Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams	By : SisterGryffindor Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 14679 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
- 52
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Chapter 43: The Prophecy

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry it took so long for this chapter - we're working on the next one right now. All kinds of crap going on, but mostly can be labeled as life. Next week I'm off to California to watch my middle brother tie the knot - he picked 10-10-10 for his wedding day. Wish me luck on the drive!

Tonks gazed up and down the quiet street; this little town in the middle of the mountainous region of Germany seemed to shut down as the sun had gone down. No one was out and all the curtains were closed; only two of the all the dozens of buildings even had lights burning in their windows even though the sun had only set an hour ago. She sighed and set out on her way; her informants had told her that the person she sought was here, hidden away in this flea-speck size of a town.

She rubbed her back and sighed, glancing at the house numbers until she arrived at one that looked identical to all the rest of them. It sat at the end of a little row of houses, one of the longer streets in town with six houses all lined up on the south side of the street with a fairly sharp drop-off of about sixty feet just a few feet to the north side of the road. Beyond her house was a sheer rock wall that went up several hundred feet. This town was literally carved out of the side of the mountain.

The lights were still on in the windows, indicating the occupant remained awake. She knocked firmly on the door.

After a few moments the curtain over the door's window was flicked aside. A woman's face appeared a moment, clouded with a bit of confusion and lack of recognition. The curtain fell back into place and the door opened. "Yes…?" she asked quietly.

Taking half a moment to assess the woman she saw before her, Tonks immediately noted that this woman looked nothing like any of the other seers she had ever met in her life. She was sure that no one on the street who did not know who she had been or what she did would have suspected that of her either. She was compact and well muscled; with deeply tanned skin and face that revealed that she spent a lot of time out in the sun rather than sequestered in dark rooms somewhere reading tea leaves in cloyingly sweet atmosphere. She looked more like a weapons master or even a blacksmith rather than any sort of soothsayer. "Good evening… You are Cecily Harkiss?" She asked, eyeing the woman doubtfully.

"Depends on who's asking." She scowled at her; she had very little of the native accent that Tonks had been struggling to comprehend all day.

"I am an Auror from the English Ministry of Magic…" she began.

"Why in the name of Merlin would a British Auror be interested in anyone in this tiny town?" She started, and then her expression cleared with understanding. "Oh, I think I understand. Some idiot was talking and you've decided to hunt me down for some damned-fool prophecy for your child. I don't do those anymore!" she began to close the door.

"I'm not… I mean… how did you…?" she spluttered; Tonks was only three months along and had not even begun to show yet; her nausea had finally passed and she was allowed only to take on jobs that had little danger level. She certainly had not advertised the fact that she was carrying a child and she doubted that Severus had, as paranoid as he was about everything. She wasn't about to allow herself to be locked out now; she blocked the door with her steel-toed boot to prevent it from closing.

Cecily looked quite irritated at the boot, but did not attempt to shove the door closed anymore. She sighed and turned away, allowing Tonks to take control of the door. "You in England are so blind, tied to your limited forms of magic taught by your wizarding schools." She scoffed. "I need no such training, or potions, or spells to detect your child, Lady Auror. Your aura simply screams to all who have learned to see that you carry a very healthy child." As she had not asked her to leave, Tonks followed the woman into the room. It was very austere, with few things to show anyone really lived here. The only concessions to making it "homey" was a wizarding picture on the wall, no larger than four inches by six inches, of a little girl with wild curls and a couple of fur blankets on the bed. "Let me get this done and get you out of here; I have business to attend to. What is it you want to know about your daughter?"

"My… it's a girl?" she asked, stunned again as she moved to take a seat.

The woman sighed. "You didn't know…?" she began, the shook her head with realization. "Of course you did not know, you're British. I wanted to know the moment I conceived what my child would be…"

"I wanted to know, but the tests aren't completely accurate until; the middle of the second trimester…" Tonks rested one hand on her only slightly rounded tummy. It was a girl; Severus had always wanted a child and now she would be giving him a daughter…

"All right; that is your prediction. The child will be a girl, healthy and strong. There, we're done, and you can leave anytime." She said, moving to pick up a bag off the floor that had been hidden behind the bed.

Tonks shook herself out of her reverie. She had to get back to business and find out what she really needed to know. "No. That's not why I'm here."

Cecily hesitated with her bag already slung on her shoulder, scowling at her. "I don't have time, I told you…"

She ignored the woman's complaints and pressed on. "I have been told of a prophecy…"

"Old news, Miss English Auror whatever-your-name is. I haven't done that type of prediction in many years." She said, taking two more steps.

"Perhaps, but this would have been no less than five and no more than six years ago." She responded, watching the woman's face and body posture closely. "Most likely in the fall or wintertime…"

Cecily had tensed up at the time frame, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the shoulder strap with unnecessary strength. Her face lost two shades of color as the blood seemed to drain out of it. "I don't do prophecies anymore; I've completely lost the gift. I want you to leave now." She said, with a scowl.

"I don't believe you've lost your talent. I need to hear this prophecy."

"If you need it so desperately, why don't you ask the one it was done for?" she demanded, clearly looking for a way out.

"I would, if it was at all possible. He's dead." Tonks answered smoothly.

"Are you Aurors or murderers with license from your Ministry to kill? It was you that killed him, I suppose?" she asked acidly.

"No it was not, though I would have done so if I had the chance. I would really have preferred to have him alive, to tell the truth. He was killed by the ones he had harmed, not by me. He stole an innocent child and was hunted down as part of a registered Blood Feud. Even your country encourages this as a method of stopping the escalation of feuds between families."

She didn't look happy about that last statement but she could find no fault with it. "Stole a child, did he…?"

"Yes, he did. He snatched her up in broad daylight, in the middle of Diagon Alley without even knowing her identity. He had no compunction in hurting this little girl either. He was trying to make your prophecy come true."

"If he is dead, his prophecy will never come to pass, will it? It is, after all, only a prediction. Time is a forever mutating thing, it is always in flux, it…"

"Oh do shut up about all that claptrap." Tonks sighed irritably. "I need to hear the exact prophecy, preferably directly from your memories."

"I have no intention of doing what you wish of me." She scowled at her. "You should leave."

"If I leave, two more Aurors will come, and we will have to alert your country that such a prophecy exists. I'm certain they would be more than a little interested to hear of it, considering what it is about. I'm sure that then ones from your country will begin to show up on your doorstep as well…" Tonks examined her nails, relaxed in the overstuffed armchair.

Cecily frowned at her. "So let me get this straight; you're threatening to plague me day and night and never leave me alone until I provide you with a memory that I don't even remember?" she asked.

Tonks seemed to consider a moment, and then she nodded. "I think you've hit the nail on the head." She agreed with a smile. "Oh, we know that memory is there, and I have someone I could call in who could find the memory without too much discomfort, whether you agree or disagree with the entire situation. We know the name that it is specifically liked to; the Dark Prince."

"Dark Prince…?" she repeated the words and her face lost several shades in a heartbeat and she suddenly dashed toward the door.

With a spoken word and a gesture from her wand, the door slammed and sealed itself shut, as did all of the windows. "It took too bloody long to find you; I have no intention of letting you run away that easily. We need this prophecy. And if I have to sit here all night, that's exactly what I'll do. I have nothing but time on my hands."

"But you can't… he was mad, I tell you. Absolutely mad… I did not want to give him the prophecy, I resisted him with all I had but he… he…"

"He killed several wizards, witches and infants on his way to discovering that he could, indeed, create the little creature you told him he could Cecily." She answered coolly.

"He… he did not! He could not have recreated that creature, that madman…"

"He found a way. There is a Dark Prince, Cecily." Tonks answered coolly. "And this prophecy will be what allows us to determine if he should live or die."

Cecily shakily moved to sink into a seat, clearly stunned by the news. "There's… no. There can't be, this isn't true, this isn't happening…" she murmured.

"Whatever you hoped would not happen has come to pass. It is true. I need to hear the prophecy." She repeated.

Ms. Harkiss swallowed hard, and then bowed her head. "All right… but these children… they may look innocent but you must eliminate them. Destroy them; they are evil, unnatural things…"

"The prophecy." Tonks said again; she would not listen to instructions from this woman to destroy any child.

Cecily took her wand and, hand trembling violently, touched the tip to her temple. Tonks rose and produced a bottle from her vest pocket as the woman drew a memory from her mind and allowed the silvery threads to drift into the proffered vessel.

************************** .

Although she was sure that Cecily had assumed that she would go back to England with her little phial of memories, Tonks simply retreated to the closest hotel. She hurried through the lobby and to her room, knocking rapidly on the door in a set pattern. She waited for exactly one minute then opened the door.

"She produced the memory?" Severus asked; he had insisted that she would not be coming on this trip alone.

"She produced a memory. Whether it is the right memory or not has yet to be seen." Tonks said skeptically, moving in and closing the door. She moved to the cabinet that they had brought and opened it; inside was a penseive waiting for this particular memory to be added. Severus allowed her to tend to that, securing the door and windows with every protective and warding spell that he had in his arsenal. "She was really freaked out about it all; she told me if the Dark Prince existed that he should be eliminated."

"He has not been twisted as they hoped to do. He is simply a rather spoiled child at this moment." Severus answered, rolling his eyes. "The others were seriously indoctrinated already, having been trained for several years…"

"You really haven't told me that much about them." Tonks reminded.

"I can't, Dora. The less you know, the better it will be for all involved." He answered.

"I'm an Auror, Sev…! I know how to keep a secret."

"And if you will recall, part of your duties as an Auror, Nymphadora, subjects you to intermittent mind scans, to determine if your behavior has met standards. I don't want this tidbit of information floating about for any schmuck to find."

She paused, looking over at him with a grin. "Schmuck?" she repeated, clearly humored at hearing him use such a word.

Severus sighed, unable to hide a wry grin. "Overexposure to the telly and American shows, I suppose. Yes; schmuck, idiot, dolt, grunt, peon… use whatever derogatory term you wish…"

"I kind of like schmuck. Seems to fit somehow." She said, pulling the stopper out of the phial that held what should be the prophecy. "Well, bottoms up." She declared, pouring the silvery memory into the liquid of the penseive.

Severus sat himself up to remain as guardian over his mate as she leaned over and lowered her face into the now rapidly swirling liquid.

**********************************.

The scene cleared into a much different view of the seer's austere home. She had decorations all about that reminded Dora starkly of the professor she had endured at Hogwarts for divination; Professor Trelawney. Pink and purples and veils and soft overstuffed poufs were all over the room, making the decent sized room seem almost claustrophobic. The lower light level increased that feeling of being closed in, but no one present seemed to care about that.

Cecily Harkiss was bound to a chair with magical bonds that wound round her hands, her arms, her legs and her upper body, preventing her from moving at all.

Sitting on the divan looking utterly bored was Pansy, dangling her wand from her fingertips lazily. "Really, father, is this necessary?" She asked as if weary of the whole situation.

Malcolm Parkinson looked more than a little mad; his eyes were wild and his hair disheveled. He ignored his daughter completely as if she was not there at all. "Another seer told me you are the one. You are the woman I have spent the last five years searching for; you will give me the prophecy I seek. You will give me the directions for my life from now on." He said to Cecily urgently, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism. Harkiss turned her face away from him and Malcolm snarled, seizing her jaw and forcing her to look at him. "You will tell me! Give me my prophecy!" he commanded.

Eyes narrowed, she wrenched her jaw out of his grip. "You can't force me to use my skills, no matter how hard you try!" she retorted.

"I can get it from you. IMPERIO!" he snapped, wand pointed at her.

She stiffened a moment, and then with her face twisted in anger and concentration, she raised his eyes to him. "You cannot control me with your foolish little spell, I do not care who you are!" she said.

Malcolm gazed at her in surprise; he had never seen someone shake off his controlling spell that easily before. "Well lucky for you, that spell was not my only choice. Let's give this a try, shall we…?" he asked, releasing her only long enough to uncork a bottle that he had drawn out of his pocket. The fluid inside the bottle was vivid neon green and very thick. "Shall we see whether I can force you?" He asked in a dangerous tone, teeth bared.

"Father, we haven't tested that yet! That's my only bottle!" Pansy complained, coming to her feet with every intention of snatching her phial out of her father's hand. Her response was much too late; he had forced the entire bottle down the throat of the seer, who had struggled and fought to keep from drinking it.

Malcolm waited breathlessly for it to take effect. He would have his future… "My prophecy. You will do what it is you do and give me my prophecy about my Prince!" demanded.

"Father, it took me a long time to work out the base for that Imperious Potion!" Pansy pouted, folding her arms and stalking back to her chair. "I didn't make it for the likes of her…"

"Be quiet, you infernally loudmouthed girl!" He snapped at her. She sat in the chair and sulked, clearly irritated and angered by his treatment of her. The seer's eyes glazed over from the effects of the potion as it took all ability for self control away from her. "Ah, yes… now… give me my prophecy, Seer Harkiss." He instructed in a firm tone.

The woman's eyes focused on something not visible to the naked eye as she slipped into the trance required to deliver the prophecy. "A new power will arise in the land of Merlin." She murmured. "A power to cause even the most powerful wizards to flee his presence. He shall be born of the same blood as brought back Tom Riddle, known to Britain as Lord Voldemort. He will not suffer the same loss of sight as that man, though; Riddle never understood love. The Dark Prince will surround himself with trusted servants who will submit to his every command. He will have a guardian, to protect and to support him in everything he does. He will have a consort, to lend him comfort and to give him distraction and release whenever he desires. He will have a seductress rich in the blood of non-humans to ensure that the populace will be drawn to him. You, Malcolm Parkinson, will ensure that these children are born, with the aid of your daughter's clinic. You will be the father to them, the one the little ones trust for aid and succor; you will always ensure their welfare. The children will grow to be bound one to the other, with the Dark Prince always holding the reins of power. As adults they will depend on no others but those within the circle. They will grow swiftly in power, taking over first Britain then all of the European countries; there will be nowhere to hide from his wrath. Dark and terrible, he will be…" her voice tapered off, trembling from the stress caused by the side effects of the controlling potion.

"Dark, yes; but only terrible to those who give him cause to punish them. He will be so beautiful, raised to be a child of power instead of cast off like human refuse in some damned fool muggle orphanage..." Malcolm murmured, his eyes beginning to gleam with a mad sparkle. He would be the one to raise the circle of power; the Dark Circle would be all his, and would look to him. He would enjoy ultimate power as their instructor and father, not some useless peon that could be easily brushed aside…

"That has got to be the biggest load of hippogriff shit I have ever heard." A slow droll voice broke through his reverie.

"Silence!" Malcolm hissed at his daughter, infuriated that she had no belief. He had just been given the greatest prophecy since the prediction of the fall of Lord Voldemort and there she was, lying on that couch and looking at him as if he had a screw loose.

Pansy pushed to her feet, rolling her eyes. "I want nothing to do with this father. I think I'm going home. You can run about here in the backwoods of nowhere and play your little mind games; I'm done." She said, slipping her wand away as she strolled gracefully to the door.

"Leave this room and I will share NONE of the riches I garner with you, child!" he warned.

She snorted. "Another Dark Lord? HELL no, father! I have had more than enough of any of that insanity; I intend to stay completely clear of you and your little plans."

"Until you pay off my clinic, you don't have a choice." He growled.

Gazing pointedly at him, she deliberately and with exaggerated emphasis took the handle of the door in hand, pulled it open, and then walked out with a flourish and a swish of her satin and silk witches' robes.

*************************************.

"…and that's the prophecy." Tonks finished in a quiet voice.

She glanced about the room at the faces there, lit only by the fireplace in Lucius' dim study now that the sun had stolen away the day. Everyone involved was here; Harry and Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Severus, George, and even Warrington.

She couldn't help but notice that Jerrod did not look surprised at all at the revelations of the evening, though she knew quite well he had not been there when the prophecy had been forced from Cecily Harkiss. More secrets; she was certain that at some point that man would have to be tied down and forced to allow Severus to sift through his memories to find all the little details. She didn't trust him and wasn't sure why in Merlin's name everyone else seemed to.

Severus stood near the fireplace, not deigning to take a seat. He much preferred to stand and watch Tonks as he had been since they had gone on this research trip; he was still finding it hard to wrap his mind around the fact that he was going to be a father. He saw how Tonks was looking at Warrington with clear distrust and calculation and gave a very slight smile.

"Two parts of that prophecy have come true; the children have been born and they are bound together." George murmured. The revelation of the prophecy had stunned him and left him without words for a few moments; all he could do was repeat what he had heard.

"Two parts of that prophecy, yes, but it is invalid now because the prophecy specifically stated that Malcolm Parkinson would be the one who raised them in some mad grab for power and glory. He had to be the one who molds them into their adult selves, acting as a father figure to them." Lucius countered. "None of them are going to think of that madman as a father. Not one of those children is going to look back upon the memory of that man with any tenderness at all."

"Well, from what I have seen just with how the nannies treat the children, I wasn't very surprised that they showed hardly any emotion but anger and fear." Narcissa added in a quiet tone.

"How could they know any other emotions if they never experience them?" Draco asked. "They were denied the simple tenderness that a true parent would show to a child…"

"That is because they received no tenderness from him nor any of the others that raised them." Narcissa added.

Warrington felt somehow that he was being targeted. He had been involved in their upbringing too. "I didn't abuse them." He interrupted with a scowl.

"You were under very strict orders regarding them. You weren't allowed to give them affection, were you?" Luicus returned to him.

"I could… if there was nothing else that could be done." He rose and walked away from the others, his back to them all, tense with anger. He had done everything he could to take care of those kids, even things he had been told not to do. They wouldn't ever understand the things he had done any of the punishments he'd endured for disobeying the instruction of his masters. Somehow it was all still his fault…

"Did Malcolm even know of your gift of the stuffed toy to your daughter?" Lucius asked him.

He shrugged. "It's the past. Doesn't matter anymore."

"Of course it matters." George countered, rising and following Jerrod. "You risked a lot to do things for all them little kids. I heard that you even gave some of the other babies proper burials…"

"I couldn't just destroy their bodies… those poor things. They had no chance at all. What other choice did I have?" He murmured softly. "It wasn't their faults."

George slipped a comforting hand up onto his shoulder; he could almost feel the pain that Warrington was fighting to hide. "Of course it wasn't. You did right, Jerrod…" he told him softly.

Lucius noted that his servant did not shrug away the contact as he usually did, but he had no patience for their little romance tonight. "Warrington, you will return here and sit down. This subject will be fully discussed tonight." Lucius said firmly. "And you will answer the question."

"Give him a bloody break, Malfoy!" George growled, scowling at him.

Jerrod touched the hand on his shoulder with the closest to any kind of response that George had gotten to his advances, and then he turned back to return to his seat. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it." He murmured softly but his eyes remained lowered to the floor as he made sure he would meet no one's gaze.

George scowled, still angry at Malfoy. "You're a human being, you've got a right…!"

"I'm a bondservant. It's my place; get used to it George. That's all that matters most of the time." He shrugged, trudging back to his seat. He took a deep breath and sat, letting it out in a sigh. "No, Master Malfoy. He didn't know of my gift to her but I was punished if I dared to pick up and hold any of them." He answered quietly.

"That bloody dirty bastard." George growled, now standing just beside Jerrod, one hand moving again to his shoulder.

"Look. I really would rather not…"

"This is the time, Jerrod. You have to give us all the information you have on how these children are raised, so that we can get them deprogrammed as much as we are able without injuring them." Harry said in a gentle yet firm tone. "We want our children, your daughter as well, to have a healthy and normal life. You may well be our only hope of having that happen…"

"Severus Snape might object to that; he did a lot of work with them." Jerrod said, glancing at the man.

"Its nothing you would not have done, had you been able." Severus shrugged it off easily; he would not have himself made the focus of all this. "And there is little more I will be able to do for them."

"But the entire prophecy is wrong." George said after a few moments. "It said that the kids would be born with the blood of the Dark Lord…"

"They did try to get his blood, didn't they?"

"Yes, we visited many places trying to find some sample, but none of his attempts were successful." Jerrod answered, not raising his eyes from his shoes. "We finally resorted to raiding crypts, trying to find bits of Riddle's parents. We got that and Bebel did something with it all and used it to try to recreate him. The results… well…" he shrugged, not really wanting to go on.

"Those were the most twisted of the infants?" Lucius suggested.

"Yeah." He said softly, his tone haunted. "They weren't… well, none of them ever got strong enough to actually be born breathing."

"Then they didn't use his blood to bring them back. So the entire thing is just an empty prophecy?" George asked hopefully.

"Voldemort used my blood to regain his body when he returned." Harry told him quietly.

"Bloody hell, Harry… I didn't know."

"Not something I wanted to really brag about, to tell the truth." He shrugged; it was so far in the past that talking about it didn't even bother him at all.

"So they got the blood that brought him back. How does that make these kids evil? I mean, they're Harry's blood, not Moldyshort's…" Weasley said, taking his seat back beside Jerrod again.

Jerrod couldn't help but give a snort of laughter and look at George in disbelief. "Moldy…?"

"You give more power to the name by refusing to use it, that's what Hermione always said; right Harry?" George asked.

"Moldyshorts wasn't his name." Harry smirked slightly.

"All right, Voldemort. Tom Riddle. Whatever. I don't see any reason to give that man any respect for what he had done to the wizarding world." George shrugged, giving Jerrod a grin.

"It doesn't mean the children are evil, Mr. Weasley." Lucius responded, choosing to simply let the insult of past nightmares slide off uncommented upon. "…But if word of this left this room these children would be in danger every day of their lives."

"In this day and age, what kid isn't?" He replied. "I mean, stuff happens every day. Someone loses their temper or goes off the bloody deep end and kids just happen to get in the way; tragedies happen all the time."

Draco ignored the comment, wanting to focus. "The prophecy said they'd be bound… was that what the mark was?"

"Yes, the lotus blossom now." Severus smirked. Flower power, indeed…

"So three parts are true." Draco said softly.

Lucius frowned. "But the main part of it required Malcolm to be the father figure."

"He's dead, he can't possibly…"

"He had Alerick for nearly five years. He had Alyssa for nearly four." Narcissa put in.

"He used to visit each of them one day out of the week, and be back at the lab to check on Bebel on the days he did not visit children." Jerrod supplied in a quiet tone.

"You never told us that before…"

"You didn't bloody well ask." He grumbled, sending an apologetic glance Narcissa's way. "I can't… I mean, I… I want to tell everything but I have to wait for the right question." He said helplessly.

"Why?" Lucius asked. "You're my servant now, not Parkinson's."

"I… I don't know why. I swear on my life that can't tell you things until it's the right time…"

"Someone has meddled in your mind before, have they Warrington?" Severus asked, eyeing the man now. Was there no end to what this man had hidden away in that skull? He watched as the man physically flinched at the question.

Jerrod ground his teeth and shook his head jerkily. "N… No…" he murmured.

"Tell him who meddled in your mind, Warrington!" Lucius commanded.

"No one else did anything to me!" he said immediately, and then quieted down for a long moment. "It wasn't anyone, it was… me. I… I did it." He finally whispered.

"You did what?" George asked.

"I've damaged my memory. I just..." he bowed his head, fists clenched tightly together to keep them from shaking, knuckles white from the strain. "I didn't want to remember having to handle all those dead babies." He whispered, his face hidden by his long hair.

"Oh, Jerrod…" George slid an arm around the man. "Hell I can understand that, I might have even done the same thing…"

"I'm a thrice-damned idiot for trying it; I have no talent at mind manipulation at all." He muttered.

"You tried to get help for this problem?" Snape probed further.

Jerrod sighed softly, his entire body sagging slightly as he forced himself to keep talking. "Yes; I went to St. Mungo's, told them it was an accident and they needed to find a way to reverse it. They told me they could commit me to the mental ward for a month or so and dig around in my head… I walked out." He said bluntly, not giving himself any leeway. "I haven't had much problem living with it." He shrugged.

"Severus?" Lucius looked over at his old friend. He knew the man was capable of many things that even St. Mungo's labeled as hopeless.

Snape looked thoughtful, drawing one finger down one side of his jaw, stopping at his chin, cupping it with that finger and one thumb. "I have never heard of such a thing; the closest I've known is when that idiot Lockhart obliviated himself with Weasley's wand."

"He did that to himself?" Draco asked, eyebrows rising.

Harry felt he needed to fill in the blanks there; after all he had been the only one there when it had happened. "Well I can assure you he had no intention of doing that to himself; it was pure accident. He meant to obliviate Ron and me both. It was that same year that Ron broke his wand…"

"Oh, I remember. The year he made himself cough up slugs for what, half a day…?" Draco smirked slightly.

"Nearly the whole day; that was priceless." George couldn't help but smirk.

"He'd rather not remember it, I'm sure." Harry answered, stifling a grin as well.

"As amusing as all that is, gentlemen…" Snape interrupted haughtily, though a smirk had crept across his face as well at that fool Lockhart hexing his own memory into oblivion. "We have issues concerning the future to discuss." He eyed Warrington but the man would not even raise his head. "It would be rather interesting to see if I could solve this…"

"No." Jerrod said, "Mr. Malfoy, don't make me go through with anything like that… please…" he mumbled, hiding his face in his hands as well; they were trembling.

"You need to regain your ability to control what you can talk about, Jerrod. I will allow this." Lucius said quietly.

"There are some things that even you can't force me to do." Warrington said, shoving to his feet and shaking off George's hands. "I won't have anything to do with this a moment longer!" he said, stalking out of the room.

"Perhaps not." Lucius said, rising to his feet. "But I know who can."

****************************.

Lucius decided that the abnormal upbringing of these children that had made them unusually mature for their age could be used to his advantage in this situation. He immediately sought the girl out where she sat quietly playing with t hat odd toy of hers, the stuffed Chthulu that her father had given her.

"Alyssa, I need to speak with you." He said quietly, giving the girl a bow.

She glanced at the others then stood, gazing up at him. "All right, My Lord Malfoy…" she said in her soft musical voice. "Is this about my daddy?"

"Why do you ask that?" he asked, gesturing for her to accompany him out of the playroom. She glanced over at Mallek, who was ignoring her completely as he played with Alerick. The blonde boy looked her way and smiled; she nodded and turned to follow half a step behind the much taller adult.

She touched the pendant about her neck, stroking the cool stone slightly. "Because my daddy's upset." She said softly. "He don't want to do what you want him to do, Lord Malfoy."

Lucius gazed at the child, impressed by her comprehension of the situation. "You are correct; he does not wish to do what I need of him." He agreed. "But he must."

"Why?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as they moved to a seat just outside the room.

Lucius sat before he answered her question, gazing into the child's eyes directly. "He has damaged his memories. I need him to be intact. You and your other father need him to be intact as well."

"But he's not hurt; your doctor saw him just yesterday and his ankle is even better. The doctor said that he was okay." She argued.

Lucius nodded. "Physically, yes; he is improving quite a bit but he will never be completely healed. Your father has suffered a lot over the past several years and I believe that you are doing him a world of good, Alyssa." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"I want my daddy to be here for me." She said with a bit of a blush on her cheeks at the compliment.

"The problem we are facing here, Alyssa, is that his mind has been damaged."

"But why?" she asked, gazing at him.

"Jerrod has little skill with the mental arts. Some very bad things must have happened to him, and he tried to make himself forget them."

"My teachers said bad things happen and they make us stronger." Alyssa said in a soft, grave voice.

"They can, but we must deal with them before we can become stronger. I need you to use your special talent and to make your father allow us to take care of him."

Alyssa looked down at her shoes, biting her lip for a long moment. Lucius waited, knowing the girl needed time to think it all through. He had not lied to her and she surely would think of that as well as she mulled it all over. Finally she looked up at him, her eyes full of worry. "My daddy… he's going to be mad at me if I do this…" she murmured, hugging her stuffed toy tightly against her. "I don't want daddy upset with me."

"Your daddy will understand once he's all better. He will love you all the more for your courage, little one." He said reassuringly.

She was silent a few moments more, her eyes searching his as if looking for help to make up her mind; he would do nothing to influence her further. The decision to use her power must be her own. Finally she nodded timidly. "All right… I want my daddy stronger, I want him all better. What do I need to do?" she asked.

****************************.

"Come on, Daddy…" Alyssa said softly, holding Warrington's hand, leading the man down the hall, following Lucius. "You need this daddy; they have to make you better so we can be a good family too…"

"Alyssa… please don't… I…" he whispered, voice shaking slightly as he tried to fight the child's influence over him.

"Come on…" she spoke over his words, not allowing him to resist further. "I want us to be happy, I want you all better so we can be a family…" she said, putting more power behind the words and his face went blank; he silently followed her lead without any further resistance.

Lucius opened the door and gestured to the bed in the room that Severus had used for working on the children. Alyssa led her father to the bed and in a soft tone she commanded him to lie down.

Lucius moved to stand beside Severus where he stood beside the head of the bed. "Are you ready to begin?"

"As ready as I can be, considering I have no idea what this man has done to his mind." Severus answered quietly, watching as Warrington lay down on the bed, moving as if entranced.

"You'll be extra special careful with him, won't you Master Snape…?" Alyssa asked softly, gazing down at her father, taking a moment to brush the hair back out of his face.

"I will give his safety every consideration, little one." Severus answered in a quiet and very serious tone. "You should leave; go and find Mr. Weasley. We will let you know when he is ready to see you again."

She hesitated, then turned and threw her arms about him. "Thank you for helping him Master Snape…" she said, voice trembling slightly with tears.
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Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams