do everything Albus wanted him to do, and now it seemed, the younger wizard was hiding something from him. Albus started worrying that maybe Voldemort managed to somehow convince Severus to be loyal to the Death Eaters again.
“According to the ghosts with whom I spoke, he left the castle not long after Minerva and Poppy headed to Grimmauld Place,” continued Moody.
“The elves inform me that both of them are in their quarters, but they haven’t reported what happened in London,” said the headmaster and walked to the window to pick up the new Daily Prophet, which was just delivered by an owl.
“I couldn’t wait and I went to Sirius’ house to check on the situation, but I didn’t find anyone there,” explained Alastor. “More importantly, the entire house was locked…sealed and no amount of magic allowed me to get inside. Albus, I might be just speculating, but there is something wrong about this whole situation. Black has vanished somewhere and I just have this gut feeling that Snape has something to do with it.”
“This is indeed starting to get out of hand. The Blacks are opposing our plans, Charlie Weasley openly refuses to help the Order and secretly associates himself with some shady Romanian pureblood families and now Severus acts insubordinate. We have to find out what is this all about,” answered Dumbledore and sat by his desk. “I will speak with Minerva right away and then come down for breakfast. You, my friend, go to the Great Hall and inform me whenever Severus comes back to the castle.”
Moody wholeheartedly agreed to do so and walked out of the headmaster’s office. Albus knew that most likely as soon and Alastor spots the potions master, he will try to interrogate him about his actions and loyalty, but that’s what he liked about Mad-Eye Moody; the ex-Auror was doing exactly what Dumbledore wanted to do, but his reputation of a warm and kind Light wizard forbid him to do openly.
He ordered the house elves to ask Minerva to come to his office as soon as possible. He knew he’d have to wait for the witch to show up in his chamber, but he didn’t want to start this day without knowing what exactly has happened at Grimmauld Place. In the meantime, he opened the newspaper to find out what new nonsense the Ministry has come up. Recently, Fudge was going out of his way to gain people’s support, but whatever he did seemed counterproductive; more and more witches and wizards were openly saying that Cornelius should resign from his position of Minister of Magic. Albus turned pages one after another, not finding anything interesting until his gaze landed on one particular article. It wasn’t printed on the front page, but one whole page in the middle was dedicated to the said article. Two words in particular, stole Dumbledore’s attention – Blacks and orphanage.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ ran through Albus’ head, while his eyes were quickly scanning the article. The reporter wrote about a new wonderful and innovative initiative created for the good of wizarding community; creation of an orphanage for magical children. The article was glorifying the idea and how wonderful it will be for the young witches and wizards to get the chance grow up among wizarding folk from the very beginning, instead of facing the hardships and incomprehension they have to face right now, growing up among Muggles. The reporter made it clear, she didn’t have any detailed information, but she did confirm that the mysterious founders of this initiatives was the Black family. ‘How could they have done something like that without me noticing it.’
“Damn you, Regulus Black! You and your family will lead the wizarding community to the wrong tracks!” since he was alone in his office, Albus allowed himself to finally snap. He pointed his wand at the newspaper and burned it to ashes. He couldn’t control himself anymore. The Blacks were getting out of hand and there were more and more secrets about them that only seemed to complicate his plans for the future. He, Albus Dumbledore, was supposed to create the new order in the wizarding world; he has planned it all his life and no one is going to take it away from him. He will not allow the treacherous Sirius Black do whatever he wants behind his back, and he will not let that Death Eater, Regulus Black and his shady, mysterious spouse to get all the glory for building the new, better wizarding community.
“It’s time to convince Fudge to cooperate. He needs to look better for the public…I will give him Regulus Black and his entire pureblood, Voldemort-loving family stand in front of Wizengamot,” the headmaster made up his mind. It was high time to start getting rid of the obstacles standing in his way. He only needed to give some hints to Cornelius and the Ministry will hunt the Blacks down on their own. Without Regulus and Sirius it will be easier for him to control Orion again. He still had plans for the boy to play out his role in defeating Voldemort and creating the new order.
A quiet knock on the door, got him out of his thoughts. From the other side of the door, he heard Minerva’s voice and Albus immediately calmed down and put on his calm and happy mask, before he allowed the witch to enter.
When the potions master arrived at Hogwarts, it was already morning. He didn’t plan on spending that much time in Edinburgh, but he simply couldn’t resist. He knew that the recent turn of events will cause major trouble for him and his family, but he was still feeling this was the happiest time of his life. After all the years of mourning his son and betrayal of his husband, he finally had the life he wished for – Sirius was by his side and still very much in love with him, Orion was alive and slowly forgiving him the way Severus has treated him the last few years, and now he found out he would have another child; a child that would unite their small family again. Severus has spent a few hours helping out his husband to get comfortable in their old house again; he gave Hissy all the instructions what to do and how to reach out to him in case there was any emergency. But soon enough the sun came up and it was already a sign that Severus had to go back to Hogwarts.
He marched down the corridors leading to the Great Hall. It was already breakfast time and he knew everyone would ask about his absence in the morning, but Severus had everything prepared. He made sure to alter McGonagall and Pomfrey’s thoughts enough to give him an excuse, but he still anticipated a lot of questioning after the breakfast.
He entered the Great Hall. As he expected, most of the students and teachers were already there, and everyone’s eyes landed on him. It was unusual for the punctual Severus Snape to show up late, but no one dared to make a comment about it. The potions master headed towards the teachers’ table carefully observing everyone around him. His eyes met with Draco and he nodded slightly. The teen seemed to understand the motion and calmed down. Then Severus’ gaze wandered to the Gryffindor table where he was hoping to see Orion, but his son was nowhere to be found. It got him a bit worried, but he blamed the teen’s absence on the fact that Orion liked to sleep long just like Sirius. However when he got to the teachers’ table and he didn’t find Minerva, Poppy, Albus and Moody anywhere, that’s when he got a bad feeling about the situation.
“Well, well, well, you finally decided to return to the castle, eh Snape?” the familiar, loud male voice coming from behind his back greeted Severus. There was something offensive in the way Moody spoke; not to mention, the ex-Auror made an awfully dramatic scene in front of the entire school. Students from all the houses stopped their conversations and observed the unusual events. “I know where you were Snape.”
“It might be wise to leave this conversation for later,” Severus tried to calm down the situation, but it seemed Moody wasn’t listening to him.
“We will talk here and now. Where is he? What did you do to him?”
The potions master felt growing irritation. The only thing that was on his mind right now, was how to make this situation work in his advantage or at least, how to make sure the outcome wouldn’t be troublesome for Orion. However, Severus’ silence only agitated the ex-Auror. Moody stood dangerously close to the potions master and his way of speaking became more aggressive.
“You’re not going to fool me, Snape. I know you did something to Black. You might not be serving Voldemort anymore, but who knows what you’re doing with your shady friends, especially with your dark past.”
“Professor Moody!” reprimanded him professor McGonagall, who just entered the Great Hall with Dumbledore. She walked over to the two wizards and tried to settle down the situation between them. She didn’t like the fact that their conversation was attracting too much attention from the students. “We do not throw such accusations here in Hogwarts, especially not addressed at our fellow teachers.”
Even though most of the students couldn’t hear everything from the conversation, the commotion sure did catch their attention; after all, not everyone dared to stand up to Severus Snape in public. The most surprising thing was that professor Dumbledore didn’t give a clear sign to finish the conversation. On the contrary, he stared at Moody intently, almost as if he was giving him a silent permission to keep on interrogating Snape. Moody didn’t need more encouragement; he took out his wand and pointed it at Severus’ chest.
“What did you do to Sirius Black?!” he demanded.
Seeing how the situation was developing, nearly every Slytherin student stood up, ready to take out their wands and stand by their Head of House. The situation was about to get even more tense, when unexpectedly a calm, icy voice came from the other end of the chamber and immediately Moody’s wand fell out of his hand.
“Orion! That’s our teacher!” reprimanded him Hermione. The witch didn’t like professor Moody’s teaching methods anymore, but she still didn’t approve of her friend disarming a teacher.
In that moment all the eyes in the Great Hall focused on Orion, who has entered the chamber just minutes ago. The teen put on a mask of indifference and walked closer to the centre of commotion. He saw the shocked faces of all the teachers and students, but he didn’t care; he has made up his mind a while ago that he wasn’t ashamed of his father anymore, but he never got a good opportunity to announce it to everyone…now was his chance and he intended to use it.
“What are you doing Black? We need to find out what Snape did to Sirius,” Moody shouted outraged.
“There will be no need for that. My dad is in a safe place,” explained the teen and exchanged looks with Draco, who gave his housemates a sign to sit down. “I would also appreciate it greatly professor, if you refrained yourself from threatening my father in the future.”
“You must have misunderstood, my boy,” said Albus and smiled to the teen. “Professor Moody wasn’t threatening Sirius…he was trying to help him…”
“I wasn’t referring to my dad, Sirius Black,” Orion paused to let the information sink in. Meantime, his gaze landed on Draco; he smiled gently to his cousin and decided it was about time he let everyone know the truth about his parents. “I meant the mysterious parent about whom everyone has been speculating…my father, Severus Prince-Black, known by most people as Severus Snape.”
After initial shock and silence, professor McGonagall tried to explain to Orion that someone must have played an awful prank on him, but there is no chance that the potions master could be his father. The witch even tried to ask Severus for help, but to her surprise, the wizard nearly snorted and said nothing.
Fed up with everyone assuming it was impossible for two wizards to have a child – opinion most likely based on the Muggle beliefs that two men should not be together and it is physically impossible for them to conceive a baby – Orion pulled up his right sleeve and revealed a birthmark in the crook of his elbow.
“This is the birthmark by which my dad, Sirius Black, recognized me as his long lost son. My father has the exact same birthmark.”
Not waiting for any more ridiculous comments, Severus unbuttoned his right sleeve and pulled it up, revealing a birthmark almost identical to the one on Orion’s arm.
“I believe that with that we can finish this ridiculous conversation,” commented the potions master in a strained voice. “Now that we have established that my morning absence was cause by me moving my husband to a safe place; and that Orion is my son, I believe we can all return to out duties…or breakfast,” Severus nearly hissed and glared at students who immediately focused on their plates, as if nothing unusual has happened.
“Indeed, let’s all calm down and enjoy the meal,” announced Dumbledore wit that twinkle in his eye; but Severus could see frustration lurking behind his grandfatherly smile. The potions master knew, he has just lost all the trust Albus had in him.
Ever since the big announcement about his parents, that Orion has made in front of entire school, things have changed for him. He never had a normal, peaceful school life, and he had to deal with people losing trust in him countless times, but now was different than ever before. For some reason, many students came to the conclusion that Orion has to be evil if he is not only a pureblood, but also professor Snape’s son. Many half-bloods, and most of the Muggleborns started to keep him at distance and whispering ridiculous things about him and his family whenever he walked past them. Orion couldn’t understand how people who seemed to be almost his fans, could just like that turn into those who spread the worst rumours about him. By far, the worst things he has heard so far concerned the nature of his fathers’ relationship and Orion’s conception. It amazed him how easily people came up with disgusting comments about his fathers, yet everyone was terrified when they were supposed to face Severus.
All of that caused Orion to feel a bit lonely in Hogwarts. Of course he had Ron, Hermione, and other Weasleys, but something felt different now. There was tension and awkwardness at the beginning among them. His friends couldn’t understand the reason he didn’t tell them earlier the truth about his parents, but Orion knew it wouldn’t change anything, even if he told them right from the beginning that the potions master and Sirius were his fathers. It took him a great deal of time and effort to get to terms with the truth about his parents and it would have been even harder for Ron and Hermione to accept that fact.
Another problem he had to face was the odd looks and treatment he received from the school staff. Professor McGonagall seemed to be searching for his resemblance to Severus whenever she saw the teen; as if she was trying to find a proof that he wasn’t really Severus’ son. Other teachers either gave him an apologetic look or treated him with suspicion as if he had some contagious disease. However, his worst kind of encounters these last few weeks, were with professor Moody and professor Dumbledore. Black knew he should be avoiding direct eye contact with either one of the wizards, but even if he managed to do so, he could feel them following him almost everywhere. Orion knew that his parents have lost any amount of trust that Dumbledore had in them, but he was also aware that both, the headmaster and Moody, still had plans regarding his person; he knew they wanted to use him in this war, but Black didn’t intend to allow them to manipulate him.
Young Black was really tired of all the ridiculousness around him so he preferred to focus on the things he did have control over; the O.W.L.s were coming close and he planned to prove to the entire school that he wasn’t just the Golden Boy or the arrogant Black heir; he wanted to get remarkable results and rub it in the faces of all those who dared to badmouth him or his dear ones. Due to that resolution, Orion spent most of his time in the library; something Hermione approved of greatly, although even she admitted that the teen spent there more time than she did.
After one of his long, lonely studying sessions in the library, Orion headed to the secret cave, which Sirius has shown him. He already stopped carrying about the glares and hateful comments most of the students were sending his way, but he did notice that more and more students practiced rather hurtful and offensive spells on the corridors; and for some reason, many of those spells were being cast when he was around. Thankfully, according to Draco’s instructions, Slytherins had his back and only because of that Orion hasn’t ended up in the hospital wing yet.
He got to the cave without any trouble, lit up the fire and sat comfortably, leaning back on the stone wall. He closed his eyes and dozed off, not feeling like going back to his dormitory. The silence of the cave and warmth of the fire felt nice and he lost track of time.
“There you are,” he got out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice of his cousin. “I’ve been looking for you for hours.”
“I needed some alone time,” answered Orion and allowed himself to gently lean on Draco, who sat just right next to him. He was still struggling with the newly discovered emotions he was feeling regarding the blond, but he didn’t have enough courage to tell anyone about it. Now when everyone commented him being the son of two bent wizards, it might not be the best moment to tell anyone that he felt something for his cousin.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to keep you company. The school year will end in three months and I promise we will spend the summer together, just like last year,” announced Malfoy and smiled to himself when he felt Orion leaning against him. “How is uncle Sirius doing? He’s all alone in that house, right?”
“Yes, but he’s doing fine,” the black haired teen fought back a laugh and continued. “I think he actually enjoys being pregnant. Whenever we talk through the two-way mirror, he’s always joking about how fat he’s getting.”
“It’s good that he’s optimistic,” said Draco. “Aren’t you happy that you’ll be a big brother…finally?”
“Of course I am,” answered Orion, his voice sounding a bit dreamy. “I would love to have a big family myself one day.”
‘I would love to give you that family,’ thought Draco to himself and sighed heavily.
They remained silent for the next few minutes, until they got cold and Orion pulled on the sleeves of his jumper. Out of the blue, the blond teen grabbed his wrist and gently pulled up the sleeve on his left arm. Orion’s pale skin was not flawless anymore; there, a bit above the wrist was an awful, red burn mark, which looked really painful.
“How did you get this?” asked Draco and immediately started casting simple healing spells.
“Yesterday, on my way to Hagrid’s class. Some kid from Hufflepuff accidentally used the blasting spell next to me.”
“Accidentally you say,” commented Draco, finishing the healing. “Recently, Moody’s paranoia is getting worse. We are having problems keeping the youngest Snakes safe now that everyone can accidentally hit you with some nasty spell or hex on the corridors.”
“That’s true. I’ve never seen Madam Pomfrey having so many patients in the hospital wing,” said Black and observed how nicely Draco has healed his wrist. To his surprise, the blond leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the skin, which was badly burnt just seconds ago. “What are you doing?”
“That’s the final and most important part of every healing ritual, didn’t you know that?” answered the blond teen with a straight face, although inside he was smiling like an idiot, when he saw a delightful blush on the other teen’s face. Malfoy knew he shouldn’t be doing such things, but sometimes he couldn’t stop himself; Orion was simply too cute not to tease him every now and then.
Lucius apparated into the entrance hall of the Dark Lord’s castle and noticed he was the only person there. He was supposed to get to Voldemort’s meeting earlier, but since he was finishing some important matter in the Ministry, he hoped the wizard would forgive him being late. While heading up the grand staircase and to the meeting chamber, he glanced briefly outside one of the enormous windows and saw at least five house elves rushing around the courtyard and fixing the old walls of the other part of the castle, the courtyard itself and all the other buildings there.
‘Seems like Regulus has organized the renovation works quite well,’ he thought to himself and fought back a laugh when he reminded himself that his wife’s cousin was actually married and pregnant with the most powerful dark wizard of their times; Lucius felt even more ridiculous when he realized he is a tiny bit afraid of that wizard, even though they were somewhat related through the family ties now. ‘I better get going or even Regulus won’t be able to save me from his husband.’
He reached the door to the smaller drawing chamber and entered it. When he moved to the empty seat, next to Severus, no one looked his way, but he knew everyone has noticed his entrance. The fact that they didn’t look at him was simple – no one dared to turn their gaze away from Voldemort while he was discussing something with them. The Dark Lord, however, did notice Lucius being late and he didn’t seem to be willing to leave it without a comment.
“Based on the information we gathered with Buchanan, the new regulations will crush Fudge. He won’t risk letting magical creatures and beings to get any alleviations or rights, but that’s actually what most witches and wizards demand nowadays. Especially after those kids died in the attack on the werewolves,” explained Bertie Higgs. “I also know from Tuft and Gamp from the International Magical Cooperation Department that if Fudge keeps refusing the changes from happening, the Ministry will lose good relations with many wizarding communities abroad.”
“Good that this could help to get rid of Fudge, but is it really in our best interest not to do anything to block those new regulations? After all, this will give magical beings more rights to mingle with wizarding folk,” commented Goyle; although he wasn’t the only one in the room who shared such point of view.
“No one can force you to associate with them. However, anything and anyone that has something to do with magic is better than to allow more and more Muggle inventions and ideas to replace magical ways of doing things,” answered him Lucius. His opinion also met with agreement from many purebloods gathered in the chamber.
“Lucius,” the Dark Lord nearly hissed and stared at the blond wizard. “I believe you have some news to share with us, just like Higgs.”
“Indeed, my Lord. I’ve been keeping a close eye on Fudge’s nephew. With proper guidance the boy is already leaning towards our ideas and disagrees with his uncle. According to his information, Cornelius is losing support and trusted people in every department and institution. The Daily Prophet is not likely to write anything in his favour anymore either,” Malfoy informed them. “Also, I have it on good authority that the Wizengamot is already considering new elections soon…unless Fudge changes his politics drastically.”
“Perfect,” Voldemort hissed again, but this time he sounded pleased with the news. “I say we ought to help Cornelius make up his mind to resign from his post.”
The rest of the meeting went smoothly. The Dark Lord gave his followers detailed instructions on how to proceed with their plans. Each and every one of them had an individual role to play in this big plan to take over the Ministry and implement changes in the wizarding community in a wiser way than Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. When the meeting has ended and the Death Eaters dismissed, Voldemort was left only in the company of Severus and Lucius. He required more details from them regarding the situation in Hogwarts.
The three of them headed to the library, set in the private wing of the castle, where the dark wizard could take of his glamour. Now, with his real appearance, he could feel at ease; he sat comfortably in the leather armchair and poured himself a glass of Firewhiskey. He offered a glass to the other two wizards, but they kindly refused, due to many duties still waiting for them that day.
“The situation in Hogwarts is indeed difficult to say the least,” started Severus. “Moody’s teachings has finally bloomed, especially among Muggleborn students, who feel threatened. They were always told that Harry Potter was the Saviour so they felt safe just knowing that he is in the school. Now however, they are slowly losing that hero figure…he’s not Harry Potter anymore, but instead he’s a pureblood and my son. Their hero associates with people whom they are not very fond of and everything they were taught to be wrong in the Muggle world, now is connected to Orion.”
“They don’t feel comfortable to know that Orion has two fathers?” asked Regulus, who just walked into the library and carefully sat in an armchair next to his husband.
“No, they haven’t. The result of all of that is, that students attack one another more often, and they pretend it’s only practicing spells…which completely by accident ends up with someone they dislike being injured. Albus of course disregards the topic whenever someone from the school staff reports it to him,” continued Severus and smiled to Sirius’ brother, who was already five months pregnant and showing. He couldn’t help but remember how Sirius was carrying Orion and soon, he will be getting that baby bump again.
“Soon enough it will result in Dumbledore being forced to throw Moody out of Hogwarts. I know from the school council that they do not like what is going on in the castle, especially since Albus has ignored many Howlers from angry parents, worried about their children’s well-being,” Lucius informed them, while nervously glancing at Regulus. The blond didn’t know how to behave in front of the younger wizard; this was the first time he has seen a pregnant wizard so he was curious, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stare at the Dark Lord’s husband.
“Forgive me Lucius,” laughed Regulus, who noticed the glances the other wizard was sending his was. “I forgot you haven’t seen Sirius when he was pregnant with Orion, so this sight must be bizarre for you.”
“I wouldn’t say bizarre, but definitely this is a new experience,” explained Malfoy. “Regarding our conversation, though, Dumbledore is slowly losing the unlimited trust from many parents, so hopefully, by the end of this school year, Draco will be able to convince more half-bloods to join our cause in the future.”
“But Orion and Draco are safe, aren’t they?” asked Regulus.
“Yes, they are. I’m keeping an eye on them,” ensured them Severus.
“Good,” Tom summed it up and took a sip of his firewhiskey. “Speaking of safety, though. I believe that Sirius is all alone in the Edinburgh house.”
“Yes, he is,” answered Severus, although he didn’t know where this conversation was going.
“I think it would be for the best, if Regulus moved in with you for a while. After all, Sirius knows exactly what to do with male pregnancy and I’m guessing he is bored all alone there and waiting until his own child is born,” said Voldemort and quickly continued before younger Black could protest. “The orphanage is almost finished and there is not much work to be done here. You’d have more to do and you’d be safer with your brother in Edinburgh. I don’t need you hide here and sit cooped up in our chambers. Besides, you’re already five, almost six months pregnant…you’d be giving birth sometime in July, so it’s only three to four months.”
“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Tom. I will stay here, since it’s my home and I don’t feel like leaving you for such a long time,” said agitated Regulus, stood up with an annoyed huff and walked to the door. “And I can visit my brother whenever I feel like it, and not when you plan it for me.”
There was something awkward in watching younger Black reprimanding the Dark Lord. Severus and Lucius felt extremely embarrassed that they were acknowledging such a private moment, especially that it felt absurd to watch how helpless Voldemort was, when it came to arguing with his young husband. There was a long silence, while the Dark Lord rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to contain his irritation.
‘Dear Morgana, prevent my child from inheriting the irrational behaviour of the Blacks,’ thought Tom.
“My Lord, if I may,” Severus started uncertain. “There is one more thing…important thing that Sirius has discovered in the Department of Mysteries.”
“What is it?”
“The Unspeakables seem to be doing some special research regarding Grindelwald. Sirius saw some memories of him and his supposedly lover, but he didn’t find out the identity of that wizard.”
“Grindelwald fancies men?” asked Voldemort, genuinely surprised. He never would have thought that the said wizard was interested in anyone, but himself. Then again, most people would say the same about him.
“It seems like it. More importantly, Sirius and Andromeda have found out that at that time, Grindelwald has been friends with none other than Albus Dumbledore,” announced Severus.
“You think they could have been…,” Lucius couldn’t finish the sentence, because the images of Dumbledore getting close with Grindelwald sickened him.
“I don’t know if Albus was just his friend or someone more important, but if he was…that would explain many of his plans, but it might also be very dangerous for our cause,” explained the potions master.
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Meddling with Darkness