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Well, Ain't That Strange?	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 56074 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this story

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Beta'd by the most amazing Tenchi, who I can't thank enough for all the hard work she does for me!

Chapter 5

“Lucius is coming,” Sirius said quietly, looking in the direction the man was approaching from. Seeing Arthur and Remus' uptight expressions, he shook his head then asked Harry, quietly, “Is that You-Know-Who with him?”
“It is,” Harry confirmed with a nod, feeling his scar twinge.
“You're sure about this, right, Sirius?” Arthur asked, glancing over his shoulder in the direction the two were looking. He had asked that already, of course, a couple of times, but wanted reassurances.
“I'm sure. One of you two will be holding his wand while we talk. That should end most problems right there,” Sirius said, still looking in the direction the two were approaching from though not seeing them yet.
Concentrating, Harry snickered softly then said, “Lucius managed it. He's a cat.”
Grinning, Sirius nodded, “He did!”
“That's good though,” Remus said with a nervous smile, glancing over his shoulder and waiting, heart hammering in his chest. This was unnerving because of who they were waiting to join them. However, he understood why Sirius wanted him and Arthur there, so he would stay.
Watching the unfamiliar man step through the ward around the small area they were holed up in, Sirius grinned a little at the cat in the man's arms and snorted, “Leave it to Malfoy to have an animagus form that's one of the most expensive breeds out there.” Shaking his head, grin growing, he said, “A silver chinchilla Persian. Your aunt's going to have a right fit over that cat and its hair, Harry.”
“She is,” Harry nodded, grinning slightly though heavily on edge over this meeting.
Keeping an eye on the four, seeing all of them clutch their wands, Tom walked over, holding Lucius in his cat form. When at the table, he took a seat at the end furthest from them. Sitting Lucius down on the bench by Potter, he pulled his wand out and laid it on the table then shoved it in the direction closer to the others. “I would suggest Mr. Potter hold it. I can't get it from him, no matter what. I'll explain why in a few minutes.”
Transforming back as Harry, though looking bewildered, took the wand and held it, Lucius said, “Give me a couple days and I'll have the transformation down pat. Then we can press on.” Looking at the Dark Lord, he then glanced around before saying, quietly, “You have my assurances; nothing here is off and there are no tricks.” Seeing tentative nods and all of them eying Voldemort warily, he waited.
Folding his hands on the table in front of him, looking around, Tom said, “This is awkward for all of us, that I understand. Black can assure you as I speak that I'm telling the truth. There is no trickery here.”
“I can,” Sirius assured everyone with a nod, keeping his eyes locked on Voldemort. “Why do you want Harry holding your wand?”
“That's going to be a detailed explanation,” Tom told him, looking in his direction. “I assure you, I can't get it from Mr. Potter, no matter what I do. Related to that is the fact I now know how to shut down the connection to me from his end and stop the pain he gets around me.” Looking around, he said, “Which one of you came up with the suggestion to look into the genealogy of Harry's parents?” Hearing Lupin say it was him, Tom said, “That was a brilliant idea and one that finally gave us what we needed to find out about the connection.”
Liking that, Sirius nodded, “What is it then? We've ruled everything else out that we can find.”
Motioning to Lucius, who pulled the papers out of his robes then laid out the one of Lily's family tree. “We found it in Lily's family tree, not James'. James we could trace back very far and there were no instances, anywhere, of Parselmouth.” Pointing to a highlighted name, Venus Gaunt, he said, “That's the connection. You'll note that goes back well over a century, almost to the two century mark. No one I had looking into this end knew the name. It wasn't until I looked over it, more out of curiosity than anything else, that I recognized the name.”
Looking at what the man was pointing at, Arthur said, tone wary, “That's not a name I've heard before, Gaunt. Is it a Pureblood or something else?”
“It's an old Pureblood family that had, to my knowledge, only one person left in the family tree. Or so I thought until I saw the name on that tree.” Looking around, he said, “I'm sure all of you, except, maybe, Harry, know that many of the old Pureblood names have vanished over the years. Some because of marriages to other families when they produced daughters instead of sons, only leaving the linage. Others died out for various reasons over the years. Gaunt was an offshoot of an even older family line that no one can lay claim to anymore, except the one I knew of, now there is a second and will probably be more in the future. And it was dying at the beginning of this century. They had intermarried so much that they were producing more squibs than Magical children. By the beginning of the century, they were reduced to living in a hovel on a legacy, rather than an inheritance from the family name, and were in bad shape. All of them were feeble in some way, other than attitude. There is only one from that line left living, the child of the daughter. Venus Gaunt was long before those three, from the time when the problems in the line were seriously starting to manifest. I can only guess that she went to live among Muggles because she was shunned in some way for being a squib. That's generally how it was handled during those times.”
Nodding at that, understanding, Remus asked, tone still cautious because of whom he was dealing with, “What family line did they descend from?”
Putting another parchment on the table, Lucius flattened it and stuck it there. Pointing to the name on the top of it, he looked around, “I'm sure all of you know the name Slytherin.”
Staring at the paper, Harry's eyes lit on the last name on it, widening as he recognized it. Eyes lifting to the man at the head of the table, he didn't know what to say. They were related!
Smirking at the expression on Potter's face, Tom said, quietly, “Mr. Potter has already put it together. I'll explain it to the rest of you. The Gaunts were the last known descendants of the Slytherin line.” Pointing to the name Harry had been staring at, he said, quietly, “That is me. I was supposed to be the last heir of Slytherin, at least that I could ever find.” Looking around, he said, “I can't find any more Magical descendants from squibs descending any of the offshoot lines. Only Mr. Potter. I would bet my magic that in a couple of generations his cousin's line will start producing very powerful Magical children. That's usually the way it works.”
Looking at the family tree, then to the stunned Remus and Arthur, Sirius shook his head. Stammering, he said, “You're both related.”
“Oh yes,” Tom told him with a firm nod. “It's also what created that connection. I can also tell you right now that Albus doesn't know this as he read some things wrong when it came to that whole nightmare with the Chamber. Mr. Potter could get into the Chamber because he's an heir of Slytherin, not because he speaks Parseltongue. I will bet my magic that there were spells on it that allow it to be opened only by the heirs, not anyone else that can speak the language of the serpents. There are other family lines in other countries that can do that. Some are fairly common in other areas of the world. Salazar was too smart not to know that.”
Taking that in, shaking his head as he looked from the parchment to an equally stunned Harry, Sirius then asked, “How does this relate to the connection? And what is it?”
Taking the book Lucius was holding, Tom opened it and laid it on the table. “What's there is a long and complicated tale. It's an interesting one if you ever want to sit down and read it. The gist of it comes down to something very familiar in olden times; quarrels over who was the true heir of Salazar Slytherin. There were his legitimate heirs, of course, but there were others turning up that were illegitimate that were obviously true heirs as well because of the Parselmouth trait. Which lead, as I'm sure all of you can guess, to fighting that included deaths. Old by then, Salazar didn't have the energy or health to stave off what was going on in normal ways, so he went about it in a Magical one. He created the Slytherin Curse. Then he applied it to his whole family tree. It stretches even to today's lines. What it does, basically, is create a connection when one part of the line tries to kill of another. In his time, it was for the title of heir. With Mr. Potter and myself, it was for other reasons. The reason doesn't matter as it manifested the same way.” Folding his hands on the table, he said, “The Curse creates a connection between the two parties that forces the one that tried to harm the other to make reparations. That also includes things like hiring an assassin or any other means as well as directly. As I tried with Harry, I brought the Curse down on myself. The losing of my body was part of it. All the other issues are as well. Because I was continuing on with that foolish line of thinking while generally not having my sanity, I keep evoking the Curse on myself, thus anything I did would fail, spectacularly. The Curse will not allow me to kill Mr. Potter.”
Looking around, seeing confused looks though everyone nodding as they understood, Tom pressed on, “The connection is there because, at the time, it was used to force the party that attempted such a thing to make reparations to the injured one. The whole Curse is actually based at Mr. Potter's end of the connection, not mine. That's the reason I can't shut it down, no matter how hard I try. He has to open the connection from his end, then close it off. It's also the reason for the pain he gets when he's around me. The connection is trying to get him to force it open so it can manifest what it's supposed to do. Before you ask; what he can do from his end is actually control my actions to force me to do the 'right' thing to make reparations to him over the harm I've caused. It has more to do with behavior than something like buying him gifts to make up for it. That was the intent of the Curse.” Smirking, he said, “Because I now know what's going on, it will actually prevent me from harming him in any way. That's the reason I can't get my wand from him. Unless he chooses to give it over, I can't take it by force. It's also the reason for some of what happened in the graveyard. Part of the reaction came from the wands having twin cores, as Albus said. The other part came from this. I was trying to harm him again. As I was doing it that way, it backfired, again.”
Nodding slowly, looking around at the other three, Arthur then looked at the man he knew was Voldemort and asked, quietly, “Can it be shut down?”
“Yes,” Tom told him with a firm nod. “We cannot cut the connection completely. That will only happen when the magic associated with the Curse deems that I've made full reparations to Mr. Potter. I can walk him through how to close the connection to me while we're sitting here as he has a small base of how to do it.” Shaking his head, he imparted, “Those lessons—they would have never worked to do it and just caused more pain for him. While part of the theory for this is similar to Occlumency, it's not the same thing. I'm going to also tell you that once he closes the connection, I can't get through from my end, in any way. It would be akin to trying to claw through a solid granite mountain with your fingernails. It's not happening.”
Stunned, Harry shook his head. Looking over his shoulder at the equally stunned Sirius, he then looked back at Voldemort and asked, “How hard will it be to shut it down? And is it going to hurt?”
“It's not hard and won't hurt,” Tom assured him, looking at the young man. “The worst will be you will have to create your version of the connection to me. That won't take but a minute, actually. It'll be more confusing as you have to create a visual you can work with and make it manifest. That it should do on its own. Then you create something to close it off. It's a very simple theory. One that won't harm you in any way, I assure you.”
Nodding to that as he could tell the man was imparting the truth, Sirius said, “Can you do it now?”
“I can,” Tom said with a firm nod. Taking a blank parchment and quill, he pushed them over to Harry. “First, we need to create the connection. Just visualize something akin to a tunnel leading to me. That should allow your magic to funnel in my direction and create what you need. Once you do that, to make sure it worked, come up with some odd kind of visual you send me. Write it down and pass it to Lupin or Weasley without showing anyone what it is. Then you send me the vision. I'll impart what it is. They can then check to make sure I got it right. Think that is something you can do?”
“Yeah, I can” Harry nodded. “Give me a minute to come up with something.” Shutting his eyes, he came up with the visual to send, something very odd, then wrote it down, folded it up and pushed it over to Mr. Weasley. Once that was done, he began to visualize something like the underground tubes, concentrating hard on them. Within a minute or so, he felt some kind of connection form. When that happened, he sent the visual through.
Sitting there, Tom could feel the connection activate then got the vision. Giving a snort of laughter, he shook his head and said, “It's a green and purple chicken with a red flag doing some weird dance. Strange vision there, Mr. Potter.”
Opening his eyes, grinning, Harry looked over at Mr. Weasley.
Unfolding the parchment, Arthur nodded then showed it around. “That was the vision.”
“And that's the worst of this,” Tom assured the young man, looking around. “Now, to shut it off, I would suggest something such as heavy curtains, like something you see in the theater. Visualize shutting those then doing something like zipping them closed. That will close off the connection to me until you want to open it. I can't get through then.”
Nodding, Harry did that, creating heavy velvet curtains and zipping them shut. Instantly, as he visualized that, the pain stopped and he got nothing more through the connection. Opening his eyes, he said, “I think it worked.”
“It did,” Tom said. “I'm trying to send you something but it keeps bouncing back. Good. It's closed off. No pain?”
“The pain from the scar is gone,” Harry told him with a nod, looking around.
“And that should end that part of this,” Tom said with a sigh of relief, slumping slightly. “I would suggest, if you are in any kind of danger, you open it up and yell for help. If Lucius isn't already with you, I can get him there in seconds. It can be used until you work with the spell we've modified.”
Pleased with that, as he could tell the man was imparting the truth, Sirius nodded. “Good. One chunk of this mess we don't have to worry about anymore.”
“Do you have any clue what Albus might be thinking this connection is?” Remus asked Voldemort softly, looking at the man. It was almost unfathomable to him that he was talking to the man and wasn't in danger, but he was working with it.
Looking at Lucius, who was rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, Tom sighed, “Maybe. We have a couple of leanings.”
Not liking the expression on Lucius' face, Sirius asked, tone wary, “What are they?”
“We think he's leaning towards it being a Horcrux. Between that prophecy and the clues we looked at first, we think, maybe, that's what might be behind this.”
“How do you know that?” Arthur asked, looking between the two then shooting a slightly panicked look at Sirius, who also looked wary.
“You need to remember how old I am to explain part of this,” Tom said softly, looking around. “Albus wasn't headmaster when I went to school. He was still just a teacher. At the time, you could get a great deal of information on the Dark Arts from the restricted section in the library. Included in that were tomes that told you how to create a Horcrux. Slughorn even talked to me about it at one point when I asked him questions. I know now that when Albus became headmaster, he had the books removed that contained that information. I very much doubt he tossed them out, not with how he is. Our guess, and that's all it is until we can get some proof, is that he found what we did in a similar book about the Horcrux and is going by that, backed up by that invalid prophecy. We even thought, at first, that's what it was because of what signs were manifested by Mr. Potter. It fit everything.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” Sirius groaned, rubbing his eyes and clutching Harry closer.
“We don't have proof,” Lucius told them firmly, looking around. “Until we get some of this mess settled and can get what Severus knows, we're just guessing. Even if it isn't that, it's best to be wary of him and what he might pull. We do believe, again with no proof, that what I imparted about setting the Dark Lord and Harry up against each other is part of this. You know, so you won't let it happen. That's a big part of the battle right there.”

“It is,” Remus confirmed with a sigh. “It just means we have to keep a close eye on the situation.”
Wide-eyed, Arthur looked between all the parties, then asked, “How does one destroy those? That has to factor in this. And if that's his leaning, that might be what he's planning for.”
Looking at Lucius, who looked grave, Tom said, quietly, “In Harry's case; only his death. If it's something that doesn't destroy his body, he should come back from it.”

“Oh, fuck that,” Sirius snarled, clutching Harry tightly.
Holding up a placating hand, Lucius said, “It won't happen. We won't allow it. You know to be wary and won't let Harry get pulled in. And we don't know that's his leaning. Keep that in mind. When we can get what's going on out of Severus, you'll both be as protected as we can get you so he has no access to try this.”
“Lucius is right,” Tom said, looking around. “Just be wary for now when it comes to plots, plans and other things. That's all you need to do. He's not pushing for anything right now. You are all going to trump him if he tries and probably before he can even think about it. That's all that matters. Anything else we'll deal with later when everyone is sure you are both out of this mess and he can't get his hands on Harry. That you have both our words on.”
Shaking his head, looking at a slightly green Arthur, Remus then said, quietly, “We'll keep our ears to the ground and watch out for any signs.”
“That is the best plan you have and it will work,” Tom told him firmly. Looking at the furious Black, he said, softly, “A suggestion from me? The plan of the bonding? I say do that as soon as you can once Lucius has the transformation down to where he can do it without a problem. One reason is, obviously, all you've talked about. It will help. The second is this. If Lucius is a cat, no one is going to pay attention to him. He may be able to pick up on things that you won't. That will help all of you. I'll give you my word, unless it's something that puts me or mine in danger, he won't pass it along unless you give him permission to do so. I would also suggest Grimmauld Place. The elves can help. Lucius will make sure of it. As protected as all of you are there, it's the best place to go. If, or when, you do the bonding, I'll get that letter into the hands of the authorities and push some areas from my end to prove that is Wormtail. Just hold off the hell as long as you can. Grimmauld Place will be perfect for that. Once the bonding becomes known, you won't get the problems you would here.” Nodding to Lucius, who pulled out the official paperwork for the bonding, he said, “Lucius checked into what's needed for the bonding. As long as you have the spell and this paperwork, it's legal. I'm also going to suggest here that you attach the readings you have about the magical connection to it. That will give everyone all the proof they need as to why you did it and hold off the worst of the hell on your end, Sirius. Some will howl, we know that, but it's going to give you leverage with Albus you may be able to use to your advantage until you can get out.”
Taking the paperwork, Sirius looked it over then nodded slowly at what he read. “Yeah, I didn't think about the official paperwork. This works.” Looking back at Voldemort, then to Lucius, he asked, “Is there any kind of strings you can pull to hide this for a while from anyone that may look for it?”
“I think, if we do it and you give me the paperwork, I can get it misfiled with a couple donations. That will 'lose' it for a time. It will eventually come out, of course, we all know that. That would buy us time, something we need. If we stay close mouthed and keep it to a minimum as to who knows, it's something we can use.” Lucius said, looking at Sirius.
Looking at Arthur and Remus, Sirius asked, “What do you two think?”
Pondering it for a minute, Arthur nodded, “I think, in all honesty, it's something we should go with. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the best we've come up with so far. If Lucius gets us the elves, like he said he would, Remus and I can start working on your room at Grimmauld Place.”
Thinking it over as well, Remus added, “I agree there. However, maybe we can find a way to drive Albus in that direction and ensure Harry goes to Grimmauld Place. The wards on the Burrow are an obvious one. If we can get him to where he thinks Harry needs better protection, he’ll go with Grimmauld Place.”
“I'll get you the elves and start them working before I leave today,” Lucius promised, looking at Arthur. Seeing the man nod, he then glanced at Lupin and asked, “What do you mean by that? It sounds workable, of course, especially if we can guide him in that direction, but the how is what I'm pondering.”
Sighing softly, Remus shot a wary glance to Lucius and Voldemort then said, “Maybe having some known Death Eaters turn up here and there around this area. Arabella would, obviously, tell Albus that she's seen them. If they are seen by others--” trailing off, he left the part about those keeping an eye on Harry and Sirius out of it.
Thinking that over, Tom began to nod. “That is very workable. We know who is watching and when they are on duty. Obviously, that's so Lucius can slip over here, nothing nefarious on my end. We could do that. I know a few I can trust to just observe and won't even ponder dancing into doing something foolish.” Glancing at Black, he asked, “Is this something you and Harry can deal with, Sirius?”
“As long as we get your word it's nothing sideways, I'm good,” Sirius told him bluntly. “Harry and I don't want to be here anymore than his family wants us here. Grimmauld Place is far more comfortable for us.”
“To get Albus tied in even more knots, I can show up. You know I won't do anything foolish,” Lucius told him, looking in Sirius' direction. “I could even up the ante by doing a slight verbal confrontation with Harry where it's overheard by those watching you. Once I do that, though, I need to ensure I'm with you most of the time so when you get moved I can come along.”
“That's a very good plan,” Remus said firmly. “The minute Lucius is involved in anything, Albus will think high-placed plot and move quickly.” Glancing at his old friend, he said, “I think this is a good idea, Sirius.”
“You have my word; nothing nefarious,” Tom told the man honestly. “It will be just as I said. I'll even ensure that Lucius tells you who will be around.”
Making sure that Tom was telling the truth, Sirius said, slowly, “Alright, we can do this one. We'll work with it from here.” Looking down at Harry, he asked, “Good with you?”
Having stayed quiet to listen, Harry nodded, “Yeah, sounds good to me. I'd rather be at Grimmauld Place than here, that's for sure.”
“Lucius and I will work out who we want to do this and a schedule tomorrow. He can then get it over to you so you know what to look for. We'll use him as the big motivator to get Albus moving. I'll get in contact with Arabella and ensure she knows what's going on then what to do.” Tom said, already calculating who to use for this and when to do it.

After Lucius and Voldemort left and the elves were sent on to Grimmauld Place with the most basic of instructions, Remus, Arthur, Sirius and Harry were left alone in the park. Sipping at his drink, glancing at the book Lucius had left about Slytherin while Remus skimmed it, he asked, “You know this is coming but—he was telling the truth, right? That's for my piece of mind, of course.”
“He was,” Sirius told him with a firm nod of his head. “Everything he said too. There was nothing, nowhere, off.” Looking at Harry, he asked, just to confirm, “There were no spells on him to negate anything? Nothing like that?”

“He was clean of any spells,” Harry told him bluntly. “There was nothing on his wand or Lucius either. Same with the papers.”
Relieved at that, Arthur said, “Good. He was very helpful with suggestions, that's for sure. And ending that business with the connection was very good.”
“I think it was just as uncomfortable for him as it was me when it comes to the connection,” Harry said softly. “At least that's what I picked up for the few seconds before I shut it.”
“If it's as this book says, I bet it was,” Remus told them, looking up. Shutting it, he pushed it aside then said, “I'll finish reading it tonight and see if there is anything that needs passed along. It sounds like just what he described though.” Looking around, he said, firmly, “We have a plan in place, this is good. It's not the best, all of us are going to agree to that, but it's better than what we had. Arthur and I will work on our end, and you lot start on yours. We'll go from there as things progress.”
“We'll work on ours and pass along what we need to as well. Once Lucius starts coming around and spending time as the cat, we'll let you know.” Sirius told them. Seeing the nods, he said, “We'll head out then so Albus doesn't come looking for you two, wondering what's up.” Seeing them stand, he said, “If anything happens, let me know and we'll do the same.”

A.N.- For those of you that don't know the kind of cat I'm talking about and you live in the States, it's the big white fluffy one from the Fancy Feast commercials.
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Well, Ain't That Strange?