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
- 29
- 30
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, those really give me motivation to write :P So here is chapter 30 for you guys and just as promised...more Orion and more Draco :)
Chapter 30
The last day of July has finally come and Orion was overjoyed. So far, he has received a few letters from his friends, but he wasn’t really able to meet with them; as long as he was living in the Edinburgh house and his fathers weren’t trusted by the Order of the Phoenix, he couldn’t invite anyone over. Even visiting them in the Burrow was not really an option since there was a chance that Dumbledore would show up there and try to convince him that he wasn’t safe with his own parents. Today however, he would be able to meet with Ron and Hermione. They wrote him in their letters, that they would be going to Diagon Alley to check Fred and George’s store on that day, so they agreed to all meet up there, especially that it was Orion’s birthday.
“Good morning dad,” he greeted Sirius with a smile as he entered the dining room and sat by the grand table. He then addressed Severus, who was taking the newspaper from Hissy. “Good morning father.”
“Are you excited to go to London today?” asked him Sirius at the same time helping himself to at least five different types of cakes.
The teen was trying to contain his horrified facial expression, but it was very difficult to hide it completely. He liked sweets himself, but the amount of cakes and sweets his dad was devouring recently was unbelievable. Orion felt sick already from the thought of eating so much sugar and especially this early. He looked away so that Sirius wouldn’t notice his reaction, but Orion’s eyes met with Severus’ composed face; the teen however, knew already that in order to read his father’s emotion he had to look rather in his eyes than his mimic; and Severus’ eyes were desperately shouting to the teen not to make any comment about Sirius’ cravings or they will have to deal with a major tantrum for the rest of the day.
“Yes, it’s great to finally see everyone again,” answered Orion as he ate his breakfast. “I miss not being able to see my friends during summer…especially since last summer was really amazing. I got to spent so much time with Draco and then at Grimmauld Place.”
“I’m sorry that you can’t invite your friends here, pup,” said Sirius genuinely feeling bad about that fact.
“It’s all fine, dad. With all the crazy things going on right now in the wizarding world, it’s good that we even have a house that’s so strongly protected. I wouldn’t want to lose that…not now when I have the both of you and I’m going to be an older brother.”
Hearing that, the potions master looked from over the newspaper he was reading. His eyes filled with pride shifted from his son over to Sirius and he allowed the corners of his lips to gently move upwards. Severus was never one to show his emotions, but he was truly overjoyed by how things have turned out for them. Right now, even the annoying news in the Daily Prophet couldn’t ruin his good mood.
“Before we go to London, there are a few rules that we have to go through,” he said to his son. “By now, I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t put yourself into a dangerous situation, but that doesn’t mean others won’t try doing that.”
“Exactly,” agreed Sirius and looked sternly at the teen. Orion wasn’t really used to his dad being this serious, but apparently the pregnancy was bringing up the protective instincts in the wizard. “The Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix don’t really trust us right now. They are all under impression that we are hiding something and trying to drag you along with us. I dare say some are probably thinking we are trying to sacrifice you to the Dark Lord.”
“I know…if only they knew that he is my uncle,” Orion couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. This last few weeks he really has seen a completely different side of Voldemort – protective and loving father and husband; there were even times when the teen wondered if this was truly the same dark wizard that was capable of casting extremely powerful dark magic.
“We don’t have to remind you that absolutely no one can find out about the Dark Lord being a Black, right?” asked rhetorically Severus and the teen quickly nodded. “Good. If you’re done with breakfast, I suggest we go already. I dislike the crowds.”
“Before you leave though,” said Sirius standing up from the table and walking over to his husband. “We wanted to show you something.”
The three of them walked out of the room and headed down to the basement. Orion was quite surprised but also excited to see what it was that they wanted to show him, since as far as he knew there was only the kitchen and Severus’ potion chamber there; and he was pretty certain his father didn’t have anything particularly interesting to show him there. As he predicted, the potions chamber wasn’t the surprise they had for him, because they walked next to it, without even mentioning the room. They headed further down the corridor until they reached door to a chamber which Orion always thought was empty and closed; he even forgot about its existence.
“You can go inside,” told him Sirius; pure excitement, like a little kid visible on his face.
The teen opened the door, but it was very dark inside and he couldn’t see anything. Seconds later, Severus cast a spell and every candle and lamp in the chamber lit up immediately. Orion was stunned by what he was seeing. The room was rather big, probably even bigger than his father’s potions chamber; there was a large table at the far end of the room, at least a four tall cabinets by the side walls, each filled with different powders, potions and other magical ingredients. In the middle of the room, on the floor there was drawn a huge, elaborate seal with ancient runes.
“What is this place?” Orion asked still a little bit shocked and walked forward to the big table where he spotted a fairly big box wrapped in a colourful paper and a bow. He opened the box and his eyes landed on a thick, very old, but still well maintained book. Already at the first glance, he recognized it; it was a book on enchantments that he was actually trying to buy, but none of the bookshops seemed to have had it instore. “How did you get it? It’s almost impossible to buy it.”
“Happy birthday Orion,” Sirius smiled seeing pure joy on the teen’s face. “We managed to find one in a private collection and well…you seemed to be very interested in the topic.”
“With this book and this chamber, you will be able to safely practice and make enchanted objects,” explained Severus and gave his son a proud look. “This is all yours now.”
“Wait…you mean…this entire chamber is for me? Just like your potions lab?”
“Yes. After all, it’s better if your work is done in here, and your bedroom remains just your bedroom,” answered Severus and allowed the teen to check out everything in the room.
It took a while for Orion to fully enjoy his birthday present, which became somewhat of a problem to the potions master later on; initially, he planned to apparate with Orion to Diagon Alley in the morning, so that they would be done with all their business in three hours at most and head back home. That way, they’d be able to avoid the biggest crowds, which Severus sincerely hated. In the end, they got to London shortly before noon and the potions master couldn’t help but let out a pained groan when he saw the street already bustling with noisy families and teens.
“My apology father,” said Orion and tried hard not to laugh at the pure disgust on the older wizard’s face as some five year old kid tripped right next to him and nearly smeared a booger hanging from his nose on Severus’ robes.
“Let’s just make this visit quick,” said Severus and as he spotted the familiar faces of Hermione and Ron walking their way, his expression changed to a very serious and stern one. “I need to go to the Gringotts and apothecary.”
“Good morning…Mr…professor…Snape,” Hermione stuttered greeting her friend’s father, not sure how to address the wizard now that he wasn’t their teacher. At the same time, Ron was hiding behind Hermione, but the look on his face was saying he was about to run away.
“Good morning Ms Granger…Mr Weasley,” Severus uttered the greeting and looked back to his son, who was obviously having too much fun watching the entire scene. “I want to see you here in two hours and not a minute later.”
Orion nodded in agreement and almost with a grin on his face watched his father walk away. He then turned around to face his friends. The teen nearly burst out laughing seeing Hermione and Ron still all tense; come to think of it, he hasn’t seen the two of them this freaked out before any exam or potions class before.
“Bloody hell mate…I thought he couldn’t get any scarier than in school,” Ron let out a sigh of relief when the potions master vanished from their sight.
“What do you mean? Father is actually in a not so bad mood today,” said Orion and lead the way to the twin’s joke shop.
“Are you mental? That was his good mood?”
“Oh stop it Ron, it wasn’t too bad. At least we survived,” Hermione reprimanded the red-haired teen, but in all honesty she also felt great relief that they didn’t have to deal with Snape anymore. “But speaking of which…how should we address your father right now Orion? He didn’t look very pleased with my greeting.”
“Well I wouldn’t use the name Snape to be honest. He went along with the fact that most people knew him by that family name, but his real family name is Prince…and since he married dad his official name is Severus Prince-Black,” explained Orion on their way to Fred and George’s shop.
The three of them arrived at the joke shop only to be greeted by the twins’ themselves. They were given a grand tour of the store as well as a presentation of all the products they were offering. As usual, Fred and George were tormenting their younger brother, but apparently Hermione also became their newest target; especially when they stopped by the ‘love potions’ stand. The twins spared Orion from their jokes, but young Black suspected that had something to do with the fact that they were trying to show their gratitude to him for investing in their shop. All in all, the black haired teen was rather impressed by what the twins have done with the place and how many customers they already had. He couldn’t help a smirk growing on his face as he praised himself for a good investment.
The time in the joke shop seemed to have been flying by too fast. Before they even realised, an hour has passed. They were leaving the store with bags full of different joke and trick products; or at least Ron had his bag full of those. Afterwards they went to the Ice cream parlour of Mr Fortescue. They ordered a big ice cream sundae each and handed Orion their birthday presents. Hermione gifted him some rare book on ancient runes, while Ron gave him new gloves for quidditch.
“Thank you, I really appreciate those,” young Black said to his friends. “But you really didn’t have to. I’m already happy that I’m able to see you before school year. It’s not like I can see anyone during summer.”
“Aren’t you allowed to go out or invite anyone over?” asked Ron gobbling his ice cream. “I thought it’s going to be more fun now that you live with your dad.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it is great to live with my parents. I have my own bedroom, a big library and even special chambers to practice spells and potions…so it’s not like I have a reason to complain. It’s just that because of all the odd things going on recently and for dad’s safety it’s better that I stay home,” explained the teen.
“So you have noticed those weird things happening too?” Hermione quickly got interested in the topic. “It’s really starting to worry me. To be honest with you, I’m a bit concerned that something might happen to my family while I’m in Hogwarts. I’m fairly certain that Chloe is a witch just like me, but when I’m back in school, my parents can’t really protect her or themselves if some dark witch or wizard shows up at their doorstep.”
“You have nothing to worry about ‘Mione,” Ron tried to reassure her. “We are on the good side. The Ministry might be going a bit crazy lately, but they are mostly going after the suspicious lot. Worst case scenario, we have always the Order to help us and our families.”
Ron continued his monologue for a couple more minutes, completely oblivious of his friend’s reaction. Young Black sat silently, allowing the red-haired teen to speak his mind, but for the first time this summer he actually started contemplating on his own situation and he didn’t like it at all. Until now, he calmly enjoyed his summer break with his family, but only now the realisation hit him that they were actually hiding. His fathers might make him feel safe in their house, but the truth was that indeed some odd things were happening out there and probably if he would simply wander out freely among the wizarding folk, he would meet with more than one unpleasant situation; maybe he would even be in danger.
“Orion? Are you alright?” asked Hermione concerned. “Are you worried about something?...Don’t tell me Voldemort was trying to get to you again,” she added in a hushed voice.
For a second, Black’s breath got quicker as he thought that Hermione figured out that he has met with the Dark Lord already in person. However, he quickly reminded himself that the witch was only referring to the few dreams about the dark wizard that he used to have years ago. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
“It’s just that…I’m safe at home with dad and father, but the truth is that right now the wizarding world is not such a safe place for me,” explained Orion.
“You mean with HIM back right?” asked Ron.
“No, not really. To be honest, he doesn’t seem to be interested in me in the slightest…from what father told me.”
“You mean…your father is still meeting with…HIM?” asked Hermione both surprised and terrified. She thought that the potions master was attending Death Eaters’ meetings only to get information for the Order of the Phoenix.
“Dumbledore made him be a spy for the Order…but even now that the Order doesn’t trust father…it’s not like he can just stop showing up to those meetings,” explained Orion. “It’s kind of unfair of the Order to just turn their backs at dad and father simply because they were protecting the privacy of our family. We all know Moody’s paranoia and his methods…to be honest, I don’t blame my dad that he was afraid to stay in his presence, especially when he already knew that he was pregnant. Who knows how Mad-Eye would have reacted to such information.”
“That’s true, but I’m sure the Order will get over it. After all, they wouldn’t just leave you and Sirius in danger,” Hermione tried to reason.
“The problem is, it’s not only the Order that doesn’t trust us anymore,” said the black-haired teen and turned his voice down not to attract too much unwanted attention to their conversation. “For some reason the Ministry doesn’t trust us either. They are trying to undermine our day care for magical children. Not only that, recently they have been raiding pureblood families’ houses, saying that they are all dark and dangerous. I’ve heard they already raided Tonks’ house and even took Remus for questioning. I’ve heard from uncle Lucius that the Ministry is dead set on checking all estates of my family, but so far our magical contracts are intact so they can’t.”
Ron and Hermione exchanged shocked glances when they heard their friend refer to Mr Malfoy as uncle, but they decided to let it go for the time being. “What magical contracts do you mean, though?” asked the witch genuinely intrigued.
“There is this old law that the head of a wizarding family can make a magical contract with the Ministry that forbids the Ministry officials to raid their house. It doesn’t forbid the Aurors to control the household altogether, but at least it stops them from unceremoniously barging into the house in the middle of the night and turning everything upside down,” Orion explained and felt a bit of satisfaction when he saw the shock on Hermione’s face. The witch praised herself on knowing everything about wizarding law, but right now it became obvious she wasn’t such an expert when it came to old wizarding traditions and laws. Black however, wouldn’t call himself an expert on the topic, but this last year he has been studying old laws and history, because he had a feeling it might come in handy at some point; especially now, when he knew he belonged to a pureblood family.
The three teens continued their conversation for a long time; discussing all the odd incidents that have been taking place, as well as the Blacks’ newest enterprise. Hermione seemed to be particularly interested in that subject and after half an hour it became clear to Orion that his friend was already analysing if it would be a good idea to maybe place her sister in such day care. Black only smiled to himself, feeling proud that his idea was meeting with some good response from the wizarding community; after all, this was supposed to help magical children around the country, so that they wouldn’t have to suffer living with such horrible Muggle families like the Dursleys.
“Orion? What are you doing here?” just as they were passing by Madame Malkin’s shop and heading towards the Leaky Cauldron, a familiar male voice interrupted them.
All three looked at the young, elegant wizard coming out of the robes’ shop with a few boxes in his hands. Neither Ron nor Hermione knew the man, but his face seemed awfully familiar. They were trying to remember where did they see this man, but they simply couldn’t find the answer. Orion however, smiled genuinely and approached the wizard to greet him properly.
“Uncle Regulus, so good to see you,” said young Black and reached for the boxes the man was carrying. “Do you need some help with those?”
“No, thank you. I can handle this much,” Regulus laughed heartily and turned his attention to the other two teens, who were gawking at him in disbelief. He thought back a laugh seeing their faces. “You must be Ms Granger and Mr Weasley,” he tried to catch their attention. “I have heard quite a bit about you from Orion, Sirius and Severus.”
“Oh…that can’t be good,” the red-haired boy muttered to himself loud enough for the others to hear.
“Don’t take it personally. Severus usually has snarky comments…even about his own husband and son,” said the older Black and sent Orion a questioning look.
“That’s true,” agreed the teen and laughed remembering how straightforward his father got last week when Orion managed to blow up a cauldron. “Speaking of whom…we should be heading to the Leaky Cauldron or father is going to make me scrub every inch of his potions chamber.”
“Without a doubt,” laughed Regulus and handed one of the boxes to his nephew. “I’m glad that I ran into you. Give this to your dad…it’s already a little something that I got for your baby brother or sister. I don’t know when I’ll be able to visit…now that there is so much going on with the day care and Phineas.”
“That’s understandable, but by all means uncle, please visit us. I’ll gladly take care of Phin.”
“I’ll keep that in mind Orion,” he shook hands with the teens before leaving them by the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron and added. “I have to go back now. I’m sure Phineas is giving his father a headache.”
As soon as Regulus vanished somewhere in the crowd, Hermione looked questioningly at Ron, who seemed as clueless as she was after meeting Sirius’ brother. She then stared at Orion and asked, “Who is Phineas?”
“He’s my cousin,” answered Orion with a wide grin on his face. “To be honest I’m shocked that uncle Regulus is so energetic and running errands by himself…after all it’s been only two weeks since Phin was born. I wonder if dad will be just as energetic after the baby is born.”
“W-wait…,” Ron stopped dead just in front of the door to the pub. “You mean…your uncle had your cousin?...as in…gave birth to him?”
“Well technically speaking I wouldn’t call it giving birth…at least not in the way you are probably picturing right now, judging by the look on your face,” explained Orion fighting back a laugh. “But yes, he was the one who carried my cousin for nine months.”
“Are all the Blacks bent wizards?” asked Hermione turning her voice down, so that no one else heard them. “Your dad and now his younger brother…they are both married to wizards and have children with them…”
Their conversation came to an end the moment they entered the pub and Hermione never got the answer to her question; even though in all honesty, she didn’t expect to get any answer. In her opinion it was supposed to be a rhetorical question; she knew it had to be a coincidence that both Sirius and Regulus ended up marrying men. Orion however, started contemplating on that. He knew that not every Black was gay, but he started wondering about himself. Did he fancy girls or boys? If he preferred girls than why was he constantly having dreams about Draco? What if he did indeed fancy wizards?
The last few days have been rather grim at the Malfoy Manor. There were no visitors; there was no sound of Narcissa’s favourite music; the garden and surroundings of the estate seemed silent and lifeless; even the house elves were trying more than usual to interfere as little as possible with their masters’ activities. However tonight, the atmosphere in the manor was particularly dreary. By now, everyone knew that Abraxas Malfoy was sick and beyond saving, but it seemed as if after so many months, the wizard’s time has finally come.
Draco was sitting alone in the drawing room, mindlessly staring at the fireplace, as if he was expecting someone to appear there. The room was dimly lit, but the teen didn’t seem to mind that. His face was calm and composed as usual, but on the inside he was a wreck. The news about his grandfather’s sickness took him by surprise and even though he knew that Dragon Pox was practically a death sentence for older people, but yet all these weeks he still had a little bit of hope that Abraxas would stay with them for a bit longer; he wouldn’t mind even if it would be just a month longer or even a week. The blond knew one thing – he was not ready for his grandfather to leave them. Draco didn’t quite understand why this had such a strong impact on him; after all, Abraxas was always very reserved and was never very affectionate towards him; nevertheless, Abraxas was always there. Even if Draco spent ten months in Hogwarts, he knew that every time he would come back home, his grandfather was going to be there.
“Draco,” a soft, quiet voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up and he saw his mother standing next to the armchair, in which he was sitting. The witch gently placed her hand on the teen’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “It’s time Draco. He wants to see you.”
The teen knew there was no way to prevent the inevitable, so he stood up from the armchair, exchanged saddened glances with Narcissa and walked out of the room. He slowly headed towards the grand staircase and in the direction of his grandfather’s chambers. He walked down the silent corridor and realised this was probably the last time he would speak with the older wizard. Draco suddenly felt great difficulty breathing; he was panicking. He wasn’t ready for such changes in his life and it scared him. Losing Abraxas was like losing one of the pillars of his life that gave him this feeling of stability and security.
‘I’m not ready for this,’ ran through his mind as he looked at the light coming from the chamber at the end of the dark corridor. He noticed his father waiting for him by Abraxas’ room and Draco knew he had to get a hold of himself. This situation was difficult for him, but even more so for Lucius. The teen couldn’t imagine how his father had to feel right now. And yet, Lucius still managed to keep up the proper Malfoy mask; something Draco was certain his father was doing to keep Abraxas proud.
“Father, Draco is here,” Lucius announced his son’s arrival. The teen stood next to his father, but his eyes were staring at the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to look up at his grandfather; he wanted to keep the image of his strong, influential grandfather in his head.
“Leave us Lucius. I want to speak with my grandson alone,” a shaky voice of the oldest wizard came from the room.
Lucius hesitated for a moment, but bowed down his head and without another word left the room. Draco watched his father walking slowly towards the stairs, but then he heard his grandfather’s voice calling him.
“Draco, I didn’t want you to come here…to get near me in my current state, but there is something I have to talk with you about,” the words were slowly and painfully coming out of the wizard’s lips, but he still forced himself to keep going. The teen couldn’t ignore his grandfather anymore and he lifted his head up. He saw the entrance to the room blocked by some magical barrier, which was set most likely to prevent anyone else from getting sick. Inside the room, he saw Abraxas lying on his bed; the disease took its toll on the man’s body, but to Draco’s satisfaction he could see that the wizard had still very strong will. Abraxas recognized his grandson and his mind was functioning perfectly fine. The teen smiled lightly that at least the sickness didn’t take this much away from his grandfather. “I don’t have much time Draco, but I want you to hear something. I know you’re unhappy about the engagement preparations…but I don’t want you to be mad at you parents. I rushed your father to organise everything.”
“Grandfather, it’s alright…I might not be happy about it now, but I know it’s my duty as Malfoy heir. You don’t have to worry about this…I will secure our bloodline,” the teen tried to reassure the older man.
“I know you will. I have faith in you Draco. I know you will find a perfect spouse for yourself…,” he breathed heavily and gestured to one of the house elves to take something from the nearby table. “Take it Draco.”
The blond looked curiously at the envelope that the elf handed him and asked. “Grandfather, what is this?”
“It’s nothing to worry about…you don’t have to read it right now. In fact, I would prefer you to first think about what do you want, find a way to get it and make it work.”
“Grandfather…I’m afraid I don’t understand. If it’s about the engagement…I promise you, I will find someone worthy of becoming a Malfoy. So please, don’t worry about that.”
“I’m worried about you not acting Malfoy enough,” Abraxas managed to smirk seeing his grandson completely taken aback by his words. “When a Malfoy finds something important and dear to him, he doesn’t hesitate…he finds a way to get that.”
A sudden disturbance in the house wards followed by loud, heated conversation coming from the main hall caught Draco’s attention. He didn’t quite understand what Abraxas meant; it simply didn’t make any sense – first he wanted to talk about the engagement and now he was telling him he wasn’t acting Malfoy enough. If there was anything Draco was amazing at, it would be acting all proud like every Malfoy heir should.
“Who do you think you are?! You can’t just show up here and demand entrance!” he could barely make out any words from the conversation downstairs but he managed to hear this much and he didn’t like the sound of it one bit. Someone had the nerve to show up here when the head of their family was in agony.
“Draco…” he heard Abraxas’ pained voice. The man’s breathing became very slow and his eyes were already closed as if he didn’t have any more strength to keep them open. “Be yourself…but before you decide on any engagement contract…please find a perfect person…perfect for you…and then read this letter.”
The teen looked at the envelope in his hands trying to figure out what to say. He honestly wasn’t sure if Abraxas was encouraging him to just find someone he loved or to choose a witch that would perfectly fit to their family. Either way he felt he shouldn’t oppose the wizard, especially when he was on his death bed; but then again, he didn’t want to make a promise that he would regret for the rest of his life. He looked up again and saw the man’s chest moving up and down very slowly. Draco was out of words; all he could do was stare terrified at his grandfather’s breathing getting slower and slower until his chest finally stopped moving at all.
“What is the meaning of this! You can’t go there!” enraged voice of Lucius could be heard already on the stairs. Moments later a group of ten Aurors showed up at the end of the corridor and headed towards Abraxas’ chambers.
At that moment Draco didn’t feel anything. The fear that he has felt these last few weeks has vanished and the rightful anger at the obnoxious behaviour of the Ministry officials didn’t start growing yet; all he could feel right now was relief that Abraxas was not there to witness such an impudent violation of their privacy. As the group was getting closer to him, the blond quickly hid the letter from Abraxas into his pocket and discreetly wiped away the few tears that rolled down his cheek.
“What are you hiding Mr Malfoy?” asked one of the Aurors and rushed to the room where Draco was standing.
“You have no right to be here! You are breaking the law! We have a contract with the Ministry!” Lucius protested. It was clear that his entire frustration and fear of losing his father was coming out now. He was about to take out his wand and cast a few curses to get rid of the Aurors, but he stopped when one of them looked into Abraxas’ room, then turned around to face him.
“I don’t think your contract with the Ministry is valid anymore…Mr Malfoy,” informed him the Auror with slight satisfaction in his voice. They have been waiting for over a week now to be able to invade Malfoy Manor, and now the law was on their side.
Narcissa walked closer to her husband and grabbed his hand in her own. She couldn’t have imagined a worse way for Lucius to find out that his father has passed away, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She didn’t even want to fight with the impertinent witches and wizards from the Ministry, so she allowed them to run around the Manor and continue their raid. The witch knew there was nothing they would find; they were aware of the Ministry keeping an eye on them for weeks now, so they managed to secure everything that the Aurors might find suspicious. Right now, she only wanted to focus on her husband and son. Coming from the Blacks and being married to a Malfoy for years now, she felt a great need to put the Ministry officials in their place for such horrible lack of respect, but she also knew that they would get what they had coming. They simply had to wait for the right moment; but when that moment would come, the Ministry would pay for disrespecting the Malfoys and their dead.
The sun was already setting when Charlie apparated back home from his escapade. He was tired, sweaty and out of breath, but most of all, he was agitated and focused on his mission. A mission he imposed on himself, even though he knew it was a crime what he was doing. Right now though, he didn’t care about it at all. The only thing on his mind was to sneak into the Burrow, contact his future in-laws and apparate to Romania.
“Bollocks!” he cursed to himself when he noticed his mother nervously pacing in front of the door. Charlie had feared his family might have noticed his absence and that they will get into yet another argument about the dragons. But even if that was the case, he had to get inside the house and proceed with his plan.
The wizard wrapped the cloak tighter around himself. It was rather obvious he was hiding something underneath it and holding it tightly as if his life depended on it. He took a longer route around the house to sneak in the back door; he hoped to avoid meeting his mother and hopefully any other members of his family. Everything was going according to the plan and ten minutes later, he was already slipping into the kitchen and closing the door behind him when he heard a very familiar grunt coming from not far behind him.
“Care to explain where you were and why are you sneaking into the house like some thief?” a calm yet angry voice of his father could be heard.
Arthur Weasley was a calm and easy-going person, but there were a few times he got really angry at his children and Charlie was very well aware of that. This was one of those times and it meant trouble. The younger wizard simply turned around and faced his father, who was looking rather impatient; his expression demanding answers from Charlie. Molly Weasley showed up in the kitchen only moments later.
“Where have you been?” she started one of her usual long and loud lectures. She was even more serious about those ever since about a week ago Charlie came back home and told them everything he has witnessed regarding the attacks on dragons.
Charlie loved his parents and appreciated that they were worried about him, but he was an adult and he was more than capable to take a risk every now and then, especially if he was ready to take responsibility for his actions afterwards. Now however, he didn’t have time or patience to deal with his parents’ reaction. He squeezed the round object he was holding under his cloak and without as much as an explanation, he swiftly moved past his parents out of the kitchen and headed for the staircase.
“Your mother is talking to you!” his father stormed and followed Charlie into the living room. The unusual behaviour of Arthur managed to catch the attention of the other Weasley children who in a matter of seconds came downstairs running from their rooms.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t the right time,” Charlie gave them a short answer, which didn’t really answer any of their questions. He met the curious stares of Bill, Ginny and Ron as he passed them on the stairs. “I will explain everything later, but right now I honestly need to contact Viviana and her family.”
“Not this again! Charlie, what has happened to you?! Ever since you’ve met that girl and that family you’ve been acting odd, you’ve been putting yourself in danger and you have been keeping secrets from us,” Mrs Weasley’s voice was gradually changing from shouting to whining. She was slowly losing control of what was going on with this family and she felt scared. She didn’t want to admit it, but the fact that Voldemort was back, hiding somewhere and plotting something was already putting her on edge. And she couldn’t help but worry even more every time her family went out of the house; she knew her fears were irrational at times, but a tiny annoying voice in the back of her head was constantly questioning the fact that they will all come back home safe.
“Charlie,” Bill tried to gently reason with his younger brother. He knew how much their parents were scared of the uncertainty of the times lately and his brother vanishing somewhere for a few hours didn’t help much. “Just tell mum and dad where you were.”
“That’s not going to help much and I really need to go to Romania fast,” he protested and earned confused stares from his siblings.
“What is going on Charlie? You wanted to spend this summer with us and out of the blue you’re going back to Romania?” Arthur’s voice came back to normal; he wasn’t angry anymore, but he definitely was worried. “Is this about Viviana?”
“No, it’s not about Viviana…although I need her family’s help. I will explain everything when I get back, but right now I really have to hurry.”
“Are you in trouble?” asked Ginny who right now was as worried as everybody else. Her eyes then landed on the mysterious object that Charlie was hiding in his arms. “And what is that thing?”
“What thing?” Mrs Weasley rushed over to her children and demanded to see what it was that Charlie was hiding. She couldn’t see what it was through the cloak, but she feared it had something to do with her son’s recent obsession. “Please don’t tell me you went tracking those dragon tamers again.”
“They can hardly be called tamers. More like murderers,” Charlie nearly hissed remembering his last meeting with the vile people.
“You did not get involved with those people,” Molly said and glared at her son demanding an answer.
“No I didn’t, mum. I managed to get there before them.”
“You did not…” Mrs Weasley broke into cold sweat and was unable to finish her sentence.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. No one has seen me,” explained Charlie, but his irritation grew as soon as both his parents and siblings opened their mouths to protest and lecture him. “I don’t have time for this right now. I need to take this dragon egg to Romania to safety.”
After his statement, all hell broke loose in the Burrow. Usually the Weasley siblings supported one another and thought their parents were a bit too overprotective, but this time was different. They all heard about unexplained incidents happening all over Great Britain and they were starting to feel the uncertainty of the times as well; and because of that, this time, they all agreed that what Charlie was doing was reckless. Even if he was still working in the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania, his actions right now could be considered almost illegal, but they knew that he wasn’t working in the Sanctuary anymore, and that meant that he was trying to smuggle a dragon egg out of the country.
“Are you trying to get yourself into Azkaban?!” Molly yelled at her son.
“If it was possible to reason with these people I would, but it’s not…what they are doing is downright wrong and I will not just stand by and do nothing!”
As the fight continued to escalate all of them got back to the living room. It seemed as if they didn’t notice anything that was going on around them. It wasn’t until about ten minutes later that Ron’s attention switched to something that he has spotted outside. At first, he wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real, because it seemed so absurd. Within few seconds about a dozen people apparated outside of their house. Most of them were keeping their distance from the house, but they were nonetheless surrounding the building. The next thing he spotted was a single figure stepping away from the others and marching towards the entrance.
“Mum, dad! Someone’s coming,” he shouted to get their attention and got away from the window.
Bill was the first one of them to rush to the other window. He cursed the moment he saw a group surrounding the Burrow; judging by the looks of it there were only two possibilities – those were either Death Eaters or Aurors. Either way, it was bad. In mere moments the Weasleys had their wands ready and waiting for the attack. That however, never happened. Instead, there was a knock on their front door.
“Arthur! Molly! This is Amelia Bones,” came a calm but strict voice from the other side of the door.
Mr Weasley rushed to open the door. He knew this sudden visit from the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement couldn’t mean anything good, but resistance would make things only worse. He opened the door and greeted the witch.
“I’m afraid this won’t be a pleasant visit Arthur,” she informed the man with an apologetic look on her face. She then quickly rose her wand and cast an Expeliarmus on Charlie.
“Amelia! What is the meaning of this?! You know my family. I don’t know why you’re here, but we are no criminals…there is no reason to cast spells,” the man protested.
“I’m sorry Arthur. This is difficult, because I know you’re good people, but I’m afraid Charlie will have to go with us. He was accused of aggravating the dragons around the country which led to them attacking both Muggle and wizarding communities,” she explained and cast an Incarcerous on Charlie who instantly dropped to the floor all tied up with magical ropes.
“That’s not true!” Ron walked over to his brother lying on the floor and tried to reason with the Ministry witch. “Charlie loves dragons, he would never do anything to harm them!”
Madame Bones didn’t even bother to look at Ron. She cast a non-verbal spell and the next thing they all saw was a dragon egg, which Charlie hid right before the Aurors arrived, came flying towards the witch. “I believe this is enough evidence to prove that Mr Charles Weasley here,” she pointed to the young man on the floor and at the same time two other Aurors came rushing into the house to pick up Charlie “ stole a dragon egg from a female dragon. We have been seeing this very often lately…missing dragon eggs and a rampaging dragons searching for their young ones.”
The two men held Charlie by the tied up arms and led him out of the house, while Molly and Arthur followed them shouting and protesting. They tried reasoning with the Aurors that it’s only a misunderstanding and their son is innocent, but the Ministry officials weren’t listening to them.
“I’m truly sorry for this, but we have to do our job,” Madam Bones stopped next to Mr and Mrs Weasley and looked them in the eye. “But I’m afraid right now, the situation and evidence against your son is indisputable.”
Orion was spending yet another evening in his new study. He was absolutely fascinated with arithmancy and ancient runes and ever since his birthday he has been spending long hours in the basement experimenting with enchanting different objects. He was still far from mastering the field, but he already had some success.
The teen was about to give his latest experiment another try, when he felt considerably strong disturbance in the house’s wards. Normally, he wouldn’t give it much thought, since he could feel the changes in the wards every time his father or uncle apparated somewhere, but this time was different. This time Orion could feel the great strain on the wards, but only for a few moments. It seemed as if whoever apparated onto their property didn’t intend to destroy the house’s security. However, it still made the teen curious enough to call it a day and head upstairs to find his parents.
As he walked up to the main floor of the house, he noticed light in the drawing room and he heard familiar voices coming from that direction. Suddenly he felt excitement and he was about to rush into the room, but he stopped midway, surprised by his own reaction.
“What am I getting so excited about?” he muttered to himself as he realised his hands got a bit sweaty, his heart was beating faster as if he just finished a quidditch game and he had a goofy smile plastered on his face. He looked into the mirror hanging on the wall in the corridor and scolded himself for such behaviour.
“Orion, it’s so good to see you,” the moment he entered the room, he was greeted by his aunt Narcissa.
She looked somewhat tired, but still elegant and composed like she usually did. The witch was sitting on the sofa, next to Sirius. Black was smiling to his son, but there was concern visible in his eyes. Severus and Lucius were sitting in two armchairs opposite the sofa. The potions master had his usual blank expression, which didn’t explain the situation to Orion at all. The teen’s gaze landed on Lucius and he subconsciously made one step back. Lucius looked like a ghost; he was sitting there and talking with his fathers, but his look was absent. It seemed as if he was in some kind of a trance; the man was physically there, but his soul and mind were elsewhere.
“It’s good to see you too, aunt,” he replied after a moment. He wasn’t sure what was the reason for their visit, but judging by the looks of it, it couldn’t be anything good; even if everyone tried to act normal.
Orion looked around the room and automatically smiled when his eyes landed on the person standing by the window. His cousin was casually leaning on the wall and looking outside the window as if there was something interesting going on there. As if feeling Orion’s excitement about him being there, Draco looked his way and he locked eyes with younger Black. For the second time that day, Orion felt his heart pounding in his chest for no reason and he couldn’t take his eyes away from the blond teen.
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ he asked himself trying to calm his heartbeat. He was aware that for the last two minutes no one in the room has said anything and he was staring at Draco. He knew it was definitely awkward, but he couldn’t help himself. For whatever reason, he was still staring in those light, grey eyes and silently taking in every single detail of Draco’s appearance. Orion didn’t understand what was going on with him; it felt as if someone has took control over him and forced him to notice every small gesture the blond teen made, every move of his chest or his muscles. ‘Orion, stop staring at him!’ his inner voice yelled to him, but with no success. Only then, when the corners of Draco’s lips moved upwards ever so slightly, sending a weak, but genuine smile in his direction did Black manage to smile back and look away.
“Orion, Narcissa and Draco will be staying here with us for the rest of summer,” Sirius cleared his throat catching his son’s attention. The pregnant wizard, just like the rest of the adults in the room, noticed the awkward moment between the two boys, but it was obvious only he and Narcissa understood what was going on. Severus and Lucius remained oblivious of the nature of the tension between their sons, but Sirius exchanged knowing looks with his cousin and smiled. “Lucius will be going back to Malfoy Manor later, though. Could you please show Draco the way to his room?”
“…to his room?” Orion stammered, still unable to focus on his dad’s words.
“Yes, pup,” Sirius had to bite himself not to laugh at his son’s reaction. “He can stay in the room next to yours. I believe Hissy has already placed Draco’s belongings there.”
“Um…yes, sure,” younger Black replied and waited for the blond to follow him out of the room.
The two of them left the adults in the drawing room and walked down the hallway to the stairs. Orion led the way up to the second floor. Both of them remained silent as they walked up the stairs and that silence was getting Orion even more nervous than he already was. Black was annoyed by the fact that his body was reacting unexpectedly to his cousin’s presence; something that never happened to him before or at least not in such a way. And the lack of response from the blond teen was making him even more nervous and self-conscious. As they reached the first floor and turned left to head for another flight of stairs, Orion gathered his courage and glanced at the other teen.
Draco was silent and his face expressionless. All in all, he didn’t look much different than his usual self, but Orion could almost feel that something was deeply bothering the blond. He noticed something in Draco’s eyes that he hasn’t seen ever before. His eyes were looking somewhat absently at the surroundings, but they weren’t as detached from the reality as Lucius’. He looked as if he didn’t have any strength or determination left in him; he was completely beat and it pained Orion to see Draco in such a state. He felt the sudden need to do something to help him and he would do anything as long as the usual spark of self-confidence showed up again in those amazing grey eyes.
“This is my room,” he gestured to the first door on the right as they got to the second floor.
Black noticed the other teen looked in the direction of his room and nodded. It seemed this was as much enthusiasm as he would get from the blond. He smiled weakly to his cousin and walked over to the second door, where Draco would be staying for the next three or so weeks. They entered the bedroom and the lights instantly lit up. The room was very similar to Orion’s bedroom, but decorated in more neutral colours. For the time being it was serving as a guest room, but young Black smiled as the thought ran through his mind that in a few years this room would probably belong to his baby brother or sister.
“…I’m guessing you’re tired?” he mumbled not sure how to act when Draco was in such a state. He watched the blond silently checking if all of his things were there. “…I um…I’m gonna give you some space. If you need anything just call Hissy…or find me…”
Orion felt awkward just talking when he wasn’t getting any response from the other teen. He could feel that something was wrong, but he didn’t dare to ask the blond, so after a moment he decided to leave Draco alone and go to his own room.
He sighed heavily resigned and reached out for the doorknob, when he heard sudden movement behind his back. The next thing he knew, a pair of two slender but strong arms slithered around him and wrapped themselves tightly around his torso. They were keeping him securely not allowing to move. One arm rested around his abdomen and reached to his hip, while the other crossed through his chest and touched his shoulder. He felt a hard strong torso positioning itself behind him. The embrace was tight and it felt almost as if the other teen was trying to pull Black as close as it was only possible. Orion felt his heart beating like crazy, as if it was trying to get out of his chest because he could literally feel the hard and loud beating all over his body. He felt the blood in his veins rushing through his entire body and his breathing getting faster again. It took him a few moments and deep breaths to calm down and be able to think straight, and only then did he realise that it wasn’t only he that was reacting this way. What he thought was his own heart trying to jump out of his chest was actually the feeling of the blond teen’s heartbeat against his back.
“Draco?” his lips parted a bit to catch a bit more air and even his breathing before he decided to get the other wizard’s attention.
“Bear with me for a bit longer Orion,” came a quiet honest plea. The voice was barely audible, but Orion’s ear was only inches away from where the blond rested his head on Black’s shoulder, and he could feel the warm breath of Draco on the side of his neck, ear and cheek.
Orion didn’t say anything else. Mainly because he was left speechless, but also not only because he didn’t feel offended by the blond’s actions, but also because it felt truly good and right. He couldn’t really explain it, but feeling Draco so close simply made him feel good and safe, even though he didn’t feel like he was in any danger at all. Draco’s embrace was still giving him this whole new level of safety that he has never felt; it was something special and he loved that feeling. They remained like that for a longer time; they weren’t even able to say how much time has passed, but Orion felt that Draco was relaxing against his body.
“I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad if my presence helps you,” Orion whispered and subconsciously one of his hands wandered up and rested on Draco’s hand.
There was a moment of silence and then Draco chuckled next to the black-haired teen’s ear. “It seems like no matter how much control I have over my emotions, you are the only person that can control them better than myself.”
For a second Orion wasn’t sure if he understood the blond correctly and a faint blush creeped onto his face. He couldn’t help but remember one evening about three weeks ago when he accidentally overheard his fathers’ conversation, as Severus said something very similar to Sirius. The blush on Orion’s face changed into a darker shade of red as he was reminded of the passionate kiss that the two wizards shared afterwards. This situation right now reminded him of that memory so much, that he started to panic again and quickly pulled away from Draco.
The blond felt his cousin’s fidgeting and allowed him to escape from his embrace. He felt hurt by the sudden rejection from Orion, but he smiled to the teen anyway. He didn’t feel guilty for anything he has done, because everything he did and said was true. For a moment he even thought that young Black feels the same way, but now, seeing his horrified eyes, Draco wasn’t so certain anymore.
‘Am I no good after all? Did he kiss me back than only because he was drunk?’ ran through the blond’s mind. He was hoping that maybe he should listen to his grandfather’s words and just make the first move to get what he wanted, but he didn’t want to force Orion. Draco knew he would never be capable of forcing Black to be with him, but deep inside he truly hoped that Orion felt some kind of affection for him.
“I’m sorry Orion. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Draco tried to apologize.
“Pfff, don’t flatter yourself Draco. You didn’t scare me,” young Black pretended he was tough and what just happened didn’t faze him, but it was obvious he was trying to get away from this room. “I just thought you want to get some rest…I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.”
Not waiting for the blond’s reaction, he slipped out of the room and dashed to his own bedroom. He locked the door behind him, leaned on them and slowly slid down on the floor. His long black hair were falling down, covering his flushed face, but nothing could help the burning heat in his cheeks go away.
“What the hell is wrong with me?...And those thoughts,” he reprimanded himself. “Draco is depressed about something and I’m imagining us kissing. And he’s even my cousin,” he let out a pained moan and noticed the growing hard on in his pants. “I’m the worst…”
A/N: Imagine now all the possibilities now that Orion and Draco are spending time together in the same house *evil grin*
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Meddling with Darkness