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Chapter Text

Harry was confused. He had watched his face morph and twist in the mirror in the girls bathroom, but even though they had added the hairs of their… well victims, sure, he didn’t look like the Slytherins they had chosen. Instead of looking like Crabbe or Goyle – he honestly couldn’t tell them apart – he was… different.

In fact, with Harry’s nearly blond-grey-white hair, he looked almost like a Malfoy. Oh no…

“Bloody hell, Harry! You took the wrong hair!” he heard a voice, which should sound like Ron, but as he looked into the mirror over his shoulders, he found a person that he was vaguely familiar with. Not Goyle or Crabbe though.

This… didn’t look like it should have happened… Something was definitely wrong.

“You’re one to talk, mate” Harry snorted and shook his head. “You look like that one… male Mione, you know who I’m talking about?”

“Hey!” Hermione called from one of the stalls. “Even though I can’t see you, I feel vaguely insulted.”

Harry sniggered. “You shouldn’t, he’s cute.”

Ron frowned. “Did you just call me cute? Wait… are you gay?” the last part he whispered.

Harry shrugged. They were twelve! Well, maybe he had realized that he liked to be around boys more – except for Hermione obviously – but that meant nothing. Not right now anyway.

And so, he turned and looked at the new Ron he was seeing. His red hair was toned down into a more brown-red and his skin tone was a bit darker as well. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, as he looked around unsure of what to do next. His eyes landed on the stall, where Hermione was hiding and Harry sighed, turning to look at the door as well. Mione would know. She always knew what to do.

“Mione?” Harry asked.

They received a sigh and the rustling stopped. There was about two seconds of silence, before her voice sounded – it was actually her voice. “Boys, I’m sorry to announce, but I quite clearly made a mistake.”

Ron sniggered. “Don’t worry, Mione we know. I look like a… an idiot and Harry is quite literally a Malfoy!”

“So, who do you look like?”

“Like one of you” her voice sounded a little weak, like she was scared.

Harry frowned at that, as the only explanation she had gotten was… a Malfoy. Ron clearly hadn’t caught on yet, as he sniggered and shook his head. “So, like an idiot?”

The door to the stall opened to reveal Hermione with beautiful ice-blond straight hair, her skin tone slightly lighter, though still the darkest of them all. She had warm blue eyes, though was clearly unsure of what to do now.

“You… Whose hair did you take?!” Ron called out and shook his head. “You look like a female version of Malfoy!”

Shrugging her shoulders, Hermione walked back towards the potion and grabbed the book she had open. “It should have worked. Here it states that it will hide our faces!”

“Is there a potion against it, can we turn back?” Ron asked and tried to rip some hair out. Harry sniggered at his friend’s antics. “I am saddened but accept the defeat in our clever plan.”

Harry smirked. “Did you swallow a pure blood lexicon, Ron? You could have used a sentence like that in the latest essay we had to write.”

Ron perked up as Hermione was still re-reading the potion thing. “I should, right? Hey, once we’re done, do you think you could help me steal my potions essay?”

“Snape will give you a bad mark regardless. Better use it on Charms or Transfiguration” Harry told him.

“Professor Snape, Harry” Hermione said, while she was still skimming the potion.

Sniggering, Ron nodded. “I’ll sneak into Charms during breakfast tomorrow. Want to help me out?”

“Sure” Harry agreed, happy to have something to do during their holidays. That was if Hermione would find a way to bring them back to how they looked before. “Mione? Anything?”

As Hermione stood up, she kicked the potion over and the small cauldron spilt everything over the floor. Ron and Harry jumped back, frowning at what their friend was doing. When she pulled her wand out and rubbed it along the bottom of the cauldron to bring out slimy goo like essence, she sighed.

“I… I’m…” she sighed as the goo dropped to the floor slowly. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she shook her head. “I’m way over my head in here, guys. I have no idea what’s going on. Honestly, I don’t remember reading that the Polyjuice potion would have this slime thing at the bottom.”

“You told us it should last an hour, right?” Ron asked and looked from Harry to Hermione. “Maybe… we should wait the hour in here and see what happens after?”

The trio agreed and settled down to wait for an hour. Hermione had brought a few books – why, was everyone’s question – and soon, they were all studying some different topics. Ron had picked a book about plants and their healing effects in the Muggle world, Harry read about concealment charms and Hermione took notes on her book about Magical Maladies.

And even though Moaning Myrtle was trying to get them wet by jumping into the toilets to make the water splash over them or turning on all the faucets, the three friends were able to block her attempts. Soon, even she gave up and started sulking in one of the toilets.

When Harry yawned and used his wand to show them the time, it was clear that even though the hour had long passed… they had not yet turned back into how they looked before. Getting up from the floor, he sprinkled some water over a sleeping Ron and went over to Hermione, whose face was literally on the book.

He woke her up too and they sat down on the floor.

“So, we’re not back to normal, I see” Ron broke the ice and looked at his skin tone. “We need to tell someone.”

“We’d get into trouble, I doubt anybody would believe us” Hermione argued against that. “But I do want to be back in my own body. It feels… weird like that. And yet… oddly comfortable.”

Harry hummed, though if he was honest, he too didn’t feel that off. “We could go to the hospital wing.”

“Madam Pomfrey is required to tell the Headmaster of every injury” Ron announced and shook his head. “We could also just go to him.”

Frowning, Harry shook his head. “She didn’t tell the headmaster about all the times I went there.”

Ron sniggered. “Sure mate, you were there all the time, he knew it. The whole school knew it.”

“She helped me get some scar cream and put me on a nutrition potion. Bet you didn’t know that.”

“Boys” Hermione held her hands out. “If we have to get help, let’s at least go and get someone professional to do it.”

“Do you know how long this walk is going to be?” Ron asked, clearly unsure if he wanted to go there.

“Fifteen…”

“… minutes.”

Harry widened his eyes, as the twins’ voices sounded from the door. The redheads stood there with a grin, looking at the three transformed people. He got up and held his hands out.

“It’s not what it looks like, we swear, we’re your missing Gryffindors” he said and shrugged his shoulders afterwards. “We were just… being reckless.”

“That we can see” Fred said with a laugh.

George smirked. “You could easily pass for Snakes.”

Their eyes were on Hermione and Harry, as if they were looking for something they were missing. Then, they moved over to Ron who was clearly uncomfortable under their gaze. Harry once again had the feeling as if they knew more than they were telling.

Finally, Fred beckoned them to follow. “If you’d like to follow us, ladies and gent…”

“We know a few shortcuts…”

“Which will cut our walk…”

“By about half the original time.”

Hermione shook her head, but grabbed all the books and went to the entrance. Harry turned back to the spilt potion on the floor and sighed, following Ron and Hermione, as George lead them and Fred followed behind everyone.

As they walked down a few stairs in almost pitch black, Harry turned around to look at the twin behind him. “You know something we don’t.”

“Yes, we’re in fourth year, Harrikins, we know a lot you don’t” Fred grinned at him. Then he leaned forward and whispered so quietly Harry almost didn’t pick up on it, “we also know that Madam Pomfrey can’t undo what you just did.”

A fearful shiver ran down Harry’s spine as they climbed out behind a tapestry and were in the open again. They couldn’t be turned back? What the hell was going on?!

George led them towards a portrait and opened it to reveal another secret tunnel. As they climbed in, Harry soon found himself at the top of a spiral slide, unsure of how much further it was. However, he wasn’t a Gryffindor for nothing and he sat down, following his friends.

The slide went on far longer than he would have thought and soon, he tumbled out one hallway away from the medical wing. That was indeed much faster!

Fred followed, though elegantly stepped over Harry on the floor. He held out a hand and helped him getting up, while George led them to the entrance of the medical wing. There, he stopped and looked back at them all.

“Just so you know… we know who you are.”

“And we’re disgusted by whoever stopped you from talking to your siblings” Fred ended the sentiment, a dark expression on his face.

Harry frowned. “I don’t have siblings?”

“I’m an only child” Hermione shook her head.

Meanwhile, Ron just seemed confused. He pointed from himself to his brothers, saying nothing.

“Oh yeah, Ronnikins” Fred said with a grin and ruffled through his dark red-brown hair.

George smirked and did the same though this time, Ron seemed to try and get away from his brothers. “You’ll always be our brother, no matter what happens.”

Hermione scratched her forehead. “I am so confused.” Harry had to agree with her statement.

“Not for long” George said and opened the door, while pulling Ron with him. Harry followed next with Hermione and Fred behind them. “Madam Pomfrey, we found some students who were experimenting and it seems to have backfired!” he yelled in the huge room. Luckily, there were no ill students at the time.

The mediwitch walked out of her office and seemed to freeze at the sight of the five students. She frowned at them and raised her eyebrows. “It would certainly look that way. Could you please identify yourselves?”

“Of course” Fred said with a bow. “Fred and George Weasley.”

“And Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger” George said quickly, as Harry watched the mediwitch roll her eyes.

“Take a seat, everyone. How did it come to this? Any serious injures?”

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look and after it was clear that Hermione didn’t know what to say, Ron quickly jumped into telling the mediwitch what happened. Or a variant of it. “We saw some students wearing another’s skin during Halloween and decided to… do the same. However, it seems to not have worked in our favour…”

“I see” Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes in thought. “Polyjuice potion, number… 17?”

“There are more than one?” Hermione murmured under her breath, as the Weasley twins answered Madam Pomfreys question.

“Thirty-nine, actually” Fred said and sent the mediwitch a look that made Harry frown. And the reaction from the mediwitch also wasn’t calming, as she widened her eyes and practically jumped to her feet.

She rushed into her office while Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a confused look. As she came back, she had three potions and three empty parchment sheets with her. Handing each second year a potion, she instructed them. “Do not swallow the potion. Let it sit in your mouth for ten seconds and then spit it onto the parchment.”

Hermione grimaced, but was the first to do so. Harry followed, close after by Ron as well. As he spit it on the parchment, he watched fascinated, as some results came through.

Raven Abraxas Malfoy (illegal blood adoption: Harry James Potter)

Parents: Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Druella Malfoy (née Black)

Illegal Blood Adopted Parents: James Potter and Lily Potter (née Evans)

Godparents: Severus Snape and Andromeda Tonks (née Black)

Triplet siblings: Draco Lucius Malfoy and Dove Kefira Narcissa Malfoy

“Oh shit. Ron, you might not like me after today anymore.”

At the same time in the Slytherin Common Room, Draco sat in front of the fire, watching the show with tired eyes. He did not understand why his parents had decided to make him stay in Hogwarts. Well, his father had explained it, they were still trying to find his siblings, while he had actually given up on them. He didn’t have any memories of them, so why would he miss them?

Which wasn’t really true. He still had the emotions of his siblings through the triplet bond. He knew they were out there, but he couldn’t tell his parents. If they were this crazy right now… how crazy would they be when they realized that they were still alive?

A few hours after dinner, he suddenly felt a burst through his triplet bond and sat up straight. Something had happened. Something had freed the two-way bond, it had broken.

Softly, as to not scare his siblings, he went to search for the two-way bond. His mind had a pretty good connection to them after all, he had felt the pain throughout the years that one of his siblings had gone through. It felt safer to go with this connection, than to look for the other.

‘Hello.’

He waited for a while, receiving an unnerved feeling in return. There was no answer, so either his sibling didn’t notice it, or they were unable to respond. Having a magical triblet-bond was incredibly rare, even having magical twins was rare.

‘If you don’t know how to answer that’s fine. It might take you a while to learn. Just letting you know that I am your brother.’

The feeling of uncertainty remained, but suddenly included another feeling of fear. Draco frowned and tried to feel the connection he had to his other sibling. He hoped they were together, though then he would have to question why one sibling was in pain for the most part of their life and the other one wasn’t.

‘Hello.’ He tried it with the other sibling.

‘Who did that?! That’s not in my head, I’m not crazy, what the fuck?!’

Draco sniggered at that and shook his head. He couldn’t hear the voice through the bond, he didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl, but he could hear the panic. ‘You’re not crazy. I’m your sibling.’

There was a little silence, before a calmer answer came through their link. ‘Since I can see one of my siblings, I guess you’re… Draco Malfoy?’

Interesting. How did they know who he was? Draco frowned slightly, but answered nonetheless. ‘I am. And who are you? And how is our other sibling? They haven’t been able to answer.’

‘Yeah, he’s in a panic attack. Madam Pomfrey is trying to calm him down. Did you talk to him before you tried to talk to me?’

‘I did, yes.’

Draco tried to think of who hadn’t gone home for Christmas this year. However, unlucky for him, it had been almost a quarter of all students. Why did he have to make contact to his siblings when so many people were still here?!

Maybe… he could go and meet them now?

Draco was unsure if he should go to the Infirmary and see his siblings, it seemed they were both there. However, he couldn’t get there and back before curfew, so he had to hope that they were going to be there tomorrow as well, so he could see them. And also… his sibling hadn’t talked back and said their identity…

‘Well, then I guess I know why he’s having a panic attack. Please don’t come find us right now, he needs to come to terms with having… a family, I think.’

What?!

‘Didn’t you both have a family? Were you hurt?’

‘I wasn’t. I didn’t know I was blood adopted though, but our brother, he's had a tough life so far. We tried to get him away from the people he lived with, but the adults always intercepted our ideas. Do you have parents?’

‘I do. We do.’

Draco could feel the relief through his sibling bond. And even in his sibling’s answer, he could hear the hope. ‘Then he won’t have to go back! We might have saved his life, Draco.’

It was a little funny to him that his siblings knew his name, but he was unaware. ‘What’s your name then?’

‘Our parents called me Dove Kefira. I thought purebloods usually had some… star names or so. Aren’t you called after Dragonis?’

Oh, his triplet sibling was smart – at least one of them. Even being able to communicate so clear through the triplet bond that up until a few minutes ago had been blocked, was rather… incredible.

‘I was. I remembered just now how my parents explained that they didn’t know we were triplets. They thought they had twins, a boy and a girl. And they already decided to name the boy Draco and the girl another name with D, but they couldn’t find a star constellation they liked, so they went with a name they generally liked.’

The feeling through his sibling bond radiated happiness and hope. Draco smiled into the fire, he really hoped he could get on with his siblings, whoever they were.

He wasn’t sure if he could have an open triplet bond like the Weasley twins had, where they were talking as a unit, he liked to still be his own person, but… it would be nice to not be alone anymore. Especially in his head.

‘What is our brother named then? Our parents never really talked about him.’

‘Raven. I really like his name. And I guess we all fit together, animal names. Does Kefira also mean something?’

‘Young Lion, I think.’

The humour that radiated through his sibling bond was incredible and Draco chuckled at that. He didn’t know why Dove thought it was so funny, but he was happy that she felt fine.

Using this moment of unity, he tried to be brave for once. ‘Can I come see you in the morning?’

There was a tense silence, before his sibling answered. ‘That wouldn’t be optimal at the moment. We didn’t know who we were prior to today and I think… especially Raven has to work through some shit. You also probably won’t recognize us, some friends just came in with a potion to get us looking like we did before. You know, with the blood adoption.’

‘Why?’

Draco couldn’t stop that question running through the sibling bond.

‘Someone powerful will notice our brother looking different. He will try to get us to forget. I don’t doubt he would use a powerful obliviate and another illegal spell or thing to turn us back into trusting idiot fools.’

‘Sounds like you’re not safe where you are.’

Draco was worried. Especially if their younger brother was in such danger! Was there no way of getting him to safety?

It seemed as if his sister was able to read his emotions as well, since she replied quickly. ‘We just have to make it through to summer, Draco. Once we get him away from the family that hurts him, I’m sure that your parents are smart enough to figure out a story of why only you went to Hogwarts and we stayed behind.’

‘Our parents.’

‘I’m sorry, what?’

Draco chuckled softly. ‘You said my parents, but they’re ours.’

Another feeling rushed through his sibling bond, but this time he couldn’t pinpoint it. ‘Of course.’

Sighing softly, Draco closed his eyes, feeling suddenly very tired. It seemed as if talking through the link had some disadvantages as well. He wasn’t ready to stop, though.

‘Dove, at least let me give you something to make sure you’re save.’

‘We can’t be seen together.’

‘Let me place two security-bracelets somewhere in Hogwarts for you to pick up then.’

Again, there was a tense silence for a couple of seconds, before his sibling answered. ‘What does this ‘security’ bracelet entail? If it’s a tracking device, I will throw it into the Black Lake.’

Draco chuckled a that. ‘It’s a safety against obliviations, love spells, love potions, harmful potions in general and has an emergency portkey to a previously set safe zone, including some minor things, which I honestly don’t remember at the moment.’

A feeling of uncertainty washed over Draco and he frowned. Even more so at the answer. ‘What’s a portkey?’

Oh no. His sister lived with Muggles? Their parents were going to be angry at that!

‘It’s a… thing that will transport you to another location without you having to travel.’

‘Oh. Oh yeah, I read about them. Got it. Sorry, I’m tired. I think I should see our younger brother as an example and go to sleep.’

‘Sure.’ Draco smiled at the sleepy feeling not only from himself but from his sibling as well. ‘I will tell you once I have procured the bracelets and deposited them somewhere.’

‘Thank you, brother. Sleep tight.’

‘Good night.’

Draco softly closed the communication bond between them, not willing to send another word through there and wake up his sibling. He stared into the fire with a shit-eating grin. He had found his siblings! They were so close! He couldn’t wait to tell his…

Narrowing his eyes, Draco suddenly realized that he couldn’t tell his parents. They would run to Hogwarts and try to get them all to safety. However, if what his sister had indicated… outing their brother would end up harming them in the long run… so, he couldn’t let his parents know.

Not yet, anyway. Maybe once it was closer to the summer, he could tell them. He couldn’t wait to find out who they were pretending to be.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Draco woke up early and decided to start working on his essay for Charms in the Common Room. Since they were technically on holiday, the professors hadn’t given that much homework… individually. However, looking at everything together… they had collected a little bit of work, maybe two days’ worth, if worked on properly.

Then again… he couldn’t find it in himself to concentrate on everything. As he checked the time, he found that it was still seven in the morning. He looked through his connections to his siblings and found his brother clearly awake, judging by the array of emotions that were flowing through him. Even his sister seemed awake, though not as much as Raven.

‘Good morning, sleepy head.’

‘Not fair. You can’t see me, how do you know?!’

Draco sniggered at that and shook his head. Even through the connection, he could hear her tiredness. ‘It’s the emotions I’m getting. Our brother seems awake enough to be… freaking out?’

A little pause happened, before his sister answered. ‘A little. I think it helps that I was his best friend before we figured out who we really were. And our friend is going through something similar, though he’s clearly not processed it at the moment. I think it’s shock and the fact that our brother needs a bit of attention, which helps our friend to supersede his emotions.’

‘Doesn’t sound healthy.’

‘You weren’t freaking out you had a tripled bond?’

Draco frowned and shook his head. ‘I always knew.’

‘Then imagine if you didn’t and then suddenly, there’s a voice in your head, telling you that they’re your brother. Or in case of our best friend, try to imagine hating something because your parents tell you to do that until you realize that that thing you were hating could provide you with a family, which is in fact your actual family. And the parents you thought were yours turn into… kidnappers? Intentional or not, he still has to figure any of it out. We’re lucky, we have some friends who told us even before we knew what had happened that they would stay by our sides. I’m not sure what I had done if it weren’t for them.’

Throughout the speech his sister gave him, Draco had remained silent and actually tried to imagine his life in the shoes of his siblings and their friend. And… despite his uncomfortable feelings, he did understand what they were possibly going through.

‘I see.’

He turned a page in his book and frowned at the information written down there without actually reading it. When he looked back at his essay, he shook his head.

‘How come you’re not… outwardly traumatized. I mean, you’re almost asleep, but that’s normal I guess…’

‘Hey!’ He could feel her amusement, rushing through their bond. ‘I feel insulted by that statement. Though frankly, I’ve also been busy dealing with our brother and… I don’t know. I guess talking to you helps. You’re not the idiot that I thought you were.’

Oh. A clue!

‘Well, I mean, I’m not usually stupid towards other houses. Only the Gryffindors annoy me.’

‘I sat in the courtyard the day you called Granger a mudblood. Seeing as I grew up in a Muggle family… You would have to call me the same.’

Draco froze at that and bit his lower lip. Alright, that really wasn’t one of his finer moments, but the Golden Trio had just really annoyed him that day.

‘So you were watching me?’

‘You bought yourself onto the Quidditch team. And don’t try to say that I might be feeling that way, because I am in Gryffindor and you happened to be confronting their team. I have it on good authority, that most of the school thinks so.’

Draco rubbed his forehead and groaned slightly. ‘They do?’

‘Yeah. You are a decent flyer and Quidditch player, but buying the whole team new brooms was a bad move.’

‘Alright, I believe you. But if you knew Potter and his entourage, you would know that they had to be taken down a peg.’

‘By winning the next game? Yes, even though I am no Quidditch fanatic, I watched the last game.’

He could feel his sibling’s amusement through their link again and rolled his eyes. ‘I hate you.’

‘Wow, day two and we’re already to hating each other? What fun times, having siblings!’

Draco snorted unpureblood-like and shook his head. ‘It’s actually nice to have siblings and to not be alone anymore.’

Harry had been awake for quite a bit and just stared at the ceiling. He thought of what the twins had told them, when they walked back into the Infirmary with three potions he hadn’t known up until then. He turned to look at the magical bottle, where his name had been written on. He would need to take a drop of this potion every day before he was facing the masses. All because he had figured out who his real parents were.

“This here is called the Eye of the Beholder” Fred explained and placed the vials at the end of each second year’s bed. “It’s a very difficult potion to brew.”

“And you’re just giving them to us? How long did it take you?” Hermione asked, slightly suspicious. Harry didn’t fault her, seeing as a potion they had made put them in this situation in the first place.

George grinned at her. “Twenty minutes. Snape didn’t leave his office at the usual times, but we still found it.”

“And got detention for being caught standing in front of his door” Fred announced with a cheeky wink. “Don’t worry, blondie, we know the dangers of making our own potions.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together in silent protest.

“It’s a dangerous potion, because it changes your appearance to what everyone thinks of you. Not people who know your secret though, which means us and Madam Pomfrey. So, I could be seeing someone entirely different than what Dumbledore or Colin Creevy sees” Fred continued.

“In addition, all pictures taken of you will show your real face. Maybe make sure that our little friend doesn’t take any more pictures of you, little brother” George announced and grinned.

Even though Harry wasn’t their little brother, he still liked that they called him that. However, it seemed as if the two twins were now the younger brothers… Harry looked over to Ron who was still looking at his results, clearly unsure of what to think of that. And then he heard the voice in his head…

How had he ended up with the Potters and even worse… how had he then been moved to the Dursleys?! Dumbledore had told him before he had shipped him off that his so-called aunt had the same blood as his ‘mother’, so that the blood sacrifice would keep him safe.

And now? With the emerging truth of his family… everything in his mind was mangled. He had never needed to go through the horrors his apparent relatives had made him go through. Nothing of that sort was… meaningful.

He had a family, had a sister he trusted most, still had a friend. Even Fred and George were on their sides. And judging by the almost gentle voice in his head… Malfoy was also on their side, even if he didn’t yet know who he was.

“You okay?” Hermione stood next to his bed and looked at him slightly worried.

Harry nodded and sat up. “I am now. More or less at least. I can’t believe that someone took us away from our family. Why would they do that?”

“To have control” Ron said softly. He still had his eyes closed, but by the lack of snoring, Harry should have known that he wasn’t asleep anymore. When Hermione frowned over at him, the Gryffindor seemed to have felt her eyes on him. He sighed and turned his head and opened his eyes to look at him. “I didn’t sleep at all last night, just thought about us.”

“Ron!” Hermione shook her head and sighed. “I get it. What did you figure out?”

“We were all taken from prominently Dark families, who would have more powers, especially the Malfoys with magical triplets. Someone wanted to make sure that first of all, the Dark wouldn’t get more influence and secondly, get three children into light families.”

Hermione frowned. “I was… both Harry and I were in the Muggle world and not in the light.”

Ron nodded at that. “Yes, but they sent McGonagall to your house to talk to you and your ‘parents’, one of Dumbledore’s strongest supporter. She probably talked about the Hogwarts Houses and as head of Gryffindor may have added some bullshit there.”

Harry looked over to his sister who narrowed her eyes in thought, before she shook her head and sighed. He couldn’t believe how calm Ron was, though maybe he was just so tired that the only thing he could be is calm.

“McGonagall came to my house and talked about Hogwarts. But she never mentioned any other house, only Gryffindor. She praised me for being ‘brave enough to ask questions about Hogwarts and magic’, when most questions were asked by my pretend parents. I should have realized something was going on, when she told me I’d make a good Gryffindor with that kind of dedication to my work.”

Harry snorted. “But being dedicated to your work and friends would be more of a Hufflepuff trait.”

Hermione blushed at that slightly and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know how I did it, but the Hat didn’t know where to put me, it considered Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. But I… I just wanted to have McGonagall as my head of house, so I kind of convinced the Hat to put me there.”

“I convinced it to do the same with me” Harry said softly. “It was between Slytherin and Gryffindor.”

Ron laughed softly at that. “That’s so unfair! It just looked at me and decided I needed to go with my family. I don’t have such a good story!”

Hermione patted his forehead with a sarcastic ‘there, there’, which made them all laugh. “Well, Ron, we covered why I went to Gryffindor, but what about Harry?”

“Oh yeah, they did something even worse with you, mate.”

“Sending Hagrid, the man who thinks Dumbledore couldn’t even sneeze wrong? Yeah, I figured that out about a year ago.”

Ron nodded at that and finally sat up as well. He suppresses a yawn and looked at Harry. “Yes, but he also made sure that you had a bad feeling with everything Slytherin did and he might have-“ he froze in the middle of his sentence and frowned. “We need to get to Gringotts as soon as we can.”

“What, why?”

“I think he put compulsions on us. Dumbledore. Probably to keep us away from our families! It’s why I so openly hated Slytherin! None of my brothers behaved that way! I know Percy is dating a Snake!”

Harry stared at his friend and nodded. It made sense, why he had always hated Malfoy, if he was really under a compulsion.

“Can the goblins take them away?” Hermione asked, unsure.

Ron nodded determined. “The only problem is that we may have to keep them up until summer. I don’t think we can do anything right now, too many unknown facts. I don’t even know how I ended up with the Weasleys. Fred and George promised to try and figure it out, but I have a suspicion, I won’t like the answer.”

Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat facing his two friends… well one friend and sister. “Let’s promise something, no matter what happens: We’ll stay friends. Right, Ron? I can’t really figure this bullshit out without your functioning smarts.”

“If anything, I should be the one begging” Ron said, shaking his head. “My best friends turned into brother and sister and I’m here… alone?!”

Hermione threw herself at Ron and accidentally pulled him to the floor, where they both ended up in a laughing mess. Harry sniggered, when Madam Pomfrey walked in with breakfast for the three of them.

“Out of bed already, Miss Granger?” she asked, though Harry could see her trying to suppress a smile. “So you’re ready to go back to classes?”

“It’s Christmas, Madam Pomfrey” Harry said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“Tomorrow is, Christmas, yes. Today, you’re staying in bed. Unless you’re all better after lunch, then I will let you leave.”

They all nodded trying to make themselves look as innocent as possible. Hermione slipped back into the bed opposite of Harry, only then, did they receive their food. Harry tried hard to suppress his laughs, as Ron climbed back into bed and hid under the covers, clearly trying to evade the medi witch looking too hard at him.

“Mister Weasley, I am aware that you’ve been awake most of the night. If you’re not sleeping after breakfast, I will keep you until tomorrow. You can celebrate Christmas in here.”

Ron pulled the blanket back and stared at the witch. “You can’t do that! It’s Christmas!”

“Then sleep!” Madam Pomfrey ordered him and Ron settled back down, eating his breakfast as quickly as he could, turned to his side and closed his eyes, clearly determined to be able to leave after lunch.

Harry sent a grin at his sister which Hermione returned with a wink. They also started eating and tabled their discussion of when to go to Gringotts to a later date. It seemed as if the earliest they could actually be able to go there was around summer break.

Chapter Text

Throughout the next few months, Harry had been – frankly – paranoid. One wrong move, one picture could set of a chain of events that would be unable to stop, unable to control. One look too close towards him, Hermione or Ron or even a discussion between two people about how they looked that day could spin out of control and destroy their covers.

And then, Hermione got petrified.

Harry was at a loss for what to do next. All of Gryffindor hated him, they didn’t see that he would never in a million years make his best friend – secret sister – go petrified, even if he was the Heir of Slytherin. At least he had Ron.

Together, they tried to figure out what was going on in Hogwarts – and he hated the adults who clearly had no idea what was going on and still decided to keep all the children here. It was one more indicator that none of them could be trusted.

And today, things had turned incredibly toxic in the Gryffindor Common Room. The only friends he had left were the Weasley twins and Neville who for some unknown reason decided to be on his side. Well, and Ron.

It had turned to bad in fact, that Harry had almost considered hurting himself by falling down the stairs or flying into a tree so he could stay in the hospital wing. For now though, he was just visiting Hermione.

“I don’t know what to do, ‘Mione. This whole thing has gotten me so… desperate that I’m almost at the point where I would say ‘fuck it, let’s go ask our brother for help’. But I know I can’t.”

“It would be fun, though” Ron said with a grin. “Just to see him freaking out.”

Harry snorted and let his head fall onto the mattress where Hermione lay petrified. “It would be stupid, especially with our compulsions.”

Ron sniggered and nodded. He leaned back and sighed. “Did yours get weaker too?”

He had noticed that he wasn’t repulsed by being in the dungeons anymore. And he could focus more during potions. It was clear that he hadn’t gotten all the books that Hermione had in her personal library, seeing as he was missing most of the ‘Muggle Guides to …’-books. After asking one of the girls to bring him the potions Muggle Guide, he was actually doing decently.

And he wasn’t hating on his triplet brother anymore that much. Even though Draco was still throwing shit in his cauldron.

“Probably. I do enjoy potions for some reason.”

Ron snorted. “Good for you, mate. I will never figure it out.”

“Did the Notts not have a specific talent in potions?” Harry teased and received a dark glare from his friend.

“I’ll have you know that the Nott family is one with the widest range of knowledge of magical creatures – just behind Newt Scamander that is.”

“Did you research, didn’t you?”

He knew for a fact that his friend had researched everything since they had gotten the news of their families. Apparently, Theodore Nott and Ron – whose real name was Alden Waverly Nott – were not actually twins. They were born in the same year though, apparently only with ten months difference. That in itself was something… strange. Harry had never heard of that. Maybe magic had helped along somehow.

Theodore Nott – born in September – didn’t qualify for the earlier Hogwarts year, even though his father had tried to get him in a year earlier. So, when Alden, or Ron, was born in July, they were both technically invited to join the same year.

Harry would have thought that was really weird, especially having a younger brother in the same year…

The Nott family was apparently known to have about a dozen homes all over the continents, mostly in creature dominant areas, where they could study and learn. Apparently, Newt Scamander had visited most of them to write his books.

When Lady Nott died due to unknown circumstances, though Ron thought it looked like she died during childbirth, most of the secrets to creatures died with her, since she was the one who was looking after everything, once Lord Nott had joined the Death Eaters.

Harry however was sure that Lady Nott would not just let all the knowledge die… She had probably written it down somewhere for the family to find. Maybe it was somewhere with Alden’s things that the Nott family had just stored in Gringotts to keep the memory away.

Ron stuck out his tongue and Harry sniggered. “I think you’ll fit in.”

That made the redhead sigh again and he shrugged his shoulders. Clearly, he was trying to appear nonchalant, but Harry knew him well enough. He could see the tenseness in his shoulders, the thoughtful look, and the crease between his eyes. Ron wasn’t sure, but Harry was convinced that Theodore Nott had two personas. One that was public – the silent Slytherin that always carried a book or two with him. He could almost always be seen reading – even during Quidditch games, which Harry thought amusing. And the second persona was probably the one he kept secret.

But everyone was going to love Ron.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you to your family.”

“And we’ll get ‘Mione out of this situation.”

Harry hummed at that. He would make a thousand percent sure that his siter wasn’t going to suffer. And the adults hadn’t done anything so far, except for adding a curfew, which was stupid honestly.

“I’ve already ordered Mandrake Draught from France. It should arrive in ten days. If the adults are dumb enough to not order it, I will do so. How dumb are the adults that they think it’ll be better to make it yourself, while still having to make the Mandrakes grow?! I won’t let my sister die or staying behind in class, because they don’t want to spend money on their students.”

Ron nodded aggressively. “I fully support you! If you need me to do anything to help you, let me know!”

“Well, I didn’t want the school to know that I was the one to buy them, because I think especially Dumbledore will know something’s amiss. I think I had compulsions or blocks on my intelligence” Harry theorized and shook his head.

Narrowing his eyes, Ron seemed to agree. “I think we can ask Fred and George to sneak in here and administer it to everyone and then make it look like they got it somewhere.”

That relieved Harry and he smiled at his friend thankfully. “You’re the best!”

‘Hey, here’s something funny: I might have to redo my year.’

Draco sat up, unknowingly having leaned over his essay too much and he frowned at his sister’s voice in his head. It was currently April, almost May and he hadn’t had that much contact with her for a few weeks. He had gotten slightly worried, but hoped that maybe life had just gotten a bit too complicated.

‘Why?’

‘I’m… not in school, let’s say it like that.’

That put Draco on high alert and he almost jumped up to try and look for his sibling. And then he realized that he had no idea what she looked like, which made him stop and frown again.

‘Where are you?’

‘The hospital wing. Probably shouldn’t have said that. But I haven’t had any human interactions for the past few weeks and I’m honestly starving to talk to someone. Thankfully, we can talk through our links.’

Draco’s heart almost stopped beating. Everything his sister said pointed towards her being one of the victims of the Heir. How terrifying must it be to just… exist somewhere and not be able to communicate, while the mind was still working?!

‘You’re thinking too much, brother.’

‘I just worry. About you and our brother, but now more about you.’

‘I heard our brother today, he was talking to our friend.’

‘The one who’s going through the same thing you are?’

‘Well yeah, minus being petrified. Our brother thinks someone placed compulsions on his intelligence. And I think I have to agree.’

‘How so?’

Draco was curious. Who would place intelligence blockers on a child? Well… unless someone wanted to control him. Who could his brother be?

‘He apparently bought the Mandrake Draught.’

Draco slapped his forehead. ‘Merlin’s beard! How did I not think if that?!’

‘We’re children, we shouldn’t be the ones thinking of anything. Apparently some friends are going to help him tend to us. If any adult realize that he figured it out, we could be found.’

‘Let me help!’ Draco couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to help his siblings. Why would they always try to leave him behind? He was their older brother, he should be the one looking out for the two of them. Instead, it seemed as if they were looking out for him…

Which was weird.

His sister seemed amused, but didn’t say anything else. She then switched to the other topic before. ‘Anyway, it seems as if I have to repeat the year. I don’t see how I can pass the exams without having learned for them.’

‘Unless Dumbledore tells everyone they’re not happening. I could see that happen, since one of the Golden Trio is in there with you as well.’

Once again, she seemed confused and silent. Draco frowned at his parchment, the essay long forgotten. ‘Are you alright?’

‘No, well, yes. I’m just… concerned.’

‘For who? The Golden Trio?’

‘Dumbledore’s control over the school.’

Her answer came a little late and after a pause that made Draco slightly suspicious. And he didn’t like the result he was thinking of… For now, he decided to keep to himself.

‘Well, if you’re scared about passing the exams, I can help you. Technically, if you practice for a long time, the siblings bonds can be used to practice magic on, since they are magical themselves. It’s old magic and not very much liked, because most people think it’s dark, but they don’t know anything about it.’

His sibling was quite for a second, before an amused feeling rushed through their link. ‘At the moment, I don’t really care for dark or forbidden or not allowed, I just want to be able to pass my second-year exams, even if I have to take it at the Ministry.’

‘Trust me, if Dumbledore cancels the exams, our father will make sure that we can do them at the Ministry just so that we don’t have holes in our school records.’

‘Good. Tell me about the magic I can learn, please. I can’t read books while I’m in this state.’

Draco laughed softly and started talking about what they had learned until now. It suited him just as well, because he saw it as a way to repeat all the things and spells. And surprisingly, his sister learnt incredibly fast to do magic through their bond. Draco watched as she created Lumos and made an object fly through their bond. It was weird to be the one to receive the magic without actually doing anything, seeing his wand light up with her spell was certainly amazing!

And while she practiced, he formed a plan.

It was dinner time and Draco had told everyone that he wasn’t feeling so well and would stay in their room. While all of Slytherin was in the Great Hall, Draco only had about forty-five minutes for his adventure, then Madam Pomfrey would walk back into Infirmary. That was, if nobody was injured.

It was a really stupid plan. But he needed to see. He needed to know who his sister was, after having had a hunch for the last couple of days. Was is bad that he hoped the clues had just been badly places to point to a few specific people? That he kind of hoped that his ideas were wrong?

If he were to be correct… there had to be a mountain of apologies to be said.

Whenever his sister had used to train her magic through their link, he could feel hers. Could feel how strong she really was. Her magical reach was already incredible. And he thought he had a lot of magic.

Her magic also felt familiar and he just… he couldn’t stop thinking of all the clues she had given him throughout the months. So, to finally make sure that his conclusion had been correct – and to kind of hope he was wrong – he had made his way into the medical wing.

It was incredibly creepy. There were about two dozen people – and a ghost and a cat – laying around, no noise. That in itself was weird. Draco shook his head and walked through the hall, looking for someone specific.

‘What are you doing? Where are you?’

Draco snorted, the sound echoing through the almost silent room. Of course his sister would realize that he was feeling uncomfortable. Their bond had gotten rather close through her using magic through him.

‘It’s dinner time’ Draco answered, hoping against all hope that she would let it go.

By now he had a pretty good grasp of how his sister reacted to things, so obviously she didn’t let him off with that ridiculous lie. ‘Sure, and you’re not in the Great Hall. Where are you?’

‘Hospital Wing.’

‘Why are you…. Draco no.’

He could feel the anxiety rushing through her body and through their sibling link. And by now, Draco had reached the person he thought was his sister. She lay there, staring into distance, her jaw set into almost defiance. Though she didn’t look like family now, which was a little disappointed.

‘Why are you doing this.’ His sister seemed almost hopeless when she stated that question.

Draco frowned and tilted his head slightly. He didn’t like her sounding like that. While studying magic with her, he had gotten to know her a little bit and he actually liked her quick-witted responses.

‘Whoever kidnapped you placed you with Muggles. And you let me to think multiple times that you are in Gryffindor. When you practices magic through me, I could feel it. And right now, I can feel it again.’

‘You’re going to hate me.’

‘Why? You’re my sister.’

‘But… I’m part of what you called the ‘Golden Trio’. And you told me multiple times that you hate them. That you hate me.’

Draco sat down next to Hermione Granger, his sister, and held her hand. “I don’t hate you” he said out loud and shook his head. “Maybe I did before, but now that I know what was going on… I’m actually royally pissed at whoever made you go through this.”

It felt like his sister wanted to cry, which was impossible at the moment. ‘We think we’ve been placed under compulsions. Maybe you were too?’

‘Maybe’ Draco answered and hummed thoughtfully. He couldn’t believe the way he had treated his brother! He was suppose to care for him, to make sure that he was alright… Yet, he had tried to hex him, threw stuff in his potions, laughed at him…

That wasn’t what a real brother would do, not what a real triplet would do. ‘I feel ashamed of myself.’

‘Draco… that’s why we didn’t want you to find out just yet. I know Harry was freaking out when he realized that you were his brother. Not because he thought that it was bad, but because he thought that you wouldn’t want us. Me, a apparent mudblood, and Harry, the boy who lived that you hate.’

‘I was so stupid. How did I not realize? Our sibling bonds should have reacted!’

‘As I’ve told you, Draco. Compulsions.’

Draco sighed and looked at the frozen body of his sister. ‘You haven’t called me brother since you realized that I know who you are.’

A hesitation in her answer made it clear to Draco that she felt incredibly unsure. ‘Do you still want me to call you brother? After you know who I am?’

‘Always, sister. I may not have been a good person before, but now… I will do whatever I can so that you and I and our brother will have a sibling relationship. I promise you.’

Another hesitation, before Hermione finally answered. ‘Okay.’

He smiled down and nodded. Then, he let go of her hand and frowned. ‘What’s in your hands?’

‘Oh! That’s what I was trying for Harry and Ron to figure out. There’s a basilisk that petrifies the students. It uses the toilet tube things as a way to rummage the castle. That’s why Harry can hear it.’

Draco frowned, before he remembered the duel, where his godfather had told him to create a snake and Potter… his brother had talked to it. Logically, as a basilisk was a snake, he could talk to it as well.

‘I’ll tell my father. I’m sure he can do something before it hurts other people.’

‘Buy a rooster and walk with it throughout Hogwarts. It should be gone within ten days.’

Draco chuckled and shook his head. ‘How do you know about this?’

‘Magic.’

A week later, the potion finally arrived. Harry headed off to find the twins on the Quidditch pitch shooting Bludgers at each other and trying to evade them at the same time. Harry snorted as he watched the fake game going on. Fred just shot one so hard that he practically spun around his broom and lost the bat.

“No!” he screamed out and jumped into a dive that would have made all Seekers jealous, just so he could get hit prized bat back.

George, not having realized what was going on, shot the Bludger back at his twin. He clearly saw his mistake a second later and went into a race to try and catch the ball that was headed straight for his sibling.

Harry could see the impact and took one look at the Quaffle laying on the floor, looking like a Muggle football. So he ran at it and kicked it hard into the direction of the twin, hoping it would intercept the deadly ball. And it actually did!

The Quaffle hit the Bludger and steered it away not a second too late, though Fred ad just then received his bat back and took a swing, only to hit George’s broom and throw him off it. George took to flying and grabbed Fred’s broom, sending them both down to the floor in a swirly matter. Luckily, they were only a couple of feet in the air, so they landed without any problems.

Fred then got up and jumped on the Bludger to wrestle it back into the case.

“Good show” Harry stated as he walked closer. “Almost ended in a trip to the Hospital Wing though. And people say I’m the one who frequents there.”

“You are” said a breathless George and Fred sniggered at that.

Harry rolled his eyes and held out a shrunken package. “The potions arrived. We can give them to the students and see them all get better. There’s a rumour that Malfoy’s dad will arrive later today with a rooster and walk the grounds and the castle. Hopefully that’ll do it to get rid of… whatever it is.”

Fred ruffled through Harry’s hair and he glared at him. However, he just received a grin as the twin accepted the potions. “How does it make you feel to meet your father? Or to know that he’s here?”

“It’s strange. I wish I could somehow…. I don’t know. Tell him, maybe.” Harry sighed and shook his head.

“I mean, you could.” Fred shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to his brother again, who had finally found the strength to not just lie on the grass anymore.

“It would make this whole ordeal more dangerous though” George continued. “Safer to just… wait until summer.”

Harry sighed. “Safer for who? Because I’m not sure that my apparent relatives will accept me back after you kidnapped me in the summer. You made Vernon fall down from my room.”

“Which was-“

“- frankly awesome.”

Laughing softly, Harry shook his head. “I’ll agree when we meet up again during summer. Because for now, I’m too scared of what could happen.”

“We’ll protect you” Fred announced and pulled him into a tight hug, that made Harry laugh as he tried to escape, only to be sandwiched in the middle by the other twin.

“Nobody will get to you!”

“If you say so” Harry said between laughter and he finally got free of them both. “When do you think you can hand out the potions?”

The twins looked at each other with identical mischievous grins. “Tonight, certainly. By tomorrow morning, they’ll all be ready to get breakfast with us all.”

“Good” Harry nodded at that. “And did you find out how Ron was placed with you? Maybe that would be a clue to why Mione and I were kidnapped as well.”

Fred sighed. “We haven’t found anything, but we believe-“

“It’s definitely Dumbledore” George finished his sentence, much more confident than Fred had started it. “Well, I believe it’s him, Freddie isn’t as certain.”

“Just because I don’t think he would be as dumb to kidnap three babies from dark families and place them there. Like… what is he thinking? That no on will ever find out?”

Harry snorted at that and nodded. His mind wandered to breakfast tomorrow and the promise that the twins were going to set free everyone that had been frozen. He couldn’t contain his glee at that. Not only was he going to see Hermione again, but there was also Dumbledore that would be seeing the return out of nowhere.

“I cannot wait to see Dumbledore’s face, when he sees them all” he said with a malicious grin which the Weasley twins matched rather quickly.

Chapter Text

“Colin, you’re well!”

“Justin! We’ve missed you!”

“Pepe? Is that really you?!”

Albus Dumbledore was somewhere between livid and deeply depressed, when on a random Thursday morning, two dozen students walked into the Great Hall. There were shouts of joy, surprise and love, as the previously petrified students fell into the embrace of those fearing the worst. Albus detested all of it.

Not because he actually hated the children, Merlin knew that as Headmaster, one had to somehow find peace with being around so many idiots. No, he was unhappy because he hadn’t planned this happening. The potion was supposed to take at least one more month to brew before the Mandrakes could be added which were going to need at least six more weeks to grow strong and potent enough.

So how in Merlin’s forsaken name were the children, ghosts and cats walking around at the moment?!

He turned to Poppy right when Hermione Granger ran down between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, before falling into Harry’s and Ron Weasley’s embrace. The noise right now was… unbelievable.

“When did you receive the potion? I though the Mandrake weren’t ready to be added into the brew.”

Poppy seemed slightly confused. “They weren’t? Well, then they must have been getting better on their own, since I haven’t received anything.”

Albus really hated that.

The rest of the Great Hall hadn’t really felt the anger bubbling within the Headmaster. Especially Harry had been incredibly happy to see his plan working as he hugged his best friend and sister.

“I was so worried about you!” he whispered into her hair as she held him close as well.

Smiling at him, Hermione pulled him into another hug, before she also grabbed Ron and held them both. It truly was good, seeing her again. And since he still hadn’t figured out how to talk to his siblings via the triplet link, he had been unable to respond when Hermione sent him tiny updates. At least he knew that she wasn’t dead.

“I’ve missed you both too! It was so boring all the time!” Hermione said and rolled her eyes. Then, they sat down again and she started piling on food on her plate that had Harry worried a little.

“Are you really sure you can eat all of that?”

Hermione winked at him and leaned so close that only Ron next to her and Neville on the other side of the table could hear her. “Madam Pomfrey tested all of us. She was surprised this morning, when we all ‘woke up’ from our frozen state and has been going on since five am. There’s nothing wrong and we’re all bafflingly healthy.”

“Wait really?” Ron seemed confused.

Neville grinned at the three of them. “That’s the Mandrake. When they’re overly grown and are pretty much at the edge of going sour and being unable to used for anything, they’re the strongest. I’ve read that any potion with them in it, will be at its maximum of usefulness. So, a healing potion will also heal any old injuries, a food potion will add more nutrition or specific missing vitamins, all these things.”

“That’s so cool!” Hermione said and widened her eyes. “I really wish there was a book about that I could read!”

Ron rolled his eyes, but it was clearly meant as a joke. Neville smiled at her shily and told her what books he had at home and that he was going to send her one when he was back in the Longbottom Manor. Hermione seemed incredibly pleased with it.

Harry took another bite of his apple slices. “So, how is school work going?”

“I was able to practice, I’ll tell you later how, but I should be good” she explained and Harry found her eyes going over to the Slytherin table. He followed her look and found Draco staring back. For a few seconds they held eye contact, before he jerked away and stared at the Ravenclaw table disinterested.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. “Did you find out what kind of a thing is haunting us?” he leaned over and frowned at them. “Yesterday, Malfoy senior came by with a cock? Really weird. He walked through Hogwarts three times.”

“Alone? Just him and the rooster?” Hermione asked, trying very hard not to sound overly amused. Harry could however feel the need to laugh loudly coming through their sibling’s bond. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one trying not to laugh at his father.

“Yup. Peeves tried to mess with him for so long, until he ordered the Bloody Baron to keep him under control, since he was trying to rid the school of a deadly creature” Ron explained between sniggers.

Neville was next to start giggling, Hermione followed with quiet laughter, trying to hide it somehow, while Harry belted out laughing, Ron following quick. Eventually, Neville and Hermione joined with Dean and Seamus who had heard them talking about the rooster.

Finally, Hermione brushed the laughter tears away and leaned close. “It was a basilisk. They’re afraid of roosters.”

“The huge snakes?!” Neville whispered back, clearly terrified.

Hermione nodded. “But if Malfoy senior was here with the cock, I’m sure it’s gone by now.” She turned to Harry. “Have you heard anything in the past few days that would indicate its presence?”

Harry shook his head. It had been weirdly quiet in the last few days. But it was nice not to hear voices of destructions and death anymore. “Let’s hope it’s really gone.”

He looked down the table, watching as his friends greeted the frozen people, still hugging and laughing, even though they had been here for a while now. His eyes then suddenly darted over Ginny who sat at the end of the table, not looking too well.

Turning back to Ron, he frowned. “Have you noticed that Ginny’s different than before?”

“How?” his friend frowned and looked to his ‘sister’ as well. They were all watching her silently, as she ate too little incredibly slow, before her eyes darted around the room. They didn’t seem to focus on anything, not even realizing that people were looking at her. Even though they held eye contact with her.

As Ginny stood up, Ron turned back to them, clearly alarmed. “I don’t think she’s doing well. Maybe we need to have a family discussion.”
Hermione hummed softly, while Neville frowned at Ron. “She’s been like that since Christmas.”

“Wait really?” Ron widened his eyes.

“How do you know?” Harry asked softly. He knew that Neville knew a lot, but this was… weird.

His friend shrugged his shoulders. “I notice things. Like how Fred and George need Lee to keep them grounded from time to time. How Ravenclaws started hiding Luna’s things because she doesn’t fit in with the rest. How Wood’s eyes turn to misty tears whenever someone around him starts talking about Quidditch. Ginny’s been stuck with this book, always writing in it. Then she stops and waits, reads something and starts writing again. But she never turned a page. Not that I’ve seen, anyway.”

They all stared at Neville who turned redder with every passing second, until Hermione chuckled softly.

“Quiet water run deep, it seems.”

“I’ll have to find the twins and Percy. We need to have a family meeting. Dad always said that you never interact with things that can talk and think in their own” Ron said and got up. He practically ran down the Gryffindor table and stopped briefly where the twins were sitting, before running over to the Ravenclaw table, where Percy had seated himself, next to a newly revived Penelope Clearwater.

Harry hummed quietly. “You do see a lot Neville. I never would have seen her acting that way.”

The Gryffindor offered a shy smile. “Thanks Harry. And for your information… Malfoy’s been watching you as much as you’ve been glancing over.” With that, Neville got up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, where he spoke to a first year and they walked out together.

Meanwhile, Harry stared at Hermione who glanced over to Draco, a grin spreading over her face after a little time. “He thinks it’s funny” she announced and Harry rolled his eyes.

There was over a month left of the school year. The previously frozen people had integrated into their classes again, some – like Hermione – as if they hadn’t missed a day of school, others – like Penelope Clearwater apparently – had now too much to relearn that it was already clear they had to redo their school year. Hermione had already told Harry that if she had to do that, she would have killed whoever it was that had sent the beast up. Since she didn’t have to repeat, the unknown person could live to see another day.

The Weasley’s had their intervention with Ginny, sending her to Madam Pomfrey for a full check-up, while Ron suggested sending the weird looking book she had been scribbling in to Bill, who as Harry had learnt worked for the goblins as a curse breaker. That seemed like the job he really wanted! Adventure, travel, outsmarting traps… Interesting work!

As the school year came to a close, the students in the hall had been able to observe the weird shenanigans the professors were up to. Not that they were doing weird things, more like… the headmaster was being suspicious and the professors were trying to get the school going like normal again.

Just in the morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had walked towards the Great Hall, only to find a cluster of professors arguing with Dumbledore about ignoring the end of term exams. Harry frowned and shook his head, feeling Hermione’s link open. However, for the first time, he could feel it opening with their third sibling. He could feel Draco’s presence.

‘You’re going to like this, if you can feel or see through me’ Hermione told the Slytherin.

‘Do I want to know how you learnt to do that?’ was Draco’s response and Harry sniggered softly. He didn’t understand how he was able to be listening in on their conversation, but it was funny to do so. Especially since he had to still learn how to do this whole communications thing.

Luckily, him sniggering didn’t seem out of place since Ron tried to keep it together at the horrified look McGonagall sent the headmaster just that second.

“You must be out of your mind, Albus! Why would you want to cancel the exams? The fifth-year students have O.W.L.s to finish. The seventh year must sit their N.E.W.T.s! Do you want to condemn them for not evacuating the school when we told you to do so?!”

“My dear, it was just a-“

“Albus, why do you want to cancel the exams?” Professor Flitwick said and shook his head. “By now we know who has to repeat based on the essays we’ve read and the interactions and challenges of the students we’ve seen. It would take a miracle for Miss Clearwater to pass. Mr. Creevey too, though a well written exam might be the catalyst for staying in his current year.”

The headmaster clearly tried to argue. “Well, you see Miss Granger has-“

“Done incredibly well so far” Professor Sprout interrupted him and shrugged her shoulders. “We’ve already discussed it together. From everyone who’d been affected by the… thing, she performs as if she hasn’t missed a day of school.”

Hermione blushed under the praise not even spoken to her directly and Harry beamed, proudly of what his sister had accomplished.

‘Good job, sister! I’m so proud of your work!’ Draco’s own praise came through the link, turning Hermione red like a tomato.

‘Thanks.’

As quickly as they had stumbled over the professors, they had vanished again into another room where the four students sadly couldn’t follow. So, they marched down to the Great Hall again for their dinner.

Harry caught Draco looking at them as they entered, before he turned to another boy. This one had the same jaw line that Ron had. Frowning, Harry looked at his friend and switched table sides, before he sat down next to Neville.

Now, he could compare the two and… yeah. The guy talking to his brother was definitely Theodore Nott, Ron’s older brother. They were talking lowly as the professors walked in, actually, Harry thought that they seemed to be whispering. Then, Nott looked at Harry and he turned away, to speak to Neville. Clearly not conspicuous, no, not at all.

“So, what are your plans for the holiday? We only have a few weeks left” Harry said, starting a new topic.

Neville shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure yet. If Gran lets me, I’ll go to the new plant boutique that opened in Magical Paris. They import plants from all over the world, it would be fun to look at it.”

“For two months? Blimey, don’t you have other things to do?” Ron commented, before he got hit by a pancake.

Harry sniggered when his friend turned to Hermione and stared her down, though she waved him off. “Don’t undermine people’s interests, Ron. I’m sure Neville could in reality spend three months there without getting bored.”

“I’m just saying…” Ron wanted to start again, but held his hands up, when Hermione glared daggers at him again.

Luckily, the previously shy and unsure Neville beamed at Hermione’s defence and went into a spoken essay about all the magical plants that he wanted to house someday. Harry chuckled as Ron rolled his eyes – not that Neville would have seen that – and Hermione hit him over the head with half a baguette. Which broke and crumble to pieces over his hair.

Harry sniggered at that.

‘Tell our sister that her actions are unwise, since people then can see through the disguise Weasley has going if there's bread in his hair.’

Looking past his sister, he saw Draco practically staring him down. Sighing, Harry related the message and then stuck out his tongue at the Slytherin. His brother seemed weirdly proud of that accomplishment as Hermione magically cleaned up a supposed Ron Weasley.

It wasn’t until after the professors had ‘unanimously’ decided to keep the exams, that the Weasley twins found the Golden Trio in the Common Room and pulled them outside into one of the secret passages, when Harry got a little nervous. This was about Ron. Maybe finally an explanation what had happened to them as babies.

“We found something weird” George started – which was weird in itself as usually Fred started the conversation – and opened his little shoulder bag to reveal pictures. Harry leaned over them and found the Weasley family… missing a few members. Or all of them frankly...

Fred sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Okay, so. This picture was under stasis in mum’s kitchen, remember Ron?”

Harry’s friend frowned, before nodding thoughtfully. “Yeah. I knocked it over once by accident. The only time where I almost got hit by mum.”

Fred nodded. “It’s magically altered. It’s a family frame, so basically all the family members will magically appear and age with it, yeah? So when you knocked it over, it lost its magic.”

“Which mum then fixed again” George explained. “We talked to Bill, after the book fiasco, which we’re not going to start at the moment, maybe when we’re in holiday.”

“Anyway” Fred interrupted his twin, “Bill found that there was foreign magic in this and destroyed it. Turns out-“

“There is no Weasley family. Mum didn’t even marry dad and we’re all different family's missing children” George finished, shaking his head.

All three second years stared at the twins in shocked silence. Fred nodded dismally. Meanwhile, Harry was trying to think on how it was that all Weasleys were not related, the two adults not even married… how had… why?

The twins grinned finally at them and bowed quickly. “So, let’s get the introduction started. Ginny is a missing part of the Montague family, Percy is a Dolohov, which is fucking scary, Bill is a Bones and Charlie is an O’Brien.”

Harry frowned at the rush of information. They had funnily ignored one important information.

“And who are you?”

“George and Frederick Picquery, at your service.” Both twins bowed.

“I know that name” Hermione said with a frown. “Something in a history book or so.”

Ron had opened his mouth to say something, but at Hermione’s late comment, he rolled his eyes, which ended in him getting hit by a dusty piece of parchment over his head. He coughed as the dust filled the air and Harry tried to blow the dust, visible in the air, towards his friend again.

Fred grinned, ignoring the actions. “Possibly. We’re not sure if we have family in the UK, but one of our ancestors was the president of MACUSA!”

“We’ve already scheduled full-length investigations with the goblins for everyone of us. And naturally, two more for our friends” George pointed at Harry and Hermione. “They can take away all the compulsions and additional magic on us.”

“Good!” Ron nodded at that. “But one more thing…”

“We’ll always stay siblings, Ron. We’ll make a monthly meeting for all of us, no matter where or who we are” Fred said, as if he had read his mind. By the pleased look on Ron’s face… he clearly had. George clapped his back and pulled him into a far too tight hug, ending in the two fighting, Fred joining them and Harry scooting over to his sister.

He sat down and leaned against her shoulder. “Is that what it’s like to have siblings?”

Hermione laughed softly and shrugged her shoulders, before hugging him – though not as tight as the twins were with Ron. “No clue, brother. I’ve never had siblings before and maybe once we feel safe, we can do it like that.”

“I’d rather not.”

Ron was calling for help. By the looks of the twins, they were clearly not going to let him go and it was too funny to let him struggle. So, Harry just enjoyed being close to his friends and his sister.

Chapter Text

Hermione was a genius.

Two weeks before the term was over, she sent her ‘family’ a letter stating that she had been invited to join Harry’s family for a two week trip to Iceland. Then, she ordered Harry to send a letter to his ‘relatives’ stating that they didn’t have to come and meet him at the train station as he was going with his friend Ron to a family trip to Egypt for two weeks (and that they were going to drop him off once they were back). And finally, they both bullied Ron into writing a letter to his parents that he was going with Hermione’s family to a holiday in Finland. Suddenly, all the Weasley children still at school wanted to write similar letters.

However, Bill and Charlie told them that it would be too suspicious and that they would come and get the four others still in the house, once Ron was sorted. And once the goblins did their research.

Before their plan could however be put to the test, Hermione had finally gotten the bracelets for them and one additional for Ron. When Draco heard that the Weasley family wasn’t actually a family, he had gotten a few more protection bracelets.

Harry was secretively pleased that he had included the Weasley twins, Ginny and even Percy.

And a day before the holidays were starting, a mysterious owl – not really, just a Hogwarts owl – dropped a letter in front of Harry. He frowned at it and went to open it, before Hermione snatched it and quickly performed a few tests.

“It’s okay, you can open it.”

Harry sighed. “Why don’t I ever think of something like that?”

“’Cause you’re practically smart, not actually book smart” Ron explained, who was sitting on the other side of the table in the Great Hall. Since most students were currently packing, there were only Professors Flitwick and Snape at the Head Table with only a handful of people one each table. “Also, I don’t like to toot my own horn, but-“

“Yes, you’re smart as well, when it comes to knowledge about the wizarding world, we all know it” Hermione interrupted him, making Harry snigger, before he was hit over the head with the litter itself.

Harry smiled at his friends and opened the letter, to find not really surprisingly Draco’s handwriting.

Meet today, an hour to curfew, hall of fame.

“Speaking about ‘smarts’” Harry started and shook his head as Hermione cast a muffling spell over them, just in case. It seemed she had realized what was going on. “Our brother seems to have none of that. He wants to meet, while we’re still somewhat under compulsions.”

Hermione sighed at that, while Ron shrugged his shoulders and continued eating. “Even though I’m most likely still under compulsions, I wouldn’t mind meeting my brother. I mean, we went to school together for a few years, and I didn’t even know that we were family. Well, and Draco, he’s been hating the living shit out of you, suddenly realized that you both all are triplets! I would try to meet as well.”

“But…” Hermione looked from Ron to Harry and back, before looking across the room, where the Slytherin table remained familiarly empty. The whole house usually appeared together. “But the compulsions!”

Ron pointed at the armbands around their wrists. “With any luck, there’s enough magic in there to keep you from running at each other and doing something you’ll later regret.”

Hermione took a deep breath, while Harry frowned. It would be kind of nice to see his brother in a somewhat safe place. At least before they were going to Gringotts. A look towards his sister made it clear that she really wanted to meet Draco. Maybe with the bracelets on it would actually work.

It was literally the night before they had to travel back home, that the siblings finally met face to face. Ron had come with, just to act as an impartial judge – though Harry thought that he too had been under compulsions so he couldn’t really be that impartial. Nevertheless, they walked to an abandoned classroom that was clearly used as a meeting space.

Inside were couches, small coffee tables, even an actual abandoned Muggle bar was inside though from the looks of it, none of the drinks on the shelves were alcoholic and the ones labelled with fire whiskey or other alcoholic beverages, were actually empty.

Or… Harry looked at his Invisibility Cloak deep in thoughts. The elder students were clearly able to do some wild and interesting magic… maybe the alcohol was simply just… invisible?

They couldn’t think more about it, since a second later, the door was opened again and Draco walked in – with two other Slytherins in tow, though not his usual entourage. Harry recognized one as Theodore Nott – Ron’s actual older brother. The other one… he had no idea.

The second Draco walked in, Harry could feel his bracelet warming, fighting the compulsion spells that he was placed under. It was heating up wary quickly and he shook his arm, just to relieve his skin which was starting to slowly burn due to the contact.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you” the third Slytherin said, eyes on Harry. His voice was smooth, deeper than most second years and Harry frowned.

“Why not?”

The Slytherin pointed at the bracelet on his own arm. Unlike Harry’s almost Gryffindor red, it was dark blue, shimmering in the light of the lanterns at the wall. “It needs skin contact to make sure that you’re free of whatever compulsions it needs to get rid of. If you need any numbing cream, you can ask me.”

Hermione stepped in front of Harry, clearly not happy with all the direct eye contact the Slytherin was sending him. She clearly feared that all that contact was to do something to him. This didn’t deter the Snake, he did send her an apologetic smile though, before looking past her again.

That was a bit too much for Harry and he stepped further behind his older sister, hiding himself away from prying eyes.

“So much for bravery” Theodore Nott commented, rolling his eyes.

Ron narrowed his own eyes and in a second actions, raised his eyebrows. “I’d like to see how you react when you’re being handed over to the wizarding world on a silver platter after having lived in the Muggle world for so long.”

This finally meant that the two brothers faced each other. Harry wasn’t sure if the older Nott was happy to see his brother of if he knew that Ron Weasley was in reality his younger sibling Alden Waverly Nott.

“So you’re also protective over the Boy Who Lived?”

“Don’t call him that” Ron almost growled. “I’m protective over my friends. Hermione and Harry are my friends. The only reason I’m not attacking Zabini or Malfoy is because I know for a fact that he has been communicating fairly and respectfully with both and Zabini started a neutral discussion with Harry – if a little too intense for all our liking.”

Harry peered out from behind Hermione and found the third Slytherin – apparently Blaise Zabini – bowing slightly. “I do apologize for my actions, they weren’t meant as a threat.”

“Where are your bodyguards?” Hermione asked Draco, clearly trying to somehow diffuse the tense situation they were in. Their brother clearly seemed amused and he shrugged his shoulders.

“The House of Goyle and The House of Crabbe are Vassals to my house. They act as physical and mental bodyguards, however, both children to these houses have turned out rather…”

“Stupid” Zabini said after Draco was clearly trying to find a nicer word than that. “They turned out as smart as a rock.”

Draco rolled his eyes, while Harry sniggered, still hidden behind Hermione. The Slytherin shoved his friend with a grin. “I wasn’t going to say that. Anyway, they now act as physical bodyguards. I wouldn’t have trusted them to keep this meeting secret.”

“So you decided to bring two others?” Ron asked, clearly trying to keep his emotions to himself, however, he was obviously annoyed to see his brother.

Theodore Nott narrowed his eyes and glared at him. “Got anything against that?” he asked at the verge of being rude. No, honestly he was rather rude about it. Something was weird about it.

“You should probably also get an anti compulsion bracelet” Harry said and, realising that this would make the angry Slytherin look at him with just as much fury, hid himself behind Hermione again.

Before he could say something in return, Draco hit him over the head, making Hermione snigger and Ron snorted, trying to hide it as a cough. Zabini looked gratified and leaned against the wall, winking at Harry, when he looked towards the others again.

“Had I known you’ve got so much anger towards my siblings, I wouldn’t have taken you with me, Nott! Now either behave or leave!”

“I’ll leave then” Nott said, looking at them again. “I’ll give you thirty minutes, before I’m telling Professor Snape that you’re out past curfew.”

When he left and the door closed with a bang behind him, Draco shared a look with Zabini and rolled his eyes. “So sorry, I thought he could behave himself” he apologized.

‘I thought that since he was Ronald’s brother, he would feel a sort of connection’ his explanation continued away from Zabini and Ron. Harry thought that he said it directly to him and then did the same to Hermione again. It seemed as if he wasn’t yet fully in control of the triple link they had.

As the danger was finally over – Zabini had been warned by pretty much everyone who was still present not to mess with him – Harry finally emerged from behind his sister. “So, why did you go through the danger to meet up?” he asked.

Hermione looked over her shoulder and then put an arm around Harry, clearly still trying to protect him. He grinned and then pulled her and Ron to a couch sitting pretty much in the middle. More importantly was the dark green couch in the opposite side of the wooden coffee table separating the two lines. The Slytherins followed their lead and sat down there as well.

“Family is important to me. I’ve wanted to let you know that whatever happens, I’m going to be there.”

“That’s a nice sentiment” Ron said, raising his eyebrows. “How will you see to it?”

Draco sent him a quick smile. “Well, for one, once you’re at Gringotts and you’ve done a family tree and whatever else you chose to undergo or look at, my family will be notified that my missing siblings have been found. Mother will undoubtfully run to see you.”

Harry widened his eyes for a second. “That’s a scary thought.”

“Why?” Draco frowned. It seemed that in his mind, there were no adults that were running towards you holding a belt or a broom handle or pan…

Unwilling to let him into his experiences, Harry just shrugged his shoulders. “Your mother is terrifying. I saw her on the platform last summer and… she’s very imposing.”

Zabini nodded at that. “Misses Malfoy told my mother once that the most important part of their lives was knowing what was happening around you and make sure that she was able to react to whatever happened.”

“Which means?” Hermione asked, clearly unsure of what to expect.

“Wait” Ron held his hands up. “Do you mean to tell me that she expects to be attacked at any moment?”

“Pretty much” Draco agreed. “Our father told me that before we were born, she was still very attentive and could basically make out who was the traitor within seconds of entering a room. But after you were kidnapped, she trained her ability to go from normal lady duties to a freaking badass warrior within seconds. He once showed me a picture of our mother in a fight and it was… astonishing.”

Zabini nodded and crossed his legs. “The high society ladies started a warrior club at the height of the war, with all the kidnappings going on.”

Harry frowned at that. How many kidnappings had been going on? He knew that the entire Weasley family was fake, but he wondered if there were more. He didn’t get to ask his question, as Hermione changed their topic again to something else.

“Alright” she said and nodded at the boys. “We’re doing the inheritance tests the day after tomorrow. So you can be warned that maybe there will be owls arriving or whatever. With all the compulsions on and in us, the likelihood is that the goblins won’t let us leave for at least another day. After that… we have to come up with a believable plan for the disappearance of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. And if the rest of the Weasley’s follow us… them as well.”

“What are you talking about?” Zabini asked and frowned. “How many Weasley’s have been kidnapped?”

Ron sighed and shook his head. “Try all of them.”

The next few seconds were sat in complete silence, until the two Slytherins were able to process what they had just learnt. And then, they let loose of some colourful swear words that Harry was probably never in his life ready to scream out or even think about. And he learnt a few new things as well.

Draco caught himself the fastest and he sighed. “So, you don’t have to tell us who belongs to which family, but… which Dark Families will get their children back?”

Ron watched the two Slytherins for a few moments, clearly trying to figure out whether he could trust them. After his examination, he leaned back in his chair. “Not all families are dark, but most are incredibly influential. Let’s start with the dark ones; Dolohov and Montague. Neutral families will be O’Brien, Bones and Nott, and the Light family is Picquery.”

Both Slytherins were speechless, though one seemed to catch himself faster than the other.

“Picquery? They’ve hadn’t had an heir in over fifty years.” Zabini said with a frown and leaned back. “Nott? I thought I heard Theo once talk about a missing sibling. Didn’t know they belonged to the Weasley family.”

Draco meanwhile seemed to finally recover. “That’s… they abducted heirs and children from the people that would be dangerous in the Wizengamot!”

“The thing is, though” Ron said thoughtfully, “they – whoever did the kidnapping – they made us even more dangerous. Because taking away a child as a one-off wouldn’t make it stand out.”

Zabini opened his mouth, clearly to say something against it, but Ron quickly continued. “No no, let me talk. Taking one child wouldn’t have been an issue. Taking away children from all groups of family will make them move closer. I am certain that the neutral and dark fractions, especially the affected families will stand together. Picquery hadn’t had an heir so far, they will not stand on the light side for too long once revealed.”

Draco seemed thoughtful and then nodded. “Whoever took the children to take away our strength will soon find out that we’re going to come back even stronger.”

As the train arrived at King’s Cross Station, Harry and Hermione shielded Ron from the view of his parents, Fred and George had already promised to direct their parents’ attention towards them and didn’t fail to pull through, as they waved to their parents with a toilet seat they had stolen from Hogwarts.

Harry pulled his friends through the barrier while most were still hugging their friends, saying goodbye, greeting their parents… it was chaos. And that was what they liked to use. No one was going to remember whether or not there were adults with them.

Ron knew how to summon the Knight Bus and on they went to their rather quick journey to the Leaky Cauldron. While Harry paid, Hermione and Ron were spies, looking around for anyone to notice. They then hid in a corner and Harry pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, placing it over them with practised ease.

And off they went.

Gringotts itself wasn’t as busy, since most parents were still at King’s Cross, Ron talked to the goblins who ushered them into another room rather quickly. All of this went so fast that Harry was sure, not all of the children had yet found their parents on the platform.

As they waited, Hermione tested the Runes she had added to the trunks, just seeing if the now unshrunken wooden boxes were still usable. It was the first time she had used Runes and it was far too early for a second year to do so. Unsurprisingly – really Harry thought that Hermione could do no wrong – it worked perfectly.

And as they continued to wait, the door was suddenly opened and a man walked in. His bushy dark brown eyebrows were narrowed, his hazel eyes wandering around the room until they stopped where Ron was standing, and finally the worry-lines vanished. His expression changed to something softer, more relaxed.

“Hey brother dearest” the person said with a soft, though deep voice.

Ron frowned softly. “Did you already change? So I guess you’re either Bill or Charlie.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. Since he didn’t know how the O’Brien family looked, he could only go from the image of Susan Bones. And… it did look surprisingly familiar. The steep cheekbones, the hazel eyes – though family didn’t always have the same eyes, Harry was aware of that. Since he didn’t have his hair lazily styled back and seemed to have actually cut it short and there were not scars in his face… Harry deduced that this was most likely Bill.

His friend seemed to have to the same conclusion. “Nice face” he said with a grin. “Do you still have the scar on your forearm from Egypt or do these also go away? I’m honest, I was too afraid to look at the one on my back, so I don’t know.”

Bill laughed and shook his head. “You’re the worst, little brother.” He pulled his sleeve up and showed them a rather nasty looking scar. “They remain.”

“Damn.”

Harry stared at the scar. It made him a little unsure about his own scars and what his family would then think of him. “When did you get that one? How?”

Bill snorted, probably over his own stupidity. “I decided that my boss' warning was a show of his gutlessness. So, I went down into a tomb… got attacked, like it was the end of the world, and in the end, received a little scar as a reminder that not everything is as innocent as it seems.”

“I though wizards can remove scars?” Hermione said thoughtfully.

“Oh yeah” Bill agreed. “If you get immediate attention, you can remove a scar. But magical scars have very limited spans of when you can remove them, and non-magical scars are remaining after a year. And I was in the middle of nowhere, our healer was out sick, so… a reminder.” He shrugged as if he was okay with that and pulled his sleeve back down.

Ron frowned at his brother. “So, what should we call you? And why exactly are you here?”

“As the eldest of our now non-existent family, and most likely, the first kidnapped child, I have decided to overlook all our siblings’ transitions. Even if we’re not longer a family on paper, I still like to make sure that everything works out. And… if anything happens and you need to run away from your family then, I will offer you my house in Diagon Alley.”

“I might need it. My brother hates me” Ron muttered.

“He’s probably under a compulsion. The goblins have already announced that they will be inviting all the family members and make them go under a quick compulsion sweep, just to see if anything shows up.”

Hermione raised her eyebrow. “And yet you haven’t told us what to call you.”

Bill sighed. “Because it makes me uncomfortable. I’ve been living my entire life as William, or Bill. Having to change my name to Michael Julius Bones seems weird.”

Harry frowned at the name. “I mean, you can try and go with Bill for a while, maybe your family wants to call you by their chosen name. And then you get used to it.”

“So, what’s your relationship to Susan Bones and her aunt?” Hermione asked with a tilted head.

Bill grinned at them. “I am Susan Bones’ Uncle. Apparently, my parents had three children, the last one – me – was unplanned and my siblings were both already done with Hogwarts. The Goblins are going to tell my sister Amelia that they’ve found me, today. When you all are done with your tests.”

Before they could continue talking, four goblins arrived. Hermione sent Harry an explanation through their link what the family coat of arms on their vests meant. The first one, was the Potter account manager, the second one belonged to the Notts, then came Malfoy and then was Bones. They were silent for ten seconds, making Harry slightly uncomfortable, until another goblin arrived, with no family crest.

“There has been a huge injustice made in our bank. We apologize and hope that we can make this right. As the bank manager of the London Branch, I will do everything in my power to make sure that you young wizards will be returned to your families.”

“Aww, thank you Hembrock” Bill said with the sweetest voice, making Harry snigger and Hembrock glare at his employee.

“And I will fire you, once we’re done!” the goblin added.

Bill just waved him off. “I’m part of the five percent human employees the bank needs to conform with the wizarding world. You’re not going to get rid of me so soon.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a willing participant to take your spot” Hembrock turned to the children in the middle of the room. “Anyone of you want his job?”

“Yes, actually!” Harry said with wide eyes. “I’ve really started to be interested in Curse Breaking.”

Hembrock pointed at Harry, while Hermione sniggered and Bill started to fake sob. “See, we’re firing you in five years! Anyway” the goblin turned to them with a grin as Bill clapped Harry’s shoulder with a grin. “Let’s start with you, young lady, shall we?”

Chapter Text

Harry was not so much convinced that Hermione was a genius anymore. When she came back from her cleansing, for one, she had permanently lost her ‘Hermione Granger’-look and looked almost exactly like a picture Draco had shown them of his mother. They had to find out a way to make their other selves disappear...

The good thing was that the goblins clearly wanted to make sure that Harry was going last – apparently they were expecting a lot of work with him – so Ron was next. Bill, as his older brother, was allowed to follow him, while Harry watched the goblins pen some letters to their families. He only hoped that the Notts were going to be able to go under a compulsion check before they reached Ron. He didn’t need another family that didn’t see how much he was worth.

“How’s Draco doing?” Harry asked his sister, who had a functioning sibling’s link.

Hermione sniggered and wordlessly added him to their link. It was amazing how effortlessly she could work with the link, while Draco who had been trying to contact them forever before they had realized who they really were still wasn’t able to add all of his siblings to the discussion.

‘… and do you know what happens then? Our parents will kill me! If they realize that I have been able to commu… something’s different.’

Hermione sniggered again. ‘I’ve added our brother.’

There was a quick pause, before Harry could feel irritation and annoyance coming through the link. Though it didn’t feel like he was annoyed that Harry was here, more like… he wanted to be the first to master the links and the fact that their sister was already so good, clearly irritated him.

‘Hi brother dear.’

Harry tried to send something through, but he just… how should he communicate when he couldn’t talk? Thinking also hadn’t helped so far. So, he sighed and shook his head.

‘He says hi. I think.’

“I hate this” Harry said instead of what his sister told their brother, which made Hermione pull him into a tight hug. Placing his head on her shoulder, he listened to Draco ranting again about what his parents would do to him if they realized that he knew of them for about half a year now.

It didn’t take Ron as long as it took Hermione until he re-entered the room. He looked more relaxed and clearly at peace with everything. When he saw his friends, he ran up to them and pulled them into a tight hug.

“I love you all!” he announced, making Hermione and Harry snigger.

Draco, seemingly able to look through Hermione’s eyes, retorted rather quickly, ‘My hugs will be better than this!’ resulting in Hermione and Harry laughing even more.

However, now it was Harry’s turn and he took a deep breath, following the goblins to the chamber of where they were supposed to take away all his compulsions. He looked over his shoulders, seeing the goblins handing three letters to another one, clearly to send them away to their parents.

‘The letters are coming’ Draco heard through his mind link and he took a deep breath, walking out of his room, where he had just placed his bag and trunk. He needed to find his parents to explain what happened.

‘I can’t tell them that I knew of the two of you!’

‘You don’t have to, Draco. The letter will for you. And if you want, Harry and I can pretend like it’s the first time we’re meeting you. I’m sure Harry can pull out some anger and frustration towards you.’

‘I won’t like that. To be honest, I just want to hug you both without fearing the compulsions taking over. The only reason I didn’t pull you or Raven close, was because I was afraid.’

‘Oh darling, you’re a Slytherin. When we tell our brother, let’s pretend that you were cunning enough to know that our compulsions would be acting up.’

Draco smirked at that and shook his head. He investigated the drawing room and didn’t see either of his parents. So next up was the office.

‘Our brother is still linked to us, isn’t he?’

The following short pause made him grin. Then, Hermione’s timid voice almost gave him a laugh, but he realized himself, how weird he sounded, laughing at seemingly nothing.

‘Hi Harry. Love you.’

The feeling through Raven’s sibling link did not seem amused, more irritated. Maybe it was the fact that he was currently under the cleansing.

‘Do we have to close our link with him? Would it damage something?’

‘Oh please, Draco, I tried closing the link when I went under, but every time I did, you came back in your panic and I honestly couldn’t just not respond when you were freaking out over our parents. And I’m still able to talk to you, so… it won’t harm this.’

‘Thank goodness.’ Draco found neither parent in their office. That was weird. He turned around, before he froze. ‘I did not freak out, Kefira!’

The humour through their link came from not only his sister, but also his brother. Draco scowled. ‘I don’t think I like the idea of having siblings anymore.’

‘Poor you’ his sister sent him the response almost immediately. ‘Sadly, having siblings is not something you can choose. So be happy!’

‘Are you forcing me to be happy?’

‘Yes.’

‘I feel attacked!’

‘Good!’

Draco sniggered. Theoretically, he was supposed to be the older sibling, but he could already tell that Kefira was running for that position. He wasn’t going to fight her. If she wanted to be the protector of the triplets, so be it. As long as he could also make sure that they were safe.

Luckily, it didn’t take him long after the discussion ended and with the help of a friendly House Elf, he found both his parents in the family library, most likely studying something illegal. The Malfoys did like their half-legal book collection.

He should have known.

“Mother, Father.” He waited until he had their full attention. “You will receive a letter from Gringotts any second now. Please don’t panic.”

His mother narrowed her eyes in concern. “Dragon? What happened?”

The second Draco opened his mouth, an elf appeared with a letter in his hand. “This is for yous. Gringotts’ seal.” He gave Draco’s father the letter and popped out.

Draco held his breath, desperately not trying to panic himself as he watched his father break the seal. It seemed as if his panic was picked up by his siblings. From Raven’s end he received a lot of calming energy, while Kefira talked to him.

‘Calm down, brother dearest. Take a breath, we’re going to see each other soon!’

A gasp from his father made Draco concentrate on his parents again and he watched as his father handed the letter over to his mother. A hand was in front of his mouth, as he leaned on his knees, eyes searching answers in the fluffy rug on the floor. Then, they found him and Draco wasn’t sure how to feel, there was pain in these eyes, something he could read of suspicion, before he turned away and watched his mother.

Halfway through the letter, she got up and started walking to the parlour, somehow managing not to walk into any doors, walls or furniture while she was still reading. Draco followed, he heard his father closely behind them.

As they reached the parlour, she grabbed floo powder and stepped into the floo. “Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley.”

Draco did the same, and as he was spit out by the fire in the Gringotts parlour, he managed to stand upright and looked around for his mother, who by some miracle was already first in line with one of the goblins. He hurried after her, when he felt the floo activate behind him again and the familiar magical energy of his father had entered the room.

“We have a meeting with our Account Manager” his mother said, sounding urgent.

The goblin nodded. “This way.” He led them to a door, where a runner showed up and lead them all the way through the bank until they made it to the door with the Malfoy Crest on. The runner knocked and opened the door, before walking away again.

“Where are my babies?!”

“Misses Malfoy, we-“

“WHERE ARE MY BABIES!?”

Draco watched half in shock, half amused as his mother yelled at the bank employee. ‘She might kill the goblins if they don’t lead them to you this instant.’

‘Our mother?’ Kefira answered, sounding amused.

‘She’s currently refusing to do anything until she can’t make sure that you’re alright.’

‘But with the compulsions…’ Kefira stopped for a second, before he could hear her continue. ‘Our brother suggests a screen charm or something, so that she can make sure we’re alright. Wait, are you really that smart? Ouch!’

Draco sniggered softly and cleared his throat. “What of a screen charm, Master Goblin?”

“Splendid idea, Heir Malfoy! Misses Malfoy, since we don’t know what compulsions are on you, we cannot leave you with direct personal access to your children at this point.” It seemed as if their Account Manager used the opportunity of Draco’s mother’s silence to explain what he had wanted to say since they entered. “Both have been under a few compulsions, your son with so many that it took us almost an hour to remove them all. We refuse to let you see them until you’ve gone through the cleansing yourself.”

With that, the charm went up next to the table and Draco walked over to get a closer look at his siblings. He hadn’t seen them without their charms and he looked at the couch, where his sister sat, playing Exploding Snap with three others. She looked so much like his mother, it was uncanny. And his brother too, next to her. He had blond hair, with a tinge of white. His eyes were just like Draco’s nearly silver, making him look like nothing else but an angel. Or maybe something close.

It did hurt Draco to see his brother clearly too skinny and underfed. But he was laughing at the cards that exploded just then, which settled something in his stomach. He was going to protect his siblings forever. And he was going to make sure that his brother had enough to eat, whenever he wanted to.

“Can we begin the compulsion check and possible cleansing?” the goblin asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yes” Draco’s parents said as one and Draco himself nodded his head.

The goblin performed a quick check-up and received a response that had two scrolls of parchment filled for each family member. Draco caught the look of concern on his mother’s face, however, the goblins reacted rather fast. They were all told to wait while Draco was the first sent into the cleansing chamber.

‘I’m officially scared.’

‘That’s just because it’s the last step until you finally see us, Draco. No compulsions, no hiding faces, just us. Obviously, it’s scary.’

‘Since when are you so smart?’

‘Hey! I’m the smartest witch of our year, though… that may have just been something Dumbledore told me to make me compliant.’

Draco breathed out and nodded. ‘Probably. See you when we’re through.’

At the end of the day, Bill counted all the people standing in the hall. There were the four of them, three Malfoys, who looked somewhat unsure of what to do, then two Notts and two Bones. Especially the younger Nott seemed unhappy to be here, while the two Bones were beaming with happiness. It was them who made the first step.

Though right after, Bill saw Draco Malfoy run towards Hermione and Harry, pulling them into a fierce hug, which they returned.

They looked rather close and Bill wasn’t sure exactly how five seconds in the same room could have that sort of reaction, but he couldn’t think more of it, as he suddenly stood in front of Amelia – his older sister.

“Hi” he offered a somewhat shy smile, chastising himself on the inside that he was apparently able to run through tombs and fight traps and ancient creatures, but wasn’t able to talk to his family.

Amelia lifted her arm, a hand on his face, tilting his head slightly to look her fully in the eyes. “It’s you!” she whispered. “It’s really you!”

“I…” Bill wasn’t sure what to say, simply smiled at his new family. “I mean, yes?”

“What do you mean, Aunt Amelia?” the girl, still in a Hufflepuff school uniform, asked.

Amelia turned to her niece, letting go of Bill and smiled at her. “Well, when my parents had a newborn baby, I snuck in that night, I just wanted to see my baby brother. He had such beautiful eyes, they reflected the light, like a rainbow, whenever he turned his head. And…” she turned to Bill. “You have that. I woke you up by accident and I looked at these beautiful eyes and I wished I had them myself. I managed to get you back asleep before my parents awoke and then I walked home, waiting for my parents to tell me about you.”

She turned sad and Bill smiled at her softly. “But you were never informed, were you?”

“No, you were gone. I asked them about you, but they didn’t remember.”

The girl gasped. “Someone kidnapped him?!”

Bill smiled and nodded. He held out his hands. “Hey, my name is apparently Michael Julius, but you can also call me Bill for now. That’s what I might react to most likely.”

“Susan” she introduced herself while shaking his hand. “Woah, you’re strong! What do you do for a living? And how did you find out about us?”

Laughing softly, Bill shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a Curse Breaker, so thanks for the compliment. As for how I found out, it was actually the twins that had an idea. They showed me picture of my family and I realized that there were multiple layers of magic on it. So, I removed them to see that… none of my siblings are actually my siblings and my family doesn’t exist.”

“Woah!” Susan was stunned and Amelia shook her head.

“Stealing children is punishable by death!”

“Who was your original family? Did you say… twins?”

Bill chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just glad that I had the option meet my family. And yeah, it was the Weasley family that apparently doesn’t exist.”

He looked over to see how the other families were doing and found that sadly, his brother didn’t appear to be as lucky with his family, as even without the compulsions, Nott Junior seemed unhappy to have another member there. Even Senior seemed reserved.

All the while, the Malfoys were in a group hug, Harry and Hermione in the middle. If he listened close enough, he could even hear Misses Malfoy muttering ‘my babies’ under her breath. It seemed as if they were lucky.

Amelia seemed to have followed his gaze and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about your siblings before. If they’ve got problems with their families, they are very welcome to stay in our home for the time being.”

“I’ve got an apartment in Diagon-“

“If you think I’m going to let you out of my sight for even a second, you’re absolutely wrong” Amelia said forcefully and stared him down, as if to try and convince him otherwise.

“It’s better to just go with what she wants” Susan whispered, loudly enough for her aunt to hear, which resulted in Amelia turning to stare at her niece, pretty much the same way she had done so with Bill.

Laughing, he nodded. “Fine. I accept your invitation. But you might have to let me out of your sight, when I’m going to work.”

“Are you working outside of the country for now?”

“Not until all my siblings have gone through the cleansing and have reunited with their families. Or somewhat reunited.” He glanced at the Notts, where Ron had finally made the first step, but was still not really welcome. He did see Nott Senior sigh and stop being cold towards him. However, his other son was clearly content in just staring at him impassively.

Amelia chuckled. “They’ll get along sooner or later.”

“My bet is on later.”

“Mine too!” Susan said, clearly eager to please Bill.

He grinned at her and sent her a wink. Finally, the Malfoys got up and thanked the goblins profoundly for having found their children. They went towards the door, before Bill saw Harry turn and run to his friend, hugging Ron. He whispered something to him, which made his former brother relax and nod. Then Harry waved at Bill and followed his family out of the room.

With that, there were only six people left. Nott Senior sighed once again and beckoned his sons with him, Ron managed to turn back to Bill.

“Thank you for helping us” he said softly.

Bill pulled him into a hug. “Hey, if you ever need a place to get away from them, I’m staying with the Bones’ family. Just come there, okay? Don’t hesitate or worry too much.”

Amelia smiled down at the Gryffindor. “The floo address is ‘Bones Manor Cornwall’. You’re welcome to stay whenever you want or need to.”

That seemed to make Ron relax even more and he nodded, thankfully, to Amelia. Then he smiled at Susan and returned to his family. Bill just hoped that after these teething problems, he would have a wonderful family that was going to be there for him.

“We should head back too” Amelia said and smiled at him. “It still feels like a dream, to be honest. I always wondered what happened to my mysteriously vanished little brother.”

Bill chuckled and offered his arm to his sister. “It did always feel off that I was the oldest. I mean, I got used to it, however… it never felt natural. There was always this wish that I would have elder siblings that would look out for me.”

“I will” Amelia promised as they walked out of the meeting room in Gringotts.

“Me too!” Susan joined and jumped ahead of them on their way to the floo room.

Enjoying the moment with his family, Bill laughed and ruffled Susan’s hair when she came into his reach, which made the girl gasp. “Good to know that I’ll be so well protected.”

“Not anymore!” Susan stuck out her tongue, Amelia calmly chided her, while Bill felt his heart grow for his new family. He was still going to look after his initial brothers and his sister, but this was definitely where he belonged.

Harry was honestly not sure what he had expected to happen. Draco running towards them, hugging them was a given. He had already exclaimed through their link that he was going to give better hugs than Ron. However, when Narcissa Malfoy had run up to them next, he hadn’t been fully prepared to have her hug them tightly. And even Lucius Malfoy falling to his knees as he held them on the opposite side…

He felt warm, happy and… and safe. For the first time in his entire life had family made him feel safe.

So as they apparated to the Malfoy Manor – Hermione and Draco had quickly stabilized him after the wizarding travel method – he was unsure of what he was supposed to do. The Manor was big, huge even! It looked so elegant in white with gold trim, and some black accent spots. The walkway zigzagged through the beautifully kept garden, clearly showing off the flowers and herbs growing. There was even a cherry tree with a bench underneath, where the walkway wound by.

A few peacocks were walking around the garden and two friendly dogs raced towards them. Draco squealed next to Harry and held his hands out for the Labrador who seemed incredibly happy that he was back. The other dog, Harry’s knowledge of dogs was already slim as it was and he couldn’t really figure out what breed it was, greeted their parents and then started sniffing Hermione and Harry.

Harry took a step back, unsure of how to exactly handle the dog, when Narcissa called it to her feet. “This is Bruno” she said and smiled. “He’s our guard dog. Most people expect us to have magic to keep us safe, which makes Bruno a failsafe.”

“What is his breed?” Harry asked, feeling the other dog sniffing on his hand. He looked down at the Labrador unsure of what to do.

Draco clearly realized that Harry was a bit uncomfortable and lead the dog away to meet Hermione who was clearly over the moon at having dogs.

Their mother smiled at Harry when he looked back at the black and white dog. “He’s a Bernese Mountain Dog. He’s very strong-minded, and just a bit territorial.”

Lucius Malfoy snorted at that. “A bit.”

“Want to meet him?” Narcissa skilfully ignored her husband and when Harry nodded she instructed him on how he could safely get to know the new dog. Once Bruno was done sniffing him, he seemed to take an instant liking to Harry.

Narcissa beamed at that and Harry chuckled softly, getting up and walking to his siblings, having gained a new shadow.

“Bruno, if you forget your guard dog duties, because you follow our son around all day long, we will be getting a new guard dog!” Lucius said, as if the dog could understand them.

He didn’t, since Harry could still feel the dog on his left, carefully guiding him to his siblings. He could heard Narcissa and Lucius behind him as they finally caught up with the two others, who were playing with the Labrador.

Hermione saw Harry and ran up to him. “Have you met Isabella? She’s so cute! Oh, and who might you be?” she asked the Bernese Mountain Dog, greeting him happily. “I already love it here.”

“Because of the dogs?” Draco asked, clearly pretending to be appalled by his sister, who tried launching her elbow into his stomach, though the distance was too far, making her fall on her behind. The two dogs took that as an invitation and tried to lick her.

Harry sniggered as Lucius told the dogs to go back to their duties. It was clear that despite his rough tone, he also liked the dogs. Then they finally made their way inside and were led up to the family wing.

“When you were born” Narcissa started softly. “We had planned renovations that would have given you three an entire floor, however… when you were taken, we never had the motivation to… change anything.”

“If you’re not happy with your room or your decoration or anything at all, do not hesitate to tell us” Lucius continued in a soft voice that had Harry surprised. He looked over to Draco, seeing him grinning from ear to ear.

He had clearly caught Harry’s glance. ‘He doesn’t know what to do. And whenever that happens, he gets either aggressive or really soft. He was once aggressive towards me and my mother sent him to the dungeon for two weeks straight.’

Harry bit his lower lip to not start laughing at that, and he hoped that the Malfoy head of house had actually gotten food in his prison, though he probably did. No one was as heartless as the Dursleys.

“So, this room, is yours, Dove” Narcissa said, leading Hermione to door opposite of the one where a dragon was drawn on. It looked a little childish and Harry once more glanced at Draco who now glared at him. This made Harry giggle softly and he received a hit on the back of his head from Draco himself.

Narcissa was either ignoring her sons or too deep in explaining the room to Hermione, since she hadn’t noticed the interaction, but Lucius clearly had. He pulled Draco to his side by the arm and placed his own arm around his son, making sure he couldn’t run away or hurt anyone. Then, he pulled Harry close to his other side.

He froze at the contact of his father’s hand, however, he was willing enough to follow. And when he stood there, next to Lucius, Harry was incredibly surprised, when his father’s arm was placed around his shoulders.

“Be nice” Lucius whispered as Narcissa continued to explain everything to Hermione. Harry nodded and with that, his father released them once more.

The next room Narcissa showed them, was Harry’s room which was on the other side of Hermione’s, connected through a door in the corner of both their rooms. Harry widened his eyes as he saw the large bedroom with a connecting bathroom. The entirety of the Dursleys’ living room and kitchen couldn’t have filled up this space.

He was in awe of everything there was. He had a desk in front of the window towards the back garden, an entire library of school books in one of the book shelves, the other one empty – “for your own reading pleasures” as his mother explained. The dark blue colour of the walls and his bedding matched expertly and in the bathroom he had a shower and a bath, which was new to Harry.

Narcissa smiled at them as he turned to look at his mother. “You darlings only have one sitting room which you have to share, it’s next to Draco’s room. The one with the… dragon on it.”

Hermione sniggered earning another glare from Draco himself, though he didn’t hit her over the head. Narcissa chuckled and walked over to her son, moving some hair lovingly to the side, before kissing his now exposed forehead.

Harry watched this simple action in awe. He had only ever seen Petunia be so loving to her son and seeing mothers being gentle had usually given him a lot jealousy. Perhaps now… he was finally going to get these soft actions…

“We’ll leave you alone to unpack. Draco, be a darling and help your siblings, yes?” Narcissa asked softly.

“Yes, mother” Draco promised and smiled at her. Then, their parents left the room and Harry was left staring at Draco and Hermione.

The silence took about five second, before Hermione broke it, jumping backwards on Harry’s bed. “We did it!” she squealed and not a second later, she was fast asleep.

Harry stared at her and snorted, looking at Draco. “Can you believe, she falls asleep on my bed?!”

Draco grinned and walked over, pulling Harry into a tight hug once more. “I can’t believe I’ve finally got you both back in my life. Not just through the bond, but here!”

Returning the hug, Harry buried his face in Draco’s shoulder. The longer he stayed here, the safer he felt. And right now, in his brother’s hug, hearing the soft snores of his sister, he felt the safest so far.

Chapter Text

Now, first appearances could be misleading, yes. Harry knew that and he was very aware that the two Malfoy parents were clearly trying to make them as comfortable as possible.

When they asked Draco to help him and Hermione (who still passed out asleep after they had both moved her to her own bed) unpack, it was clear that they had stepped back to… make them more comfortable. Maybe they knew that Draco and Hermione and in some way Harry as well had been communicating with each other. Or maybe it was the way they reacted in Gringotts, anyway, they let them get accustomed with everything.

And while first appearances could indeed be… complicated, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were absolutely trying.

After two hours, where Draco and Harry had also unpacked Hermione’s books and a few clothing things that she had thrown in the midst of her trunk library, Harry followed his brother down to the sitting room Draco guessed his parents were at. They had left a note for Hermione to call for one of the elves which would lead her towards them. Or to just send a question through their link to Draco.

When Harry walked – more sneaked in – behind Draco, the two adults turned to them with a smile. Narcissa placed her book on the table and crossed her legs.

“How are you?” she asked. For the first time, Harry felt like he had the full attention and care of an adult.

He was however unsure of how to answer that. “I… don’t really know to be honest” he said instead. “It feels good to be here and not… there.”

Lucius frowned slightly. Harry could see him trying to figure things out, maybe even to find out where Harry had grown up. He didn’t say anything, not yet anyway.

Unlike his wife. Narcissa leaned forward. “Where, honey?”

“My… um. My relatives? At least the ones I thought were… my… relatives.”

Draco smiled at him. “We can forget about them now, okay? You’re here and you’re safe. And if anyone tries to come after you, there are four people here who will protect you. Well, three. Our sister’s asleep.”

That simple fact made Harry chuckle and he nodded, leaning at his brother’s side, when Draco placed an arm around him, to keep him safe. It was clear to Harry that his parents were slightly surprised and even a bit confused by how they had gotten so close over such a short period of time. The adults had known of them for barely four hours and Harry wasn’t close to them as of now. He hoped though that it wouldn’t take much longer.

He had always wanted to have a family. Actual parents.

“We wanted to ask you” Lucius started carefully, “what name do you feel comfortable using? Obviously, we picked a name for each and everyone of our children, however, you’ve spent your entire first twelve years of your life as ‘Harry’, so-“

“They called me ‘Freak’ or ‘Boy’ for the first six years of my life. I didn’t know the name ‘Harry’ until I went to school.”

A deathly silence broke out in the sitting room, before Narcissa gasped and stood up, walking towards him. He had felt Draco’s one-sided hug getting tighter, as if to ensure him that he would never ever have to go back. His mother stopped in front of Harry, brushing his hair to the side, as he looked up at her in wonder.

Her soft smile made him smile back, sheepishly though.

“Honey, don’t ever think of that place again, yes dear? You are here, in a place where you have older siblings and two parents. And I am confident that all of us are going through hell barefooted, before we let anyone call you these names again. You are worthy of love and companionship.”

Harry blushed and tried hiding behind Draco, however, his brother held him tightly, making it impossible to run and hide.

“She’s right” Draco and Lucius said at the same time, making Harry giggle softly.

This was the place he wanted to be.

Bill spent the next day with his so-called parents. He was getting sourer and more annoyed by the minute. Watching how Molly treated his supposed siblings was absolutely detestable. She seemed to love Ginny the most, letting her do whatever she wanted. And Bill thought that it was showing a little. Luckily, his siblings had been able to send her to therapy for a little bit. He was going to make sure that she would continue it.

Finally, an hour before the Gringotts meeting should take place, he pulled Percy and the twins aside. “We should go to Gringotts” he whispered to them.

One of the twins nodded darkly. “Should we create a distraction?”

Bill chuckled and shook his head. “Already covered everything. Charlie will come by any second now and take Ginny away, to give them a free evening for just the two of them.”

His expression darkened with the thought that his sister and he were going t come back here and question the two. Amelia was almost impossible to hold back and only with the promise that he would include her was he even allowed to rescue the rest of his siblings.

“Let’s go.” They walked down the stairs and Bill waved at his supposed mother. “Hiya mum, I’ll take Perce, Fred and Georgie with me to Gringotts, have them look at possible work options.”

“But my Freddie and Georgie are only fourth years?” Molly said as she finally let Ginny escape up the stairs.

Bill waved her off, hoping to look confident. “It’s never too early. And the twins said they were interested.”

“We want to see where our money is made” one of the twins said and Bill sent them a look, hoping that Molly would still let them run. Which she unexpectedly did after a minute of tense silence.

That was just luck, really.

“Have them back by seven” Molly said and sent him a smile that was… weird. Maybe because Bill now knew what a real honest smile was?

“Mum, Bill invited us to dinner after Gringotts” Percy said, making it sound like a completed deal and he shrugged then. “I’ve always wanted to go to the Silver Pigleg!”

Bill sent his mother an apologetic smile, thanking his little brother’s quick thinking. The Silver Pigleg was a rather expensive restaurant that a person with a Gringotts’ salary could afford, but their parents would never be able to come there without an invitation.

Molly seemed unhappy, but shooed them out of the house. “Have fun then. Oh, Charlie!”

Bill didn’t need to be told twice (and was happy that Charlie had just arrived to grab Ginny) and grabbed his brothers, apparting them into the apparition spot within the bank for employees. Then, he ruffled through Percy’s hair. “Good job, little brother! You really are a smart little nut.”

“I’m not a nut!” Percy said, rolling his eyes.

Laughing softly, Bill led his siblings through the halls and into the meeting room where he had found Harry, Ron and Hermione yesterday.

One of the twins stood next to him and raised his eyebrows. “Are we finally meeting our families?”

“Almost, there’s one step we need to do before that. You need to go through a compulsion check and maybe even a cleansing.”

Percy frowned at that. “Did you have compulsions?”

Bill nodded darkly. “My compulsions prevented me from wanting to go to the Ministry or have a job within law enforcement. Whoever kidnapped me also gave me a mild Slytherin hating compulsion and a mistrust towards authorities.”

“That’s messed up” one of the twins said, while the other agreed. Bill stared at them, trying to once more figure out who was who. Hopefully, without the Weasley hexes on them, they wouldn’t look so identical anymore.

“Who’s first?” Percy asked, just when Master Goblin Sharkfang entered.

Bill bowed quickly and smiled at the goblin, when Ginny and Charlie entered a second later.

The goblin looked over everyone and seemed happy. “Great, everyone’s here. Let’s see how many compulsions you are under. We’ll start with the wizard or witch who has the least.”

Breathing out slowly, Bill watched as the goblins created the charms and waited for what was going to happen now.

Charlie was a little annoyed that Bill had the possibility to meet his family yesterday. Just because he had a dragon travelling day he had missed out on meeting the O’Briens a day earlier. However, he was happy that he could meet them today with the rest of his family.

Apparently, Ginny and George had been the two people most effected by the compulsions to the point where the goblins even changed their strategy, grabbing both children first and working on them for more than one hour. During which he had read the compulsion explanation and found a countdown on top of the scroll that indicated how long until the compulsions were going to stick forever.

Ginny’s was up in thirty minutes, George had fifty left. Fred was scared out of his mind and it took Percy offering to be the next willing test subject to any pranks they were going to play, for him to calm down.

After everything was done and over, Gringotts informed them that the families Montague, Dolohov O’Brien and surprisingly Picquery had arrived, gone through the same checks as they had and were waiting in another meeting room.

“So you really think it’s safe to meet with the Dolohov family?” Charlie asked his big brother, looking over at Percy who was obviously nervous. Well, they were all nervous, but Charlie didn’t really have time to think of meeting his own family. Not, when Percy was going to Dolohov.

They had all changed their physical appearance, which wasn’t that confusing, having different genetics. Percy looked taller, his hair had changed into pitch-black, his eyes were moss green. Ginny, part of the Montague family – which also frightened Charlie slightly, though not as much as the Dolohovs – had grown as well, her face had gotten slightly rounder, her eye colour was still the same and her hair mostly as well. It had turned more towards Auburn hair. She looked the most like before than the others.

The twins had changed drastically. More importantly, it seemed as if Lady Magic had gifted them with The Sight, as one eye was a bit bluer than the other. Charlie would be forever grateful, seeing as Fred had the right eye and George the left one. At least that way, he had an easy way to keep them apart. And well, their hair could possibly give Dumbledore’s a run for its money in beautiful white.

The moment, they opened the door, Charlie could see the different families standing around the room. Closest to the door stood an older couple, white hair rivalling the twins’ hair. They were in a deep discussion, not even realising that the door had opened. Next to them, closer to the magical window, stood a little family of three, all wearing official Montague clothing, which was easily picked out of every group of people.

Charlie watched closely as they all turned to look at Ginny, the mother raising both hands to her mouth. She already had tears in her eyes, while Mister Montague seemed to claw his hands into his son’s shoulders as a way to keep himself from running forward. The kid – who seemed to be in the same year as the twins – didn’t need that though and came running forward, to embrace his sister.

Smiling at the scene, Charlie turned to the family, he was most unsure of. Antonin Dolohov sat on the couch next to the fire place, in complete silence, watching them all. When he locked eyes with Charlie, the Death Eater got up and walked towards them. Bill seemed to have felt or seen Charlie’s discomfort.

“You found my son” Dolohov said, his voice surprisingly softer than Charlie had assumed. His eyes moved over to where Percy was standing.

“We did” Bill answered. “Technically it’s Hermione Granger who found out.”

“A Muggleborn?” Dolohov seemed conflicted, but he then looked back at Percy. “I’m so sorry, son. I was in mourning, I should have realized that I was neglecting you. I’m so sorry you had to run away.”

Charlie frowned. “Run away? We were under the assumption that all of us had been kidnapped.”

“Oh” Dolohov said softly, frowning. “That could have happened as well.”

“How… please excuse my direct approach to this” Bill started and narrowed his eyes, “but how did you not realize that your son had been kidnapped?”

Dolohov closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “When our Konstantin was three, his mother took ill, after I refused to be part of the Dark Lord’s little rampage. I am a Dark Wizard, we were a Dark Family, but we do not support his massive killing spree. I assumed that the Dark Lord did something to her that turned her deathly ill. After a month, she died. I did not realize that my son was kidnapped, because I was… I was mourning the death of the love of my life.”

The room was quiet. Charlie stared at the slightly trembling man in front of him. He could have never thought that the apparently most dangerous wizard on the Dark Lord’s list was actually against him!

Percy walked past Charlie and Bill in a rush and pulled his father into a hug. “I remember!” he said softly, making the two men fall into deep despair.

Charlie looked at his older brother. “I’ll make sure they’re okay” Bill said softly and motioned Charlie to go to his family.

Looking around, Charlie could see that the rest had already found their families and was standing together. The twins were eagerly explaining their pranks to the elder couple who was smiling at them almost mischievously. That was not going to end well… Ginny was sitting on the arm chair in the back, on her mother’s knees, seeking as much comfort as she could and Percy was in his father’s arms.

There was only one family that had been silent until now. The man, a middle-aged bald man, sat at the table on the short end. He was dressed in a Muggle suit, looking indeed rather smart. Next to him was a younger woman, smiling at him shily and two children. From the looks of it, they were younger than Hogwarts by at least a year.

“Hi” he said with a weak smile. “Sorry for not introducing myself earlier.”

“Not to worry” his father said with a soft smile. Charlie thought that he could hear a vague Irish accent, though it wasn’t that strong anymore. “You had to make sure that your family was alright.”

“It’s very noble of you” the younger woman said. She was a bit too young to be his mother, Charlie thought.

He smiled at them and nodded. “Well, then, hi. I’m Charlie. Or Declan O’Brien.”

The little girl to his left gasped. “You’re mummy’s friend!”

Charlie frowned, while his father chuckled and shook his head. He got up and held out his hand, which Charlie grabbed. “Let me introduce everyone, I’m Riagán O’Brien, my parents had a lot of hopes for my future, only for me to end up a farmer.”

Chuckling, Charlie shrugged his shoulders at that. Then his father turned to introduce the women in his new family. He started with the two girls.

“This is Róis, she’s seven and very interested in horses, right?”

Róis nodded at that and grinned at Charlie. “Daddy said that we can have a horse when we have more money!”

Charlie chuckled at that and nodded. “Good to know. Do you ride then?”

Róis frowned and then shook her head. “Not yet. But soon!”

His father presented the girl who had been calling Charlie her mummy’s friend. “This is Muriel” he said and the little girl got up and held her hand out for Charlie to shake.

He chuckled and obliged, shaking her hand, which made her grin. “I’m nine and a half! And I like to draw!”

“Very cool” Charlie answered with a grin and before he realized, he had gained a new friend, Muriel looked up at him as if he was now her personal hero.

His father cleared his throat when he looked at the woman who sat on the other side of the table. “So, when… a few years ago, there… We…” He huffed, clearly trying to find out what he wanted to say.

The woman got up and rounded the table as well. She held out her hand for Charlie to shake, which he did. “My name is Amanda. Nice to meet you, Charlie. Do you prefer Charlie or would Declan work as well?” She sounded American.

Charlie smiled at her. “For now, I prefer Charlie, but I wouldn’t be opposed to trying to change that. Declan doesn’t sound so bad. And nice to meet you, Amanda. Where are you from?”

“Oh, I grew up in America, Brooklyn to be exact. I met your father during my last year in Ilvermorny and found an instant liking to him. He was a guest lecturer on how to manage a business with No-Maj… Muggle costumers, I mean. I tracked him down once I was done with my school.”

“Sounds like either a modern romance or stalking” Charlie said with a chuckle, hoping that it was the first option.

Amanda joined his chuckles and shook her head. “I didn’t know everything about him. I just knew on which markets he sold his fleece. And I went there to re-introduce myself and ask him out.”

“That direct?” Charlie asked, slowly growing to really like Amanda.

“Mama is always direct” Róis said with a stern look. “You don’t want to see her when she wants you to clean your room!”

Charlie chuckled and nodded seriously. “Duly noted, thank you for this information.”

“Why don’t we go get ice cream, children?” Amanda asked and while the two girls cheered, Amanda whispered something in Riagán’s ear. Then, she smiled at Charlie and said he should join them, once they were done talking.

As they sat down, Charlie looked around the room to see it almost empty. Bill still sat in the corner, though he was clearly reading a book, and just when Charlie turned away, he could see Amelia Bones entering and sitting down next to Bill.

Riagán cleared his throat and played with a quill on the table. “So, the reason that Amanda was here and not… and not your mother, is… She’s not your mother, you…”

“I figured as much, yes.”

His father nodded and took a deep breath. “Your mother, Sorcha, left me nine years ago. The healers think it was… postpartum depression?”

Charlie nodded, unsure of what he should do now. “I… I don’t think I know what that is.” He didn’t want to make it harder for his father than it clearly was.

“It’s when…” he seemed for a loss of words.

Next to him, Charlie saw a shadow and turned to look, where Amelia Bones stood. “I could explain it, Riagán?”

His father let go of a breath and nodded. “Yes please.”

Amelia Bones sat down next to Charlie, who turned to give her all attention, though he still looked over to his father, making sure that he was alright. When he made sure of that, he was ready to find out what happened to his mother.

“Postpartum depression is when a new mother has trouble bonding with the new baby. There are mood swings, crying, a lot of anxiety, fear of not being a good mother, and even more. However, these symptoms go over longer times and sometimes even start during pregnancy. Sometimes, mothers and even fathers can feel overwhelmed and it may start that.”

Charlie nodded, he thought he understood somewhat. Turning back to his father, he frowned slightly. “So, she… she left you and Muriel?”

Riagán nodded weakly. “It didn’t help that you had been kidnapped so many years before. I think she feared that the same would happen to Muriel and we didn’t know what to do, the healers had no solutions, the potions didn’t work and so. She… she decided it was better for me and the child if she wasn’t around us. We don’t know where she lives at the moment, we’ve lost contact after Amanda came into our life.”

“I’m sorry” Charlie said softly and placed a hand on his father’s arm. “For the record, I really like Amanda.”

At that Riagán smiled brightly at him, his nervousness gone. “We do too. So, Muriel is your sister and Róis is your half-sister.”

Charlie waved him off and smiled. “In my book, they’re my sisters. Who cares that they have different mothers?”

Amelia clapped his shoulders next to him and smiled. “You’re a good kid, Charlie.”

He turned to her and shook his head. “I am an adult.”

“Anyone younger than me is a kid” Amelia said and winked at him. “Riagán, nice to see you again. We should get together sometime, have the family meet.”

Riagán smiled at her nodded. “We would love that. You know my girls are in love with Susan. They might end up in Hufflepuff because of that.”

Amelia held her hand up. “Not a bad word about Hufflepuff, Ree.”

“Never” the man said with a sly grin. “Let’s go, Charlie. I’m sure the girls are wondering, why we’re not right behind them.”

As they got up, Charlie watched Bill shrinking his book and getting up. His expression was a little darker than before. He walked towards his brother and hugged him quickly.

“Are you going to confront them?” He didn’t need to say his former parents’ names. It was clear from his expression that he was going back to the Burrow.

“I would like to know whether or not they were in on anything” Bill explained. “Do you want anything from the Burrow?”

“Not right now. If Dad was in on it… hit him in the eye from me.”

Despite their dark thought, Bill let go of a laugh and nodded. “Absolutely.”

Chapter Text

Bill was honestly happy that his sister had come with him. Confronting the people who had raised him away from his actual family was harder to do than he thought. In hindsight, it had given him more siblings and people he wanted to protect, so that was good. But the whole thing around being abducted with practically all other children was a bit haunting. And it clearly hadn’t been only them: Harry and Hermione had been taken from their family as well…

All of that made the Light look… rather Dark.

“Do you want me to talk to them or do you want to do it?” Amelia asked as they walked closer to the house. It was hard to miss the huge building that had been added to it over the years.

The closer they got to the Burrow the more resentment grew in Bill and he sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I’m not sure I could do so without raising suspicion.”

“And you not talking isn’t rising a red flag, yes of course” Amelia stated sarcastically.

Bill looked at his sister and rolled his eyes. “You know what, I’m going to claim Susan as mine when we’re going back home. I’ll give her presents, ice cream, even a puppy. That’ll be my revenge on you.”

Amelia laughed and placed an arm around him, pulling him closer as they walked. “She already worships you, little brother. You’re amazing around children, even your other siblings.”

“Thanks” Bill said and sighed. “At least you’re trying to make me feel better.”

“Is it working?”

“Not at the moment.”

Amelia nodded understanding, letting go of him. They didn’t have more time conversing, as they were within earshot by now and as they walked closer to the Burrow, the door opened and Molly walked out. Bill steeled himself for the next conversion that was going to happen. He was absolutely not looking forward to this.

Molly headed their ways, looking as if she expected the worst. Which she should, Bill told himself.

“Miss Bones?” she asked, making Bill frown at this.

He had admittedly spent a lot of time around goblins and their traditions, but he did know that any adults from a magical house was supposed to be called by their title. ‘Miss’ certainly wasn’t a title, and as Amelia was until now the only known adult from the Bones House, Molly should have greeted her as ‘Lady Bones’.

“Where are our children?” Molly continued, looking slightly concerned.

“Is Arthur home, Molly?” Amelia asked, though more out of courtesy, as she had previously checked if he had to work today. Which he didn’t have to.

Molly nodded, growing visibly unnerved. “Why, yes, come on in. Bill, what is the meaning of this? Where are your brothers?”

“I’ll tell you once dad is here as well” Bill said, trying to stay calm.

When his apparent mother turned and walked towards the house, Amelia grabbed his hand and squeezed it quickly, silently telling him that she was going to be there for him. He sent her a small smile and followed to the house, Amelia behind him. This was going to be the worst day ever.

“Amelia” Arthur greeted her with a smile. “How nice of you to come by! Is this a social call or…?”

“I’m afraid not” Amelia said as she sat down. “I’m here to talk to you about something rather serious.”

Meanwhile, Bill looked for the picture that had Ron almost hurt by his mother when he fell against it at eight years old (?) and it broke. As before, he found it innocently standing in the corner of the kitchen on the window sill.

While Molly was busy grabbing cookies from the little room next to the kitchen, he got up and grabbed it, placing it in front of Amelia. Arthur had followed his actions with interest and was now frowning at him. Clearly, he had no idea what was going on.

That was not quite the action Molly had when she saw the picture on the table. She froze for a little bit, before she busied herself with making tea, while Arthur and Amelia held small talk about Ministry business. Bill joined with the goblin side of things and all was fine until the tea was on the table and there was no escaping the truth anymore.

“Well then” Amelia stopped the pleasantries. “I know you’ve been wondering why I came here, with your son nonetheless.”

“And all of our other sons missing!” Molly interrupted and crossed her arms. “Where are they?!”

Bill was on the verge of telling her that they were with their right families, but didn’t want to make Amelia’s strategy a waste, so he bit his lip and waited. Arthur was frowning at Molly and then turned back to them.

“Yes, I have been wondering ehy you're here. However, I was informed that Bill and Charlie had taken our children out for a fun night” his former father said with a gentle smile.

If there was one thing Bill was going to miss, it was Arthur’s actions to the people around him. He doubted that his former father would stop caring about his apparent children if he had nothing to do with the abductions. And he really hoped that he had nothing to do with it.

Nodding at his father, Bill sent him a smile. “They are having fun right now.” At least he hoped that. He especially hoped that Ron was doing better than before. The rest had seemingly gotten functioning families.

Amelia grabbed the picture and placed it in front of Arthur. Bill could see his mother tensing and she watched it intently.

“Arthur, Molly, what we’re about to tell you is not going to be easy to hear” Amelia said calmly. Bill watched his mother from the side of his view and could see her tense even further. She clearly knew what was going on.

Silently, he let his wand slide out of his wristband he had on. It was goblin made and one of the highest honours for a wizard to wear, something like a medal in the goblin nation. So, he had never taken it off, and it was his wand holster ever since. Holding on tightly to his wand, he continued watching his mother.

No one else had obviously noticed Bill’s actions, as Amelia kept talking. “It is important that you’re both informed from me that the Magical Child Protection Service will be interviewing you later this evening. Together with the Auror Force, we will be looking into several cases of kidnapping.”

Arthur was confused, clearly. “Were our children kidnapped? Where are they?”

“Not exactly, dad” Bill said, sensing his mother tensing even further. “Please listen to me when I explain this, it’s important.” He waited for his father to reluctantly nod. And then, he explained the picture, how the twins had figured there must have been an enchantment on it and how Ron had figured out that they were adopted. Which wasn’t exactly what had happened, but he didn’t want to talk about Hermione and Harry’s situation when he hadn’t gotten their approval.

Finally, He took away the layers of hexes and charms on the picture that in the end revealed only the two adults, no more children. Arthur was too stunned to speak, while Molly was stuttering around, clearly trying to come up with something to say.

After a bit, she turned to Amelia, fury in her eyes. “They were innocent children! The Dark fraction wasn’t allowed to have more heirs! They needed to grow up in good families!”

Amelia stood up, her chair clattering to the floor loudly. “Are you calling my family a Dark Family, Molly? The Bones have been on the light side ever since the Creature War in the Middle Ages!”

“Your family never voted with the light!”

“Well, some of us clearly kept the brain cells most Light supporters lost in the last few decades.”

“Are you calling the Weasley family brainless?!” Molly screeched. “We did what we had to do!”

“You’re under arrest, Molly Weasley” Amelia stated, her cool façade back.

Bill watched as all colour drained from his mother’s face and she started screaming as Amelia put her in cuffs. She then placed a silencing charm over the woman and turned to look at Arthur, who was white and clearly not feeling good.

“I’m going to be sick” he said and before they could talk more, he got up and ran to the toilet, only barely making it.

Sharing a glance with Amelia, his sister called the Aurors that had been on stand-by a little off to the wards around the Burrow. They took a silently screaming Molly with them, while Arthur seemed to have recovered enough to come out and talk to them.

“I’m so sorry” he said and sat back down with a heavy sigh. “I didn’t know. I… She… This is far from who I’ve wanted to be.”

“Maybe you were under compulsions and spells” Bill said with a shrug. “We all had compulsions, George’s and Ginny’s were the worst, they almost got stuck being someone they weren’t.”

Amelia sat down next to Arthur on the chair where Molly had previously listened to them. When Arthur looked at her, she narrowed her eyes and waved her hands in front of his eyes, as if she was testing something. “Rosalie. Dana. Thomas. Molly. Damn it.”

“What?” Bill asked, slightly confused.

“Love potion. And quite a strong one at that, it might take years to get the last effect out of his system. Or finding the love of your life again.”

Arthur stared at her shocked, clearly trying to fight something within him. Bill looked at his father in horror. Years?! How much had this woman been feeding his father to make sure that he was in love with her? And what else had she done so he was going to be compliant?

He turned to his sister. “Do the Aurors have something against me bringing my father to the goblins to perform a cleansing?”

Amelia shook her head and brought an Auror over who was going to make sure that nothing happened outside of what was allowed.

“Once they’re done, bring them to St. Mungo’s. We need a professional opinion on what the effects are to continued exposure of such a strong love potion. Only once we’re sure we can continue without him being overtaken again, we can get everything around the Weasley family sorted.”

“Thanks, Amelia” Bill said with a smile and nodded at the Auror who followed them.

“I am so sorry, son” Arthur said as they walked towards Gringotts. “I never wanted any of this to happen. But I was just so weak to fight it.”

Bill sent a smile to his father, grateful that he hadn’t been in on it. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this sorted.”

In another part of the country, Harry had no idea what the two Weasley parents were going through. He was wandering the Malfoy grounds with his two siblings, followed by two dogs and a peacock which scared him slightly. Draco just laughed about it and told him that this one was the gentlest creature he had ever encountered.

“So, what are our plans to get rid of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Hermione Granger’?” Hermione asked their brother. “It’s not like we need to hurry, but if they disappear at the same time, they will question the appearance of the Malfoy triplets more.”

Draco hummed and nodded. “I agree. Who wants to go first then?”

“It has to be Hermione” Harry said with shrug. “Your fake relatives will find out and worry first. Mine will be happy to have a bit longer without me. I’m sure they forgot I was supposed to be coming home this month.”

“Did I ever promise to kill your fake relatives?” Draco asked and turned around to him with a raised eye brow. “Because I’d gladly make a magical vow to do so.”

“Please don’t” Harry said with a chuckle. “And if anything, I would like for them to just lose their status, because that was what they were most interested in. Just imagine, all neighbours talking about them abusing a child, letting him being bullied by the other boy… they’d die of embarrassment.”

Draco was clearly unhappy to let them live, but Hermione agreed and laughed at his expression. “Come on, Draco, we’re second years, almost third years. You really shouldn’t promise to murder someone!”

“I would have made sure to make it look like an accident. I’m not an idiot.” He pouted after that.

Harry laughed loudly at that, never imagining to see this side of Draco Malfoy. He looked like a normal boy, not the snarky pureblood he had gotten to know in the first year.

“Okay, so Kefira goes first, how can we make it look like an accidental death?” Draco asked and frowned.

They sat down by the little pond at the edge of the property and Harry saw as the two dogs settled down close to them as well. It seemed as if the property guard dogs had been changed to personal guard dogs. Harry lay down, looking up into the sky, he wondered how they could make it look like Hermione perished, without having to do too much with a fake body.

The clouds in the sky made funny shapes, from dogs, to turtled to aeroplanes. He watched the thing flying away and looked as it seemingly transformed into a chair. Tilting his head, he continued to watch it turning into a bottle.

“What if it was a plane accident?” he asked and turned his head to look at Hermione who lay in the grass with closed eyes.

As soon as he said it, Hermione opened her eyes and looked at him as if she was considering it. Draco on the other hand was just confused. “What kind of an accident?”

It seemed as if Hermione was already spinning a new story in her head and she sat up with a wide grin. Harry had seen that look a lot, last it happened when they had wanted to go to the Slytherin Common Room and were all transformed from the Polyjuice potion.

“I got tired of being around your family and wanted to go home again” Hermione said with a nod to herself. It was weird seeing his sister with a look he had always seen on ‘Hermione Granger’ and not on a mini-Narcissa Malfoy. Still, when she was in planning mode, it was unwise to interrupt her.

Nevertheless, it was fun seeing Draco’s confused look next to Hermione’s concentrated expression. He sniggered at his brother’s despair, knowing full well that the question part could only happen when she had the idea in her head.

Draco leaned over. “Does she always does that?”

“Yup. You’ll get used to it.”

Shaking his head, Draco turned back to Hermione, though his expression was no more amused than before. Harry sniggered softly and leaned back again, watching the sky while listening to his sister.

“I will write them in two days, telling them that I’m coming home. I will also inform them, that I had gotten myself a ticket on a small plane, only six passengers. And then, I will somehow have to make it look like a plane crashed in the sea and the passengers and pilot are lost forever. That will buy us about two weeks of my parents freaking out. And since they don’t know anyone in the Magical World, it will take them a bit of time until they remember that McGonagall gave them contact information. And then, we can make Harry disappear.”

“Is she done?” Draco whispered at Harry and received a strawberry flying into his hair. Hermione glared at him.

Harry laughed and nodded. “I think she’s done.”

“I will wash your face with the strawberries, brother” Hermione threatened, making Harry snigger.

“Love you too.”

The dogs looked up and Harry followed their view seeing their parents walking towards them. Lucius wore a colourful shirt with some jeans and Narcissa had switched her lady-like flower dress to purple trousers, a red top and a light lace jacket. She still looked amazing, if not as much like a high society lady. Seeing the Malfoy’s so comfortable and not trying to impress people was messing with his mind slightly.

Draco seemed to have noticed it. ‘They taught me that being comfortable is just as important as being able to stand out in a crowd and on other occasions, playing the part of a pureblood. You’ll get used to it sometime.’

“Never” Harry answered, still unable to use the mind link. “That’s why I have two older siblings, so I don’t have to go out in front of the press and throw my wealth around.”

Hermione sniggered. “That’s why we have Draco.”

“Hey!” Draco shoved Hermione and Harry giggled as his brother jumped over him to attack their sister. “I can be different! I don’t flash my wealth around!”

“No, you just tell everyone that you will go and get your dad” Hermione told him instead, evading his playful attacks.

Harry pulled his knees up and laughed as he too was careful to evade Draco, though it quickly turned into trying to sabotage his brother so that he would fail in attacking their sister. The Slytherin caught on quickly and suddenly had to fight the other two together.

Obviously, he didn’t remain standing for too long, falling over Harry, who burst out laughing while Hermione jumped on Draco, keeping him to the floor. “Now apologize!”

“Apologize?! For what?! You were verbally attacking me!”

Harry rolled on his side, laughing so hard. Hermione kept insisting that their brother had to apologize for his action when they were in the first year. And it quickly turned out that Draco argued against it, just to keep Harry laughing.

Once their parents were closer, Narcissa spoke up first. “A Black if I’ve ever seen one.”

Lucius raised his eyebrows, looking at his wife. Harry was slightly unsure of what his father would think of that comment, since they were Malfoys and not Blacks. He had read on his Gringotts document that he was the Black Heir, so sadly he did have one heirship.

“Are you calling my daughter a Black?”

“I am” Narcissa agreed with a wink at her husband. “And there’s nothing you can do against that.”

Lucius chuckled and Harry’s tense emotion vanished. It seemed that behind closed doors, these two were actually matching very well.

“Dove, why are you trying to hurt your brother?” Lucius asked and shook his head. “You’ve known each other for a little less than a day and are already behaving like real siblings.”

“Hey!” Draco called out, while Harry sniggered again. He sat up and turned around so he would be looking at his parents and siblings at the same time.

Narcissa transformed a bench out of a pebble and sat down, her husband next to her. “I forgot how peaceful this place was.”

Harry watched her closely and as Draco and Hermione kept on pretending to fight, Harry was suddenly in Narcissa’s full attention. She sent him a smile. “How are you feeling? Anything we can help you with?”

“Good” Harry said and smiled weakly. “We were just thinking about how we could fake the deaths of our counterparts. Hermione wants to pretend she’s going home to her pretend parents and then die in a plane crash.”

Lucius hummed thoughtfully, while Harry’s siblings had stopped fighting as he mentioned Hermione’s name. It seemed as if their father had a few ideas.

“That could work” he stated, still thinking.

Narcissa nodded, looking at her husband amused. Then, she turned to Harry. “If you two are dying in the same year, it could look more suspicious. I would refrain from doing so.”

Harry shook his head. “I’m not going back to ‘Harry Potter’! As him I didn’t have a family, my friends were fine, yeah, but…”

“I’m not talking about going back, dear” Narcissa calmed him down quickly. “I would more say, changing the Muggle’s minds to let them think that you were there at the start of the holidays and when your friend’s death was in the newspapers, you decided to run away.”

Lucius turned to his wife in clear surprise. “And with Raven hiding at Hogwarts, no one would even think that he’s Harry Potter! Sometimes I forget that I married a genius.”

Narcissa laughed softly, while Draco looked incredibly proud. Hermione sniggered and Harry grinned. He loved his new family!

“It sounds good. We can think about letting ‘Harry Potter’ die next year” he continued with a nod.

His parents seemed to agree and before long, the entire family sat at the edge of the pond peacefully, watching the animals around, enjoying the fresh air and the surroundings. The Bernese Mountain Dog, Bruno, crept closer to Harry, clearly trying to convince him to give him more cuddles and the Labrador, Isabella, played with Draco and Hermione.

After a while, Lucius turned to Harry again. “We weren’t able to finish our discussion last time, son. About your name. Would you prefer ‘Harry’ to ‘Raven’? I know we gave you a name, but you’ve been living with-“

“I would like to try ‘Raven’” Harry said and ducked his head slightly. “All my life, people just thought I was famous because I was ‘Harry Potter’. I don’t really like that. And if I could be just… Draco’s little brother, that would relieve me from a lot of stress.”

Narcissa smiled at him softly. “We’ll make sure that people will only know you as Draco’s little brother. However, you are a Black Heir, so you will receive a little attention for that, especially because the headmaster has made sure that Harry Potter was named the heir.”

Sighing, Harry nodded. “So, just outplaying the headmaster. I should be able to do that.”

Lucius chuckled at that and nodded. “We’ll have you in lessons during summer, make sure you’re able to hide away from him.”

“And what about you, dear?” Narcissa asked, looking at Hermione.

“Dove or Kefira work fine” she answered quickly. “Draco’s been calling me Kefira, ever since he found out we were in Gryffindor, so, I don’t mind.”

Narcissa smiled at her. “Well, little lion, we’ll do whatever you feel comfortable with.”

Hermione beamed at them. “You’re the best parents I’ve ever had!”

Harry had to agree there; Narcissa and Lucius despite his initial thoughts were actually pretty good parents.

The next morning found Harry writing letters. He wrote one for Bill, thanking him for all he did and asking him how his own family was treating him. Then, he wrote the other one for Ron.

He had seen how his family had reacted, while not exactly focussing on Ron’s family, from the corner of his eye, he had seen the reserved meeting in the Nott family. And he really just wanted his friend to be happy. So, he wrote the letter, also adding that if he wanted a place to hide for a few days, he would be making a case to his parents for him.

Before he was able to send the letters away, actually, before he had even been able to sign the letter to Ron, a black-banded owl appeared at the window, pecking on it. Harry had never seen black owls, they looked majestic! He quickly let it in and frowned at the letter it had in its claws. The owl itself was unknown to him and since it didn’t fly away, it was clear that whoever wrote this expected an answer.

“You can stay on the owl stand in the corner until Hedwig comes back. Would you like a treat?” he asked and held one of Hedwig’s treats out for the new owl. The animal carefully took it out of his fingers and then flew to Hedwig’s stand, almost asleep as soon as it reached the stand.

Curiously, Harry unfolded the letter.

Dear friend

After talking to my family, I have realized that my behaviour towards you was uncalled for. As your best friend’s sister, I seemed to have developed a sort of hero-worship, especially after he came back after the first year and told me everything about you.

I wanted to have you. It seems that in my disillusioned mind, I saw us as a married couple and I am so sorry! My family helped me see what the compulsions did to me. If I hadn’t escaped them by the end of second year, these would have become my permanent character traits. The compulsions would have made me a stalker!

I am better than that! I remember that when I was small, I would read your stories and books and always think that a boy like you would be lonely. You’re famous and everyone just wants to be your friend because they want your fame. And I promised myself that I would try to be your true friend.

Obviously, it didn’t turn out that way, and you now have a family, so you’re not alone anymore. Do you think you could be friends with a Montague? I would like to stay in touch with you, with all my siblings, frankly. And I do see you as a brother.

Also, my family is keeping me in therapy, apparently, having been under the influence of a book had almost overtaken my magical core and increased the timeline of the compulsions. I’m so happy to be rid of everything.

How are you doing? Have you made yourself comfortable with the Malfoys? Have they treated you nicely? And have you heard something from Ron? I’m a bit worried, because Bill mentioned that his family seemed rather cold. Do you think we should invite him to stay with us?

By the way, the owl is called Maid Marian, apparently it’s a character in a Muggle children’s book. Do you know it?

Love, your sister
Guinevere (or Ginny, apparently my name doesn’t change much) Montague

Harry smiled at the letter and quickly penned a response. He was glad that Ginny had gotten the help she needed and her family seemed to take her well-being very important. When he finished his letters, he sent Ginny’s back with the Maid Marian – he didn’t know which story she was supposedly escaped from) and he walked up to the family owlery, where he selected a random owl to deliver Ron’s and Bill’s letters.

It had been five days since the children had found their real families again, when a large group of people met on a farm in Ireland. The O’Brien’s were hosting a small ‘family event’ for the siblings and friends. Frankly, if anyone had been around to watch it, the meeting was rather confusing and scary to the normal wizard.

For the first time since Hogwarts’ creation, families from all shades and powers came together to plan. For the normal wizard, this would have been scary. For the one who had kidnapped their children, this was going to end in a catastrophe.

Charlie sat next to his father at the large table they had thrown into the stable once they had cleared it carefully. By the disgruntled face Nott Senior made, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with the lingering smell of straw and hey. The other purebloods had their faces under control as they appeared and joined them.

Frankly, Charlie was just happy to see Nott having arrived with his family. He had wanted to make sure that Ron was okay. Judging by his actions, his brother was seemingly fine, but he knew that Ron was able to wield a pretty strong mask. So, he could be fine, or miserable. Charlie would ask Harry or Hermione after the meeting.

The last to arrive to this rather unusual meeting were the Picquery’s which Charlie had never heard relocating to Great Britain, he would have to ask the twins whether or not they lived in the States. Whatever was the case, he was just happy that they all seemed to be fine,

The children were sent to the house under the careful eye of Joey, who usually liked to help out on the farm and had offered to look after the horde of incoming children. Since he wasn’t a magical, he didn’t seem to understand the power that had assembled in the farm at the end of the property.

“The newspapers shouldn’t get a hold of the Weasley family until shortly before the start of the new school year” Amelia Bones said and leaned back in her chair. “However, if the Ministry decides to rush things, we’ll be outed in the next month. Molly Weasley is already arrested, they’re working overtime on Arthur Weasley to release him of all the compulsions and potions he’s been under for years.”

“We can help” Lady Malfoy offered and smiled at Amelia. “Our family healer has prior experience with potion overdose. I’ll ask her to talk to you tomorrow.”

Amelia nodded thankful. Bill seemed to relax as well and Charlie himself felt a little lighter. Having heard what his mother had done to his father was just… bad! She deserved to go to Azkaban for that!

“The goblins have also offered to look at him more” Bill explained darkly. Charlie wasn’t sure how his brother had been able to do that, but he was somehow sure that Bill was on a rather high status within the bank.

Lord Montague took a sip of the cold tea that his father Riagán had created in the past few months. It tasted really good and by the look of surprise on Lord Montague’s face, he clearly hadn’t expected that.

“We asked our daughter if she was alright with talking about her experiences so far and she agreed, with help obviously” he said carefully, before looking at everyone gathered here. “The Montague family will be proposing a bill to add all children born into wizarding families into a national parchment. That way, there would be a physical parchment trail should anything happen again. And it would be easier to find children that have been ostracized from their families for not having magic.”

“The Dark fraction will vote with us” Lady Montague said with a smile. Charlie looked over to Lord and Lady Malfoy who nodded, their expressions unreadable but harsh at the same time.

Amelia smiled at Lady Montague. “I will talk to my friends in law enforcement, they already know about Michael, or Bill. I can make them see why such a parchment would be beneficial.”

“And it’s not like that doesn’t exist in some way or form” Charlie said with a shrug. “Hogwarts has the Book of Admittance, which, sure, is added to by magic, but it’s a start and something we can compare it to.”

“Indeed” Lord Dolohov said and nodded. “Additionally, we could ask the Healer fraction to vote with us. I’ve got some good friends there, and their fraction goes through light and dark. Children are sacred to the Wizarding population after all.”

Lord Malfoy snorted and shook his head. “Tell that to the Longbottom’s, I heard they threw their child out of the window to see if he’s got magic.”

The expressions varied from rage to disbelief and surprise. Even Lord Nott looked outraged at that. So there was hope for Ron, Charlie thought.

“We should see if Heir Longbottom was kidnapped as well” Amanda said, crossing her arms. “Children should be valued, not tossed around!”

“Yeah, but the Longbottom’s have always been… unorthodox, one could say” Lady Montague said and seeming slightly put out. “He could be the actual Heir of that House.”

Lord Nott cleared his throat. “The Neutral fraction will follow the Dark fraction for now. The Light has been tainted too much by Dumbledore’s irrational thinking.”

“Agreed” Riagán said with a nod.

The two Picquery’s had been quiet throughout the discussion and now finally spoke up. “So, there’s a way to hopefully eliminate further kidnappings from magical families, which is good. However, what do we do with the children we’ve gained so far? As soon as the Weasley story hits the newspapers, the magical world will be looking for the kidnapped children. Our grandsons have been through so many compulsions, one was almost stuck with behavioural issues for his entire life. I do not feel comfortable, sending them back to Hogwarts, where they would be under the thumb of the person, we think kidnapped them.”

Charlie nodded at that. He looked around the room and saw several people agreeing with the statement, though it seemed as if no one knew what to do.

“There is an ancient rune bracelet which has been in the Black family” Lady Malfoy said carefully. “It’s used to keep the family curse at bay, no compulsions can break through it, no magic can fight it, there’s even a rumour that Lady Magic herself presented it to our family, after we were cursed unfairly.”

Lord Malfoy hummed at that and turned to his wife, while most were completely shocked at what they heard. Lady Malfoy pulled her sleeve back slightly, revealing an innocently looking, silver bracelet.

“There’s enough in the Black family vault to give all of the children one” Lady Malfoy said, though she seemed unsure of something.

“What’s the bad part?” Amanda asked, clearly having also realized that something wasn’t fine.

Lady Malfoy sighed. “Well, it would make all, expect their Heir Black, vassals of House Black. With my serial killer cousin Sirius Black in Azkaban, I shudder to think what would happen if he knew that he had an army of children at his use.”

Lady Picquery shook her head. “Absolutely not. My grandsons will have to come up with something else.”

“We could introduce our children before the public knows that the Weasley family was not real, therefore redirect the attention” Lord Dolohov said. “I’ve been taking my son out for different public stunts ever since we’ve found each other again. No one has questioned so far why I’ve hidden him away for all this time.”

“That might be an idea worth following” Lady Malfoy said with a nod. “And if you need any help explaining their absence, our children have already offered to lie to the Wizarding World and tell them, that they were being home-schooled together. And that their tutor died during summer, so they were going to Hogwarts now.”

Lord Nott nodded. “That would work for the Dark fraction.” To which Lord Dolohov and Lord and Lady Montague agreed.

“For the light or neutral fraction” Riagán started and looked at the remaining families, “Ireland has some of the best and wide-known tutors for home-schooling. I have already informed some of them to teach my children easy spells. Your children could have been my guests. The O’Brien family is known to take in people in need.”

“To which we only need to figure out why they would be in need” Amelia said with a frown. Charlie nodded and leaned back, watching the ideas thrown around in awe.

The wizarding world was not going to know what hit them, when all these families were going to work together. And by the looks of it, it was clear that the kidnapping of the Weasley children and the two Malfoy triplets had started an alliance that was probably not going to break so easily.

He couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen and what else they could come up with.

Chapter Text

While the adults were planning on how to topple the magical government, the children were also not far from it. Though their discussion was more on how to feign ignorance and make sure that no one would ever realize that they were the Weasley children.

Which due to the entre family being fake wasn’t an easy task.

This morning, a plane crash had taken ‘Hermione Granger’s’ life, so she was safe, although the wizarding world hadn’t yet heard of it. Percy had walked Diagon Alley with his father for the last couple of days now, Lord Dolohov claiming that his son had decided to switch schools from Durmstrang, even having a receipt for it.

Narcissa and Lucius had visited Harry’s relatives and had changed their memories to pretend that ‘Harry Potter’ had still been with them at the beginning of summer. And then, they would just forget about him and no one was going to think Harry stayed there for much longer.

“What bothers me is the fact that even if our families make it look like we’re back and we’ve been hiding from everyone… whoever kidnapped us still knows!” Fred said and shook his head.

George agreed. “And what’s going to stop them from doing it again?”

“The fact that the public knows about you now” Draco said and shrugged his shoulders. “Especially if you’re Picquery’s! They’re going to watch you closely.”

“Great, so no pranks” Fred retorted and rolled his eyes while George sniggered.

Percy hummed softly. “I mean, they know about us now. If whoever took me wanted to take me again, nothing would stop father from going after me and the idiot.”

“That is true” Hermione said and stood up to walk around the seating arrangement in the middle of the room. “We have to make sure that no one will find us alone.”

“The goblins might have something to protect us from that as well” Harry offered and looked at Draco. “Right?”

His brother nodded and smiled at him. “Of course. And if anything happens-“

“We’ll destroy them!” Ginny spoke up and narrowed her eyes. “I will not let anybody harm anyone in here! We’ve all gone through the same shit and it’s going to end!”

“Ginny!” Percy called out and tried to place his hand on her mouth to silence her, while Fred and George were cheering for their sister. Harry sniggered, unused to seeing his friend’s little sister that spirited.

Graham Montague then jumped in, trying to defend his little sister from the Terror Twins, Susan Bones decided to help Montague, Ron jumping in as well, helping his brothers and soon, the chaos had overtaken the little living room, with the O’Brien girls laughing at everything as they peaked in through the open door towards the kitchen.

Harry evaded the mess and walked over to Draco, sitting down next to his brother in the corner of the room. He received an unimpressed look from Nott to which Harry only raised his eyebrows.

“Got a problem?”

“Several. None of which concern you” Nott said and turned away. “Yet.”

Harry frowned and looked at his brother who just shook his head. “So, what do you think we can do once the people realise that the Weasley family never existed? There are smart people around who will figure out that a lot of families have more hidden children.”

Draco crossed his legs and rubbed his chin. “To be frank, I don’t know what to do there. The fact is, that the Weasley children have been placed into their original families. We cannot hide that story.”

“What if they were to do the same as we did?”

Frowning, his brother looked at Harry, before humming softly. “So, pretend that an accident took half of the family and the other half is running away?”

“Precisely” Harry tilted his head. “If we make sure that maybe Charlie dies due to a dragon incident, making Muggles think they saw a redheaded family running through London, half jumping in front of a bus by accident… It could be Fred, Ron and Ginny. The rest of the family runs away…”

Draco hummed thoughtfully. Harry felt eyes on him and turned to look at Nott who was watching him carefully. Giving him a look somewhere between questioning and annoyance, the other Slytherin turned back to the book in his hands.

It seemed as if Draco had followed their unspoken discussions and grinned when he had Harry’s attention again. However, he didn’t seem interested to comment on anything.

Instead, he went back to their actual discussion. “It could work, although, we would need someone to do a felony and get into Molly’s head to place the idea that her precious son died and then her children ran away.”

“And due to a lot of Aurors being there when they arrested Molly, that might be a problem” Harry admitted and sighed. “I thought I was onto something.”

Then, he realized that it had been quiet for a while and he turned to see almost everyone looking at him, Hermione with a beaming grin. He blushed slightly and shovelled closer to Draco, hearing Nott saying something about him pathetic, but he didn’t care at the moment.

“Well” Percy said with a frown, “technically, only Bill was there when they arrested her.”

“We could ask Lady Bones to do some memory magic” George said and grinned at them.

Susan started laughing. “I mean, technically, yes.”

Nott snorted. “Not a good idea if you want her to keep her job.”

“Then I’ll ask my father” Montague said with a nod. “He’s pretty good at everything around mind magic. Planting a memory of Charlie dying in the dragon reserve and her children running off in panic and sadness shouldn’t be that hard.”

“You’re messing with things that are unheard of” Nott said and shook his head. “It won’t work.”

“Well at least we’re not above trying” Ron announced, his eyes narrowed. As the two brothers looked at each other, it was clear to Harry that this comment wasn’t only for the memory charm.

Before they could continue to argue, the farmer help Joey walked in and told them to come to the kitchen to help cooking and setting the table to eat. It seemed as if the adults weren’t done plotting. Should they talk to them with what they had come up with? While most children walked over to the kitchen immediately – Nott being one of them – Hermione, Ron, Draco and Harry remained back.

“Are you alright, Ron?” Hermione asked, sitting down next to him again. She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly. “It must not be easy.”

Ron sighed and shook his head. “It’s not. And honestly, I don’t know what I did wrong.”

Draco got up from where he was sitting and walked over as well. “It’s not you. He’s being that way towards all of us.”

“Why?” Hermione asked and looked at Draco with confusion.

“Well, it’s only a few days and he could have gone to Hogwarts a year ahead of us. And he even tried and asked quite a lot of times, even tried to jump ahead in our first year, but nobody’s letting him. And now that he has a little brother and you’re in the same year… my guess is that this is souring his mood even more.”

Ron sighed and placed his head in his hands. “I just wanted to have an actual family, not one who kept on ignoring me.”

Harry sat down next to Ron and pulled him into a side-hug. “Hey, we’re your friends, right? Kind of like family. And we will never ignore you. If you ever feel like you can’t keep up with your family’s idiot reactions, you’re very welcome to come visit us.”

“You didn’t even ask your parents” Ron said, talking to the floor.

Hermione and Draco sniggered and Harry pulled Ron so tightly into his hug that he couldn’t look at the floor anymore and started to giggle as well.

“Ron, you have no idea what kind of influence my siblings have on our parents” Draco said with a smirk. “They could ask for a pool with real merpeople and our parents would try to make it a reality.”

The four of them laughed at the thought and quickly scrambled over to the kitchen, to get some food as well. Ron was clearly feeling better now and Harry made sure to talk to his parents and make sure that he could come over whenever.

The only bad thing of being back with the real family was that Harry had to learn etiquettes during the summer in a crash course. And crashing he did. On almost all topics. In turned into a game for Draco to guess how many grave mistakes Harry would be making during the next lesson. And ended into Harry throwing his cake into Draco’s face.

Which, granted Harry knew, wasn’t a good show of etiquette. But it was needed.

Hermione seemed to be able to handle everything better, having perfected most etiquette lessons within three weeks. She had gained free access to the library – with supervision obviously – after she had completed the whole course that Lucius and Narcissa had planned for them. Harry had always had free access to the library, since he didn’t mind it much. His price would have been free access to the Quidditch half pitch in the back garden.

Draco kept complaining that Hermione wouldn’t fly with him and that Harry should do better and finally finish his studies so they could fly together. Usually, that comment would get rid of his own free pass to the Quidditch pitch and his broom for the day. And Narcissa would make him sit down and study or repeat lessons on etiquettes again.

That was something Harry could say his parents were making sure. They tried to treat them all with the same intent. And if Draco was annoying Harry, he would get punished too, if Hermione would annoy him – which only happened once after she was done and lightly teasing for him having to study more – her library privileges had been revoked for two days.

Two days, yes. Harry assumed Lucius had seen how uncomfortable her comment had made him and decided to be a bit harsher than needed. Most likely, he had just wanted to make sure that Harry would feel better though he still had to study. Hermione had immediately realized that he didn’t think it was funny and apologized. That action in itself removed a day from her library ban.

Nothing changed the fact that Harry was still himself and had problems with remembering all of the different pureblood things he needed to do. And all the subtle changes depending on the age and social standing was messing with him, so that he once accidentally offered a fellow student the highest respect while at the same time removing their parent’s status to a Muggle. It was unnerving.

“At least, I’ve gotten used to walking around in robes most days” Harry said and yawned.

He was lying in the back garden with his siblings surrounding him, they were watching the clouds racing over the sky. It was absolutely going to rain soon. None of them much bothered by it, well Draco a little more than the others. Harry actually hoped that it would start raining before they were called inside for dinner.

“I don’t know” Hermione crossed her legs at her ankles and practised a spell to create rainbow-coloured butterflies. “I’ve liked the fact that I could wear shorts during summer.”

Draco scoffed at that. “Shorts? What kind of fashion sense did you have?”

Harry sniggered at that. “Well, dearest brother, if you didn’t know, we didn’t grow up in a palace like you.”

“A palace? It’s a mansion!”

“Yeah, but you’re the Ice Prince” Hermione added with a snigger, placing her wand back in her holster. “Wait, does that make me an Ice Princess?”

Draco looked smug, while Harry laughed at her shocked expression. He looked back up into the sky, while his siblings kept arguing with each other. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The cold evening air filled his lungs and he listened to his siblings, the birds around them, the dogs playing somewhere around them. As the wind brushed over his skin, he smiled. He had never felt true happiness. This was it.

A pop next to them made the siblings look up and found a House Elf standing there. “Mistress says to comes in. Rain is soon. And you has a visitor.” With that he popped off again and Harry sat up.

“A visitor? Who do you think it is?” he asked and looked at his siblings.

Both shrugged their shoulders and they made their way back towards the house. Harry half expected Ron to be there, but as they walked into the dining room, they found someone who Harry and Hermione were not excited to see.

Professor Severus Snape.

While they knew that their parents were close to the potions professor, they couldn’t just simply ignore how the man had treated them for the past two years. And yes, technically, he was their godfather, but that still didn’t take their memories away.

Draco clearly hadn’t realized how his siblings were feeling as he ran towards him and hugged him tightly. “I missed you, Uncle Sev!” he called out, while Hermione and Harry stopped at the door.

Harry saw how Narcissa seemed to have analysed the situation and came to the correct conclusion. She cleared her throat and looked at Snape, meanwhile Lucius seemed confused by the reactions in the room. However, as he looked around, he too seemed to have a hunch of what was going on.

“Severus, since you’ve been busy at Hogwarts for so long, we haven’t yet told you our news.”

“News?” Snape asked with a raised eyebrow. “Are you going to move across the pond?”

Lucius chuckled at that and shook his head. Meanwhile, Hermione’s hand found Harry’s and she squeezed his. Clearly, she was just as unsure of what to do now.

“No, dear” Narcissa continued. “We’ve found our missing children the first day after Hogwarts ended.”

Snape widened his eyes. “You did?!” he asked, shocked.

“Yes” Lucius nodded. “They’re-“

“- names are Raven and Kefira” Narcissa interrupted. Lucius looked at her with a slight frown, his hand falling next to his body from where he had wanted to point at Harry and Hermione standing next to the door.

Narcissa then stood up, her smile still in place, though she looked like she was going to dare Snape to say something. Harry knew then and there, that his mother was not going to let anything happen to them. “Also known as Harry James Potter and Hermione Granger.”

All colour drained from Snape’s face, he looked more like vampire than before. “I…”

“Let me make this clear” Narcissa said, her voice cold as ice, “you will respect my babies, no matter who they were before. I do not care for your little school playground enemy play dreams. These are my children, my beautiful long-lost kidnapped hearts and one wrong word will have you kicked out of this house until you officially apologize to the Malfoy-Black family. Have I made myself clear?!”

The silence in the dining room was tense, before Lucius chuckled. Narcissa’s eyes turned to her husband and Harry was sure she was about to read him the riot act, when their father spoke up too. “They’re my children as well, Severus. I will add my own warning to my darling wife's one. If you end up hurting them in any way or form, I will make sure to let the world know all of your secrets.”

“I’m a spy” Snape said with a raised eyebrow. “My secrets have never left my mouth.”

“Or so you would think” Lucius answered, his humour gone. “The fastest way to find out what I know is to disrespect our children. You can try if you’re interested to know what I know.”

“You know nothing” Snape argued, though Harry for the first time ever saw doubt in his expression.

That was when Draco stepped next to Snape and crossed his arms. “I’m just a child, so I don’t have a lot of power, but if you hurt my siblings, I will make sure that no Slytherin will ever respect you anymore. And that is a promise.”

Snape held his hands up in defeat and shook his head. “Fine, what do you need me to do. Swear on an oath? An unbreakable vow?”

“Just normal human decency” Narcissa said, retaking her seat. “Come on in, children.”

Harry still stood at the door, while Hermione carefully made her way in. Since they didn’t look like the famous Harry Potter and Hermione Granger anymore, Harry was somewhat certain that maybe Snape wouldn’t hate them that much anymore. Watching Hermione walking in, head held high and honestly just in the nicest way a pureblood princess could behave, Harry watched Snape’s eyes almost fall out of his face.

As was the tradition by now, Hermione placed herself firmly between the professor and Harry, her arms crossed and most likely the typical Hermione-stare that she had used on Harry and Ron countless times. That stare had transferred to her Kefira-look as well.

“If you hurt my brother, even emotionally, I will personally make sure that there is no safe place anymore on this planet. Do you understand me?!”

“I do, yes” Snape answered, sounding very much not like the Snape Harry had gotten to know at Hogwarts. “Am I allowed to talk now as well?”

Lucius chuckled softly and nodded. “Of course. I believe you have been firmly warned by any and all family members that intent to hunt you down should you hurt this family.”

Snape sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Harry gaped at his godfather, while Hermione harrumphed. Draco on the other hand, seemed conflicted. It was clear to Harry that he loved his godfather, but that at the same time, he hated how this man had treated his siblings.

Trying to communicate through the triplet link, Harry tried to tell his brother that it was okay to like Snape. He wasn’t going to be angry at him for liking the sour potions master, but that maybe Harry wasn’t going to warm to him for a number of months, if even years.

As usual, his communication didn’t start, Draco still seemed unsure of what to do and Harry sighed out loud. He was probably never going to get there. As he had made a noise, the attention had turned to him, his family probably thinking that he had sighed due to Snape’s apology and not the failed attempt at communicating to Draco.

“I… am not sure if I can forgive you right now” Harry said slowly and frowned. “You have… targeted me for the last two years, making me fear the dungeon and the potions classroom. I don’t think you know how it feels when you’re so scared of something that you’re trying not to cry on the way there. I was contemplating on being sick every time we had potions. I was trembling whenever I had to think of you. I tried to give it my all, but you never gave me a chance. You looked at me in our first lesson and asked me impossible questions to answer; questions which most first years couldn’t have answered. Well, except for Draco and Hermione. So, I cannot forgive you now, but I will try to be civil. You did save my life during first year.”

Narcissa beamed at him and beckoned him closer. As he walked to his mother, she pulled him into a tight hug. “You’re such a sweetheart, darling” she whispered into his ear and then released him with a soft smile.

His father returned the smile as well and ruffled his hair which made Draco and Hermione gasp, but Harry beamed at him. “That, son, was a nice declaration which a pureblood of countless years of experience couldn’t have said better. I am so proud of you.”

“Thank you. Dad” Harry ducked his head, unsure if he was in the right of calling Lucius ‘Dad’, since Draco called him ‘father’, but seeing the gigantic smile spread over his father’s face, he must have done something right.

“Hey, no!” Draco called out and pointed at Harry. “I want to call him ‘dad’ as well! Why do you get to do it and I don’t?”

“Can I call you papa, so that we all have different names for you?” Hermione questioned instead. Lucius laughed loudly.

Harry had never seen him acting that way and they finally sat down, though lacking an answer from Lucius for now. Narcissa was clearly amused and clapped for the house elves to bring out their food, now that the discussion had ended.

Snape ended up sitting between Draco and Narcissa, with Draco sitting next to Hermione. Harry was between his father and his sister. As the dinner started, Snape held conversations with all of them, though clearly holding back in addressing Harry, who at the moment had nothing against that. He instead quietly discussed the siblings’ link with Hermione, while Snape and Lucius were busy discussing politics and how to dethrone the Light’s leader.

Once the dinner had concluded, Narcissa looked at Harry considerately. “Dear, how far have you gotten in your studies?”

Harry sighed. “Not much further than yesterday. I doubt I’m making a good pureblood prince if there would be a meeting tomorrow.”

“You held a good speech before dinner” Lucius reminded him and smiled kindly.

“True” Narcissa hummed and leaned back. “We will give you broom and Quidditch permission for tonight, if you and your brother want to go flying. Take a house elf with you, just in case. And your sister needs to be included.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Can I be included by sitting on the side-line, reading my book?”

“Absolutely not” Draco said and shook his head. “I will show you how to fly properly, so you may join our Quidditch fun. Thank you, Mother!”

Hermione glared at Draco who shrugged his shoulders. “Honestly, I do not fear that stare. If you’re staring, you’re not using your wand. So I’m fine with that.”

“I will do both” Hermione countered and pulled her wand out, only for Lucius to take it away.

Harry sniggered and then finally nodded at his mother. “Thank you. I’m sure we can include our sister somehow. Come on, Draco, get ready to lose to me again!” he called out and ran out the door, Draco closely after and Hermione following as well.

This was going to be a fun night.

Muggleborn Hermione Granger, Part of the Golden Trio, presumed dead

Albus almost inhaled the black tea he was drinking and coughed, placing the cup down. What was the newspaper on about? Hermione Granger was presumed dead?

True, he hadn’t heard from her family yet and it was confusing that they hadn’t called as soon as the know-it-all had entered their lives again. They had been pretty hard to please, though he had always assumed that a smart child was easier to handle than a stupid one.

Quickly, he opened the newspaper so see what was going on with the girl.

We here at the Prophet are sad to announce that the Muggleborn witch Hermione Jean Granger has been presumed dead for the last two weeks. Apparently, right after Hogwarts, Miss Granger was invited to join a vacation in Iceland, which she then accepted. After a few days, she decided to fly home again on a small Muggle flying machine, which in the middle of its flight apparently got into turbulence. According to their resources, the apparatus fell from the sky into the sea, being swallowed by the unruly waves. Muggle authorities have been searching for close to two weeks now and haven’t found any survivors. The Aurors have joined their search two days ago and also unable to find any Muggles. With a heavy heart, we assume that a third of Golden Trio will not show up once school restarts.

No. No, no, that couldn’t be happening. That was… that was absolutely…

Albus got up and started walking a circle around his desk. If Granger was dead, it meant that there was no one controlling Harry’s learning ability, no one was going to force him to see it through a Muggle prospective. He needed to find someone else, someone who would have the same qualities as Granger had.

Walking through the castle towards the tower, where the book lay that kept track of the incoming names, Albus muttered under his breath. Since no one was at Hogwarts, he had free range to plan and plot as openly as he wanted to.

Harry was going to be his good little pawn. The death of his friend was not going to deter him from fighting for the light. Maybe he could even pretend that one of the Dark supporters was the reason that the flying contraption fell from the sky. They manipulated it somehow. Yes, that was it. Harry was not going to question him in his grief.

While Albus kept talking to himself, making plans, he completely missed the tabby cat sitting by the corner he walked past. The cat seemed to be reading a book. How weird.

Chapter Text

One additional lesson to their endless summer courses Harry wasn’t happy about were the additional potion lessons. Hermione and obviously the much talented Draco weren’t here, because these two quite clearly were on the top of that particular class. So Harry spent most mornings after breakfast with Lucius in the family’s potion making room.

He hated it.

Not only was it darker than the rest of the house, it was cold, sterile und reminded Harry of the closet under stairs. Despite the obvious size difference and the humanity shown to him, he couldn’t quite get over it.

However, he knew that he had to master this at a better level than he was currently in. And when Lucius had to go to the Ministry one morning, Harry took the opportunity and decided to make the potion they were working on together himself again. He had to be able to make it flawlessly!

Once he was halfway through, a knock in the door made him look up and to his surprise and uneasiness, he found Severus Snape standing there. He acknowledged his apparent godfather with a nod and turned back to the cutting of ingredients.

“Brewing potions without supervision isn’t the best idea, even if you know what you’re doing” Snape said without any malice for once. Well no, it wasn’t a surprise. He had been better at talking to Harry, it probably also helped that the teenager had blond hair now instead of the Potter mane.

“Well Lucius isn’t here and I want to prove that I can do this properly.”

Harry was honestly a bit surprised by his own neutral statement. He had promised his parents that he would try to work with Snape for a few months and if he still felt uncomfortable, he would be allowed to quietly leave the room when his godfather appeared. He hadn’t expected to kind of accept the sour man in his life.

A statement he would deny to his dying days, he was sure of.

Snape hummed and walked closer, observing his knife skills for a few seconds in silence. “I would restart the potion then, if I were you.”

Frowning, Harry looked up at him. “Why?”

“Your knife skills lack a fineness most potion need to be brewed correctly. How close did you measure the thickness of the banana you were slicing?”

“Um” Harry looked down at the ginger roots he was cutting now. He noticed that they too were a different size altogether. “I… I didn’t think I would need to be that attentive to how I cut the things.”

Snape looked at him for a little while, before turning to the potion who had started to bubble a little. Harry knew from previously making the potion with Lucius, that this didn’t happen before. Great, another failed potion.

“May I?” Snape asked, rather unlike himself. He pointed at the potion, clearly asking whether Harry was okay with destroying it.

Harry sighed. “Sure.” There was no more solution to keeping it, really.

Instead of doing it and making a mean comment, Snape vanished the potion and then turned to the ingredients that Lucius had left out. He selected a few and brought them to the table, where Harry was standing.

“A potion I believe is helpful in learning different cuts and sizes is the ‘faux hot chocolate’ potion” Snape explained. Harry was taken aback, never having heard Snape being so… calm! His professor clearly hadn’t noticed his confusion, as he just continued to explain. “It’s basically a potion for children to learn how to use a knife and basic potions ingredients.”

“Why is it a false hot chocolate?” Harry asked, slightly curious.

Snape chuckled, something Harry would have never thought possible. “Because we’re not going to use the normal ingredients for hot chocolate. Rather, we create a chemical magic reaction to turn our healthy ingredients into hot chocolate.”

Harry hummed and looked down at the things Snape had laid out. “Is this what Narcissa gives us before bed? When she doesn’t want us to eat sweets?”

Snape held his finger in front of his lips and smirked. “You don’t know anything about that.”

How was this the man who had bullied him in school?! He was so different! Once Harry got over his surprise, he giggled and nodded, promising to keep it secret.

“Good” Snape said with a smirk. “So, here’s what we need to prepare. Watch closely and replicate it. Make sure that everything has the same size and thickness. If we mess up, our test subjects will know that it’s not hot chocolate.”

“Test subjects?” Harry asked, wide eyes.

Snape nodded. “The House Elves make this for Cissa. We’ll just ask them to provide our potion instead and we’ll watch if your siblings think it’s different. Maybe we can even ask them to hand it to Cissa and Lucius after dinner.”

“That would be great!” Harry had a grin on his face. “But Narcissa would know it was a fake hot chocolate.” He deflated slightly.

“Not that you made it, though. I can ask her what she thinks of it, pretend it was I.”

This version of Snape was much… better. Harry decided he liked his new godfather. Something else, he was going to deny for a long time, he was sure of it.

Very slowly Snape showed him all of the different cuts and versions of getting from the plants what you wanted. He was slicing the leaves so thin, he couldn’t even see the strands anymore. Well, that was a lie, but Harry thought it looked like that.

When Snape showed him to get the healthy juice from the Cupuaçu thing by pressing the blade on it instead of having to slice it and hope for the best, Harry was astonished. And overjoyed. He received secret tips! And he followed his godfather’s lead in anything he was told, soaking the tips and information up like a sponge.

And soon enough, the potion was done and Snape bottled it, asking for the head kitchen elf to give it to the children tonight and if he somehow could, to Narcissa and Lucius as well.

“How was that then? Ready for some more experimenting?” Snape asked, clearly humoured by Harry’s enthusiasm.

“Yes! I loved it!” He said it before thinking and widened his eyes, trying to think of a way around it. Honestly, he hadn’t wanted to say it right in front of Snape, who had been so… weirdly confusing in class.

However, he couldn’t think of a single thing to add that would make it sound less… strange, before Snape started talking.

“I’m surprised you did so well here and not in school.”

“You’re a lot nicer here than in school. I learn better when people show me kindness” Harry said, quietly.

Snape hummed at that. “Yet, you have also proven to learn quickly when you need it. Defense for one…”

“Well, I needed that to survive. I hadn’t needed potions yet, sir.”

“That’s fair” Snape said and chuckled. “So, new potion to learn… we’ll make the headache potion. It also requires a lot of specific cutting and a close look at the differences. I think we can do it together.”

While they worked quietly, Snape showing Harry again how to cut properly and how to make sure that the potion was doing what it was supposed to – mainly stark working as a headache reliever – Harry found new adoration for this little project. The potion was so specific, only one slice too much, one ingredient thicker than the others and it was off. He had never worked so concentrated on something before.

“I thought potions was a lot like cooking” Harry said after a while of comfortable silence, where only the sound of knives cutting through ingredients could be heard. “But I’ve been so wrong. So obviously, even though I can cook, I haven’t been able to work it out with potions. At home with the Dursley’s, I never had to make sure to cut everything the same size.”

“I suppose” Snape answered, finely slicing the fairy wings. “Though if cooking would have been your job and you started working in a very high-quality kitchen, you would have to cut everything the same size as well. Why were you cooking with your fake family?”

“Oh um” Harry turned red, thinking of being caught with having to talk about the Dursleys. He had never really wanted to do that. “That was my… task at home.”

Snape for the first time paused and turned to look at Harry with a frown. “Your task? Did you have other tasks in that house?”

“Um, n-no?”

“Hm” Snape looked unimpressed. “What were your cousin’s tasks?”

“He didn’t… to um… maybe make his homework?”

“That’s not a task.”

“Well then, how about-“

“Hey” Snape stopped him softly and sent him a reassuring smile. “I’m not here to judge. Well, not really. I am judging, but not you. I’m judging these horrible people who gave a ten year old child the task to cook for them.”

“Um… I-I was six” Harry mumbled, but by Snape’s surprised reaction, he could see that he had heard.

Luckily for Harry, the potion was in need of the fairy wings and Snape reacted quickly, adding everything needed. That gave them both a few minutes of silent concentration and thinking. It was clear to Harry that his godfather wasn’t going to let that go.

And indeed, after the hectic had cleared and the potion only needed to simmer for a while, Snape turned to Harry. “What else did you have to do?”

Harry sighed. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not at the moment, where he felt weirdly comfortable around Snape. However, looking at the man, he could tell that for some weird reason, Snape really didn’t look like he was judging him. It seemed to just be an interesting question to him.

So, he probably had to say something at the very least. “Everything?” he said quietly, unsure of how else to explain what his duties included. A look at his godfather told him, that he had to try. Right, better go through it from room to room. “Um, weed the garden, water the garden, keep the shed cleaned up, mow the grass, make food, dust, clean the living room, set the table, do the cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, keep the hallway cleaned up, mop the house downstairs, vacuum everything once a week, clean up Dudley’s rooms, clean Vernon and Petunia’s rooms, clean the bathr-“

“Petunia?” Snape interrupted him, fire in his eyes. “You grew up with Petunia Evans?”

“Um… She’s called Dursley now, but I think so…”

Snape cast multiple charms on Harry all landing on a parchment, clearly looking them over in a hurry. Harry was surprised. While he had told Snape to go ahead, simply because he was confused, it seemed as if his godfather was actively searching for something. Maybe the fact that Vernon hurt him?

“I wasn’t abused, you know.”

Black eyes landed on him and he shrugged his shoulders. Before he could continue, Snape interrupted him. “Forcing you to work in the house is abuse, Raven. The fact that you’ve just said means that we start with emotional or mental abuse.”

Harry shook his head. “But it wasn’t-“

“Victims of emotional abuse often times don’t realize that they were in fact victims of abuse.”

After silently looking at the cleaned table for a little while, Harry turned to Snape. “My uncle never made me… like… it-it wasn’t like sex or something.”

Snape nodded, seriously. “There are a lot of different types of abuse, Raven. You were physically and dare I say psychologically abused.”

“Which means what?”

“Physical abuse means punching, hitting, shoving, kicking, throwing, breaking bones. It goes so far that all attempts of murder and murder itself lie under that umbrella.”

Harry frowned, watching his godfather finishing the potion. “But… that was just Dudley. He… he did, I mean, children do that stuff all the time, right?”

Snape turned to look at him, just as carefully as Harry was watching him. “And your uncle and aunt? Did they never do any of these things?”

“Don’t all parents…?”

“No, Raven. As for the psychological abuse, I heard you say that they called you ‘freak’ or ‘boy’. That is name calling, one of the symptoms of psychological abuse. Along with constant criticism and insults, silences for days, refusal to listen to you… there are many more options to it.”

“Oh.”

Harry was confused. And honestly, how was he not? He had grown up in a house with people who had hated him. Dumbledore had told him last year that this was how they showed their love. But… Snape seemed honestly worried about him.

And it… it made sense. In a way.

When he looked at how Lucius and Narcissa had treated them, how they had treated Draco… He could see the differences. He could see the love the Malfoy parents had shown Draco and in turn also Hermione and himself.

It was… unnerving.

Yet, he yearned for it, needed it. He treasured every second of family life he could gather.

Looking back at the Dursleys, at how they had treated him. Yes. He knew.

Sighing, Harry sat down on the chair. “I don’t… I don’t know what to do now.”

Snape walked over to him and crouched down. “You do whatever makes you happy, Raven. And I will make sure that nobody will hurt you again. Official godfather bullshit, you know.”

Harry sent him a quick smile at that. “I liked brewing potions with you” he admitted quietly. In part he hoped that his godfather hadn’t heard him, and at the same time, he really wanted to continue brewing with Snape.

“I don’t see why we’d have to stop” Snape said, obviously having heard him. “I’ll show you a few harmless pranks over the next few days, if you wish.”

Nodding enthusiastically, Harry beamed at the potions master. “I would love that!”

“Good. So we work on refining your potions skills and I’ll make sure that these Muggles will never be able to hurt you again.”

Harry hummed thoughtfully. “We already made them think that I ran away a day ago.”

“Don’t worry, Raven, I’m sure I can think of something.”

‘Do you know where our brother is? As a matter of fact, where are you hiding?’

Hermione smirked and closed the book she had been reading. ‘I’ll give you three guesses.’

Draco seemed amused, judging by the feeling rushing their link. Without even a bit of hesitation, he answered, ‘library then.’

‘I hate you.’

There was laughter down the hall and Hermione rolled her eyes as Draco walked in with a giant grin. “I don’t believe that for a second, darling sister. Do you know where Raven is?”

“Last I heard, our father was doing potions tests with him. Apparently, he’s getting better without any real reason behind it.”

Draco scoffed at that. “If you believe in miracles, then yes. I don’t, so…”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you know?”

“Just that Sev is here more often than not.”

“I mean, he’s our godfather, so it’s only logical.”

“Not really” Draco shook his head. “He only visits us shortly, before rushing off again until the next morning, where he surprisingly is around again.”

“So?” Hermione was slightly confused and in a second thought raised her eyebrows. “Are you suggesting that our mother has an affair with Snape?”

“WHAT?!” Draco yelled and shook his head vehemently. “Absolutely not! Our parents love each other!”

Hermione sniggered. “Alright. Since you’re here, I have a question for you. Do you know anything about this?” she asked and pointed at the book she had been reading for pretty much the entire morning so far. “It sounds pretty amazing and magical!”

And magical it was indeed. The book her eyes had fallen on when she had been looking through the family library was about Lady Magic. It detailed her history, which Hermione thought were probably all assumptions, and then later turned into publications from Lady Magic herself. She did some interesting publications throughout the years, especially during the Middle Ages. However, there hadn’t been a publication in the last three hundred years.

“Oh yeah” Draco nodded at that. “No one knows for certain why the publications stopped, but I found something else, somewhere. Let me just quick…” he trailed off and went around the bookcases, clearly looking for something.

Hermione followed him, interested in what he was looking for and also curious what the Malfoy family library entailed. There were several tombs on family magic, different colours of magic, history of magic itself, creature and law books. And even a few fiction books, Hermione wondered whether or not her mother liked to read these.

Draco finally stopped almost at the very end of the library and carefully pulled an old looking book from the shelf. “There it is. Look” he said and opened it to a certain chapter.

The title was ‘Sacrifices to Lady Magic’.

“Sacrifices?” Hermione said loudly and shook her head. “As in… human sacrifices?”

“What?!” Draco looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Where did… How… Why? Why would you ask for human sacrifices?!”

Hermione sniggered at his outraged expression and shook her head. “Sorry, it’s just… when I read sacrifices, I think of the fiction books I’ve read when I was younger and they usually demanded humans.”

Draco shook his head. “What kind of books did you read, Kefira?! No, this is about three families from the three dominant light sections, so in our case light, dark and grey, who must come together and sacrifice a piece of their magic.”

“Would that hurt?”

“Not according to the book.” Draco turned to page and pointed to another section.

Hermione leaned over it and read with her brother what sacrificing a piece of magic meant. It really wasn’t what she had thought. The magic wouldn’t be gone, it was just a vessel to Lady Magic. Which was probably how she had been able to publish things. And apparently, no one had done so in the last three hundred years. What must she be thinking of the wizards and witches now?! No one was willing to offer themselves for her?

“We have to fix this!” Hermione said, her mind already having made the decision. “I want to offer my magic to her.”

Draco widened his eyes and stared at her. “Really? I’ve always dreamt of being one of the people to do this ritual.”

Hermione sniggered. “Okay, good. So, the Malfoy’s are dark, right? Do we know light and grey families who would join us?”

Draco hummed thoughtfully. “I mean, we could see if one of the former Weasley children will be with us. Grey would be Bones or Nott, though Bones is more towards the light and Nott more towards the dark. Light families will be the O’Briens and Picquery for sure. They might be the strongest ones in the light sections.”

“Is there anything else that’s important?”

Turning more pages, Draco then shook his head. “We need two wizards from each family, Lady Magic will choose one of the six sacrifices to have a direct link to, she will take magic from all of them.”

“That’s so cool!” Hermione exclaimed and beamed at him. “Do you think it’s possible, she’d choose me?”

Draco laughed and pulled her into a tight hug. “At least a one in six chance, dearest sister.”

Gabbing a piece of parchment, Hermione sat down and started a letter to Bill and Amelia Bones. As much as she wanted Ron to be there, she knew that he needed time with his family to hopefully come to a place, where the two brothers didn’t hate each other anymore. Then, she considered writing to Charlie, however, something told her she needed to include the Picquerys. So, she wrote a letter to the Terror Twins, hoping they would accept.

Before heading to lunch, Hermione and Draco made a d-tour to the owlery, to send the two letters. As they walked into the family dining room, the siblings found their brother sitting next to Severus Snape, discussing something potion related. Though as they realized that Draco and Hermione had entered, they quickly changed the topic.

“Do we have to be careful with what we touch?” Hermione asked, having lived with the twins for long enough to know when to be cautious.

Harry grinned at her. “The house elves refused to put anything into the main course.”

“That is not an answer, Raven” Draco said with narrowed eyes.

Hermione sniggered at the barely hidden glee on Harry’s expression. “I have given you more clues than I wanted to. Enjoy your meal.”

“I will only touch what you touch” Draco commented, which made Harry grin at him.

“Challenge accepted.”

Once dessert rolled around, Hermione had kept it in her mind, to maybe be careful what she picked. Harry knew what she liked most, so to the surprise of her parents, she picked the cauldron cakes, hoping to circumvent Harry’s potions.

Draco clearly had forgotten all about the discussion before, as he happily munched on a butterbeer cookie. Hermione had seen Harry’s excitement, when he did and watched her brother closely, seeing his ears grow longer. He had rabbit ears by the time he was done.

Narcissa glanced into his direction and choked on her dessert. She cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at Snape. “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes” Harry answered instead with a giant smile.

Draco frowned, clearly confused. “What was necessary?”

Their father looked up and widened his eyes, bursting out laughing in a fit that Hermione would have never assumed to see on the ever so stoic Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa shook her head and instead of taking away the ears, conjured a mirror.

Hermione’s brother made a surprised sound and touched his rabbit ears, before clearly remembering the discussion they’d had before lunch.

“Raven!”

“What?!” Harry said with a giggle. “I didn’t eat the butterbeer cookie! I took a cauldron cake, which are free of anything.”

“The rest isn’t?” their father asked, having recovered from his laughing fit. He looked down at the treacle tart, just in time to grow whiskers.

Harry giggled even more and Narcissa sighed, though not undoing anything. She seemed amused, behind her mask of quiet annoyance.

“What?! It’ll wear off in two minutes. We did check that it wouldn’t stay and that Dad didn’t have to go to work with whiskers on his face” Harry explained with a grin, starting to giggle again.

Draco snorted and hid his face behind his hands, Snape was clearly fighting hard to control his mask. Hermione sniggered, turning the whole table into uncontrollable laughter. Narcissa laughed the loudest of the all. Hermione grabbed her favourite dessert as well, turning her hair into a lion’s mane which she loved. Lucius tried to make his whiskers react on their own, making them laugh even more, as Hermione shook her head making the mane fly around her head in a glorious way. Finally, Harry grabbed one of the treacle tarts, making him grow whiskers as well, and Narcissa called for a house elf to take pictures of the chaotic family, before biting into a butterbeer cookie.

It was a lot of fun. Hermione loved every second of it.

Chapter Text

Minerva didn’t know what to believe. She had witnessed Albus doing something borderline illegal and for some reason then decided to follow him around in her feline form. Why Albus thought talking out loud was a good idea when there were multiple paintings around and… not all professors were going home for the entirety of the school holidays. She was just proof of that. While she had intended to go home during the holiday, her plans had changed slightly with the news of Hermione Granger’s disappearance.

She had been trying to find out what was going on, however, she hadn’t had any luck finding any news of her student. As hope famously died last, she was still looking for something, a way to find out if her student really had been on that plane.

What she did found out was in fact something entirely different and she was overwhelmed to find the news about how Harry Potter had been treated by his family. And then, she had found the news of Neville Longbottom, it had torn her heart, knowing that she had these children under her care for over a year and never realized how they were doing. It made her spiralling into questioning whether there were more people like them, her emotions had almost run away with her.

That was why she had changed into her feline form. Animal emotions were much simpler, much more controllable. Usually. She had felt her previous anxiety attack in the back of her cat’s brain, but thankfully it contained it again.

Hearing the headmaster talking about using Harry Potter’s grief as a way to take control over the boy’s life was… frankly disconcerting and alarming.

Minerva decided she had to do something to make sure the boy was fine. So she set out to the relatives Albus had placed him with about a decade ago. If these people hadn’t moved away, she knew where to find them.

It was just a shame that the boy called ‘Harry Potter’ no longer resided there. And in fact, didn’t even exist in the first place.

Not that Minerva McGonagall would know that.

Dear Kefira (or Hermione, as you’ve written in your letter)

Quick question: how are you so comfortable in using your given name? I still can’t get over the fact that I’m apparently called Michael. I’ve asked Amelia and Susan to call me Bill or William, but… I don’t know. How do you do it?

Anyway, Amelia and I would love to be part of bringing Lady Magic back. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her squeal with excitement when I showed her your letter. And sadly, I must agree with your statement Ron and the Nott family need to figure themselves out. He was over here for the last couple of days, just to get away from the judgment his new family gives him. I don’t think it’s easy for him.

Especially since the rest of us have been rather lucky. I was afraid of what Dolohov would do to Percy, but seeing him so happy with his family was an eyeopener. They too came to visit, apparently Dolohov wants to know if there was a secret way to press charges.

We’re planning another family meet-up in two weeks. That’s a few days before the Hogwarts owls are supposed to fly around and deliver the new letters. Amelia convinced the headmaster to have a look at the books and she confirmed yesterday, that your names are in there, so just a warning; the headmaster will probably want to talk to you all. We really need to find a way for you to be safe around him. Anyway…

Count us in, tell us when we’re supposed to meet, okay?

Love, your ‘brother’

Bill

There were so many owls flying back and forth to all of the different families and to all kind of different family members. Hermione was organizing a way to get Lady Magic’s power back up, Draco was in constant correspondence with his friends, even though he didn’t tell them about his siblings, and Harry just enjoyed being able to write freely to whoever he pleased.

Hi Harry,

I’m glad you liked the potion-cake. My mother used it to teach me some potion-making. I’m honoured that you wanted to learn it! Maybe we can meet in Hogwarts sometime?

Oh, and send me some cake next time!

Susan

Harry sent the cake the very next day, after making a new one. He also wrote about his recent pranks on the household. Susan was probably going to laugh herself silly, thinking of Lucius Malfoy with whiskers. He copied the picture of the entire family, minus Snape who had left shortly after the successful prank, and added it to the letter.

Hello, my dear pretend brother and sister,

I’m just a little down... oh who am I kidding, I’m feeling a bit depressed that you were received so well in your family, but mine is keeping a… let’s call it a healthy distance between me and them. My father seems to have come to the conclusion that he can’t just get rid of me anymore and at least he tried to include me in the family things…

Junior keeps pretending that I don’t exist. Yesterday, he even set the table for two people and when I walked in there he looked like I was… I don’t know. Like I was intruding into his own family business. Our father was dressing him down, sure, but he didn’t seem to take it to heart.

I’ve just spent several days with Bill and Amelia and Susan, I don’t really want to flee again. Unless you can somehow invite us over? Please! (Pretend I look at you like little begging dog, you can’t say no to that, can you?)

Well, that’s all for now. I hope I’ll talk to you soon.

Love you both!

Ron

Draco came just walking into the sitting room, where Harry had received the letter and Harry frowned at him. “Did you know that Theodore Nott is bullying Ron?”

“What?” Draco sounded confused. “Why would he do that?”

Harry wordlessly showed him the letter and Draco sighed when he finished reading it. “I mean, I’m sure I can convince our parents to invite the Notts over for a few hours, maybe even a few days if Ron behaves himself.”

Sighing, Harry pulled his legs up on the chair and frowned. “I just don’t want Ron to hurt. He’s such an amazing person and yet, his family doesn’t even acknowledge him.”

“I’m sure one day, they will love him just as much as our parents love us” Draco said softly and pulled Harry into a hug. “Come on, let’s go and convince our parents to let your fake-brother come over.”

DARLINGS!

We have no idea how to address you anymore. Nevertheless, if there is mischief to be had, we are in! And bringing back Lady Magic so she can mess with the public again… we are SO IN!

Give us time and date and whatever role we’ve got to play and we’ll get this thing rolling!

Also, did you know that the Picquery’s have their own portal to all over the world? They’re like crazy rich. Harrykins, you need to come visit us and tell us if you’ve ever seen so much… flamboyancy_____

pomposity, pageantry, pomp, splendour___

Alright, Georgie, cut it off. Anyway! Did you hear that Bill is planning another family meeting? We’ll try to get them to the Picquery Palace. It’s a crazy place. Our governess won’t let us touch anything. We’re planning a giant prank, let’s see if it works in our favour.

Hermione sniggered at that and shook her head. “The twins are crazy.”

Draco who was leaning over his own book just snorted, not looking up from where he was researching something. “I mean I could have told you that months ago.”

“They weren’t crazy months ago” Hermione argued. “In fact, they helped us a great deal why hiding our true selves with a potion they stole from Snape.”

Sniggering, Draco glanced up where he was working and then looked back at the book, trying to find where he had stopped reading. “I heard that. Severus was very annoyed that they managed to sneak through all of his defences.”

“Wait, he knew that they went to take something from him?”

“Who else would be taking stuff from him? The whole student body is afraid of him, the Slytherins would have asked, it could have literally only been him.”

“I see your point.”

Dear Ginny

We haven’t heard much from you since we last saw you. Are you okay? How is life treating you as a Montague? Did you know that the name Montague is also known in Muggle culture, mostly through the book Romeo and Juliet? That’s what ‘Mione said at least.

I’d love to hear from you.

Harry

It only took a few days until the response came.

Dear Harry

Yeah, everything is fine. We’ve been on a family holiday and then, the twins dropped by to talk to my parents about my recent therapy and they convinced them to send me there again. I’m uncertain if I’ve got to be happy about it or annoyed that they inserted themselves in business they had no reason to stick their noses in.

But then again, it’s Fred and George. Who are they, if not buggers who stick their noses where it doesn’t belong. So, just a warning, I think they’ve been travelling around and looking into all of our families. They might be on their way to you.

Other than that, I’m fine. Graham is an awesome older brother and though I miss all of my siblings (and fake siblings, Harry), I wouldn’t change it for the world.

But I do miss you all. So, I’m looking forward to the family meetup in a few days.

Love, Ginny

One owl however was a surprise to Harry and when he read it, he quickly made his way to his parents and siblings. Once again, he wished he had the triplet link open, so he could just ask where Draco and Hermione were. Sadly, that was not the case.

However… Chances were high that Hermione was in the library and could ask for Draco and their parents.

Dear Mr. Potter.

I find myself at a loss for words and reason. I have visited your relatives and found that none of them seem to remember who you are exactly, only that you ran away a few weeks ago. If this letter isn’t returning to me, I assume you are still alive.

Please let me know how I can be of assistance. I have come to learn troubling news and would rather tell you in person than through owl post. If you are not amenable at the moment, I look forward to talking to you in the first few days back at Hogwarts.

Head of Gryffindor House

Minerva McGonagall

Chapter Text

It seemed as if anybody knew that if one was looking for Kefira Malfoy, formerly known as Hermione Granger, one would need to start looking in the library. Nine out of ten times, she could be found here. And honestly, it was Hermione's favourite place to sit and read quietly. While Draco also liked to come by and converse with her, she had enjoyed a lot of late afternoons surrounded by the peaceful silence of books. Her favourite silence, by far.

Though on this specific afternoon the silence was broken not even half an hour into her latest reading session about magical animals in British forests, by the quiet and soft voice of her mother. “Hello dear, how are you doing?”

Hermione tilted her head at her mother’s careful voice as she sat down in the chair opposite her. “Fine” she answered, unsure of where this discussion was going. She closed her book and placed it on the table next to the armchair to give her mother her full attention.

They had been living with their families for a little over six weeks now. To Hermione it felt like a lifetime. She didn’t remember the time before. Well, yes, she did, but it was dark times. She had always known that something wasn’t right. And being here, with her family, with her brothers, she had never felt so right!

Narcissa smiled at her and leaned back. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you alone, you see. It appears as if you’re… fine with the fact that Lucius and I are your parents.”

“I… am. I mean, it’s weird in a way, but I’m not feeling weird. If that makes sense.”

“Which leads me to question why” Narcissa continued. “If Draco would find out that we weren’t his real parents, that other people kidnapped him, placed him with us… I don’t think he would handle it as confidently as you have. And you’ve even come up with the idea of how to get rid of your persona.”

Hermione paused for a few seconds and thought. It was true what her mother was saying. She had been handling all of this rather… well. And she had gotten the idea of how to kill ‘Hermione Granger’.

“How was your home life, Kefira?”

“I…” Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. It wasn’t bad, I got whatever I wanted, could do what I pleased. But… there was never a connection. Not the sort of thing that Draco and I have or that Harry and I have. I was always missing something.”

Narcissa hummed thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair. She remained silent, so Hermione shrugged her shoulders once more. “It… It always felt weird there. Like I remember them looking at me from the corner of their eyes, they would follow my every action with what I think now was fear. Even before I knew I was a witch, they would bring me to all sorts of historical things and museums to show me that the good won and that it will always prevail. I’ve always asked myself why.”

Her mother hummed softly. “You think they were conditioning you?”

“Maybe” Hermione answered, before she quickly changed the topic. Yes, her mother was smart and would undoubtedly realize what she was doing, but she didn't feel... ready to talk about this at the moment. “It hurts me that I cannot change to think of myself as Kefira. I really want that name, not particularly the ‘Dove’-part, but I’d like to be known as little lion. And yes, whenever I catch myself talking to myself, I use ‘Hermione’.”

She sighed. She had tried so hard to get to used to the name her parents had chosen for her, yet… she remained calling herself the name that either the Grangers, or worse, Dumbledore, had chosen for her.

Narcissa smiled at her sweetly. “Darling, this isn’t a process that will happen from one day to the other. You’ve been walking around as ‘Hermione’ for far longer than you’ve been ‘Kefira’. I wouldn’t think it could change that fast. Maybe it helps if you look at yourself when you wake up and say the name we’ve picked in the mirror for a few times?”

“I’ll try” Hermione nodded at that. “As for my family life before…”

“I trust you, Kefira” her mother said softly and reached over to tuck a strain of blonde hair behind her ear softly. “If you say there was nothing outwardly bad, I believe you. However, even small things like what you’ve gone through can in a way end up with a side-effect. I would welcome it, if you were to follow your brother to a mind healing session. Just one, for my sake.”

Hermione… no, Kefira (!) bit her lower lip and nodded after a bit of pondering. “So, just one, because of you.”

Narcissa chuckled and got up to kiss Herm-Kefira on the crown of her head. “And the rest for your sake, darling.”

On the morning of the day, the family meeting was supposed to take place, a strange visitor arrived at the gates of the Malfoy property. Well, not strange per se. Strange in a way that nobody had expected to see Minerva McGonagall standing there, waiting to be let inside.

And in the Malfoy Manor, well, only Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy had realized who was standing there, as their children were once again given broom and Quidditch permission for the entire day, since Raven had been studying rather well. He himself was incredibly proud over how well his studies had been going and Severus still came over most days to help him brew. By this point it was an open secret that everyone in the house was aware of. And nobody was really interested in breaking the bond Severus and Raven had been building ‘in secret’.

So, when McGonagall stood in front of the gates, Narcissa reluctantly led her in and moved to the front of the house, to see what the deputy headmistress was doing on their property.

“I’ve followed the owl to Mr. Potter” she explained as a way to introduce herself. “I was a little surprised it flew to the Malfoy Manor.”

Narcissa chuckled, though not quite relaxed. “And the people think you’re the perfect picture of a Gryffindor, Minerva?” she joked to lighten the tense air.

The Headmistress sent a polite smile. “Indeed, very peculiar.”

“What could you want from him?” Narcissa asked, not wanting to reveal that Harry Potter was now Raven and their son. Not now, when she wasn’t sure where Minerva’s loyalties lay. And she wanted to protect her newfound family with everything she had.

“Well” Minerva started and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve heard the headmaster planning on using Mr. Potter’s friendship with late Miss Granger to have him grief in his presence. I suspect he wanted to use the boy for something. I’m here to make sure he cannot be taken advantage of anymore. I’ve lost faith to the shenanigans the headmaster is up to.”

Narcissa chuckled at that and opened the door wider, when Lucius spoke up behind her. “Darling, why are you keeping our guest on the doorstep? Come on in, the garden has nice views this time of a year.”

Minerva frowned slightly. “I did not intent to stop by for a glass of whiskey, Lord Malfoy. I am merely here to-“

“You’ll like the view, Minerva” Narcissa said with a wink, which seemed to have convinced the Gryffindor head of house. Lucius held out his arm, which to Narcissas' amusement, Minerva acepted without much fuss and she followed the two through the house and as they stepped out onto the patio, the view was in fact interesting.

On the floor was Kefira with a whistle around her neck and a pair of binoculars in her hand. In the air were Draco and Raven racing each other to the Snitch that kept flying away, dodging them at every opportunity it saw.

Right now, Kefira blew her whistle and the two boys flew into the opposite direction, both grabbing a red ribbon, they then tied onto their brooms. Then, Kefira called up to them, “get the ribbons, the first to get it, will receive a twenty seconds head start to go after the Snitch!”

“Twenty seconds?!” Raven called down and then dove down as Draco was already on him. “Unfair, Draco!”

“If you stop talking, you might actually win, Rav!”

Narcissa chuckled as they watched their sons race around, Raven being at the disadvantage the entire time and it ended with Draco catching the ribbon. Kefira cheered, while Raven landed the broom on the ground and fell on his back.

“You’re worse than Wood, Kefira!” Raven called and decided to throw a tiny gras stick towards his sister, which obviously didn’t go far. Kefira sniggered at his failed attempts.

Draco screamed up in the sky and went for a dive, Snitch forgotten, all the way calling, “You’ve hurt my sister!”

“Prepare to die!” Kefira added, which had Raven and her in a laughing mess, that made Draco laughing as well and before he reached the ground, he stabilized his broom and fell off into his brother, Kefira joining them on the floor, still laughing.

Minerva frowned slightly and turned to Lucius and Narcissa. “I didn’t know you’ve had… are these friends of Mr. Malfoy’s?”

“Not entirely” Lucius said with a smirk. “These are our children, Draco’s siblings.”

“And Harry Potter?”

Narcissa watched as Raven turned to look at them when Minerva spoke his previous name. Briefly she wondered whether or not Raven also thought of himself as ‘Harry’ just like Kefira had done. Maybe she too needed to talk with her son.

Then again, Raven was on a strict mind healing timetable that would need to be kept up even at Hogwarts. Maybe the time of realization would come on its own.

Raven got up and walked towards them. Narcissa saw the questioning look he sent to Lucius and when his father nodded, barely, he stepped up to the patio with a smile on his face. He did look incredibly like a young Lord Malfoy. His blond hair now almost reached the middle of his back, he had it in a loose pony tail, strains falling out on both sides. And with his Malfoy-coloured sporting-robe, he looked just like Lucius had when he was younger. Even more so than Draco.

“Hello Professor McGonagall, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Again?” Minerva asked and squinted her eyes. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

Raven sent her cheeky grin. “We have. But I was known under the name of ‘Harry Potter’. Since Christmas I’ve known that my identity was wrong.”

Minerva hummed at that, while Narcissa widened her eyes. Lucius too seemed confused by that statement. “Since Yule?” he asked, wonder in his voice.

The situation brought Draco and Kefira closer and stepped on either side of their brother, clearly ready to protect him, should anything happen to him. Narcissa smiled as she watched her oldest son placing a hand on her younger son’s shoulder. It was also clear that Minerva had noticed.

“So, how long have you been… siblings? And since when do you not hate each other anymore?” she asked carefully.

“Since I figured out they were my siblings” Draco answered.

Lucius frowned at that, while Narcissa chuckled. She had always known that something was special with her triplets, even if she couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Lucius however, seemed interested in getting an answer right then and there. “And how did you know you were siblings? You came running into the library the day you came back, alerting us to a letter from Gringotts before it arrived.”

Draco blushed, “Can we not talk about it now?”

“Professor, you wanted to find me?” Raven asked, innocently. Though Narcissa found the quick glances her children were shooting each other rather interesting.

Minerva bowed her head. “I did. The headmaster has vowed to make you trust him once more. I have seen his actions in the last forty-eight hours and I’ve decided to no longer stand on his side. I’ve come to warn you, though I see now that you clearly didn’t need a warning from me.”

Raven smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Professor. It’s always appreciated to receive a warning, even if I already suspected it. And while I enjoyed being your lion for the past two years, I suspect that since I’ve found my true heritage, I might no longer be a Gryffindor.”

Kefira frowned at that. And as she turned to her brother, she let go of her surprise. “Wait, really?”

“I mean, Draco is in Slytherin. It would be weird to not have him close anymore. I’d rather not have half the castle between me and my siblings. And you, ‘Mione are absolutely a Snake, if you want to be. And well, the Hat wanted to put me there anyways, so might as well follow its suggestion.”

Minerva chuckled, clearly having recovered from the shock. Narcissa was still surprised to hear her son talk like that, but Lucius seemed incredibly proud.

“Only a true Slytherin could outwit the Sorting Hat!” he claimed and pulled a yelping Raven into his arms.

The deputy headmistress once again seemed surprised, but smiled after that. She turned to Narcissa with a nod. “If you need anything, anything at all, let me know.”

Narcissa smiled and nodded. “You might want to talk to Severus. He’s been over here helping our children deal with everything. They’ll arrive at Hogwarts as newly accepted students. I’d be happy if there wasn’t as much fuss made about it.”

“They’re triplets” Minerva said and raised her eyebrows. “There will always be made a fuss about triplets, whether they’re magical or not.”

With that statement, a lot of things fell into place for Narcissa. Magical triplets! That was why Draco knew a letter was coming. That was probably why Kefira was so calm about it all, because she could talk to her brothers about it. And the link these three had was probably so strong that it would last around the world and they could still talk to each other.

They needed to be protected. From each and everyone who was willing to harvest on triplet magic! Narcissa made a mental note to talk to Severus about protection. Nothing was going to happen to her children. No old long-faced grumpy dwarf of a wizard with too many middle names was going to harm them ever in a million years. That she would vow to magic, if she could.

Lucius chuckled, clearly not having come to the same conclusion. “We just want them to have a little fun at Hogwarts.”

Minerva smiled at them. “I will make sure that nothing happens to them and that no one will make a big fuss over them being triplets.”

With that, she bid goodbye and Draco, for the first time ever this summer, requested to have his friends visit them, especially the Notts and the Zabinis. Narcissa knew exactly why he wanted the Notts over and by the relieved expression on Kefira’s face, it was clear that she was worrying about their friend Ronald.

Looking after her husband escorting Minerva back to the front of the house, Narcissa was suddenly hit by uncertainty. What would the future bring? Would it be safe?

Chapter Text

“So, what we need to do is figure out how we want to work with all of the things we’ve got going on.”

Several voices of the different families agreed with Lucius’ statement. Harry looked around the small room with a grin. They were all sat in the stable with the O’Briens in Ireland. For Harry it was already the second time out of England in only so little time. And he absolutely adored the vibrant colours that Ireland had to show off. The sea was dark blue, the gras almost shining like green jewels and it just seemed as if everything was alive.

While the weather outside was beautiful and airy, inside the stable, it was very cramped. The table had been too big, so Lord O’Brien shrunk it down for Amelia Bones to take notes. She had been officially voted to be the person to keep everyone up to date. And since the children were now also allowed to sit in, it was clear that notes needed to be taken.

Bill crossed his legs at his ankles and he put his dark brown hair up into a messy bun. “First things first, I assume would be the children’s return to Hogwarts.”

“Yes” Dolohov said with a dark nod. “And also to make sure they’re safe from the Headmaster’s manipulations.”

“I do not feel comfortable agreeing to the bracelets that would make our children vassals of the Black House” Lord Montague said calmly. He looked around, almost as if to dare anybody to disagree with him. Harry thought the situation was too funny, but he hid his laughter with a cough. Draco sent him an amused glance, while luckily nobody else seemed to have noticed.

Lady Bones agreed and spoke while she was writing. “Neither am I. Lord Black is in Azkaban at the moment, but whoever is the next Lord Black could still use them all.”

Narcissa nodded. “I figured as much. I too wasn’t comfortable with this option.”

Lord Montague sent her a smile and turned to his wife who started talking. Her voice was surprisingly soft, Harry thought. “I have been looking into other directions and I found crystals in East Africa that keep any Occlumens out.”

Several people perked up. “Can we have them?” The Terror Twins asked at the same time, before grinning at each other.

‘They’re getting creepier as time goes on’ Harry heard Draco say through the siblings’ link and sniggered as Hermione sent him a playful glare.

“We’d like some too!” Susan called out and widened her eyes. “It would be perfect to make sure that the headmaster doesn’t suspect anything.”

Lady Montague smiled at all of them and presented them all with a piece of jewellery. Immediately, several people started to protest, however, Lady Montague dismissed all of them and then threatened to give the money back to them via other presents. After a few minutes, they all accepted a piece of the beautiful dark blue crystal. Harry got a small ring that was seemingly made out of the crystals. Hermione reached for a flowery brooch while Draco received a silver bracelet of a snake winding around his wrist, the eyes of the snake being the crystals.

Lady Picquery smiled at them all. “Well, that is at least one worry taking care of. I suppose we cannot make sure that the headmaster thinks all of our children have just been hidden for a while.”

“I’m afraid not” Lord Nott said with a shrug. “We might be able to convince him that some of them have been hidden-“

“While the idea is noble” Lucius interrupted, “it’s Albus Dumbledore we’re talking about. Minerva McGonagall basically established for us that he indeed was the one to kidnap our children and he will keep trying to take control of them. I do not believe that we can pretend to have hidden our children from him for so long.”

Hermione nodded at that. “In addition, I did kill off ‘Hermione Granger’, so if he sees me, he will know.”

For a while, everyone seemed quiet. Finally, Bill leaned forward, with a smile on his face that would have suited the Terror Twins more. In fact, these two seemed almost amused. Bill seemed undeterred.

“Then we call his bluff.”

More silence. Though this time, it seemed a thoughtful and mostly surprised silence. Finally, Lord O’Brien leaned forward. “We cannot call a bluff on Dumbledore!”

“Why not? We already know that he will figure it out quickly” Bill retorted. “Just imagine what he must feel like, what he must think we have against him that we will take him head on!”

Amelia shook her head. “Even if it works for a little bit, the thought that we will make a public enemy out of him seems… unbelievable.”

Lucius chuckled at that. When the attendants looked at them, he smirked. “Imagine the riot that would happen if we all announce the House of Dumbledore the enemy of all of our Houses!”

“Then the question is if we can make sure our children are safe at Hogwarts where he is the headmaster” Lord Picquery said thoughtfully. However, he had a grin on his face. Harry realized that it was the same kind of mischief he had seen on the twins. He clearly liked the idea.

Narcissa nodded. “We have Severus Snape on our side as our children’s godfather, as well as Minerva McGonagall.”

Harry frowned slightly. Was his mother blushing? Was she just embarrassed that she counted the Gryffindor Head of House as an ally? Knowing the deputy headmistress wasn’t something to be embarrassed by.

He got even more confused, when Lucius laughed softly at the look of Narcissa and she hit him on the arm. Then, she turned to the others. “My resources tell me that Dumbledore has hired Remus Lupin to get closer to ‘Harry Potter’. I’m sure if we tell him what really happened, we can count him in as well.”

“Also, according to the ancient rules” Lord Montague spoke up again, “if an enemy house is talking to a child from another enemy house, they are supposed to have five other adults in the same room from friendly houses.”

“As if Dumbledore cares about that” Harry said and shrugged his shoulders when everyone turned to look at him. “I’m serious. Whenever I’m involved, I think, he just creates rules that help him.”

“That is true” Susan said and nodded. “I’ve noticed that too. Maybe we could have some sort of panic button that Harry can press so that at least five adults can be contacted that he wants to talk to him.”

Ginny nodded enthusiastically. “That is an amazing idea, Susan!”

Lord Nott cleared his throat. “So, I see a lot of people have the same ideas. Who is for announcing the House of Dumbledore as an enemy of our houses?”

Everyone in attendance, even the children, held their hands up. Amelia nodded and wrote down what they had decided. Harry had a grin on his face, and when Hermione turned to look at him, he shrugged his shoulders.

“If Dumbledore is our enemy, can we call him out on his bullshit? He will most likely try to make me talk, he will obviously try to make Hermione understand that her ‘death’ should be reversed and we should all come out and tell the world who we really are.”

The adults were quiet a for a little bit, until Amanda O’Brien chuckled. “It’s a good strategy, but it will embolden the old fart.”

“So we make it hard for him to do anything” Ron said, ever the strategist. Harry could see Theo rolling his eyes and honestly, if Nott Junior was sitting closer, he would have kicked him hard in the leg, just for discouraging his freaking brother!

Graham Montague looked at Ron with a frown. “How would we do that?”

Ron smirked. “We tell him that we know what he wanted to do with us children, if he ever tries to do anything to us, the public will know as well.”

“But by telling him that, he will have time to prepare” Amelia Bones stated and frowned. “Unless, we already make it somewhat official, tell the news that we all found our siblings and children again. But we don’t say more.”

Lord Dolohov nodded. “We could form an official group for the public to see, have a representative and do an interview where we let that information ‘fall through the cracks’.”

Lady Bones sighed. “And pray tell who will be the representative?” She paused, while all eyes landed on her. “I officially hate you all now.”

“Aw, sister-dearest!” Bill said in a mocking voice, while Susan gasped. The families laughed and discussions were halted, while Susan and Bill tried to convince Lady Bones that she did not in fact hate everyone present.

After a while of listening to the funny conversation, where it was soon clear that Lady Bones was ready to accept the position of representative for the entire group, the discussion turned serious again. Obviously, one person brought it back to the topic at hand and it was surprisingly, not an adult.

The only other option was Hermione.

“So, we need to call Dumbledore out, as soon as possible, right?” she asked and looked around at the gathered adults. “When can you do it?”

Lord Nott started to explain calmly. “Well, we’d need a public space-“

“The next Wizengamot meeting would be the perfect place and time!” Lord Montague interrupted him with a wicked grin. “It is always open for the public to attend. We could even invite the papers in and tell them that some Houses are doing important announcements.”

Lord O’Brien chuckled at that. “As much as I would love to attend a Wizengamot meeting to just be part of the UK for once, I doubt that the O’Brien family from Ireland can just waltz in there and announce the House of Dumbledore the enemy.”

Lord Picquery agreed. “Same goes for the Picquery’s. We were never part of the British government; we cannot just walk in and conduct our business.”

Narcissa had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she responded. “Well, that might be true. However, any house and individual can be a guest to any of the sitting Lords and Ladies. And as it so happens, I do believe that some people would enjoy the look on Albus Dumbledore’s face when you two are the guests of… certain houses.”

Lady Picquery started laughing and nodded. “I would love to see his face when my husband turns out to be Lord Malfoy’s guest. One of the lightest Houses in the entire world turns to one of the notorious dark Houses for help… This will make the headline around the world.”

“That it will” Narcissa smiled at the older woman. “Are you ready for something like that?”

“Of course!” – “Certainly!” – “Never readier for that!” the three Picquery men shouted, all wearing what Harry would have considered earlier on be the Terror Twins’ grins. Now it was clear that this was something they had gotten from their grandparents.

The people around the table laughed and Amelia Bones grinned at them all. She then turned to Lord O’Brien. “Are you also trying to be the talk of the day?”

Lord O’Brien chuckled. “With what we’re about to do, we’re all going to be the talk of the month, if not even the whole year. I’m not interested in creating such high waves in my community. So, sadly I must decline any dark Houses.”

The families Montague and Dolohov nodded. Lucius smiled at him and then looked at the grey houses remaining. “It would probably be best if you were either a guest to the Bones family or the Notts, however, if you don’t want the entire nation against you, I’d suggest Bones.”

“Could I attend the next meeting as your guest then?” Lord O’Brien asked Amelia Bones who smirked at him.

“Absolutely! I want to see Albus Dumbledore crushed from his high horse” she said enthusiastically. “Now, we’ve taken care of our children in Hogwarts, we will announce Dumbledore House as our enemy, what else do we need to take care of?”

Hermione held her hand in the air as if they were in school, getting several chuckles around the table. Unlike in school, she didn’t wait to be called upon though.

“Houses Malfoy, Bones and Picquery will be part of an ancient ritual to bring Lady Magic back. So, just that you’re aware, we’re planning something huge” she explained with a grin and nodded at all of the partaking houses.

While the twins looked proud and happy, Amelia Bones tried unsuccessfully to suppress a squeal, Harry could tell that Ron felt a little lost and sad. Reaching out, he placed his hand on his friend’s arm and sent him a smile. It seemed to work a bit and Ron nodded at him.

Lord Montague moved to sit straighter. “And what have you planned with her revival?” he asked, suspiciously.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing, really. I’ve read that a few centuries ago, there were news parchments directly from her and I wanted that to come back. It would be fantastic to read what she thinks of everything, right?”

The silence was only held for a couple of seconds, before everyone started talking and Harry couldn’t even hear individual voices anymore. He laughed at the chaos, when he heard his siblings converse in his head.

‘You broke them all’ Draco said. Harry could feel his amusement, while Hermione laughed out loud.

‘It was sort of what I was going for. I do enjoy chaos.’

“Obviously” Harry stated and grinned at Hermione who winked at him.

When he turned to concentrate on the slowly calming discussions around him again, he saw his mother looking at him with a slight frown, that then turned into a smile. He sent her one back and the discussion changed topics again.

“This whole thing is so crazy” Percy said and shook his head. “How could he kidnap all of us so… without a hitch?”

Lady Picquery nodded. “I seems almost impossible to pull off.”

“Did the goblins say if something like this has happened before?” Lord Dolohov asked with a frown and looked at Bill who had the closest contact to them. “I cannot imagine that the headmaster kidnapped so many children the first time and everything went smoothly.”

Bill nodded gravely. “They did. Apparently, there are sixteen other children or adults that have been kidnapped. The goblins weren’t allowed to tell me more, not even age or gender. They just said that it started with one and then grew until the heist was pulled off that we were all unwillingly part of.”

Lady Montague looked just as grim as Bill. “Is it our mission to find them? I would love to find the missing children and give them there families back. However, if we do not know anything else…”

Lord Montague rubbed her back and she seemed to calm down a bit, while Graham seemed thoughtful. “We could just announce to the public that some children have been kidnapped?” he suggested.

Lord Picquery shook his head. “We do not want the headmaster to know what cards we hold.”

“That’s a tall order” Hermione said with a chuckle. “If you all are calling for the House of Dumbledore to be established as your enemy house, surely, he will realize that you’ve figured it out.”

Lucius chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “Indeed. However, if we do not announce why we did that to the public, they will come to the worst possible conclusions and Dumbledore has to defend himself for several things he didn’t do and maybe, if we’re lucky, he will fail to do so.”

“Additionally” Lady Bones started with a smirk, “I am hoping he will get a heart attack when we all come forward, one after the other and he will realize that there’s a pattern in our demand.”

Charlie laughed loudly. “I don’t think we’re so lucky to have him die of old age just yet.”

“A witch can hope” Susan added to the discussion. Harry sniggered at that and nodded approvingly when she looked at him with a wild grin. Never mess with a badger, he thought.

“I do not believe we can find out who was affected by the abductions” Lord Nott stated. “We may be able to tell the public to get themselves tested at Gringotts.”

Lady Picquery seemed happy with that. “We will pay for everyone who wants to get tested and is unable to provide funds for themselves” she said and looked at her husband as if daring him to speak up. He chuckled and held his hands up in silent surrender. The Terror Twins laughed at that, while most grinned or chuckled.

“Now then, final question before we take a break for some refreshments” Amanda O’Brien said with a smile and turned to look at Bill. “How is Lord Weasley doing? Have you heard anything?”

Bill smiled at her. “Yes, the goblins have asked a healer to look at him and if they say he’s fine, he will be released at the end of the week.”

Several people cheered at that, though Charlie seemed a bit unsure. “And then, he will do what? Go back to the Burrow, where he’s alone? Or where Molly could be around if she gets free from wherever the Aurors are holding her? That seems counterproductive.”

Narcissa leaned forward. “Did our healer help? He said he was going to look into it.”

Bill nodded. “He did, and the goblins told me that he had a working idea they then implemented. Still, the fact that he had been under love potions and compulsions for over two decades was messing him up quite severely.”

“Yet another reason we cannot let him live alone” Ron said, somewhat timidly. Harry though that it seemed as if he was unsure if he would be allowed to stand up for his previous father.

However, Lord Nott nodded. “He could come live with us.”

Nott Junior rolled his eyes once more, though this time, it seemed as if Ginny had seen it, since not a second later, he made a painful noise and winced, as a thump could be heard. Harry sniggered softly and held his hand out behind Draco’s back for a hidden high-five, which Hermione gave him.

Before anybody could continue discussing this, Lord O’Brien spoke up. “Actually, I’ve already informed the goblins that Lord Weasley will be released into my family’s care. There’s nothing here to remind him of his old life… well, except for” he looked at Charlie with a smile, “however, the goblins said it should be fine. And he would get as much time as he needed to come to terms with what happened to him.”

A lot of people nodded and Amelia Bones wrote down what they had decided for that meeting. When Lord Dolohov tied to speak up to start talking abut something else, Amanda stepped in and shoed them all outside for a little break of fresh air as it was getting a bit stuffy in that stable. Harry followed Ron outside and placed an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

He couldn’t wait to go back to Hogwarts and show this idiot who exactly he was messing with.

The next Wizengamot meeting took place two days later. The Hogwarts letters had been sent out and Albus Dumbledore enjoyed the quiet before the Hogwarts storm. He had no luck so far finding out what happened to poor Miss Granger, but he had a lot of plans to get Harry Potter into his fingers again. He needed this, he needed to mould him to either be the next willing sacrifice, a martyr to the Wizarding World, or to be his own downfall and be the next villain. Depending on what Voldemort would do next.

When he entered the room fashionably late as usual, his eyes were drawn to the huge number of visitors up on the gallery. It was full of people, and to Albus’ distain, he could even detect a few newspapers. How he hated them. They always did their own thing, coming and going like they owned the place.

Sitting down on the chair for the Chief of Wizengamot, he smiled around, realizing a little late that the visitors up in the gallery weren’t the only ones. In fact it seemed as if Amelia and Lucius both had other people sitting next to them in the visitor’s chair. How fascinating.

Sadly, the colours didn’t tell Albus anything, so he just conducted the usual wizarding business, trying to force his newly created laws through while pretending to be an old gentle grandfather. It usually worked.

However, today, his creature laws had been dismissed and the new idea to ‘protect’ the children of the Wizarding World, which would have gotten him more freedom to look at Muggle parents and taking their children, had been almost unanimously rejected. What was going on today?

Maybe it just wasn’t his day, Albus thought, as he rubbed his temples.

Finally, after much debating and voting and pretty much having done nothing, he opened the floor for anyone present to talk about their issues. It was always the most boring part to Albus, since no one could have as many important issues as he had.

The first person to stand up was Lord Dolohov and he walked to the middle of the room, where he placed his hand on the magical globe that was thought to house a captured magic streak. Albus didn’t know what it actually was, but he was sure that it couldn’t have been magic, that was absurd. It did belong to the ritual, though, whatever Lord Dolohov was doing.

Most likely evil.

“I, Lord Antonin Mihajlovich Dolohov, herby announce publicly that the House of Dumbledore be named the enemy house to House Dolohov.” Albus frowned as the clear Death Eater continued. “Due to personal reasons I do not want to discuss yet, I as Head of Dolohov House have decided to no longer let the House of Dumbledore be a threat to my family. Therefore, you are now and will forever more be the Enemy House, until you or your heirs have made amends.”

Albus suppressed a scoff while Dolohov went back to his seat. As if he would ever make amends with a Death Eater. It suited him just as much that Dolohov called him an enemy.

Before he could ask for more people to talk about their meaningless lives, Lord Nott from the neutral section stood up. Albus tried not to roll his eyes at that. The Nott family was absolutely not neutral, why they claimed that they were was beyond him. The older man walked to the middle and placed his hand on the orb as well.

While Albus still thought about why the Notts were called ‘neutral’, the man started to talk calmly as well.

“As Head of the Nott House, I, Lord Theodore Nott Senior, proclaim the House of Dumbledore my house’s Enemy House.” Albus narrowed his eyes. Did they plan this? What a ridiculous idea to do that here. What did they think they could get from that?!

Meanwhile, Nott continued. “Any and all business ventures, financial supports and magical supports will herby be abandoned and returned to the Nott House. Until you or your heirs will make amends for the broken trust and mistreatment of my House, you will be our enemy.”

Nott returned to his seats, while a few people up in the gallery started whispering. Albus sat up straight again, not really caring for two dark houses calling him their enemy. He opened his mouth, when Lord Montague stood up again.

‘Let me guess’ Albus said in his head, sounding rather sarcastically. He had a feeling he knew what was going to happen. While others may have thought it interesting to see how the different Houses handled calling out an enemy, Albus just thought it was ridiculous. What had he done to these idiots that they now thought they needed to do this?

“Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore” Lord Montague started, looking at him with almost hateful eyes. Albus frowned at that, trying to think of a reason why he had messed up that relationship. The man didn’t give him any time though, as he launched into his own speech, a hand on the magical orb.

“By judging your actions in relations to my House, you have brought dishonour to your own. I, Lord Edmund Maël Montague, herewith declare you and your House the Enemy House to the Honourable and Ancient House of Montague by use of a Serpent’s tongue. Should either you or your heirs wish to disassociate yourself with this decision, you will have to pay for what has been done to my House by yours through physical means.”

Albus couldn’t keep it in himself anymore. He rolled his eyes. Montague required slavery for whatever he had apparently done to him? What an idiot. As if that would ever happen.

As Lord Montague climbed back up to his chair, Albus chuckled. “Anybody else? It seems as if my name is in high demand these last few minutes.”

The Light Fraction laughed at his joke, even if a bit nervous. Albus grinned, when he found Amelia getting up.

“Actually yes” she said and made her way to the middle of the room. The silence that filled the room was tense and Albus stared at her, daring her to do what the Death Eaters before her had done. She should be smart enough not to step into their shoes!

However, she clearly wasn’t.

“The Ancient and Noble House of Bones requests from Lady Magic for the House of Dumbledore to be called upon as the House of the Enemy, effective forthwith. For reasons unspecified, I, Lady Amelia Bones, acting Head of House Bones, have decided to no longer accept what you, Albus Dumbledore have made the members of my House go through. I sincerely hope that neither you nor your heirs will come seek forgiveness from my House, since the House of Bones does not take retributions lightly.”

What was going on today? Albus shook his head. What had happened that made these people walk forward and take him on? No one had ever dared to talk to him like that!

Amelia didn’t go back to her chair, she stayed where she was and waved a middle-aged man down to the middle of the room. “This is my guest” she said and turned to look at Albus. “He’s got something to say as well.”

“Will he make me an enemy of his house also?” Albus asked, not sure why he had said that out loud. This day was clearly messing with him.

“As Lord O’Brien, I sadly do not have such pompous words to declare you my enemy, Albus Dumbledore.”

The man in a what seemed like incredibly new robes seemed clearly uncomfortable in front of so many people. Albus almost rolled his eyes again. Why come here and talk to everyone, when he clearly wanted to be somewhere else. Ireland probably, judging by his accent.

Before Albus could say something, the man continued. “However, that does not deter me from calling out the House of Dumbledore as the Enemy House to my own, House O’Brien. As Lord Riagán O’Brien it is my duty to choose a safe future for my House, which does not include contact with your own.”

The two wixen climbed back up to their chairs, while Albus followed their every step. He was slightly confused what the hell was going on, how did they all know each other? How in Merlin’s name could a Light witch go after him? He was the Lord of all Light wizards! He should be the king!

As Albus opened his mouth to call for an end o the Wizengamot meeting, Lucius stood up and headed down to the middle of the room. “Of course” Albus muttered to himself.

“I, Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, Head of Malfoy House, hereby call upon Lady Magic to judge the actions of House Dumbledore and to grant me the request that it will be forever more known as my family’s Enemy House. I wish for no recompense as what your House did to mine would use too much of your illegal resources to rectify. Only once my heirs ask to place what happened in the past will this newly established hostility end.” He bowed as the orb he was holding glowed slightly.

Albus snorted and shook his head. Fine by him, really.

Instead of going back up to the chairs, he kept staying at the orb, a hand still placed upon it. “I will also call for the end of the Blood Feud with the Weasley Family. I have spoken to the Head of the Weasley House and we have come to an understanding that will no longer need any animosity.”

This day kept going worse and worse! Albus narrowed his eyes at that. Malfoys and Weasleys being friends? He needed to talk to them again, thinking of Weasley family… he hadn’t heard from Molly or Arthur for forever… Maybe he needed to pay them a visit again.

Before he could finally call for an end of the meeting, Malfoy waved his guest down to the middle. The old man walked elegantly down, his head held high, as if he was the kind of the world. Albus already hated him, before he indubitably would receive another enemy.

“My guest would also like to make an announcement” Malfoy said with a bow as he stepped back slightly, showing a weird kind of respect.

The man looked up at Albus with a grin. “Good afternoon, let’s make this as short as if can be, shall we?” the man said with a clear American accent. Albus couldn’t possibly pinpoint from where exactly he came, but it clearly wasn’t the kingdom.

“The House of Dumbledore shall hereby and forevermore be known as the Enemy House for as long as there will be heirs to mine. It is up to my heirs to decide how your House should rectify your mistakes. That, I ask of Lady Magic to grant, as Lord Aymer Willalme Picquery, Head of House Picquery.”

The newspapers went wild, the whispers increased to shoutings. Albus blanched. He had not expected that.

Chapter Text

All in all, the Wizengamot meeting had been a success. After the Picquerys had called for Dumbledore to be their enemy, more wizards had done so, mostly from the Dark Fraction, but still. For now, Harry had counted five other families to their seven houses. The Zabinis had made him an enemy, followed by the Rosiers, Flints, Luckys and McAdams.

The newspapers had been diligently quoting the families, some journalists even adding their own suspicions to it as to why so many families had come forth. The prophet was the only one that came dangerously close to the truth. It was through another article, though, by a reporter who hadn’t been in the gallery that day. They had been looking into the disappearance of Arthur and Molly Weasley and had added a picture of their ‘family’ to the page, alongside several different theories of what could have happened to them, one theory crazier than the next.

What got Harry’s attention was the very last theory of an abduction, including all the possible things that could have led to one and all the attempts of abductions a decade ago.

Harry frowned at that and then got up and went to find his parents. Or Draco and Hermione, whoever, he would find first.

He checked the library, where he for once did not find his sister, so he went to the family room, where Narcissa sat alone, writing a letter. When she saw him walking in, she smiled and put her quill and parchment to the side.

“Hello darling, how are you today?”

“Fine” Harry said with a smile. “I’m happy that my tutoring sessions have stopped for the summer. Only a week before school, which is a bit sad.”

Narcissa chuckled. “Don’t worry too much. You’ve had to learn a lot of what you missed throughout your first eleven years. I believe that next summer you will have all the Quidditch freedom you want.”

Harry beamed at her. “I really hope so.” He showed her the newspaper. “I found something interesting.”

His mother accepted the newspaper and read it calmly, before she nodded. “That is in fact rather interesting, well done, darling. I’m sure our little fighting group will do fine on their own to figure out what has conspired there. You just go and play, be a child for a while longer.”

That sounded so innocent, that Harry looked at his mother and tilted his head. “I can just… do nothing?”

“Yes dear, be a child. You don’t have to worry about anything. Find your siblings, or Severus if you dare, and have fun.”

Harry once more beamed at his mother and then went off to the potions lab. Narcissa wouldn’t have said that Severus was here, if he wasn’t. And in fact, as Harry opened the door softly to not disturb the potions master, he found him in there, brewing by himself.

Closing the door softly once he slipped in, Harry walked around the table, so that he was in view should Severus look up from his brewing. It only took him about twenty seconds to realize that someone was here.

“Hello, Raven, how are you doing today?” Severus asked with a quick smile, before looking down at the potion again.

“Pretty good. Narcissa told me to do nothing for today, which… is pretty hard, if I have to be honest” he answered and shrugged. From everyone in this house, Severus was the only one never to judge him for speaking like that.

Harry had his own suspicions why Severus didn’t judge him, which made him a bit sad. Had their potions professor gone through the same thing that Harry had?

Severus nodded and slowly let something drizzle into the potion. “People with safe family lives usually don’t think about what we had to do to survive on a daily basis.”

Well, that proved what Harry had been thinking anyway.

“Does it ever go away?” he asked softly. “I just… sometimes I feel like I’m wasting my time if I’m not helping. Like I’m using them like… like the idiots before used me.”

Severus sighed, his eyes never leaving his potion he was brewing. “Raven, do you want me to talk to you about this, when I can only listen to you with half an ear? This potion is a bit tricky, but I want to talk about it. Is it okay if you wait for just five more minutes?”

Harry nodded. “Sure. Can I help in any way?”

Chuckling, the potions master shook his head. “Not really, Shadow. You can sit and enjoy watching me work.”

Though Harry really wanted to retort something, he knew that if Severus was concentrating so much, it really must have been a complicated potion. So, he sat down on the table in front of where Severus was brewing and watched as he carefully added more things and counted the water drops into the potion. Finally, he stirred a bit more and then changed directions as soon as the smoke changed colours. Then, he waited for a while longer, before he spelt the fire underneath the potion to a weak flame and he cleaned his hands.

“Well then” Severus said and walked to Harry, picking him up unceremoniously and placing him on a chair. Harry giggled at that while his godfather winked at him. “You are not a waste of time and resources. You are worthy of all the attention you get, all the help we offer. You are perfect the way you are, do you hear me?”

Harry stared at Severus with wide eyes, while his brain slowly started up again. “But-“

“No buts” Severus interrupted him quickly. “You are enough. Just the way you are.”

Once again, Harry opened his mouth, but Severus shook his head. They remained silent, while Harry tried to let it sink in… It didn’t really work. He opened his mouth again, but closed it before he could even say anything.

Severus chuckled softly. “I don’t expect you to believe me immediately. But if it takes me saying this every day to you until you realize that you are enough, I will do it. For the rest of your life.”

“My life?” Harry said with a grin. “I think you’re a bit older than I am. It may take the rest of your life.”

“And I’ll come back to haunt you once I die and keep telling you that you are worthy of love, Shadow. I already love you like a son, you know.”

Harry preened at that and he grinned. “Why do you call me shadow?”

Severus chuckled and pulled him into a tight hug. “Because you’re like my shadow, aren’t you? Whenever I come over, you’re not far away.”

“I… I like spending time with you” Harry admitted and hugged his godfather back. It felt safe with him. Someone who knew how to treat him, someone who just accepted him the way he was.

Not that his siblings didn’t love him or made him feel safe or accepted him. But sometimes he caught them looking at him as if they were pitying him. And he didn’t want that.

“We’ll have to take that up in school as well, then” Severus said softly and Harry looked up at him with wide eyes. It seemed to amuse the professor, as he laughed and ruffled his hair. “What, you think I was being nice to you on holidays? Seems a bit… uncharacteristically evil for a godfather.”

“I don’t know…” Harry ducked his head. “I just… I never really expect people to be nice for a long time.”

Severus nodded. “How about we make a deal? If I happen to fall back into my evil persona, you can say our secret word and I will stop and rethink what I was doing before.”

“Does that include if I just want you to listen to me? Like, if I was in a bad situation and I just someone to be there for me, do you think we could do something like that as well?” Harry asked, shyly. Not because he was actually shy around Severus, but because he was very much no used to asking question and demanding things.

Even Draco had been working on that, sometimes keeping things away from Harry deliberately, so he had to ask for something. While it wasn’t meant as an evil act, Hermione had often times chided their brother for treating Harry that way. But he knew why Draco was doing it and… despite hating when it happened… he appreciated him trying to help. If he really wanted it to stop, he knew that he just had to say so and Draco would stop and possibly try to apologize.

“Of course, Shadow. What do you want that word to be?”

Harry thought and tilted his head slightly. He liked it, when Severus called him Shadow, so why not use that word? When he told Severus so, he laughed and approved.

“I’m a bit scared of what will happen when we go back to Hogwarts” Harry admitted. “What if… what if we’re not safe?”

“That’s what the adults are working on, Raven” Severus said softly. “As for your safety, I know that your father has left this morning with one goal in mind; to get you a bracelet that’s got a lot of protective charms in it, as well as a portkey directed to one of us. We will not let you go there unprotected.”

Harry nodded a little unsure. Severus placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “I will make sure, personally, that nothing bad happens to you, alright? Stick with me and you’ll be safe. I promise.”

“Thank you” Harry said softly and smiled. “I guess that’s why you’re my favourite godfather.” And with that, Harry hugged his godfather again and took off to look for his siblings and friends, leaving a laughing Severus in the potions lab.

It only took him the help of a House Elf to find his siblings, but in honesty, he should have been able to guess. Naturally, they were all around the Quidditch half-pitch. As he walked onto the grass, Isabella the Labrador came bolting towards him and Harry sniggered, hugging the dog who was wagging her tail. Harry knew that his parents weren’t happy that Isabella and Bruno especially were in love with the children. Whenever they were outside, Bruno wasn’t far away from Harry and Isabella practically followed Hermione – or Kefira as she wanted to be called – around.

Chuckling, he followed Isabella, who unsurprisingly brough him to Kefira, sitting on the floor. “Hiya, Raven” He-Kefira said with a smile. “Where have you been all morning?”

“Slept right through most of it and then went to visit Severus, who was brewing something” Harry said with a chuckle.

“Did you eat breakfast? I’ll tell our parents if you didn’t.”

Harry laughed and nodded, presenting his sister with a mock-bow. “Yes, mistress, I ate what the elves prepared for me. Any other questions about health you want me to answer, my lady?”

Kefira shoved him playfully and laughed as Zabini walked up towards them. Before, he had been watching Ron and Draco play some sort of Quidditch, but now he seemed interested in them. Theodore Nott Junior was also around somewhere, but Harry didn’t really care about him. If he hated Ron then Harry was allowed to hate him as well.

“You guys are funny” Zabini said with a grin. “How did Draco manage to hide you away every time I came over? He never even talked about you in school!”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it was for our own safety. Just imagine if someone found out that Draco had triplet siblings who weren’t with him at the time.”

Kefira nodded. “Someone could have used him to hurt all of us.”

A shout from the sky made them all look up, where Ron had just outplayed Draco and was racing towards the rings. Draco was hot on his tail, but still too slow. Harry grinned watching his brother and friend be so casual around each other… well as casual as a competitive Quidditch game could get.

“Damn it, Nott!” Harry’s brother called out and laughed as Ron scored a rather decent point. “You should play for Slytherin next year!”

Ron laughed and landed, dismounting his broom. “You really think, I’d get into Slytherin? I wouldn’t be surprised if I made it into any other house. Except Gryffindor. I’ll ask that Hat not to put me there anymore.”

Draco landed as well and threw an arm around his shoulders. “Ravenclaw?”

“Probably not, I’m not as interested in books as the others surely will be” Ron said with a shrug. “I do like to strategize though.”

“Yeah, but that’s what we do in Slytherin” Zabini said as Draco and Ron reached them. “You sure you don’t want to be Snake?”

“What about a Puffpuff?” Draco suggested and shrugged his shoulders. “You surely are as loyal as they get. And more importantly, their house is also under the castle, so we could meet more often.”

Ron eyed him suspiciously. “And do what?”

“Play Quidditch, you idiot”

“Which we obviously can’t play if I’m a Ravenclaw? Mate, Draco, you’re confusing” Ron said sniggering while trying to evade Draco’s attacks.

Harry grinned at that, wondering if Draco might like Ron a little more. Maybe by the end of term, they were best friends... who knew? However, instead of asking them directly, he looked over to Zabini who snorted at the display in front of them. Kefira laughed as well and got up, petting Isabella.

“So, what do we do today? I’ve got enough of watching people make fools out of themselves on the pitch.”

“Oi!” Draco called out, when Ron tackled him to the ground. ‘I didn’t make a fool out of myself in the air!’ he finished his sentence in their mind.

Harry sniggered, as Hermione sarcastically commented, ‘no, but you do now.’

“Get this idiot off me! I’m the Slytherin Ice Prince! I shouldn’t have to fight my own fights!” Draco called out and tried to roll Ron off him, but the other boy resisted all his attacks. His darker red hair was wild, as he continued to fight Draco, there was a lot of joy in his expression. Harry honestly couldn’t bring himself to destroy the fun he was having.

Kefira seemed to feel the same, as she sniggered. “You’re on your own here, Draco. Unless Blaise wants to help you.”

“BLAISE!” Draco immediately screamed, making Harry burst out laughing.

The other Slytherin held his hands up. “I’m scared! What is going on?!”

“HELP ME!” Draco hollered, before succumbing to his laughter, Ron following as well, falling off the blond boy to the ground in a laughing mess. Kefira screamed her laughter out, rolling on the ground, while Harry giggled at the entire scene. Zabini stood there, as if he was in the wrong movie, shaking his head.

“You know, I can see how you all are family now” he commented and rolled his eyes.

Kefira sniggered, her laughter lessening. “Well, Alden’s not our sibling, but we’ve been close friends for a while now.”

Zabini looked at Ron who brushed himself off and helped Draco getting to his feet. “Really? It seemed as if you all were siblings. Then again” the Slytherin looked at Ron closer with a smirk, “he does have different hair from the rest of you.”

“A little more red-brown and healthy” Ron said and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think this pale white old-man-hair would suit me much.”

Draco gasped dramatically. “You take that back!”

Ron snorted and waggled his eyebrows. “I could conjure you a mirror, so you can compare yourself to your grandfather. You possibly already-“

Draco tackled Ron again and they started rolling on the ground again, the two dogs running around them, barking. Harry laughed as Draco had obviously forgotten the pureblood etiquette. It was incredibly amusing, and Harry loved it all. Zabini just shook his head, but he was fighting a grin, Harry could see it clearly.

Kefira finally separated the two idiots and told them to stop acting like apes.

Draco sat on the balcony overlooking the back gardens, when the door to his room was opened. He peered back into his room to see his mother walking in. Smiling at her, he turned back to look at his siblings walking in the garden, followed by the two dogs.

It was the last night before they were returning to Hogwarts and Draco was frankly scared.

“Dragon, darling, are you alright?” his mother asked and conjured another chair, sitting down next to him. She followed his gaze and smiled softly. “Are you worried?”

“A lot, yes” he admitted weakly. “I don’t want them to get hurt. I love them! They’re… they’re mine!”

His mother chuckled softly. “I understand, dragon. We did everything we could to make sure they’re safe. There’s nothing else we can do, you know.”

“We could go to another school!” Draco pointed out. “Father has wanted me to go to Durmstrang for forever now, hasn’t he?”

“Of course, darling” his mother rubbed her hand over his forehead, softly pulling his hair back. “However, taking them away from their friends isn’t the ideal option. And Durmstrang’s year has already started. If it’s getting too bad this year, we will consider moving you to another school. How does that sound?”

Draco sighed and looked back to his siblings who were now playing with the dogs. He couldn’t imagine this year going smoothly. The second they would step into Hogwarts, the headmaster was going to know what was going on. It was going to be terrifying.

“I’m afraid” he admitted and his mother hummed softly.

“Me too, dragon. But in the end, they wanted to return. We should listen to them” she said softly. “And, Severus is there, Professor McGonagall has promised to look after them and if we play our cards right, professor Lupin will be an ally as well. We should be able to get through this year, yes?”

“Really?” Draco asked and looked at his mother hopefully.

Narcissa smiled down at him and leaned over to press a kiss on his temple. “Absolutely, my dragon. After all, what could we have possibly not thought of by this time? All our families have had multiple meeting for a while. Everything is thought of, you are safe.”

The only thing Narcissa Malfoy and the other families hadn’t thought of was a notorious serial killer breaking out of Azkaban that very day. What could have possibly messed with the inmate to have them escape from the prison?

Chapter Text

The ride to Hogwarts started uneventful. They bid goodbye to their parents, Harry trying very much not to cry and only barely making it through. He did end up crying for a second in Kefira’s arms and with only Draco around. The siblings supporting each other through Harry’s sadness.

Once Draco’s friends joined, Harry was as good as new and enjoyed talking to Zabini. They were introduced to Heiress Parkinson as well as Greengrass and her sister who was going to Hogwarts for the ‘first time’ also.

They were joined by Graham Montague, his little sister, Percy and the Terror Twins, before Ron finally showed up and convinced Draco to play a game of chess. The Terror Twins set up a betting pool and Draco scowled as Harry was betting for Ron to win. There was no one who could defeat him, he was sure.

It all changed however, when the train suddenly came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. Harry frowned and looked outside.

“What’s going on?” Heiress Greengrass asked and opened the door to the rest of the train. Several people were doing the same, questions being asked, confusion reigning the train, before it seemed a door to the outside had been opened and closed again.

“Close it, close it!” Draco whispered urgently and Greengrass followed his orders, Graham spelling it closed securely, before he pulled Ginny into a tight hug.

Harry frowned, when the light dimmed. He scooted closer to Kefira, who grabbed his arm, fear openly on her face. “What’s happening?” she whispered. ‘Draco, do you know what’s going on?’, she asked their brother through their mind link.

Draco shook his head, not responding through their link, it seemed he was lost for words. Ron scooted closer to the window, trying to find out what was happening, when the glass started to freeze. Ginny made a distressed noise and buried her face into her brother’s shoulder, Draco breathed out slowly, his breath turning to a small misty cloud.

They could hear children a few compartments down screaming in terror. The Terror Twins grabbed their wands and at the same time pulling Parkinson away from the middle of the room, before pointing the wands at the door, Percy following their lead and Graham did the same with the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Ginny.

Harry made eye contact with his brother and Draco quickly came over to them, sitting down next to Harry and pulling him into a tight hug, Kefira on his other side. Whatever it was that seemed to be scaring children, they seemed to be coming closer.

The cold was getting almost unbearable, Harry snuggled closer to his brother, placing his free hand around Kefira, who was eyeing the door with fear in her eyes. Ron had stepped behind the twins, close to Greengrass who was holding her little sister. Parkinson closed the window cover, her eyes trained on anything that could harm them.

And then, the lights went out.

Harry felt breathless, fear gripping him so tight that he almost started screaming like a few other children around them. Some of the older years created a light orb and Harry saw Ginny sobbing into Graham’s chest, who had both arms placed securely around her. Greengrass’ little sister was in clear distress, trembling with every limb. The twins had a fight in their eyes, still staring at the door. Percy breathed out calmly, clearly doing some kind of breathing exercise.

“Are you okay?” Harry whispered to Kefira who shook her head.

She opened her mouth to respond, when the compartment next to them screamed and they heard people sobbing loudly. All eyes turned to the door.

Black shadows started playing with the light orb in the room. The boys in the middle, trying to defend the compartment, moved around nervously. Graham had shifted Ginny to shield her with his knee, freeing another hand in which he held his wand. He had a dark on his face. Greengrass hid her sister underneath the bench, grabbing her own wand, eyes full of anger and fear. Ron behind Fred and George was trembling now as well. He fumbled with his wand and was breathing faster.

Harry held his breath when the compartment door slid open. A black cloak with no feet, no arms, no face floated in the entrance. The coldness in the air seemed to suck out all the happiness, all the emotions from them.

Everyone froze.

Harry panted, he almost painfully held Kefira. He felt her trembling and moving away from the entrance as fast as she could. Harry made a noise, drawing the attention of the thing. It gazed at him with its eyeless face, before coming into the compartment.

Percy shouted, Graham shot spells at it, the twins tried to fight it as well, nothing worked. Harry felt its magic surrounding him and he breathed faster, feeling it taking his emotions, his feelings, his love. All he knew was the little boy underneath the stairs. The pain, the hurt, the fear. He was back there.

He heard a scream, a woman calling their names, pleading with someone and he fell unconscious.

“Look at this beauty!” Was this Narcissa’s voice? Harry frowned as he looked around.

It was the family room within the Manor. It looked rather messy, toys scattered around, a huge black teddy bear in the middle of the room. Harry squealed and clapped his hands toward it.

Wait, what?

Oh, he was a child.

He watched as Narcissa chuckled and handed him the teddy bear. “You’re my special little boy, Raven. I was so scared that you wouldn’t survive after they got you and your siblings out. And now, look at you, darling. So healthy, so happy, so lovable. I love you so much! Me and your father both.”

She leaned down to kiss his forehead, when an alarm went off. Narcissa widened her eyes and got up quickly. She called for an elf, but no one came. Harry could see panic in her eyes. She grabbed him and ran out of the family room to the little nursery down the hall.

“Dove? Draco?” she called and entered the room, only to find two Aurors here already. Harry looked around but couldn’t see his siblings. What was going on? He also couldn’t tell who these Aurors were, maybe they were already dead, by now?

Narcissa stopped and stared at them. “How did you get here? Where is my husband?”

One of the Aurors smiled darkly. “Don’t worry about him, he’s taken care of.”

“What did you do to him?”

“He’s a Death Eater” the other Auror said with an almost sadistic smirk. “He got what he deserved.”

Narcissa tightened her hold on Harry. “We were not involved in the war” she said strongly. Harry admired her for being so strong through something that would have scared the shit out of him.

“That’s what you think” the first Auror said again. “We’re taking these children to a more secure location and family.”

“They’re mine!” Narcissa said darkly. “You cannot take other people’s children! Are you insane?!” she hissed. She grabbed her wand.

Harry heard footsteps being them and the alarm stopped. Narcissa frowned and turned to see Albus Dumbledore. Harry’s blood froze at his dark look. This was proof that the old fart was just a dark wizard, pretending to be good.

“What-“ Narcissa opened her mouth to say something, when she fell to the ground unconscious. Harry landed hard on the floor and made a terrified noise.

The headmaster tsked while the Aurors laughed. Harry felt sick.

“We have the children there” the second Auror said and pointed at the crib in the corner. “We can take them to a good family.”

“All but one” Albus said with a twisted grin. “It would spark too many questions for the wizarding world who has seen Malfoy-Black pregnant.”

The first Auror looked down at the children and Harry was trying to reach his siblings. The Auror picked him up and looked at him disgusted. “This one and one of the others?”

The second Auror looked down at the crib and used a nursery rhyme to come to the conclusion to take the baby who seemed to be Hermione. Albus seemed happy and he cast a few spells on Narcissa. “She will never remember what happened here” he said with a grin. “We should head back, before Malfoy comes back.”

“Is he under compulsions as well now?” the first Auror asked as they walked to the floo room.

Albus chuckled darkly. “I’ve tasked Fletcher to do it, we should be right on schedule.”

Harry gasped as he came back to reality. Over him hovered Kefira with a worried expression and Harry sat up quickly to pull her into a tight hug. “I love you!” he said softly and she let go of a fearful sob.

“I was so afraid that you wouldn’t wake up!” she admitted weakly, pulling him into an almost painful hug.

Draco was on them both quickly and hugged them both. “Damn it, Raven! You need to stop pulling all these stunts! My heart cannot take this!”

Harry laughed breathlessly and hugged Draco back as well, not minding that it was a little uncomfortable with Kefira’s arms still around him.

The train seemed to be moving again. Harry looked around and saw Ginny still wrapped up in Graham’s hug, Greengrass’ little sister was in a similar position with her older sister. Ron was sitting on the floor underneath the window, Percy kneeling in front of him holding his arm and casting a few spells on him. The twins stood on either side of the door, wands on their side, as they peered outside, clearly making sure nothing would come inside again. And Parkinson sat in the middle of the compartment, her expression grim, her wand laying over her crossed legs.

“What happened?” Harry asked softly, when Kefira and Draco let go of him.

Ron looked up, his eyes still fearful. “That thing… it came right for you! We tried everything!”

“It’s a Dementor” Graham explained softly as he stroked over Ginny’s hair. “It feeds on happy emotions and people with strong negative emotions draw them towards them.”

Fred glowered towards the door. “Something all of us have more than enough in here” he said with a dark look.

George nodded and added darkly, “once it was done with you, it turned to Ron.”

Harry widened his eyes and looked at his best friend who shivered. “It was terrible. I… I felt like I would never be happy again.”

“Where did it go then?” Harry asked carefully and looked around the compartment.

“A professor showed up and banished it” Parkinson explained without taking her eyes off the door. “I heard the spell he used, I will make sure that thing’s not coming back.”

That moment the door opened and several children held their wands towards the door. Harry whimpered and pushed himself closer to Draco who pulled his arm around him, still pointing his wand at the door.

“Oh sweet Merlin” a voice said softly. “It’s always good to be attentive. I wish I could hand out points on the train. However, I’ve come to hand out chocolates.”

The wands were taken down and the door opened a bit wider to reveal a man with a kind face. Harry still pushed himself closer to Draco and he saw how Ginny, Ron and little Greengrass were closer to their protectors as well.

The man had multiple scars on his face that seemed decades old. His clothes also had a look of used and dirty on them. He presented them with a little basket full of chocolate. “Pick as many as you need” he offered with a gentle smile.

Graham performed some sort of magic on it before nodding. The man smiled at the Slytherin and waited until all of them picked at least one.

He then ordered them to eat, so they would feel better and informed them that they would arrive at Hogwarts in a little less than two hours. Then he left to hand out more chocolate. The twins ate their chocolate and took up their previous protective states. Graham convinced Ginny to eat one before he ate his own and Greengrass fed the chocolate to her sister, before she grabbed hers. Ron, Parkinson, Percy and Kefira ate their quickly and without much fanfare. Harry cuddled closer to Draco and placed the chocolate into his mouth, letting it melt on his tongue. He felt Draco’s arms tighten around him.

“I’m not going to lose you again, Raven, Kefira. Not again” he whispered barely loud enough for Harry to hear.

Nothing made him want more to be able to talk through their link than now. He really wanted to help Draco over this. Instead, he cuddled into his brother and let the silent act speak for itself. It took about an hour until they were back to their old selves.

Heiress Greengrass and Parkinson had offered their first names for use. “Shared trauma and all that” Pansy said with a shrug and smiled at them.

Daphne Greengrass nodded and her sister, Astoria, also introduced herself again. That was when the door was opened again and Zabini walked in.

“There you are!” he called out and almost jumped onto Pansy. “Are you all okay? I was so afraid when that thing came through! I heard some people passed out!”

Pansy tried to get Zabini off and called him a monster before she nodded darkly. “We know.”

“It was scary” Draco said, an equally dark look in his face. “I will write to father as soon as we are in our room.”

“Good idea” George praised him. “I think we will write to our guardians as well. They will shred the Ministry to pieces.”

Graham chuckled darkly. “Not a bad thing, I’ll join with mine.”

“I’ll write to Michael and Declan” Ron said, talking about Bill and Charlie.

Harry nodded. “Has anyone seen Susan?”

The twins shook their head. “Pansy, you good to protect the compartment?” Fred asked and looked at the Slytherin who nodded confidently.

“Then we’ll go look for her. She should be in here as well” George said, before heading out with his brother.

Percy snorted. “There’s barely enough space left for all of us in here” he said, without the twins hearing him.

Zabini laughed and nodded. “You all look rather confined here. And Nott is even on the floor.”

Ginny turned to glare at the Slytherin. “Leave him alone, Zabini! You know nothing of what happened here and why Pansy is our protector.”

“That is in fact rather weird, yes. I would have guessed it would be you” Zabini pointed at Percy who was still kneeling on the floor in front of Daphne and Astoria, making sure Ron was fine.

Percy narrowed his eyes at Zabini. “You’re not being polite. And if you’re trying to find friends in here, I can assure you, with an attitude like that, it isn’t working.”

Zabini opened his mouth to say something, when a rhythmic knocking made it clear that the twins were back. They opened the door to reveal Susan with another Hufflepuff. She stumbled inside and fell into Kefira’s hug who sat closest to the door.

“I was so afraid something happened to you all!” Susan called and pulled Kefira closer. “The twins came to find me and I knew I had to make sure you’re all fine!”

She then made sure to check up on everyone, eventually squashing herself on the floor next to the bench and Ron. She placed an arm around him and pulled him closer, which made the other Hufflepuff frown at them slightly.

“Suzie, how do you know them all?” she asked, her eyes moving over all the Slytherins in the compartment.

Kefira smiled at the Hufflepuff. “Our parents are friends. I’m Kefira Malfoy, by the way. Who are you?”

The girl paled slightly. “Um… I’m… Hannah Abbott” she said and looked around. “Are all your parents friends?”

“Not all” Pansy said with a shrug and stepped next to the twins so that Hannah had a little space to stand around. It was really crowded for sure. “We just met during the train ride.”

“We also didn’t meet before” Daphne and Astoria said with a smile. “But I’ve been friends with Draco and Pansy for a while.”

“Right” Hannah said and looked at Susan. “You sure you’re alright here on your own?”

Susan smiled back and nodded. Harry grinned over this clear Hufflepuff discussion going on between them. “I’m fine, Hannah.”

The other Hufflepuff nodded and glanced around the room again, before waving at them, clearly heading back to her friends. The twins offered to escort her again, but she shook her head and left soon enough. Pansy took up her space from before again, the twins sitting down in front of the door.

“Cozy in here” Susan commented with a grin. “We should try to find enlargement charms for the next train ride. Have you been traveling like that for the last few hours?”

Draco laughed softly and Harry placed his head on his brother’s shoulder. “Not really. We switched seats a little. But since the attack, we’ve been staying like this.”

Susan nodded darkly. “I’ve already sent a letter to Aunt Amelia. The Ministry will pay for sending Dementors onto a school train! She will kill whoever thought it was a good idea.”

“Why are they here anyway?” Harry asked. “I thought they were protecting Azkaban.”

Zabini frowned. “Haven’t you heard? Black escaped!”

At Harry’s confused look, the Slytherins quickly went on to explain why an escaping Black was a problem for the wizarding world. And the more he listened, the more Harry asked himself what Dumbledore had tried to do with Sirius Black. It was clear that he had used the serial killer for something.

When they entered Hogwarts, the seven newcomers were quietly told to follow the deputy headmistress and they entered into a room next to the Great Hall. All four head of houses were present and Harry immediately bolted to Severus, hugging him tightly.

“Hey, Raven, are you alright?” Severus asked, hugging him back. There was a stunned silence and Harry peered out from his hug, seeing all the other head of houses staring at Severus as if he had lost his mind. It was kind of funny.

“There was a Dementor on the train” Fred explained with a dark look. “It went after Raven and Alden.”

Severus widened his eyes and knelt down, looking Harry over, before he also turned to Ron. The former Gryffindor seemed a bit unsure by this examination, as he quickly shrugged his shoulders.

“There was a professor on the train who got rid of it and gave us chocolate. It’s all fine now” Ron said, clearly trying to get out for being examined by Severus Snape.

The Potions Professor nodded and hugged Harry again. “Your future head of house will have to bring you to the Infirmary once you’ve been sorted.”

McGonagall agreed with that. “Let’s start. First one up would be Dolohov, Konstantin.” If she was affected by the name ‘Dolohov’, she didn’t show it.

Percy stepped forward and sat on the chair, McGonagall placing the Hat on his head. It took ten seconds, before the hat calmly said “Gryffindor!” Percy wore a grin as he got up and received a hug from the terror twins.

“We knew it!” Fred said and cheered.

“But you would have been a great Ravenclaw as well!” George finished, receiving a shove from his former brother.

McGonagall ignored the banter and called for Kefira to sit down. This was a bit longer, but eventually, the hat told her to go into “Slytherin!” Severus seemed happy that he got another Snake.

Harry hugged her tightly, hoping desperately to also go to Slytherin and be with his siblings. As he was next up, he took a seat on the chair and waited for the hat to be dropped on his head.

Ah-ha! Another one. Will I receive only students I have already placed?

Harry chuckled. ‘For the moment, yes. There are seven of us that need to be re-sorted.’

Hmmm, I told you to go to Gryffindor last, didn’t I? You’d still make a good Slytherin.

‘I… Frankly, I just want to be with my siblings. And they’re both in Slytherin. Plus, Severus is my godfather. I think I would thrive there.’

Trying to outwit the Sorting Hat, are we? The hat seemed amused. Then it seemed as if it had made a decision. “Slytherin!”

Harry beamed with happiness as he fell into Kefira’s arms. He couldn’t wait to surprise Draco at his table! Severus smiled at him and Harry grinned back. This day had turned back to a positive one, for sure.

“Montague, Guinevere” McGonagall said and Ginny walked up, sitting on the chair. This one took about a minute, before the hat finally spoke. “Ravenclaw!”

Ginny sighed. “Damn, I really wanted to be in Slytherin with my brother.”

Ron smiled at her. “I think he’ll still love you, even if you’re in Ravenclaw.”

“Probably” she returned the smile and hugged him as her uniform turned blue. “Thanks.”

“No worries” Ron returned the hug, before McGonagall said his name.

Out of all of them, he was also a hat-stall. It took the Hat almost two minutes to finally reach a decision. “Hufflepuff!” it said and Harry sniggered, knowing that Draco would be pleased with that decision. For whatever reason, he really wanted to have Ron close.

“Picquery, Frederick” McGonagall said and George stepped forward, sitting down. Harry sniggered as Fred winked at him. Something like that would most likely end up being their downfall.

And that downfall at the moment would mean they would be sorted into… “Slytherin!” the called out.

“And finally, we have Picquery, George” McGonagall said, eyeing the twins as if she knew exactly what they were doing. Fred beamed at her and sat down. As soon as the hat was touching his head, it called out “Slytherin”.

All four houses had gained at least someone, Severus had four new students, which seemed to please him and he eyed the twins closely. “If either of you thinks they can go around and prank people, I will be putting you into detention right away. I should probably start tonight.”

The twins sniggered and nodded, understanding the threat.

And with that, McGonagall left to greet the firsties and the seven children followed Severus to the Great Hall, where they split up. Percy went to the Gryffindor table, being greeted with old-new friends. Ginny left to the Ravenclaw table, where Luna pulled her into a hug almost immediately. She waved at Graham who pretended to be sobbing, only to make her laugh. The Slytherins in Graham’s year looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but he clearly didn’t care. And Ron sat down at the Hufflepuff table, being pulled into a tight hug by Susan and Abbott high-fived him.

Harry sat down next to Draco who pulled him and Kefira into a tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re both in Slytherin!” he whispered to them.

Pansy squealed at them being here and Daphne beamed also, before her attention was shifted towards the firsties. They all watched closely as they were sorted and cheered loudly when Astoria made it into Slytherin. Daphne seemed relaxed after that and she even joked around with Draco for a while.

All in all, it felt pretty good being back at Hogwarts. Even if Harry could see Nott scowling at Ron. He was still an idiot!

“Welcome to Slytherin!” Severus said as he stepped into the Slytherin Common Room. He looked around and smiled at the new faces. In the back, he could see Draco hugging his siblings with a crazy smile. It was amazing how quickly his godson had changed his demeanour. Severus had to say that he liked his godchildren a lot. Especially, his little shadow. Then, he looked over to the Terror Twins who had matching grins of mischief. How had they ended up in his House? No one was going to be safe. Even Miss Parkinson grinned at them, as if she was in on something. He was going to have to ward the Common Room against pranks now.

He turned to look around and nodded seriously. “As you know, we in Slytherin are a family. Outside these walls, there are a lot of people who think we are just evil, because we’re in Salazar Slytherin’s house. I want you to know that while we might have our problems with one or the other student in here, that will not be dragged outside of the Slytherin Common Room. We have to look out for each other. I encourage you to find friends outside of our House, but it might be a bit more difficult for you than it is for others.”

Several first years looked put out. Severus didn’t fault them for their reaction. He smiled at them and continued. “Which is why we give all Slytherin students Hufflepuff counterparts.”

“Wicked!” the two Terror Twins said out loud and Severus had to keep himself in check to not question whether or not having them in his house was going to be a mistake.

Severus saw his little shadow perk up, clearly he wanted to be paired up with his friend, however, Severus and Pomona had a few discussions about this during dinner and decided against it. Simply because Alden was also rather new to his house and it wouldn’t really do to add these two. Instead, Raven would be paired up with Susan Bones and Draco received the former Ron Weasley. Severus had a suspicion that his godson wasn’t unhappy with his decision.

“I will not allow any of my students to have anything under EE, should your classwork fall to an A or even further down, you will be obligated to show up at the next study session in this class. My door is always open for an hour after dinner and whenever there’s a problem, don’t hesitate.”

Several older students nodded, they had seen it first-hand. Should something happen, Severus was sure that they wouldn’t hesitate to get him. It had always worked like that.

He looked around the student body. “Mandatory healer visits are on the board, do not miss them or I will personally deliver you to Madam Pomfrey. The bedtimes are also on the board, I assume all of you are able to read. I expect you to follow the rules and if you don’t… at least don’t get caught.” That was probably the wrong thing to say, as the Twins grinned mischievously. Miss Parkinson also smirked, as if she had been working on something... Oh, he was going to age thirty years in only this year now, wasn't he?

Smirking, he nodded at them. “If you have siblings or friends in other houses, the usual meeting space is a corridor down to the left, the second door to the right. It’s always open to meet up with family. There are doors to portraits at the other side of the entries to the other houses’ Common Room. Don’t make me regret putting it up.”

“Never!” Mr. Montague called out.

Severus chuckled, knowing that he had gained a sister over the summer. He was already regretting offering it, but he didn’t want to repeat history, where Lily Evans and he didn’t have a somewhat safe place to meet.

“That is all, Snakes. Anyone who was personally affected by the Dementors on the train ride is required to come with me to visit Madam Pomfrey. For the rest of you; have a nice evening, get to know each other. I will see you at breakfast.”

Draco pulled Raven and Kefira with him towards Severus. He was followed by the Terror Twins, Miss Parkinson and the two Greengrass heiresses, as well as Zabini. Half of the first years joined him as well and Mr. Wellington, a sixth year. They walked up to Madam Pomfrey, who was ready for their visit.

In the Infirmary sat a few Hufflepuffs. Severus watched as Raven ran over to his friend and hugged first Mr. Nott and then Miss Bones and Abbott. They were talking, until Poppy separated them and made sure to check over the Snakes as well.

Raven waved happily as he stood by the entrance, overlooking the care of his Snakes and he chuckled. His life had changed so fast!

Chapter Text

The next morning, everyone got their timetables and Harry wondered what would happen if the first of September would fall on a Thursday… Would they still make them go to class on Friday or have potentially a three-day weekend. As that particular scenario didn’t happen this year, it was in fact a Thursday and they were required to go to school.

Harry waved towards Ginny who was already sitting at the Ravenclaw table. His friend got up and walked over to most people’s surprise. She then sat down at the mostly empty Slytherin table and started telling them what had happened last night in the Ravenclaw tower, where practically everyone had been studying Dementors and their effect on humans.

“They apparently require good thoughts as a food source or something” she ended her explanation and shrugged her shoulders. “Luna thinks that if the Dementors stay here for a year, they will all flock to Hogwarts, because we as children have more and stronger good thoughts and feelings.”

“That would be… carnage!” Kefira said with wide eyes. “We need to get them away from here!”

Draco reached over the table, where Kefira sat next to Ginny and placed his hand on their sister’s, sending her an encouraging smile. “Luna said a full year, okay? They’ll be gone before that year is up.”

“Still” Kefira commented and shivered. “I’d rather not see them or what they do again.”

“I’m sure Alden’s with you on that.” Draco’s expression darkened. Harry wanted to comment that Draco only thought about Ron, but his brother just continued, leaving him no room to make fun of that. “And I for one, will be writing our father. If there’s one person I trust to shove the Ministry to the right direction it’ll be him.”

Ginny nodded. “I’m planning on asking the new Defence professor if he can show us the Patronus charm. It’s the one he used on the train. Pansy said she could do it now that she heard the incantation, but I think there’s more to it.”

Harry agreed with the idea to have their teacher show them the charm. It would be good for everyone to know it. “Maybe we can ask him today, we’ve got Defence first with the Gryffindors.”

“Do you think they’ll hate us the same as we’ve hated Slytherins in our past years?” Kefira asked, glancing over her shoulder to the pretty much empty Gryffindor table. Only Percy and Oliver Wood were sitting there, discussing something.

Harry would bet it was Quidditch related. Maybe Wood was trying to find out if Percy could play that sport, since after the twins and Harry left, he did have to replace three players as fast as possible. It was amazing to watch how neutral Wood was reacting to Percy whose real name after all was Dolohov, a public supporter of Lord Voldemort.

“Probably” Draco answered Kefira’s question. “I think that was something that our dear headmaster has been trying to implement ever since he became headmaster.”

“Which is why I’m getting odd looks, right?” Ginny asked with a grin. While Kefira and Ginny had their backs to the rest of the school, Harry could see that… at the moment, there was no one looking at her oddly. However, he could see it should the hall have been fuller. “Why would a Ravenclaw sit at the Slytherin table and all that.”

Harry leaned over and placed his hands on Ginny’s. “You are always welcome with us. I would fight anyone who would want to tell you that you can’t sit with us.”

“Agreed” Kefira nodded sharply, while Draco grinned.

Ginny opened her mouth again, when they heard someone’s joyful cry. “Ginny!”

Harry looked over to the entrance, where Graham had entered with a few other fourth years. He started running and almost crashed into the Hufflepuff table, when he tried to jump over the bench. Sniggering, Harry saw Ginny rolling her eyes fondly. She got up right as Graham stopped in front of her and he wrapped her up in a warm embrace.

“You survived the night!” he said dramatically, making her laugh as well. She tried to get away from him, but the Slytherin boy held her firmly. “I was so scared!”

“I’ll show you scared if you don’t let me lose, Graham!” she called out and her brother let her go with a laugh, mischief in his eyes.

“I did miss you, though. That is sincere.”

Ginny grinned at him. “I know. I kind of missed you too.”

Draco snorted. “How sweet.” And regretted that instantly, when Ginny threw a bat bogey hex at him, which he luckily evaded. Draco held his hands up in surrender, while Graham wore a ridiculous grin on his face.

“You got lucky there, Draco” he said and chuckled. “She got me the first day in our home. I did not expect her to be so… awesomely cruel! Which is why I didn’t think you’d go anywhere else but Slytherin!”

Kefira sniggered and Harry high-fived his little… sister? Apparent-sister. “Well done” he said and ducked as Graham tried to hit him on the head. However, since he had to reach over the full table, he didn’t even get close.

“What are you doing here, though?” Graham asked and sat down next to Kefira, where Ginny had been sitting before. Some of the fourth years seemed annoyed or confused by their friend’s changed behaviour, other seemed to take it with humour.

Severus came walking down towards them, with timetables in his hands and he handed them out, stopping at Graham. “Try to make it look less… obvious how people can hurt you, Mr. Montague.”

Graham accepted the timetable, but shook his head. “I’m sorry professor, but I will not take away the love I have for my sister in public, just because people can see how much she means to me. If anyone is going to hurt her, they will soon realize why you shouldn’t mess with a Montague.”

Severus looked at him for a while, an unreadable expression on his face, before he sighed. “I will not like the outcome of that exact event, will I?”

“Probably not. But until now, nothing’s happened.”

Severus seemed unimpressed. “It is the second day of school, the first official day at Hogwarts. I would hope that until now, there have been no incidents.”

Ginny smiled up at Severus, which Harry thought was rather weird, as she hadn’t known him like he, Hermione, Draco or actually any Slytherin did. And she seemed to… like him? Respect him?

“Don’t worry, Professor. I’ve already talked to my house and told them, that my brother is off-limits. I’m certain no one will go after him.”

“You are certain?” Severus asked, an eyebrow raising. When Ginny just smiled at him, he clearly suppressed a sigh and walked off. Harry sniggered into his hands.

Kefira looked at Ginny with an almost identical look that Severus had had. “How many people got bat-bogey-hexed last night in Ravenclaw? And be honest?”

Harry watched Graham looking at his sister in awe, which made him laugh. “Fourteen!” Ginny said proudly. “And they all deserved it.”

“That isn’t really a way to make friends, Ginny” Draco said, before he turned to the entrance, where their year mates where just walking in, including Pansy and Daphne.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. “As if I want to be friends with people who tell me I’m in the wrong house, my brother is a dark wizard and I should turn my back on any and all Slytherins in my life. First of all, that would be my whole family and secondly, I just like all of you far too much!”

Graham sniggered, while Kefira rolled her eyes amusedly. “Well, I guess they know where you stand on this” she said with a smirk. “And we like you too, for the record.”

Ginny’s little stunt was the topic of the school once more people entered. It went so far that a few people switched seats and there were more people on different tables. Not so many that Harry could say Ginny started a revolution, but it went far beyond the point where Dumbledore seemed comfortable with. That in itself was funny.

Equally funny and slightly terrifying was that the first letter from Dumbledore did not go to Harry but to Ginny, requesting to meet her after dinner. When she showed them after lunch, Graham saw red and immediately went to the owls and sent one home. The Montague owls were the fastest breed, so Harry was sure that her parents would be there after dinner.

Dumbledore was not going to know what was hitting him. He thought that they were his little sheep, even after they figured out that they were kidnapped. Well… sucks for him.

In their first Defence class, Professor Lupin introduced himself and was about to explain what they would learn in third year, when Pansy held her hand up and, once told to speak, asked him to show and teach them the spell against Dementors.

Professor Lupin seemed confused for a second. “That is a fifth year spell, Miss Parkinson. And I doubt that-“

“With all due respect, sir” Pansy interrupted him and looked around the classroom. Her eyes briefly stopped at Harry and then Kefira. “I think we could all benefit from learning it, even if just in theory. With the Dementors at school, I think it’s important to be prepared, should anything happen.”

After Pansy and her group had sat down at the breakfast table, Ginny had once again told them what they had learned from the Ravenclaw research team. And Pansy had been more than ready to argue with their Defence professor should he be unable to teach them. Zabini had made a stupid joke about this, but ended up overruled by practically everyone present. Well, expect for Nott who still had weird problems with them all.

Professor Lupin cleared his throat at that. “While I do agree, Miss Parkinson, I would want you all to lower your expectation. The Patronus Charm is one of the more difficult spells a wizard or witch can master. Not all of fifth year manages and even after Hogwarts, they could struggle with it.”

“Can you show us?” Seamus said with wide eyes.

Their professor smiled somewhat sadly which made Harry frown. “I used to be able to do it, but… a few years ago, I stopped being able to conjure it. You see, it requires happy memories to feed the Patronus.”

Harry could see Draco glancing at their sister, clearly talking through their mind link. Once again, he was slightly annoyed that he couldn’t do it. Both Draco and Kefira had tried to teach him over the summer, but were unable to come close to it.

“How do we learn it then?” Zabini asked and tilted his head. “It’s a useful spell to have in your daily lives.”

Their professor chuckled. “I very much doubt that you will need this spell once Black has been found. However, I will try to teach you the basics, we will work on seeing if anyone can produce it. If not, it shouldn’t matter to you much. The Dementors are outside of the school wards, someone let the Ministry know what happened on the train and they were thoroughly talked to and told to leave you children alone.”

“Thank you” Pansy nodded and sat down again. Harry watched her carefully and could see how determined she was. If anyone would be able to create this supposed difficult spell, Harry’s gold would be on her.

After a Double Defence, they walked down to the dungeons. Apparently, all of Thursday was spent with Gryffindor. They had only one lesson of potions, before eating lunch and then, they had another two lessons in potions. Someone had tried to torture the poor Gryffindors, Harry was sure.

As they entered the potions classroom, Harry walked up to Neville who was sitting in the back, seemingly freezing. It could also be that he was so scared that he was shivering due to that.

“Hey, are you alright?” Harry asked, knowing that his actual persona of Raven Malfoy had no idea why Neville would behave like that.

He knew that most Slytherins left him alone, because at least Nott, Goyle and Crabbe thought Neville was pathetic. They probably hadn’t seen a mirror before. And in Gryffindor, the shy boy also wasn’t that interesting, since apparently, according to them, Lions were supposed to be brave all the time… What a stupid idea. As if Harry Potter couldn’t have been friends with Neville Longbottom.

However, Harry had already decided to bring his old friend into his new friend group. He hadn’t really known a lot about Neville, but he could tell even when he was Harry Potter that the other boy was a good person.

Neville looked up, seemingly like a deer in headlights, before he shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, yeah. It’s just… cold here. Is all.”

“Oh” Harry said, unsure of how else to make him talk. “Well, do you want to partner with me? My siblings have already decided to work together, so, I could use some help.”

‘Actually, we have not decided to work together, Raven’ Harry heard Draco’s voice in his head. He looked over his shoulder and winked at Draco who rolled his eyes.

Glancing over Harry’s shoulders as well, Neville seemed to realize who Harry’s family was and he paled slightly. “I… no… no need. Really… I’m… I’m fine.”

Harry tilted his head slightly. “I ‘m sure-“

“Everyone sit down and be quiet” Severus said as he entered the room and Harry quickly took a seat next to Neville who seemed a bit uncomfortable. He so wished he could tell Neville who he really was, but as it was now, he did have no proof that he could think of to make him believe what Harry said.

The students were quiet much quicker than in other classrooms, Harry noticed. Maybe it was due to the fact that Severus was a bit threatening. He had trained them well enough to listen and work carefully.

“Today, we will repeat a potion we’ve learned in second year, the Fire Protection Potion” he looked pointedly at Seamus who turned red. “Some of us should be having that potion on them every day of their lives.”

Some Slytherins sniggered, while Harry frowned a bit. He was saying the truth, yes. Seamus did have a tendency to blow things up, however, a fire protection potion only worked before the fire, not after. At least that was what he had learned.

Severus looked around. “You will work as a team, brewing one potion together. If it doesn’t turn blue while cooling, don’t worry about handing it in. Begin.”

Neville had turned pale and seemed to look for something. Harry looked at him, slightly confused. “Hey, how about I go get the ingredients, and you prepare here?”

“S-Sure” he said and ducked his head.

As he walked into the little storage, Draco was there and pulled him deeper inside, away from the others. “What are you doing, Raven?” he whispered.

Harry sighed softly and looked back to the entrance, where most children had already left. “He was a good friend before, you know. I want to add him to our friends group again. And besides, if I was able to learn how to brew decent potions, I can help him with that as well.”

Draco hummed and nodded thoughtfully. “I understand. Good luck then.” With that he quickly gathered all the things and left, while Harry followed him with his own ingredients.

“You took a while” Neville said softly, while Harry placed the bursting mushrooms, the vial of salamander blood and the dried wartcap in bottles on the table. He then grabbed the bursting mushrooms and started cutting them in uneven chunks.

Harry watched him for a while, but before he could add them to the potion, he placed his hand on the other’s ingredients. “They’re uneven.”

Neville frowned and looked down at the mushrooms. “And?”

“Um, well…” Harry glanced to the front, where Severus was leaning over the potion from Dean and Seamus with a glare. “You see, I received potions tutoring during the summer and my tutor said to always make sure that everything has about the same size. Otherwise, the potion can get a bit… unstable and combustible.”

His friend turned to look towards the table where Seamus was happily cutting the mushrooms in all shapes and sizes. “I see.”

Harry nodded while his friend seemed to have his moment of realisation. “Why don’t I… cut the mushrooms and you crush the wartcap skin to powder? Just make sure not to touch it with your bare hands, it’s really painful to do so.”

As if on cue, Lavender started howling and Severus was next to her in a second, berating her for using her bare hands to try and touch the wartcap. Lavender was sent to the hospital wing, while most children started to be a bit more careful with everything.

Harry had finished slicing the mushrooms, showing Neville how to make sure that they were all even, when Severus stopped next to their cauldron, looking at how Harry was doing.

He smirked. “Fine knife-skills, Mr. Malfoy. There are a few students in here who could learn something from you.”

Rolling his eyes, Harry stuck out his tongue, while Severus had continued walking. Neville looked at him in shock.

“What are you doing?” he whispered, fear in his voice. “He would kill you if he saw you like that!”

Harry grinned at him. “Don’t worry about it. He didn’t see it. Okay, now, we add the mushrooms, do you have the blood?”

Neville nodded, still far too pale. Harry added the mushrooms and stirred the cauldron clockwise until the potion turned a rich dark blue. It was beautiful. He told Neville to slowly drip the blood into the potion, while Harry stirred anti-clockwise. Once the blood was gone, Harry continued stirring.

In the front, Seamus’ and Dean’s potion exploded. Neville jerked and looked wide-eyed from his housemates to Harry and then to the potion they were making. The colour was slowly turning to green, though it wasn’t quite there yet.

“Hospital Wing” Severus ordered and glared at them. “And detention after dinner.”

Seamus turned red and was about to say something, when Dean just pulled the other Gryffindor with him. Theodore Nott Junior made a stupid remark about Gryffindors which led to Kefira adding a whole bursting mushroom to his cauldron while neither he nor Goyle were paying attention.

Harry rolled his eyes, and told Neville to duck when he would say so.

“Why? Is our potion also going to explode?” he asked, fearful. “I can’t have detention on our first official day!”

“Not our potion, but one in our vicinity. I’ll try to save our potion” he explained, creating a lid for the cauldron. He was not looking forward to having to save his potion or re-do it again. Neville nodded, looking carefully around most likely trying to figure out which potion it was.

Their potion was now suddenly turning beautiful silk green, and Harry told Neville to carefully levitate the wartcap powder over the cauldron and sprinkle it in. Neville did so and Harry started stirring clockwise again, when a sizzle got his attention.

“Duck!” he told his partner and Neville followed without even hesitating. Harry added the lid to his potion and ducked then as well, before Goyle’s and Nott’s potion exploded so hard that it seemed literally every other potion received an additional part of theirs.

And the ceiling looked disgusting.

Harry got up and looked at his partner, who had wide eyes again. “Can you clean the ceiling above us? I don’t want anything to fall in our potion.”

“Um, s-sure” Neville said slowly and got up, holding his wand up. “You… you trust me do to that?”

“Should I not? You’re a good wizard, I can tell.”

“Oh.” Neville looked at him complacently, before concentrating and cleaning the ceiling above them.

Harry then quickly took the lid off and started stirring again, while Severus was running around, trying to safe the potions that could still be saved and cleaning the cauldrons that were too damaging by a wave of his hand.

Before, Harry had always thought it to be annoying that his godfather had just vanished potions, but now he got it. His godfather was destroying potions that would make things worse. And while his Snakes mostly knew how to counteract the effects of an additional ingredient, the Lions weren’t as trained in potion making. So, theirs was vanishing most of the time. However, now, there were only two potions still brewing.

His and Neville’s as well as Pansy’s and Zabini’s, who were at the other side of the room and luckily spared from Kefira’s revenge. Even Kefira’s and Draco’s potion received some of it, rendering it unusable.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Everyone with destroyed potions will be coming here after dinner and making their potions again. If it explodes again, I will continue bringing you here until you can do it. This is a second-year potion, for Merlin’s sake.”

Just then, the potion Harry and Neville had been working on turned beautifully red, like a rose in the sun. Severus sent everyone with vanished potions to the hospital wing for a check up and then walked towards Pansy and Zabini, looking over them and their potion, before telling them to continue brewing.

Then he walked over to where Harry and Neville were standing. Harry could feel Neville starting to shiver again. When Severus stopped next to their potion, he investigated it and then conjured a vial, letting some droplets fall inside. They slowly turned blue.

“Perfect potion” Severus praised them, before looking at Neville who seemed to have forgotten to fear him, eyes and mouth open. “It seems that paired with a student who knows what they’re doing, you can brew potions. For the rest of this semester, I will be pairing you with Mr. Malfoy here.”

Neville stared at Harry who grinned at him and nodded. “I would love to!” he said and turned back to his godfather. “Are you going to ask what happened?”

“If you’ve seen it, yes” Severus said, turning so he could watch the other Slytherins, but also seeing Harry and Neville.

“Kefira put a whole mushroom into Goyle’s potion, because Nott made a stupid remark about the exploding cauldron on the Gryffindor’s side.”

Severus sighed and shook his head. “I suppose this won’t be the last time.”

Harry sniggered at that. “Most likely not, no. She will always fight for what she thinks is right and she hates when people talk bad about others or laugh at their misfortune.”

“Do you believe it would work if I made her work with Mr. Nott?” Severus asked and turned to look at Harry.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry noticed that Neville was looking at him rather confused. “I don’t think it would work, unless you want to see them hurting each other. And Draco will absolutely fight you on that front. He’s not particularly happy that you told us to make groups of two instead of three.”

Harry sniggered as Severus rolled his eyes. “Thank you for your inside, Raven. If you see your sister, tell her that she’s got additional detention after the potion making.”

“Will do.”

“Bottle up your potion and place it on my desk. As far as I can tell, even with your little break in stirring, it’s pretty much an O” Severus said, before walking to Pansy and Zabini to talk to them.

Neville stared at him in shock. “Did you… did I just get an O in potions?”

Harry grinned at him, before walking of and grabbing the three vials they needed to fill wit the potion. When he was back, Neville carefully let the red liquid run into the vials. Now that they were off the heat, the red slowly turned into blue, though not as fast as the drops Severus had had.

“Did you never have an O before now?” Harry asked, pretending not to know.

“No!” Neville called out and shook his head. “I think I’ve never gotten over an A!”

Harry laughed carefree. “Well then, consider yourself lucky that you can keep working with me. Maybe once exams roll around, you can actually do it without my help and receive an O all by yourself!”

“I wouldn’t go so far” Neville said with a soft chuckle. “Thank you, though. For saving our potion and making me learn something.”

“Don’t worry” Harry said as he grabbed the vials to bring to the desk. “It was nice getting to know you a bit.”

Ginny was ready to kill the headmaster.

This old fart had done so much damage to her family, to her siblings and her friends. He had done damage to herself!

She had been with mind healers ever since first year and continued to do so during the summer holiday. Her family had asked her mind healer if she was amenable to going to Hogwarts once a week to see her, so she could continue with it and luckily, Rosa agreed.

Ginny was glad about it, she didn’t know what she would have done had Rosa decided against it. Already, Ginny felt so close to her, she could talk about everything, rant, scream, cry, whatever. Rosa didn’t judge, she helped her through her complicated emotions, to see the core of the problem. It really helped.

What didn’t help was that the headmaster thought he could just ‘talk’ her into leaving her brother and her friends, as well as her former siblings alone and ignore them just because they were in Slytherin. Was this fool really the most powerful wizard alive or did he just tell everyone that in order to gain their alliance? She could see the latter honestly.

Luckily, with Graham’s help, when she walked out of the Great Hall after finishing her dinner earlier than others, she found her parents waiting there. Ginny squealed and ran up to her mother, hugging her tight.

“Hello, love, how was your first day at Hogwarts? Except from that little… adventure?” she asked and stroked over her head.

“Fun” Ginny admitted and let go of her mother, to hug her father. “I made friends with Collin again and Luna is still awesome. I think she knew all along.”

Her father chuckled and they walked up the stairs towards the headmaster’s office. “I would assume so. Her mother was a very sought-after seer. Many think that Ms. Lovegood gained her abilities as well, though on a more subconscious level.”

Ginny hummed thoughtfully. “When I was in Gryffindor, the Ravenclaws would always make fun of her. I saw them hiding her shoes during autumn and winter, they even tried hiding her scarfs. I will hex them if they try something like that again.”

Her mother laughed softly. “Graham wrote you also hexed them last night. Did you really? With that fine hex of yours?”

“Obviously” Ginny said with a grin. “They told me to stick to my house and not talk to Graham or my friends while I’m in Ravenclaw. I made it perfectly clear what I thought of their idea.”

Both her parents laughed, they clearly knew what happened when someone crossed Ginny Montague. Graham had learned the first night what would happen and ever after that, he had begged her to learn that spell, which she denied. Since, how else could she fight her brother if he knew the same spells? Maybe she should have been fighting stronger when the hat had placed her in Ravenclaw. Obviously, Slytherin would have been just as fine…

They reached the headmaster’s office and Ginny said the password, before they walked up the stairs. At the top, Ginny opened the door to find the headmaster waiting. He had this air of suspiciousness around him and she could have sworn that her mother suddenly lost the happiness in her eyes, turning stoic as they faced the evil man. She could be scary when she wanted to be!

“Good evening, Headmaster” Ginny said, pretending to be the little innocent girl everyone thought she was. “You told me to come see you after dinner?”

“I did” Dumbledore said, his eyes glancing at Ginny’s parents behind her. “I didn’t expect you to… be with company.”

Ginny’s father narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Dumbledore, you are the enemy of my house. Technically, we are still under-represented by only two adults from allied houses. Are you telling me that you would have hoped to meet with our daughter alone?” His eyes turned to glare at the old man only. “I did not expect you to fall that far, Headmaster.”

The venom in his voice was very clear and Ginny looked up at her father in awe. He was amazing!

Ginny’s mother placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward. “Is there a reason you wanted to talk to our daughter alone? The very idea of you… talking to my sweet angel after we made clear that the Montague family does not trust you nor your actions… it makes me far more than just uncomfortable. From hereon out, I will not allow you to meet with any of my children without their Head of House present and at least one of us and one of our allies. Should you fail to do so in the future, you will see what the House of Montague is really capable of.”

Okay… Ginny couldn’t have chosen her parents better. She had thought her father was able to put venom in his voice… oh no. The real threat was quite clearly her mother. Ginny made a silent vow to herself, deciding to make sure that she would be just as imposing as her mother. And as protective.

“Mr. and Mrs. Montague, I-“

“Did I make myself clear?” Ginny’s mother asked, ice-cold.

“Yes, you did” Dumbledore said and cleared his throat, clearly trying to regain what power he had thought he had before. “You see, I’ve asked Miss Montague here, because she was… she stayed with her brother at the Slytherin table, which is not allowed by-“

“I’m sorry, she did what?” Ginny’s father interrupted him and shook his head, as if not believing what the old fool was saying. “Because she wanted to eat breakfast with her brother and her friends in Slytherin, you asked her to meet after dinner?”

Ginny’s mother raised an eyebrow. “Headmaster, should we remind you that when we were young, such an occurrence was happening practically daily? And now it is suddenly banned from Hogwarts? Is there a sufficient reason as to why you banned friends eating together?”

Dumbledore looked like he had swallowed a frog. “I… Well, I was told it make the students uncomfortable.”

“Not really” Ginny spoke up. “I saw a few others changing their table as well. We can be friends with people in other houses. I’ve just befriended Colin Creevey and he’s a Gryffindor.”

Ginny’s mother rubbed her shoulder and smiled down at her, before turning to look at the headmaster. “I believed you to be smarter that to almost start a blood feud over asking a girl not to sit with her friends and family at Slytherin table. It seems however, that I was in the wrong. Please excuse my misplaced thoughts of your perspicacity.”

Her father turned to the door, opening it for Ginny and her mother. Without looking at Dumbledore, he started to talk. “Now if you excuse us, we’ll be meeting out son and his friends for a little family meeting” her father said, before he turned back to the headmaster. “Next time you invite a child whose family has sworn the House of Dumbledore as their enemy, you should stop to think for a second about what your next action step should entail.”

With that, he closed the door behind him and Ginny grinned at her family. Okay… she knew where her feistiness came from. It was clear that none of her family would let the headmaster play with them. No matter how bad this would turn out.

And Ginny loved her parents to bits for it.

Back in the headmaster’s office… Albus sat frozen. He stared at the closed door as if it had offended him itself. Then, he carefully got up and stepped to the window, overlooking Hogwarts ground and part of the lake.

This was not going as smoothly as he had hoped. He would make sure that all his little precious children would go back to being their former selves.

He would rather be caught dead than having them play the wizarding world. If they thought he would go down without a fight, they were wrong. He would fight tooth and nail for what he had built himself.

No one was going to take this away from him.

No one.

Chapter Text

“RAVEN!”

Kefira’s voice sounded like a thunder coming through the Slytherin Common Room. Harry just grinned, while he kept pretending to read the History of Magic book Severus had given him. Pansy next to him sniggered and crossed her legs on the sofa.

“Is she mad, because you ratted her out?” she asked quietly.

Harry didn’t have enough time to respond though, as Kefira stood in front of him, glaring at him. “Hello darling sister, how was your detention?” Harry asked, innocently.

Kefira crossed her arms over her chest, while Zabini sniggered on from the armchair he was sitting on. Draco, who had also come in later than the ones who were still brewing their potions – possibly also serving detention for not stopping Kefira doing stupid things – glowered at his friend.

“Did you tell Severus what I did?” she asked, eyes narrow.

Harry just shook his head. “Nah, he saw what you did, just asked me verify it, since I sealed our potion against Goyle’s explosion.”

Draco shook his head. “I don’t believe a word you’re saying!” he said out loud.

Harry laughed at that and got up. He walked closer to Kefira and pulled her into a hug. Even though she tried to fight it, she ended up hugging him tight. “You’re such a teacher’s pet, Raven.”

“Only to Severus” he admitted, which made Kefira laugh and Draco rolled his eyes affectionately, having heard him saying it as well.

The Common Room calmed down after that and they ended up playing games until they went back to their bedrooms and got ready to sleep. Harry shared a room with Draco – naturally – as well as Zabini and Nott. He was not happy having Ron’s brother as his room mate and he tried very hard not to make this boy’s life a misery, just because he was behaving so stupidly.

The next morning, the Slytherins were brought over to the Hufflepuff Common Room, which Harry thought was a bit unusual. However, he didn’t say anything, as he saw his best mate again and went over to hug him tightly.

“Hey, mate! How are you doing? How were yesterday’s classes?”

Ron smirked at him. “A bit weird without having all of you there, but it was a bit more relaxing. Except for Herbology, I miss having Neville’s help there” he whispered and they quieted down as Professor Sprout walked in.

“Welcome to Hufflepuff, dear Slytherins” she said in her happy, motherly tone. “Now, our founders started a tradition that has been very important to our two houses and that we would like to see continue for the rest of Hogwarts’ history. Namely, the Dungeon Alliance, which means that everyone of you will receive a friend in the other house. This has been started by our founders due to the fact that our Hufflepuffs usually turn out to be a bit more introverted and the Slytherins due to their more cunning natures have problems gathering real life-long lasting friends.”

A few students were whispering and looked around, including Harry. He looked over to Susan and wondered if she too was introverted, because he did not think that a girl like her could be shy and would rather stay by herself. Then again, it did make kind of sense that Hufflepuffs were introverted.

Severus spoke up now, “Even though you might not believe it, we have had several students who talked to us after graduation and told us that they were still in contact with their Hufflepuff or Slytherin ally from school. This alliance will give you the space to grow and learn.”

“That being said” Professor Sprout continued, “any alliances that have already been built will not get destroyed, as are the ones where Professor Snape and I still have faith in. So, if you have been complaining about your partner last semester, but we believe you may be able to truly learn something from this, your alliance will continue.”

“The rules are as follow” Severus now said and Harry wondered whether they had planned on who said what or if after so many years of repeating what they had said, it just turned into what it was now. “First, you will have to meet your ally at least once a week. No harm will come to your ally. You will have to spend at least two meals a month with them outside of the meeting space. Anytime your ally is in the hospital wing, it is your duty to make sure they will receive all the notes and homework they’ve got. If there are any health issues, it is up to you to help them or get a professor involved, or go to the mediwitch for backup. You take care of them, they take care of you.”

Professor Sprout nodded seriously. She looked round the room, where Harry realized that she actually had the full attention of everyone. “Now, as I’ve said before. If there are some serious issues with the ally we have given you, you are allowed to come and talk to us. Convince us that you need to have a different ally. However, as I have also mentioned before, we will not just give in. This is the secure little bubble in school, where you can learn how to deal with people, grow with them, turn out to be a better human being than you were before. We will not be easily convinced.”

“The parchment is on the board, so you can see who you’re ally this year is. As usual, for sixth and seventh years, nothing has changed.”

Several Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were cheering. Harry sniggered as he saw one of the Hufflepuffs rolling his eyes. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with this. Or maybe he was just pretending, because the next moment a Slytherin jumped on his back calling something like ‘you’re stuck with me now’ and the Badger was trying to get away, while laughing. Maybe they all were also just children…

And now, everyone tried to get a look at the parchment. Harry stood back, looking at Severus and Professor Sprout who wore grins as the children tried to fight over a glance towards the parchment. Sometimes, these professors were the devil, he thought when he caught Severus winking at him. Clearly, they enjoyed the chaos.

“Raven!” he heard Susan screaming and she fought her way out of the group. “I’m your ally!” she ran towards him and hugged him. Clearly, she hadn’t thought of the impact, as she threw the both to the ground.

Harry laughed as he hugged her back and sat up. “Are you trying to send me to the hospital wing right now, Susan?!” he said with a snigger.

“Hell yeah!” Susan hugged him again with a bigger smile. “Getting an early jump on helping you!”

Then Draco jumped into the air and screamed, running through he crowed and tried tackling Ron who tried to run away from him. “I object!” Ron called and tried evading the Slytherin. “I object!”

“There’s nothing to object, Nott!” Draco screamed as he finally reached Ron and threw him onto the couch. “We’re allies now!”

“Help me! Raven, Kefira! Help!” Ron called out, before bursting into laughter. Draco sniggered as well, falling from the couch. Harry laughed at that and shook his head.

Susan smirked next to him. “You know, I think they’d make a cute pair.”

“What?” Harry looked at his new ally and friend. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen Draco trying to impress someone more than when he’s with R-Alden.” She almost slipped up, but luckily, no one was really paying attention. Harry sent her a warning glance, but she held her hand up, already having realized what would have almost happened.

He then looked around trying to see his sister and found her with… Zacharias Smith. A Hufflepuff who seemed entirely unimpressed to have been paired up with Miss Kefira Malfoy. And her sister looked livid as he told her something. “Oh, she will end up killing him…” Harry commented and Susan followed his look, before she sniggered.

“Absolutely. This is a bad mash-up. They might get new allies next year, but honestly, Smith has been getting new allies since first year.”

“That’s not really helping.”

“Well, I’m not sorry. I’m going to keep you.”

“Like I’m a collectable!”

“Precisely.”

Missing students in Hogwarts

With the reported death of Hogwarts’ brightest witch Hermione Granger and the sudden disappearance of the Weasley family, including parents, all eyes were on Hogwarts in September to see our hero appear once more. Surprisingly, Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived, never showed up after the train arrived at Hogsmeade. Witnesses neither saw him boarding the train nor entering the Platform in King’s Cross Station.

After research, this reporter found the family Harry Potter stayed with during summer and according to the Auror investigation, he ran away after hearing about Miss Granger’s death (See page 9 for all the details surrounding Miss Granger’s death). The Auror tried tracking him down, however, there was no way to figure out where he went after disappearing. If any witch or wizard has information about our Saviour, please contact the Aurors and tell them! We need to make sure that he is still alive! (See page 4 for the full investigation so far as to what the Aurors found).

We also investigated the Weasley’s disappearance and were shocked to find that apparently, Molly Weasley (neé Prewitt) was imprisoned by the Auror force. After more digging, this reporter found falsified marriage certificates for Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewitt. They never had any children to begin with and were not married in the eyes of law or magic. (See page 19 for possible theories into what could have happened with the Weasley family).

This leaves us to question: What happened during summer? Where is Arthur Weasley? Where are their seven children and who are they really?

We tried to contact William Arthur Weasley, one of the Junior Curse Breakers in Gringotts, however, the goblins refused any communication with him and referred us to the Golden Goblin Code, which states that any and all wixen and creatures would be safe within the Goblin Nation should they seek refuge there. (See page 13 for more information on the Golden Goblin Code).

What does that mean for the Wealeys? And more importantly, what does this mean to the Light? If this and the break out by Sirius Black have something in common, the Wizarding World will be in a lot of trouble. Adding to that the disappearance of our Saviour, it seems as if strange things are happening.

On other news, we can finally take a deep breath of fresh air, as the Picquery twins have arrived in the UK and were enrolled in Hogwarts. The Picquerys are the oldest known still active wizarding line, going as far back as Merlin’s age. We can only hope that they will be our new light, should things go from bad to worse. (See page 3 for an in-depth view of the very few ancient wizarding lines still active today).

“Did they just call us the new heroes, Georgie?” Fred asked with a smirk.

“Why, I think they did, Freddie.”

Harry looked up from his homework and raised an eyebrow. “What are the two of you doing over the newspaper?”

He had read the first page news, rolled his eyes at it and went back to his homework, while a few other children had swarmed it, realizing that it was in fact true and no one had seen the Boy Who Lived nor his friends and not even one single Weasley… if they only knew…

George got up and sat down next to Harry. “Well you see, good sir-”

“- a few pranksters have left the building last year and apparently haven’t returned” Fred continued, turning a page in the newspaper as if he was still trying to read, but Harry knew better.

“And we think we might be the perfect candidates for that job” George finished with a grin. “Want to join us?”

Harry sniggered and leaned back in his chair, before he pulled his feet up. “I mean, sure. But wouldn’t people realize who you are now? That blue eye of yours is a bit of a… give-away.”

Fred turned to Harry with a big grin. “We figured so as well, so what we did was-“

“We managed to change it!” George interrupted his twin and grinned as well.

With that, both twins concentrated hard and Harry bit his lip. It looked like they were on the toilet, having some difficulties. Just then, the door to the Common Room opened and the students who had taken Arithmancy entered.

Draco and Kefira walked over to them with a frown on their face. “What is going on?” she whispered while Draco sniggered quietly. After them was Pansy who walked in and rolled her eyes at the twins.

She came over and hit each of them over the head with the Arithmancy book.

“Ouch!” both twins said and rubbed the back of their heads. “What was that for?”

“For being idiots” Pansy said and grinned. “What are you trying to do?”

George grinned at her, while Fred explained, “removing our blue Seer-eye. Why what does it look like?”

They looked at Harry who giggled and tried to evade the hex that they were sending him. Kefira put an end to it and Pansy once again hit them over the head. Or she tried, since both twins were able to just defend themselves.

“It looks like you should run to your bathroom any second now” Kefira explained and laughed at their look.

Harry looked at them then and widened his eyes. “Wait, you actually did it! Before Fred had a blue right eye and now it’s the left one!”

Both twins put their fist in the air as if to show that they won. The rest of the Slytherins who were there looked at them in wonder. Even Kefira. It seemed as if she tried to figure out who could do this before them, but even she seemed to have no one in mind.

“What if we walked around with the same blue eye? Like we’ll both be George and have the left eye blue?” Fred asked and turned to look at George.

His brother closed his eyes for a few seconds, this time without the difficult-poo-face, and when he opened them again, his left eye was indeed blue. The Slytherins were cheering and the twins laughed, while Pansy just shook her head.

“This is going to end in disaster” she said, while Fred laughed.

“I don’t see why it would! Just imagine, Georgie in detention and then I walk around as him and everyone thinks he’s still free!”

“Or you could be in detention, brother dearest” George announced with a wicked grin. “Lets get soe planning done. I want our first prank done before the week ends.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Should we be worried?”

George grinned at him and shook his head. “No need, little Snakey, we’ve got plans to interrupt the Lion’s Quidditch training.”

“They can’t have already found new Beaters and a Seeker” Harry said with a frown.

“They haven’t” Fred announced with a grin. “But Wood is trying to find more players.”

“Which is when we strike” George said, before he quickly added, “Presumably.”

Harry sniggered and nodded. “Whatever you do, you Picquery pricks, don’t get caught.”

“Yes, your majesty” Fred bowed deeply, George copying him quickly, making several people look at him with a frown, while his friends laughed.

Harry just rolled his eyes and shooed them away. From the corner of his eyes, he found Nott looking at him with a dark look. Harry made sure to sit closer to Draco, just to be safer, in case the idiot decided to do something stupid.

Luckily, for the rest of the week, nothing happened.

Kefira had a hunch after their first DADA lessons and when they went back after the weekend, she had kept her eyes firmly on him and realized a few options; Professor Lupin was either an Animagus with a strong nose or a creature. Judging from how Professor McGonagall acted when she was a human and not a cat, she could somewhat safely put her money on the latter theory.

Since she had a free period as Kefira hadn’t chosen Care of Magical Creatures like her brothers had, she made her way to the library and asked Madam Pince for any creature books that would have possibly all to their knowledge at the time written about.

She was given three different books and told not to leave the library with them, which made her settle in the corner of the room, to quietly study the books. She had made quite the list of possible creatures, when a shadow fell over her parchment.

Looking up, Kefira found the familiar features of Neville Longbottom standing in front of her. “H-Hi” he said somewhat unsure.

Kefira smiled at him. “Hey, how are you?” She glanced around and saw that it was still quiet around, so they probably had to talk as low as possible to not attract the librarian’s attention.

“You… I was going to ask if I could… read one of these books as well?”

“About creatures?” Kefira asked and looked down at them. “I mean, sure. Why do you need them?”

Neville seemed unsure. And after a moment of silence, Kefira realized that the Gryffindor really didn’t have any reason to trust her. She was after all a Malfoy and maybe Draco had treated him badly in the past, so he had stopped trusting Slytherins? Or maybe, he had gotten in contact with Nott and thought that they all behaved like that.

“How about I make some space for you to study with me and we can still look at the books whenever we want to?” She offered instead, already gathering her notes in a neater pile, and placing the spare parchment in her bag along with the additional ink and a spare quill. Then, she placed the bag on the floor and smiled at Neville. “I’m Kefira by the way.”

“Kefira?” Neville frowned, looking at her tie. “No last… I mean, hi, I’m Neville.”

It was clear that he had wanted to ask about her last name, but she just grinned at him. If her mother could have seen her being so informal, she would probably recoil in horror, however, Kefira had always liked the quiet Neville. Despite almost hurting him in first year. Seriously, a first year binding another first year with a spell they hadn’t learnt yet, everything could have gone wrong there.

She smiled at him as he took a seat. “You were brewing the potion with my brother, I think, right? He’s called Raven.” That should give him enough information to figure out what family she was.

It seemed as if he did, since he looked at her carefully, before nodded. “I did. He was very nice and it was the first time where I kind of enjoyed brewing potions.”

“I guess” Kefira said with a snigger. “I didn’t though.”

“Because you had to go to detention?”

“He ratted me out! I’m absolutely positive.”

Neville had a little grin on his face and seemed to relax in her presence. Maybe it was the fact that he finally witnessed them being humans. And what could be more human than arguing and being annoyed by your own siblings? Kefira grinned as Neville started to snigger.

“I’m not saying a thing.”

She gasped in mock horror, which made him grin at her. “Are you on his side?!”

Neville chuckled and nodded. “If he lets me brew with him for the rest of the year, I will do whatever it takes to be by his side.”

Kefira laughed softly, still trying to be as quiet as possibly since they were in the library. “I will not tell him, Neville. Otherwise, he will take advantage of that.”

‘I already told him, sister dearest. Make sure to close your link to me whenever you want to keep secrets’ Draco’s voice sounded in her head and she smirked. While she hadn’t actively tried to keep him out, she had also just wanted to make sure that her brothers were both safe.

Magical Creatures were scary and with Hagrid as the professor whose idea of cuddly and fluffy were a whole different scale than what other people perceived as fluffy and cuddly… one only has to look at the lovely three-headed-dog he named Fluffy! She just wanted to be prepared.

“Your bother seems too nice to take advantage of something like that” Neville said with a shrug. “Is he really so pleasant or is that some kind of Slytherin tactic to lure innocent victims in?”

Kefira sniggered. “Do I get the chance to talk about my favourite brother? How nice, the perfect option to destroy a friendship before it’s even formed!”

Neville rolled his eyes, but he still wore a grin. “I would have still tried to befriend him. I just wanted to know what you, as his sister, have to say about him.”

“Well” Kefira shrugged her shoulders, “I would say that despite being in Slytherin, he will only ever act truly Slytherin whenever he is about to do something dangerous and he doesn’t want anybody else involved. So, if he starts to get mean, don’t hesitate to get me or my brother involved, because that means he’s about to be an idiot.”

The Gryffindor seemed amused. “So I can continue brewing with him?”

Kefira nodded with a smile. “I don’t mind. Do you care that he’s a Slytherin?”

“Not in the slightest. I don’t choose my friends by houses” Neville said and shrugged his shoulders. Kefira smiled at him warmly and nodded.

‘I think you can tell our brother what Neville said just now’ she told Draco.

‘Nah, I think Raven can find out by himself. Friends like Longbottom don’t find people like us often. I think he would enjoy realizing this by himself. On the other hand, it’s good to know that Longbottom will be a good friend.’

‘As long as they don’t go outperforming us in Potions.’

‘Oh yeah, good call, sister dearest. I’ll go research how we can mess with their potions.’

‘Raven will kill you.’

‘He will probably go after you first, which is all I need to run away.’

‘You’re a monster! I’m telling Raven!’

Kefira felt her brother’s happy emotion. It felt like he was laughing, which was all she could have wanted really. But it was true. Having Neville as a good friend for Raven would mean a lot to him.

Chapter Text

Remus walked through the halls of Hogwarts, following a familiar magical trail. The headmaster had told him to find Harry, apparently, he was sure that he was in Hogwarts, which was honestly strange. Even Remus’ werewolf wasn’t able to find the boy and with everything going on, Remus was getting more and more suspicious. In the middle of his suspicions was Dumbledore.

And now, that he was walking through the hallways, following… something, he was sure that this wasn’t Harry. He shook his head and as the magical signature headed to the dungeon, he turned and walked out of the door. The fresh breath of mid-September air blew across his exposed skin and he shivered slightly.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to find Severus Snape walking out. The potions master raised his eyebrows as he passed him and Remus frowned slightly. He had opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it.

There had been so many confusing feelings surrounding this Slytherin in his youth that he didn’t know what to say or do around him anymore. He knew that Sirius thought his feelings for Severus were just a phase and that he would grow out of it, since who the hell would be attracted to a Snake and such a stupid one at that. James had always told him that Slytherins couldn’t be trusted and that they would use him and abuse him and once they were done, throw him away to look for something else. And Peter had just laughed when Remus said what he was feeling. He laughed and told him to get over it, since no one would be looking to be in a relationship with a werewolf. In hindsight, it was a but rude, but true nonetheless.

“Is there anything amiss with my face, Lupin?”

Remus widened his eyes, realizing that he had been staring at Severus for about thirty seconds now… anybody would feel strange or weirded out by this. So, he cleared his throat.

“Not that I know of, no.”

Severus raised his eyebrow again. “If you don’t have anything to say, then why do you stare at me like that?”

Remus’ heart fastened. “Stare at you like… what?” If Severus said he was looking love-struck or anywhere in the ‘love’-area, he would probably run. This man was scary, how again had he liked him as a child?

“As if you were trying to manifest something.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was-“

“Severus!” a child’s voice interrupted Remus and with one look he could see Severus melting. He had a smile on his face as he turned to look to the steps, where a little boy with blonde, almost white hair came running from. He wore a Slytherin uniform, which wasn’t that surprising, though Remus was surprised to hear him using his first name.

And with the way Severus looked at the child, Remus remembered again, why he had liked the other man. It was his secret actions of love, that seemingly weren’t allowed to be shown openly. But behind closed doors, or somewhat closed doors (because Remus had seen or was in presence of some of them), he was a different man.

“Hello, Shadow. I’m here for you if you need to talk.”

“If you’ve got time?” the child asked and looked at Remus with a quick smile, before he turned back to Severus. “Draco and Kefira are doing their Arithmancy homework. They asked me to join so I learn passively. Is it important that I do Arithmancy?”

Severus chuckled softly. His reaction made Remus shiver and he openly stared at the potions master.

“Arithmancy is the main focus of Curse Breakers” he explained softly, with what seemed to be an almost knowing grin, to which the child paled dramatically.

“Oh no! I want that! Who is the professor, I need to join immediately! We can’t talk, I need to go…”

“Raven!” Severus said and laughed softly. “I will talk to Professor Vector and tell her you would want to join. You can do homework with Draco’s and Kefira’s help, I’m sure.”

The boy, Raven Malfoy as Remus remembered, ran over and hugged Severus tightly. “You’re the best!” he called out, before he ran down the stairs, leaving an amused looking potions master and Remus, who wondered how he had missed the fact that Severus was an amazing Head of House. Which yes, frankly judging by only one interaction, he had witnessed so far, was a bit of stretch, however, he had been watching the Slytherin ever since he arrived and he realized that it was the little things. The silent support or help he offered his students and just the respect he had for them and they clearly showed him… it was astonishing.

“Is there anything else I can assist you with before I take my leave to see the Arithmancy professor?” Severus asked again. He seemed intrigued.

Remus shook his head. “Not at the moment, no.”

Severus nodded and turned to walk up the stairs, most likely to the seventh floor, if the room 7A was still the one for Arithmancy. Remus himself, finally walked out of the castle to get some fresh air… and to get his head straight… How did he end up in almost the same situation as he was when he was a child?

Almost head over heels for the Slytherin again… oh who was he kidding. He was head over heels for the Slytherin Head of House.

Since most children were in school by now, the families met again in Ireland with Riagán O’Brien and everyone there. Bill had been ordered to see one of his superiors in Gringotts the morning of and found that they had released his apparent father from their healing wards. It had been a mess with St. Mungo's trying and failing to get their hands at Arthur, while the goblins claimed that he was the father of one of their employees and therefor allowed to use the healing wards at the bank. They even went to far to track Arthur down again, when the wizards had taken him to St. Mungo's. But now, he seemed to finally be in a better state than before.

As Bill walked into one of the meeting rooms, he found Arthur Weasley sitting at the table, his head in his hands. Two more goblins stood at the other end of the table and Bill turned to look at them. He recognised Hembrock, the bank manager of the London Branch, the other one seemed to be a guard in the bank itself.

“Mr. Bones” Hembrock said and nodded at him. Bill noticed his father looking up, though Bill didn’t yet look at him. He didn’t really know what to feel at the moment. “Do you have a secure place for Lord Weasley to rest for a bit longer? Sadly, since he has been fully healed, the Goblin Code for Healing will not let him stay with us any longer. I do not wish him harm, which is why I’m not yet releasing him to the public.”

Bill smiled and nodded. “I’m sure we can find a place for some more rest.” He sent his fake father a quick smile, before turning back to Hembrock. “Have you been able to look at the book I’ve given you a few months back?” he asked in Gobbledegook.

Hembrock’s expression darkened and Bill frowned slightly. What was so bad about this book? He had found something sinister going on with it, but it couldn’t be that bad… right? His sister had written in it…

“We have” Hembrock answered in his native language, before creating a bubble surrounding him and Bill. That was not a good thing… It seemed to be so bad that not even the soldiers were allowed to listen in? They knew everything about the Nation!

Bill cleared his throat. “I won’t like this, will I?”

“Not in the slightest” Hembrock said darkly. “And good thinking for talking about this in our language.”

“Thank you” Bill said, unsure of what else to do or say. “Please tell me what my sister used to write her insecurities in.”

Hembrock narrowed his eyes. “It’s called Horcrux.”

“A Horcrux?” Bill asked, his mind rushing through all the information he had learnt in his training, but he couldn’t find anything. Maybe it was a language barrier, since Gobbledegook had quite a different pronunciation compared to English.

“You probably haven’t heard about it” Hembrock said, looking more like a scary goblin that he did before. “Normally, this will not be part of your training, but it seems as if you walked into it, so we will have to tell you what it going on. A Horcrux is a container with a person’s soul.”

Bill stared at Hembrock in shock. His mind was racing, but he couldn’t form any words to ask the questions he had in his brain. Was it actually possible to remove one’s soul and add it to a container? It seemed… dangerous. And then the fact that Ginny had been writing her sorrows to another person’s soul… was she okay?

“Oh Merlin…” he whispered in English and Hembrock nodded.

“We have contained the book in one of our Dark Artefacts Vaults” Hembrock explained, in English this time. “Our Senior Dark Artefacts researchers are looking into it and will determine what we’re doing from here.”

Bill nodded weakly. “If you need help, in any way, just ask.”

“I know” Hembrock gave him a rare smile and cleared the privacy bubble around them. “Well then, if you need any help, you know where to ask.”

“Sure do” Bill smiled at his boss, even if he felt a bit sick. He nodded and as Hembrock left, he cleared his mind quickly, deciding to deal with this, when he would meet with the others in a few minutes.

He turned to his fake father who looked at him carefully. Before he could say something, Arthur spoke up.

“I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Bill asked and frowned. “What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything.”

Arthur sighed and shook his head. “I should have known something was amiss. And I just… I didn’t.”

“Yeah, well” Bill shrugged his shoulders. “You were under about a thousand compulsions and love potion, weren’t you? You can be excused for not realizing that some things were wrong.”

His pretend father didn’t look happy as he got up. “How can I make it up to you and your… the other children?”

Bill smiled at him, remembering how caring his father was, even if he wasn’t his real father anymore. “You can tell them that you allow them to be happy with their real families. I think some of the children are unsure whether or not they’re allowed to have the happiness they deserve.”

“I can do that” Arthur said and nodded to himself, clearly determined.

“Let me bring you to the place where I think you can have the time to heal” Bill offered and they walked out of the meeting place, through the hallways of Gringotts until they were at the Apparition Point for Gringotts employees. The guard left them there and Bill took his father with him to the farm up in Ireland, where Charlie lived.

Maybe by the end of the meeting, they could figure out what to do with their father.

As they approached the barn, where the meeting would take place, Bill could tell that his father was uncertain of what was going to happen. Luckily for them both, before they could enter, Amelia walked out and smiled at Arthur.

“Hello old friend, you look much better than before” she greeted him and hugged him tightly.

Arthur chuckled and relaxed. “Only thanks to you, I guess.”

“Oh no” Bill answered amused. “It’s thanks to Kefira who accidentally used an old version of the Polyjuice Potion that revealed their real identities. Without them, we probably would have never realized what was happening. And the goblins are still trying to figure out how to tell us who was kidnapped without breaking the bonds they have with the Wizarding World.”

Amelia laughed at that. “If anyone can do it, I’m sure you can.”

Bill rolled his eyes with a grin. “I wouldn’t bet on me, to be honest. Maybe once Raven is old enough to be a Curse Breaker, they will tell him. They are fascinated by him.”

Arthur seemed slightly confused. “Who are Kefira and Raven?”

“Children” Amelia said and smiled at him. “I’ll tell you about our little plan once you’re emotionally stable. At the moment, I assume it’s just going to mess with you more.”

“Are Charlie and Riagán around? I’d like to talk to them.”

Amelia nodded and headed back inside the bran to find the two men Bill wanted to talk to. Arthur meanwhile seemed to look at Bill for the first time in a few… years probably.

“You look well” he said softly. “I’m… surprised really.”

Bill sent his first father a quick smile. “Well, if you’re referring to Molly, there’s a reason why I decided to go into Curse Breaking, where I would need to travel most months. And why Charlie went to Romania for his studies instead of staying in the UK. We know there are dragon reserves in Wales.”

“There’s even one in Ireland” Charlie said as he had clearly heard what they were talking about.

Then, he walked over and pulled their father into a tight hug. Something, Bill could only wish he could do. However, he had always been rather… averse to physical touch. Which was perfect for his job with Gringotts, since the goblins too didn’t show their affection with touch, more with words. And gold obviously. And respect.

Something that Bill had, even though he had no clue how he actually received the attention of Hembrock, who clearly respected him. That was a question for another day.

“I am so sorry for what you children went through” Arthur said and sighed. “I wish I could undo it, but… alas, time travel is really impossible if one wants to change the timeline.”

Bill chuckled at that and Charlie waved his hand at the remark. “Don’t worry, we found our families after all” he beamed at Arthur. “And speaking of… Let me introduce you to my father Riagán O’Brien.”

The bald man walked forward and held his hand towards Arthur who shook it quickly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Tá sé deas bualadh leat. Welcome back to the land of the living! I'm glad to see you're back on your feet again” Riagán said and smiled at him. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All bad, I assume” Arthur joked and Riagán laughed, shaking his head.

Bill smiled at that and rolled his eyes. “I was going to ask you, if Arthur could stay here for a while, until he got better. The goblins weren’t happy with the fact that the Healing Code wouldn’t allow them to keep him for a while longer and-“

“Och, lassie, there’s no need for worry” Riagán interrupted him with a nod. “Begorrah, everyone is welcome here for as long as they need or want to stay. This is a place of sanctuary and refuge, where all are welcome, regardless of their background or circumstances.”

Bill snorted and turned to look at Charlie. “Did he hide his Irish-ness when we came here for the first few times?” he said with a grin that had Riagán hit him over the head.

Charlie nodded bravely to which Riagán treated him to same experience, all laughing of course. Then, Charlie’s father turned to Arthur and the two men had a silent discussion with only their eyes. Bill smirked, seeing that there was already somewhat of a friendship starting.

“Arthur, ye can stay as long as ye want, here in this humble abode. I'll introduce ye to me family after the meetin'. For now, ye can get settled into yer room that Joey’ll show ye. What d'ye think?”

“I think your accent is rather inconsistent” Charlie said and ducked another attack from his father, laughing at the scene. Bill snorted and held his hands up as Riagán raised his eyebrows at him.

“I will let you know that I know how to talk properly” the farmer said with a glare. “I just don’t fancy it.”

Bill laughed at that and nodded. “Alright. Fine, I’ll let you talk however you talk. Let’s get Arthur settled for now.”

His father smiled at him quickly. “Thank you. For everything you’re going through.”

“It’s nothing” Bill sent him a quick smile. “I mean, you were the one to change our diapers.”

With that the group laughed and Bill showed his father to the main house, where the farmer help Joey was there to take him to the guest room. Since Muriel and Róis were both still out of Hogwarts and possibly never going there, if their parents had a say in it, the farmer help had turned to part-time nanny whenever their group would meet. He was doing a great job at that, Bill had to say.

“So, now that we’ve made sure that Arthur is safe and away from Dumbledore’s eyes and manipulation, we need to work on our plan” Lord Dolohov said and leaned back in his chair. “In fact, I have a question for you all. What have we planned for destroying Dumbledore?”

The silence around the room was heavy and Narcissa realized that they had in reality not planned to take down the leader of the Light. The only person making the lives of their children and themselves hell, and if what Bill said was true, for a lot more families as well… and they had done nothing.

Lord Montague cleared his throat. “We have not made sure that anything happens to him personally. Our first priorities have been our children and making sure that their arrival at Hogwarts would be as safe as it can be.”

“And even with that” his wife started, “or daughter was still brought to him and only thanks to our owls and Graham’s quick thinking could we arrive there in time to not have her talk to him alone.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes. Narcissa shook her head, not wanting to imagine what could have happened if Dumbledore got to her alone. Her husband seemed to have come to the same conclusion. “We need to make him disappear.”

“Right” Riagán stated and raised his eyebrows. “How's one go about doin' that, then?”

Once again, there was silence, before Narcissa hummed. “We take him down. One step after the other. We analyse his power, his own Light followers and we concentrate on one aspect of his power, destroying it until there is no coming back.”

Amanda, Riagán’s wife nodded thoughtfully. “He has three main authorities at the moment. He’s the Headmaster at Hogwarts, we can’t do much about that one just yet. He’s the Chief Wizard at the Wizengamot and he’s the Supreme Mugwump, basically the highest position in the entire Wizarding World. Once again not something we can do anything about.”

Lady Montague narrowed her eyes in thought, before smirking. “Not really. For about a decade, there have been different wizards and witches campaigning about getting Dumbledore away from the three influences he’s had. This year, it’s a Uagadou graduate who’s been trying to get Dumbledore voted out.”

“A graduate?” Lord Dolohov asked and frowned. “Aren’t they a bit too young to take over such an important position?”

“As far as I know” Lord Picquery said, “he’s spent his whole life in the lime light, such as our Harry Potter. His father is an important political figure in his circles and has spent multiple decades there without even a hint of a scandal And his son has been following his footsteps. It would do the International Confederation well to accept wizards and witches to higher status who aren’t from rich countries.”

“How can we do anything about that?” Riagán asked, clearly still unsure whether that would work for them.

Lady Picquery had a smirk on her face that would have been home in Slytherin. “We can publicly support Heir Babajide Akingbade. This winter, he will go through the process of being the Lord to his house, his father stepping down. My husband and I have already offered to join the celebration after the ritual. If more wizards and witches, especially from Britain, show up to his celebration where he will declare his intention of running for Supreme Mugwump the next summer, it will start a wave of uncertainty which we can use to our advantage and dethrone him. Not only from the International Confederation of Wizards, but maybe even from the Wizengamot.”

Most wizards and witches around the table were speechless. That was an actual plan to finally take away Dumbeldore’s power once and for all! Amelia Bones had wide eyes, as if she could see all of that happing. Narcissa wasn’t so sure, but she would certainly try, if it would assure her children’s safety.

Meanwhile, Lady Bones opened her mouth several times, before she finally found the words to say what she was thinking. “And his family has long ago given up their seats in the Wizengamot, which would mean that in excluding him from the Chief Warlock position, he will have no say over our laws and rules!”

Bill gasped, while Charlie held his hand in front of his mouth. Riagán and Amanda had wide eyes, Lucius was clearly trying to find something to say while the Picquery’s were amused to no end, it seemed.

“The only thing that would still have to be taken into consideration is the fact that should that come to arise while Dumbledore is still headmaster, he will make sure to use all his power and energy to take our children from us” Lady Montague said darkly.

“All of this would take over two years” Narcissa said slowly. “If we show our support for Heir Akingbade during the winter, the next potential Supreme Mugwump election would be in May with him then potentially taking the title in July. Dumbledore would still keep his Chief Warlock status by then. We continue to tell the people the truth and use more evidence. That will probably take us, what, a year?” she looked over to Amelia who was the one with the most recent experience in how the Ministry was run.

Amelia nodded. “Which the election of the new Chief Warlock and Dumbledore most likely fighting all the things we throw his way, it will take a year at least. If nothing goes wrong.”

“And that is what we’re hoping” Lord Dolohov said with a sigh. “If things do go wrong…”

“If things go wrong, you all move here” Amanda said with a gentle smile. “We’ll keep fighting from the distance, keep the children safe and away from his reaches and once he’s done for and hopefully dead, you can go back to your lives before or stay here. Our children wouldn’t mind more company.”

Bill laughed at that and soon, everyone joined, Narcissa shaking her head amused. That was certainly one option to making sure that they would all be safe. And should they jump from they frying pan into the fire, it would always be good to have a contingency plan.

Lord Nott who had been quiet for the whole meeting, finally spoke up. “Now that we have an idea to take away his two most priced position, what do we do with his rank as headmaster. While both my children are probably not as high on the list of problems for him, I would rather not worry about them being harmed.”

Charlie spoke up next. “The school has a board, right? Lord Malfoy, you’re part of that, are you not?”

“I am.” Lucius clearly seemed unsure about where this was heading. Even Narcissa wasn’t sure what Charlie had in mind.

“So, we use that to attack him as well.”

“And how are you proposing we attack him through the school board?” Lord Picquery asked.

Charlie smirked and Narcissa was suddenly happy that she was on good terms with Amelia and her family. “We finally tell the board about all the things, he would like to have hidden. All the bullying, all the separation between houses, how he wanted to talk to Ginny even though her family has sworn him to be an enemy. Possibly even the book she wrote into when-“

“Nope!” Bill interrupted his brother and shook his head. “I’m fine with telling the board about everything, except for the book.”

Lucius tensed, and Narcissa narrowed her eyes. He had something, it was clear. Something stupid.

Charlie turned to his brother with a frown and Bill sighed heavily. “When I went to grab Arthur this morning, the goblins told me what this book was and… if Dumbledore realizes what it is, we will give him more power to scare the people, so he will stay in power.”

“What… what is the book?” Lucius asked, his voice unnaturally scared.

“A Horcrux. Of Him-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”

The silence in the stable was almost deafening. The families Montague, Nott, Dolohov and Malfoy all knew what this meant. The Picquerys seemed to have an inkling of what was going on, while Amilia who worked closely with the Auror Department, also seemed to have an idea.

The O’Briens, including Charlie, had no clue. “What… is a Horcrux?” Amanda asked carefully.

Bill explained what he had learnt that morning, while Narcissa watched the dark families. There were a range of emotions going through them, mostly Lord Dolohov who had only joined the Dark Lord because of his wife’s death and his son’s disappearance. He had nothing left to live and now suddenly, he was faced with the fact that their Lord was most likely still alive somewhere.

“What do we do?” he asked, his voice rough. “I have no intention whatsoever to follow him again. But if this… if he’s still alive, he will come for us.”

“That is something else to consider” Lucius said softly. “If he returns and Dumbledore will hear about it first, he will use the people’s fear to stay in power.”

“I’ll meet with the goblins and ask them if they can track down any other Horcruxes and destroy them for us. It’ll be pricy, but-“

“We have enough money” Lord Nott said. “If all of us come together and pay them, we will have enough money to hold a dozen Horcrux hunts for the rest of time.”

Riagán cleared his throat. “Not all of us, mind you. But I’m in as well, like.”

Narcissa chuckled at that and smiled at him. “We won’t hold a dozen Horcrux hunts, don’t worry. However, it sounds like a plan.”

Amelia nodded. “How about we create task forces? Four tasks we have to do, four task forces.”

The Picquerys agreed and soon they all joined the idea.

“We’ll take Dumbledore’s fall from Supreme Mugwump” Lady Picquery said, before looking at her husband as if she was daring him to disagree. He held his hands up in mocked surrender, which made the adults laugh.

Lucius offered to take on the Hogwarts Board with a reminder that things like that tended to get stretched over multiple months if not years. Amelia created her task force for the Ministry and the Wizengamot, asking for all the Lord and Ladies sitting in the government to help her out should she need anything. Bill told them, he would make sure to help the goblins look for the Horcruxes – if there were more than two, which Narcissa didn’t doubt.

The other adults were added to the different task forces and with that, they concluded their now monthly meeting and set another date for October. This meeting had certainly been one of the more intense and productive ones.

Chapter Text

Outside of Hogwarts, Dumbledore’s future may have been decided to fail, but inside the school, he was still the ‘king’, one could say. Harry had noticed how he had tried to make all the former Weasley children talk to him. Luckily, Harry and all the siblings the former Weasley children had (minus Theo because the idiot still refused to acknowledge Ron as his brother and Harry was slowly loosing his patience with the Slytherin), had started a watch group. There were even people in this group that weren’t siblings, but knew that the families had declared Dumbledore their enemy, and wanted to protect the former redheads.

That being said, the twins had come up with all sorts of ridiculous pranks where whenever Dumbledore would come close, something would happen. One day, there were fireworks surrounding the Picquery twins, the other day, Dumbledore grew donkey ears which grew longer and longer the closer he got to the twins.

To say that they were popular was an understatement. Harry wondered how nobody had made the connection between Fred and George Weasley and Fred and George Picquery. It was funny that the twins were just allowed to keep their original names, like Molly and whoever kidnapped them thought nobody would realize it. Then again, Ginny could also keep her shortened name, so that was nice.

Speaking of the devil, Harry watched as Ginny entered the Great Hall and made her normal way to the Slytherin table, a move that by now was pretty much normal, and nobody looked at it twice… well unless you were Dumbledore.

“Morning, Raven” Ginny said and sat down on the opposite side of him. “Where did you leave your siblings?”

“Do you want to guess?” Harry asked with a smirk.

Ginny returned it and shook her head. “What are they doing in the library before breakfast?!”

“Researching something. We have a research essay for Arithmancy and obviously, they jumped head first in.”

“And you don’t?” Ginny asked with a snigger.

A shadow fell over Harry’s breakfast and he looked up to see Pansy sitting down next to him. “I may have told him to get something to eat first before he followed his siblings. Also, your sibling is waiting outside the Great Hall for you.”

Harry laughed at that and shook his head. In the last few weeks, Graham had developed a very open mask, which most people could read. And while a few people had tried to use it and even tried to attack Ginny – keyword being ‘tried’ – he made it clear that nobody should mess with him or his sister. And Ginny showed them why exactly people shouldn’t underestimate her.

“I’m going to let him stay outside” Ginny announced and grinned. “Also, for both of you, since Professor Lupin showed you how to do the thing against Dementors, but not us, can you give me a lesson on it?”

Pansy nodded happily. “I haven’t quite managed to produce it entirely, but if you ask boy wonder over there, he-“

“Am I ‘boy wonder’?” Harry asked and raised his eyebrows. “I’m going to call you girl protector.”

“Wait, I know a name that would fit!” Ginny called out before reaching into her satchel to search for something.

Harry meanwhile ducked a swat from Pansy and sniggered. His friend shook her head and grabbed some toast to start her breakfast. Meanwhile, Ginny seemed to have found what she was looking for. She pulled out a huge book and opened it so a page in the middle, which she had bookmarked. Harry caught sight of the title ‘Great Names Throughout History’.

“Why do you have a book like that?” Harry asked curiously.

Ginny looked up and then closed it, a finger still on the page she had opened. She looked at the front, before grinning and opening it again. “My parents gave it to me, to most likely explain what the name ‘Guinevere’ means.”

“Obviously King Arthur’s wife” Draco’s voice sounded and the blond Slytherin sat down next to Harry while Kefira took a seat next to Ginny. “Also, Ginny, why is Graham standing outside the Hall like a lost puppy?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “He’s waiting for me.”

Draco snorted and nodded. “Alright. I’m going to tell him, you’re already here.” He stood up again and grabbed a toast possibly for food on the road. With that, he headed back to the doors.

“He’s going to kill me” Ginny said with a grin on her face, stating the exact opposite. It was cute in a way, how close these two had become. “Anyway, Pansy, what I was going to say, I found a new name for you that I think would fit.”

“Are we all going to change names around here?” Kefira asked under her breath, so that Harry heard it and he snorted.

Meanwhile, Ginny read aloud what she knew about the name ‘Ramona’, which as it turned out meant wise protector. Pansy clearly liked that Ginny thought of her as a wise protector and she quickly grabbed a parchment and a quill and wrote down whatever Ginny read.

“I’m going to ask my parents if that could be my middle name!” she then said with a wide grin. “They’re probably going to do it over Yule.”

Harry frowned. “Just like that? That’s kind of… funny in a way.”

Pansy shook her head with a grin. “Not really. It’s a tradition in Parkinson families, where the children can choose their own middle names, depending on something they find… important or whatever. My father could explain it better.”

Ginny widened her eyes. “Wait, so in a way, I’m part of that tradition now?”

Sadly, Pansy didn’t get to answer, as Graham and Draco had walked up to the little group and Ginny’s brother looked mildly annoyed and at the same time amused.

“I’m not going to bring you anything from Hogsmeade anymore, Gin” he said and grinned at her. “Unless you apologize to me.”

“What is she apologizing for?” the twins asked at the same time, as they followed Graham and sat down on the side where Ginny was sitting. George grinned as Graham rolled his eyes and shoved him to the side, while the other people at the table laughed.

“What did you do to Dumbledore today?” Harry asked intrigued. “Also, Ginny made Graham wait in front of the Great Hall, even though the doors were open and Graham could have just looked inside and see her sitting here.”

“Hey!” Graham called out while Ginny held her hand up for a high-five, which Harry quickly gave her. Pansy and Kefira laughed loudly and Draco just shook his head. That was the chaos that Zabini, Nott and Crabbe and Goyle walked in on.

“I heard that and I agree!” Zabini said loudly and nodded at Ginny as if they were in cahoots.

Fred sniggered as Graham held his hands up. “Wait… you told me she wasn’t in yet!” he called out loudly, making the whole table laugh and Zabini nodded proudly.

“Not only the twins can create chaos!” the Slytherin said and looked over at the twins menacingly.

The two boys cooed, most likely not what Zabini wanted. “Aw look, Georgie! The baby snakey’s getting fangs!”

George nodded, pretending that the darkhaired Slytherin was an attraction in a zoo most likely. “I know, Freddie! He’s so adorable!”

“I am not adorable!” Zabini held his hands up and glared at the twins. Harry sniggered, trying to hide it behind his hands, but the other Slytherin clearly saw it. He turned to him and raised his eyebrows. “Do I look adorable to you?!”

Harry blushed and ducked his head, which led to an entirely different discussion and teasing of Harry’s apparent liking of Zabini and how they were a ‘cute and adorable’ pair. Rolling his eyes, Harry turned to the Hufflepuff table, where he had just seen Susan taking a seat.

“Susan help me!” Harry practically called through the Great Hall, which thankfully wasn’t really full.

The Hufflepuff was next to him in a second and sat down, pushing Draco to the side, who tried to say something, but the strong-minded Hufflepuff just told him to shut it. Harry sniggered at that and Susan started to actively protect Harry and attack anybody to tried to get through her wits.

Nobody managed.

Apparently, they had created such a ruckus, that Severus got up from the head table and walked up to their little group. Harry grinned at him, as he came to a stop next to him. He placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders and looked around. “I was under the impression that I was the Head of the Slytherin House not the lion’s den.”

Harry sniggered at that. “They made fun of me and Zabini!”

“Since you entered here?” Severus asked, entertained.

“Not really” Ginny said instead. “But it was my mistake, sir. I made Graham wait outside, thanks to Blaise’s help and then, everything went downhill.”

“I see” Severus said, clearly trying to supress his amusement. “Well, carry on then, if you want to ruin the Slytherin’s reputation. Not that I care in any way. In my humble opinion, Slytherin shouldn’t be the house of masks.”

With that, he clapped Harry’s shoulder and went back up. Harry took a sip of his drink, while he followed Severus’ movement, before his eyes tracked to where Dumbledore was sitting, and he snorted into his hot chocolate. He coughed and started to laugh loudly.

Dumbledore’s pure white beard had transformed into a rainbow coloured one that was shooting off confetti whenever the old man moved his head too fast. It was already covered in the colourful stuff that it looked absolutely funny.

“Did you do that?” Harry asked the twins who grinned proudly.

Fred nodded. “Took us almost two weeks, but we eventually found a way.”

George sniggered and added, “sometimes though, it shoots off hair dye. So… be careful whenever you’re around him.”

Since Samhain, a lot of weird things had happened. Apparently, Sirius Black was at Hogwarts that night, scaring the Fat Lady. He seemingly wanted to get into Gryffindor, before running off, not having done anything.

And Ron had once again lost Scabbers, though he didn’t really like his rat and it had to stay hidden, since it did technically belong to ‘Ronald Weasley’, it was still somewhat of a family heirloom. Even if his family no longer existed. It was still better than his current one.

Theo ignored him if he was having a good day. On a bad day, he claimed that Ron was planning something. The thing he was apparently planning changed from day to day. And it was annoying as it could be.

The only thing Ron really wanted was to be part of a family that wouldn’t overlook him, where he wouldn’t be just… another one. Now he had it. Sort of.

His father was kind to him, most of the time. His brother glared at him, usually. Or hated his guts. He wasn’t overlooked. So, there was that. Next time, he should say his wish with a bit more details, he figured.

As he walked down to the Hufflepuff Common Room, he found Draco studying the entrance to the kitchen with a frown. Ron really had no idea when ‘Malfoy’ became ‘Draco’, though it was probably somewhere between summer and Samhain. They were talking frequently, due to the ally system and Ron had realized that they weren’t entirely different and maybe… maybe he liked to be around the Slytherin.

“Are you waiting for something?” Ron asked and grinned as Draco jumped, startled by the sound.

The Slytherin glared at Ron and nodded. “Yes. The twins were running from me, abducting Raven and I saw them entering, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get into the kitchen.”

Ron grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “If you turn around, I’ll open the door for you and you can attack them for abducting your brother.”

“If I turn around?” Draco shook his head. “And what if I just want to look how you’re opening it?”

“I won’t then” Ron shrugged his shoulders and grinned at the slightly annoyed look of his ally. “It’s a Hufflepuff secret. I’ve been a Badger for a few months, I can’t just go around, telling it all to Slytherins. Who would trust me after that?”

Draco hummed at looked at Ron, as if he was analysing him closely. Ron felt his face heat up, unsure of what to do. “I see. You have a point there” he said slowly. “But if my back is turned to the portrait, I can’t go attacking the twins. And who knows what they’ve been cooking in there with my brother.”

Ron chuckled. “We could attack them together and see if that works. You take the left one, I take the right one.”

“Good idea. Tell me when you’re about to open it” Draco said, turning around, his wand in his hand.

Sniggering, Ron tickled the pear and stepped back. As the pear laughed softly, Ron touched Draco’s shoulder to tell him to look and when the Slytherin turned, the picture was open and the room in front of them revealed…about a hundred elves and… no humans.

Ron frowned and looked at Draco who shook his head, while the elves piled up food in their arms. “I could have sworn I saw them entering here!”

The piles were about to turn unstable… Ron accepted a dozen milkshakes, before slowly backing out of the entryway. “Maybe they somehow created an illusion?” he asked with his last step in the doorway, where an elf placed freshly made cookies on top of the milkshakes.

Draco meanwhile was staring at his arms, where he had been unconsciously accepting treats and desserts and fruits. He turned and saw Ron stepping out and practically ran – as well as one can run with full arms of food – to the entrance.

“Don’t leave me!” he called out and came to a slithering stop, almost falling. The food swayed dangerously and Draco held his breath. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Bring it to your Common Room” Ron suggested with a grin. “We do it with ours all the time.”

Draco hummed at that and looked at Ron again in a slightly weird way. Which was to say in a way that Ron didn’t know how to interpret. It had happened a few times in the last few months that they had known each other through the ally system. He was probably never going to figure out what was going on in Draco’s mind.

On the other hand, Draco had been defending him more recently, especially when Theo was involved. And that was certainly nice.

“Alright. If you see Raven somewhere, tell him to come see me immediately” Draco said and grinned. “Pretend like I’m a professor. I’ll give him detention when I see him.”

Ron sniggered. “Will do. If he’s in the Hufflepuff Common Room, I’ll tell him to see you now.” He doubted Harry was there, though.

With that, he grinned at the Slytherin and made his way to the Hufflepuff entry way, which he luckily managed to enter with full arms. Some students cheered, other groaned as Ron entered with the food. He understood both reactions. There was something to eat in the Common Room almost every day and… he had learnt that the Hufflepuffs loved good food. Food with the elves happily provide if they were visited.

He had learnt early on that the food served to the student body was a bit different than the one made in the kitchen. Maybe it was the additional added magic when the food was practically beamed up through the ceiling of the kitchen to the tables in the Great Hall. That was his only working theory so far.

Placing down the food, he made sure to keep the milkshakes stable which disappeared from his hand almost immediately. Milkshakes were usually only done on special occasions by the elves. And so, Ron spread all of the food, taking some cookies for himself, before he made his way to where Susan, Hannah and Zacharias Smith were sitting.

As he sat down, Hannah placed a milkshake into his hand. “What?”

“I got two” she said with a grin. “I thought since you went out and got them for us, you should reap the fruits of your labour.”

Ron chuckled. “Alright, thank you for thinking of me!”

“Yeah, you could have gotten three!” Zacharias said and raised his eyebrows. “Where is my milkshake?!”

“Do I look like I’ve got three hands?” Hannah asked and turned to look down on herself. “Huh, looks like I’ve only got two. Which means, one for me, one for Alden. Even Susan didn’t get one.”

Susan was buried into a law book that her aunt had sent her and she turned the page just when her name was called. She looked up. “Did someone say milkshake?”

Ron sniggered. “Yeah, about ten minutes ago.”

“Damn” she grinned. “Sometimes my brain seems to take the scenic route. Were there milkshakes? Hey, how come you both have milkshakes?”

“That’s my point!” Zacharias said and crossed his arms, as if he was satisfied with all of this.

Hannah snorted. “The elves gave them to Alden and they were all almost ripped from his hands, so I took two. One for me and one for him. I’ll share mine with you, if you want.”

Susan grinned and shook her head. “No worries, Hannah, I’m fine. But next time there’s milkshakes, scream at me, okay?”

“Can I take you by your word?” Hannah asked, maliciously, while Zacharias continued to complain about the lack of Ron’s will to share his milkshake. Ron rolled his eyes. The only person he would share his favourite drink with would be Draco.

Hm… weird thought to have.

Susan was back in her book and said impassively, “sure, why not.”

Hannah seemed over the moon and leaned back, sipping on the milkshake. Ron just sniggered. His friend was in for a surprise next time there were milkshakes around. He really wanted to be there when Hannah would randomly – for everyone else – scream at Susan.

Two days after Halloween, Harry was walking outside of Hogwarts, looking for Arithmancy in nature, as their professor had told them to do for homework. He had soon lost his attention to where he was going and found himself in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest, when he came face to face with a stray looking dog.

Tilting its head, it stared at Harry as if it seemed to try and remember something.

“Hello” Harry said softly. “You look like you’ve been through a lot. Are you hungry?”

It did look like it had been tortured and starved for ages. Harry couldn’t determine how old it was, but one thing he could see was the hunger in its eyes. He pulled out a sandwich that Ron had secretively handed him, when he had returned from the kitchens and held it towards the dog.

The hesitation the dog was showing now spoke volumes in itself and how much it trusted humans. So, Harry placed it on the floor and stepped back a little.

“I’ve got it from the Hogwarts elves, well a friend who knows where the kitchens are, actually. He would never add something to my food. If anything he would be the first to throw himself at me to save me from potions” he said with a soft smile. Ron really was a Hufflepuff. And he didn’t know how he had never seen it before.

Not that the dog would understand what he was saying, but maybe his calm voice was helping it to realize that he meant no harm.

The dog slowly approached the food and then ate it quickly. Harry looked around the trees, realizing that he had in fact lost his way. So, he turned back to the dog. “Do you know per chance how I can get out of the forest?”

And with that said, Harry stepped back, as he watched the dog change to a human. One he knew from all of the parchments in the Wizarding World and from the Prophet… Oh shit.

“You’re Sirius Black!”

Chapter Text

The small boy in front of Sirius Black had said his name like it was a matter of fact. Not that he was the mass murderer on the run from the Aurors and the Dementors. It sounded almost… like he was presenting his favourite stuffed animal.

“I am” Sirius said and frowned at the boy. “And who are you?”

“I’m… Raven.” He seemed hesitant, something Sirius could only understand. In his childhood, he too had hated his name. It seemed as if this child, whatever family he belonged to, seemed unhappy with it as well.

As the child continued to look at him strangely, Sirius raised his eyebrows as if to tell him to ask his question, whatever it was. “Why are you here?” the child continued.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. He couldn’t really tell this random child that he was after Peter Pettigrew, who he had tracked all the way to Hogwarts, to finally get a trial and be declared innocent. That was a bit too much to lay on a... what twelve-year-old?

“I’m… looking for a friend” he said instead. Which wasn’t technically wrong. Remus was at Hogwarts and while the werewolf didn’t yet know that Sirius was innocent, Sirius knew that Remus had never done anything to hurt James and Lily.

This Raven kid frowned and shook his head. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more careful to whom you reveal yourself? I could be an ally to the law, you know.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “Are you?” he asked with a growl.

Something that happened from time to time. There were just things that were side-effects of staying in one’s Animagus form for too long.

“Maybe. Who’s your friend?” The Raven kid crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I might help you, if it’s someone I trust.”

“And if not?” Sirius asked, torn between running away right now and accepting this random child’s help. For now, he needed to know who this kid considered an ally.

If it was Dumbledore, he would run.

“I might just go off and tell my Head of House that there’s a random dog in the forest I saw turning into Sirius Black. Not sure what my professor would do with this information, most likely calling the Aurors. How did you get past the Dementors around the school?” he seemed genuinely interested in how he had done it.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. “They don’t really take interest in an animal’s simple mind. They prefer complex mind structures, like humans. Us humans, we don’t need magic for what they’re doing, even Muggles can feel their presence.”

Raven stared at him as if in shock. Then, he shook himself and sighed. “Alright. So, back to the question: Who should I tell that you’re here? Who’s your friend?”

“I would like it if you told no one, but I don’t think that’s an option?”

“I could always tell my parents via owl post, but I assume that they will be headed here with a full Auror force, once I talk to them, so you probably wouldn’t want that.”

“You’re a smart kid” Sirius grinned at the child who shrugged his shoulders, like it was something he shouldn’t be proud of. Meanwhile, Sirius kept wondering what his family did to him, since he was so… unhappy with his family. “I’m… I’m looking for Remus Lupin.”

Damn, he hadn’t wanted to involve his friend, but it seemed as if there was no other option, since he doubted that the child would let him continue what he was doing without telling someone. And he wondered who the kid’s Head of House was, maybe he should have involved that person…

“Professor Lupin is doing an additional round of the grounds later this night” Raven said and grinned at him. “I’ll tell him that you’re waiting for him at the edge of the forest.”

“Thank you” Sirius said, unsure of what else there was to say. “How come you’re not afraid of me?”

The kid frowned slightly. “Should I?”

Sirius snorted and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m titled as a serial killer, aren’t I?”

“There are scarier things happening at the moment than standing face to face with a so-called serial killer who has yet to show me a violent side.”

“I could be hiding it from you. Children are usually rather trusting.”

The child scoffed at that. “Maybe other children. I don’t trust people. I don’t trust you. But you look like you could need help and I’m not above offering anyone help. So… that’s the reason I’m here. Not because I trust you.”

Sirius nodded at that. Definitely a child with problems. “I understand.”

Raven gave him a quick nod, before turning to the forest. “Do you know the way back to the castle?”

It astonished him, how weirdly comfortable that child was around him. Would someone who knew that he was a supposed serial killer actually turn their back towards him? He really seemed to trust him… even though he said that he didn’t. There must have been something else going on.

“I can bring you back to the edge of the forest” Sirius offered. “With all the Dementors around I don’t think I should enter the castle again.”

“True” the kid said and turned to look at him again. “That was a stupid move on your part. Maybe Professor Lupin can help you when he sees you.”

It was cute how Remus had changed to ‘Professor Lupin’. Sirius couldn’t really see it, the smart ass boy being a professor seemed a bit… strange, but as a werewolf, he probably hadn’t gotten many job offers, so he most likely accepted anything that crossed his path.

“Let’s hope” Sirius said instead and changed back to Padfoot, leading the child to the edge of the forest. He could see a few children walking towards them, seeing one that looked incredibly like a little version of Lucius Malfoy and one that had that seemed to be the son of Frank Longbottom.

The kid grinned and ran towards them. Sirius stayed hidden by the shadows of the trees and watched and listened with his good dog ears.

“Raven, where have you been? Lunch is over already!” the girl said and pulled him into a hug. “You always end up in trouble, we expected the worst!”

The boy laughed and freed himself. “Did you also expect the worst or just my siblings?” Raven asked the child of Frank.

Longbottom sniggered and confirmed that only Raven’s siblings had been worried. “I knew you were probably just up to something. They even asked the twins.”

“Well to be fair, they have been abducting you a fair bit in the last few days” Malfoy’s son said and grabbed Raven’s hand, pulling him back into the castle. “Come on, we’re going to be late for potions.”

Longbottom laughed. “I’ll claim Raven as my Potions expert again.”

“You always do” the girl said and ducked away from a good-natured swat. Sirius tilted his head while the children ran off.

It seemed as if Raven didn’t have an issue with the children. So maybe his problem or why he hadn’t said his last name was due to his parents? Or maybe there was an entirely different reason that Sirius hadn’t figured out yet.

Whatever it was, he had other things to worry about. For example, what to tell Moony, when he would make his rounds and find a black dog sitting in the forest, waiting for him.

Remus thought his nose had picked up on something as he walked around the castle wards. Just something, before, when the wind was blowing in a different direction. His nose wasn’t just as strong anymore, as it was pretty much perfectly in between the two full moons and his werewolf tendencies did weaken with every day away from the transformation.

However, even now, he had a stronger nose than other humans. Interested, he walked closer, clutching his wand. He knew what would happen to people who didn’t watch their backs. And during his times in the forest, he had gotten to know all of the inhabitants rather close. Which meant, he knew where it was safe for a werewolf to be and which creature would attack him and his companions.

So, as he approached the forest, he watched the edges closely. Walking around the wards, he heard a rustle and turned quickly, pointing his wand into the direction of the noise.

A black dog sat there, looking at him unblinking.

“Padfoot?” Remus whispered. He stared at the dog who didn’t move a muscle. It seemed as if Padfoot was waiting for him to decide what he was going to do.

His friend wouldn’t do that if he had really lost his mind, like Dumbledore had told him. If Sirius was really a mass murderer, why would he show himself to the only person who could identify him from his dog form?

“Where do you want to talk then?” Remus asked and as soon as Padfoot turned around and headed into the forest, Remus quickly looked back at the castle, before following his friend. He was wondering if all of this was a trick somehow, Sirius killing him in the forest as well.

It was in the middle of the two moons, so he wouldn’t have all of this extra strength that a werewolf had. Then again, none of his friends knew about that, he had only figured it out in his loneliness after the war had ended.

As they approached a familiar clearing, Padfoot transformed into a starved looking Sirius. He looked so damn bad, that Remus was taken aback. This had become of his best friend in school? He looked terrible, his face fallen, there seemed to be only skin and bones on his body. Even his clothes were as ripped as Remus’ were after a violent werewolf night.

“You look dreadful” Remus said softly.

“Why thank you, that is exactly what a man needs to hear” Sirius commented and rolled his eyes. “You look worse for wear as well.”

Remus snorted. “Yes, well, we can’t all keep our youthful looks, eh? Prongs probably would look perfect right now.”

“Undoubtedly” Sirius smirked and Remus saw a bit of softness in his expression, before he turned sour again. “Except for his hair. I would bet he would be either bald or grey.”

“The perfect prank” Remus laughed and shook his head. “He almost killed you when you hexed his hair grey.”

Sirius chortled and raised his eyes to the sky. “Damn, this is so much harder than I thought before.”

Remus hummed. Spending time with his childhood best friend made him question all he had heard of him. Sirius wasn’t mad, quite the opposite. He seemed to be as well as one could be, having spent so many years with Dementors around. And he didn’t have the air of a crazed serial killer. How had he thought that Padfoot could kill so many people?!

“You’re pretty famous at the moment, aren’t you?” Remus asked with a smirk.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Not the kind of fame I wanted, really. So, let me get to my story, I think you’re wondering what happened.”

Remus remained quiet and nodded weakly. His friend sighed and started to explain how he had changed the Secret Keeper with Wormtail and how he had realized what happened a bit too late. He ran back and tried to keep their other friend from destroying James and Lily’s life. But as he approached, Lily and James were there, fighting with the Dark Lord and when a huge dust storm appeared and the Avada green seemed to explode out from it.

He fell unconscious for a few seconds, when coming to, he saw Wormtail running and he sprinted after him, trying to catch him. As an Auror, he could have arrested him in a second. And as he finally caught up to him, he cut off his finger, exploded the street and transformed into a rat, disappearing into the night.

“People said they saw you laughing like a maniac” Remus said softly.

Padfoot snorted. “I never would have thought that our little Wormtail could be so smart. This whole plan was crazy and… I laughed, I couldn’t believe it.”

Remus hummed at that. “So, he’s not dead, is what you’re telling me?”

“Exactly. I found a picture of him with the Weasleys. I thought they were here, so I came.”

“Then you’re not up to speed on the news, Padfoot. The Weasley family disappeared during summer. Apparently, if rumours are to believed, Molly fed Arthur Amortentia and compulsions and they all fell in the last few months. No one knows where the Weasley children have been placed. There are rumours that they were shipped over the lake for a calm life.”

“Merlin’s balls!” Sirius said loudly and shook his head. “How did that happen?! So… what do we do now?”

“You should go to Gringotts and ask for help-“

“I-“

“No!” Remus held his hand out, daring Sirius to interrupt him again. “No, they can help. And you need all the help they can give you. They’re not friendly with the Auror force, so they won’t throw you back to Azkaban, when you’re healthy again. I will keep an eye and ear open to any rumours of rats and we’ll see what happens. Yes?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Do I get to say ‘no’?”

“Not really.”

“Then fine.” Sirius crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I hate when you do this.”

Remus smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Just do this, if not for you, at least for me.”

His friend held his hands up. “Fine. For you.” He paused for a second, as if he was hesitating. “Thank you. You know, for believing me, even if you didn’t have to.”

“No worries” Remus smiled and watched as Padfoot sent him a quick smile, before appearing away again. He sighed and shook his head. Sirius was crazy. In a not-mass-murder-way.

And with that, he continued his walk along the wards to make sure everything was fine. Except for the Dementors’ depressing feelings and thoughts, there was nothing much around. And with Sirius having been revealed as not the maniac, Remus returned with a head full of theories and questions.

As he walked back into the castle, he was met with none other than Severus who seemed to have come from the headmaster’s office. They both stopped and looked at each other for a few short seconds.

“Lupin, how about a talk?” the potions master asked and moved his head to the side basically giving him an order to follow him down the steps until they made it to his personal office.

Remus was unsure what was going on. His younger self would have rejoiced at being invited to Severus’ office, but his self at the moment didn’t know why he would do something like that. They remained quiet throughout the short walk, until they reached the potions master’s quarters.

Silently, Severus handed him a whiskey and sat down on his arm chair, while Remus took a seat on the little couch. He tasted the alcohol and was surprised that Severus had a pretty decent taste. Then, he placed his glass on the table and looked at the Slytherin, questioningly.

Severus took another sip of his drink and crossed his legs. “I was wondering why you present yourself the way you do.”

That threw Remus out of his loop and he stared at Severus with about ten-thousand questions in his mind. “What do you mean?”

Motioning at him, Severus seemed to study him closely. “Your clothes, your hair, even your personality. You seem to run away from any and all confrontations. When was the last time you looked into a mirror yourself?”

Probably the day after James and Lily were killed. Remus had looked at himself and decided he did not like what he saw and practically threw all mirrors into the trash. Not that Severus needed to know that.

“I’d say over a week ago. I don’t need… why would you ask that question?” Remus said and frowned. It was a little weird that his professor colleague would say something like that. It was as if he would tell him to go and take a shower.

Severus leaned forward. “You don’t look like you’re taking care of yourself. I worry.”

“You worry?” Remus repeated, taken aback. That was absolutely not the boy from his youth who had been angry at the world and tried to take it out on anybody he could. “Why?”

“I do remember you as a good-looking boy, Lupin. Yes, you had scars, but that never seemed to undermine your self-confidence. So, why do you look like you’ve been living in a dirt house for the last ten years?”

Remus grabbed onto his jumper which he had admittedly been wearing for a little bit. He started fidgeting and shrugged his shoulders. Had he been self-confident as a teen? He couldn’t remember. Frankly, he had always followed Sirius and James around and when they weren’t there to… to take care of him frankly, he had let himself go.

Also… wait, hold on. Had Severus said that he was a good-looking boy?! Wait, was…. Did he feel the same as Remus felt? Or was he reading too much into this?

Damn, he was too old for feelings and thoughts like this!

“I… I would say that your assessment might be correct” he said softly, not looking at the other man. He leaned forward to grab his whiskey again and took a sip, still not daring to have direct eye-contact.

Severus hummed and seemed thoughtful. Remus finally looked up and found the other man studying him quietly. He held onto his glass for dear life, unsure of what to do with these beautiful dark eyes on him.

“Do you need any help getting back onto your feet?” Severus asked quietly.

“I mean, I’m here. That’s a step forward, isn’t it?” Remus asked, attempting to sound confident. It really didn’t, not even in his ears. So what must Severus hear? He probably sounded pathetic.

“The question” Severus said without even reacting to Remus’ faked confidence, “is whether teaching here was your idea or not. It’s not getting back on your feet if you just follow what others have planned for you.”

The Slytherin placed his foot on the floor and leaned forward, playing his elbows on his knees. “What are your plans for the next five years?”

“I… I don’t know” Remus admitted quietly and looked at the floor. His breathing had fastened and his scratched the back of his head.

What were his plans? He frankly had nothing planned. Well, besides from taking any job he would be getting. And as a werewolf, there weren’t many. Being a professor was a pretty lucky thing he had gotten. Even if it seemed as if Dumbledore just wanted him to find Harry, who he didn’t think was at Hogwarts at all.

“There you go” Severus said softly. So soft and quiet that Remus looked up at the other man, who smiled at him gently. “You need to figure out what you want. Get your self confidence back. Once you’ve got that, once you stop following what others have planned for you, things might actually go forward for you.”

Remus sighed and shook his head. “But as a werewolf-“

“You’ll have to work harder than others, yes” Severus interrupted him and sent him a very rare smile. One that Remus had never seen before, not even when Slytherin had beaten Gryffindor in a Quidditch match, where James had been sick.

It blew him away.

He opened his mouth to say something, but embarrassingly, nothing came out. How much confidence did Severus have in him that he thought he could do anything?!

“How about this” Severus said as an offer, “come run with me tomorrow morning.”

“What?”

Severus shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a routine I have started in my teens. I usually run between three to five miles, once or twice around the Black Lake.”

Remus stared at the other man in surprise. “You do that every morning?”

“I don’t feel comfortable without some workout, running relaxes my mind, which as a potions master I really need from time to time.”

While Remus was thinking if it was really a good idea to go on a run with a man, he did indeed fancy, the Slytherin stayed quiet, drinking his whiskey in silence. He was leaning back in his chair and seemed to watch Remus closely again.

Finally, after a few quiet minutes, Remus cleared his throat. “I don’t think I would run around the lake twice. I’m not even sure I’d be able to make it once.”

Severus snorted at that. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to kill you by running. But a little bit of fitness will do wonders to your self-esteem. I know it did for me. And whenever I need to think, I’m running. We’ll just see how far we go.”

“Fine” Remus finally settled on. “Tomorrow, let’s see how far I can do it.”

“No, no, let’s do it for a week. One day won’t help you much. If we do it constantly, you might realize that something is changing.”

“And a week is helping with that?” Remus asked, doubting this whole process.

Severus chuckled softly, another sound that Remus had never heard before. He froze, looking at the black-haired man who seemed to keep stealing more pieces of his heart away in one longer conversation.

“Technically, you’d need thirty days of continuous effort to start a new routine. So no, a week wouldn’t help. Four weeks would probably change something in your brain.”

“Then let’s do four weeks.”

Wait what? No! Let’s not do four weeks! What was he thinking?! Remus froze at his own loose mouth, while Severus chuckled again.

“Alright, let’s do four weeks. But if you complain, Lupin, I’ll let you know that this was your idea. Let’s meet tomorrow morning at five by the castle entrance. Now, you should go to bed, so you can wake up that early.”

Severus led him to the door and then closed it as soon as Remus had walked through. Remus headed to his quarters as if he was dreaming. Okay… two things, he would be seeing Severus every morning now… which was awesome. He was however, also doomed. He had never much been into running and sports, so the fact that Severus somehow convinced him to do that for four weeks was just insanity.

On the other hand… he could be close to Severus.

“Oh for fuck’s sake” Remus said to himself as he reached his quarters. He was really such a love-struck teenager again. He would have done anything if it had grabbed Severus’ attention. And now that he had it… apparently, he was going to run with the other man for a bit.

Damn, he was in too deep. Both in running and in love.

He closed his door and leaned against it, staring into his quarters, as if what had just happened was a dream. “He is worried about me” he whispered, thinking back at how this discussion had started. “He thinks I was handsome before.”

“I do remember you as a good-looking boy, Lupin. Yes, you had scars, but that never seemed to undermine your self-confidence.”

Holy shit.

Severus felt the same!

Remus slid down until he sat on the floor staring at the wall, as if it had all the truths of the universe written on it. A new plan formed in Remus’ mind for the next five years…

His main goal now was to have a decent paying job, which was secure and… he was going to have a relationship with Severus. That was one of his most important goals. It seemed as if Severus was a good person to have on his side, especially since he seemed to realize things about Remus that he himself hadn’t yet seen or realized.

Remus pressed his hands in front of his mouth, trying to keep himself from laughing. He had plans! After so many years, he had finally ideas of where his life was going next! Laughter bubbled out from behind his hands and he let go, feeling joy for the first time again since his friends had left him.

He got up and placed an alarm on his wand for half past four.

And then he went to bed, it was far too late to keep staying up if he had to go running in the morning. With the man he had a crush on…

It seemed as if in the week after Samhain, love was in the air. As Remus and Severus got to know each other through running with each other, Minerva McGonagall had to come to terms with her own feelings. And there were many. As confusing as it was probably for a teenager.

She had been married, years ago. Her husband had died, also years ago, barely a decade after their marriage. And she had vowed to never fall in love, his passing had hurt too much. And for far longer than they had been married.

But when she had looked for Harry Potter, well Raven Malfoy by now, she had not only found Hermione Granger aka Kefira Malfoy, but she had felt something in her chest. A magic long forgotten, which she had not allowed to settle before.

But with her feelings, with the magic around, a lot of question had surfaced as well. Questions she couldn’t yet answer.

She had met the Malfoys often, with Lord Malfoy sitting on the Board, they’d had a lot of discussions in the past. So, why had she felt something when she had entered their home? And not only with Lord Malfoy, but also Lady Malfoy.

Minerva was aware that she was a good decade older than the two of them and she was uncertain how that would look to the public. She had also been married before, the public knew that. She was the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, where the Malfoy triplets went to school. She was not the triplet’s parents. How would the public react to that? How would the students react? The Malfoy children?

She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t follow what her heart’s magic was telling her to do. She had refrained from contacting them all throughout September and October, but as the middle of November came closer, she apparently ran out of luck.

“Minerva, you need to go to the Board meeting for me” Dumbledore said as he cleared his desk from a few parchments after their weekly meeting.

Sighing, Minerva shook her head. “And why can’t you make it?” she asked, just slightly annoyed.

Dumbledore looked up, as if he had finally seen her, before he shrugged his shoulders. “There’s some youngling from Africa who thinks he can outrun me as Supreme Mugwump. I need to look more into his character and find his weak points.” He stopped abruptly, as if he realized that what he said wasn’t at all like his grandfather character he was portraying. “We cannot allow children into these important positions, you know my dear.”

Minerva gave another sigh, but agreed to sit in on the next board meeting, where she was surprised to see Lord Malfoy. Surprised by her own stupidity, how had she forgotten that he was the leader of the Board Meetings?! He had been for about five years!

Silently, she watched as the board made decisions, asked her for her own advice and ideas and finally came to a close after a good ninety minutes. Most of the members had left quickly thereafter, but Lord Malfoy stayed and walked toward Minerva.

“I’m glad to see you again” he said with a soft smile. Something that should have probably been reserved for his own family. “Would it be too forthright to ask you to accompany me to my home for a chat?”

Minerva couldn’t help but smile back. “A little, yes.”

Lord Malfoy hummed, with a minute grin on his face. “Oh well, I don’t have any other ideas of how to talk to you, since we don’t have any children in your direct care.”

“Oh, I can always talk about your children, Lord Malfoy. Even if they’re not in my house, I do teach them.”

Minerva frankly didn’t know why she was giving him ideas… no, she knew why. Even if she was unsure about the relationship she wanted… needed…, she clearly wanted to give it a try. Even if she was sure that something like that would never work out in the long game… she couldn’t help but hope it would.

“In that case” Lord Malfoy chuckled at that. “How about we discuss our children’s performance in my family’s home? Narcissa’s most likely interested as well.”

Minerva smiled, slightly nervous and followed the Lord to the floo. Half her mind was screaming at her, asking her what she was doing. She was too old, too unpopular, too strange to be in a triad! The other half told her that she deserved to be happy again after her husband’s untimely death. And the Malfoys were good people.

She didn’t know what brain she should follow…

Instead, she followed Lord Malfoy through the Manor and ended up in a family room, where Lady Malfoy was calmly reading a newspaper.

“Love, I’ve brought a visitor” Lord Malfoy said and his wife looked up.

“Oh, Minerva, how nice of you to visit us” she said and placed the newspaper down. “It’s been too long!”

Minerva chuckled at that and nodded once. “A lot of things have happened.”

“Of course” Lord Malfoy said and ordered an elf to bring some food and drinks, before he continued. “And you didn’t have a weekend off to come and talk to us.”

“I…” Minerva chuckled, clearly caught in her own little white lies. “Let’s say I didn’t have the courage.”

Lady Malfoy smiled at her and sat down next to her on the couch. “Oh dear, are we such terrible hosts?”

Minerva laughed lightly. “Not to worry, Lady Malfoy, you’re fantastic hosts.”

Lord Malfoy took a seat on the next armchair, across from them. “Then what has been keeping you away?”

It seemed as if the Malfoys both were feeling something too. Such was usually typical for triad relationships. Minerva had heard a lot about them, but she had never thought she’d be part of them. If rumours could be believed, triads were chosen by Lady Magic as incredibly strong relationships. Should a triad form with the blessing od Lady Magic, nothing could rip them apart, they would be able to defy gods if they wanted to.

All of this seemed a bit too much for Minerva, who saw herself not worthy of such a relationship. Maybe that was an additional thing that had kept her from going after what she knew was happening.

“Society, mostly” she said instead.

Lady Malfoy hummed and nodded at that. “I can understand that. It’s been taking us a few days as well, to realize what was happening and how we wanted to continue with this.”

Minerva frowned slightly. “And… how are we continuing with this?”

“Well, that is all of our decision, really” Lord Malfoy said and with a smile, continued. “Should we try this or just ignore what happened a few months ago.”

“I’m… I’m twelve years older than you, Lord Malfoy. Fourteen more than Lady Malfoy.”

“Then we’re just lucky that we’ve realized our feelings as adults” Lady Malfoy said with a grin. “It might be strange for people outside of our potential triad. But not for me.”

Minerva could feel her heart beating. She could feel it in her ears, even. She stared at the table in the family room, her mind was racing. It would be crazy to start a relationship with a married couple… doing something like that was practically unheard of. There were a few wizards and witches who had done it over the time, but they had usually been portrayed as idiots or crazy people.

Most triads formed naturally and there was usually no marriage included and the child situation was also mostly unheard of. What was she even doing?

Was it crazy to believe that they had a future? It could be a fleeting thing?

Minerva opened her mouth a few times, attempting to say something, but she couldn’t find the right words. Luckily for her, the Malfoys were both incredibly patient with her as she tried to navigate the deep oceans of her own mind.

“Is this not… strange for a triad? And what about your triplets? They might not…”

“They will be over the moon” Lady Malfoy said with a gentle smile. “As for us, it is not strange at all. I have heard of triad relationships with bigger age differences.”

Lord Malfoy grinned as well. “We can give it a trial phase, if you’re unsure. If we think this triad isn’t working for us, we can still go other directions. I for one, do not believe that will happen.”

Minerva chuckled at that. “So the trial would be for me, mostly.”

“Exactly” Lady Malfoy said with a little smile. She placed her hand on Minerva’s and squeezed gently. “A way to calm your mind and thoughts. How about we meet next weekend and you spend it here with us? No school business, no children, just us?”

It was a good idea. A trial phase would help her adjust to this situation and maybe it would really help in calming her fears of being exiled from the population as a strange witch.

“I might just have to accept that” she said softly and smiled nervously.

“Alright then, now there is no way around it” Lady Malfoy said and grinned at Minerva, “you finally have to call me Narcissa. I won’t accept ‘Lady Malfoy’ anymore.”

“Oh, I’ll jump onto that as well” Lord Malfoy called and jumped up, with a quick bow. “Lucius will do.”

Minerva laughed at that and nodded. “Alright fine. I’ll give you the power to correct me, should I call you Lady and Lord Malfoy again.”

“Finally!” Narcissa called and cheered as the elves popped up with sandwiches and drinks.

Minerva chuckled and spent a few more hours in Malfoy Manor enjoying herself. Nothing more happened, they just talked and got to know each other more. And all the while, Minerva was questioning her apprehension more and more.

She really shouldn’t feel so bad for wanting to be in a triad.

Finally, after having had a fitful night’s sleep, she went to Gringotts and asked for help. She had asked Narcissa to join her, unsure if she could focus on what had to be done if her suspicions were correct. Her suspicions mostly had to do with Dumbledore.

Had the headmaster realized that she had a triad relationship with the Malfoys, but decided to enchant her? It felt strange that she was still apprehensive to the idea of a triad. And that just… it couldn’t be so strong.

Something inside her was fighting. She could feel it.

“Well, good thing you came here” the goblin said and smiled at two witches. “There have been multiple hexes and compulsions placed on you throughout the last decade. I would say, it started the year after your husband died.”

Minerva stared at the parchment in her hand. It had so many compulsions on it, that she almost tore it into pieces.

“Can we take them all away?” she asked quietly, looking at the fifth point. Triad Suppression Compulsion Charm, applied every other month. “And is there a way to make sure that these compulsions won’t stick anymore?”

She wanted to be comfortable in her own skin again. It seemed as if she hadn’t been herself for last decade, which was scary. Did she even know who she was? Who she really was without all the compulsion on herself?

A calming hand on her arm made her breathe in softly. She looked over to Narcissa who smiled at her, before she nodded. “We’ve got this. Together.”

Nodding, Minerva turned to the goblin who grinned at her. “Of course. The compulsions can be taken away with our healer. It takes between thirty minutes and two hours. With the amount of your compulsions, I would guess it’ll take probably two hours. After that, the Goblin Nation will be providing you with a tool to make sure that no compulsions will stick to you anymore.”

“Just like that?” Minerva asked with wide eyes.

The goblin nodded with a grin. “The Malfoy family is a friend of the Nation and we help our friends.”

Narcissa snorted very un-lady-like and Minerva looked at her fascinated. The lady grinned at the goblin. “And by that, I assume you mean that my son is a friend of the Nation.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny it. I will simply state that we have already decided on who will get to educate him once he’s done with Hogwarts.”

Narcissa chuckled at that. “Just what I thought.”

Minerva looked at her in shock. The other woman chuckled and smiled at her. “Go on, I’ll be here, waiting. Once we’re done here, we’re going to Malfoy Manor. We’ll tell the old bastard, that an old friend of yours is deathly sick so you won’t be teaching for the next two days. That’ll give you more than enough time to recover and we’ll find our footing with the triad.”

“I… Thank you.”

It reminded her a lot of what her husband would have done for her… This relationship thing was clearly working. And having two days to find a sort of routine should be enough for now. Getting up, she followed the goblin to the healing ward, where she lay down and prepared herself for the destruction of her compulsions. She could finally be free again!

And maybe then, the triad would be working as well!

Chapter Text

“Okay, so you only have to concentrate on the person you want to send a message to and it will open a kind of channel to us” Kefira explained. “Think of it like a radio signal.”

“A what?” Draco frowned and looked at their sister, while Harry sniggered. He ducked a flying pillow and looked over to Kefira who grinned at them.

She was sitting cross-legged on Harry’s bed while Draco leaned onto his own, sitting on the floor. Harry himself sat on the soft carpet sandwiched between Draco’s bed and his desk. Apparently, his brother had smuggled the carpet into his dormitory ever since first year. And while Severus seemed to know about it, he had never actually talked about it. It seemed to ground Draco whenever there was something difficult happening and he could sit down on it with a soft blanket. Most likely, it also reminded him of home.

Harry sighed and shook his head, running his hand over the carpet. “I tried. I’ve tried a million times, but the only link I can get is the feeling stuff. I don’t know how you can send all of this speech stuff to each other…”

Draco smiled at him. “Just keep trying, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it soon.”

“And… what if I don’t?” Harry asked quietly. “What if I’m like… not worth it? Maybe Lady Magic just blessed the two of you and I will just always be… a third wheel or something.”

Kefira almost jumped to her feet and was next to Harry so fast that she pretty much fell from the bed next to him. She pulled him into a tight hug and Draco was next to her in a second, hugging them both as well. Harry felt himself well up with tears and he buried his head in Kefira’s hug.

Draco rubbed his back and they stayed that way for a while. Finally, Harry took in a deep breath and rubbed his forehead, separating to get some distance from his siblings again. Not as much as they’ve had before, but he wanted to look at them and talk. “I’m sorry” he said quietly.

“Never apologize for something like that, brother dearest” Draco said and squeezed his hand. “You are absolutely in your right to feel how you do. I’m frankly annoyed at our sister for having perfected the sibling link without much practice.”

“To be honest” Kefira said and held her hands up in mock surrender, which made Harry chuckle a little, “I did spend every waking moment when I was paralyzed to work on the sibling’s link.” She grimaced, most likely unhappy with the memory of her moments frozen by the basilisk’s eyes.

Draco scoffed at that and rolled his eyes. “Even before, you always seemed to have a natural talent for the mind arts. Meanwhile, I had to practise for years without a real connection. Just the hope that one day, I could talk to you both. Or actually, you.” He motioned to Kefira, while Harry frowned slightly.

“What do you mean? Just Kefira?”

“I didn’t actually know if you were real or not” Draco admitted quietly. “Our parents only ever talked about Kefira being lost. They never mentioned you. One time, they were really drunk at Yule and they were talking about… everything. I was playing with my new toys and then they said how sad it was that Dove and Raven weren’t with me.”

He looked at the floor, as if lost in thought. Kefira placed her hand on his arm and he took a deep breath, looking back at her. Harry watched as Draco turned back to him and smiled openly. “I knew about Kefira, obviously, they never let me forget her. But I had never heard your name. So I asked who Raven was and they said that I had a little brother as well. They were really scared that you wouldn’t make it the first few days or weeks. And when you did, you were their little prince. Then, they looked at each other, tears rolling down their faces and they fell asleep. That was the only time they talked about you.”

Harry looked at him closely. “Do you think, maybe Lady Magic hasn’t given me the power, because I’m still referring to myself as ‘Harry’ and not ‘Raven’?”

“Maybe you just haven’t practiced enough” Kefira said as an option. “It’s supposedly a really hard trait. Many twins or triplets don’t do it, because it uses too much energy.”

“We probably shouldn’t use Kefira as our benchmark” Draco said and dodged an attack from their sister.

Harry sniggered, while Draco beamed at him, missing a flying cushion to his face from Kefira. He fell to the floor laughing as the cushion hit him and their sister looked smug.

“There are more where that came from!” she said and laughed when Draco threw it on his bed – where the other pillows lay that Kefira was probably referencing.

“Yes, I would hope so, they’re mine, aren’t they?”

Harry laughed at Draco’s dry humour and Kefira summoned another one, which she held over her head. “Say it again!” she dared him.

Draco summoned another pillow and Harry scooted all the way back to the wall, where he assumed he would be safe from the more than likely pillow fight that was about to start. And he was right, as Draco looked their sister dead in the eye. “These are my pillows, I would hope there are-“

Kefira threw her pillow at Draco who started a counter attack and in a mere second, there was chaos in the dormitory. Harry laughed, watching the feathers fly and he ducked as Draco threw his pillow towards him. He missed and while he was occupied and distracted, Kefira threw her own pillow over Draco’s head.

It was the most beautiful chaos, as Draco summoned another one to start attacking their sister again. And while they laughed, the sibling’s link emitted happiness and a sense of family, Harry decided that he would no longer hold onto the name ‘Harry James Potter’.

These people – Lily and James Potter – they weren’t his family. They were the reason that he ended up with people who hurt him, who hated him to their core.

No, he decided that even when he was thinking of himself, he would go with Raven. Because the family where Raven belonged to was a beautiful, happy family full of love, cheerfulness, and joy. Why would he ever want to think of himself as a Potter again?

If he was a Potter, he would have no parents, no siblings, and a demented serial killer (maybe?) as a godfather. As Raven Malfoy, he had two living parents who adored him, two siblings who kept creating chaos wherever they went and a godfather who was an amazing potions master and a very kind man, when you got to know him a bit better.

His decision was made rather quickly. Raven Malfoy it was. And it sounded pretty cool!

Bill apparated to Ireland and landed in the middle of a mud pile, with two laughing children after a second of silence. Snorting, he clambered out of the mud and ran after the two little redheads, Róis and Muriel. The children were laughing and calling for help from their brother or parents.

And so, Bill ran straight into Charlie who had come out of the house to look what was going on with his siblings. His former brother fell to the floor, laughing, as his sisters took off and were probably looking for their parents.

“Hello, nice to see you again” Charlie said, getting back up again. “Do you always run into people when you meet them?”

“You’re an idiot. And since you’re not my brother anymore, I truly mean it” Bill announced, dodging a carelessly created jinx. “Even magic is against you.”

“If you were my brother, I’d throw you back into that mud where you clearly apparated into” Charlie gave back and smirked. “Did you not realize that apparating in Ireland and certain parts of Scotland are a bit precarious?”

Bill sighed and shook his head. “I genuinely forgot. Gringotts has been sending me to warmer weathers for the last few weeks. I just came back from South Africa. Amy doesn’t have much time at the moment, so she’s sent me here for updates.”

Charlie laughed and nodded, holding the door open for him. “There you go. My sisters have probably alarmed Dad that there’s a visitor on our farm. He will be here shortly.”

“Dad?”

“Oh, Riagán to you, I assume. Arthur is around as well.”

It was nice to see and feel how well Charlie had adapted to his new life. To finally call Riagán ‘dad’ must have been a stepping stone, especially since Arthur was also around. There had to have been at least one serious discussion between them all.

He smiled at his former brother. “Good to know.”

Sitting down in the kitchen at the family-sized table, Bill accepted the tea that was on the stove. Charlie made himself a cup as well and sat down on the other side of it. “Romania has asked when I would return to their sanctuary” he sighed. “I just… I’m not sure if I should.”

Bill hummed at that. “What’s keeping you?”

“My new family!” Charlie answered and grinned at that. “If I were in Romania, I wouldn’t be close to them. And after all these years I want to get to know them even more. Róis and Muriel are so sweet and I think I’d miss them too much. And Amanda always makes sure I’m alright. I think it would feel wrong to go back.”

There were all sound points and Bill himself knew how hard it was to leave his family behind. Even though he did have an apartment in Diagon, Amelia had insisted that he’d live with her. Having to send Susan to Hogwarts had been incredibly hard already and whenever he would leave for a job, Amelia seemed to have to fight with herself.

So, he understood his brother very well. Then again, Romania wasn’t the only Dragon Reserve around. There were a few that were closer

“I mean, isn’t there one in Ireland?” Bill asked and took a sip of his tea.

“Yes” Charlie sighed. “But they only take the best of the best.”

Bill snorted. “And you think you don’t qualify for that? Charlie, how many scars… I’m pretty sure I’ve got more scars than you have. You’ve got skills with the dragons!”

It was clear that his former brother didn’t think so highly of himself, or he just didn’t want to be disappointed. But to Bill it was clear that the Irish dragon reserve would be happy to get such a highly skilled dragon handler as Charlie.

“Just apply, Charlie. The worst thing that could happen is that they say no. If you don’t apply, they’ve already said no. So, nothing really changes, right?”

Charlie sighed and shook his head, but he seemed to agree. “Fine! I’ll do it!”

Sniggering, Bill grabbed his tea and took a sip. Before long, the door was opened and the redheaded children appeared alongside Riagán, Amanda and Arthur. It seemed as if the whole family was here.

“Good morning, lad!” Riagán happily. “Glad you could join us.”

Amanda chuckled. “It’s late morning, if you could even call that morning” she said and grinned as her husband rolled his eyes. “Hey, Bill, how was South Africa?”

Bill sighed. “Too hot and too dangerous. And I’m not even talking about the wild life there! The tombs in Africa are another level and yes, I mean on the whole continent.”

“Really?” Róis asked and sat down with big eyes. Bill grinned at her and nodded, smartly not saying anything too traumatic he had witnessed there. The tomb he had been told to look at was one of the scarier and bloodier ones. They even somehow added an Inferi to guard it.

“I want to go to South Africa too!” Muriel said and turned to her parents. “Can we go there?”

Amanda and Riagán seemed out of their comfort zone. Bill chuckled and leaned over. “Why don’t I invite you with me? I’ve got a holiday coming up next week, let’s go to South Africa together.”

“What? Bill no, the farm needs to be worked on daily” Charlie said and shook his head. “And are you really planning on inviting everyone?”

Bill grinned. “Not everyone, but the children certainly. And then, everyone who wants to come along. Charlie.”

His former brother snorted. “I guess I’d have to come too, then.” His siblings cheered and Bill sniggered at that.

Riagán and Amanda seemed amused and the children’s parents quickly gave him their blessing to take them away for a week. Bill was already planning everything he was going to do with his brother and the children.

However, when the children went to play upstairs, the adults then finally turned to explain to him what had happened in the last few weeks and Bill had to honestly say that he was surprised by how much further they had come in all their plans.

Thanks to the Picquery’s world-wide positive image, their public support of Heir Babajide Akingbade as Supreme Mugwump in the next elections did wonders to the boy’s popularity. And it also helped that the young man seemed to be incredibly talented and helpful. He was currently traveling around the globe to different magical communities to talk to and figure out what troubled them. All on the Picquery’s dime.

It was incredible.

Due to Heir Akingbade’s popularity, Dumbledore didn’t have time for school board meetings, still trying to somehow combat the young man. Minerva McGonagall had been going to the meetings and helping Lucius Malfoy with destroying Dumbledore’s reputation there. They had already built some safer emergency systems and signed a bill that would send the children home, should another similar incident to the basilisk happen again.

Bill nodded at that. The children’s safety was his priority as well.

At the same time, Amelia and the other Lords and Ladies were tirelessly working on dismantling Dumbledore’s power within the Wizengamot and since once again, Dumbledore was too busy throwing mud at Heir Akingbade, he clearly didn’t notice. If he had, he would realise that Amelia had been talking to more wizards and finally gotten some reason into their heads. Dumbeldore had too much power, or how she phrased it ‘too many responsibilities’. They had looked at the entire law section that Dumbledore had pushed through and realized a scary pattern.

“He’s slowly trying to erase the creatures within the UK” Amanda explained with a dark glare. “He’s gotten the werewolves to the brink of political extinctions. Only one remains in the Wizengamot and he’s there, because his ancestors built it, basically. He’s a legacy.”

So the fact that Dumbledore had too much to do with Heir Akingbade was something like a blessing.

“Yeah, so you came much further than I did” Bill sighed. “The goblins haven’t come far with the Horcruxes. They were able to destroy it with goblin made weapons, but the fact that it is only a partial amount of the whole soul, they’re unsure of where to go from there.”

Riagán sighed. “That's what we're worried about, now, isn't it? It looks like it's goin' to turn into a waitin' game.”

“And now, with Sirius Black on the loose, who knows what will happen!” Amanda added to that.

Bill frowned at that. “What?”

He had heard the goblins talk about Sirius Black having entered their healing wards and how he was trying to get better. That frankly didn’t sound like the man was trying to hunt down Harry Potter and bring him to You-Know-Who.

“Um… I might know a few things about that” Bill said with a quick grin. “But the only thing I can say is that I do not believe Black is our enemy.”

Arthur who had stayed quiet until now frowned at him. “What do you mean? I heard he was trying to find Harry!”

Bill hummed at that. “I would be extremely surprised if that were to happen. No, I think, Black has something else motivating him to run away.”

“He escaped when the Minister gave him the newspaper of the Weasley’s problem” Amanda said with a frown. “He could be after them.”

“Yeah, but Molly’s in the Ministry, most of the time. He could have just gone there” Charlie said with a shrug.

Bill nodded. “And if he waited long enough, she probably will end up there as well. He could have just talked to her then, instead of running.”

“So, just keep an eye out for him” Riagán summarized. “Now, who wants cake?”

It was another ‘normal’ day. And yes, quotation marks around normal, since Raven was pretty sure there were no normal days for him. First, he was kidnapped as a baby with his sister, then he was put into the Potter household to serve as a prophecy child which he was pretty sure was fake. Then, he found his siblings again and needed to somewhat hide from Dumbledore’s manipulations…

Luckily, with everything going on outside of Hogwarts, the old fart was pretty busy every day, so he had less time glaring at Raven and his siblings and friends. In fact, they had all gotten rather close with all the houses. It was incredible!

The Slytherin guest room next to the Common Room was used practically daily by their group. Usually it was the twins who kidnapped the others and brought them there, however recently, Konstantin aka Percy had pulled a few fellow Gryffindors to the ‘dark side’ as the Slytherins liked to joke. Wood and a few of the Quidditch team had visited a few times and usually, the Quidditch talk had taken over then.

Ron had brought his Hufflepuffs with him, he seemed to be integrated incredibly well. Susan and Hannah were usually the ones to run over to Raven and talk to him about just anything on this earth. Kefira liked to join them and with Ron and Draco in one room, there was no boredom around.

The last time, Ron had changed his wizarding chess set to a mundane one, just to see Draco yelling at non-moving and non-talking pieces. Half the room was dying with laughter after Ron explained what he had done – not after about five minutes of Draco trying to start the game. It was hilarious and Draco’s retaliation had been just as funny.

They were growing closer with every passing day. Raven was sure that soon they would be spending every waking hour together.

Theo still pretended that his brother didn’t exist, which was also why he wasn’t ever part of the group in the visiting room, since nobody really wanted his depressed mood around. It wasn’t even the Dementors that did that to him…

Raven couldn’t understand how someone wouldn’t realize what kind of a person Ron was. He was amazing, smart, loyal, empathetic… how could Theodore Nott not see his brother as the incredible person he was?!

Graham and Ginny were also pretty much inseparable, though Ginny very much tried to distance her brother from her – in a joking manner, since Raven could tell that she absolutely adored her older brother. And vice versa. She still liked to prank him in front of the whole school and he obviously loved to somewhat yell at her in front of everyone, but if anybody was talking shit about the other sibling, they would defend them to death.

There were a lot of letters exchanged between the two oldest former Weasley siblings and the rest. Mostly Ron, since he clearly needed some sort of family, which Raven understood.

And well, then there was Zabini who for some reason also liked to stay around them. It wasn’t like Pansy who had declared herself the guardian of the group – funny since she wasn’t the oldest by far – but she took it seriously and made sure to keep an eye out for any and all dangers – read: Dumbledore. It worked like a well-oiled machine.

Daphne and her sister joined them usually as well, thought they also had other friends with which they would hang out or do their homework. It was fine and Raven knew that his group of former Weasley siblings, and Kefira and him, had another connection than just the train ride and Dementor attack.

Early in the morning a few days before December, Raven snuck out of the Common Room and knocked on his godfather’s door. Severus opened and smiled at him stepping back to allow entrance.

“Good morning, Raven. It’s quite early, why are you awake?” Severus asked and went to his little kitchenette in the corner to make some tea.

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “Couldn’t sleep. Also, Kefira was sleeping over.”

Severus chuckled. “I’m sure your sister wouldn’t like you telling on her.”

“She doesn’t mind” Raven said instead and grinned. “She was joking with Draco about it. And I think she wanted you to make a big statement. I haven’t quite heard if she wanted you to talk about in the Great Hall or just in the Common Room.”

Kefira had frankly done nothing of the sort. She had snuck in during the night, slipped into Draco’s bed and snuggled closer to their brother. That had worked for half an hour, before she got out of bed again to grab Raven and pulled him too into Draco’s bed. It was a bit too small for three children, but the triplets didn’t mind.

Well, Raven was a bit uncomfortable, but mostly because such close physical touch wasn’t something he was accustomed to and sometimes, it took a little bit until he grew comfortable with hugs. Kefira seemed to be unable to sleep, some upper years had been talking about family and Muggles and it seemed to have triggered her.

Draco had hugged her tightly and told her that they loved her, that he had loved her even when he didn’t know who his sister was. And Raven had just told her to go to the twins with the names of the people to be pranked. He didn’t know what else to say. He had never really been good at calming people.

It seemed to work, though. Or maybe it was a combined effort or just the fact that Kefira was with her brothers. Still, it was a sleepless night for Raven.

Severus placed a cup of tea in front of him and sat down on the other chair. “So, how are your classes?”

“Mostly fine” Raven said with a big grin. “I’m very happy with Arithmancy! Bill has sent me his old textbooks and some ideas from the goblins. I think they like me.”

His Head of House was laughing softly. “I agree. I have never heard of goblins taking a liking to a wizard, but they seem to respect Bill and from what I’ve heard, they seem to adore you. I mean, how can you not?”

“Sev!” Raven called out and hid himself behind his arms, like a child. His godfather laughed and placed a hand on his arm, squeezing softly.

“How are you feeling, other than too much schoolwork?” Severus asked then and smiled at him.

Raven smiled at the question. Not because he was feeling particularly good, he had felt well in the past few weeks, but mostly because he had family and siblings and a really good support system by now. No, he smiled because it was something so benign that made him feel happy.

“I’m okay. But I came here to ask you something.”

Severus waited, while Raven tried to sort his mind to the question he wanted to ask. But everything was a bit confusing and he seemed to be unable to get to his point. Finally, he decided to just go where his mind carried him. “You’re a professor, so you… study stuff, right?”

Chuckling, Severus nodded. “That’s a fair summary of what I do, Shadow, yes. Potions is a highly skilled profession which not many are able to understand, even fewer can master it.”

“So you know a lot of stuff, right?”

Severus seemed amused by him. He nodded and added, “I suppose you could say that. I’ve certainly learned a few things over the years. Is that your question?”

Raven sniggered at that and shook his head. “No, not really. I was just wondering what the weirdest thing was that you’ve ever learnt.”

Severus halted in the middle of taking a sip from his tea and placed it back on the table. He hummed thoughtfully. He seemed to be thinking carefully, before he answered; “Well, there are a few things, and especially potions is as peculiar as it is extraordinary. However, I assume the oddest thing I’ve learnt is the theory of retrocausality. It is something the Muggles have recently learnt and detected and it’s highly complicated.”

“Can you explain it to me?” Raven asked and frowned, never having heard the theory of retro-something.

“Of course, it’s basically the idea that the future can influence the past.”

Raven frowned. “How so? Shouldn’t that be impossible?”

Severus nodded at that with a chuckle. “It could simply be our limited understanding of time that makes it seem impossible. It’s almost like time travel, but in reverse.”

“But… how would that work?” Raven was officially confused. How had the Muggles even thought of something like that?!

“They’re still trying to figure everything out.”

Raven hummed and narrowed his eyes. “Is this some kind of reverse psychology? Narcissa tried it with Kefira once. It didn’t work.”

Severus laughed softly and shook his head. “All I’m trying to say with that is that everything is possible, if you put your mind to it, Shadow. I know you want to be a Curse Breaker, maybe one day the knowledge that something like that exists can help you.”

“I highly doubt that” Raven answered with a grin.

Before he could continue, a knock at the door made Severus get up. He opened it and Raven could see his siblings standing outside. Before they were even able to say something, he got up and hugged Severus.

“Thank you for the talk!” he said happily and joined his siblings.

Before he was out of hearing range, he could hear his godfather talking to himself. “This boy is going to destroy my reputation as a feared professor.”

Raven sniggered as he followed Kefira and Draco up to the Great Hall. Outside, Graham was once again waiting, though his eyes seemed to be trained on the stairs down.

“Have you seen my sister?” he asked them.

Kefira rolled her eyes. “Maybe she’s inside again? You do know that she has help from the twins who know the castle inside out, right?”

Graham frowned. “She can’t be…” he walked over to the doors, before starting to curse silently, but harshly. Raven sniggered at that and walked into the Great Hall as well. There she sat, Ginny, at the Slytherin table talking to Pansy and a clearly abducted Neville Longbottom, as well as Ron. The twins were leaning over a parchment, discussing something secret again. They seemed to have a good time.

“I like it here” Raven said with a snigger as they watched Graham march up to his sister.

Remus came to a halt, huffing and puffing. He bent over, groaning, and placed his hands on his knees, letting his head fall forward. “Oh Merlin, what was I thinking?” he murmured to himself, between breaths.

Behind him, he heard a soft laugh and Remus groaned again looking back behind him. “Stop laughing.”

Severus reached him and stopped running, but started walking instead, still with a grin on his handsome face. “Never immediately stop after a run, Lupin. Come on now, your body won’t thank you for that.”

He reached out and pulled Remus with him, walking for a little bit again. Severus’ hand on his arm was warm and strong. It felt… nice. Remus’ body was already stiff and tired. He growled, but walked next to Severus. “My body already isn’t thanking me for this idea. Why did I think I could make it around the lake? I haven’t been able to do so in the past few weeks. When are these thirty days over?”

“You’re improving” Severus said and shrugged his shoulders. He was still holding onto Remus, as if he thought that the moment he let go, Remus would stop following him. Which frankly, yes he would.

“I didn’t even make it around half of the lake” Remus countered and sighed. His breathing was still heavy, but he was at least able to hold a normal conversation. “How you can do this twice before lessons is beyond me.”

Severus laughed easily. It was crazy how different he was, when he wasn’t shoved to the ground inside of Hogwarts. It was as if he was someone else entirely. And Remus liked what he saw. Even if he was keeping him from running around the lake, Severus had decided to stay with him, which he truly didn’t have to.

“You will manage in time” Severus said, reasoning with him. “I hadn’t been able to do it on my first try. And I’ve been at it, practically since sixth year.”

“Wait, really?” Remus was surprised about that.

Severus grinned at him. “Come on, a bit more running. I know you can do it. You’re breathing a bit slower now. See the treeline over there?” He pointed at the trees in about 600 feet distance.

Remus groaned. “You intend on killing me, I see.”

Chuckling, Severus shook his head. “Just a little, maybe. Come on, we run there and then you can apparate back and I’ll finish the run.”

“You’re a monster.”

“Oh, absolutely. I’m a monster of stamina and endurance. Now come on!”

Remus groaned loudly, but followed Severus who jogged in front of him. “I’m starting to think you’re not actually human!” he called between breaths again.

Severus started running faster with incredible form and Remus tried to keep up, while laughing and running. It was impossible. His legs felt like they were made from lead, his lungs were burning and it seemed as if he couldn’t breathe in any air at all. He slowed down, trying to get his breathing under control anymore, though it seemed as if Severus had noticed it.

“Pull, pull, pull, come on, you can do it!” he called and slowed down as well, before he turned around to get Remus. He grabbed his hand and made him run with him. “We’re almost there!”

“I’m going to die!” Remus breathed harshly, seeing the treeline come closer at very little speed.

Severus snorted. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you fall.”

Remus laughed, chocked on whatever and started a coughing fit. He stumbled over his own feet and fell to the ground, where Severus actually managed to catch him. Letting him sit down, Severus burst out laughing and walked backwards until his back was against a tree.

“I did not know I could get you off your feet that easily” Severus said with a wink, once he was done laughing. “And we didn’t even manage to reach the trees.”

Falling on his back, Remus closed his eyes, still breathing heavily. “I’m done for today. I’m done forever.”

When Severus chuckled, Remus opened his eyes again and turned his head to look at the Slytherin. The man seemed amused to no end. “You’re such a drama queen, wolf. I’m not giving up on you. You said four weeks.”

“That was before I knew how strict you were.”

Severus smirked and walked closer again. He held out a hand and Remus groaned again, before accepting it and getting back to his feet. Severus grabbed him closely and apparated both of them to the spot next to the lake, where for some reason, the apparition spell had broken in their youth.

Remus sighed, happy to see the castle again, but worried that he had to walk up the hill to reach it. He then looked at Severus. “What about your run? You can’t just stop doing it, because of me.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m very relaxed at the moment. I don’t need to finish my run to know that it’s going to be a good day.”

Humming at that, Remus sent him another look, before he turned and steeled himself for the climb. Severus walked next to him and grabbed his hand, which made Remus freeze. He looked at the Slytherin, who seemed to pretend that everything was fine. Grinning, Remus squeezed his hand and they walked up to the castle.

Holding Severus’ hand gave Remus the necessary strength to make it. And once they entered the castle, they went to their separate quarters to shower. Remus caught Severus turning to look before he descended the stairs and it made him feel butterflies.

He grinned like a teenager in love, all the way to his quarters.

When he opened the door, however, he froze on the spot. “Remus, my boy. Where have you been?”

Chapter Text

Remus placed a faked smile on his face and stepped into his personal quarters. “Hello Albus” he said with barely contained rancour. He didn’t know exactly why he hated the headmaster more each day, but it probably was everyone around Remus showing how much they disliked him. And for some reason, all of the years questioning the headmaster came back.

Why was he the only werewolf at Hogwarts? How did no one ever realize that he was actually a werewolf? They had some very close calls and people who almost figured it out, but never confronted him. Why was the headmaster so obsessed with him? And with Harry as well.

“Where have you been?” Albus asked, looking a little sour.

Remus looked down at himself, seeing his sweaty attire and frowned, looking back up at Albus. “I went running.”

Albus seemed perplexed. “Why?”

Snorting at the genuine confusion the headmaster showed him, Remus shrugged his shoulders. “It’s healthy to do some exercise. Now then, why are you in my personal quarters? I’m pretty sure the only person supposed to open them is the person who they are magically added to.”

He left out the part where he was about to accuse Albus of adding himself to the personal quarters of the DADA professor. He probably had been doing that forever. Maybe he was the reason for the ‘curse’. After all, it did make Remus uncomfortable knowing that Albus could enter his home whenever he pleased.

Albus shrugged his shoulders. “Well, as headmaster I can enter any and all personal quarters so do not worry.”

Oh no, Remus worried more now. Where could and would he enter if he knew it would bring him profit? The children’s dormitories? Remus’ mind went to dark places and he narrowed his eyes, watching the headmaster as closely as never before.

The way he held himself was with a certain unearned authority. As if he himself thought that nobody would ever be able to touch him, find his ark secrets. He spoke carelessly, even with a certain sloppy attitude that no one would ever see in the most powerful wizard of the world, really. His clothes appeared to be clean and soft, but there were all these wrinkles and clean spelt dirt… how long had he been wearing this?

Remus frowned and looked back at Albus, realizing that his facial expression had changed quite severely. He seemed to realize that Remus knew or figured out a few things. The two men looked at each other for a while, before Albus changed his stance.

A werewolf growl only barely managed to form, before Remus could swallow it. Too close to the full moon, clearly. But it meant something else. His werewolf was protecting him… Albus was trying to do something.

Closing his eyes, Remus took a deep breath. He was able to scent magic in the air, whenever he was close to the full moon. Another secret, very useful and amazing thing as a werewolf. And again something he had realized when his pack had been destroyed.

So now, as his werewolf brain was working hard to figure out what kind of magic Albus had wanted to use on him, he listened to the noise in his quarters. Since he had his eyes closed, he knew that he was an easy target for the old fool. He would rather not be used for something else.

“Have you found Harry Potter yet?” Albus suddenly asked.

Again, Moony could scent magic and this one was easier to figure out than the first one. It was a truth-magic thing. Used on children whenever they argued with the parents about having broken or eaten something. An adult could easily escape this magic, so there had to be something else woven into it.

Remus opened his eyes again. “No. I don’t think he’s anywhere near Hogwarts to be frank.”

He watched dissatisfaction cross Albus’ face for a second, before he was back to his normal grandfather figure.

“Well then, that’s all” he said with a forced smile, before he walked out. As he did so, the strange magic that Moony was examining washed over them both again and Remus shuddered just as his werewolf seemed to come to a conclusion ‘mind magic’.

Remus snorted and locked his door with several high-end charms he had used during the war, before he made his way to the showers.

“Does he think a werewolf is perceptive to mind magic?” he asked himself loudly, as he got ready to jump under the water. Werewolves could fight off any and all compulsions and whatever else Moony understood as 'mind magic'. “Or did he do something else and because it was masked by the mind magic, we can’t pick up on it?”

He stared at the wall as the water rushed over him. Then, he shrugged and decided to have his personal quarters swept for foreign magic. And he would go and visit Severus to do a check on him. If there was one person he would trust to take care of him, it would be the sour potions master.

And yes, that was the only reason why he wanted to go and visit him. Yes, certainly.

Remus grinned to himself. Why was he trying to tell himself that?

He was hoping to get closer to Severus for a while now and maybe by going down there after his shower, he would finally manage to sneak a kiss?

“I’m such a love-stuck teenager” Remus murmured to himself, but couldn’t help but grin dumbly. Oh yes, he was. A thousand percent in love with Severus Snape.

At Malfoy Manor, Narcissa had been working in the garden in one of the family greenhouses, when the elves alerted her that someone had arrived in the floo room. They seemed calm about the alert, so Narcissa was sure that the person to have come through was either Lucius or Minerva. And since the house elves wouldn’t have ‘alerted’ her to her own husband, the only other option was Minerva.

Narcissa cleaned her hands and got up to walk into the manor. As she entered, she found Lucius and Minerva in the middle of a light-hearted duel of wit. It was amusing to watch the two people she liked the most (of the adults, one must note), try to mischievously outdo the other.

“If you’re so sure the old fool won’t miss you, why don’t you stay the night?” Lucius offered with a cheeky wink.

Minerva blushed immediately and clearly tried to come up with an excuse. Narcissa chuckled and closed the door to the garden outside. The Hogwarts professor clearly noticed her and seemingly hoped that she would help her, which she gracefully decided to do… for now at least.

“Lucius, let Minerva enter before you try to take her to bed” she said with a chuckle, deepening the blush on their guest.

Their man turned to her with a flirtatious look. “May I take you to bed then?”

“Tempting, but it’s the middle of the day and we are awaiting guests” Narcissa answered drily, but with a wink.

“How very unlucky” Lucius answered, equally as flirty. “Is there another tempting offer I can seduce you two with?”

Narcissa chuckled at the clearly flustered deputy headmistress. “How about ice cream?”

Minerva sighed. “How did I end up here? I’m not sure where my life has turned around that I won’t run from this immediately.”

The two others laughed and Narcissa walked over to grab Minerva’s hand. “I’m glad you’re not running, Minerva. I’m always happy to welcome you in our home.”

The professor chuckled softly, obviously still a bit uncomfortable with everything. They had their discussion a few days ago and it seemed to always come down to the age difference. Minerva seemed reluctant simply because she was older than Narcissa and Lucius. And while they had done as much as they could, they knew that in the end, Minerva had to decide what to do. Maybe, hopefully, she would realize that age was just a number for the three of them. They were all consenting adults and had pretty much nothing else going against them. Bar the children, but Narcissa and Lucius would be talking to them over Yule.

“There’s a good cup of tea in the family room” Narcissa said and lead their partner through the house. “Surely you cannot resist that.”

“Oh, who could ever resist some good tea?” Minerva asked, easily. She was obviously trying, which made Narcissa’s heart melt.

“Lucius, care to join us? Sitting next to me on the sofa. Surely you cannot resist such a tempting offer?”

Her husband chuckled, his grin widening as he met her challenge. "Tempting indeed, my love. But I'm afraid I'm equally smitten with your captivating companion.”

His words drew a delighted gasp from Minerva who looked over her shoulder as Lucius was following them. Her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue as she met Lucius’ gaze, her eyes twinkling with affection. That was something else that had happened in the last few weeks. She had openly shown her affection to the two of them, which again was something that made Narcissa rejoice.

“Oh, you flatterer,” Minerva said and turned back towards the room they were walking towards. Narcissa beamed, happy to know that their other member in the triad felt a bit more comfortable around them.

As they reached the family room, tea was ready to be served and Narcissa opened the door, while Lucius swooped in and guided Minerva to the table. The professor seemed amused and chuckled as her husband pulled the chair back so she could sit.

“Well, well, well,” she drawled, her voice dripping with amusement. “It seems I've been outnumbered. Two against one, hm?”

Lucius turned and grinned at her. “Well, that happens when you let your husband alone for too long. I’m just happy that there is another sweet lady I can spend time with.”

Minerva seemed amused, but she still rolled her eyes at their antics. “As much fun as it seems to be serenaded by both of you, I came here for slightly different reasons.”

Narcissa chuckled as she watched Lucius light up. Clearly, Minerva had just unconsciously given him another idea of how to romance her and it delighted Narcissa to no end to think that her husband would find a musical piece. Though clearly, she also wanted to be part of it.

That would need to wait for another time.

“What’s the purpose of your visit then?” she asked instead.

“Albus knows about your children and he has been trying to get them to talk to him.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes. “Alone?”

Minerva shook her head. “No, not really. He seems to think that he can get around the enemy statements, if he corners them in the hallways. He had been trying to talk to Dove that way. Raven seems to be secure from his ways, since he’s practically never alone anywhere where Albus would be looking for him.”

“And Kefira?” Narcissa asked, fear in her heart. If the idiotic headmaster would take her children away again, he would finally learn why you should never mess with a Black. And while she was a Malfoy at the moment, she was still a Black at heart, she knew what she had learnt as a child and teenager.

“She took him down” Minerva chuckled at that. “She confronted him with everything he ‘publicly’ did, since they shouldn’t have any other knowledge. Albus tried to make her slip up, but she attacked him with knowledge we all know, she never stumbled.”

Pride filled Narcissa as she heard how well her daughter had handled the situation. Lucius on the other hand seemed thoughtful.

“I cannot oppose him with that knowledge since Kefira hasn’t actually written about that. He would know that we had a spy in his ranks” he said contemplatively. There was a truth in his thoughts, surely, however, that could be circumvented.

“You could” Narcissa offered instead. “Dumbledore knows we’re close friends with Severus. And Kefira is a Slytherin, Severus is her Head of House. He could have talked to us.”

Lucius hummed at that. “True.” He looked at Minerva with a soft smile. “Would he know about that?”

“If she told him, yes. However, she asked me to stay silent when I witnessed it, so I doubt she’s been talking about it – to anyone, I assume.”

“We can pretend Severus has written us” Lucius said and nodded to himself. “The next meeting of the Wizengamot is in two days. I will bring it up and ask the Lords and Ladies to judge Dumbledore’s punishments. Even if he still is our Chief Warlock, he hasn’t changed the ruled and regulations that means he can’t be punished for ignoring the Enemy Houses.”

Narcissa leaned back, satisfied with what happened. “We’ll talk about it with Kefira over Yule.”

Minerva nodded and smiled, before she changed the topic slightly. “How come you call her Kefira and not Dove?”

Lucius took a sip of his tea. “She asked us to not call her Dove, since she didn’t really like the picture of what her name meant.”

“I think she likes to think of herself as a little lion” Narcissa explained. “It probably keeps her close to Gryffindor, somehow making sure that her first two years at Hogwarts weren’t bad ones.”

“Well, I’m glad that she thinks that way” Minerva said softly, sighing to herself. “How did I not see this coming?”

“How could you?” Lucius asked instead and shook his head. “A whole family abducted? No one would have realized that, since they were all so perfectly behaving like a family.”

Narcissa chuckled. “And to think that the only way this happened was because Kefira messed up a potion? It’s a true blessing in disguise.”

In all his classes, Raven was getting better marks than ever. That was probably due to having Draco and Kefira as his siblings. Both were studying whenever they could and… it was enticing Raven to do so as well. Even Ron had joined them, though mostly to keep Draco from studying, which was funny to watch.

The last two weeks of December had arrived and Ron had successfully managed to ban Draco and Kefira from the library after starting an unimportant argument that had all three of them laughing, whenever they weren’t angry at Ron for having banned them.

“I have never been banned from any library!” Kefira said loudly as she entered the Common Room, where Raven had been doing his homework with Pansy, Daphne and Zabini. He had finished all his essays early – a true Yule miracle – and was just proof reading them and swapping them out with his classmates.

They looked up with interest and Raven grinned. “What happened?”

“Alden got us banned” Draco explained and rolled his eyes. “And that is as far as I’m willing to explain to an audience. You can come and hear the whole story tonight.”

Raven sniggered at that. “Is it so bad?” he asked, seeing Draco flush and Kefira rolling her eyes.

Daphne snorted and shook her head. “You two are idiots. At least Raven was smart enough to do his homework somewhere where not many people from other houses can enter.”

“Unless we abduct them” Fred said who had been sitting in front of the fire, lazily going through a new joke shop magazine. Raven had a bet going with Kefira that he had already ordered half of the things he had looked at.

George next to his brother sniggered and looked up. “Should we get Alden in here?” he asked jokingly.

“No!” several people called out, loudest of them Draco himself.

Raven snorted. He knew that none of the people were actually against Ron. It was just the fact that he could be very talkative and had a way to make people listen to him that would keep them from paying attention to their own things – like homework.

“Not that I care” was another voice that immediately froze the entire playful banter and Raven glared over his shoulder to the other end of the room, where Nott sat and worked on his own homework.

He wasn’t the only one who glared, as Draco and Kefira threw dark looks his way. Even Pansy and Daphne were annoyed at him. Fred got up and strode through the room. The closer he got to Nott, the quieter the room got. George stood up as well, but didn’t move. He stayed back, as if to watch over the situation from afar.

Finally, Fred stopped in front of Theodore Nott. “You got something to say, say it to my face.”

“Why?” Nott asked, not even looking up. “It’s not against you, so why should you care?”

They all knew why Fred wasn’t happy, but in the middle of the Slytherin Common Room, in front of several people who had no clue who the hidden Weasley siblings were, they couldn’t say it out loud. Nott clearly took advantage of that.

“Well, maybe it’s the fact that we have gotten to know Alden very well and we like him. He’s a brother to us. And by the looks of it, we’re better brothers than you are.” Fred’s voice was pure poison.

Nott calmly continued to write something down, before he placed his quill softly on the table and got up, looking at Fred almost challengingly. “Then take him back” he said, clearly offering his brother up. “I never wanted a brother, I was happy when I was alone.”

“You were never happy” Draco said loudly, still standing next to Raven’s table, glaring at the brown-haired boy.

Returning the glare, Nott pointed at Draco. “You are not part of this discussion, so stay the fuck out of it! Just because you like your siblings doesn’t mean I have to like mine.”

That statement alone had turned into a huge shouting match from all of the Slytherins, some of which liked their siblings and others who didn’t. Raven had packed his things and pulled his own siblings out of the Common Room towards the kitchen (which the twins had shown them a few weeks ago).

Draco was clearly fuming and only calmed down over ice cream which the house elves were thankfully providing. “I like my siblings and Alden! Why doesn’t Theodore see that he’s an amazing guy?!”

“There has to be something else behind his pureblood mask” Kefira said and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe if we find out why he hates Ron, we might be able to… somehow undo his hatred?”

Raven nodded along, before he turned to his brother. “So, now that we’re alone, what did he do that got you banned?”

Kefira sniggered as Draco turned red. As it turned out, Ron had bought a chess book from the Muggle world – thanks to Kefira’s help – and had with the help of the book explained all of the moves that had Draco lost his win in the last few weeks of playing chess. And Draco had gotten so agitated that he had attacked Ron with the book. Madam Pince mistaking the book for the library one had administered a library ban for Ron and Draco for mishandling the research material and Kefira for not stepping in and saving the book. Even when she realized that it wasn’t one of the library books, she had insisted on banning them for the rest of December because-

“We apparently didn’t show appreciation to the books” Draco said and shrugged his shoulders, red as a tomato.

Raven sniggered as he shared a look with his sister. Did Draco not realize that he may like Ron more than just a friend? Why else would he be so agitated when Ron would pull a move like that? If that had happened to Raven, he would have just tried to turn the discussion to something where Ron didn’t exceed in and the whole playing field would be even again.

Kefira just shrugged her shoulders, clearly having guessed what Raven was thinking.

Not long after that discussion, Raven left them again and went in search of his godfather. They had another meeting scheduled for today, just to see how well Raven was doing. Though in reality, Raven knew that Severus just wanted to spend a little time with him. Or maybe he knew that Raven wanted to spend time with him.

As he knocked on the door, it was opened shortly thereafter from another professor who hurried out. Raven looked after Professor Lupin who seemed to almost run through the halls, before he turned back to the now open door and Severus standing there, his face in one of his hands.

“Was he just so desperate to make it obvious?” Severus muttered to himself, which made Raven snigger. His godfather looked up and rolled his eyes. “Come on in, Raven, I seemed to have lost track of time.”

Raven entered and closed the door, concealing his amusement. “Lost track of time? What was Professor Lupin doing here? And why would he run out as if he was hunted by a hungry lion?”

Severus sighed and turned to his little kitchenette. “Not sure if I should say something if you’re asking these questions.”

“Well, the upper years think you’re sleeping with Professor Lupin.” Raven saw Severus losing grip on the glass and he only barely caught it with magic before it would have shattered the floor. He grinned watching his godfather trying to pull it together. It was so obvious.

“Really?” Severus said, clearly trying to sound uninterested, but to Raven at least it was clear that his godfather had a thing for the DADA professor. That at least meant that he could trust Professor Lupin. Severus wouldn’t be stupid enough to trust someone unreliable. Or maybe that was what love did to someone?

Raven’s eyes flashed amusedly. “Do you know that Draco had a betting pool going?”

Severus groaned and turned around. “Oh no. Please tell me you’re joking.”

Shaking his head, Raven grinned wider. “The bets are currently that you and Professor Lupin will be an official pairing by Yule. Kefira is betting on Easter and the twins have been betting on Valentine’s Day. And I should probably warn you that they will try everything in their power to win.”

“Which is terrifying” Severus said, leaning against the sink. “And what have you been betting on?”

Raven chuckled. “I’m betting on all of us being blind and that you two are already a couple. Did you kiss him first or did he do it?”

Severus groaned. “Why am I professor at a school full of curious children again?” he muttered to himself, which made Raven snigger.

“Because you love us?” he offered innocently, to which he received a dark unimpressed look that made him snigger more.

“One of these days, you will end up as potion ingredients and your parents won’t be able to stop me.”

“But Sev, you love me too much for that!” Raven protested to which Severus chuckled.

“For now.”

Raven laughed, knowing that Severus would never do that to him, unless he had lost his mind. “Really for now, Sev, are you an official couple or not?”

Severus rolled his eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, Shadow, but not yet. It seems that though I have been trying anything, it just doesn’t seem to work.”

Raven tilted his head. Tried everything? Clearly not.

“Have you tried spelling it out for him? Maybe he’s just as unsure himself and doesn’t know how to ask you out himself.”

“Why are you… no, I’m not taking dating advice from a thirteen-year-old.”

Raven laughed loudly and grinned at his godfather. “Tell him! Say ‘I like you, will you be my boyfriend?’. You don’t even have to say more, he’s clearly into you. And we already know about you two and none of the Snakes have anything against you.”

“One more word and you’re potions ingredients.”

“You’re so in looove” Raven teased his godfather.

“Potions ingredients!” Severus called out and grabbed Raven bridal style to carry him over to the potions lab. Raven was laughing so hard that he was crying.

They only made it halfway there, before Severus stopped in the private hallway and let him down again, laughing as well. Raven was pulled into a hug and he felt a kiss on his hair. It made him feel so safe and loved and like everything was going to be okay now.

“You’re an idiotic godson” Severus said, though his voice betrayed his statement. Raven looked up, beaming at him.

“What potion should we brew today?” he asked instead of arguing and Severus brushed his hair back.

“Let’s see what you’re interested in.”

Chapter Text

Deep in the Gringotts healing ward, Sirius was being treated for so many magical problems that by the end of the first week, he had practically no magic left that was safe for use. The compulsions, the magical leeches, the Dementor burns on his magic, everything had gotten to a boil and when he had apparated there, he had lost consciousness. Thankfully, he had been able to ask for help before blacking out.

The goblins had taken him in and kept him alive. They helped him training his magic, being able to live without the compulsions on him, they healed his magical burns and destroyed the leeches. And all the way, Sirius realized that the goblins weren’t just helping him magically, they were training him.

As soon as he had half his magic back, they employed several goblins to teach him the weaponry and Muggle defences. He realized quickly that by training his body, his magic grew stronger much faster. And so that was what he did.

He trained.

He fought the goblins every day – a new one each and every day – he took to running around the medical ward and was soon allowed to enter the goblin work out area which was much larger and offered him different running areas, even with the option of adding obstacles. He used that feature every other.

Soon, he had also been climbing inside the goblin fighter ranks. After a harsh two weeks, he was able to outperform the usual goblins who would fight with him and he had been told to fight inside the training area, so that the goblins could observe and continue to better his techniques.

Sirius did whatever he could to make sure he was in shape and ready to fight. He hadn’t even used magic yet, though he realized that it wasn’t itching to escape. The hard training and exercise were keeping him sane. And he loved the fact that in the evening, he was contently tired.

He had gotten so good with sword fights and arrows that the goblins had offered to forge him his very own weapons, to which he was over the moon with. He had wondered briefly what the goblins were building him towards, but he decided that whatever it was, he was grateful for their attention. And he would do whatever it was they wanted him to do.

A couple of weeks later, now it was a week before Yule, and Sirius had mastered the language of Gobbledygook so far that he could pick up nuances in the language. The goblins were clearly impressed and had been training him even harder and he had received a personal goblin trainer that wasn’t only keeping up with his daily exercise but also his meal intake and made sure that he had enough sleep.

A few days later, Sirius was officially gifted with a goblin made sword and bow. He bowed deeply as he received the sword, beautifully decorated with different gemstones only found in the deepest of Gringotts. The arrows had feathers of magical creatures unknown to any wizard or witch in Great Britain. And their heads were made of animal bones, carefully carved with runes.

Sirius was baffled as to what his life had turned to.

“Is there anything you want me to do for you?” Sirius asked in Gobbledygook.

“Our wish is that you make sure our friends in the wizarding world are safe” his personal trainer Goldthumb said calmly. “You have been training on your own free will, this is our gift to you for respecting our culture and customs. No pact required.”

Sirius was dumbfounded. All his life, he had been trained to believe that the goblins would do the worst deals for any witch or wizard and now, there he was… a trained fighter in goblin style, a part of the goblin army even, and all they told him to do was to make sure that their friend were safe?

His family would have laughed if he had told them what had happened. They would have accused him of keeping a secret stipulation hidden from them, but… apparently, his need for exercise and work out had somehow helped him out.

Bowing once more, Sirius nodded. “I will do that. It’s the least I can do.”

“As an official warrior in the goblin army, you will receive your goblin name” Goldthumb said with a grin on his face. “We asked every goblin who had contact with you and we came to the conclusion of naming you Ironjaw.”

Sirius widened his eyes, before he bowed again. “Thank you.”

Another goblin joined them and grinned at them. “There’s someone here to take you a secure location. A friend of the nation.”

“The parent of the person you’re supposed to protect with your training” Sharkfang explained as well and nodded. Then they bid goodbye and Sirius followed the goblin up to the sunlight again.

That was the one thing he had missed the most… the direct sunlight. In the depts of Gringotts, they had somehow managed to get sunlight in, but it was mostly through several mirror and there was not much fresh air.

As they walked closer to the surface, Sirius grew more and more nervous. Who was the family of the person he needed to keep safe? Would they know who he was? He did look different than before, yes, but… he was still Sirius Black.

They finally reached the surface after fifteen minutes of climbing stairs and Sirius looked around interested. It was still the inner workings of the bank, but it was clear that witches and wizards could walk these floors – with goblin chaperon obviously.

The goblin opened the door of an office and Sirius froze. Inside, he could see his cousin, Narcissa. She had been talking to the goblin behind the desk, but when the door opened, she turned and sent him a smile. It was a gentle one, the one that meant she was taking it easy on whoever was on the receiving end of it.

“Sirius, you look well” she said, in a language that seemed foreign to Sirius’ ears, even though he knew that she was obviously talking English – his native language.

“Um… Hi Cissa” Sirius said, once he had sorted his languages in his brain. “Long time no see.”

English still sounded weird to his ears and his mind was also trying to switch back to Gobbledygook. Oh great…

Narcissa’s eyes moved to the sword on his hips and the bow and arrow across his shoulders. “He’s not stealing them, is he?” she asked the goblin behind the desk who laughed at it. He shook his head and beckoned Sirius to enter, which he did quickly.

“Let me introduce to him, this is Lord Sirius Orion Black, known to the Nation as Ironjaw” the goblin said with a proud look in his eyes. “He is practically the equivalent of a Muggle Colonel in our army.”

Narcissa was clearly impressed, even if Sirius was sure that she didn’t know what rank a Colonel held. Nevertheless, his cousin quickly finished the talk with the goblin discussing things that Sirius had no idea about, even though he spoke Gobbledygook.

Then, they once again walked through the hallways towards the apparition point, Narcissa took him to the one place he had never wanted to go to…

Malfoy Manor.

Raven had had this uncertain weird emotion coming through their sibling link all day long, most likely stemming from Kefira. So after dinner, where she unlike the previous days didn’t show up, the two brothers went to look for her.

Draco had tried to talk to her through the link, but she hadn’t responded so far. Their first stop was the library, where luckily, they found her hidden away from most people’s view sitting in the corner behind a mountain of books. It was like she was actively trying to bury herself in her books.

Raven slipped into the seat next to hers and looked at her carefully. She sighed without looking up, having clearly and correctly guessed who had just found her.

“I don’t want to go home” Kefira said weakly, her eyes glaring at the words on the pages. She had probably been looking at the same page for hours.

Draco frowned. “Why not? You were fine there during summer, right?”

Kefira nodded and Harry felt incredible sadness rushing through their sibling’s link. There should be a way to open this thing up for more discussions, right?! Somehow, he should be able to talk to his siblings!

“It’s Yule” Kefira said softly, barely a whisper. “Christmas always reminds me of my family. And now that I know I was kidnapped, all of their affections were just faked, I… I feel empty. I’m not sure how to feel about Yule, about our parents.”

Raven could somewhat relate. “I’ve never really had a proper Christmas” he told her and when she looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders. “The Muggles would always lock me away and celebrate with themselves. I always looked in from the outside. It’s going to be my first propre Yule as well.”

His sister sent him a quick, sad smile, while Draco sighed. “I hate what they did to both of you. We’re going to have the best Yule ever, I will promise you that!”

“I think the hardest part will be the presents” Kefira admitted softly. “I’ve never received something I actually wanted. Looking back, it’s incredibly clear that my fake parents were just scared of me. They probably thought that if I got what I wanted, I’d turn bad. I didn’t even get all the books I would have liked.”

She was silent, as if something specific was on her mind, before she sighed again. Raven suddenly had this vision in his head, through the sibling link. A young-looking Hermione, first year Hogwarts probably looking around in one of the bookstores in Diagon Alley. She saw countless books that she wanted, but he could feel her interest going to a law book and a book about goblin etiquettes. Her parents pulled her away and Raven could see their fear in their eyes.

Once the quick vision or memory ended, Raven looked over to their brother and could see him looking like he had made a decision. She would probably get two more books for Christmas, Raven concluded with a quick grin.

Instead of saying something, Harry moved closer to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Kefira gasped, as if not expecting a touch, before she hugged him as well. And their jealous brother obviously had to squish himself in this hug as well, much to their muffled laughter.

“We’re all going to have the best Christmas or Yule ever” Raven then stated. “Because it’s the first time, where we’re together again! I’m sure our parents are also a bit emotional at the moment.”

Their parents being emotional and nervous was an understatement. Not only was it the first time for them to celebrate with all their children, their perfect triplets, but it was also the time where they would have to tell them a few secrets. Namely that they were trying to start a Triade with Minerva McGonagall or why Sirius Black was staying over.

Sirius had offered to stay away for the family function but both Narcissa and Lucius had argued against that. He was around to protect their Raven, the goblins had said so. If he would do anything to their boy, not only would he have to face the goblins, but them as well.

And Sirius knew that this was a bad idea. Just as well as Narcissa knew that her cousin was a changed man. And Lucius, well he trusted his wife and he knew that she would never do anything that would endanger the children’s wellbeing. So, they all came to the conclusion that nobody was going to hurt anyone and they were going to live with each other for a while.

Finally, the Yule holidays had arrived and Narcissa and Lucius left Sirius in charge of their home for an hour, to pick up their children. Sirius didn’t mind, since he liked to keep up with his fitness. The Malfoys had shown him the running tracks that led through Muggle territory, close-by. It was a run by a lake, through a forest and up a hill, before going off-road through the thick of another forest. Sirius liked that one the most, especially with a thin layer of snow, like right now.

Narcissa and Lucius meanwhile stood at the train station, nervously. They both were, though they were showing it in different ways. Narcissa was wringing her hands softly, while Lucius glanced at his watch in pretty much thirty-second intervals.

Their nerves showing was new to both of them. They had been nervous when they first brought Draco to the train and when he came back at Yule. But not after that. And now, it seemed as if it started again.

Neither of them needed to be nervous or uncertain though, as soon as the train stopped, their children were the first off it and were running towards them. Narcissa laughed brightly as Raven ran into her and hugged her tightly. Lucius chuckled as Kefira beamed up at him and hugged him as well. Draco sniggered next to them and opened his mouth to argue that this was unfair, that he had no parent left to hug, when Narcissa pulled him into one as well. And then, they apparated away before people could get a good look of them.

Once they were back home, the family hugged each other close. All of them were afraid that something would happen, that Dumbledore would have one final card up his sleeve and play it just now. So, the fact that they were all together and home was perfect.

Kefira ran to her room and started to unpack immediately, Draco asked Lucius about their progress with de-throning old Dumbles and Raven approached his mother timidly.

“Can I go flying?” he asked, somewhat unsure. “I’ve already finished all my essays. Being a Slytherin really comes with no free time.”

Narcissa laughed. “Or having such studious siblings, I suppose” she offered, to which Raven rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Draco wants me to join Quidditch next year. But I’m not so sure anymore.”

That was news to Narcissa and if Raven had to be sincere with himself, it was news to him too. He had always liked flying, but not just because he was good at it, more because it gave him the opportunity to do something himself, to not just be a ‘name’ or a ‘title’. But in last year he had realized that he had been flying because people expected him to. And that was exactly what pulled him away from it.

Here, at Malfoy Manor, he could just fly with Draco and have fun. His brother didn’t expect him to do or be anything else but his brother. And that was what he loved more than anything else.

Narcissa had come to a similar conclusion and smiled at her son. “If course you may go flying. Just make sure that you have either an elf close by or one of your siblings with you.”

She looked at Kefira running off and Draco in a deep discussion with his father, before she chuckled and turned to her other son. “Darling, ask an elf for help, I can see your siblings are already busy.”

Raven grinned at her and nodded. He grabbed his broom and ran out, though not before asking Daisy, the babysitter-elf, for help to look after him. Once she agreed, he happily mounted his broom and sped around the Quidditch pitch for about half an hour.

Then, he saw a familiar looking man running onto the property. Raven widened his eyes, seeing him coming from the trees and he dove down, to scare the man into going away again. This was his home and no one could just come in and try to take from here again. He would make sure that they were all safe.

Unbeknownst to Raven, Sirius Black was returning from his slightly longer run, tired but happy. He had never thought that being with the goblins would change his life so much that he would go running every day. When he was in school, he had hated his Quidditch captain for making them run one and on occasion two laps. And now, he was doing it just because he liked it.

Sirius saw something from the corner of his eye and dove to the ground, grabbing his knife in self-defence. A broom swooped over him and he sat up, looking at it. He recognized the boy from the forest to many months ago and frowned. What was he trying to do?

At the same time as Raven so without a plan rushed over Sirius Black, Draco had looked outside the window in his father’s study. It was something with their sibling’s link. Strange emotions rushed through from Raven’s end and he saw his brother shooting down on a man.

Draco gasped, drawing attention from his father who turned and swore. Lucius could determine with one look what was going on. Not why it was happening, but what was happening. He apparated away in an instant and appeared back next to Sirius Black again, to the surprise of his son.

Raven had been preparing to swoop down on Sirius Black again, when his father appeared and held out his hand. “Raven, son, meet Sirius Black, a guest in our home.”

Stilling in the air, Raven glanced at his father confused, before turning to Sirius Black who got up on his feet again. Then it clicked and he slowly brought the broom to the floor. “Oh” he said sounding kind of stupid. “Sorry, mister.”

Sirius grinned and placed the knife back in its knife holder around his belt. “No worries, no harm done. You fly very well.”

“Um, thank you.” Raven didn’t know what to say.

Luckily, he didn’t have to, as two voices belonging to his siblings could be heard and they cam running towards the three of them. After Lucius had apparated away, Draco had run out and found Kefira in record time, telling her that their brother was in danger and they both started running to where he knew that Raven was.

Lucius was chuckling at this children’s antics and he turned to Sirius. “I can just introduce you to our bunch. Raven, you already know” he said, clapping Raven on his shoulder. He did not miss the happy look his son gave him and winked at his youngest. “Then the two idiots running over are-“

“Hey!” Draco called out, clearly having heard his father and he finally came to a halt, breathing heavily. “That’s not fair” he said between breaths.

“We’re not idiots” Kefira said at the same time, breathing a bit more heavily than her brother. “Shit, why did you make us run, Draco?!”

Raven sniggered and dodged a shove from his sister.

Lucius rolled his eyes at the good-natured banter, turning back to Sirius. “These are the other children, Kefira and Draco. Don’t let their current appearance fool you, they’d do anything for each other.”

“Including running” Raven added and dodged another half-hearted attempt from his sister. Lucius shook his head, amused while Sirius chuckled.

“I’m Sirius Black, current run-away from the Ministry” Sirius introduced himself, grinning at the mention of ‘running’ which had both newer siblings groaning. Raven on the other hand sniggered.

Draco frowned at the man. “Then why are you a guest at my father’s house? You’re part of the Ministry, right?” he asked his father.

Lucius nodded. “I’m afraid so. But Lord Black is a guest of your mother, at the behest of the goblins. We’re not going to argue with them!”

Kefira widened her eyes in shock and she turned to look at the man with amazement. “How are you so close with the goblins?”

“Purely an accident” Sirius said with a chuckle. In the last few days, English had become more natural to him, but he assumed it would always sound a bit weird to him now. Gobbledygook had somehow a much more rounded pronunciation which English just couldn’t keep up with.

The group laughed at Sirius’ confession and they headed back inside, where Narcissa was waiting for them, having been informed of what happened by Daisy. She shook her head at her family’s reaction, but didn’t say anything else.

Narcissa was just happy that she had all of her family members around. She wished that Andromeda was here as well, but for now, she was happy with her small family.

Chapter Text

Severus didn’t like to admit it, but he missed his early mornings with the wolf. Since the four weeks had been over, Lupin hadn’t been able to cope with running every morning. He had joined him close around the moon and Severus had noticed that the other man had a lot more stamina then. Maybe he needed to be content with having the wolf running with him once or twice every month.

He didn’t know why he was annoyed at not being able to run with him more often. If Raven could be believed than his Snakes were already betting on the two of them for being a couple, but Severus hadn’t been able to make a direct move. He was flirting, sure, and he knew that Remus was interested, but why was it taking them so long?! It had been pretty much half a school year and they were still dancing around each other.

Running faster, Severus made sure to make it around the lake twice before going back. The icy wind wasn’t helping him concentrating on running today, which sucked.

He hated that the teenagers around them were probably going through their second relationships while he was still unsure of how to continue.

Since it was the winter holidays, Severus was actually quite happy that his full house had returned home. A few Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors had stayed back, so Pomona, Filius and Minerva were obliged to stay in school as well. He was looking forward to leaving the castle grounds and visiting the Malfoys. His favourite godchildren were there. And maybe, he needed to start a relationship with Kefira as well. He knew that Draco loved him, Raven… he was his shadow, he obviously adored the child. Until now he seemed to have been ignored by Kefira.

While he finished his second round, his mind travelled to all the gifts he could give her to show her that he cared. Nothing really made sense. She didn’t look like the person who could be bought. Maybe he needed to gift her something that would show that he cared, but he once again uncertain what that would be.

When he came running out from the forest, he could see Dumbledore heading down the castle towards the lake. Severus rolled his eyes and considered his energy level. If he was fast enough, he could pass Dumbledore and try to make it around the lake for a third time.

Before he could speed up, the headmaster seemed to teleport right in front of the path Severus would have taken. Slowing down, Severus came to a slow halt and started walking. He tried really hard to keep the scowl from his face. Seeing the idiot there, usually meant nothing good.

“Severus, my boy” Dumbledore said warmly. Severus could see right through him. He stayed silent until his boss continued talking. “I fear some people are trying to work against me.”

Honestly, Severus would have loved to laugh loudly, but he kept his mask unmoving. Sarcasm would have been too close to the truth, so once again he didn’t say anything.

The headmaster cleared his throat. “I would like for you to spend your holidays with the Malfoys, I fear it’s them working against us.”

Us?!

The headmaster was clearly losing the last few braincells he had left. However… staying with the Malfoys was a great idea, he could spend time with his godchildren. He could try to get to know Kefira more.

“I agree” he said without any emotions in his voice or on his face. “And they trust me most, they would probably slip up if they were planning something.”

“Exactly what I’m thinking, my boy. Thank you for being so smart and loyal.”

Not to you, old fool. Severus nodded, turning to the castle. “I’ll leave this afternoon” were his parting words. Dumbledore seemed happy with that and apparated away.

Severus frowned. No one was supposed to apparate on Hogwarts grounds… they were still on Hogwarts grounds, so why could the old fool do that?! He stared at the spot, where Dumbledore had been with narrowed eyes.

Then, he turned and headed back inside, he had things to pack. Briefly, he considered telling the wolf that he was leaving, but he decided that it would probably do more to just leave without a proper goodbye. It would be funny once Remus confronted him and maybe then, they could finally talk about all their feelings.

Hopefully.

Raven was just a little terrified of Christmas, or Yule, as his family liked to refer to it. He knew deep down that there was nothing that could happen to them. They had already successfully made the trip home and bid goodbye to their friends, though they all knew that after Christmas, the adults had a meeting planned. They would see each other there again.

No, he wasn’t frightened because anything could happen. He was scared because he had never had a real family Christmas before. He had been left out of so many things, most of them, family.

“Do you think I get my siblings link working at Christmas?” Raven asked Kefira as they sat in the little family wing a day before the festivities.

Kefira chuckled at that and shook her head. “Brother, dear, this isn’t a present you get one day. You have to practice. I got time to practise, so should you.”

Raven hummed. “But Draco said you could do it pretty much from day one. When I heard him talking I was freaking out and you just… answered. How?!”

“I don’t…. I don’t know” Kefira admitted. “It just… worked.”

Raven sighed. “I just wish it would for me too. Sometimes I think that… I’m not-“

“If you say your not worth it, I will make you eat your broom!” Draco’s voice sounded from the door and he closed it behind him. Raven sighed and sat up, looking at his brother. He opened his mouth to argue, but Draco shook his head. “You’ll get it, Rave, eventually.”

Rave? Tilting his head, Raven grinned at his brother. That was actually a cute little nickname.

“If you say so.”

“We will make you work for it until you can get it!” Draco promised and winked at him. “So, what do you all think of Sirius Black?”

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “He’s nice. And much saner than when I last met him.”

Kefira looked at Raven with a raised eyebrow. “Raven? What did you not tell us?”

“Uh, nothing?” Raven said quickly and ducked his head, while Draco sniggered and sat down next to him, placing an arm around him.

“Try again, brother dearest” he said ruffling his hair which made Raven try to escape him, but he didn’t manage.

“Fine, fine!” Raven called out and laughed, when Draco grinned at their sister, as if he won a bet. “I met him after Samhain and we talked about… who he could trust mostly. He told me that Professor Lupin was a friend and that was it, actually.”

“Only you” Kefira said while sniggering. “You’re just making friends with everyone.”

Raven rolled his eyes, but he grinned at his siblings. They did have a point. He liked talking to people and while he was careful who he trusted, he could feel that the dog-man was trustable. He shrugged his shoulders, while Draco pulled him into a hug.

And before long, Yule started for all of them. The siblings walked down the stairs to the biggest living room, where their father and godfather had placed a huge Christmas tree. The elves had decorated it in beautiful colours and it looked just happy and jolly everywhere.

Widening his eyes, Raven looked around, his eyes finally tracking to under the tree where a good dozen presents were laying. He held his hands in front of his mouth, hoping against all reason that he got presents… He knew he had presents, but it felt so unreal!

Narcissa walked towards them with a huge smile on her face. She hugged them all tightly, pressed a kiss on their cheeks and laughed as Draco started arguing about it. He still let it be and Raven could feel his happiness through their sibling’s link.

‘You’re so cute when you try to argue’ Kefira sent them both and Draco glared at her which made Raven snigger.

“It looks like most your friends have sent presents and there are also some individual presents…” Lucius explained and Kefira frowned.

“Who sent only one of us a present? I’m going to hunt them down!”

Raven sniggered, hoping that someone would have given her a present to make it obvious, but then Narcissa handed him one from… “Zabini?” Raven asked and Draco next to him started to giggle.

“Oh, brother dearest, you’ve got an admirer, it seems! Zabini will not let this go, by the way. If he sets his eyes on something, he’s going to get it.”

“What?!” Raven squeaked, which made Kefira snigger and she ducked a flying cushion from their brother. Draco just shrugged his shoulders, with a grin obviously. “I’ll die of embarrassment first.”

Narcissa sighed. “Why do we have such dramatic children again, Lucius darling?” A moment of silence, before she sniggered as well.

Raven looked up to see what was so funny and saw his father gasping at a present his mother had just given him. Clearly, Narcissa had realized why her family was so dramatic. He grinned at that and caught his mother’s eyes who winked at him.

He turned back to his present from… Zabini, to open it. Maybe he should spend more time with him, since well, it seems the boy had taken a liking to him and Raven couldn’t yet decide whether he was happy about it or not.

“What did he give you?” Kefira asked as she sat down next to him, her own presents ignored.

Raven sniggered at her antics and opened the box it came in. Inside he found a diary made for three years, some chocolates and a little Muggle toy of a spinning Christmas tree. It was actually very cute and Raven would have never guessed that a present like that came from Zabini of all people. A boy who seemed to not really care whether or not he stepped on people’s toes.

Apparently, he had thought wrongly of the Slytherin, because this was absolutely amazing.

“Aww, how cute!” Kefira said and squealed at it. Raven chuckled and shook his head.

Before he could say something, they heard a gasp and looked at Draco who was trying to hide a present behind his back, while at the same time pointing at one still under the tree. “Look, we even have a gift from Sirius Black!” he said, desperately trying to guide Kefira’s and Raven’s gaze to the Christmas tree.

Obviously, it didn’t work.

Raven sniggered, while Kefira sent their brother a bored look. “What are you hiding?”

“Me? Hiding? Why would ever think that I am hiding something? I would never hide something from you. You two are my favourite siblings after all!” Draco’s word vomit came out so fast that Raven sniggered louder. Narcissa chuckled and even Lucius, who had been staring at his own present was starting to laugh.

“Draco!” Kefira said loudly and their brother looked at them, panic in his eyes.

Raven tilted his head. “Who gave you a present that made you freak out so much?”

“No one!” Draco called out.

Just then, a tiny kitten’s head popped out of the box and Kefira, Raven and Narcissa gasped at the same time. Draco looked over his shoulder and took the little black cat with a tiny white bow tie out and into his arms. He beamed down at it and hugged it close, while Narcissa and Kefira were cooing over it.

“I got it from Alden!” Draco said softly, hugging the animal close. “I’ll call it something stupid, so I don’t want to name her! Kefira, what should I name her?”

Raven laughed at Draco’s helplessness, but Kefira quickly thought. “She looks like she’s wearing a tuxedo with a bow! How about Tux?”

“Then why not call her ‘Bowtie’?” Raven offered as well.

Draco was clearly enamoured with the cat, as he just looked down at her in wonder, while the tiny animal looked around curiously. “I like the name Bowtie!” he said softly and petted the little cat some more.

When it let out a tiny meow Raven could tell that the whole family fell in love with Bowtie almost immediately.

Ron clearly had given the best Christmas present to Draco. Nothing else could compare to Bowtie! After a few shy seconds, she started to look around the room and even let herself be petted by the other family members. It was clear though that she preferred Draco over the others and soon, she marched up to him and lay down in the gap created by his crossed legs on the floor.

Draco was openly in love with the cat and Raven could understand why. Bowtie was cute.

“I think Ron has something to tell us” Kefira whispered to Raven and grinned at him. He just nodded. Obviously, Ron was trying to woo Draco, and with a precious gift like that, he probably got a head start on anyone.

The next morning, Sirius got up early and grabbed his running sweater. He made sure to have a warming charm on it, before leaving the Manor. The house was still dark, sleepy, even. He grinned and snuck trough the hallways, until he made it to the backdoor. Stepping outside, he could feel someone else around. His training had made him aware of people and magical signatures around.

When he spied towards the Quidditch green, he could see someone running already. Sirius hummed and looked at his watch, it was far too early for the Malfoy’s to be up, so the only other person around would be…

“Snape” Sirius said loud enough for the running figure to stop. The other man seemed to freeze, before he walked closer.

“Playing a prank?” Snape asked with just a tiny amount of poison in his voice.

Sirius sighed and shook his head. “No. And I’m sorry for what I did when I was a teenager, really. It didn’t only endanger you, but Remus and all of us as well. I should not have told you to go to the Shrieking Shack.”

Snape was clearly surprised by his apology. He was searching his face for sincerity and Sirius made sure not to find it funny. The Slytherin hummed thoughtfully, before shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing happened.”

“We were fucking lucky” Sirius said at that and shook his head. Ha ran a hand through his hair. “When I went through the healing ward, they made me talk about my life and seriously, Snape… I’m so fucking sorry for bullying you. I see it in a different light now and I… I was terrible. Not the person I wanted to see myself as and-“

“Stop if, Black, you’re making an idiot out of yourself” Snape said with a smirk on his face. “Though, I don’t know why I’m stopping you.” He shook his head in confusion, which made Sirius chuckle.

He held out a hand towards Snape. “I’m incredibly sorry for what I did. Please accent my apology, though I would understand if you didn’t, since-“

“Will it make you shut up if I shake your hand?” Snape asked with a smirk.

“Probably. Not for long, I can promise you that.”

Sirius grinned, when Snape laughed at that. He shook his head, before grabbing his hand. “It’s worth a try, Black. And you’re forgiven.”

These words lifted so much pressure from Sirius’ shoulders that he could feel himself breathing easier. Ever since the goblin healers had made him talk about his childhood and the way he had treated Snape, he had realized what an idiot he was. He liked the Slytherins, he admired them.

So, having been granted Snape’s forgiveness was something he had been dreaming about.

Pointing to the Quidditch pitch, Sirius grinned. “Are you tired of running I circles?”

Snape sighed at that, which made Sirius snigger. “I hate the fact that I don’t know where I go running. I used to do it every day at Hogwarts. Twice around the lake. I tried to get the wolf to do it, but he gave up after a month.”

Sirius laughed and shook his head. “Trust me, we were trying to get into running as well, he thought it would help our Animagus forms, but we never really got it.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Snape asked and looked down at Sirius, which he honestly didn’t mind. He grinned, when his former enemy looked back at him and seemed to blush immediately.

Sirius winked at him playfully that visibly made Snape shudder and he had to turn away. Sirius’ heart was speeding up.

Having been treated by the goblins surprisingly made Sirius realize that the ‘prank’ was probably a stupid, disguised way to talk to Snape more, to maybe… be more. He knew that he wouldn’t mind that right now. So having a blushing Snape in front of him, was pretty much perfect.

“I’ve gotten into running recently” Sirius explained. “There’s a path close-by that I like to take. It goes into the bushes, though at the end.”

Snape seemed to consider it. He turned back to the Quidditch pitch and shook his head. “Lead the way, Black. I cannot believe I would go running with you.”

Sirius laughed easily and headed to the running path. He was overjoyed to have Snape next to him and even trusting him. They made it to the path easily and the two men silently started running next to each other.

It felt oddly comfortable and perfect to have Snape running next to him. Even if Sirius with his excessive goblin training had more stamina than the other man, Sirius thought it was impressive that Snape had been running for so long, and twice around the Black Lake was pretty awesome.

Finally, they made it to the underbrush that was Sirius’ favourite part, but he could tell that Snape wasn’t really ready to do an obstacle course. He almost tripped once and then decided to run behind Sirius to see him overtake the obstacles. Still, Sirius heard a sudden rustle behind him and turned to see the other man lying in a bed of leaves.

Sirius stopped and laughed, walking back. He held a hand out to the other runner who was breathing heavily. “That’s not for me” Snape said, accepting the hand and Sirius pulled him up with another laugh.

“Not for everyone, I agree. I love it.”

“Yes, well, that would be due to your craziness.”

Sirius smirked and saluted him. “Always happy to help.”

Snape snorted and looked around. “How do you know where you’re heading?” he asked. “I would be lost within two minutes.”

“I was trained to know where north is” Sirius said with a shrug.

The goblins were pretty ruthless with their nature training. Sirius had thought that they were just angry at him when they trained him with that, but when he watched other goblins being trained he realized that this was one of the most important thing to know.

While he was thinking of the goblins, he missed Snape’s emotions flashing through his eyes. “Your family?” he asked, his voice strangely strangled.

Sirius looked at him closer and shook his head. “They wouldn’t have cared if I knew the conversion rates of galleons to sickles. Nature was unimportant to them. They cared about politics.”

He watched Snape with interest. He had never seen such a variety of emotions across his face. It seemed as if he was thinking of something dark, something far, far back.

“My father wouldn’t have cared if I got lost in the woods” Snape said softly. “He would have probably celebrated if I hadn’t returned in the evenings.”

Sirius stared at Snape, never having expected him to open up so much to him of all people. Still, he chuckled darkly at that. “My mother should have gotten to meet your father then. They would have been best friends.”

Snape’s dark eyes found his and Sirius shrugged. “The only person she cared about was Reg. He showed the gift for the Dark, the family gift, I didn’t.”

“So, she ignored you?”

“I wish” Sirius said darkly. His mind went to all the memories he had tried to bury but never stayed hidden. Sighing, Sirius turned to Snape. “Let’s just say that there’s a reason why I ran away to join James’ family.”

Snape hummed at that. “The only person I told about my family was Lily. I would have run there, if I had a choice.”

“Yeah” Sirius agreed softly. “She could make anybody talk. She cared about everyone, no matter their conditions or problems.”

“I called her a mudblood” Snape admitted softly, only a whisper.

Sirius hummed softly. “She forgave you a long time ago. James and Lily tried to find their baby’s parents and they asked me for the best way to approach you.”

“What?” Snape’s world seemed to be rattled. He stared at the woods in shock.

Sirius watched him carefully and moved closer. Snape looked up, his mind clearly all over the place. For a split second, Sirius considered leaning in to kiss him, but he didn’t dare use the fact that the Slytherin was in no good state of mind to take what he really wanted. So, he just made sure that Snape was still concentrating on the things around him.

Then, he motioned to the woods again. “Let’s finish our run?”

Snape rubbed his forehead, but nodded quickly after. Sirius made sure to choose easier pathways through the underbrush, which still meant it wasn’t easy. He kept looking over his shoulder to see if Snape was following him and after the fourth time, is seemed as if the shock had washed off of him, since the Slytherin rolled his eyes.

“If you continue to do that, you’ll fall” Snape said the next time.

Sirius grinned and turned around, running backwards, eyes fully on the Slytherin. “I don’t think so.”

Snape had widened his eyes and Sirius winked at him again, coming to a full halt suddenly. Snape stopped shortly before him, breathing heavily.

“You’re the death of me” he said, before grabbing Sirius’ jumper and pulling him closer. Sirius heart was pounding, all he could see was Snape’s eyes, full of barely hidden lust. He wanted this. He needed this.

Chapter Text

“You’re the death of me” Snape said, before grabbing Sirius’ jumper and pulling him closer. Sirius heart was pounding, all he could see was Snape’s eyes, full of barely hidden lust. He wanted this. He needed this.

Severus leaned in, kissed him passionately and Sirius returned the kiss. He grabbed the other man around the waist and pulled him even closer. Severus moaned softly his hand finding the back of Sirius’ head, grabbing his hair.

Sirius was in heaven, finally when he pulled away, breathing heavily, he grinned at Severus who rolled his eyes. “Don’t look so smug” the Slytherin said, though he lacked any hatred in his voice.

Laughing softly, Sirius winked at Severus and shrugged his shoulders. “I can be as smug as I want to, because I’ve finally achieved what I had wanted to for a while.”

“To kiss me?” Severus asked, doubt in his eyes.

“That was just the cherry on top. I wanted to speak with you about… that and in a few years, flirt with you and maybe make out with you. Didn’t think my wish could come true so fast.”

Severus snorted at that. He seemed to eye him closely. “And are you going to drop me again, like the girls you’ve had in Hogwarts?”

Sirius grinned cheekily. “Someone’s been keeping up with all the girls I’ve had?”

He enjoyed watching Severus blush. The Slytherin cleared his throat. “I mean, you slept with most girls in our year and I assume others as well. Can’t really pretend I didn’t hear them talking about you.”

Sirius hummed at that. He stepped closer to the other man. “And how did that make you feel?”

Severus’ eyes were dark, Sirius could stare at hem forever. “So angry, you idiotic therapist” the Slytherin said a grin forming on his face. His fingers lightly moved over Sirius’ exposed skin on his neck and Sirius gasped at the light touch. He wanted more.

Leaning in, Sirius sent him another grin. “I’m all yours, if you want.”

“Is that so?” Severus asked, doubt in his voice.

“Oh yes” Sirius answered immediately. “I was just trying to defy my parents by having people talking about me. Nothing I did was for my own pleasure by then.” He paused, watching Severus putting the pieces together. Finally, his eyes were on him again.

Giving the Slytherin a side-smirk, Sirius leaned in. “This is only for me. This is what I want, I don’t care about other people. Is it what you want too?” he whispered into Severus’ ear.

He could feel the Slytherin breathing heavy. The fingers on his neck found his jumper again and tightened there. “Black, I swear if you’re making a joke out of this, I will have you killed.”

Sirius pulled back. “I’m not kidding. If it would make you feel better, I’d let you give me Veritaserum so you can verify my feelings for yourself.”

Severus stepped back, and opening the small pouch he had on his belt. Did this man have that potion with him wherever he went? Sirius chuckled as Severus held a vial towards him. Of course the potion master had all kinds of things with him, even when running. Sirius opened the vial, sniffed it just to make sure, before he downed it. Severus couldn’t even ask, why he sniffed it.

He felt the potion rushing through his body and shivered at the strange sensation. Severus closed the pouch again and came to stand in front of him.

“I always think it’s weird that people ask for one’s name as the start for the Veritaserum test” Severus said thoughtfully. “Even I could say that right now and it would prove nothing. So, tell me, how do you want me to call you?”

Sirius opened his mouth without trying. Veritaserum was always funny that way, and yes, he agreed with Severus’ opinion.

“Sirius” he said. “Or you know, whatever kind of pet name you come up with.”

Severus snorted and Sirius sighed. Obviously, he was under Veritaserum at the moment, otherwise he wouldn’t have said that last part.

“Good enough” Severus said, he seemed amused. That quickly vanishes, as he looked at Sirius again. “Do you have ulterior motifs for this?”

Sirius frowned. “Define ‘this’, I’m not sure if you mean the run or you.”

“Us, obviously, Black.”

Holding his hands up, Sirius sent him a quick grin. “I mean, I always wanted to have a relationship that stands the marks of time. I haven’t seen good relationships, so I don’t know how to be a good husband, but I would definitely try.”

“Husband?” Severus asked with wide eyes.

Sirius knew it was impossible to stop this, so he shrugged simply, while the potion answered for him. “I’ve always been interested in you, Severus. I just messed everything up by that stupid thing in fifth year. And if things progress, I wouldn’t mind being yours forever.”

Severus stared at him in shock. “You’re not lying” he whispered, as if he thought that Sirius could come up with an even more harmful prank than before.

Shaking his head, Sirius sent him a quick smile. “I’m not.”

They stood there for a few seconds, before Severus walked closer and pulled Sirius into another kiss. This was much gentler, though still with enough passion to make Sirius want more, to not make it stop, ever.

“Wait, wait” Severus said, opening his pouch again and he brought out another vial. “Antidote.”

Sirius snorted. “Thanks, I wouldn’t have minded.”

Still, he downed it and then grinned at the other man. “We should probably head back. It’s far too light out. The Malfoys will probably suspect something.”

Severus chuckled. “They always do. They’re hopeless romantics, the whole family.”

“Agreed” Sirius winked at the Slytherin and held out his hand. After a second of clear hesitation, Severus grabbed it and they walked back to the Manor, hand in hand.

Albus called Remus Lupin into his office in Hogwarts. He knew things were going out of hand. He was likely not to win his election for Supreme Mugwup this year due to a child! How could people not see that he was a supreme wizard?!

Anyway, he knew that the election had to go very surprisingly good for him to win, Heir Akingbade was gaining popularity every second of his travels. And being backed by the Picquery’s proved to be infinitely helpful.

Albus had tried to talk to the children in the hallway. He had tried to get them to see reason, but he got nothing so far. They were smart, he gave them that. But there was one thing that they all didn’t know…

He knew who they really were. He could open Pandora’s box then and there and just tell everyone where ‘Harry Potter’ was. That ‘Hermione Granger’ wasn’t as dead as everyone thought she was. And the Weasley family was scattered all over the UK.

He just needed to find the correct way of talking about it that would ignore the obvious problem – how had they gotten to the families they were before. Who made Molly take in all these lost children? Why didn’t she fight?

Well, Albus knew why she didn’t fight, but that question once again would lead to him and that was the last thing he wanted. If he was losing his international power, he was at least going to keep his national power base for as long as he was going to live.

He had neglected his school and the Wizengamot in the last couple of months but that wouldn’t continue now. This was what he had been looking for. In his search for fame and power, he had started to grow out of his comfort zone, searching for more and once he realized there was nothing else to go after, when he became Supreme Mugwump, he realized now how lost he felt.

Maybe it would do him good to focus on his duties to his country, before going after Supreme Mugwump again. The child could not be so good as to stay on top forever.

As he read through the pages of his school board meeting with growing trepidation, he realized that sending McGonagall to these meetings had not been such a great idea as he had hoped before. She clearly knew nothing about school morality and how to keep everything as close to his chest as possible. How had she been able to let the school board have a decision over closing the school if it got too dangerous?!

And what was that?!

Albus skimmed the parchment of another meeting, realizing that Minerva had requested to improve the curriculum. Her ideas were ridiculous to say the least. It was about preparing the students for a life with Muggles in the 21st century. She added critical thinking to the classes, as well as two more mandatory Muggle studies classes: Muggle machines and Muggle History and Politics. There were also added classes in Wizarding Politics, Magical Law and Ethics, Mental Health and Wellness… What was this crap?!

All fifth years also had an additional lesson every week talking about Magical careers and starting from winter in fifth year, they had weekly courses on self-defence.

What had this school come to?!

Albus continued looking through the parchment to see if this thing could be stopped still, but the more he looked into it, the more he realized that this seemed to be the first thing Minerva had done when he had sent her.

Second years started with a class called ‘Life Skills’, which included cooking, cleaning, baking, budgeting and Muggle first aid?! What the actual hell?! Sixth years got another class called Financial Literacy. In third year, the students could choose two more electives: Magical Healing and Magical Languages…

Albus closed the parchment and threw it violently through the office. He was panting heavy as he reigned in his magic and his aggression again.

Nothing to overreact… He just needed to find a way to make this go away. Staring at the pages, he growled, accio’ing them again.

“The budget wouldn’t work” Albus finally settled on. “So many new professors could never work with the budget for the professors now.” He muttered to himself, while his mind worked hard. “If we need more professors, I will need to pay more, which means Hogwarts tuition will have to increase by at least ten percent and to make people scare away from it, I will make it twenty percent more. They won’t want that.” He grinned to himself and nodded.

Unbeknownst to him, he had clearly not read the parchment on top, where it stated that the school’s tuition was to drop five percent, since there’s been a present given to the school’s vaults in form of a vial of basilisk venom, which would pay for the children’s schooling for basically the next ten years without them paying for it.

A knock on the door made Albus looking up and he banished the parchments to the drawer behind himself, deciding not to read more of the things Minerva had done to his school. He was going to undo all of it, clearly.

“Remus, my boy, come in, come in.”

The werewolf came closer and gently closed the door behind him. Albus almost sneered at his display of tenderness. Already as a boy he had tended to be more thoughtful than others. Albus had seen it as one of his many achievements, bringing in the boy.

He was a werewolf, a dark creature and therefore, incredibly easily manipulated when pointed into the right direction. “How has Christmas been so far for you?” he asked gently, making sure to mask his true emotions with magic.

“Relaxing” the werewolf said and Albus hummed at that.

“Very good, very good” he smiled, using more forceful magic this time. He knew that werewolves had natural defences, but they could be easily broken when used well. And luckily for him, he knew how to break Remus easily. “Did anybody realize your disappearance during the fest yesterday?”

Something flashed through Remus’ eyes and just like that, Albus was through his natural defences. The boy was just too easy to influence these days. At least, when he was alone and no one else was there to try and pull him back.

“No, I don’t think, they realized.”

“Good” Albus said and smirked when Remus’ avoided eye contact. This was perfect for what he had been trying to do for so long. “I’ve seen you running with Severus for a while in the mornings. What has brought this on?”

Remus cleared his throat. “It… Just a… it was a bet” the young man said, clearly still working through the mentions of being a werewolf.

Albus hummed, pretending to be thinking of something very hard. “Remus, my boy, you know as a werewolf, any human connection can result in injury and even death. No matter how careful you are, the people around you might not be.”

He watched as Remus swallowed nervously, his hands trembling at the thought of hurting someone, even by accident. Perfect.

“I… there’s no one who could get hurt” he sounded almost broken.

Almost. Not fully there, then.

Albus furrowed his brows. “Starting a human connection, no matter how leisurely will in the end draw people to you in your werewolf form to try and help you out. And as a werewolf, as a predator, you will not realize who you will maul until it’s too late.”

Remus closed his eyes, clearly in pain. Albus could see him trembling more. He clearly needed support, as he grabbed the table and held on as if life itself depended on it. How much Albus wanted to rip the table away and watch him lose his mind.

He could do that, even if it was a deep desire to see a boy so put together lose it.

He was still not broken. Something seemed to keep him sane at the moment.

“Remus, my boy, your running relationship with that certain Severus Snape in the mornings must end. He is my spy, and he must not have any contact with any creature lest he lose his ability to resume his status as a Death Eater for Voldemort.”

The flinch at his name was just icing on top.

Albus could tell that Remus was lost in his own mind. Good.

He leaned over the table to finally deliver the last blow. Destroy the werewolf with a perfectly placed emotional bomb. “Who would want to be close to a monster that comes out every time the full moon comes, Remus? Think clearly, they obviously just want to take advantage of you. They think you don’t realize what they’re doing, but I know you’ve long ago discovered that nothing good ever happens to werewolves.”

Ah, there it was. The dead eyes, the emotionless maskless face. He had broken him again, made him his soldier. Luckily, he still knew how to do that without any problems.

“Now, go sleep, my boy. You need your strength after the horrible night you surely must have had.”

Remus got up and walked to the door, closing it louder than before and Albus leaned back, relaxing after having successfully kept his little wolf down. It wouldn’t do for him to become self-assured.

Everyone had travelled to South Africa to watch Heir Babajide Akingbade becoming the Lord of his house. Raven watched in amazement how this young man looked so incredibly wise and gentle. He watched him thank his father for helping him understand the importance of leading a house. The man then knelt and promised on Lady Magic to protect the magical society with all his power.

As he got up, Raven caught his determined gaze, how he looked almost majestic, ready to fight for the people. Even if their families hadn’t promised to help him out, Raven would have followed wherever he would have led. He looked certain, calm and just… awesome. Like a superhero!

After that, the families moved back up to Ireland. The twins along with Lady and Lord Picquery were staying with the new Lord Akingbade. They were talking about his upcoming trip to America and how to make sure people would know who he was. Raven doubted that the man needed any help, really. He looked regal.

With the families back in Ireland, Sirius Black and Severus Snape had moved with the Malfoys. For the first time, they were introduced into the plan making side of the alliance. Raven loved watching Severus trying to understand what he was seeing.

“So, the first thing” Amelia Bones started. “How far have we come with everything?”

“I’ll speak for the Picquerys” Riagán said and leaned back. “Lord Akingbade is almost finished with his world tour. In spring he will officially announce that he plans on being Supreme Mugwump. Lord and Lady Picquery plan on staying by his side throughout to make sure that people know who they’re supporting. It will sway at least forty percent of the light side.”

Amelia nodded. “Good. What about his headmaster title?”

Narcissa smiled at that. “He’s been too busy trying to figure out what Lord Akingbade is doing, so he’s been sending Minerva to the meetings.” She looked at her husband and Raven frowned. There was something there that she wasn’t saying.

When he looked at his father, it seemed that he too had a few more secrets. He just smiled and nodded at his wife. “We’ve been able to make a lot of changes for the better. Things that I know he has tried to actively stop. He doesn’t know what we’re doing. As soon as he can focus on the school again, we’ll have him sacked.”

“Which will probably only be after the Supreme Mugwump elections in May, right?” Lord Montague asked, rubbing his chin in thought.

“He may try to somehow sway or manipulate the people to still vote for him” Lord Dolohov argued, but Amelia Bones seemed sure he wouldn’t succeed.

She chuckled at the man and shrugged her shoulders. “He can’t be everywhere at once.”

“What happened in the Wizengamot?” Charlie asked intrigued.

Amelia smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “Most new Lords and Ladies have been easily persuaded to see how he suffocates everyone around him who could rival his status. The older ones are harder to convince to see him as an old manipulator.”

“I suspect because they have been growing up with Dumbledore winning the war for them” Sirius said suddenly and all eyes turned to him. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Convincing people that the hero they worshipped their entire life, who actually held the wizarding world together, is an incredible feast that won’t happen in one day.”

“Since when are you so smart, cousin?” Narcissa asked with a chuckle that made several other people laugh lightly as well.

Sirius smirked at Narcissa. “It’s really disgusting to see how far my Mind Healer came in under two months” he joked, making most attendees roll their eyes.

Raven caught Severus chuckling softly and he frowned, even more so when Sirius winked at his godfather after the attention was back on Amelia. Something was going on there…

Sadly, they were sent away shortly after as the planning stage continued and the children were getting fidgety. Raven followed his siblings who were discussing something related to Arithmancy and Runes together.

They went to the house and into the living room, which was luckily, very warm. Draco sat down next to Kefira and funny enough, Ron. The heart-eyes he made at Ron, when he talked about Bowtie was absolutely freaking cute and Raven decided then and there that he would protect his best friend and brother’s relationship with everything he could. They were absolutely adorable!

“Are they a couple?” Susan whispered as she sat down next to Raven on the couch.

Raven sniggered and shook his head. “Not yet, I think. But I would bet that they’re going to realize their feelings during summer, if not sooner.”

“Draco is enamoured” Ginny whispered with a little snigger. “What did Ron do?”

“Gave him some stupid pet” Theodore Nott spoke. He was sitting close to the fire place and had a book open. The whispers and careful discussions ended in order for everyone to stare at Theo and then at Ron, who had his eyes set on the table.

Draco narrowed his eyes dangerously and Raven could feel his anger bubbling over through the siblings link. “How dare you!” Draco shouted, but was quickly pulled down by Kefira. She leaned over and said something, while Graham and Konstantin (formerly known as Percy) walked closer.

“Tell us” Graham ordered. “Tell us why you hate him so much!”

“What has he ever done for you to dislike him?” Konstantin asked, shaking his head. “Alden’s one of the most gentle, most caring person I’ve ever known. So why do you hate him so much?”

Ginny shouted as well, “What has he ever done to you?!”

Theodore finally looked up, his expression dark and his eyes hard from anger. “I never wanted a brother!”

“And I never wanted my mother to be a crazy psychopath, abducting children” Ginny said, holding her hands out. “Yet, here we are.”

“We can’t choose family” Susan said, shaking her head. “If I could, I’d always choose Alden!”

“Have him then!” Theo called against her.

Ron cleared his throat. “This really isn’t necessary” he mumbled, loud enough for all to hear.

Draco placed his hand on Ron’s arm and squeezed it, while Kefira and Raven sent him encouraging smiles. Ginny shook her head vehemently and started defending her former brother even harsher, Susan as Ron’s housemate joined her without hesitation and Graham and Konstantin brought more ideas forth why their friend was an amazing human being.

All of this seemed to be too much for Theodore to handle. “I don’t care!” he screamed against them. “I never wanted siblings, I still don’t!” He turned to Ron with an expression that could have killed, probably. “You destroyed everything! I never wanted you!”

He marched outside, a book in his hand.

Raven was on his feet immediately and he hurried to his best friend, pulling him into a tight hug that made him feel Ron’s trembling. Kefira joined them without hesitation and then Draco yelled, “Not without me” and jumped into the hug, throwing the to the floor, making Ron finally relax and he laughed at that.

Ginny squeaked and jumped on top of the pile. “My favourites!” she screamed and tried to make Raven let go of Ron so she could hug him more. Which soon turned into a fight, especially when Susan joined to get her housemate to freedom.

Graham and Konstantin laughed at them, shaking their heads, but clearly happy that Ron was laughing again. Raven finally let go of him so that the others could fight for a hug of their favourite person. He grinned at his sister.

If Theo was going to be an idiot about having a brother, Raven and his siblings would have sure to tell him how wanted he was. No one should have people tell them that they were unwanted or a mistake.

Severus felt slightly conflicted. He had kissed Sirius Black. More than once.

It had happened out of nowhere. He hadn’t even realized he felt that way until the moment was literally crashing in on him. Sirius clearly wanted that to happen, the look on his face, his body language… The man was even open to take Veritaserum to make sure that Severus wasn’t getting lied to.

The sniff test was saying much more about Sirius’ relationship with potions. Severus knew that the Black family was open to use them as they saw fit, which wasn’t always the intended purpose of the creator. Veritaserum was usually frowned upon to use often, and especially on children. The Black family didn’t think so. Bellatrix and Narcissa had both told him in confidence that their family used them to know where they stood, family matters were usually discussed with Veritaserum in everyone’s drinks.

That was how most people were thrown out, including Andromeda.

This whole story wasn’t the reason why Severus felt conflicted.

He was clearly starting a relationship with Sirius Black, but he had actually been chasing… Remus Lupin, the wolf. What should he do now?

The only thing he could think of right now was hiding. So, he hid in his potions lab, which now that he though of wasn’t the best place to hide. Everyone who knew him would look here first. His point was proven rather quickly when the door opened and to Severus’ luck it was Raven looking inside.

“Hello Shadow” Severus said softly and chuckled at Raven’s happy eyes. It was incredible what a simple name like that could change in a person. Clearly, Raven had never had an endearing name, so Severus tried to use ‘Shadow’ as much as he could.

Closing the door behind him, Raven walked closer. “Are you busy?” he asked, before grinning mischievously. “Lord Black told me of a prank he wanted to play to the entire household. I don’t know why he trusts me to keep it to myself, but I thought it would be fun to make it backfire.”

Severus snorted. “That does sound fun. What is he trying to do?”

“He placed some colourful potion on the pillows, said something that our blond hair was perfect for a little colourful addition. He even told me he found something to make your hair red.”

Severus gasped in mocked horror, which made Raven snigger. Ruffling through the boy’s hair with affection, he winked at his godson. “We can certainly brew something to make sure he will remember his place in the pranking wars.”

Raven tilted his head. “Narcissa said something about him being a master pranker in school.”

“I wouldn’t say that” Severus said thoughtfully. “He liked to bully people with his pranks.”

“What?!” the playful nature around Raven left immediately and Severus shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s long forgotten and forgiven, but in my opinion his friends and he were terrible bullies that got away with things because they were Gryffindors.”

Raven hummed thoughtfully. “I guess Dumbledore lets Gryffindor’s actions slide easier than others.”

Severus nodded, before he pulled his godson closer. “Let’s start that potion to make his hair look interesting?”

“Yes!”

Laughing, Severus instructed Raven what to do and within the hour, they had a perfectly safe little prank. If Sirius thought that he was going to be the only person to have normal hair tomorrow, he was going to be terribly surprised.

In the morning, the whole house was ripped from their sleep by a loud scream that almost shook the manor. A very manly scream, yes, from Sirius Black. If anybody asked, it was definitely a man screaming.

Severus hat a smirk on his face as he rose from his bed – having changed his pillow by asking a house elf to clean his. He walked to the door and opened it to find a wild dog running around, rainbow colours strewn all around his fur.

The triplets were also awake (unsurprisingly) and running around with him, which made Severus laugh. Especially as he found that all three of them had different colours in their hair. When Narcissa and Lucius joined, Severus snorted, seeing Lucius with orange almost glowing strands of hair, while Narcissa wore her blue colour with stride.

“Well, well, well” Narcissa said with a smirk, stopping the fun the children had. Yes, Severus counted Sirius as a child. “Looks like you’re getting caught in your own pranks.”

“At least that was funny” Severus added, leaning against the door frame. He could think of countless pranks in their school years where he hadn’t laughed when at the receiving end. This one was fun.

Sirius transformed, his hair now shining in all colours of the rainbow. “Snape, why is your hair not coloured? Have you been the one to do this to us?”

Raven sniggered and shook his head at Sirius. “I did yours! I thought you’d like it!”

Severus chuckled when Sirius’ eyes landed on the boy with suspicion. “You did this? Put a potion on my pillow?”

“Yup!” Raven announced and grinned. “I saw what you did to my pillow and returned the favour!”

Sirius sighed, clearly not meaning it, but it made Raven snigger and soon, Kefira and Draco did so as well. Narcissa burst out laughing, while Lucius shook his head. “How long will it last, Black?” the Lord of the House asked. “I do have an important meeting tomorrow.”

“It should be gone by tomorrow.”

“Yours won’t” Raven said with a wide grin, making Sirius freeze. “Yours is going to last a week!”

Sirius had big eyes, staring at the little boy and Severus couldn’t help himself, he snorted as Raven cackled and ran away. Clearly thinking about running after the boy, but also tempted to stay back, Sirius was obviously torn between two options. Finally, he looked at Snape, when the children had run away.

“You did help, right? Raven couldn’t have done that all by himself. It’s why you don’t have colour in your hair.”

Severus smirked. “Maybe it’s just because I’ve got black hair. Colour doesn’t really stick.”

Narcissa passed between them, she winked at Severus as she pulled a sleepy Lucius with herself leaving the two men behind. Sirius was clearly as amused as Severus was and they watched the two adults leave.

Finally, Severus turned back the Gryffindor. “Raven did choose the colours for you, by the way. He said something about you needing more colours in your life than others. What does he know?”

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. “I did meet him at Hogwarts around Halloween. But he doesn’t really know me, I think.”

“He’s very perceptive” Severus said with a quick smile. “Maybe you do need colours. We should make this permanent.”

Something flashed through Sirius’ eyes that was too quick for Severus to identify. There was a smirk on his face though, so it must not have been that bad.

“I swear, we’ll end up killing each other” he said after a little bit.

Severus laughed at that. “I mean, in all honesty, I had not been chasing you to be with. So, maybe once you die I’ll go back to my original plan.”

Sirius seemed amused. “Oh? Do tell.”

“Ah, well, I was trying to get the wolf to see reason for a relationship. The students, especially my Snakes, have a bet going. I’m rather unsure of what will happen on Valentine’s Day, since my fiercest students have been betting on that day.”

“Are you afraid of your students?” Sirius asked, amusement glistening in his eyes.

“You would be too, mutt.”

Sirius laughed and shook his head. “Well, let’s see what Remus thinks about sharing you.”

“Hell no” Severus held his hands up. “I’m not the type of person that has more than one relationship!”

“Severus, have you ever heard of triads? Let me educate you for once.”

Chapter Text

‘Brother dearest, seeing as you’ve spent more time in the Wizarding World than I have, is there a spell to make it snow inside?’

Draco snorted at his sister’s request and got up to look for her. ‘Where are you? And yeah, there’s a spell to make it snow, our mother should know it.’

Kefira seemed slightly annoyed if their connection through the sibling’s link could be trusted, which Draco did. He walked down the hallway to the library – always a safe bet – but for once he didn’t find his sister there.

‘Please tell me you did not go to the library to look for me. Why do people always go there?!’

Draco sniggered quietly and walked to the family room, where he knew that his sister spent a lot time with their parents. ‘Tell me where you are then! Because I keep looking where I think you are. Library first, always.’

Kefira was now truly annoyed and Draco loved it. Just because he knew that she wouldn’t be annoyed at him for long and it seemed like a nice game between them. In the family room Draco found his parents talking to Professor McGonagall who had just arrived a few minutes prior, it seemed. Draco shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way looking for his sister.

‘If you’re not telling me where you are, I’ll get Bruno and Isabella, they’ll sniff you out right now!’

‘Dogs aren’t supposed to come inside! They have their own warm space outside! That’s what out father said, anyway.’

‘I’ll break the rule for that. Father won’t mind. Now tell me.’

Maybe she was with Raven in the potions lab. He turned and walked down into the cellar, where he opened the door slightly, while his sister had been suspiciously quiet. Sadly, there was only Raven making a potion with their godfather Severus.

Strangely enough, Sirius Black was sitting in the back, grinning at something. Severus threw him dirty looks whenever turned into his direction.

“Hey Raven, have you seen our sister lately?” Draco asked and grinned at them.

His brother looked up and shook his head. “No. She went to the library before I came down to look for Sev. I guess you’ve looked there first?”

“Obviously” Draco said with a chuckle. “She told me off for going there first.”

Raven snorted. “I’ll join your search if you want. Narcissa said that later this afternoon, our friends are coming over. They’re supposed to stay until we go back to Hogwarts.”

Draco hummed at that. He wondered why Raven had such difficulties talking about their parents and calling them ‘father’ and ‘mother’, but for now he had other priorities. “Suits me just right.”

Severus looked up from the potion. “How do you know that Kefira was unhappy for looking in the library if you haven’t found her yet?”

He seemed really suspicious and Draco was suddenly unsure of how to answer that question, especially since they didn’t want the adults to know yet that they had a very rare siblings’ link. He shrugged while Raven collected his things. “Well, she wasn’t there. Obviously, she would be annoyed for me looking there.”

Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him out before he could say more. “See you later, Severus!”

“Goodbye Shadow” their godfather said. The last thing Draco saw, was Sirius Black getting up and walking towards his Head of House. What was going on there?!

“Did you look in the kitchen?” Raven asked as they walked back up again.

“Kefira hates cooking, why would she be there?” he asked and shook his head. ‘Are you in the kitchen?’

Draco felt their connection expand and he was certain that their sister had now included their brother as well. That was at least a good thing, he still had no idea how she did it. And for some reason, Raven was still not able to communicate to them. Maybe it was because he was the youngest of the three, but it wouldn’t make sense. Draco was the oldest, why couldn’t he do things so naturally?

Then again, he shouldn’t complain with Raven around.

‘I’m not in the kitchen.’

Raven chuckled. “She absolutely is in the kitchen.”

“How can you tell?” Draco asked and turned right after the stairs.

“She’s trying to make you look somewhere else, but she hasn’t said where. I’m sure she’s in the kitchen. We could also ask the house elves to find her, right?”

“True” Draco shrugged his shoulders. “But I think it’s funnier to try and find her like that. She also requested a spell to make it snow inside.”

Raven stopped and turned to look at him. “Oh, well she’s not in the kitchen. Then she’s definitely in Sirius’ room.”

“What?” Draco was taken aback and stared at his bother. “Why?”

“Sirius got her with a prank yesterday. Something about the library being closed, I didn’t listen too closely, because Severus explained the different versions of Veritaserum to me. She’s probably trying to play a prank against him.”

Draco was stunned, having not realized that Kefira had been at the receiving end of a prank. Then again, he had focussed on the little kitten he had gotten over Yule and not realized most things.

He hummed thoughtfully. “We should go look for our mother, she knows the spell. It would be kind of funny to have several layers of snow in Black’s room by tonight.”

Raven sniggered and they walked back to the family room, when Kefira’s voice sounded in Draco’s head again. ‘Don’t bother coming to look for me, the house elves just got me to go the family room.’

As she said it, another house elf popped up and told them to head to the family room, which they were already going to anyway. Draco grabbed his brother’s arm and they walked to the family room together. Once there, Draco once again saw his parents and the Gryffindor professor there.

“Professor McGonagall?” Raven asked, clearly as confused as Draco.

“Good morning, Mr. Malfoy, I will explain my presence shortly” she answered and smiled at them.

“We’re just waiting for your sister, do you know where she is?” Father asked and Draco shrugged his shoulders.

He glanced shortly at Raven but smiled at his parents. “No, we were looking for her too.”

“I’m here!” Kefira called and dashed through the doorway, in a not very lady like fashion. Draco cackled at that and earned himself a dark look from his sister, which made Raven snigger and he ducked as she tried to swat him over the head.

Looking over to their parents, Draco caught them smirking as well, even Professor McGonagall was hiding a laugh. Before there was a real fight, their mother stepped in.

“Alright, children, behave.” She sent a look at Raven who adopted the most angelic expression Draco had ever seen someone wear. Kefira sniggered and Draco snorted with the impressive side-eye he sent her.

Their mother sighed. “All I said was to behave.”

Father laughed and shook his head. “We’ve invited Professor McGonagall over for a few hours today, as there was news we wanted to share with you.”

“Which meant she has to be here?” Draco asked and frowned. What kind of news was that?!

He could tell from the siblings’ link that both his brother and his sister were as uncertain as he was. Why would the Deputy Headmistress need to be around here? And as he watched his parents more, he could tell that they were nervous. Something strange was going on and he couldn’t tell exactly was it was.

Luckily, their parents had promised to tell, so there was at least an end to this weird nervousness to them.

Their mother cleared her throat. “Now then, as you can surely tell, all of us are nervous. The reason therefore is something that took us a long time to accept and we’re still working on it-“

“Are you dying?” Kefira interrupted her loudly, her eyes wide in shock.

“No!” Mother said quickly, a soft chuckle following it, and Draco let go of a breath he had been holding.

“We’re forming a triad” Father explained instead, which made Draco frown. A triad with children was usually unheard of, simply because witches and wizards feared that the partner who hasn’t been part of the children-making would feel inferior. But here it was.

He could tell that it took Raven and Kefira a little bit to figure out what was going on, but then, they perked up. Draco could feel the excitement washing through their link and he sniggered as he watched the anxious adults waiting for their assessments. They had nothing to fear, even if they didn’t know it yet.

“That’s so cool!” Raven whispered awed.

Kefira too seemed to take it very well. “Wow! I didn’t know that was normal!”

Draco chuckled. “Well, not normal, but usually not frowned upon.”

Their parents seemed to have relaxed, but it was clearly Professor McGonagall who calmed down most. Draco grinned at that, while Raven and Kefira bombarded their parents with more questions about famous triads, which there sadly weren’t many of.

“Dragon?” his mother asked softly, sitting down next to him. “How are you really feeling? I can’t help but notice your lack of open reaction.”

“Mother, if you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

His mother smiled gently. “Is that really what you think?”

Draco nodded and returned the smile. “It is. Professor McGonagall is nice, we do have to get to know her more. However, I really do mean what I’ve said. It isn’t my choice if you and Father are forming a triad. You have to be happy with it.”

“Thank you, dear” his mother said and leaned over, kissing his forehead, before she softly brushed some hair aside.

Beaming at his mother, Draco then turned to look at his siblings who were now asking their father when the Professor would move in. He sniggered at the two adults’ expression, clearly not having thought of that. Or that Raven and Kefira were so extremely open for the triad.

He liked his family. And all extended members thereof.

When Severus opened the door to the potions lab three days before having to return to Hogwarts, he had expected his Shadow to be in there, looking through his cupboards. The house had gotten infinitely louder in the past three days. All of the children’s friends were here, which included all houses for some reason.

Well, no Severus knew that the former Weasley children were in all four houses, so having Konstantin Dolohov here, which continuously kept surprising Severus that a Dolohov would end up with the Lions, wasn’t weird. Next to Konstantin was Alden, this time without his brother, since all children had told Theodore Nott not to bother showing up if he was just going to hate on Alden again, and the Montagues. His terror twins were still on tour with their grandparents and the eldest former Weasley had to work.

Instead of more siblings, their friends had shown up; Susan Bones, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass as well as Hannah Abbot and Neville Longbottom. The terror twins had gotten news of the meeting and had informed their parents that they would be showing up tomorrow.

So, when Severus had opened the door to his potions lab, he froze for a second, seeing Kefira in there, working on a potion alone. He stopped and watched as she eagerly worked on something. It was easy to spot for him that she wasn’t used to brewing. She clearly grew up in the Muggle world and was more confident with cooking.

Clearing his throat, Severus watched as Kefira jerked up and looked at him like a deer in the headlights. He hummed softly and entered completely, closing the door behind him. “Brewing should be done with adults, Kefira” he said softly, making sure to not sound like the mean professor that he had been portraying in Hogwarts.

“Yeah, well they were all busy.”

“I’m not.” He looked at her calculated look, before adding. “What are you brewing? I can help.”

Kefira once again levelled him with a considered gaze, before she seemed convinced that he would help her. “It’s supposed to be a potion that can keep the Dementors away. I found it a week ago in an old potions book and decided to have it done for the others.”

Severus raised his eyebrows. “You shouldn’t trust old potions books, at least not without an expert’s eye on them. Some of the potions have bad side effects.”

“Like the one I made in second year that gave us a real family?” Kefira asked, a twinkle in her eye. “Seems worth the risk.”

Severus chuckled and shook his head. “Not all potions will have such a happy ending. Yours was probably a lucky strike.”

Kefira shrugged her shoulders, but she looked at him again. This time, it seemed less about her distrust. “Could you check then, if the potion is safe? It said I could place jewellery in there and they’ll be warding against Dementors for about six months, depending on how potent I’ll make it. Luna said that the Dementors could have serious effects on our minds if they’re around us for a year, I’m just… frankly scared.”

That was quite the river of words, Severus was confronted with. He sent her a smile and walked to the table, where she had the book open. It was a difficult potion to brew, and Severus realized quickly why it had been discontinued. While it would certainly work against the Dementors, brewing it was something only a master in potions could do. There were so many important little sidesteps and even Muggle maths and chemistry involved that he doubted any pure wizard could keep up with it.

Kefira might actually be able to do it. If she successfully did it, he would make sure that she would get the best education in potions she could get. This was a potion someone would do as their project for a Master.

“It’s a bit difficult” Severus said and hummed. “But it will work, if brewed correctly. Let me help you?”

Kefira hesitated for barely a second. The she nodded and smiled at him. “Sure. Is this how you bond with all your godchildren?”

Severus chuckled at that. “Unwillingly, yes.”

“As if” she laughed and handed him the dried mixture of mountain herbs to crush.

There were too many people in Malfoy Manor to not make use of it and play Quidditch! Especially since it was the last day of the holidays and the twins had just arrived. They looked just as happy as ever.

Raven and Draco had almost immediately built a team each for their Quidditch game and they were ready to fight (cough) play. On Raven’s team, it was Fred, Graham, Ginny, Daphne, Hannah and Susan. On Draco’s team was George (one must separate the twins to make it fair), Ron, Blaise Zabini, Astoria, Neville and Konstantin. Raven thought it was evenly matched.

At least Neville had gotten over the broom incident in his first year and with the help of literally everyone here, he had gotten very comfortable in the air. Not like Draco or Raven, or literally any other who liked to play Quidditch, but more than before.

“Ginny will destroy you!” Graham yelled across the half-pitch, which made the twins snigger and Ginny cheered her brother on.

“Counting on it!” Fred yelled back, even though they were in the same team.

“Could we colour-code the twins, just so we’re not throwing the Quaffle at the wrong one?” Astoria asked, clearly trying to distinguish between the two of them.

George shook his head. “Absolutely not! Just imagine how fun this game is going to be if you pass it to Fred instead of me!”

“Chaos will ensue!” Ron screamed, teaching Astoria a hex of colouring hair blue.

“No you won’t!” Fred dashed between them and held Ron’s mouth shut, which made the other boy struggle against it.

Raven sniggered and looked at his brother. “This is going to be a disaster.”

Draco laughed and nodded. “I know how we can make it even more confusing” he offered and turned to the rest of them. “Everyone who plays Quidditch is not allowed to play the position they do in school.”

“What?!” Graham yelled, the twins cheered louder, letting Ron go, and both decided to play as Chasers, just to mess with the rest, Raven was sure.

Neville and Daphne went to the goal posts, Susan and Hannah joined Fred, while Blaise and Draco went over to the other twin. Raven, Ginny, Astoria and Ron turned to beaters which left Graham and Konstantin as Seekers. Kefira decided to be the impartial referee.

“I want a fair and clean game!” Kefira channelled Madam Hootch, the Snitch in her hand, Quaffle in the other. Several children sniggered, Raven included.

He looked over the field to where Draco was hovering, ready to grab the Quaffle as soon as it was in the air. The twins looked even more determined. By the manor, he could see the adults settling down on the terrace. They were clearly interested in watching the game. Raven beamed down at Kefira and grabbed his bat closer. This was going to be fun.

Obviously, Raven saw the snitch before the actual Seekers did. But having to keep track of the speeding Bludgers was much more difficult than he had thought. After a while though, Raven and Ginny got into quite a rhythm and they became feared all over the half pitch. Ron would cry out whenever he was close to them, no matter if they were tossing a Bludger around or not, Astoria would try to somehow get the ball away from them, but since her partner was such a coward – “Alden, get back here!” “I’d rather not die to a Bludger by Ginny and Raven!” – she didn’t manage it.

Susan, Hannah and Fred developed a new strategy so quickly that they were pretty much unbeatable within ten minutes of playing and Daphne was complaining that she had nothing to do, since they were pretty much just attacking the other goal. So much so, that Daphne raced out of her own goals and joined the game as a fourth Chaser.

“Not fair!” Neville cried and got help by Draco who joined his defence.

All in all, when Konstantin grabbed the Snitch and actually won their team the gamy by five points, the children were all laughing about this extremely messed up game. Raven was pretty happy with how they had done so far.

The project was finally ready to be finalized. Kefira, Draco, Bill, Amelia and the Terror Twins had joined together as close to where Camelot was supposed to be as possible. Draco knew that this was going to help them gather enough magic from the surrounding to make a magical offer to Lady Magic. They had been studying for the past few months – in secret yes – but now that it was finally time, Amelia Bones had told their families and all of them were close by. It was comforting to Draco to know that should anything go awry; the adults were around to help.

The process was actually fairly simple in theory. First, the three families should have a close connection, which was why Draco gave Kefira the top spot. She had more to do with the former Weasleys than he had. Amelia had also given Bill the spot and the Terror Twins had kept changing places, so no one knew who was in the end the person giving a sacrifice. They had even managed to switch around their blue eye, so that in the end, not even their families knew who Fred and George were.

Second, the three people needed to build a runes circle with all of these small intricate but still important runes. No one else was supposed to help, since their magic would then also count as a sacrifice and without proper word to channel Lady Magic, she would then practically manifest as a magical leech. No one should have a practical god of magic leeching off of one’s magic!

So, they all watched as one of the twins, Bill and Kefira built the runes circle under Bill’s strict and watchful eyes and actions. It was really good that the man was a Curse Breaker, since he would probably be able to undo it, should anything go bad.

Third, the three sacrifices should stand facing each other inside the circle while their counterparts would stand behind them, looking at their backs, outside of the circle. They were acting as an anchor to the real world to their siblings.

Draco could feel his anxiety grow, as he positioned himself behind Kefira. He could see Bill shivering slightly and the twins had big expecting eyes. Probably due to their gift, they could probably already see what was happening. Since they didn’t look scared, Draco took that as a good sign.

Fourth, the people inside were supposed to call out the ancient language in which the sacrifice spell was written down in a way of a chorus with the people outside the runes answering their calls. Draco trembled as the three people inside the runes looked at each other and counted down to zero to start their chanting. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for the chanting he had been working on for pretty much half a year by now.

And finally it happened. Draco concentrated on every word, every syllable, until he realized that it was flowing freely now. It was a weird feeling, but he noticed that he just seemed to know which words came next, how to pronounce them perfectly. He clearly had help… Lady Magic!

Opening his eyes, he found the circle on the floor glowing golden, the people inside the runes were lifted from the ground a few inches, they were still chanting. Kefira’s hair was flying in the air like she was drifting in water and Bill’s scars seemed to also glow golden. The air around the twin was vibrating visibly, before a rumble that seemed to come from the earth rushed around the runes circle, stopping shortly after.

The chanting stopped as if they were one person and they were softly placed back onto the earth, where they opened their eyes, looking at each other. Draco could feel his sister’s confusion. This was why it was important to have anchors, he could tell that Kefira was in a different realm still.

No one stepped over the runes circle, everyone stood still where they were. There was still a fifth step to be done until they could break their formation. And it needed total clearance from the people inside the circle.

‘Where am I?’

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly. His sister sounded strange in his mind. ‘You’re doing a ritual to bring Lady Magic back. You’re inside the circle.’

Kefira inhaled sharply, he could tell. ‘Oh yeah. Damn, I really wanted to go back to where we were before.’ The was a short wave of sadness crossing through the sibling’s link, before she inhaled deeply and seemed to come back to reality.

‘Thanks for being here for me.’

‘Whenever you need me. You and Raven are the most important people in my life.’

‘And Alden, obviously’ Kefira’s teasing finally sounded normal again. Draco smirked and rolled his eyes.

‘I can’t wait to attack you physically again. You just wait.’

Kefira sniggered quietly, bringing one of the twins and Bill back to reality as well. Their eyes were less glazed and they inhaled deeply as well. The fifth step could be completed now.

The oldest person inside the circle needed to start that step, so Bill nodded, determination in his eyes. “I, Michael Julius Bones, also known as William Arthur Weasley, offer my magic as a ritual sacrifice to Lady Magic. May she use it for defending her own.”

The twin spoke up next and Draco wondered whether he would finally reveal who was inside the circle. “We, Fred and George Picquery, offer our magic and magical link to Lady Magic as a ritual sacrifice. May she heal and protect her own.”

Damn it, still no clue.

“I, Dove Kefira Narcissa Malfoy, offer my magic as a sacrifice ritual to Lady Magic. May she use it to take charge of any changed needed.”

Amelia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I, Amelia Susan Bones, am witness to my family’s offer of neutral magic to Lady Magic. May she use us as her vessels.”

The other twin outside the runes circle nodded at Amelia, before continuing. “We, Fred and George Picquery, are witness to our family’s offer of light magic to Lady Magic. May she use us as her vessels.”

Draco shuddered as he felt the weight of the ceremony on him. He took a deep breath, thinking of clearing his throat but decided against it. “I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, am the witness to my family’s offer of dark magic to Lady Magic. May she use us as her vessels.”

All six of them finished the ritual by thanking Lady Magic at the same time. They stood there for a little while longer, feeling the rush of magic all around the, before they finally broke the runes circle. Bill broke it apart into six pieces and handed one to every participant.

“Keep them in your vault, they might be important. And we should never keep runes circle active somewhere.”

Draco grinned broadly at Bill as he accepted the partial circle. This was freaking awesome! And he was feeling incredible.

“That was awesome!” Kefira said, clearly trying to hide her excitement by speaking quietly, but judging by her voice with got up at least one octave, she couldn’t keep it in.

Sniggering, Draco turned to look at their families, when he froze.

Raven was shimmering. He was almost outlined by something glowing. There was panic in his eyes and he seemed to be frozen where he stood. Everyone around him was clearly trying to figure out what was going on.

“What is…” Kefira asked, fear in her voice.

Draco watched in horror as the light around Raven seemed to brighten all of a sudden and he placed his hand over his eyes to shield himself from the clear explosion of light happening. When he looked back, Raven was gone.

Their mother screeched so loudly it shook Draco to his core. Fear gripped him by his throat. He blanched and passed out.

Chapter Text

Raven’s perspective was a bit different than what everyone else had of what happened to him. While he had realized that there was something outlining him, he had also heard a new voice in his head. She had introduced herself as Lady Magic!

“Fear not, child, I have chosen you as my physical vessel. Your relationship with all of my children in the sacrifice circle as well as your close triplet connection has made this decision easy for me. Is this something you’re interested in as well?”

Raven was unsure about what to say, so he nodded, watching as his siblings continued chanting. Lady Magic seemed happy with his decision. He could almost taste the magic in the air.

“I will take you to my realm now if you agree. There is much to discuss.”

Again, Raven nodded and this time, it seemed as if time slowed down. His siblings made promises to Lady Magic and the air settled down again, but it still had much more magic around than before. He grinned, when he suddenly pulled away.

Well, not really away, just pulled through what seemed the first layer of the world. It felt like he had been apparated and he fell to his knees, steadying his breathing, before he looked up. He was still at the same place where their families had been before. This time, though, he could see magic…

He could see magic!

It had a sort of blue base-line. He saw strings waving through the air, saw them growing like vines from the earth, which held so much magic, all coming from the lake it seemed.

“There are several powerful magical sources around the world, mostly natural” he heard a voice behind him.

He turned around and frowned at the redhead in front of him. “Who are you?”

The woman frowned, looking down at herself. Her vintage yellow-polka-dotted dress seemed very fashionable. At least Raven thought so, he wasn’t that knowledgeable in that area.

“Hm, I thought this person was close to you. I scanned your brain and it seemed to be your mother. I must be wrong then.”

“Oh” Raven said, feeling slightly dumb. He recognized her from the album Hagrid had made him. Truthfully, he hadn’t looked at that for a little while now. “I mean, you’re Lily Evans Potter. She… it’s a bit complicated, but basically everyone thought she was my mother, but she really isn’t.”

“Is this form causing stress?”

Raven shook his head. “No, I think she was a good person. Severus told me she was trying to figure out who kidnapped me. That was probably what got her killed in the end.”

Lady Magic or Lily Potter nodded thoughtfully. “I brought you here to just teach you the basic thing as my vessel. As your sister may have told you, in the past, I was allowed to publish news. That was all that my masters allowed me to do. Since I am using your magic, you can tell me where you draw the line.”

“What else can you do?” Raven asked interested. “Could you theoretically destroy wizards that I wanted gone?”

Lily laughed and shook her head. “Sadly not, child. It would be too easy for me to just snap my fingers and Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle were gone. That’s not something I can do.”

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “Worth a try” he said cheekily which made the goddess laugh again.

“I can strengthen the magical community of the UK. Originally, I had offered my powers as a way to make sure that wizards and witches weren’t dying. A stray kind of magic you can still find through all the Muggleborns.”

“What do you mean?”

Lily sat down on a bench that Raven hadn’t seen before. That was weird. “The very first wizard I gained as my vessel allowed me to strengthen the magic, but he had the idea to hunt down the witches and wizards in order to make them fight the Muggles. I realized what he was doing and my magic went a bit astray. It infused a whole castle with magic, unbeknownst to me or to my vessel. My magic is being caried down by the Muggles.”

Raven hummed thoughtfully. “So, is your magic different from the ones the Purebloods have?”

“It’s more bound to nature and emotions. All spells involved into emotional magic will come easy to them.”

“That’s awesome! And what would happen if I let you do whatever you wanted to?”

Lady Magic chuckled at that. “I would finally be able to work with all the swears upon my name. At the moment, nothing much happens to the people who swear to me. The dark wizards have realized that decades ago, they swear on my name that they didn’t do the dark magic, since I can’t do anything without a vessel.”

Raven frowned. “That’s kind of messed up, that they can just continue.”

Lily nodded darkly. Her eyes seemed to spark with anger. “There are more promises made or people married without love. If I had all my powers, I could finally end the suffering my children have been going through. I could clean up what has been damaged.”

“Is there any bad side to this for me?” Raven asked, unsure of whether or not it was a fair question to ask Lady Magic. She obviously wanted to gain her full powers. And Raven was feeling like he should let her.

“For the next few months, it will feel like accidental magic all over” Lady Magic said with an apologetic smile. “Both of us have to get used to using each other’s magic.”

Each other’s magic? What?

“Wait” Raven held his hands up. “What does it mean, I can use your magic?!”

“Obviously. If you allow me to gain my full potential through you as my vessel, you will gain my magical knowledge. It won’t mean that you’re me. But you can use my powers for a little while. Only once every three months. And no, it won’t be able to grow when not used.”

Raven sniggered at her face, it was clear someone else had asked that before. “I mean, I-“

“RAVEN!”

Lily seemed surprised by Draco’s voice and Raven himself widened his eyes in shock, turning around and seeing his brother running towards him. Clearly, from looking at him, he done with the ritual and… for some reason he was here?

“How?” Raven asked and he turned to look at his pretend mother. Lady Magic was clearly just as stunned, as they watched Draco running towards them.

He fell around Raven’s neck and pulled him close. “How dare you scare all of us like that!”

“What?” Raven wondered and shook his head. “Why? What happened?”

“You disappeared!” Draco said, anger in his voice.

Raven ducked his head and looked at Lady Magic, who seemed amused by them. Finally, Draco looked over there as well and frowned. “Who are you?”

Sniggering, Raven decided to make the introductions. “Draco, this is Lady Magic, and this is my older brother Draco. Wait, how did you get into her realm?”

Draco frowned, before he looked around, widening his eyes. Raven sniggered and looked around as well, once more. The dark blue vines seemed blossom around them. The magic seemed rush around in waves.

“I don’t know…” Draco admitted.

Lady Magic hummed thoughtfully. “You’re triplets, aren’t you? Might as well get the third link here.”

“Wait!” Draco called out, but within a second, Kefira stood next to them, eyes wide in fear. She stood still, her eyes moving around frantically, until they landed on Raven. She let go of a breath she had been holding and rushed to hug him tightly.

She then hit him over the head and sighed. “Everyone’s freaking out! Narcissa had to be forced into taking a calming draught, after Lucius threatened to spell it into her stomach! What happened?!”

Lily cleared her throat, making the two new siblings jump. Raven sniggered quietly. “I must admit my fault here” Lady Magic said with a quick bow, before she sat down again. “I didn’t realize that your sibling’s link would be so strong.”

Raven sighed softly. “I don’t have a sibling’s link. They can talk to each other and I’m not… able to do so.” He had wanted to say something different, but with both his siblings here, he didn’t feel like he should.

Lady Magic chuckled and shook her head. “Keep trying, Raven. It’s not broken, just not opened at the time.”

Nodding weakly, Raven smiled at Lady Magic. At least he knew that he wasn’t cursed. “So, what do I do now?”

“You, my child? Nothing. You get to decide how much power you want to give me and I’ll give you something in return.”

Raven smiled at her, a real smile now. “I want you to be yourself, to have all the power you need.”

He heard his siblings choke on air, and grinned at them, before turning to Lily. The goddess smiled at him and bowed once.

“Thank you, little one. I will talk to you again, once I have made sure that it is safe for us to converse. Until then, enjoy your life.”

After finishing the job, Bill yawned. He was apparated back to Gringotts and talked to Hembrock, he was sent home. He considered just crashing in his apartment in Diagon, but after not having seen Amelia and Susan for over a week, he decided against it. Instead, he flood to their home.

What he found was… interesting.

In the floo room was now a couch. On said couch were his sister and niece, asleep. They seemed worried, even in their sleep.

Walking forward carefully, Bill tapped Amelia’s shoulder, his sister awoke within seconds. “Bill!” she called out and jumped up, hugging him so tight that he almost told her to stop it.

“Wow, hey, alright, I’m here. What’s going on?”

“We were scared!” Amelia scowled at him, before she hit him at the back of his head.

“Ouch! What was that for?!”

Susan sniggered and he looked down to see her cackling over his misfortune. “I’ll give you one as well” he threatened her, without really meaning it.

“We were scared!” Susan said. “You never answered any of our owls!”

“Oh” Bill said dumbly. “Well, we’re not allowed to get mail when we’re on a job. I didn’t know you’ve written me.”

Susan frowned. “No mail?”

“Well, yeah” Bill looked at Amelia sheepishly. He had never felt like that, like he had to explain himself. People usually just let him do whatever he pleased without him having to think about it more. It seemed as if it had finally come to a stop.

“Is there an option to change that?” Amelia asked with clear authority in her voice.

While Bill knew that this was usually just showing a lack of confidence, he was frankly intimidated by his sister. “Probably. Do you want me to change it?”

“Duh!” Susan answered instead. “We want to make sure you’re okay! You’re all the family I’ve got left!”

“And that is much nicer said than what I would have said” Amelia said darkly. “What if there had been a family emergency?”

“They do get through!” Bill argued, realizing quickly that this was clearly the wrong thing he had said. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, never mind that.”

Amelia shook her head. “You better talk to your supervisor and find a solution for this problem, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll talk to Hembrock.”

“Good” Amelia nodded, fear, stress and anger falling off of her. “Now, can we have at least one normal family night?”

Susan and Bill snorted at the same time “Normal?” they asked as if they were twins. Susan cackled and winked at him, which made Bill snigger. Amelia sighed deeply.

“Just once, I want to have a normal family” she muttered.

Bill helped Susan off the couch. “How about a midnight gaming tournament?”

“Yes!” Susan practically squealed.

“You just say yes to everything that Bill says” Amelia accused Susan, good-naturedly.

Susan shook her head. “Before he left, Bill asked me if I would want a magical artifact from the site and I said no. Because I knew you wouldn’t be happy with it.”

Amelia froze and Bill snorted, holding his hands up already, defending himself before his sister would envitably come for him.

“Bill! Why in Merlin’s name would you offer that?!”

“What? I knew she’d say no, because of you.”

“And you said no, see?” Susan grinned, defending Bill to the best of her abilities.

Amelia closed her eyes, clearly unhappy with what had happened. “Am I the only responsible adult in here?” she muttered to herself, which made Bill and Susan snigger again.

“Yes” they said at the same time, earning them a dark glare. Still, the game night was on.

“Your magic is rising, Principe.”

Blaise looked up from his place next to the fire, where he had taken refuge when his mother’s lover had arrived a few hours ago. He watched as his grandmother’s clouded eyes followed him closely. It wasn’t uncommon for his nonna to have spiritual flares. More so now that she was seemingly coming to the end of her life.

“It is” Blaise said softly. “It might be my inheritance kicking in.”

He kept looking at his nonna, watching as she seemed to weigh his words, before softly shaking her head. Interesting, so it wasn’t his inheritance? What else could it be then? The only other thing that was rumoured to happen with rising magic hadn’t happened in centuries.

“Magic has chosen another vessel.”

“Pardon?” Blaise widened his eyes. That was the last thing he had expected. It was literally the only thing that could explain his sudden burst of magic, but… why so early?

His nonna smiled. “Lady Magic is finally able to free herself from the shackles of the Wizarding World. You may finally find your family’s legacy.”

“Nonna, I’m… I’m thirteen!”

“You’ll loose more in the next hours than you’ve ever had before. You’ll grow up faster. Don’t trust the house elves.”

Blaise froze, watching his nonna’s eyes turn back into the original dark green. She coughed politely and looked at him. Frowning at his most likely obvious state of shock, she sighed.

“Amore della nonna, it happened again?” her Italian accent was thick, since yes, she hadn’t left the country much before.

Blaise nodded weakly, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I have questions,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper, knowing full well that she wouldn’t answer these. She never did.

And as before, she shook her head. “Never speak about a oracolo, Principe” she said softly, smiling at him. She clearly tried to give him the strength he was lacking at the moment.

Clearing his throat, Blaise thought about how to ask for help without actually having to tell her what she had prophesised. “If I had to leave the country without the help of family or house elves, how would you do it?”

His nonna watched him closely, almost as if she was evaluating him. There was something in her eyes that Blaise couldn’t figure out, before it turned into understanding. “The call for help for wizards and witches in distress is always fiendfyre.”

Blaise stared at his nonna and shook his head. “I’m not going to bury my legacy through fiendfyre, nonna!”

“If the house elves can’t be trusted anymore, mi amore, the house of Zabini has fallen already. Whatever happens, use fiendfyre to defend yourself. It won’t spread to other houses.”

“Nonna, this-“

“Mi Principe, sometimes it’s safer to fight with fire than with water.”

Blaise stared at his grandmother in silent despair. She was obviously right, but he hated what this whole thing would go to. “Will you help me pack right now? It’s only two days left.”

His nonna was smarter than that, obviously. Or maybe she was feeling what her prophecy had told him. “You will need everything that belongs to you.”

“Yes” Blaise whispered as his nonna grabbed the biggest trunk in her house and accio’d everything in Blaise’s possession, along with family heirlooms and pretty much half the library, stowing everything carefully.

Blaise watched her silently, unable to understand what was really going on. She was giving him everything they owned. All the jewels, all the important family books, all the small little things that made a home liveable. She even placed two portraits in the trunk with a soft smile.

“Do I really need all this?” Blaise asked, a clump forming in his throat. He didn’t like where this was going, any of this.

“Yes, mi Principe. Non accontentarti di niente di meno di quello che meriti.”

Blaise nodded, still unsure of what exactly was going on. “Si, nonna.”

His grandmother shrunk the trunk and handed it over to him. “Fiendfyre will save you.”

‘Or kill me along with my family’ Blaise thought, but didn’t say it.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Blaise woke up with a start. Something was wrong. He sat up and frowned into the darkness. There was a pull on his core. His magic was trying to make him leave his bed. Frowning, Blaise got up and followed to pull to the ensuite. When he tried to make his wand light up, a bad feeling crept over him, so he decided against it.

As he entered his ensuite, he watched the open window with a frown. When had he opened a window in the middle of winter and in the middle of the night? He wanted to move over there and close it, but as he stared at the window, the bad feeling washed over him again.

What was going on?

He wanted to go back to bed, but his magic almost physically pushed him into the bathroom wardrobe. Blaise stumbled slightly catching himself on the door, before pulling it open and hopping inside. He closed it, not a second too late, as his bedroom door was pulled open.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Blaise froze as the green light lit up his bedroom through the opened bathroom door. His pulse quickened and he glanced over to the open window, trying to guess how much time he had to get over there and run.

“The boy’s not here!” he heard the same male voice calling through the manor.

“What?” a second man responded.

Hearing footsteps nearing his bedroom, Blaise held his breath. His fingers moved to the trunk his grandmother had packed him and that she had made him promise to keep with him even when he was sleeping.

“Fuck! Where is this little fucker!” the second man cursed more, walking over to the bathroom. Blaise held a hand in front of his mouth, watching the man through the tilted openings. The shadow crossed in front of the wardrobe. The window was closed.

Shit. His silent escape plan was gone.

“He’s not outside” the second man commented more calmly.

Blaise felt like throwing up. The man’s cologne rushed the wardrobe. Mint, orange and vanilla so strong it made him want to puke. His stomach was squirming and Blaise closed his eyes. The blood in his ears was rushing so loud that he couldn’t hear the quiet conversation.

“Fiendfyre will save you.”

Not when he was in the wardrobe of his bathroom!

He heard a woman scream. Opening his eyes, Blaise saw the man peering into the wardrobe.

Fear rushed through his body. He trembled, hoping for this to be over. Now! The man didn’t see him, or the scream distracted him. He turned with a grin.

“Lady Zabini is finally awake it seems.”

“Must have found her husband” the other man commented with a dark chuckle. “Shall we see her now?”

“Sure” the second man responded.

“What of the boy?”

Blaise rolled his head back, not wanting to imagine what would happen if they found him. Not now. Not ever.

“If he’s outside, we’ll know soon. Track him down, he can’t be far.”

“Yes, sir.”

They exited. Blaise took a quiet breath for the first time again.

“You’ll loose more in the next hours than you’ve ever had before.”

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Blaise breathed out controlled. His fingers found the trunk in his pocket again. He fiddled with it, waiting for the manor to quiet down again. His hand moved to the door of the wardrobe, waiting. His mother’s scream sounded through the silent halls.

The hairs on Blaise’s body were standing. He trembled. How could he fight two adult wizards?

“BLAISE!” his mother screeched, Blaise jerked back.

“Avada Kedavra!” green light lit up the blackness of the night. Blaise saw the shadows of the two men on the walls. Like the Grim Reaper.

Silence.

Pain.

Death.

Nothing.

Chapter Text

“Fiendfyre will save you.”

Blaise pushed gently on the wardrobe door. The door creaked. Blaise froze. He listened.

Silence.

Heavy with Death.

They listened probably too.

Blaise exhaled softly. He grabbed his wand, holding it tightly. He pointed it at the open door, towards his bed. “Fiendfyre” he whispered.

Nothing happened.

“Someone’s still here!” the first man called.

Footsteps sounded through the hallways. Urgent, almost.

Blaise closed his eyes, trying to focus his magic. “Fiendfyre!” he said louder than before, still unsure, waving his wand.

Still nothing. Not even a spark.

“I hear it too!” the second man said loudly.

Fuck.

They ran closer.

Blaise narrowed his eyes, looking down at his wand. He then held it out again, his decisions made. He breathed faster, as he concentrated on his magical core. “FIENDFYRE!” he yelled, with everything he had in himself.

Blue fire spread out of his wand, eating everything around it. He heard the first man yelling, then the second one cry out in pain. Blaise didn’t care.

“Bombarda!” he pointed it at the wall. It crumbled and Blaise ran.

“Don’t trust the house elves.”

Blaise trusted no one anymore. He’d make his way back to the UK without help. The Ministry was corrupt as well. He had two days.

That should be doable.

Without looking back at the property engulfed in blue flames, Blaise started walking. He started to jog and then he ran. Ran from everything he had just seen or heard. Ran from the loss, from the life he’d had. Ran from his duties, from everything he should be.

He ran.

Following his magic, the only thing he trusted in this entire fucked-up world.

Not knowing in what kind of a situation one of his students was in, Severus had gone back to Hogwarts in rather high spirits. However, he was confused, when he came back. The wolf didn’t even look at him. Before Yule they had a thing going, he thought. It wasn’t much, but he had hoped to be able to continue this…

It took three staff meetings on the last day of Yule holidays for Severus to finally corner Remus. “Wolf, what are you playing at?”

“Nothing” Remus said and pushed against him, walking away. Severus frowned as he followed his retreating figure.

What was going on? Shaking his head, he made his way down to the dungeons and started preparing for his classes again, as well as brewing the two potions for the hospital wing that Poppy had forgotten to tell him to make.

All the while, he kept thinking and wondering what the hell was going on with the wolf. He looked almost depressed, really. What had happened during the holidays that had made him feel so bad?

Severus pondered a while longer, before he sighed loudly. He finished the potions and headed upstairs to the hospital wing. He opened the door to find one single poor Hufflepuff inside. The young boy's cheeks were flushed with a feverish hue, and his eyes were dulled with a sickly malaise. Right then, he sneezed into his sleeve, muffling the sound with a weak hand, and his sniffles echoed through the quiet room. It was clear that the young boy had fallen prey to the dreaded floo virus.

Shaking his head, Severus headed to Poppy’s office and knocked at the open door. “Hello Poppy, I’ve got your potions. And your patient is awake.”

“Oh, I know” Poppy said and chuckled, accepting the potions. “Thank you, Severus, these look perfect as always.”

“Of course, nothing subpar for you” Severus said with a quick smile. He watched her creating a one-sided silencing spell at the door, which made him interested enough to stay. What other orders could she have for him that needed a silencing spell between them and her one patient?

Poppy placed the vials in her cabinet and looked at him sceptically. “You look different.”

Oh, so no potions? Severus raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Good or bad?”

“Definitely good. What did you do?”

“I may have figured out that I’m part of a triad.”

Poppy gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. “Is it happening already, then? Who are your partners?”

Severus blushed slightly. “I don’t think you as the matron of this school would find this as a good triad.”

Raising her eyebrows for a second, Poppy grew a one-sided grin. “I see, Sirius Black is one then. I knew his constant pranks couldn’t be just to cause you pain.”

“They did that too” Severus said darkly, his mind rushing to that stupid day in fifth year. If he had known then that this would lead to him dating Sirius Black, he would probably use a few dark spells against himself as well. Or just check whether his mind was somehow broken.

“They did, yes” Poppy nodded, a dark look on her face too. “And I’ve told Albus a million times before that if he wouldn’t tame the lions, it would lead to pretty much something like that.”

Severus hummed. “It seems as if Sirius has grown out of dumb and harmful pranks. He coloured the Malfoy’s hair during the break.”

He could still see Sirius with his rainbow hair, glaring across the room to where Raven was sticking his tongue out at him. He tried to come up with other pranks throughout the stay there, but the triplets always somehow outdid him. It was incredibly funny to watch.

Poppy chuckled and shook her head. “I knew he wasn’t as crazy as people thought he was.”

“I’m…” Severus frowned, realizing that to the world, he was still a mass murderer. “Um…”

The mediwitch winked at him and sent him along, telling him that she needed to check up on her patient. Severus thought about telling her not to tell anyone, but then he remembered who she was. Poppy held a million secrets. The whole student body trusted her and she had never revealed anything. She always did it another way, so that the students were safe and no one knew where it was coming from.

Poppy wasn’t a Slytherin for no reason. A real natural Slytherin, if Severus had to say so.

After bringing the potions to the mediwitch, Severus made his way to dinner, where he found Remus again. Frowning, he watched, as the wolf caught his gaze and looked away. This had to end.

He walked up to where Remus sat and cleared his throat. “Lupin? A word.”

“No” Remus said and practically shooed him away. Severus’ expression darkened and he sat down next to Flitwick, who was reading a new book in what seemed to be Gobbledygook.

While Severus was interested in that language and he would have usually made polite small talk to the goblin about his language, he couldn’t concentrate on anything else but Remus. The wolf seemed to be pulled into Dumbledore’s orbit.

Shit. So something happened during the holiday. He should have taken the wolf with him. Then at least he wouldn’t have been… hexed? Poisoned?

He kept looking at Remus throughout the dinner and wanted to talk to him. When he finally did that, Remus pushed him back and left the hall before anyone else. Severus gritted his teeth, his gaze flickering to the happy relaxed state that Dumbledore was in and he turned abruptly and left the dining hall.

He only managed to go down one set of stairs to the entrance of the dungeon, when he was pulled into an empty classroom. By the wolf.

“What the-“

“Will you stop cornering me in the daylight, where all of their eyes are on us?!” Remus started loudly, pacing in the empty classroom, and threw his hands in the air. “You have no idea how hard it is to pretend that I don’t want anything to do with you anymore!”

Severus was taken aback. “You… don’t?”

Remus stopped and turned to look at him. His eyes flashed golden, something Severus had only seen whenever he was close to the full moon. Which it wasn’t…

“Dumbledore decided to use a spell on me to stay away from you. Something that doesn’t work on werewolves, which he for some reasons continues to forget. Lucky for us, I assume. However” Remus’ voice grew with the last word and he rightfully glared at Severus. “He will not forget when you start trying to make me go out with you! I like you Severus, but you can be so stupid sometimes.”

“I… This…” Severus was lost for words. “Excuse me, what?”

Remus growled and walked closer. “How about simpleton then? I. like. you.”

Severus swallowed hardly and widened his eyes at that, was he serious? No, not Sirius! Why was that idiot in his head?!

“I like you” the wolf repeated, as if he thought that Severus hadn’t heard it the first time. “And I forbid you to show me any feelings when we’re out in the open. Dumbledore might get suspicious. I still want to be with you.”

“What if… what if there are more than two?” Severus asked carefully, unsure of how his wolf would react to this. It was honestly very hard to focus enough to have a complete sentence ready for the other man. So many thoughts were whirling in his head. It was Dumbledore’s doing? How could they stay hidden? For how long would they need to pretend? What was-

“More? How so?” Now it was Remus who was obviously confused.

Severus shook his head, trying to focus more. “Um… triad?” was the best he could do.

Remus tilted his head slightly and then walked forwards, pulling him into a kiss. Severus was shocked, he had not expected that at all! The kiss was innocent, soft, but still meaningful.

“Now, can you think properly again?”

Severus shook his head. “What? No!” He stared at the wolf, before his brain finally seemed to kickstart again. “What the hell was that?! Why would you just…” he harrumphed and shook his head again. “Alright, it was a good way to make me think again.”

Judging the cackling from the wolf, it was clear that he was amused by Severus’ words. “Glad to be of service.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s not the best way of starting a triad, I would assume.”

Severus widened his eyes and looked at the wolf closely. “You’re not against it? Do you even know who it is?”

“Why do people always forget that I have a wolf who is very capable on his own, recognizing a relationship or a triad?” Despite the annoyed question, Severus could tell that Remus was amused by that. “Yes, I know who will be in my triad. My wolf has been trying to make me realize that from the beginning, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, wasn’t really happy with all the pranks that were played on you. Or you know, more like the bullying.” Remus sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what James’ and Sirius’ problems were.”

Severus chuckled. “Well, according to Sirius, he always wanted to have my attention.”

“A stupid way to… no, actually it would work, but it would be the wrong kind of attention.” Remus smirked and turned his attention back to Severus. “So? Did it work?”

“I fed him Veritaserum to figure out if he was lying to me or not.”

Remus snorted and nodded. “That is a very good idea.”

“Just so you know, Sirius has taken to running, so you-“

“Is it too late to not agree to this triad?” Remus asked, humour in his voice and his eyes.

Severus smirked and walked closer. “It is.”

“What a shame” Remus added, placing his hands around Severus’ neck. “Better get used to having to idiots running in the morning then, huh?”

“You mean, two idiots trying to convince you to run with them?”

“Never.”

“You’ll be running with us by the end of next year, I know.”

Remus’ eyes flashed with a challenge. “I disagree. Want to bet on it?”

“What’s our prize then?”

Humming softly, Remus let his fingers trail over the skin on Severus’ neck. He almost wanted to devour the wolf right then and there. This was driving him wild. Judging from Remus’ look, he could tell. Which didn’t stop him.

“Let’s have that discussion with Sirius included. There’s something else on your mind, isn’t there?”

“Don’t sound so arrogant.”

Remus grinned. “I can tell, is all.”

Severus groaned, annoyed. “Two Gryffindors in a triad with me? This is going to be the death of me.”

“You wish.” Remus laughed.

When everyone was seated in the train, once again sitting practically on each other – literally in Ginny and Graham’s case – Kefira handed out little silver bracelets. They were already leaving the train station and Raven couldn’t stop looking at the jewellery.

“What is this?” Pansy asked, before she made sure to wrap it around her wrist.

“It’s a bracelet” Kefira said with a grin and sniggered when Pansy stuck out her tongue toward her.

Daphne snorted and rolled her eyes. “Really, though. There’s something in the metal, isn’t there?”

“There is” Kefira seemed very proud of it. Raven looked at her in awe, even before she said what she did to it, because ever since he had placed the bracelet on his wrist, he could feel the protective magic on it.

Astoria who was seated on the floor in front of her sister looked up with a hint of annoyance. “Tell us or I will vacate this compartment in search of my friends’.”

The people in the compartment laughed and Kefira held up her hands. “I’ve heard that the Dementors can seriously harm us if they’re around us for long periods. So, I’ve researched a potion that would basically act like the Patronus charm and keep the Dementors away from us.”

The impressed silence in the compartment spoke louder than words.

Raven widened his eyes at her words and held a hand in front of his mouth. “Does it really work?”

Kefira nodded. “I’ve asked our godfather to test it and he went to Hogwarts with the bracelets and walked along the property lines. The Dementors fled!”

Ginny squealed and hugged the bracelet closer. “My saviour! Kefira are you dating someone?!”

Several shouts and outcries could be heard, Kefira loudest of them all. “I’m sadly not a lesbian, Gin.”

“Damn.”

Graham snorted. “By how you look at the Quidditch players, sister-dear, you’re probably neither a- ouch!” Ginny pushed her elbows in his ribs.

The compartment was filled with laughter.

The chatter filled the room easily and went into all kinds of direction. From Quidditch to presents to family. Sometimes, they would talk with everyone, in groups of two or three or four. Raven learnt from Ginny that Luna had come over and visited the Montagues, which to everyone outside looked weird, but apparently, everyone got along just fine.

Then, Ron, Draco, Graham, the twins and Konstantin were discussing Quidditch moves they wanted to try out this year. Harry listened, laughing quietly. Kefira argued with safety problems and Draco went in with ‘live a little’, which she countered with “that’s exactly why I don’t want you to do these”.

Then, the older children started discussing O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and career options, which made the younger ones talk about their homework over the break. As it turned out, Ron had completely forgotten to do something, and Draco and Kefira offered to help him out and along. They huddled together in a corner of the compartment, close to the door, making Raven snigger at the closeness between his brother and his friend.

“He doesn’t see it, does it?” Susan asked and sat down next to Raven, now that Draco had left the seat there.

“I don’t think either of them has figured it out” Raven said with a grin and looked at his Hufflepuff ally. “Are you interested in someone?”

Susan waved him off. “Nah, I don’t think I’m ready for something. Maybe I never will.”

“I didn’t know it’s a choice” Hannah said drily which made her friend roll her eyes.

“Oh shush, we all know who you’re interested in, so don’t even start.”

Raven sniggered. “Who are you interested in then?”

“No one!” Hannah quickly announced, throwing a death stare at her friend. Even though Susan wasn’t looking at her, she was cackling, while looking for something in her satchel.

Ginny snorted and leaned closer. “I know who Graham has a thing for. Do you want to know?”

“I heard that!” Graham spoke up and pulled her back onto his lap, placing a hand on her mouth. “Don’t even think about- ewww!”

The twins, Konstantin and Ron were laughing, all having witnessed the Slytherin handling their former sister and as Graham pulled his hand away, he rubbed it over his trousers. Ron then quickly turned back to his school work.

“Why did you lick my hand?! That’s not pureblood behaviour, sister-dear!”

“Good thing, I don’t care” Ginny winked at her brother. “Don’t ever do that again or I’ll bite a finger off.”

Graham looked mildly worried. He glanced over to Fred and George as if to ask through a mind link, whether or not, she would actually do it.

“She would” Fred answered with a grin.

“The second you put a hand over her mouth” George added, sniggering.

Graham snorted and promised his sister, he’d not do it again. Today, at least. The look Ginny sent her brother had Raven laughing.

And so, time flew by quickly. As did the day. The sun was long gone, but the train kept on moving towards Hogwarts. Ron had finished his school project a while ago and Susan, Hannah and Astria had left to find other friends. Daphne had stayed, talking to Kefira about something highly advanced. The motion of the train had Raven falling asleep softly. His head was on Draco’s shoulder and he had his eyes closed, listening to the people around him.

That was until the train pulled another stunt. Stopping abruptly in the middle of nowhere… again.

Raven was wide awake and looked up at the lights, while a few others stared at the door. Daphne went pale and jumped up, trying to find her sister.

“No!” Kefira held her back. “If it’s really another Dementor, she shouldn’t leave the compartment and neither should you! We have the bracelets, they’re not going to get us!”

Daphne sat down, trembling terribly. Her eyes were fixed on the door. Raven’s eyes meanwhile moved to the window, waiting for it to develop the ice it did before. And just like during summer, the window iced over. Their breath became visible and Raven moved further towards Draco.

“Not again” Graham growled and got up, his wand ready. “You remember the spell?” he asked the other older students. Konstantin, Fred and George nodded. They had their wands out as well.

A whimper came from Daphne and then they saw the cloaked figure as well. It stopped in front of their compartment, before the door was opened. Raven saw Graham panicking, the twins tried to cast the Patronus, but it didn’t work, Konstantin’s spell was the only one working. It was so thin however, that it snapped as soon as it came into contact with an actual Dementor.

Raven breathed heavier. Worry not, my child.

Lady Magic?

Before he could question it, a sudden flash of light illuminated the dark form before them, slicing through it as if it was barely there. The Dementor seemed to screech, before it seemed to explode into tiny black floating pieces that soon disappeared in the air.

In front of them stood Blaise Zabini, a sword in his hands – but its unwavering grip seemed to be less a sign of strength and more a desperate testament to the shock reverberating through his body. It was visible, even to Raven.

His eyes, wide and glassy, seemed fixed on a point far beyond the present scene, as if still witnessing a horror no one else could see. His chest rose and fell in shallow, rapid breaths, barely stirring the air, while a fine tremor coursed through his limbs like a visible echo of the unseen storm within. The sword, held too tightly, betrayed the tension that coiled through his fingers and up his arms, as if his very muscles sought to contain a chaos that threatened to spill out.

Even the usually vibrant hues of his clothing seemed muted, drained of their vibrancy as if the very colours themselves had recoiled from the touch of trauma. Blaise stood there, a warrior carved from marble, yet so fragile that the slightest breath might shatter him into a thousand pieces.

“Holy shit” Draco called out and pulled the other Slytherin into the compartment, just as Daphne left to look for her sister, now that the danger was over. “Blaise, are you okay?”

“How did you do that?” Graham asked, slowly relaxing again. His eyes were still looking at the now closed door, as if he feared another creature coming to take them.

“It’s what had to be done” Blaise said, his voice far away, his eyes still unfocussed. He held the sword in front of him, as if he still needed to protect himself.

Raven moved closer and placed a hand on his arm, it seemed to awaken the other Slytherin and he breathed in deeply, seemingly for the first time in a long while. “What happened?” Raven whispered, taking his hand away, when Blaise stared at it for a little too long. He knew there was more to that trauma than just seeing a Dementor.

Blaise created a silencing charm around the two of them, as if didn’t trust anybody else. Raven would have thought Draco’s annoyed look was funny, had he looked that way. For now, he just watched Blaise.

“I know what you are” Blaise said softly. “You’re Lady Magic’s vessel, aren’t you?”

Raven widened his eyes. “I… I… no?”

For the first time, it seemed, as if Blaise was amused. “Don’t worry. My family comes from a long line of warriors, mostly employed by the vessels of Lady Magic to protect them. I want to offer you my service again.”

“Blaise” Raven held his hands out, to stop the other teen. “What’s going on with you? You look… terrible.”

Blaise closed his eyes, breathing a bit controlled. He clearly seemed to get himself together. “Someone’s been hunting me down. I’ve been running for the past two days. My family is dead. They killed them, they would have done the same to me had my magic not led me to safety.”

Raven stared at the other Slytherin in silent horror. The fact that he recounted it just like that… it was clear to Raven that the other teenager didn’t have any time coming to terms with what happened to him. It was factually, as if he was talking about financial numbers.

Blaise’s voice remained flat and monotone, his gaze fixed on the wall ahead, over Graham’s shoulder, it seemed. His knuckles were white as his grip tightened on handle of the sword, which he hadn’t let go by now, as if he expected the worst. All of this was betraying the storm of emotions churning within him. His body was rigidly hunched, as if trying to shrink into itself, to escape the memory that held him captive.

As Raven tried to find the words to respond, he noticed a subtle tremor in Blaise’s hands, a barely visible sign of the inner turmoil he was fighting to suppress. His eyes, devoid of their usual spark, held a distant, haunted look, as if his mind was still trapped in the nightmare of what must have happened just a couple of days ago.

Raven’s heart ached for his friend, witnessing the invisible scars etched into his being. Blaise’s voice echoed in his mind, the detached tone a mask for the depths of pain he was forced to bear.

With a sigh, Raven reached out again and gently placed his hand on Blaise’s arm, as he had done so before. This seemed to break the other teenager. The slightest touch sent a ripple through Blaise’s body, his eyes darting towards Raven, tears welling up, lastly. It seemed as if he was finally dealing with what had happened.

“Blaise…” Raven started, but stopped again, staring at the other boy, as he seemed to react to what had been done to him and his family.

He slid off the bench and fell to the floor, the sword clattering as he let go. He pulled his knees up, pressing his face into his hands, as tears started coming like raindrops from a thundercloud. The silencing spell broke over them, but Raven felt one of the older children placing a spell on the door.

Sadness and grief seemed to wash over Blaise’s body, as he let go of the trauma and shock, he had surely been carrying for the past couple of days. His breath hitched, a sob catching in his throat, as he surrendered to the storm of emotions that had surely been brewing within him. His body shook with the force of his grief, each tremor a testament to the pain he had been holding at bay.

His expression softened, the rigidity that had masked his heartbreak melting away. His eyes, once clouded with shock, now reflected a profound sadness, a depth of sorrow that only loss could bring.

As the tears flowed freely, Blaise began to release the tension that had been gripping him, the trauma that had cast a shadow over his life. His sobs echoed through the silence, a mournful lament for the past that could never be reclaimed.

With each wave of grief, he seemed to feel lighter, as if the tears were carrying the pain away. Raven pulled him into a tight hug and held him there until the was exhausted and he fell asleep, tears on his face, but starting to relax.

“What happened?” Draco whispered, his own shock barely contained at the emotional display.

Raven shook his head. Blaise had to tell them himself, or allow him to talk to his siblings about what he had witnessed. He was not going to tell secrets that weren’t his to share.

“Something very bad” he said instead and rubbed Blaise’s back. “Maybe he’ll tell you sometime.”

“I’ve never seen him like that” Pansy whispered, staring at Blaise’s sleeping from. “And where did he get the sword from?”

Graham pointed at the handle. “It’s a family heirloom, if I’m remembering this right.”

“I hope he’s alright” Ginny whispered quietly, snuggling closer to her brother.

Raven sent her a smile. “I’m sure he will be… one day.”

“Kefira, the school has barely started, you can’t have reason to be in my potions classroom.”

Looking up from the textbook in front of her, Kefira grinned at her godfather. “I know, but there’s something I need your help with.”

“Two days into the new term?” Despite her godfather’s slightly annoyed question, Kefira could tell that he wasn’t really irritated.

She nodded and held her book up. “There’s a potion I found when I was looking for the Dementor thing, which actually worked, so thank you for that! When we were in the train, the Dementors stayed back, anyway, I wanted to-“

“Kefira. Breathe.”

Severus placed a hand on her shoulder and made her look at him. He spoke softly and calmly, which thankfully worked on calming her down. Kefira hadn’t realized that she was speaking so fast and that her thoughts were racing in her head.

“Sorry” she apologized and ducked her head.

Her godfather chuckled. “Don’t worry. Now, what is this new potion about?”

“It’s a… well, the potion is a de-aging potion. And I was hoping that you could help me modify it.”

“Modify? How so?” Severus frowned and accepted the old book, where Kefira had also found the Dementor potion inside. She gave Severus the time to read over it, before he turned back to her and she could explain what she had in mind.

Once her godfather turned back to her, she took a deep breath. “You know how Professor McGonagall is in a triad relationship with our parents?”

“I do? Certainly, yes.”

Based on that answer, he clearly hadn’t known, but Kefira didn’t let that influence her. “I think she’s holding back because she’s a bit older than them. I was thinking that maybe, if I gave her a de-aging potion that would like take ten years off of her, maybe she’d feel… better about it.”

Severus hummed. “You want to modify the de-aging potion to take a specific number of years off of you?”

“Well, not me, but Professor McGonagall.”

His eyes found hers again and he narrowed them in thought. “Such a potion has been tried many times. Always unsuccessfully.”

Kefira hummed. “Do you know why?”

“I’ve read all the announcements, yes.”

“Then you can help me modify this old potion to maybe change that! We could help the people!”

Severus looked at her again with this unreadable expression. There was a tense silence between them, before he cleared his throat. “Kefira, if you manage to do this, you will be one of the best potioneers of England.”

Kefira frowned. “So?”

“You’re in third year! You’ll likely be the talk of the town—perhaps even world-renowned—within a year.”

“Because of a potion?” Kefira was unimpressed. “But that’s just brewing and-“

“The Dementor potion is one of the hardest potions to brew, that was why people don’t use it much anymore. You did that one with practically no help.”

Shaking her head, Kefira corrected him. “You helped me. You did-“

“Nothing, Kefira. I did nothing. I stood by and kept watch that you would do anything in the correct order and that n case something happened, I could keep you safe. I did not interfere, I did not help, I just watched.”

Severus seemed serious. Kefira stared at him and bit her lip. Now, she could see that he was right. He had done very little to ensure that she did the right thing. He watched, yes, he helped her with finding the right ingredient. But in the end, it had been her mostly.

She exhaled softly. “Do you think I can do this?”

Her godfather smiled at her and nodded. “Do you still want to do it?”

“It’s for Professor McGonagall. I’m not going to publish it.”

Severus chuckled. “We’ll see. And yes, little lioness, we’ll figure it out.”

“Great!” Kefira beamed at her godfather and they started looking over the parchment. Severus asked Kefira all she knew about the ingredients and why they were added to said potion. Then, they started to think about how the total de-aging could be influenced so that it wouldn’t make their professor a baby. That would be incredibly counter-effective.

Kefira totally trusted that they could create the de-aging potion for ten years only.

It would be like a present for summer holidays, maybe.

Chapter Text

Attention Magical World of Great Britain

It has been too long, since I, Lady Magic herself, have been allowed to use your publication as a medium of speech for me. In recent months I have been awakened and have chosen my vessel through which I am allowed to act. Before I will look to rectify things in this world, I will lay some ground rules for you all.

Firstly, if anyone considers hunting for my vessel, you will lose any and all magic from your system and from your family line. No more magic shall ever grace your family for all of eternity. May my vessel be safe from any harm.

Secondly, I will not tolerate any sort of abuse of my children. My magic has already stretched all over the country and I have found countless victims of daily manipulation. I will fix this in the coming months and years. Yes, you will learn to fear me if you’ve done wrong.

Thirdly, if you have been swearing in my name and realized that even though you were lying you’ve still kept your magic, be terrified of me. Once I’ve corrected everything in Great Britain, I will spread through the world, looking for everyone who has abused my absence for their own gain and corruptions. I will give my children a second chance, of course. So this promise will only work from now on.

Fourthly, my publications will be sent to all magical beings without hindrance. If there are harmful mailwards around my children, I will tear them down and make sure that they’re safe. Any manipulation by keeping mail from them, will be punished by your laws.

Fifthly, I call for all goblin made artifacts that were stolen from them to be returned out of free will to my soldiers. If they handed out presents, you may keep them, anything else will be cursed by the end of this year. Only a goblin Curse Breaker can destroy said curse.

Sixthly, I will be watching and judging.

Until my next publication, please be aware that I have a lot of work to do, but I will make sure to keep all of you up to date.

Albus stared at the notice and frowned. His carefully laid out plans had just gotten a fair bit more complicated. He rubbed his chin over his beard, while his mind worked on switching things around.

Who was this vessel?

It was a powerful opponent to have. Or an even more powerful ally. He needed to find this wizard, but where to begin?

Albus cleared his desk and accio’d all of the information he had about the magical vessel.

He was going to find it.

Raven went looking for Blaise a few days after school started again. He found him rather quickly thanks to the twins who were working with Konstantin and Wood on something – most likely Quidditch related. Raven shook his head as he left the visitor room by the Slytherin Common Room and moved to the Greenhouses.

Inside, he found not only Blaise, but also Neville who was silently working on something else in the other end of the room. The Slytherin just stared at the plant, frozen in what seemed like his own mind.

Walking up to him, Raven stopped opposite if him, his back towards Neville, just so that Blaise wouldn’t jump when he realized someone was next to him. It seemed to work, as the dark-haired wizard blinked a few times, before he focussed on Raven with a soft smile.

“Hey” Raven said and returned the smile. “How are you?”

Blaise hummed and looked down at the plants again. “It feels really weird” he answered after a quick silence. “Being back here, where… before the break everything was normal. And it feels like it’s still normal… like my nonna is waiting to hear from me any day now.”

Raven nodded and placed a hand on Blaise’s arm. Softly, as not to make him jump out of his skin. “That’s understandable.”

Blaise rubbed his forehead and looked at Raven. “You’re still nice to me, even though I was behaving like an idiot before?”

“We are wear masks” Raven answered, shrugging his shoulders. “Your mask of childlike naivety fit you rather well.”

It seemed as if that was the first real reaction for Blaise as he started to chuckle. “It’s what my nonna always told me to do. If people think your naïve, no one will think twice that you’re the protector.”

Raven smiled at him. “Your grandmother seems like a very smart woman.”

“She was. She was also convinced that we would be protectors again. My mother used to say that this was all just made up crap.” Blaise closed his eyes, before he looked at Raven again. “Thank you, you know. For looking out for me.”

“Hey, you protected me in the train, it’s only fair that I help look out for you too.”

He held his hand out for Blaise to grab, who hesitated for just a second, before he accepted. Then, they walked back to the Common Room together. Harry could tell that Blaise was still hiding in his own mind and he didn’t dare ask what had happened to his family. But he was sure as hell going to help him with anything he needed, should he ask for help.

When Severus went for an early morning run, he was greeted by a black shaggy looking dog. Severus stopped and stared at it for about five seconds, before he rolled his eyes. He knew exactly who was hiding as an Animagus right in front of him. And all his childhood memories of Potter and Remus calling Sirius ‘Padfoot’ were suddenly solved by the appearance of the dog.

“Let’s go on a run then, if you’re so looking forward to this” he told the dog and they started around the lake. Once they were a safe distance from the castle and the wards, the dog sped up until he was quite a distance from Severus, stopped there and transformed into Sirius.

Severus stopped running and came to a slow halt and walked the rest to his partner. Sirius had this stupid grin on his face, which made Severus roll his eyes. “Didn’t we discuss why you couldn’t come to Hogwarts? And now you think that the headmaster doesn’t know what your Animagus looks like?”

Sirius smirked. “Who says I only have one Animagus form?”

“You do?” Severus frowned. “Did that happen while training with the goblins?”

Nodding, Sirius grinned. “They showed me how to unlock multiple Animagus forms. It’s basically just training to have them. Want to see my newest form?”

“Kind of” Severus said truthfully. He couldn’t believe that he had such a powerful partner. Not only was Sirius trained like a goblin fighter and could hold his stance against anything by now, he was also magically more powerful than before and by far more powerful than Severus had ever seen anybody their age.

His partner grinned, before he shrunk, falling to all four, black fur coating everything. A long tail grew and his ears turned into cat ears. Before long, a beautiful black panther stood in front of him. Severus’ breath got caught and he knelt down to look closer at the big cat.

“You’re so amazing!” Severus said lowly. The cat meowed and walked closer, rubbing his head on Severus’ leg. Meanwhile, Severus was shaking his head, staring in awe.

The cat rubbed his body along Severus, before walking a few feet away and turning back into Sirius Black. Severus just continued staring wile Sirius tilted his head wordlessly, but with a knowing grin. Shaking his head, Severus got up. He was speechless, which made his partner giggle.

It took him five seconds, before he could think again. “So, you say I should just come back to Hogwarts with a black panther?”

“Exactly” Sirius nodded. “That would give me the opportunity to still follow what the goblins want me to do and… I kind of have an excuse to be with you. You and Remus that is.”

Severus snorted, but he walked closer and kissed his partner. “You’re amazing.”

Sirius beamed at him. “Thank you, darling. I wish I could say the same about you, but all I’ve seen so far has been rather common.”

Laughing, Severus shook his head. He knew the teasing from Sirius wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. His partner seemed to like to rile everyone up and Severus had surprisingly gotten used to it over Yule break.

“Before I finish my morning run, one question; do you know whether or not the wards can pick up on turning into an Animagus?”

“Not as far as I know” Sirius shrugged his shoulders. “And if there was, Dumbledore must ignore it, since McGonagall is used to changing into a cat rather often without telling the old fool.”

Severus hummed at that and nodded. He then beckoned his partner to finish the run and before they enter the castle wards again, Sirius cheered happily and jumped into the air, becoming a cat within seconds and he landed on his four paws elegantly. Severus laughed, happily. He couldn’t wait for the time where there was no more threat around, where he could just happily live with the people he loved.

He finished his run early and walked into the castle, the black panther trotting next to him happily. Their first test was passed, when they walked past Professor Sprout who smiled at Severus and nodded. However, the very next test wasn’t passed, as they walked past Remus who froze and stared at the panther, before looking at Severus.

“What are you playing at?” Remus asked quietly, clearly unsure whether or not Dumbledore could hear and see them.

Severus sent him a quick smile. “Let’s meet in my quarters after dinner. I’ll tell you everything.”

“Dumbledore will hate that you brought in a panther.”

“Yes, well according to the school board, any member of the faculty can keep their familiars if they behave. And real familiars are able to keep the peace, right?” he turned to look at the panther who sat there innocently looking up at him. His tail was twitching though and Severus sighed. “I’m going to regret this so bad.”

Remus snorted and nodded. “I agree. Behave, Sirius” he hissed, before walking off.

Severus looked down at the panther who still looked innocent. “I think that went well, right?”

The panther nodded and Severus snorted. “If you’re going to pretend to be my familiar, I will have to give you a name… I would call you Shadow, but my godson’s already taken that name, so what do you think about… Midnight?”

After the cat nodded, they walked to the Great Hall. When Severus entered, he heard several students gasp. But he kept walking, Midnight kept following him like the good pet cat he was and when Severus sat down, Midnight lay on the floor next to him. He could tell that all eyes were on him and Midnight, but he just pretended not to notice. Some food appeared in front of him in a bowl and he placed it on the floor next to his panther. Sirius didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t being a human, as he just kept on eating.

“Severus, my boy… what is this… why are you feeding a panther?!”

It was clear from Dumbledore’s words that he was very much annoyed. Severus smirked and looked up. “Good morning, Albus. I was followed when I went on a run this morning. And when I stopped, this little bugger came to greet me. It seems I have gained a familiar.”

“And a beautiful one at that!” Filius said with twinkling eyes. Severus was somehow sure that the goblin professor knew who was hiding as a cat, but didn’t care to tell everyone else. Maybe he needed to talk to him as well.

“If you wish, Severus, I could ask him about where he came from” Minerva asked, offering her services as an Animagus.

Severus wanted to laugh. “If you want to, I won’t stop you, but I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“Now, now” Albus said and held his hands up. “If you could, Minerva. I want to be sure that this cat isn’t going to attack my students.”

The professor transformed herself and Severus bit his lower lip, trying to keep in his laughter. Just imagining the conversation between the two of them must be hilarious. It took less than a minute for the professor to turn back human.

When she did, she looked amused and grinned at Severus. “I am to inform you that he liked the name Midnight very much.”

Dumbledore seemed annoyed. “Does it understand that this is a school?”

“Yes” Minerva answered and smiled at the idiot. “And he will keep close to Severus, unless he’s hunting in the Forest which should be off-limits for the children anyway.”

The headmaster was clearly not happy about the fact that a black panther was Severus’ supposed familiar. However, there was nothing legally he could do against it, so he sat down, looking like a child trying not to have a tantrum.

“That’s so cool!” a Ravenclaw called out and suddenly, the whole Great Hall was talking about Severus’ familiar Midnight. Minerva finally chuckled, but not as everyone suspected because of the discussion in the Great Hall.

Severus knew that she must have talked to Sirius about who he really was and that they were pranking Dumbledore. Clearly, she was on board.

That in itself was pretty hilarious.

“Dumbledore is not going to fight against Lord Akingbade.”

Bill looked up from there he was sitting in Amelia’s living room, reading a Curse book. He frowned when his sister entered with what seemed an incredibly stressed Lady Picquery. Her statement had made the two Bones’ freeze and Bill frowned shortly after that.

“Wait, he’s not?” he asked, frowning even more when Lady Picquery shook her head.

“I don’t know what’s going on in the old man’s head, but he’s apparently decided not to work on his international image.”

Amelia hummed thoughtfully and stared pacing on the living room. Bill called for their house elf and ordered him to get them some tea and cookies. Whenever Amelia got that way, he had realized that she needed either tea or sugar. He hadn’t yet figured out when she needed what, so he usually got her both just in case.

Lady Picquery sat down elegantly and thanked him for the refreshments. Meanwhile, they watched Amelia pace and think. It didn’t take long, as she stopped again and stared at Bill as if he was the personification of Dumbledore’s mind. He leaned back with raised eyebrows.

“What?” he asked when she didn’t talk. “Do you-“

“If he’s not interested in going international, he must have decided to focus on our national problems.”

“So, he might want to look at how he can get Raven under his wings again?” Bill asked, feeling suddenly anxious.

Amelia nodded. “He might be thinking about how he can topple our government and make sure that he will be the only one remaining standing.”

“Not if I have a word in this” Bill said and shook his head. “The goblins are even on our side – mostly thanks to Raven, I have to admit.”

Lady Picquery chuckled at that. “He’s a precious little boy. And I do agree. It is worrying that Dumbledore has chosen to focus back on Great Britain, but I think we can use this to our advantage. We have already shown our open support for Lord Akingbade, he will most likely win the next election. Now, we move to England.”

Amelia frowned at their friend. “How would that help our cause?”

“The Picquerys have always moved to places where we could help. If we move to England, we announce that we’re helping to look for the Boy Who Lived and disappeared. We find out how he really lived, what conditions he had to go through, we publicly announce that Dumbledore was his Magical Guardian and suddenly, his image is even further down than Lockhart’s.”

“Not a bad idea” Amelia mumbled, more to herself.

“We should ask Raven first” Bill interrupted the ladies. “If we’re going to talk about it all openly, I know he’s not Harry Potter anymore, but it’s still known in our little circle who he is. Maybe he doesn’t want his parents to know.”

Amelia turned to look at him carefully. “Do you know how bad it was there?”

Bill shook his head. “I know that when the twins and Ron freed him in Second Year, there were bars at the window, and his uncle called him ‘boy’ and ‘freak’.”

Lady Picquery perked up when Bill talked about the twins and she listened closely. “We’ll ask him during Ostara break, yeah?”

“And then, we’ll take Dumbledore down” Amelia growled.

“If only it were that easy” Bill said with a sigh that had both women laughing.

Chapter Text

January went by without many problems or changes. Raven enjoyed his lessons in all classes, he loved spending time outside of classes with his friends, made sure that Blaise was always part of their growing friend group and he asked Neville to join them often too.

The adults were all clearly still planning on different things, but they all told them that they were children and that they wouldn’t be part of any fight. Raven loved being with his godfather outside of classes, he continued making potions with him.

He knew pretty much from the beginning that the black panther in the corner sleeping was Sirius Black, he was absolutely okay with it. Even if Severus didn’t realize it, he looked enamoured whenever his gaze fell upon the animagus.

Dumbledore kept to himself, mostly. He hadn’t tried to find the former Weasley children and his siblings in corners to ask about things. That too seemed to put Raven in a good mood.

In addition, he loved watching Ron and Draco play, fight and talk. They had gotten so much closer after the holidays. Nott obviously didn’t care about it all and Draco often got into a fight over their close relationship. Whenever Draco was around Ron, there was pure happiness surrounding their siblings' link.

And speaking of siblings' link, Raven still couldn’t make it happen. For some reason, it seemed as if it was still blocked. Lady Magic had tried to help him discover it, but he still couldn’t manage it. Kefira tried to help him by teaching him how to access it, but that didn’t appear to be the problem. He could feel his siblings emotions and he could hear them talking, it was just… apparently harder for him to communicate through their link.

Lady Magic did tell him not to give up, so he wasn’t there just yet, but he could feel himself getting more and more frustrated. He hated that his siblings were able to just talk to each other without any difficulties. Meanwhile, he could only listen. If they were close, he could talk, but it always had to be translated into their mind by one of them.

So, he liked to spend his time with their other friends usually. Being with his siblings made him feel magically weak and like he wasn’t their favourite brother. Which was entirely selfish, he knew that. It didn’t change his feelings though.

As February crept over the lands, it was clear that Raven tried to avoid his siblings. So much so, that Draco managed to sit the three of them down in their Dormitory. Kefira too seemed to have noticed.

“What’s going on with you, Raven?” Draco asked, clearly concerned. He then turned away to sneeze, before he turned back to them.

Raven was tempted to answer with ‘nothing’, but seeing as Draco had managed to convince Kefira that the three of them needed to talk, it was clear that he couldn’t do that. He looked at the floor and played with the corner of a blanket.

“I… don’t know?” probably also not the best answer. He knew exactly what was wrong with himself, he just didn’t know how to voice his problems.

Kefira leaned forward. “Is it that I’m spending a lot of time with Sev brewing?” she asked, worry in her features.

Raven shook his head. “No, no, I’m happy that you have time with Sev as well.”

“Then what is it?” Draco asked and looked at him so worried, that Raven looked back down at the blanket.

“I don’t think… Idontthinkimagoodbrother.”

“What?” Kefira asked.

“Excuse me? Could you repeat that a bit slower?” Draco offered and tilted his head.

Raven took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m a good brother.”

His siblings frowned. “Why not?” they said as one.

Shrugging his shoulders, Raven bit his lower lip. Kefira scooted closer. “Wait, is it because you haven’t mastered talking to us through the link?” she asked, apparently guessing his biggest problem.

“What? Raven, that’s ridiculous!” Draco called out and shook his head. “I still haven’t mastered what our sister can do and I don’t go around questioning my ability to be a brother!”

“But you can talk to each other!” Raven said and bit back his rising tears. “It always feels like I’m the one who can’t do all these things you can. And it’s so easy for the both of you and then, here I am, the idiot of the family.”

Draco grabbed his fidgeting hands and raised his eyebrows. “First of all, you are not and never will be the idiot of the family! I don’t know who is, but it will never be you! Secondly,…”

“But you can do all of this awesome magic stuff and I just… can’t!”

“I’ve had weeks of learning while I was petrified” Kefira pointed out and shrugged her shoulders. “Draco’s not as good as me and he’s been at it for years.”

Raven sniffed, no longer able to hold back his tears Kefira pulled him close, while Draco squeezed his hands in silent support. “I’m just a failure.”

“No!” Kefira and Draco said at the same time. “Your talents are probably in another corner” Kefira continued.

Draco nodded vigorously. “You are an amazing brother and we love you. And hey, you have your whole life to work on our siblings' link. I’m sure one of these days or months or years, we can all converse through it. Why else did we get a link if we can’t talk through it properly?!”

Kefira looked at Draco curiously. “What do you mean? Don’t all siblings have that link?”

“Nope” Draco confirmed her suspicion. “It’s kind of like a twin or triplet gift. Not all twins and triplets have it, but we do. It’s very rare and powerful. I’m sure the Picquery twins have it as well.”

“How can you tell?” Raven asked softly.

Draco smiled at him. “They’re talking like they’re one person. They probably grew up with an intact siblings' link and never realized how to separate their thoughts. I call it cheating in tests.”

That made Raven snigger and Kefira grinned down at him. Draco winked at him, before sneezing.

“I’m sorry” Raven said softly. “I feel like I’m constantly questioning myself.”

“After what we’ve been thought” Kefira said and shook her head with a sigh, “I don’t think that’s strange.”

Raven smiled and turned to Draco who grinned at him. “Me neither.”

“I think you’re the best siblings to have.”

Severus glared at the first year potion essays. He wasn’t particularly angry about what they missed in their… assumptions of potions, no. His flared anger had to do with the fact that tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and his last run-ins with the Piquery twins had proven that they were still trying to get him and Remus together.

Even though they were together. Remus had taken remarkably well to the fact that they were apparently a triad and even with Sirius being here. It seemed to calm them all down.

Severus had never realized how alone he had really felt. Now he understood why the people in triads called it a gift from Lady Magic. Being with his partners, especially when they were all in the same room, gave his mind a rest, his magic was so calm.

He had almost fallen asleep the first time it happened. It was slightly embarrassing to think about it, since he had placed his head into Sirius’ lap and closed his eyes. The two old friends continued talking softly and the murmur of their voice comforted something in Severus he never knew had needed it.

Even having Sirius with him all this time made Severus calmer and his magic felt less irritated. He didn’t know how Remus was doing it without the two of them, but he had told them, that he was never truly alone.

“You have your monster and I’ve got mine” he said with a wink.

Sirius had looked up from his breakfast and almost choked on his toast while trying to call out “Hey!”

Severus had just laughed and shook his head. “Your lycanthropic condition does not equate to a monster.”

“True mostly, but it also means my mind is never alone.”

“And you’re comfortable with this arrangement?” Severus had asked, while enjoying watching Sirius who seemed to realize that no one was taking it back that he wasn’t a monster.

Clearly, Remus too enjoyed it as he could tell through the glint in his eyes, when Sirius made an annoyed noise. “Most of the times” he had said and turned to Severus with a smile. “And if not, I know where to find you.”

“Pardon me, but I am not a monster!” Sirius piped up and glared at them.

Severus huffed at that. “We’ll see.” He took great pleasure in watching Sirius acting up and coming up with all the reasons as to why he wasn’t a monster if Remus’ werewolf wasn’t one. And then, he took even more pleasure in Remus countering each and every argument with a precise moment where he hadn’t acted that way.

In the end, they had come to the conclusion that Sirius was indeed a monster. That had greatly annoyed their partner and he had turned into a panther all day long, before turning back in the evening, looking so incredibly sheepish.

Thinking back now, Severus loved how he had sat down on the floor next to his partner and placed an arm around him. “Did we hurt you this morning?” he asked softly.

Sirius gave an annoyed grunt. “No, not really.”

“Not really means yes, darling” Severus said and rubbed his partner’s shoulder. “I’m not going to abandon you if you experience frustration or anger towards me or Remus. If our actions this morning have inadvertently aggravated you, you can tell us to stop, you know.”

“It wasn’t… I… I like being with you both when you get into this teasing thing” Sirius said lowly and leaned into Severus’ side. “I’m just not really used to partners teasing each other. My parents would rather tear each other’s head off than tease the other.”

Severus had snorted at that. “I wholeheartedly agree. However, let's not emulate our parents' behaviour. It appears that Remus and I contribute to the severity of the teasing. If the situation becomes overwhelming for you, simply inform us to cease our actions, and I will ensure that we do so accordingly.”

Sirius laughed softly. “Yeah, yeah, you professor. Thanks.”

This did honestly nothing to Severus’ anger right now. Even if he liked to think about his partners, the fact that tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and his time was up made him a bit jumpy. He couldn’t really go all out and pretend to be with Remus while Dumbledore had apparently ‘spelt’ the werewolf to hate him. Which meant that apart from some winks and quick lovestruck glances (from Remus obviously, not Severus, never, no), nothing had happened out in the open that the students could see.

That seemed to make the whole betting thing worse. According to Raven, half his house was in the betting pool on when Remus and Severus would be together. He needed to stop the twins, then he could think about how to handle his house.

So, Severus placed all the essays away, in order to look over them tomorrow and headed to the Common Room. As he opened up the door, the panther by the fireplace looked up. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in two minutes, if not less.”

Sirius placed his head back down and seemed to continue sleeping. Meanwhile, Severus marched to his Common Room. As he entered, he walked into chaos.

Half the Common Room was cheering different people on, while in the middle of a circle, there were the other students, trying to make a perfect animal noise with the candies. Right now, there was Pansy Parkinson against Flora Carrow.

Severus cleared his throat and the noise stopped abruptly. He let his eyes wander over the students present – almost all of Slytherin it appeared. “Picquery with me, both of you.”

The twins got up with a grin. “We can take our friends with us, we’re going to tell them either way” one of them said.

“I doubt that” Severus said and turned, heading back to his office.

As soon as he had left, he could hear the chaos continuing, before two sets of footsteps followed him. He hated what he was doing right now, but he didn’t see any other way of dealing with the problems the twins were creating.

As they entered the room, Severus directed them to sit down in front of his desk and he sat down behind it. Sirius had looked up as the three of them entered and he got up and stretched, before wandering over to Severus. He sat down and looked at the twins, who were staring at Sirius in wander.

“I really want a dangerous animal as a familiar also!” one of them said, which made Severus chuckle.

“Alright, I have brought you here because I am aware of the bet that is going on in my Common Room.”

“Which bet?” the one sitting on the left said, his voice perfectly innocent.

Severus raised his eyebrows. “The two of you are betting that Professor Lupin and I will be in a relationship by tomorrow, isn’t that what your bet entails?”

The little silence between the twins made Severus smirk. He waited until they looked at him again, before he continued. “I would like for you to not go public with that bet.”

“Why not?”

Sirius looked to the door and got up, scratching at it, as if he wanted outside. That could only mean one thing: Remus was very close and Sirius’ good animalistic nose had picked up on it.

Severus sighed. “It seems as if the answer is closer than I thought.”

And indeed, two seconds after the twins looked at each other frowning, the door was opened by none other than Remus Lupin. He grinned at Sirius and walked inside, only to freeze when he saw the twins.

“Professor” Remus quickly said, his voice neutral. “There seems to be a problem with the potions I’ve received.”

Severus had to give it to Remus, he was rather quick with coming up with bullshit. The twins’ facial expression turned from confusing to amusement within seconds.

“You’re already dating!” the right one called out and the one sitting on the left narrowed his eyes. “Since when?!” he asked.

Remus rolled his eyes and scratched Sirius being his ear which seemed to melt the panther. “A while.”

“No, no, we were betting, we need to know exactly since when, so we know who won the bet!”

Severus rolled his eyes. “I’ve brought you here in order not to make it public, gentlemen. The headmaster insists that this shouldn’t happen.”

“In fact, he tried to cast something on me that luckily didn’t stick for long” Remus explained and stepped behind Severus placing his hands on his shoulders.

Once again, the close contact to his triad partners made Severus relax and he leaned back, feeling Remus slowly massage his shoulders.

He could tell that the twins were concerned. “We won’t tell” the one on the right promised and nodded. “We’ll make sure that our house won’t try and get you caught in the open.”

Remus hummed happily. “We appreciate this. Now shoo, unless you have something else important to talk about?”

Severus had trouble concentrating and by the identical grins on the twins’ faces, it was apparently showing. He rolled his eyes and pulled Remus’ hands away from him. “Anything I can help you with now?”

“No” the one on the left said with a smirk.

“We see that your time is otherwise important” the one on the right added with a grin. “We’ll tell the others not to get you unless it’s an emergency.”

Severus sighed as they left his office with sniggers. He turned to look at Remus who wore a grin. Wordlessly, he raised his eyebrows and his partner laughed.

“They’re against Dumbledore as well, Sev” Remus said and walked closer, starting to massage his shoulders again. “I wouldn’t have done it if it was someone else.”

Sirius turned into a human and titled his head as he continued to sit on the floor. “Are you alright, Remy? You look a bit pale.”

Severus looked up at his partner and saw that he indeed seemed a bit under the weather. “Nothing serious” Remus said and shrugged. “I didn’t sleep well last night and I actually sneezed at two of my students. Still mortified about that one.”

Sirius snorted and turned towards Severus. “You’ve got a pick-me-up potion around here?”

“Second drawer from the bottom to the right” Severus directed his other partner. Then he turned back towards Remus, while Sirius was rummaging through his storage. “How will it go this weekend, if you’ve got a cold as a werewolf.”

Remus sighed. “Turning will make my immune system weak for a second. That’s enough for it to spread.”

Sirius held out a potion that Severus had made. “Then we’re going to get you feeling better again before Sunday. Right, Sev?”

Chuckling, Severus got up and grinned at Sirius. “Of course, now go to bed. You can stay here for tonight if you want to.”

“And get the both of you sick as well?” Remus asked, shaking his head.

“I think I’ll take that chance” Sirius winked at the wolf who rolled his eyes. Severus chuckled and went into the kitchen to make some tea.

Bill entered Gringotts through the employee entrance and was swiftly stopped by the goblin warrior by the door. “Hembrock is asking for you” he said.

Frowning, Bill placed his gear in his office and then walked through Gringotts to his boss’ office. He knocked and entered watching as his employer greeted him with a dark expression. That certainly wasn’t good for a Monday morning.

“Is everything alright?” Bill asked in Gobbledygook.

Hembrock sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We finally figured out how to look for the Horcruxes” he explained and pointed at the seat in front of his desk. When Bill sat down with a frown, his boss continued. “It appears that the man who made them has over a floot.”

Bill stared at Hembrock, realizing that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named made over six Horcruxes. That was the worst news he could think of. “Well, shit” he fell back into English.

“I’m getting a group of Hunters together and I would like for you to join them” Hembrock said in English.

“Why me?” Bill asked, his voice barely over a whisper. “My sister was almost taken over by a Horcrux, am I really the man for the job?”

“Yes” Hembrock said strongly. “I only ask the best of the best curse breakers to join the hunters. You’re not so bad for a human.”

Bill stared at Hembrock with wide eyes. “Wait… did you just… not important” he shook his head, unable to believe that his boss had just paid him the highest compliments a goblin could do. “I… I would be honoured to join the team.”

His boss nodded. “Your new team is meeting tomorrow at ten o’clock in meeting room five.”

“Thank you” Bill bowed quickly and bid goodbye. He finished his work for his current project and then handed in his paperwork. He went down to the training area for the rest of the day, knowing that there wasn’t much else to do for now.

Once evening came, he headed back home to Amelia’s house, where she was currently entertaining the Picquerys and Antonin Dolohov. How much had changed that when Bill entered the house and heard their voices, he didn’t immediately think the worst?

Taking off his jacket, he walked into the room and greeted everyone. He really enjoyed talking with the elder Picquerys and Dolohov had some interesting new facts about his newest research to spread. Bill listened intently on what Dolohov explained and realized that this man was actually incredibly smart. Well, apart from joining the Death Eaters. Of course, they also talked about their goal of destroying Albus Dumbledore, but that was only part of their talk.

All in all, Bill realized, as he looked at Dolohov, that hadn’t Dumbledore taken him away from his family, he would have never had the chance to get to know so many interesting people.

Chapter Text

“It’s a bit late for flu season” Madam Pomfrey said when Raven dragged Draco to the mediwitch after he was in bed for a bit too long. “Let me see if it’s something else.”

She cast a few spells and hummed to herself. “You haven’t eaten properly in the last few days and… have you been sleeping?”

“Well, yeah, but not through the whole night” Draco said and shrugged his shoulders. “But it’s not so bad! I can go back to school, just give me a Pepper Up and I’m fine.”

Madam Pomfrey looked at him sternly, before she did one more check. She watched the parchment to her right, before nodding. “I think it could be solved with a Pepper Up Potion and plenty of sleep. Mr. Malfoy you are excused from today’s lessons. I will tell the professors.”

It was clear that Draco wasn’t happy with that. He accepted the potion and downed it, before following Raven out. He walked next to his brother, leading him down to the dungeons. “Why do you desperately need to be healthy?”

“Sev is doing Amortentia with us. It’s a difficult brew and he thinks we can do it, because we’re so good. I wanted to know what my Amortentia smells like” he explained, looking very down.

Raven wanted to tell him that it was most likely Ron’s smell, but he decided against it. These two needed to figure it out themselves. And he would be standing there, at the side-lines cheering them on.

“I’m sure you can convince Sev to do it with you after you’ve slept well. If not, you can call me. For some reason, Sev seems unable to say no to me.”

Draco laughed, before grimacing as if he was in pain. Raven led him back to his dormitory and put him in bed. “Sleep well.” Before he left, Draco was already fast asleep. Raven really hoped that his brother was doing better tomorrow.

He met up with Kefira at the late breakfast table. She looked at him questioningly and Raven quickly explained where he had been. Then he looked around and saw Ginny up with Graham’s friends joking around. The twins were also there, hexing all kinds of things into the food, while the rest tried to evade whatever had been spelt.

Blaise grinned at him, when Raven turned to look at him. “Did you see the weather outside? There’s no cloud in the sky! We should spend a few hours outside.”

“But not without warming charms” Kefira spoke up and held her index finger up as if to warn them. “I don’t want you to catch anything.”

“Of course not, your majesty” Blaise said, trying to bow, only for his hair to land in the apple juice. He stared at it for a second, before pulling it out and watching as the juice dropped back into the glass like a waterfall.

Raven sniggered while Pansy grimaced. “This is disgusting, will you stop?”

Kefira cast a spell at it and it was as good as new. “Hey!” Blaise said to Kefira, but he grinned. “Are you coming outside as well?”

“After we’re doing Amortentia? Absolutely not. I’ll probably end up analysing my result for the rest of the week.”

The children around Kefira laughed, as she shrugged it all off. It was clear that Kefira knew herself perfectly well. Raven grinned as they got up and walked down into the dungeon for their shared class of potions.

He got paired up with Kefira and got to watch her make the potion. Not to make it sound like he didn’t do anything, but simply watching her create was incredible. She clearly didn’t realize that she was in her own element the way she worked o the station.

Nobody else except their godfather seemed to realize. He chuckled when Raven told him that he hadn’t done much with the potion. “Next class you can work with someone else. I didn’t realize her ability had exceeded the class by far.”

Raven just nodded and made sure to follow Kefira’s actions until she was done with it. He leaned over it and sniffed carefully. His eyes widened when he could smell his home in Malfoy Manor, the flowery richness of the gardens during summer. There was also the familiar scent of freshly ground parchment, a hint of leather and old books, the sweetness of freshly picked raspberries, and a touch of something musky and mysterious, like the scent of a dark, ancient forest.

He could get lost in this forever. He leaned closer to take another sniff, while he watched his sister closing her eyes and writing down things on the parchment next to her. He loved watching her working.

A sudden strong wave of the rain after a hot summer day made him close his eyes and he took a breath again, leaning away, as to not overwhelm his senses. Than a blend of spicy cologne and a lingering hint of freshly cut lavender filled the air.

“Holy shit, this is awesome” he whispered to Kefira who opened her eyes only to nod at him.

More groups finished their potion and the smell of Amortentia grew stronger and stronger. Severus kept a close eye on everyone and even helped out Neville who was partnering with Blaise Zabini. In the end, he had nothing bad to say about anyone’s brews.

Raven could tell that when they were cleaning up, Severus kept an even closer eye on everyone. Before they could leave, he positioned himself at the door and used a spell on everyone. Raven wasn’t sure what it would do, until Lavender Brown got caught stealing a vial.

“Miss Brown” Severus said darkly, when he grabbed the vial from her. “This is not for your everyday pleasure. It’s forbidden to be in possession of a vial of Amortentia until you’re seventeen.”

“Then why did you let us brew it?!” she said bitingly.

“Ten points from Gryffindor for lack of respect and fifty points from Gryffindor for trying to steal a dangerous potion” Severus said, as if he didn’t care what his students thought of him. He probably didn’t. “As for the potion, your class is very advanced. With this brew I was testing your ability with more difficult brews. Most of you have been adequate.”

That was a hidden compliment. Raven grinned and he watched as two other Gryffindors placed a vial each onto an empty table. As they all walked past Severus and came up clean, Raven waited for Kefira to walk through.

She was studying her parchment earnestly. So she didn’t realize that Raven was next to her. “What does yours smell like?” he asked, making Kefira jump.

“Merlin, Raven!” she exclaimed, before handing him her parchment. “It makes no sense.”

• old books, printing press?
• musty?
• SEA BREEZE! Ocean, salty air
• sharp, metallic… blood? Vampire? No, armour? Metal armours maybe?
• smoke? fire, campfire. Feeling of safety…
• something sweet, flowery, like rose?

“See?” Kefira asked, when Raven looked up from the parchment. “I mean, the sea makes sense, I love sitting at the beach and watching the waves, breathing in that salty air, but… but what about the rest?! It makes no sense. Okay, apart from books.”

Raven sniggered. “Did you ever think that maybe you haven’t met your person yet? We can’t all be Alden and Draco.” Since they were out in the open, he used Ron’s original name instead of calling him Ron.

Kefira sniggered at that. “True. Though they haven’t realized it yet.”

“According to Sev, they also won’t for a while. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are clearly a bit behind us. Sev just let us make the Amortentia to test us, so… we’ll have to wait and see what happens to Draco and Alden.”

“They’ll realize it soon, I’m sure.”

Arthur had started to feel like himself again. He had multiple visits to different Mind Healers still, even after the goblins had helped him out, he realized that this wasn’t done with a Healer and talking about what had happened to him for his entire adult life. It wasn’t easy, knowing that his whole family had been kidnapped.

He didn’t have family left. Everything was a lie.

His Mind Healer was helping with coping with everything. As was his stay at Riagán’s farm in Ireland. He helped physically with everything he could, his magic still wasn’t to be trusted. Having spent so much time under a love potion and whatever other spells had been used on him, no one had recommended he use his magic in the first year of being freed.

What Molly had done to him was devastating.

According to Amelia who kept up visiting him every other week, not only had Molly created a love potion towards herself, she had also made sure that none of the partners Arthur had had at Hogwarts stuck around.

Rosalie Luminara, his first girlfriend, they had broken up due to miscommunication. As it later turned out, Molly had written her a letter pretending to be Arthur.

He was seething, when he realized what she had done.

Dana Gray. She was a Muggleborn, and Arthur remembered how his own parents were unhappy with him ever dating a Muggleborn. So they had hidden their relationship for over a year. It ended after a dance before Yule. They had wanted to make their relationship public.

Arthur remembered how jealous Molly had looked.

He rubbed his forehead as he remembered this. How did nobody realize that he was under potions upon potions from Molly Prewett?

His heart ached the most though, when he remembered his sixth year, where a foreign exchange student had entered his life. Thomas Fitzroy.

For some unknown reason, the two of them had just drifted closer. Arthur had helped him out in Herbology, Astrology and Arithmancy. Thomas on the other hand had explained Potions in so many colours that Arthur had gotten an entirely different view of that subject. They had studied DADA for hours on end, hidden away from the world. Their physical distance growing closer and closer until they were always sitting next to each other no matter his much space there was around them.

After Yule, where Thomas had gone home, Arthur had realized why he missed the other boy so much. And they had turned into a couple shortly after he returned. His sixth year genuinely held the most powerful happy memories for him.

Thomas then went home before summer started and it seemed as if he disappeared from this world. Arthur was heartbroken. That was how Molly had found him.

Now, with a working brain, Arthur could pinpoint how much she influenced him. He didn’t doubt that she had something to do with Thomas’ disappearance as well. And the fact that he was so dangerously interested in Muggle things to the point of breaking the Statue of Secrecy! Going around the Muggle World and asking what a rubber duck did was probably his worst moment.

He wished he could find Thomas again. It was highly unlikely, though. There were probably a million people with that name.

His heart could heal a little bit, when he was around the children of the household. He realized that he still very much loved children. Maybe he should do something with children, not in the Ministry. A pre-Hogwarts teacher maybe?

Róis and Muriel were the sweetest children he could think of. They were very mindful of him and always tried to add him to their games. It was truly funny and healing to have them around him. As was it to see Charlie moving on from this hard blow of having been kidnapped by a maniac.

He especially loved seeing how Charlie could play around with Róis and Muriel, as well as Amanda and Riagán. It was clear that this young man belonged here.

And that was good this way.

Ginny snuck past Graham who was staring at the opposite stairs fiercely. By now it had become a kind of tradition for them. Graham would try to catch her in the morning, she would hide away from him. Her actions had gotten bigger and bigger. Last month she had paid all of Ravenclaw sweets to walk down together as a sort of troupe. It was so much fun for all of them to walk down and create so much chaos. Graham didn’t know where to look and he eventually walked in behind the Ravens glaring at her while she blew him a kiss.

Today, she had basically run around Hogwarts to sneak up on her brother from the opposite side of the stairs. It was a workout to run around the castle, but she had managed to do so. Grinning, she turned to head into the Great Hall, when Graham sneezed and turned away from the stairs only to see her instead.

“No! Really?” Ginny called out, laughing. “A sneeze got me?!”

Graham laughed loudly and turned to walk towards her. “It’s kind of funny that you ran around Hogwarts only for my to accidentally find you.”

“It’s depressing” Ginny corrected her brother and rolled her eyes. “And to punish you for accidentally finding me, I’ll be sitting with my house this morning.”

Her brother laughed and pulled her closer. “Don’t worry, sister dearest. It might actually be best if you sit with your house. I think I’ll be getting sick.”

Ginny looked up at her brother with a frown. “Something serious?” she asked, carefully.

“Not to worry” Graham smiled down at her. “You won’t get rid of me so soon.”

“You better not or I’ll track you down and kill you again.”

Graham snorted. “What, you’re going to resurrect me to do that?”

Ginny glared at her brother, before she grinned and nodded. “Precisely.” She was worried about Graham, he truly didn’t look too well, but he was still walking, so… hopefully it was nothing. “Are you going to Madam Pomfrey after breakfast?”

“Are you going to force me if I didn’t?” Graham asked, clearly amused.

“Yes.”

“Then, I think I’ll be going to Madam Pomfrey later.”

Ginny glared. “After breakfast, or I’ll bind you to whatever chair is closest to levitate you there.”

Graham held his hands up. “Don’t worry so much about me, that’s my job, little sister. I promise you, I’ll find Madam Pomfrey as soon as breakfast is over. It’s probably just the flu.”

Humming thoughtfully, Ginny walked into the Great Hall and sat down next to Luna. She kept her eyes on Graham and saw him suppressing another sneeze. An unsure feeling settled in her stomach and she moved around on the bench. Something was wrong and she could feel it.

Luna luckily helped her in distracting herself and they got to talk over DADA and potions. As soon as breakfast was over though, Ginny ran after Graham, until she was sure that he was going to Madam Pomfrey.

Seeing that the twins were escorting him, made her calmer than before. Nothing bad could happen if her former brothers were around. And so, she ran all the way to her Transfiguration class, barely making it in time.

“Sorry” she panted as she closed the door behind herself as Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to speak. “I was helping my brother to the Hospital Wing.”

Technically not a lie…

McGonagall pointed to an empty seat next to Luna, where Ginny sat down. The next two lessons were full of transfigurations, then History, which seemed to make the whole class sleepy. When lunch came around, Graham wasn’t around.

Her bad feeling was back and she approached the twins. “Hey” she greeted them, before sitting down between them. It still felt safe with them. “I saw you walking Graham to the infirmary. Why isn’t he here? Is it something bad?”

“Not that we know” Fred said with a shrug. “Madam Pomfrey looked him over and shooed us out.”

“She said something about flu symptoms, that’s all we heard” George continued. “We could go back and check up in him, if you want?”

Ginny shook her head. “I’m probably just overreacting.”

“I mean, you never just had one brother” George offered. “Right now, if Freddy were to fall sick, I would react the same as you.”

“You’re twins, you’ve always reacted that way” Ginny said sarcastically.

“Oh yeah” George said thoughtfully, which made her snigger softly. Fred smirked as if that was the reaction they had wanted and placed more food on her plate. And with that, her concerns were gone for now. She still hoped to see her brother sooner rather than later.

If truly was sick than he would just need a couple of days’ worth of sleep and he was up and running again.

Ron was feeling under the weather for a little bit by now.

He was walking from the kitchen to their Common Room, only to drop half of what he was carrying when the door opened unexpectantly. “Shit” he murmured.

“Woah, sorry, Nott” a fifth year said and with a quick spell, the dropped food vanished.

Ron sighed and entered their Common Room. It was always comfortably warm in there, but today, he felt as if this room had been built on an active volcano. He placed the food in front of his friends and fell into an arm chair as far away from the active fire that he could to still be part of the discussions.

“You okay?” Susan asked worriedly.

“Just a little hot is all” Ron answered. “And sorry, I lost half of what I was carrying when someone opened the door and surprised me.”

Hannah snorted. “Don’t worry, it’s not as if the kitchen isn’t around the corner, down the hall.”

“Yeah” Ron tried to smile, but he was feeling too tired to do that. He yawned and rubbed his forehead, even though he didn’t have a headache. “Maybe I just need a good old nap.”

“It’s four o’clock” Susan said, even more worried than before.

Ron rolled his eyes. “Come on, it’s not as if you never go and nap.”

Hannah placed her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward. “You don’t see yourself as we see you, Alden. You look ill.”

“I’m just a bit under the weather! Nothing too bad.”

Susan grew impossibly more worried. “Okay, then you go and take a nap and we’ll wake you up for dinner, yeah?” she asked carefully.

“We’ll send Zacharias, so he can annoy you to the point of getting up” Hannah joked, but her expression seemed just as worried.

Ron chuckled. “You lot worry too much.”

“Just because since we’ve known you, you literally never showed an ounce of physical illness. And this is very unlike you” Hannah said softly. “Hopefully it’s nothing dangerous.”

“Like what?” Ron asked with a snort. “Don’t worry, dearest friends, there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Famous last words” Susan commented sarcastically, before she narrowed her eyes at Ron. “If you die on us, because we didn’t send you to the Hospital Wing, I think your father will hunt us down.”

Ron wanted to add that at least they wouldn’t have to deal with Theodore Nott Junior, but he was too tired to think about his brother’s hatred. So, he made his way to his dormitory and fell into bed shivering.

Maybe he really was getting sick…

Draco was still in bed when Raven got up and he frowned over to his brother. He could tell through his siblings’ link that something was off. So, as soon as he was dressed, he walked over to Draco’s bed and pulled back the curtains.

He froze as soon as he saw his brother. There were clusters of deep green blisters erupting from his skin, and his face was a contorted mask of pain. The air around him crackled with a strange, iridescent energy, and sparks occasionally erupted from his nostrils. He looked like a grotesque parody of his former self, his healthy glow replaced by a sickly pallor.

Raven’s heart pounded in his chest, and he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. He had never seen something like this, it seemed very painful. He knelt down and reached out, only for his hand to be pulled away quickly.

“Don’t” Blaise said forcefully. He turned to Nott. “Get Snape. Now!”

Nott rolled his eyes, but left with a decent show of urgency. Raven meanwhile looked down at his brother in pain and was unsure of what to do next.

“What’s going on with Draco?” he whispered.

“Dragonpox” Blaise answered lowly. “It’s highly contagious and usually… a very dangerous… illness.”

Draco coughed and Blaise pulled Raven away, shielding him from the fiery sneeze that came next. “What… where am I?” Draco asked, his voice sounding nothing like it did before.

“How far along is Draco’s illness?” Raven whispered softly into Blaise’s ear.

He could tell from the way Blaise hesitated that this wasn’t good at all. Not a second later, Severus rushed into the Dormitory. He froze when he saw Draco and stared at him for a good five seconds, before he seemed to jump to action.

“Did you touch him?” he asked the two boys. Blaise answered that he had kept Raven from doing it. That seemed to calm Severus down a little. “Go to the Great Hall at once.”

They left, but Raven was still worried. He ran over to Kefira who was waiting in the Common Room, looking slightly uncertain. “What’s going on?” she asked as soon as Raven was with her.

“Draco’s sick.”

“Dragonpox” Blaise added darkly.

Kefira held her breath and stared at the other Slytherin, the colour draining from her face.

Raven felt unsure. “What’s… why is it that bad?” he asked hesitantly. He didn’t want to know what was going on, he would love to stay uninformed for longer, but he feared that his missing knowledge could hurt Draco even more.

Severus shooed all of them out, before he seemed to float Draco to the hospital wing. Kefira grabbed his arm and they walked to the Great Hall. “There’s nothing to make it go away” she said lowly. “You either survive on your own or your body takes you down with it. The fatality is about seventy percent.”

Raven lost all the colour in his face. He stopped abruptly. “No. No!”

Kefira nodded with tears in her eyes. “It’s very easy to spread around, so if one person in a community has it, chances are that everyone has it as well.”

“He could… he could die?” Raven asked, eyes widening in horror as he processed her words. His body trembled with fear and anxiety, his mind racing to a life without Draco in it. His brother, his friend, gone. The thought was unbearable to him. The walls around him seemed to close in on him, the air becoming heavy and suffocating. A wave of nausea hit him and he clenched his jaw to not throw up in the middle of the halls.

Blaise placed a hand on his arm and he looked up, hearing him faintly talking about matching his breathing. Without much thought, he followed Blaise’s instructions. Worry was etched into Kefira’s and Blaise’s face, until he was back with them.

He took in a shaky breath, his mind still reeling from what Kefira had told him.

“There is a survival rate, Raven” Blaise said softly. “Thirty percent survive. They might be forever scarred, but they live. Draco is young and healthy, he’ll make it.”

Raven felt a tear on the corner of his eye escaping. “What if he doesn’t?” he whispered.

“He will, we have to believe that” Kefira said with much more confidence than she was portraying.

Chapter Text

No one had to wait long for an announcement, as before lunch, Dumbledore stood up and had everyone’s attention. Raven was so incredibly nervous that he couldn’t really concentrate, but since the food not yet there, he couldn’t really look at anything else.

“There’s no easy way to say this” Dumbledore said carefully. “We have a dragonpox outbreak here at Hogwarts. Anyone who’s feeling ill must go to the Hospital Wing. We have three additional Healers who arrived before lunch. At the moment, we have twenty-six students and a professor who’s contracted the illness.”

Chaos broke out around the purebloods with the Muggleborns asking around and people explaining the illness screaming over the fearful shouts of others. Raven had been feeling ill all morning long. Not because he was getting the illness, more because he was beyond worried about his brother. Judging from their siblings’ link, it was very bad.

“Starting this evening, all meals will be taken in the Common Rooms. Classes will not be mixed for the foreseeable future” Dumbledore continued loudly, looking rather happy with that announcement. Raven could tell that Ginny had tears in her eyes. Just now, Raven realized that Graham wasn’t at the table. Did he have dragonpox as well?!

Dumbledore continued, not even realizing how unsure the children had become. “Potions, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Defence against the Dark Arts will be cancelled until we’ve fought the outbreak.”

Made sense, since Severus was probably brewing potions for the hospital wing like a maniac. The virus or whatever it was could go to the animals, which probably wasn’t that good and Astronomy was outside, you could get sick and be easier to catch dragonpox. As for DADA… he had seen Professor Lupin looking a bit pale, maybe he too had gotten it?

“Obviously, any activities outside of school have been cancelled. So especially Quidditch season is over for now.”

Dumbledore paused, as if he expected the students to argue. Raven rolled his eyes, obviously no one was stupid enough to hope for Quidditch when a literal deadly illness was haunting them all!

“The wards around Hogwarts have been changed to not allow letters out or in. We need to make sure that we don’t infect the world. Until now, we haven’t found where this illness has been coming from. All professors are required to perform the diagnostic spell on themselves each morning as well as on every class. The library is closed, but books can be delivered to you if you order them by your head of house.”

The Head of Houses were clearly trying to calm down the students closest to the tables, Raven could tell that especially the firsties seemed terrified.

Nevertheless, Dumbledore ploughed through. “Since Professor Snape will be spending all his time brewing important potions for the medical wing, Professor Sinistra will be temporarily taking over his Head of House duties.”

Astronomy Professor Sinistra nodded at the Slytherin table who seemed to be slightly taken aback. They still respected her, mostly because they all knew she had been a Slytherin at school.

“Finally, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape will be asking several students to join them in taking care of the sick or brewing potions. If you have any idea of how to help, please contact your Head of House while they’re checking in on you during meals. Any further announcements and updates will be coming from your Head of House during dinner.”

With that, Dumbledore sent the Gryffindors to their Common Room, then the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and finally, the Slytherins. Raven had watched all houses closely. Oliver Wood looked green as if sick himself. Several people glanced at him in fear, though Konstantin stayed close and as far as Raven could tell, pulled him towards the Hospital Wing once they had exited. Neville was luckily looking fine, if a little scared.

When the Ravenclaws left, Ginny was led away by Luna who kept her close, a few firsties were crying and Flitwick hurried after them rather fast.

As the Hufflepuffs got up, Raven froze as he watched Susan’s and Hannah’s scared looks. Ron wasn’t there! Did he have dragonpox as well?! He continued looking at them, when Susan’s eyes moved over him. ‘He’s sick’ she mouthed, Raven’s concern growing every second.

He nodded, clear fear in his eyes and watched as the Hufflepuff left, before Sinistra got up and led them to the Common Room. The feast was happening in there and their new Head of House sat down with them and talked to the firsties and second years to calm them down.

Raven sat down next to Blaise who pulled him into a comforting hug.

“This sucks” Raven said quietly. Only Blaise heard him and he nodded.

It had been a week until Severus finally opened the Slytherin Common Room door and selected all of seventh year, half of sixth year and a couple of fifth years to help him brew potions. Kefira ran towards him as soon as he wanted to close the door again.

“I want to help!” she told him.

She could tell that Severus was tired and overworked. She wondered how often he had slept in the last week, but judging by his tired expression, it hadn’t been often.

“Kefira, you are talented, but I need these potions to be consistently perfect and while I do trust your ability to-“

“No, not that! I want to help find a cure” she stated.

Severus was taken aback. “Lots of potion masters have tried that, no one has managed to do so.”

Kefira shook her head. “Please, Severus, I’m getting desperate. Draco is in there, we haven’t been able to communicate, I… I need to do something or I’m going crazy!”

Draco had even been too weak to talk through their link and no one who was healthy and had a personal connection to any of the sick people was allowed to enter the Hospital Wing. Kefira wasn’t lying that she was getting desperate.

“I need to do something!” she repeated and Severus sighed.

“You can use my personal lab, little lion. I’m not staying there, anyway. Come by tomorrow after breakfast.”

It made Kefira much calmer to know that she could at least try to save her brother. She smiled as Severus left the Common Room, walking after the students who had long reached the potions rooms. She collected all her books on healing potions and salves and read through them. A few of their classmates joined her, but in the end, Kefira was the one researching for a cure, so she needed to know as much as possible.

After breakfast, Kefira grabbed all her research material and headed towards Severus’ personal lab. It had everything that a potions master’s wish was, but Kefira couldn’t snoop around for long. She started to analyse a normal Healing Draught and what effect it had, before comparing the symptoms of dragonpox.

She looked at the books on each healing draught, all of the side effects and problems. Then she started calculating much like in Chemistry. She added different ingredients in her head, adding up all that needed to happen, all the potential problems and how to counteract them.

Then, she started to carefully prepare her first potion on her own. Wormwood, Bubotuber Pus, Dittany and Dragon liver. Kefira looked at the finished potion frowning. The dragon liver could be the problem. As long as there were dragon parts in one’s body even through a potion, it could be an accelerator.

Kefira placed her potion into vials, even if she wasn’t going to use it, later on, after Severus looked at it, she could send it to the hospital wing.

She created the potion again, but tried to replace the dragon liver with something else. Horklump juice would certainly take most of what was needed through the dragon liver, but it was missing a few chemical reactions that would create the healing potion.

Kefira frowned and headed to the wall of ingredients. She walked in front of it, from the flowers to the herbs to animal insides to blood and juices. And then back again. She stopped in front of the flowers and picked up the Mistletoe berries. It would certainly create an explosive reaction through the Horklump juice she wanted to integrate. Or she could use the dried berries to make it less… fiery.

She grabbed both bottled and started the potion. When she was almost finished, she separated it into two cauldrons and added first the dried berries. The potion lit up as if she had added kerosine. Hesitant, Kefira looked at the potion with the juicy berries. She took a cautionary step back and threw the calculated number of berries inside.

The cauldron exploded over her and thanks to a quick shield charm, she didn’t get any on her.

“Let’s not do it that way again” Kefira said, looking around at the disgusting looking potions lab, before she grabbed her wand and quickly cleaned everything. Then she peered into the potion with the dried berries. It seemed to be doing something, even after half the potion had decorated the ceiling. So, she lowered the heat and let it simmer for a bit, while she turned to the other, ruined potion.

She was sure that she was on the right track, maybe it was just a mistake by trying to add the berries last. Maybe if the Horklump juice and the Mistletoe berries were mixed before adding the rest inside, it would work?

So, she prepared everything again, carefully placing the rest of the potion inside, taking a step back as it started to bubble violently. After stirring a bit more, he realized that the violet bubbles were calming down and settling over the potion.

“Okay?” Kefira asked and lowered the heat as well, stepping back, still cautious. When nothing happened, she cleared the ingredients up and grabbed her dragonpox research material. She didn’t yet trust her own potions to try on the children, but maybe through research, she could figure out, if she was doing the right thing.

She was getting more confident in her own abilities.

“They’ve found the student who brought dragon pox into the school” Professor Sinistra said two weeks later at dinner. All of Slytherin stopped talking and she thanked them. “It’s Cho Chang from Ravenclaw.”

“How did she get it?” Pansy asked loudly.

Professor Sinistra sighed. “Apparently, her family visited a dragonologist and somehow her whole family picked up the illness. Her family has been sent to St. Mungo’s.”

“Did she lick a dragon?” a very idiotic fifth year asked, while several students glared at her. “It’s a valid question!”

Professor Sinistra herself rolled her eyes. “There’s still no healing in sight” she said quietly. “The headmaster has told us to remind you that letters to family members cannot go through the raised dragonpox wards.”

Several smaller students deflated, clearly they had tried to sneak off and send letters home. “How will our parents know we’re healthy?” Fred asked and shook his head. “They will all be worried about us.”

“The Headmaster has contacted the families of all the sick students in the infirmary. Anyone he hasn’t contacted doesn’t have sick children” Professor Sinistra explained carefully.

Once dinner was over, the students started doing homework, playing games or just talking but Raven couldn’t pretend to be happy. He hadn’t heard a noise from Draco for two weeks and it was making him restless.

So, as the evening unfolded, he formed a plan. He went to bed with the other third years and once midnight came, he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and headed outside. He creeped through the dark and quiet halls, until he heard whispering in front of him.

When he turned around the corner, he found Susan and Hannah sneaking through the shadows of the hallways. Raven’s dark thoughts brightened by seeing his friends, who he hadn’t seen in ages. He walked closer, when he heard a distinct meowing sound from rather close. He held his breath and turned to see Mrs Norris standing there in the middle of the hallway, looking at Hannah and Susan.

Both girls seemed to panic, especially, when Filch called out for the cat. Raven tried to run closer as silently as he could and he threw his cloak over them while pulling them behind the loose tapestry they were standing in front.

Susan let go of a shriek, while Hannah did the same, but Raven held her mouth shut so she couldn’t be heard. “Sorry” he whispered and then told them to be quiet. They heard Filch talking to Mrs Norris who meowed in front of the tapestry, though Filch didn’t seem to realise why. In the end, the two of them were gone again.

“What are you doing here?” Susan whispered and looked at Raven in shock.

“I need to see Draco.”

“I don’t think he’s doing any better, Raven” Hannah said quietly.

Raven nodded and looked at the floor. “I just need to make sure he’s alive.”

“I mean, we’re doing the same with Alden” Susan admitted. “He wasn’t looking very good, when we forced him to go to the Hospital Wing. I hope, he’s fighting it like a champion.”

The three of them waited for a little bit, hearing footsteps walking past them. Once it was quiet again, they made their way to the hospital wing which despite the late hour was buzzing with noise. It was clear that there was an illness going around, judging by the state of the people.

They walked through the hospital wing, evading people expertly. Raven looked at the state of the sick students and was shocked by how badly they were all doing. Especially Cho Chang was suffering. Finally, they made it to where Ron was lying. He was currently not sleeping, but breathing heavily.

There were sparks coming through his nose more often than not and he coughed harshly. Raven was shocked seeming his best mate like that.
Susan and Hannah clearly were also in shock, Hannah had tears in her eyes, threatening to let them go every second now. Susan grabbed her arm and held her close.

A familiar cough made Raven inhaled sharply, he peaked around the curtain next to Ron and found Draco in worse shape than he had ever seen him. Not even after a brutal Quidditch match could he look like that. Sunken, dark eyes, violet and green boils everywhere. His hands were shaking and there seemed to be a bit of vomit on his sheet.

“Draco” Raven whispered and his brother looked up.

“Raven?” Draco’s voice was rough and sounding unhealthy. “Get out, please! You can’t get sick as well!”

“Please fight it!” Raven whispered, before he was pulled away by the Hufflepuffs and they made their way out of the healing ward again.

Theodore Nott felt unsure.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do. He had hated his new brother for pretty much about a year now (maybe a bit less but who was counting) and he realized now that he didn’t really feel happy with Alden being sick.

If he really wanted to get rid of his brother, as he had thought was his goal until now, he would have been happily cheering on the dragonpox illness to take his life. Yet, he caught himself out of bed and sneaking into the hospital wing most nights. He stood in the corner of Alden’s space and watched with worry how his brother got weaker and weaker.

His father had warned him about this illness ever since he was very small. It has a bigger fatality than survival rate, by any chance all of the students in this Infirmary could be dead by the end of the school year.

That thought grew into a tiny fear at first, before it started to bloom and race exponentially until Theo couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He hated his brother for taking their mother away. If he hadn’t been born, they would have been a happy little family. With Alden in his life, his mother wasn’t around.

But as he kept standing next to his slowly dying brother, he realized that he couldn’t be mad at him. Alden was a baby when their mother died, he couldn’t have killed her actively.

The worst part about realizing that now was that he also understood he couldn’t do anything for his brother. Dragonpox was the worst illness to happen to a community, as they were in Hogwarts. Usually, it ended up killing at least half of everyone living there. Since his brother was one of the first to contract it, the outlook was bleak at best.

Theo watched the mediwitches and wizards hurry around as he focussed more on the outside world. There were coughs and sneezes everywhere. Next to Alden’s bed, he could hear Draco turning and tossing, clearly in pain.

Sighing, he walked to the foot of the bed, since he was disillusioned, no one could see him watching the others. Well, no one who had his blood, there were limits to all spells and hexes. As he turned around, he was faced with Alden’s blue eyes.

He looked so ill and turned away to sneeze. Theo took that as his leaving cue, not wanting to catch dragonpox as well. He rushed out of the medical wing, hoping that there was indeed something he could do.

“We have a problem.”

Severus looked up from where he was studying the different potions already created to figure out a cure for dragonpox. Until now, there have been thousands of books published about possible cures and where they went wrong. Nothing seemed to be working.

As his eyes fell on Sirius who was leaning against the door to his bedroom, he froze. Sirius was showing signs of forming blisters on his neck and as he held out his left arm, there was already a cluster of deep green goo.

“No” Severus whispered hopelessly. It got both of his partners?!

While Remus got to stay in the hospital wing until full moon would arrive, there was no such hope for Sirius. And they couldn't send him away, he could infect more people that way. He was still hunted by the Ministry, if they were to find him now, they would leave him there to die.

Sirius let go of a humourless laugh. “Yeah, seems like Remus got me. Let’s hope it didn’t get you too.”

Severus sighed and placed his head on the book, his hands over his head. “Fuck.”

“I would love to come over and help you feel better, but I fear that I might get you now as well” Sirius joked and Severus looked up darkly.

“Stay in my bedroom for the time being, Sirius. I’ll try to… be here as often as I can to make sure you’re not going to suffer.”

Sirius chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t be going around, infecting others. It does mean however, that I can’t change into my panther form unless I want it to grow faster.”

Severus glared at his partner. “Absolutely not. You stay in human form, in my bedroom. I don’t have much time to sleep anyway. I’ll do that in my study.”

He got up, downed his coffee and walked to the door. Before he opened it, he heard Sirius clearing his throat. “Hey, don’t overwork yourself, okay?”

Severus turned to look at him. He looked rather worried for Severus, which was funny in a way, since he should be worried about Sirius who had apparently gotten dragonpox from their partner.

“I will in fact overwork myself, Sirius. Both of my partners have dragonpox, do you really think I will let this go and take more breaks to relax? I will work until I’m dead to make sure you both survive.”

Sirius sighed, but retreated into the bedroom. Severus glared at the door handle in his hand for a second, cussing at fate who seemingly wanted to keep taking good things away from him. Both his partners had been infected, Draco had it as well… things didn’t look good…

Chapter Text

Kefira watched her cauldrons carefully and examined the results she got. According to the information about the dragonpox, she didn’t seem to have all bases covered. The potion certainly seemed to hold the illness off, but whatever was done, had already happened.

That was if her calculations were correct.

It wasn’t a ‘cure’, yet. Just something to not make it worse… And Draco was already half dead, if her research could be believed.

For the first time, she wished for muggle things to examine how the illness was fighting the body. But there was nothing around to do that, so she had to work with whatever magic she could conjure.

Since dragonpox seemed to be able to fight, she needed something that in context with her potion was destroying the defences of the illness. Her eyes swept over the countless ingredients on the wall. She wrinkled her nose as she reached the leeches.

That was an idea, maybe even trying to add them to the body itself? No, that would just weaken the body more and give the illness more power.

Kefira got up and grabbed a long reaching tool to extract one of the leeches. She placed it on the counter in front of the potion and stared at it for a second, trying to decide if she wanted to use the entire leech or just... parts of it. Then, on a whim, she threw it into the bubbling potion before ducking down in case of explosions.

When nothing happened, she looked up and started stirring, while counting. The books about leeches had been very strict about the stirring mechanics. It was done in a continuously changing way, first right, then left, then right, then left and so on.

She set a higher heat and waited for the potion to turn a gooey black and when it did, she pulled it carefully from the heat and filled it into a vial. Carefully, she ran a diagnostics charm and watched as the parchment on her right filled with numbers and descriptions, before it stopped.

Grabbing the explanations of dragonpox, she had pulled from a book about the illness, she looked it over, comparing everything. While the leeches seemed to have worked in some ways, their addition to the potion turned it into fighting itself instead of the illness. So, maybe not a leech?

Kefira sighed and pulled out another base potion which she was sure was the right way to go. As she let it pour into a new cauldron, her eyes once more darted over the ingredients at the wall. She knew them by heart now, but maybe looking over them could help her finding the right thing.

It needed something animalistic; Kefira was sure. She just didn’t know where to go. She grabbed a lionfish spine and the bottle of Flobberworm Mucus. While she crushed the spine to powder, she thought about how to add it to the potion.

Separating the already prepared potion, Kefira added three drops of Flobberworm Mucus and started slowly stirring until the potion turned to… cake? It seemed to be in a thick dough form. That couldn’t be right… Should she bake it now? Make cookies with it?

Deciding to leave it for now, she turned to the other potion and slowly sprinkled the powdered spine of lionfish over it. The potion absorbed it quickly, before swelling rapidly. Kefira stared at it, starting to stir, but it just continued to grow and grow and grow.

“Ah shit!” Kefira swore and grabbed as many vials and empty flasks as she could, pouring it in there, before pulling the potion from the heat, which in the end made the swelling stop.

Staring at the vials, Kefira sighed. “Do even know what I’m doing?” she asked herself, before running another diagnostic on the vial. These were not useful and she ended up vanishing the entire potion and all the excess she had poured into all of the available containers.

Then, she turned to look at the… cake potion. “What do I do with you?” she asked the dough, as if hoping for an answer. She pulled it from the heat and grabbed a bit of the dough, rolling it to a ball. Then she cast a diagnostic charm over it.

Surprisingly, it seemed to be… partly useful? However, she couldn’t figure out how well they were able to fight the illness yet. The diagnostic didn’t help much.

Since Kefira was done for today, she decided to take five balls to the kitchen and ask the house elves whether or not she could quickly use one of their ovens. Maybe the cookies were different than the raw dough?

She could at least try.

When the floo flared up, Narcissa frowned, not really expecting anyone. Since she was working on the room closed to the floo room, she headed over there to welcome their guest, only to see Minerva’s face etched with worry.

“Minerva?” Narcissa asked, fearing the worst. “Come through, if you’d like.”

“Hogwarts wards do not allow floo travel and I do not have long until the headmaster realizes what I’m doing. Has he contacted you about Draco?”

Narcissa blanched. Her worried for her babies grew exponentially. “No. What happened?”

Minerva had a pained expression, which made Narcissa want to throw up. “Dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts. Draco and Alden Nott are the children in your circle that got it the worst. Graham Montague got it as well, he seems to be able to hold of the worst for now. Dumbledore said, he had contacted everyone, but it doesn’t appear-“ she stopped, seemingly listening to something.

Narcissa held her breath, staring in the fire. Her brain seemed to be unable to think about what Minerva has just revealed to her. Draco, Alden and Graham had dragonpox.

Dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts.

“Someone’s coming, I won’t be able to reach you again. I’m very sorry.” Minerva disappeared while Narcissa was still scrambling for something to say. The fire was gone and Narcissa was gasping for air.

Dragonpox at Hogwarts.

Draco was sick.

He’s got it the worst?

Draco could die…

No, no, they had just gotten their children back! That couldn’t be happening.

“Lucius!” Narcissa yelled through the house, before taking off running to his personal study. Her mind was reeling with all the potential bad outcomes this illness would have on their family. That couldn’t be happening.

As she reached his office, she stormed inside, not really caring about proper etiquette. Inside was just her husband and another Lord from the Wizengamot. Her mind couldn’t tell her his name or affiliation, as she was still freaking out.

“Draco has contracted dragonpox at Hogwarts. There’s an outbreak of dragonpox!” she said, close to her tears.

Lucius jumped up from his chair, eyes wide in shock. “No!” he said loudly and walked over to grab her and pull her into a tight hug.

“Lord Greengrass, is it possible to postpone out meeting?” he then asked the other Lord.

“Certainly, Lord Malfoy. I will inform the newspapers of a dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts” the other man said, before seeing himself out.

Lucius turned to Narcissa and looked her over. “He can fight it, right?”

“Minerva managed to sneak a message to me” Narcissa said, her voice shaking. “Draco and Alden Nott are apparently very… bad” she whispered the last part. “Graham Montague seems to be able to withstand the effect of the illness.”

There was silence, while Lucius held her close, making sure she was feeling as safe as she possibly could. Narcissa felt herself trembling from the thought of losing her firstborn son, of destroying her now perfect family once more.

What would it mean for the triplets if one of them was gone?! Could the other two cope with that?

Could she cope with Draco being gone?!

“Love, can you stay in the sitting room next door for two minutes alone? I must inform the other families” Lucius asked softly.

Narcissa nodded and numbly walked to the sitting room, staring at the fireplace. Her mind flashed to all her memories of Draco. How happy he had been when he could be with his siblings again. He clearly loved them dearly and judging from what she had seen so far, it was obvious how much they loved him.

The triplets were inseparable. And now they were forced to leave one behind?

Narcissa didn’t want to think about what it would mean to their family. To her children.

“I’m back, Cissa” she heard Lucius’ voice next to her. She couldn’t move, frozen in her fear. “Do you need a Calming Draught?”

She tried to say something against it, but since she was seemingly unable to move or talk, she realized that her husband was probably doing the right thing. She needed to think properly, a Calming Draught would help that along.

“Please” she managed to force out of her mouth. It sounded like a whisper, but Lucius had heard her and helped her taking the draught.

Due to her high stress level and the sudden impact of the Calming Draught, Narcissa blacked out and fell into a fitful sleep.

The news travelled incredibly fast through their group and by the time Charlie came home from his work in the dragon reserve in Ireland, everyone was seated around the table in the stable. Charlie saw them immediately, but went to greet his sisters and Amanda, before making his way over there.

Which was when he heard the news about the dragonpox at Hogwarts. He was beyond terrified.

“These are just kids!” he said loudly, eyes wide in terror.

He knew what dragonologists went through whenever they gotten that disease and knowing that it forced the strongest and toughest men to their knees was scary. The children couldn’t survive this, when the adult survival was thirty percent.

“What do dragonologists do when they get it?” Antonin Dolohov asked. “Is there anything one can do?”

“No” Charlie said, his voice dark. “When we get it, we’re out for two weeks. Usually, we get through it with minor scars. But we’re kind of used to hard work and harsh conditions. It’s just like a tough day for us. These children…”

“Is there nothing else we can do?” Amelia Bones asked sadly.

“We can’t do anything” Charlie answered that. “It’s the children who have to get over it.” He bit his lower lip. “Chances are not all of them will survive.”

It was hard to hear that, but he needed to state the truth. He knew that several children from their group had gotten it and by looking at the Montagues, Malfoys and Theodore Nott Senior, it was clear that they all were worried sick.

The Picquerys even had pale expressions and Charlie had thought that these two had seen everything, experienced tough things. Apparently, knowing that the children were in danger was hard for them too.

Charlie cleared his throat. “I can ask around, if any of the dragonologists here have something to help, but I’m not… I wouldn’t put my money there.”

These next few days or weeks or in the worst case months were going to be the worst of anyone’s life.

As predicted, none of the other dragonologists in the Irish reserve knew something that would help in case of dragonpox.

“Do you know if there are numbers for children with dragonpox?” Charlie asked one of the men who was better with numbers and figures.

When said man sighed and shook his head darkly, Charlie knew that he had made a mistake by asking. He probably should want to know the answers to that one.

“The numbers are separated into three different survival rates with the overall being seventy percent. There’s us, with a survival rate of about ninety-seven, then there’s the general adult, survival rate is about sixty percent. Only fourteen percent of children with dragonpox survive to tell the tale.”

Charlie froze and stared at the other man. “Fourteen out of a hundred children live?”

The blond nodded. “That study is a few decades old though, it could be even worse nowadays.”

“Or better” Charlie quickly added. “It could be better, too.”

“Not if you look at the numbers published yearly through St. Mungo’s.”

Charlie didn’t need to listen to more of that. He thanked the man and got back to work, trying to get his mind to concentrate on different things. He definitely wasn’t going to tell the others about that!

Albus stood at the window of the Headmaster office in Hogwarts and stared outside while the devastating weather outside threw raindrops, twigs and leaves at the castle. He considered his actions up until now and whatever else might be coming his way.

While he hadn’t thought to add dragonpox into the midst of this chaos, it was welcome to stay for a bit. Clearly, it was doing him a favour, grabbing a former Weasley, a Malfoy and a Montague. The dark families were probably never going to recover from this.

There were a lot more families in the medical wing, that had to get bigger and grab the other three usually empty infirmary rooms to fit all the sick inside.

Albus could use this for his own gain.

While he was still unsure whether he had made the correct choice of not contacting the families, he knew that it would weaken them all in the long term. Usually, influential houses only had one heir. If that heir were to contract dragonpox… oops, they’re gone.

No one had made or found a cure yet and he was sure that no one ever would. At least not in this short span of time. A dragonpox illness was usually five weeks for the shortest span, and up to fifty weeks for the longest.

Since school would be closing for summer, he knew that anyone who had fifty weeks would need to be sent to St. Mungo’s and their dragonpox ward. As soon as that was done… there was no hope left really.

Albus enjoyed this.

Sure, it was tragedy that so many young children were going to lose their lives, but the wizarding world would be better for it.

Meanwhile, he could be planning what he wanted to change in politics. His focus was more on the Wizengamot, since he knew that should Britain realize that he ‘forgotten’ to tell the parents about their children being sick, he would most likely not be able to return to Hogwarts.

Albus frowned at that thought.

No, he needed access to Hogwarts, to the young who were going to do different, bad things. He needed to stay as the headmaster to make sure that the children learnt the right things at the right time.

Once again, Albus frowned as the sun behind the clouds slowly settled at the horizon. And Albus questioned his decision again.

In the end, he was sure that with a few subtly placed charms around Hogwarts, he could take the children’s memories of the illness and no one would be the wiser. And if someone were to die… Albus hummed at that.

Death would complicate his decision.

He returned to his desk, grabbing the chess set for scheming and started strategizing again.

Chapter Text

Since it was forbidden for more than one house to meet up, the interhouse meeting of their group took place in a small space behind some loose tapestry that Luna had showed Ginny a few months prior to the outbreak. Ginny had then been able to get into contact with everyone and set a time and date for their meeting.

She was obviously the most heartbroken one in their group. In just a little over half a year, Ginny and Graham had become so close that Raven could see her struggling with Graham’s dragonpox. If the disease wasn’t so dangerous, she probably would have been visiting him every free second of every day.

Then again, who was he kidding… He would have done the same. And Kefira probably too, though she was occupied every free second of the day, even slacking during some lessons. The professors didn’t take it too seriously, so she must be onto something.

And so, one evening during the week at the end of march, the unlikely group of friends and allies met in the stuffed room. Raven was sure that if one of them had dragonpox and it was and airborne thing, they would all have it tomorrow.

It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to meet during such dangerous times, but they all knew that they needed to do something.

After they talked about how the people in the medical wing were doing, Raven got to his biggest problem. “We need to somehow get into contact with people from outside. Can we go through the floo, since there are owl wards against letters?”

Several people shook their heads.

“No, the dragonpox wards would keep floo travel locked until they’re put down again” Konstantin answered, his expression hopeless. “We can’t talk to the outside world at all until we’ve killed everyone in the hospital wing.”

Susan growled and shook her head, while her friend was the one to answer. “I will not let that happen!” Hannah hissed and glared at Konstantin who was already seemingly close to tears. “We need to be able to get information to our families!”

“What if we placed the letter just outside of the wards?” Susan asked, before she suppressed a sneeze.

All eyes fell on her and she held a hand in front of her mouth, as if to try and keep it all under control. Then her fearful eyes met those of Hannah who gasped, even closer to tears than before.

“I was so careful!” Susan whispered, before covering her mouth again. “I didn’t do anything that others wouldn’t do.” Even though her next sentence had been muffled, Raven could hear her voice tremble.

“We keep visiting Alden in the hospital wing” Hannah offered as explanation. “I think I need to be tested as well. Let’s go. You” she pointed at the people presently hiding in the small room being the loose tapestry. “You keep on finding a solution, okay?”

“We will” Blaise promised. They waited until the girls were gone, before the Slytherin continued. “Placing a letter outside of the wards couldn’t work. Firstly, we would be caught within seconds if we’d leave the school and who knows who would pick up the letter.”

Fred turned to look at Raven. “Where is Kefira? Did it get her too?”

Raven shook his head quickly. “No, she’s working hard on a cure.”

“No one’s been able to do that in centuries” Ginny whispered, hopelessly. Fred pulled her close and rubbed her upper arm to keep her sane. Clearly, she was quietly freaking out.

There had to be something they could do instead of sitting around and waiting for the illness to take them as well. Something had to be done, right?!

“Could we send a house elf?” Raven suggested.

“The personal house elves wouldn’t be able to come through the wards” Blaise explained and sighed. “Whoever created this ward really thought about everything.”

George frowned. “Not… everything.” He was quiet for a short while, as all eyes turned to look at him. Fred hummed at whatever the twins were thinking about and smirked when his brother continued. “A Hogwarts house elf could leave the wards and bring a message to someone outside and get back through the wards without detection, since it’s a Hogwarts elf.”

“But only to someone who doesn’t have a house elf themselves” Pansy countered and raised her eyebrows “Who the hell doesn’t have house elves?!”

“The Weasley House famously doesn’t employ house elves” Fred answered that question and managed to silence everyone.

Ginny perked up. “We could send our-… Arthur Weasley a message with a Hogwarts house elf. He could be the base for our communications.”

Raven widened his eyes. “We could get the adults to research with us. They could find us things that we haven’t been able to get here at Hogwarts.”

Konstantin seemed over the moon, though still his same old analysing self. “Obviously things need to be cleaned before they can be sent away, but since house elves are known to be immune against dragonpox, they can bring our information to the outside world.”

“Let’s get a letter ready for our families” George told everyone and they spread around the small room, everyone with a piece of parchment, writing to their families about their fears, concerns and general situation.

Raven wrote about how Draco was sick and that he was afraid for his brother’s life and how Kefira was researching and brewing potions like a maniac to distract herself. He wrote about how he was afraid that he could potentially lose both his siblings to the disease and that he just wanted this all to stop.

When he was done, he looked around and saw how Blaise wasn’t writing to anyone. He feared this was really happening to him as well, one day he had no one left. He bit his lips and stared at the letter in front of him titled ‘Narcissa and Lucius, mum and dad’.

After everyone had written their parchments full, they combined all the parchment into a package and called for a house elf. The Hogwarts elf showed up, looking unhappy, but as the children explained what they wanted him to do, he agreed. Especially since Arthur Weasley didn’t have any house elves and the one from Hogwarts wasn’t breaking any rules.

He popped away for about a minute, before arriving back in the children’s secret hide out. “I promise Mr. Weasley every Monday picking up letters from home. And bringing new letters from Hogwarts.”

“Thank you!” Ginny was crying with relief and Raven hugged his own legs, as he sat on the floor. He felt Blaise placing an arm around him.

“It’s going to be okay” the raven-haired boy whispered into his ear.

Blaise felt wrong.

It wasn’t just that he didn’t have any family left and could therefore not participate in sending letters to the outside world. Moreso, it was due to his ability being useless.

The Zabini family had always been important in world history. According to his nonna, the Zabinis had a direct link to Merlin and even further back to the very first wizards that had helped Lady Magic. It was why they had always gained the protector role. They were there through it all. Protecting the one with the special magic.

Blaise didn’t know how to do that alone. He had always had people around him, telling him where to go and what to do. He had thought that if the protector role was given to him that he would be an adult surrounded by his friends and family. People who could guide him.

Frankly, he had always hoped that his nonna wouldn’t die, that she would just be around forever and help him find his way. She for some reason always seemed to know what to do when. Frankly, he had known her end would come sooner rather than later but there was still hope.

And now, he was fourteen years old.

Alone.

And he was the protector of Raven Malfoy.

Thankfully, he knew that with Lady Magic inside him, Raven was pretty much immune against any common Wizarding disease, so dragonpox wouldn’t do anything to him. However, that didn’t mean that he would come out this sanely.

If Draco were to die, which it was looking more and more so, what would that do to his mind?

Blaise didn’t know what to do with that. Not for the first time he wished he could ask his nonna.

She had been the one to tell him to place his mask of stupidity and open jokes upon him, even though it wasn’t really him. He was more calm and quiet, he liked to observe and say something when he had made his mind up.

So in a way, he was himself now, but he was and would probably forever remain alone.

He jerked up from his thoughts when he heard steps in the hallway. For a mini-second, he was transported back to his holidays and he held his breath, before realizing that the people destroying his family probably wouldn’t have made it through the dragonpox wards.

“Hey, are you hiding?” Raven asked as he opened the door to their dormitory.

Blaise looked up and shook his head. “No, I just needed time to think.”

Raven nodded softly, before beckoning him to the door. “Come on, it’s dinner time soon and Professor Sinistra told us to get everyone. There’s going to be news probably.”

Blaise sighed. “It probably won’t be any good news.”

“We cannot give up on hope” Raven said strongly and shook his head. “Otherwise, I will let Draco die. Draco, Graham, Alden, Susan and maybe Hannah as well. There’s so much fear around we need as much hope as we can get.”

“I agree” Blaise said as he got up from his bed. “But it should be… realistic in a way.”

“Hope never is” Raven answered to that.

They walked to the Common Room while Blaise was thinking about what Raven had said. It was actually kind of true. In a way, hope was always the last thing to give up. So, truly, hope wasn’t realistic. That made him feel strangely better.

Maybe it was because back in his home, he hadn’t heard his grandmother die. And even though it wasn’t realistic, he… he hoped that she somehow made it out alive.

“Good evening, Snakes” Professor Sinistra greeted everyone with a nod. “Food will arrive in thirty minutes. We’ve just been informed that two more Gryffindors, one Ravenclaw and three Hufflepuffs have contracted dragonpox. School will therefore be shut down for most parts. All the elective will be paused with only the main classes taking place. Other than that, no one is allowed outside of the school.”

Several students started demonstrating, but Professor Sinistra held her hands up to quiet them down. “We’ve already had discussions with the headmaster and we’re currently trying to convince him to let one house outside a day a week. You need fresh air, we’re aware of that.”

“Who got it in Hufflepuff?” a second year asked, fear in his voice. “Can we talk to our allies?”

Professor Sinistra sighed at that. “Sadly, with this outbreak, the ally program has to be paused as well. Professor Snape, Professor Sprout and I have been trying to find a solution for the ally system, we just haven’t been able to find one. So, if you do have a solution for talking to each other, without the danger of spreading more dragonpox, please come to me. We’re still trying to find something.”

A few people were talking, whispering, even arguing with each other quietly. Blaise didn’t have a solution for the ally problem. So, he just stayed there, listening quietly.

“As for the ill students in Hufflepuff” Professor Sinistra continued, when she realized that no one had a solution as of now, “it took Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones and Jeremiah Portendorfer. In Ravenclaw it’s Luna Lovegood, Gryffindor sent Oliver Wood and Neville Longbottom to the Infirmary.”

Blaise watched as Raven paled even more and he stepped up to his friend, pulling him into a tight side-hug. Raven was shaking violently and people seemed to assume it was because his ally was in the hospital wing by now, but Blaise knew better.

Lovegood and Longbottom were close friends of his and that coupled with the fact that it seemed to have gotten both Susan and Hannah was too much for him to handle.

Across the room, he saw the second year who had asked the question freaking out, since apparently, Jeremiah was his ally in Hufflepuff. Blaise rubbed Raven’s upper arm in silent support.

“I hate this” Raven murmured quietly.

“We’ll get through this” Blaise whispered back. “There’s a survival rate of thirty percent. Someone will have to survive in order for there to be survival rate.”

“Madam Pomfrey, if I could just speak with you for two minutes, it would help me immensely!” Kefira begged outside of the Hospital Wing.

The mediwitch looked tired and definitely unhappy to have to answer her questions. “Miss Malfoy, I do not have the time to indulge you and your questions about your brother. We have-“

“I’m not asking about my brother” Kefira spoke up and shook her head. “I’m trying to find a cure for dragonpox and I was hoping you could help me with a few things the books haven’t been able to answer me.”

Madam Pomfrey sighed heavily. “Sadly, there is not much time.”

“Poppy!” someone called from inside the medical ward. The mediwitch disappeared and Kefira sighed. She needed information about how the disease was spreading. What was first, what were the different stages of the illness…

She had thought that there was no better person to ask that Madam Pomfrey herself, though it seemed as if there wasn’t much time she could afford her. Luckily for Kefira, Severus just walked past her. He looked at her funnily, before placing a case of potions in front of the Hospital Wing.

“Kefira? I thought everyone was supposed to stay in the Common Room.”

“You allowed me to try my hand at a cure” Kefira said defiantly. “And I need Madam Pomfrey’s healer knowledge to find out where I’m going wrong.”

Severus sighed, he seemed clearly tired. He knocked at the door and as Madam Pomfrey came to open it, he motioned to the box of potions. “Poppy, could you spear a minute or two to talk about your experience with how dragonpox influences the body? Miss Malfoy has been trying to develop a cure.”

“A student?!” Madam Pomfrey called out rather annoyed, before he seemed to get herself under more control. She turned to Severus and frowned. “And you think this can help?”

“Kefira is genuinely the person I would believe to be able to develop a cure for dragonpox. She’s an astonishingly bright potion’s maker. Even at her age of thirteen.”

Madam Pomfrey seemed to think about leaving the ward alone for two minutes, before she nodded and looked at Kefira with a strict expression. “Two minutes no more.”

Kefira beamed at her and then at Severus. “Thank you!” she told him and then told Madam Pomfrey the same.

The mediwitch led her into a little office to the side, where all the potions were seemingly kept. Instead of looking around more, Kefira sat down on a chair by the small table which was full of different parchment. Madam Pomfrey cleared it and Kefira placed her own parchment on it.

“How does the disease first start? So, what’s the beginning symptoms?”

“Sneezing, coughing, a low fever that very quickly turns dangerously high.”

“Can it be treated before the rash comes?”

Madam Pomfrey hesitated at that. “Technically yes. There are potions against fever and coughing. The problems lie more in the usage of said potions. They only work for high fevers and since we wait to hand them out, as they render themselves useless if used too early, if a fever then turns into dragonpox, there’s nothing we can do.”

Kefira diligently took notes. “And how does the rash develop?”

“Firstly, it’s just small pimples, they then change colours to green. Then, the appear in clusters before starting to turn violet. When they’re just pimples, we can treat them fairly easily, with a normal crème, but it has to be applied every hour or they turn green.”

“So, when they’re green, there’s nothing else you can do?”

“No.”

Kefira tried not to let her fear overcome herself, as she looked at the other questions she had prepared. “How is it transmitted?”

“We don’t know exactly how humans can get it from dragons, but what we do know for certain is that bodily fluids are mostly the reason it can be given to others. So, sneezing, coughing at other people, obviously sexual and oral exchange of fluids, as is blood.”

Well, that answered several of her prepared questions, and things she didn’t want to go in deeper.

“At which stage would you consider giving a cure, if there was one made available?” Kefira asked finally.

Madam Pomfrey hummed. “Immediately, if one were to be available. I think, what needs to be considered is that the rash cannot be dealt with by a potion and most cures work on the thesis that only a potion can help.”

Kefira hummed softly. “So, a potion and then a salve to help destroy the rash?”

“That would be best, yes.”

Nodding, Kefira wrote that down. “Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, that’s all the questions I have.”

The mediwitch sent her a tight smile and got up. Before she left the room, she hesitated and turned around. “Your brother is fighting it well. He’s got a bit of energy back, not much, but we think he might make it.”

With that she left and Kefira felt tears falling from her eyes. Draco could make it!

“There’s been a death from dragonpox” Professor Sinistra started after breakfast was shared. She continued quickly in order to spare them from the torture. “Miss Cho Chang didn’t make it. The disease was noticed too late and she received too little care.”

A deathly silence hung over the room like a heavy cloak, muffling the collective gasp that escaped the lips of those gathered. The air crackled with an almost tangible tension, as if the very walls were straining under the weight of unspoken dread in the Slytherin Common Room.

Up until now, it was just an irrational fear, a statistic that most people didn’t make it. Up until now, they were able to think that their friends, family members, partners were able to make it, potentially.

That had ended today.

Someone had died. Cho Chang was no longer with them…

Raven stood frozen in the centre of the room, close to Blaise. His eyes wide and unblinking, his pupils dilated against the backdrop of his pale complexion. His breath caught in his throat, hitching irregularly as he struggled to process the devastating news that had just been delivered.

Cho Chang died. Draco had dragonpox too.

Draco would die too.

Raven's eyes darted around the room, searching for solace, for a shared understanding of the tragedy that had befallen their circle. But the faces around him mirrored his own fear, their eyes mirroring the stark realization that death had touched their lives, leaving an indelible mark on their souls.

The silence was broken by a collective whimper, a sound that reverberated through the room like a haunting echo of the grief that had settled upon them. The weight of the loss was palpable, pressing down on their hearts, threatening to crush the very breath from their bodies.

Raven's knees buckled at the thought that Draco wouldn’t make it, and he stumbled backward, his legs unable to bear the weight of his emotions. He collapsed onto a nearby chair, his face buried in his hands, his sobs muffled against his palms.

The room was filled with a cacophony of grief, a symphony of tears and wails as those gathered succumbed to the overwhelming sorrow that had engulfed them. The deathly silence had been replaced by a chorus of anguish, a testament to the profound impact the current and potential future losses had had on their lives.

“The headmaster will be here to talk with every house this evening” Professor Sinistra said quietly. “Until that happens, I will relocate my office to one of the corners in the Common Room, so you can always find me and talk to me. I’m here for you.”

Several first years gathered around her as she sat up her ‘open office’ in the back corner close to the door for the girl’s dormitories.

Raven pulled his legs up, empty of emotions. Draco couldn’t possibly be dying, right? He couldn’t!

Dragonpox Outbreak Rocks Hogwarts

A dreadful revelation has sent shockwaves through the wizarding community, casting a shadow over the hallowed halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unconfirmed reports have surfaced of a widespread Dragonpox outbreak within the esteemed institution, sparking fear and uncertainty among parents and students alike, especially with the limited options of contact.

The alleged outbreak, believed to have originated as early as February, has yet to be officially acknowledged by Hogwarts authorities, leaving parents scrambling for answers and seeking clarity on the extent of the crisis. Sources within the school have revealed an open discussion of transparency in all houses through the Head of House, with working official communication; however, there are no updates provided to concerned families.

The Prophet, in its pursuit of truth and transparency, has reached out to numerous parents, each expressing their profound distress and anxiety over the situation. The absence of concrete information has fuelled rampant speculation and fear, leaving parents to grapple with the potential impact on their children's health and well-being.

Despite the shroud of secrecy surrounding the outbreak, anonymous sources within the school have shed some light on the situation. It is believed that Cho Chang, a student from Ravenclaw House, was the initial carrier of the disease, marking her as patient zero. This revelation has prompted The Prophet to advise the Chang family and anyone in personal contact with them to seek immediate medical attention at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

The potential ramifications of this outbreak extend far beyond Hogwarts, raising concerns about the broader wizarding community. The highly contagious nature of Dragonpox, a highly fatal disease, could have far-reaching consequences, threatening the health of countless individuals.

In light of these alarming developments, The Prophet urges the Ministry of Magic to take immediate action to address the situation. Transparency, clear communication, and swift intervention are paramount to ensuring the safety of Hogwarts students and the wider magical community.

The wizarding world stands at a crossroads, grappling with a crisis that demands decisive action and unwavering transparency. The fate of countless lives hangs in the balance, and the time for complacency has long since passed. The Ministry must rise to the occasion and provide the leadership necessary to navigate this unprecedented challenge.

Chapter Text

“This birthday sucks” Fred told his brother as they snuck through the quiet castle. Confusingly, they still had the same birthday as they did when they were Weasleys. And this year, the first of April was the saddest April fools day in history.

George was clearly thinking the same. “I wish there was something we could do, but I cannot think of anything that wouldn’t also endanger the school more.”

“If we let off some firework, only the Eagles and Lions can see it.”

“Unless we plan it so that the Badgers are also out.”

Fred hummed. “The Badgers were out yesterday.”

George snorted. “You know what? Let’s get some help from the elves. I’m sure they’ll happily help us raise the school’s spirit.”

“Great idea!”

They ran their way down into the kitchen, peered around the corner to see if their allies from Hufflepuff were anywhere in sight for a little bonding, but they weren’t. Why were their allies so driven to follow school rules?!

When they opened the door to the kitchen, they were happily greeted with food and when they told the house elves what they wanted to do, they gladly agreed. There was a lot of work to be done, but clearly, they wanted the children to have something to laugh about.

The rest of the day went smoothly and nobody seemed to remember that it was the twins’ birthday. Well, expect the important people. They received quite a lot of gifts through the Hogwarts house elf from their grandparents and adult allies. Ginny had a Hogwarts elf send them a couple of pranks from Zonko’s. And then, there was Raven who came into their dormitory after lunch.

“Hey you two, both my siblings are currently unavailable, but we had something planned for you” he explained and handed them a card.

“You did?” George asked curiously as Fred opened the envelope. He gasped as he saw what it was. George leaned over and they read the card together.

The Malfoy triplets had gifted them a Muggle workshop with wood. To create their own things, it would be basically through all of summer.

“You… you are insane! All three of you!”

Raven sniggered. “Not really, we just see that you’re clearly into creating things and pranks and we wanted you to expand your horizon and maybe, you can at the end work some pranks with magic and wood.”

Fred and George hugged Raven tightly for this.

And then, shortly before dinner, Lee managed to sneak down from Gryffindor to the loose tapestry and they shared a cupcake and thanked him for the prank box they got from him.

The twins were sure that if Graham hadn’t been in the hospital wing with dragonpox, he would have made sure that their whole house was celebrating their birthday.

Once dinner came around, the twins could wait much longer. And luckily, they didn’t need to. As the feasting commenced in the opulent Slytherin Common Room, a hush fell over the assembled students as a magnificent dessert platter, laden with an array of tempting treats appeared in the centre of the room. The air was immediately filled with the tantalizing aromas of freshly baked pastries, rich chocolate ganache, and sweet, creamy ice cream.

Fred could feel his heart beating faster, as he anticipated the next move.

The Slytherins couldn't contain their excitement. They eagerly piled their plates high with the decadent desserts, their eyes sparkling with anticipation. However, as they dug into their treats, a peculiar transformation began to occur. The dessert platter, which had initially seemed to hold an ample supply of sweets, began to expand at an astonishing rate.

Cakes grew taller and wider, pies doubled in size, and ice cream mountains soared higher and higher, swaying dangerously with every shake of the table. The Slytherins, initially delighted by the endless supply of desserts, quickly found themselves surrounded by a towering confectionary mountain that threatened to engulf them.

Fred and George sniggered and were immediately at the receiving end of Raven’s gaze, quickly followed by Blaise and Pansy.

The once-majestic dessert platter had transformed into a towering obstacle course of frosting, whipped cream, and sticky crumbs. The Slytherins were now reduced to a chorus of shouts and muffled giggles as they tried to avoid getting buried alive in a mound of sweet delights.

And shortly after, Fred was hit in the face by an ice-cold ball of strawberry cream. He shouted and licked his cheek, before he looked over to Raven who sniggered and started a food war with a first year.

Fred laughed and quickly teamed up with George and a few other fifth years to bring joy to the children around the Slytherin Common Room.

After twenty minutes, the remaining and uneaten desserts were popped away at the same time as confetti appeared with the parchment hanging in the air stating:

You’re welcome for the confectionery chaos, Picquery Twins

“This birthday is awesome!” George cheered as he sat down next to his twin to share the last bit of ice cream he stole from the mountain of ice cream.

“Couldn’t agree more” Fred grinned.

“I need something breaking down the attacks” Kefira told herself and let the pages of a book with strange potions ingredients rush past her thumb. It was a few days after the dessert fiasco, which Raven had told her everything about when she had made her way to the Common Room one day. She kind of wished she had been there just to see the labyrinth of dessert, but… she had more important things to deal with.

As she watched the pages rush past her thumb, her eyes caught a glimpse of something and it took a second, until her brain caught up with it. Then, she stopped surprised and turned the pages back.

There was a giant picture of a basilisk with points on what was useful for potions in general. What Kefira was interested in was the venom. She wrote down the specifics of the fangs and its venom, before grabbing the sheets she had ready in order to create a better cure.

Basilisk venom could be the answer… It was quick, attacking everything that was trying to damage it. If properly balanced, it could be countered with the potion and it’s ingredients to not kill the human but the disease instead.

Kefira grabbed more healing ingredients and added it to the list underneath basilisk venom. If she used the fangs instead of the venom, she could make it less damaging. The question was if it was still effective.

Quickly writing down both potential potions down, Kefira calculated every move and everything she had done until now. Maybe she could add the crushed fangs together with the spine of a lionfish and make cookies to hand out at the beginning of the disease. And when one was further along, like the students in the infirmary, the potion and the salve would help?

“The salve doesn’t need poison” Kefira then told herself and grabbed the notes from the interview with the mediwitch. She needed something stronger than the regular crème, something maybe against swelling?

She could do that later. Right now, she needed to get her hands on basilisk venom, which stupidly, Severus didn’t have in his stock. She did remember though, that Pansy had told her that they were able to communicate with people outside of Hogwarts through letters and the use of a house elf.

Running out of the lab, she collided with Raven shortly thereafter, who seemed to have been looking for her. “Whoa, sorry, Raven” Kefira said, eagerly. “I was looking for you!”

She noticed how tired he looked and frankly, she didn’t want to know how she looked to him. She had been spending every waking hour in the lab, working on everything.

“Can you get me contact to the outside world?” she asked quickly.

Raven pulled her along and they ended up behind the loose tapestry somewhere. There were other people too and she greeted them quickly, before explaining what she needed from the outside world.

“Basilisk venom?” Konstantin asked, paler than before. “Are you trying to kill more people?”

“No!” Kefira rolled her eyes. “I’ve calculated it exactly. If I add two to three drops, it’s not going to kill you.”

“I believe you” Raven stated and smiled at her. “Write down whatever you need on the parchment and we’ll send it out. It might be a while until we get anything, but usually, the house elf gives us an answer after two days. Maybe he can even get you the vial of venom.”

Blaise nodded with a hum. “I think basilisk venom could actually be the thing that the potion needs.”

“Are you a seer now?” Pansy asked with a snort.

Kefira saw a painful expression cross Blaise’s face for just a second, before he grinned at her. “Nope, just logical thinking, you know.”

“Let’s hope they find it quick” Kefira said, not trying to start a war between the survivors of Slytherin.

Arthur seemed to have become the most important person in Ireland, if one could be believed. Their group had made it sort of official that Arthur had a way to contact the students of Hogwarts and the news had almost created an explosion with the wizarding community. Several people were sending him letters a day to hand to the Hogwarts house elf, when he appeared and he was genuinely the only person up to all knowledge of what was happening in school.

The house elf liked to talk, it seemed.

Mostly though, the open letters which were also addressed to him with things they needed or just general things to talk about in their now almost daily meeting.

Now, however, he had received a new order that seemed to stun him. Someone in Hogwarts needed basilisk venom and a basilisk fang. Arthur knew no one in Great Britain who imported these. Basilisks were mostly home in Asia with China having natural predators and prey for these animals.

“Now I wish I had killed it, back last year” Lucius mumbled to himself, while most people were trying to think of where to get the venom and fang. Only Arthur and Narcissa seemed to have heard what Lord Malfoy had said and his wife seemed clearly unimpressed with this whole situation.

On the note, it said that it was urgent, so Arthur knew he had to go and get it as fast as possible.

“Is there a shop in America that would have it? Since Britain already has a standing deal with the Nations, it would be faster that getting it from China.”

“It could be less expensive there” Lady Picquery said, while her husband was thinking hard.

Amelia turned to Arthur and nodded. “I’ll give you an emergency portkey there if we find a shop. They can owl it straight to Hogwarts.”

Antonin shook his head. “They can’t, remember there’s an owl ward up?”

“Shit, I forgot.”

“There’s a small shop in Soho, New York, that sells all kinds of weird potion ingredients. I’m sure you can find basilisk venom there and if not, I’m sure they can point you into the right directions” Lord Picquery said, before nodding. “I used to buy my rare ingredients there.”

Arthur nodded and then got the directions needed to it. When Amelia was giving him the emergency portkey, he had not expected it to be immediately! He had nothing packed, but on the other hand, it was going to be the shortest trip of his lifetime.

So, he quickly grabbed his money and a pouch to place the venom and fang inside, before he listened to Amelia’s instructions of how to get back to Ireland… and then he was off.

He hadn’t travelled with a portkey over the ocean and was incredibly happy when that experience ended. He really wished that he didn’t have to do it again. But people were dying in Hogwarts and this was needed.

As he entered the shop – which was incredibly well hidden from the Muggles – he looked around curious to whether he could see the venom out on the shelves or not. Though it appeared dirty and musty from the outside, when one was in the shop, it was light and airy. There were different zones set up with whatever the ingredients needed and it looked incredibly professional.

Arthur walked through the shop, before he ended up in front of the desk not having found what he was looking for. He turned to face the young lad behind the desk only to freeze in his action.

The man sitting behind the counter looked like an exact copy of Thomas Fitzroy. He had his auburn hair pulled back into a high ponytail, which Thomas used to do whenever he was concentrating and didn’t want to be interrupted by annoying strains of hair. His cornflower blue eyes with that signature smile that seemed to come with Thomas threw Arthur out of his search for potions ingredients. He even wore loosely the same of what Thomas had worn whenever he wasn’t in his school robe.

“Can I help you, sir?” the young man asked and Arthur had to pull himself together or he would have kept staring.

“Um… yes…” Why was he here again? Oh- “Basilisk Venom, do you… do you have that?”

“Basilisk venom?” the young man frowned and pulled a book closer, leaning over it.

Arthur watched him closely and saw him reading the lines while his finger followed along. That was certainly not something Thomas would have done. So this, as sad as it was, could not have been his long lost boyfriend from school times.

“One moment, sir” the young man said and headed up the stairs behind the desk.

Sighing, Arthur turned to look over the shop again. He could just pick up something else that he could use for later. Maybe he should get back into brewing things? Being the head of Muggle things seemed… not like something he really wanted to do with his life.

On the other hand, he could just try and stay in the Ministry and work his way up until he was… the head of some department. But that too seemed unappealing after he was with Molly for so long. She probably would have liked that.

“Excuse me” another voice came from Arthur’s back that had him freeze again. “My son said you were looking for basilisk venom?”

Arthur was unable to turn. He knew that voice, even though it seemed older and more mature now. His stomach made summersaults and he finally cleared his throat and turned. Only to be faced with…

Thomas Fitzroy.

Tall and broad-shouldered, he stood before him, his cornflower blue eyes piercing at him, his auburn hair pulled back, like Arthur had seen it so often. His off-white shirt, torn over one shoulder and with tiny holes everywhere, clung to his body, revealing a tapestry of muscles that spoke of both strength and resilience. That was actually new, he hadn’t been into working out in their youth, but Arthur couldn’t help but look

A smattering of freckles dotted his tanned skin, adding a touch of boyishness to his otherwise rugged features. A faint smile played on his lips, hinting at a hidden warmth beneath his rugged exterior. His eyes, though filled with sadness, held a spark of determination that both intrigued and captivated him.

“I never thought to see you again, Arthur.”

Arthur was lost for words. “You have a son” he finally said, before shaking his head. “Sorry, sorry, that… You… you look good.”

Thomas smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Kinda what I turned into after leaving Hogwarts. What are you up to these days, besides killing someone.”

“I… uh… the basilisk venom isn’t for me” he said stupidly, before rubbing his forehead. “Sorry, I… I’m looking for basilisk venom and a fang. Do you know where I can get that?”

“Not without filling out some serious paperwork and waiting for three weeks” Thomas explained.

Arthur sighed. “That… I can’t do that. There’s a dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts and in order to develop a cure, we need both as soon as possible.”

Thomas hummed, his eyes searching Arthur’s, like they did so often before. “All of the legal ways require a three-week waiting time minimum.” He kept watching while Arthur didn’t know what else to do. He turned to the potion ingredients and stared at everything, trying to figure out if a three-week wait would or could potentially kill more people.

“Did you ever come look for me?”

“What?” Arthur turned around, stunned.

Thomas seemed incredibly sad. “I wrote you a letter, did you ever come looking for me?”

Arthur needed a few moments to comprehend what Thomas said. “I… I never received a letter. When did you write it?”

“I put it on your bed the day I left” Thomas said softly. “I never got a reply. But three years later, you’ve sent me the invitation to your wedding.”

“I… no” Arthur spoke and shook his head. “No, I would have…” he stopped talking, realizing what must have happened. Molly had most likely found the letter and either destroyed it or kept it from him. And then, to make matters worse, she… she sent him an invitation to their wedding?! And she took his memories of Thomas!!

Arthur was seething. “That… that…” he growled, a cuss word not leaving his lips as he wanted it to happen. His upbringing still kept him from swearing.

He looked up at Thomas. His childhood boyfriend had been watching him carefully. “I found out last summer that I was under a love spell for at least thirty years. More compulsions than I have fingers and toes to count on.”

Thomas frowned slightly. “Someone wanted to make sure you wouldn’t remember a thing.”

“Yeah.”

“Were they prosecuted?”

Arthur narrowed his eyes, while thinking of Molly. “No. We’re still waiting.”

Thomas looked down at his book. “I can give you the basilisk venom and fang for an illegal price. It’s much higher than the legal one, but there’s no waiting list required.”

“Really?”

“Under one condition.”

Arthur was unsure of what that condition was, so he silently waited, until Thomas continued to speak. “Obviously you’re under pressure right now. So, I’ll give it to you without telling Macusa. You have until the end of the year to comply with my condition, or I will tell Macusa that you’ve stolen my ingredients.”

“What is your condition, Thomas?” Arthur asked quietly.

Since Thomas had a child, it was clear that their relationship from their childhood couldn’t happen anymore. He was happy for the other man, sure. He had just hoped that maybe… maybe there was a tiny chance that he could-

“A date.”

“What?” Arthur looked up confused.

Thomas had his grin back. “You, me, out in the world, for a date night. Just one. That’s all I’m asking for.”

“A date?” Arthur repeated, shocked. “Isn’t your wife…”

Thomas snorted. “Benny was born because of a one-night stand pretty quickly after I’ve got the invite to your wedding. His mother and I tried to make it work, but obviously, there wasn’t much love. He’s lived with me since the divorce, spends his week-ends with his mother or his friends. During the week he’s working on his thesis for his potion’s mastery or here in the shop. I don’t have a wife.”

Arthur was lost of words. “Um… I… okay, a date” he said, feeling stupid.

The moment Thomas beamed at him, blew away his awkwardness and he accepted the vial of basilisk venom and the basilisk fang, before paying a rather hefty sum for it.

“Come back, when you’ve got time, Arthur, or write whenever.”

“Thank you, Thomas” he said softly, sending him a smile as well. Then, he exited the shop and used to portkey to get back to Ireland.

His travel felt not as bad as before.

Waiting for the Hogwarts house elf to collect the things Kefira had wished for took almost everything out of Raven. He spent his days either behind the tapestry while his friends covered for him with Professor Sinistra if she came looking for him, or in the Common Room with everyone else working on their school things.

Even though school had practically been cancelled and every person who wasn’t personally involved in any of the sick people’s life had been chosen to either help brewing potions for the medial wing or help out in there, the Slytherins still thought it was important to continue learning.

Every student helping out in the medical wing was tested for dragonpox when entering and when leaving, so they wouldn’t spread it even farther than it already was. And when they entered the Slytherin Common Room, they didn’t want to continue talking about it.

Raven understood, but he still wanted updates on his brother. Draco’s link was still too weak for him talk through it. From what he could gather though, Draco could potentially be getting better?

Or maybe it as just his own hope that was overwhelming him.

It was one of these days again, when he was working on a Charms essay, when Daphne sat down next to him. She had been keeping it together pretty well until now. “Hey, Raven, how are you?”

“Pretty… normal, I guess, by now” Raven answered, before he sighed. “I don’t know how to feel.”

Daphne nodded, unsure. “Astoria got it yesterday.” She had tears in her eyes and Raven moved over to hug her tightly. “How do you deal with it, when your sibling is in there?!”

“I don’t know” he whispered softly. “We’ll just have to believe that they’ll make it out alive!”

The other Slytherin brushed her own tears out of her face. “But… Cho Chang didn’t make it!”

“Cho was like patient zero” Raven tried to calm her down. “She was the first in Hogwarts to have it. Maybe that was why it got her in the end?”

Daphne's voice trembled as she asked, her eyes wide with fear, “What if it gets Astoria too?” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her knuckles turning white under the strain. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, but her voice still quavered as she repeated, “What if it gets Astoria too?”

“It won’t!” Raven shook his head. “She got it yesterday, right? It won’t take her away from you. Kefira is working on a cure, she’s very close I know it.”

Daphne nodded, though her eyes showed her hopelessness. “Astoria’s got very weak defences. As a child, she got every illness available. Father used to hide her away whenever it said that there was another outbreak of something. I’m really scared.”

Raven pulled her into a hug. “We can’t lose hope, Daphne!”

Right after dinner that day, the house elf popped into Raven’s room with a bundle of what looked like venom and a huge fang.

Raven jumped from his bed and thanked the house elf, before he grabbed his wand. “Point me, Kefira Malfoy.”

Unsurprisingly, it pointed out of the Slytherin Rooms. So, Raven pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and snuck past Professor Sinistra who was helping a second year with an essay on Transfiguration and tried to calm down two fourth years.

Once he was outside, he put his Cloak away, and followed his wand to Severus’ personal potion’s lab. As he opened the door, he ducked away, as he saw chaos everywhere and honestly expected something to explode any second now.

The potions lab was a chaotic mess. Tables were covered in a jumble of glassware, beakers, already prepared ingredients, bubbling cauldrons and other equipment, many of them with scorch marks or cracked glass. The floor was a sticky expanse of spilled potions and broken glass. The walls were adorned with posters of chemical compounds and formulas, some of which were splattered with stray droplets of whatever potion had exploded over it. The ceiling was a grimy expanse of unpainted plaster, with a few scorch marks from past explosions.

Raven surveyed the scene with a sigh. Since nothing happened, he peered inside again only to see his sister cutting more ingredients in record speed. Clearly, she knew exactly what she was doing and how.

He walked inside and placed the bundle of basilisk parts on the only free table closest by the door. Unsurprisingly, this table was relatively unscathed by the chaos inside.

“Well” Raven said, watching Kefira turn to him in surprise “at least I'm not the only one who's had a rough few weeks.”

Kefira smirked slightly and ducked her head. “Severus will kill me once this is over.”

“Nah” Raven shook his head and grinned. “If you manage to actually brew a cure, I think you’d just have to pay for a remodelling and he’ll forget it. He can forever brag that the cure to dragonpox has been brewed inside his personal lab.”

Kefira sniggered and walked towards him. “What do you have here?”

“Basilisk parts!” Raven said proudly and opened the bundle for her to look at it.

He watched her lighten up and eagerly checked everything. “This was really fast! I hadn’t expected it to arrive until next week!”

She began to carefully unpack everything. Inside were five vials of basilisk venom, which should hopefully last a while, then there was a full basilisk fang, which Kefira seemed to expertly examine. She placed then down and cast a spell on all of the items, before checking the parchment.

Raven peered over it, reading that it was in fact an analytical spell to see that the things he had gotten her were indeed basilisk venom and not just coloured water. Kefira walked over to her ingredients and started cutting and adding it to the potion. Then she grabbed another vial and let something drip into it.

“How close are you to finally make a cure?” Raven asked quietly.

“What?” Kefira looked up at him and corked the vial then after a second of thinking. “Close.”

A loud explosion from the corner of the room had both of them jumping to the floor with a shielding charm over them. The slimy concoction spilled over the close walls and then to the floor, until it turned into a stone like looking thing.

Kefira snorted as she got up again. “I genuinely forgot about that thing” she said more to herself than to Raven.

Raven rolled his eyes as he watched his sister adding the basilisk venom carefully so to not place it on herself. “I’m sure now that Severus will have your head once this is over.”

“I’m sure you and Draco can keep him from doing that” Kefira winked at him. “I think next week, we can finally hand out the potion. Hopefully.”

“I believe in you” Raven said and smiled, before leaving her to deal with her ever exploding potions.

Diagnostic charm

Date: 12th April
Identifying Potion: Healing Elixir
Components: Horklump juice, Mistletoe berries, Bubotuber Pus, Dittany, Unicorn Tears, Lionfish spine, Basilisk venom, Basilisk fangs
Potency: High
Purity: Excellent
Effects: This potion has the ability to heal internal injuries. It is fever-reducing and heals coughs and sneezes, and any injuries around the throat and nose. It stops contact-transmissions of current and aggressive illnesses and diseases. The potion’s effects are rapid and long-lasting.
Potential Side Effects: None known at this time.
Overall Assessment: This is a high-quality healing potion that is safe and effective. It is a valuable addition to any witch or wizard's medicine cabinet.

“Hold on” Kefira stopped and read the results again. “I did it?”

Chapter Text

“Severus, how does the wizarding world see testing on animals?”

Looking up from his potion, Severus looked over to his open classroom, where he found Kefira standing alone. It’s wasn’t uncommon to find her alone, however, it was well past midnight and he had not expected anyone to still be awake at this hour.

Then again, the hospital wing was probably bustling with healers and volunteers.

“How about human testing?” Kefira continued without a waiting for him to respond and Severus chuckled at her thoughtful expression.

“Little lion, I don’t think such questions are supposed to be spoken aloud” Severus said, amused, even if this whole situation was anything but. “The wizarding world doesn’t take testing on humans lightly. We have all these spells to find out whether or not something works and even the guilds that make sure everything is safe, why test on humans?”

Kefira sighed. “Okay, so here’s the thing I did until now. I had Ron sneeze on two plants and tested my potion on it. Nothing happened when the other one died. Where can I continue my tests if not on humans? Animals can’t have dragonpox, so where do I go from here?”

“Usually, you would send a new potion to the Potion Guild for them to test it” Severus said slowly, unsure if Kefira had actually managed to create a cure to a disease everyone had been struggling to find something.

“How long will they need to test the potion for?”

Severus sighed softly. “For a new potion, the minimum is six months.”

Kefira visibly jerked back. “Half a year?! Draco could die! No… Ron could die! Hannah, Susan, Graham, Luna, Neville… They could all die within half a year!”

His goddaughter showed him a parchment on which her potion’s diagnostics was written. “According to my diagnostic, it works. What are the ramifications if I give it to them without having the Guild test it before?”

Severus watched her for a little moment, seeing that she wasn’t ready to let more people die. Clearly, it was important to her. Which made sense, there were a lot of her friends in the hospital wing with dragonpox.

He sighed softly. “Since you’re not in the Guild, you might be banned from ever entering it. And since I am in the Potion Guild, I will most likely loose my platinum cauldron status.”

Kefira widened her eyes. “Is that a good status to have?”

“Third best” Severus said and chuckled softly. “Don’t worry about me. How confident are you in your potion?”

“I know I have the cure.”

He knew that Hogwarts would most certainly not let them test the potion on students. No one trusted her talent and while Severus had been a little unsure if she was truly ready for a potions Mastery, he had seen her creating the cure. And he believed that she had in fact been able to create it.

He trusted her.

“If you promise not to ask questions… I may be able to find someone to test your potions on” he said slowly. Maybe, if they could prove to the Guild that they did a safety trial, before attempting to kill every child at Hogwarts, he could still make sure that Kefira could join the Potion Guild.

He thought of Sirius and how unstable his partner currently was with only him to take care of instead of medical personnel. If Kefira could in fact heal him… Severus would need to let Poppy in on who the panther was (that no one had seen in a little while, admittedly), but it would certainly make it easier to convince her to use to potion.

Kefira frowned and opened her mouth as if to ask a question, before she seemed to realize what Severus had asked of her. Nodding, she smiled at him. “No questions, promise. Unless I ask question to them about my potions.”

Severus chuckled and sent her a smile. “This potion takes me another five minutes, can you meet me in my office?”

“Yes” Kefira nodded and raced away, probably to get her own potions and whatever else she had been working on.

Meanwhile, Severus added the dragon liver to the healing potion and placed the heat to simmer. Then, he started to clean up everything and once he was done, checked his potion. He filled all the available vials and placed them in a box to bring up to the medical wing. For a second, he thought about doing it after bringing Kefira to Sirius, but he knew himself better than that. He was most likely going to watch his goddaughter and partner very close.

He brought the vials up to the infirmary, walked through the ward quickly and saw that apparently, it had also gotten Minerva. That was bad news for everyone. Hopefully, Kefira really was able to heal Sirius and they could bring it up to the medical wing so that nobody else had to die.

Severus’ eyes fell on Draco who was sitting in his bed, doing an essay for what seemed Astronomy. Was everyone just awake during the night?! When he looked up, he smiled at him and Severus walked closer to the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked his godson.

Draco smiled. “Pretty good. I’m still incredibly weak and all, but if I take it in small steps, I’m sure I can get a good recovery.”

“Any side-effects so far?”

“Well, scars. They’re everywhere. But aside from that, I don’t think so.”

Severus sent him a quick smile. “Make sure to sleep as well. I don’t want to have to tell your parents and siblings that despite your early positive outlook, you didn’t make it.”

Draco grinned at that, before he looked a bit unsure. “How… how are my siblings taking the fact that I have the disease?”

“I’m not sure if Kefira has slept since the outbreak” Severus said and saw Draco snorting with a nod. He seemed to have thought so. “Raven… he’s in a constant up and down. Some days he’s doing fine, other’s I believe he considers his life without you in it.”

“Shit” Draco swore quietly. “Can you… could you tell him that I’m doing better?”

“We’ll wait and see, Draco. You know the statistics as much as anyone else here. Early recovery means nothing really.”

“Yeah. Well, at least tell Kefira to sleep. It shouldn’t get her too.”

“I’ll tell her, if you go to sleep now as well” Severus promised, before he made his way back to the dungeons.

He found Kefira pacing in front of his office, drumming a nervous rhythm on the satchel slung over her shoulder and wordlessly let her inside. He opened the door to his study, ushering her into his personal tornado of chaos.

As she crossed the threshold, Severus could tell that Kefira was surprised to see his haphazard constellations of papers, notes and diagrams on every available free surface. Beakers, vials and test tubes were sitting on the shelves in different states, containing an array of murky liquids, some seemingly shifting and simmering in the dim light.

“I was also trying to find a cure” Severus admitted softly. “However, with brewing everything the medical wing is ordering, there is no real time to study.”

Kefira nodded at that. She seemed to continue thinking and looking around the room.

Clearing his throat, Severus waited until he had her attention. “I want you to not tell anyone else what you see here. We both know that Sirius was at your parents’ house over Christmas, currently, he’s here.”

“He is?” Kefira asked with wide eyes.

“Yes. That is part of not asking questions, Kefira. He seems to have gotten dragonpox and I cannot send him upstairs, unless I want the Ministry involved.”

“Which of course you don’t” Kefira nodded and she smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I will not tell anyone else what I saw here.”

Severus watched her for a while longer, before de nodded. Then, he led her through his personal quarter past the potion lab Kefira had been using into the back bedroom, where Sirius was lying.

As they entered the bedroom, Severus paused in the doorway, allowing Kefira to step in first. The room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from a small lamp on the bedside table beside the bed where Sirius lay. He was pale and feverish, his skin covered in a rash of green and violet blisters that resembled dragon scales. Severus’ heart clenched at the sight of him, his eyes filled with concern.

Sirius stirred slightly as they entered, his eyes fluttering open. He blinked in the dim light, his gaze falling on Kefira. A hint of a smile touched his lips, though it was weak and fleeting. “Kefira” he croaked, his voice hoarse and raspy.

“Sirius” she replied softly and moved closer to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I've been eaten and pooped out by a dragon” he answered, his voice laced with pain.

“That joke is really flat” Severus commented and Sirius snorted, though clearly in pain.

Kefira smiled at the two of them, as if she knew what was going on here. “Sirius, I’ve been making different potions that could potentially heal dragonpox.”

There was a surprised and confused expression on the other man’s face and he rubbed his forehead.

“I have three different things that I want to test, but we’re pretty sure that Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t allow me to test it on the students. So, Severus thought maybe you would be up for it.”

“He did?” Sirius asked and looked over to the door, where Severus was still standing. “If I die anyway, I can also make an effort in healing something, eh?”

Severus sighed. “This really isn’t the time for jokes, Sirius. I trust that Kefira is capable of healing this.”

Sirius was quietly observing Severus, before he turned his tired gaze to Kefira. “You think you’ve got it?"

"I think I’m very close” Kefira said instead of answering the question. She probably wanted to keep Sirius’ hope as small as possible, since when Severus talked to her, she seemed more certain. “Are you up to testing what I’ve made and giving me feedback?”

Sighing, Sirius nodded eventually. “I hope it helps you.”

Kefira brought out a small biscuit and told Sirius to chew it for thirty seconds. Meanwhile, Kefira and Severus were watching him closely. Sirius had a humoured expression when he was finally done and opened his mouth, most likely to joke about something, but Kefira spoke up fast.

“This should keep the dragonpox at bay for now. It should also reduce the swelling around the rash.”

Sirius hummed and pulled his sleeve back. Severus couldn’t see much from where he was standing, but judging from what the other two were talking about it seemed to work.

“Now, I need you to think about whether you want to trust me that much” Kefira said, sounding unsure. “I’ve made two potions, a strong one and a mild one for different stages of the dragonpox. The strong one has basilisk venom. Do you want to test it? Do you trust me to have calculated it correctly?”

Severus was frozen, but Sirius looked his way, before nodding. “If Severus thinks you’re capable of creating a cure, I believe that the basilisk venom is useful.”

With that, he accepted Kefira’s vial and downed it without a second thought. Severus was still frozen in shock. Basilisk venom?! Where did she get that from?!

He watched carefully, as Kefira asked Sirius questions about the effect of the two potions she made. Then, she pulled out a salve and placed a thick layer of it over the rash. “This will hurt” she said softly and Severus found his partner fighting the pain.

“What does it do?” Severus asked carefully, watching as Sirius clearly tried fighting with himself to stop himself from pushing the salve away.

Kefira turned to him as if she had forgotten he was there and then, she looked back at Sirius. “It will practically pull the dragon venom out of the rash. So, this salve has to stay on there for ten minutes, then it has to be thrown away.”

Severus was stunned. “How did you even come up with it… and how did you test this?”

“Diagnostic spell” Kefira said, before she shrugged. “And I placed some basilisk venom into a plant to act as the dragonpox and put the salve on. It worked rather fast on the plant.”

The pain was clearly lessening, since Sirius was breathing evenly again. “Fuck.”

“Language!” Severus said while shaking his head. “There’s a child here.”

Kefira snorted. “I think he’s entitled to swear, since I’m the one inflicting the pain.”

Sirius snorted as well, while Severus rolled his eyes, amused. He continued to watch while Kefira explained more of the potions and how she made sure that they were perfectly safe. Before they knew it, ten minutes were over and she took the salve away, before once again asking Sirius to trust her.

“If you ask me one more time, I do not anymore.”

Kefira sniggered and held out the potion, careful not to touch Sirius, she handed him the vial. Sirius shared one more look with Severus, as if to tell him that if he were to die, it was his fault. Then, he downed to potion.

Severus held his breath while watching Sirius. His partner fell back into bed, falling asleep almost instantly. Kefira too, seemed to be holding her breath, before she turned to Severus.

“Can you cast a diagnostic charm on a human? I don’t trust myself to do that.”

Chuckling, Severus shook his head. “Created a cure for dragonpox, but is afraid to cast a diagnostic on a human?”

Kefira sent a glare his direction, but Severus only smirked at that. He pulled out his wand and carefully cast the needed charm to see whether or not he had dragonpox. This morning, the charm still lit up.

Nothing happened. Severus held his breath again, casting more spells to check up on Sirius, and… they all came back healthy… if a little starved and sleep deprived, but… no dragonpox anywhere.

“I think… I think you did it” Severus said softly.

Kefira held her hands in front of her mouth, clearly trying to keep herself from bursting out in joy and waking up Sirius.

Severus chuckled at that. “Hey, little lion, go to sleep in the guest room until morning, I’ll monitor Sirius for the rest of the night. In the morning, we can see what happened to him and how he feels. If he’s alright, we can go get Poppy and hopefully, by the end of the day, the students will have been cured.”

When Kefira appeared in the Slytherin Common Room in high spirits, all the talk ceased and they all watched closely, as she made her way to the little group next to the fire. Raven wanted to laugh at how much attention his sister was getting without her realizing it.

“You’re not in the lab?” Pansy asked and frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Raven snorted and wanted to tell her that his sister could also enjoy a little time away from potion chaos, when Kefira was quicker.

“I did it.”

Daphne looked up from her essay and widened her eyes. “You did… what?”

It seemed as if she didn’t want to believe that Kefira had actually managed to find a cure to a disease her sister had. Raven too was surprised, but more so because she was thirteen! How could someone his age actually make a cure to a disease probably a thousand wizards and witches had died from?!

“A cure” Kefira said with wide and happy eyes. “I finished it yesterday, Severus and I tested it on Si- someone and this morning, he brought it to the Medical Wing. Madam Pomfrey was really sceptical and she went to… look at what I did. And then, she realized that it actually worked and she’s giving it to everyone there!”

“Wait” Daphne held her hands up, hope shining in her teary eyes.

Pansy jumped up and held her hands in front of her mouth. “Kefira, you’re amazing!”

Raven sniggered when his sister blushed. “Yeah, well, I… I was working really hard on everything.”

“Are you serious?” Daphne asked.

Blaise smirked. “Pretty sure, Kefira wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t perfected the cure.”

Kefira rolled her eyes. “Well, ‘perfected’ is a big word, but it heals dragonpox, yeah.”

“That’s a cure” Theodore Nott said calmly and everyone stopped talking and looked over to where the Slytherin was standing. Raven narrowed his eyes, knowing that Ron’s brother probably wasn’t really happy that Kefira had invented something that could heal him. He probably wanted Ron to die so his family was back to being small and happy. Nott seemed to realize that everyone was looking at him, since he cleared his throat, a little awkwardly. “You did something that will forever change how the wizarding world will see the Malfoy family.”

Frowning, Kefira tilted her head. “What?”

From the corner of his eyes, Raven could see Fred and George perking up. “Holy shit, the Malfoy’s are going to be placed as high as Dumbledore once was” Fred said with wide eyes.

“Yeah!” George called out. “You’re going to be almost as influential as the Picquerys are!”

Kefira let go of a little unsure laugh and Raven frowned slightly. “Because of a cure?”

Blaise snorted at that. “Raven, you have no idea how dangerous and frighting dragonpox is, right? Especially if it’s breaking out in a small community… usually, it wipes everyone out. The Malfoy name will climb the ranks faster than Dumbledore’s has after he managed to fight Grindelwald. Your sister made a cure for something highly lethal. It’s going to safe the wizarding world in the long run.”

“But…” Kefira shook her head. “I just wanted to safe Draco and Alden and… and all our friends.”

Daphne let go of a water laugh. “Kefira, if my family wasn’t already allied with yours… if your potion safes my sister, I would have offered you my family’s allegiance until my family’s lineage is gone. There are probably a lot of families who will do exactly that when you safe their relatives.”

A stunned silence was over the Common Room, until George started to laugh loudly and Fred snorted. “Alright, I guess you will have more influence than our families once it’s revealed that you created a cure.”

“I’m going to do this anonymously” Kefira muttered, clearly unwilling to become famous.

Raven snorted. “You’re not. Draco would never let you do this anonymously. And I doubt our family will just pretend that it wasn’t them.”

“But the attention?!”

“I hate to break it to you” Pansy spoke up with a smirk, “but the entire Common Room is listening and most likely writing letters home about you, as soon as the dragonpox wards are lifted.”

A murmur of agreement spread through the room and Kefira turned red again. “Damn” she said under her breath, making their group laugh.

Raven got up and hugged her closely. “Be happy, Kefira. You singlehandedly saved the wizarding world from extinction. That’s kind of amazing.” He leaned over and whispered into her ear, “far better than being the Boy Who Lived who didn’t do anything to be famous. You actually worked for it. I’m proud of you.”

Kefira beamed at him and hugged him back. “Thank you. I really just did this for Draco and Ron.”

“I know.” Raven smiled at her. “And while doing this, you saved… almost everyone here.”

Chapter Text

“How is Molly still in the Ministry holding cells? Is this legal?” Charlie asked as he sat down in the stable, where once again, the group was meeting. At the moment, only Amelia, Arthur and Lady Picquery were here. For a second, Charlie had questioned whether he had the correct time and date, but it was obviously today.

Amelia sighed, clearly frustrated. “It is, because of the Old Laws. The sitting Chief of Wizengamot is technically able to keep someone from testifying if it relates directly to his work as Chief or if it could incriminate him and he could lose trust of the Wizengamot.”

“What kind of a law is that?” Lady Picquery asked with a snort. “I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Yes, because before, the sitting Chiefs were smart enough not to arrest people who held something against them. And the Old Laws are more… trust-driven than anything else” Amelia continued.

Arthur nodded. “They probably never expected that someone so manipulative like Dumbledore could ever find enough supporters to end up Chief.”

Charlie hummed at that. “So, what can we do in order to get Molly to testify?”

“Nothing” Lord Picquery said, closing the door behind himself. Sitting down next to his wife, he sighed. “Dumbledore despite being incredibly stupid as of lately, still holds the majority of votes. I’m beginning to think that he has enchanted the Lords and Ladies of Houses to do his bidding.”

“Which we cannot prove” his wife reminded him with a chuckle.

Charlie snorted and sighed. “There has to be a way to get around the Old Laws, right?”

Before Amelia could respond, a new person arrived and closed the door behind them. Lord Dolohov had clearly also heard his question. “There is a way around every Old Law, if you have enough supporters and votes” he said, greeting everyone. “What law are we talking about?”

“Molly” Amelia said and rolled her eyes. “I hate her now. I’ve hated her in school as well.”

“You went to school together?” Charlie asked with wide eyes.

Amelia snorted. “Yeah, I’ve always thought of Arthur like a brother, but every time Molly was around, something happened.”

Charlie could see his former father frowning and thinking hard. It was clear that despite the goblins’ help and the healers’ help, he still had problems with his memories. It made Charlie sad to think that the person he had looked up to all throughout his childhood was having such problems. And to think that his apparent mother was to blame for it…

“I don’t remember my school years that detailed… my memory is more like waves, anyway. It comes and goes. Usually, it’s like a blanket of fog is surrounding it” Arthur explained, before he sighed. “I also don’t really remember you, Amelia. Sometimes I see flashes, but…” He shrugged, helplessly.

Amelia seemed incredibly angry. “We’re getting this fixed, Arthur. Don’t worry.”

Lady Picquery nodded. “If no one can treat you here in the UK, we have contacts.”

“All over the world” her husband said with a grin. “In most likely every culture. One of these has to have the cure for it.”

Arthur chuckled and rolled his eyes, amusedly. “I just want to see her punished for what she did.”

Lord Dolohov sighed. “Yes, well, as long as Dumbledore is the sitting Chief of Wizengamot, that specific Old Law cannot be broken.”

“As long as he the sitting Chief?” Lord Picquery asked with a flash of mischief that Charlie caught immediately.

He couldn’t continue and explain what he meant, as the door to the stable was opened again and the Malfoys walked in, talking quietly. They looked far more at ease since it became public knowledge in their little group that Kefira had healed Draco. Charlie smiled at them, as they sat down next to Amelia.

“Good afternoon” Lady Malfoy said with a smile. “What have you been talking about?”

“How we can make sure that Molly gets her punishment” Lord Dolohov said and turned to Lord Picquery. “You have an idea of how to topple Dumbledore as Chief of Wizengamot?”

Lord Picquery smirked. “Not really take him down, however, if enough people question his leadership, he will be removed temporarily, in which the new acting Chief of Wizengamot could be taking Molly for a spin and send her to Azkaban.”

Charlie looked at the elderly man and decided to never mess with the Picquerys. These people seemed to know everyone on the planet and… they could think outside of the box, which was incredibly dangerous in an enemy. He wondered if the terror twins had also gotten that trait from them…

“That would require us to know who his Second is and to make them see our reason for it” Lord Malfoy said with a careful hum.

“I can find out” Amelia said with a shrug.

“Amy, you’ve announced Dumbledore as your enemy house. Asking around for Dumbledore’s Second is just going to spread distrust in the Wizengamot’s ranks” Arthur explained with a sigh. “We’d need to find someone who isn’t directly speaking out against the old man, but is doubting him just as much. However, it can’t be someone from the Dark or Gray Fraction.”

“Kingsley Shacklebolt or Alastar Moody” Lady Picquery said as if she had known the discussion would go there anyway. Charlie had a hard time not laughing at that.

In that moment, the door to the stable opened again and Bill entered, followed by Lord Nott and Lady Montague. The latter smiled at the rest apologetically.

“My dearest husband sends his sincerest apologies for being unable to attend. His presence has been urgently requested for a legal matter” she said with a quick bow, before sitting down next to Lord Nott. “I won’t tell you more, you’re going to enjoy this when it hits.”

Interesting, judging by the fact that Charlie’s father had made a similar excuse… Were they cooking something together?

Several people argued over it, but Charlie had other things to do. He watched as his former brother blushed slightly before sitting down next to Arthur by the door. He followed his gaze and found that Bill was looking at Lord Dolohov. Hm, wonders could happen, then. Charlie had been firmly convinced that his fake-older-brother was asexual… though apparently not.

Lord Nott cleared his throat. “I’ve been able to convince the Ministry to invite Dumbledore over to speak about how he handled the dragonpox outbreak. Since my son was directly targeted, one might think, I will be part of the newly established Hogwarts Health Board.” He grinned wickedly. “I’ll make his day hell.”

Lady Picquery chuckled at that. “Good job, I knew you could make it.”

“Who else is on the board?” Bill asked, before he once again stole a glance at Lord Dolohov. Charlie had to keep it together, not to laugh loudly at his fake-brother’s idiocy.

“Each and every parent with a child in the Hospital wing for more than a month” Lord Nott said, before sending Amelia an apologetic look. “Susan wasn’t in there for long, so I couldn’t convince them to add you. You would have obviously let Dumbledore burn.”

Amelia was clearly torn, she opened her mouth a few times, but always decided against speaking. Bill snorted at that. “Thank you!” When everyone looked at him funnily, he grinned at his older sister. “If you would have told us that you wished Susan was in there for over a month, I would have needed to tell her.”

Charlie sniggered with the rest, while Amelia rolled her eyes. She then turned to an amused Lord Nott. “What of the Chang family?”

“They left the country” Lord Nott said with a sigh. “I attempted to contact them, but their representative in the UK informed me that they no longer wish to maintain any connection with the United Kingdom.”

“I don’t blame them” Lord Dolohov said with a sigh. “If my son had died due to the headmaster’s negligence, I would also not want to do anything with the country anymore.”

Charlie watched Bill closely and saw him evading eye contact now that Lord Dolohov was speaking. He needed to talk to his fake-brother before he went away again.

Lady Malfoy nodded darkly. “Should we continue our research in how to take down our two main idiots or should we wait for the children to hear their input?”

“I’m sure they would love to have a say in anything else” Lady Montague said, a dark expression on her face. “I for one would love to hear how the terror twins plan on making Hogwarts Dumbledore’s purgatory.”

Judging by the faces Lady and Lord Picquery were making, Charlie was sure that they were giving the twins enough information and ideas. He once again promised himself not to be on any Picquery’s dark side. And he would make sure to tell that to his children, should he have some.

Was this how stories and myths were formed?

The discussion turned from politics to just friendly chatter and ideas of what else they needed to discuss and how the Board could hopefully destroy the old headmaster. Charlie was sure that while it would be able to knock him down a few pegs, old Dumbledore would still be able to sit high above them.

Or maybe… they would actually succeed? That would be a nice change.

After the meeting was officially over and several people were leaving again, Charlie managed to catch Bill before he was leaving. He grabbed him by his arm and pulled him to the side, where no one could overhear them.

“What’s up?” Bill asked, curiously.

“You’re acting strange” Charlie said with a grin.

Bill seemed to be genuinely confused, as he frowned. “Not really, no. I’m glad the dragonpox situation if over at Hogwarts, but there’s nothing else really, that I-“

“What’s your deal with Dolohov?”

Bill paled, before he blushed and looked over his shoulder, before creating a strong silencing charm and turning back to Charlie. “Nothing, what do you mean?”

Charlie snorted. “Oh, come on, I can see it. The way you only have eyes for him.”

Clearly, his brother was having mixed feelings. “He’s too old, I can’t… there’s nothing between me and him.”

“But you like him” Charlie said with a grin.

Bill was blushing more. It was truly adorable. “No… there’s. Okay, listen-“

“You like him, you think he’s too old for you and now you’ve given up and decide to adore him from afar.”

The silence in the air would have been funny, if not for Bill’s slightly hopeless expression. “It’s not… it’s not that he’s too old, but… there’s a rather large age difference between us.”

“You do realize that wizards live longer than Muggles right? In a hundred years, it wouldn’t matter if you’re two hundred and ten and he’s three hundred and seven.”

Bill snorted. “Okay, the age difference isn’t that far.” He frowned at Charlie. “How are you okay with my feelings? Even I haven’t fully grasped what I feel!”

Charlie shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I think, I can see you and him working.”

“How? We’re so different…”

“But you want it?” Charlie asked, curiously.

Bill sighed. “It’s strange, really. We would have never met if we wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”

Charlie raised his eyebrows. “You want a relationship with him?”

“I don’t know!” Bill said, his emotions all over the place. “Maybe?”

“I’ll go ask him if he’s interested in you” Charlie promised and was immediately held back by his brother. Sniggering, Charlie freed himself. “See, there is something there!”

“Merlin, I know something is there, okay?! I’m just… very unsure at the moment.”

Clearly, Bill wasn’t the self-confident Curse Breaker at the moment. It was kind of sweet to see him dealing with something normal mortals were dealing with. Maybe he was human after all!

Charlie sniggered and placed an arm around his fake-brother. “If you need relationship advice, don’t come and visit me, Bill. I have never had a relationship, so I can’t help you.”

“But you want me to get involved with Lord Dolohov?” Bill asked, amusedly.

“I want you to be happy” Charlie said instead. “And judging by the looks you threw him, you clearly have a crush.”

“Crushes can be overcome.”

“Or turn into relationships” Charlie winked at his brother who finally seemed to have enough and he started to attack him. Laughing, he ran away, dodging the hexes and jinxes sent after him.

“I will kill you!” Bill yelled and followed him through the property, attacking him with basic spells. Charlie loved it.

The outcry of joy was loud, as the four houses entered the Great Hall and hugged each other again. Ginny ran over to the Slytherin house and fell around Kefira’s neck, pulling her close. “You are my favourite person, Fia!” she said happily and beamed at her. “You saved my brother. I owe you!”

“No!” Kefira said with a laugh and shook her head. “I just couldn’t stand there and watch everyone die. Nobody owes me anything.”

“I disagree” a new voice behind them spoke up and Ginny screamed, before she fell around Graham’s neck. He laughed as she pulled her legs around him. Graham looked exhausted, but clearly happy.

Raven widened his eyes and looked at the entrance, where more people walked into the Great Hall. Kefira was in a discussion with Graham that she didn’t notice Draco walk in, but Raven did. He jumped up and raced down the hall, Draco clearly saw him coming, as his smile widened with every step he took closer to his sibling.

Finally, Raven pulled his brother into a tight hug. “You made it!” he said quietly, almost desperately. “I was so afraid!”

Draco laughed and returned the tight hug. “As if I was going to leave you alone, Raven!” he said and pulled him away, looking at him carefully. “That will never happen, you hear me?!”

Raven sniggered and nodded, happily. “Sure. If you say so.”

“Draco!” Kefira screamed and Raven dodged her body in the last second, before she crashed into him, accidentally throwing their brother to the ground that had him laugh loudly.

Raven shook his head and looked at Ron who was entering just then. The two boys beamed at each other and Raven walked over, pulling him into another hug. “I’m so very glad you’ve made it!”

“Oh, me too, mate!” Ron said, happily. “Though, not as happy as Kefira is with having Draco back. Honestly, rolling on the floor?”

“I’ll throw you to the floor in a second!” Kefira promised just to have Draco pulling her away from attacking Ron. The four of them sniggered and were almost crushed by Daphne who ran through them and hugged Astoria.

Fred and George, clearly, not wanting to be left out, started a hugging race, where they tried to hug everyone out of the hospital wing as quickly as possible. They only managed to go through half of the people, before Graham managed to pull both of them down, making Lee and Konstantin at the Gryffindor table laugh.

They did get their hug though, when Wood walked over to them and hugged them, promising to have a Quidditch meeting later this week.

Raven pulled Draco and Kefira with him and they sat down by the Slytherin table, where Graham and Ginny were already seated at (clearly, she wasn’t leaving his side for as long as possible). Ron was pulled to the Hufflepuff table by Susan and Hannah and Luna waved at Raven, happily.

“Welcome back, everyone!” Professor McGonagall said, once everyone was sitting in the Great Hall. She smiled at them all and Raven could tell that she was happy it didn’t end in a bigger disaster than it had eventually turned into.

Professor McGonagall waited until the noise had died down, before she continued. “As most of you are well aware, Headmaster Dumbledore is currently at the Ministry, being asked about how he handled this situation. Yesterday evening, we have lifted the Dragonpox wards, so the letters should be arriving today.”

Cheers and happy outcries met her announcement and she laughed slightly at the shown happiness. Raven himself was beaming, happy to have a direct access to contact his parents again. He had missed owling them… Most likely, he would do so daily now…

“Since most seventh and fifth years have helped us professors out and you didn’t have any time to study and work for your O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s, the professors have decided to create a special study plan for you. You will receive specialized education, in order to pass your exams. If you feel too pressured with so little time, Hogwarts will for once in a way offer summer courses and give you a chance at the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s at the end of August.”

More cheering from the upper years and Raven smirked at that. He was happy that Professor McGonagall was able to help them. Dumbledore would have probably let everyone off with no exams.

“Since this means more work for us professors, we will keep the lessons for the other classes to a minimum, and there will be no exams for you. You have all been diligently working on essays we have given you and we will be grading your essays as well as the performance in class. Hogwarts ends in two months anyways. I wish everyone the best. And all of my gratitude goes to Kefira Malfoy for finding a cure.”

Draco and Raven were cheering the loudest as Kefira blushed deeply and waved shily at the attention she was getting suddenly. Naturally, everyone had known that she was the one to find a cure, but nobody had known if that was indeed the truth or just a story people told each other. With McGonagall confirming its truth, people were obviously awed.

They had talked about it before, obviously. Kefira was trying to find a way around it, however, all of Slytherin knew where she had spent her time while Draco was in the hospital wing and Kefira’s request for basilisk parts had taken on an almost mythical status, even if only their group was the one who had dealt with it. How it turned into common knowledge was beyond Raven.

Then, all Slytherins had families and friends outside of the house and Blaise had explained to Kefira that arguing against it, when there was so much proof would only result in people questioning her ability to brew and the potion. Kefira had vehemently defended her potion and seemingly realized that the only way to go about it was to go public.

It hadn’t yet hit the papers, but Raven was sure it only took a few more days, before they would publish the news.

“Here’s one thing I will never do, whenever I’m sick” Remus said as he closed the door to Severus’ private quarter. He grinned when the panther by the fire transformed into a sleeping Sirius.

Severus was looking up when Remus wasn’t continuing. “And what’s that, wolf?”

Remus beamed with the mention of his pet name. He liked that Severus was not one to show open affection, you had to look for it. Then again, he would have liked to be openly in love with, since he did like all that ‘touchy-feely-stuff’, as Severus put it. So maybe, once this mess was over, he was going to like ‘torturing’ his partner.

“Coming here when I’m sick” Remus explained. “I got Sirius sick, almost killed both your partners, what kind of a life would that have been for you.”

Severus snorted and turned back to his essay. With the amount of red ink that was in front of him, one could have thought he was trying to kill someone.

“A much calmer life for me, I’d assume” he stated while he corrected something else. “So much less stress of trying to hide a fugitive and being in love with a monster and a serial killer.”

Remus rolled his eyes. He liked it when Severus was talking while working, he had less filter then. “Sweet” Remus answered. “I feel so loved by you at the moment.”

“As you should” Severus said sarcastically, looking up for barely a second. “You can snuggle with the mutt on the floor, if you want affection.”

Laughing softly, Remus headed over to his partner. He leaned against the table’s side and watched as Severus wrote corrections and marked other mistakes, before his hand hovered over another paragraph of that poor student’s essay.

Remus’ eyes moved to Severus’ and he grinned, when he saw the forced annoyance on his face. “What do you want, wolf?”

“Company” Remus said simply and winked at him. “Not from our sleeping partner, but from my potions master.”

Severus groaned and put the quill aside. “Why again, are we in a triad?”

Remus waved him off. “Oh, power balance and all that shit.”

“Power balance?” Severus asked and shook his head. “What, we can’t exist without each other? The power would be… off? Where did you get that idea from? Please tell me it’s not the headmaster’s idiocy.”

The horror in Severus’ eyes was funny to Remus and he leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “It isn’t. It’s kind of a werewolf phenomenon. We can feel magic and balance makes us calm.”

Severus raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t pick up his quill again. So Remus smiled at him and continued his explanation.

“Our partnership is a beautiful thing, but it's not enough. You need a support system, a chorus of voices echoing your brilliance. I can provide intellectual companionship, but I can't match your physical prowess, even on days close to the moon. That's where Sirius comes in. He's your physical complement, the embodiment of action and loyalty. That is your side of this triad. Together, you and Sirius keep me grounded, a beacon of hope in my darkest moments. And Sirius, he simply needs people who love him for the person he is. His heart deserves to be cherished.”

Severus stared at him for a few seconds, maybe even a minute, Remus couldn’t tell. All he could see was the emotions swirling behind these beautiful black eyes. The longer the silence stretched, the more Remus’ grin grew.

Finally, Severus sighed. “I honestly hate it when you’re right.”

“Standing room only on that bus” a voice by the door spoke up and Remus turned around to see Sirius lying on his back, watching the other two.

Remus chuckled and held his hands up. “Did I somehow misinterpret our dynamic?”

Sirius sighed and sat up. “Not from my point of view. Sev?”

Looking over to the potion master, Remus could tell that Severus was annoyed by his realisation, but he wasn’t displeased. Frankly, he seemed amused.

“Fine, there may have been a point somewhere” Severus mumbled and turned back to his essays.

Remus chuckled and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll go snuggle with Sirius for attention then. When you’re done, love, don’t hesitate to join.”

“On the floor? I think not” Severus said leaning over his essay.

Grinning, Remus winked at Sirius and they moved to the couch behind the door. If someone were to open the door, no one would see them and it gave Sirius enough time to transform into Midnight.

As predicted, it didn’t take Severus long to join and Remus pulled him between the two of them. This was when he could see the stress from the last few weeks fall off and while Sirius practically threw himself over Severus, who tried to fight the other man off unsuccessfully, Remus made sure to pull him close, so he was practically sandwiched between them.

“I hate both of you.”

Remus laughed softly, feeling Severus shudder when his breath reached the back of his neck. He received another glare, though Sirius moved on to ask for attention and soon, the balance between the three of them was re-established.

Honestly, Remus loved their triad. It was little, but safe for all of them.

He would fight to death to keep them all safe. Severus and Sirius were his. Forever.

Chapter Text

The day after the letters were allowed to come back to Hogwarts, Ron frowned at his rat which was showing symptoms of dragonpox, weirdly enough. Animals didn’t have that illness, well, apart from the dragons, surely. So… this was rather… strange.

He grabbed his rat and walked through the hallway to where Professor Snape had his office. He knocked and entered once he was allowed to. “Hello Professor” he said uncertainly, “I’m not really sure how this is possible, but I think, my rat has dragonpox? And I know that you have some emergency potions here?”

Snape sighed, but nodded. That was until he seemed to realize what Ron was saying. “Your rat has dragonpox?” he asked suspiciously.

“Yeah” Ron shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know how that’s possible, but… it has all the symptoms I had.”

“It’s only possible, if…” Snape stopped talking and his eyes moved to the black panther that was sneaking closer, growling softly. Ron widened his eyes and was reaching out to save his rat from the cat, when Snape held him back. “If it’s an Animagus.”

The black panther growled, showing its teeth. Ron widened his eyes, looking at Snape. “Animagus? Like… a person?”

“Exactly, dragonpox can’t be transferred to animals.”

Ron was shocked and he stared at the sick rat… or person pretending to be a rat. “Who… who is Scabbers really?” he asked carefully.

Snape sighed and looked at the panther by his side again. “If I had to guess, my vote would be for Peter Pettigrew.”

Who?

Ron’s mind drew blank for that name… No, no, there was something. But he couldn’t quite remember where he had heard that name before. Something with… Azkaban? No, that didn’t make sense.

“Um… Who is Peter Pettigrew, sir?”

“A dead man, supposedly” Snape said and turned back to Ron. “Go back to your Common Room, I will talk to the Aurors and if this really is just a common rat, I will try and find out what’s wrong with it. If this turns out to be indeed Peter Pettigrew, I won’t be able to get it back to you.”

Ron shuddered slightly at the thought of his rat having been a man. “That’s… that’s quite alright, sir. Thank you.”

He turned and left Snape’s office, before running through the castle, all the way up to the Hospital Wing. He entered it and found Madam Pomfrey and a few house elves cleaning it up. The mediwitch seemed to notice his presence, since she turned to look at him and walked closer quickly.

“Mister Nott, how can I help you? Do you have any side effects? Any illness?” she asked.

Ron shook his head quickly. “No, sorry. I… uh, I wanted to ask you how I can become a healer.”

Madam Pomfrey seemed a bit taken aback, but she caught herself quickly. “Oh dear, you don’t have to decide what you want to become already. You’re young, child, enjoy your life.”

“I… I know I am young, but until now I’ve always wanted to become an Auror. But after witnessing how hard you work and how amazing you were treating us all… you’re my role model and I want to become a mediwitch instead of an auror. Helping the hurt and injured seems like… it… it’s more appealing than fighting and hurting others.”

Madam Pomfrey’s expression softened. “Thank you, young man, it’s nice to be noticed for once. If you show honest interest in becoming a healer, I could give you an insight into healing and running a hospital wing next year. Does that sound good for you?”

Ron widened his eyes. “Yes!” he said loudly and nodded to prove a point. “I would love to be here and learn from you!”

The mediwitch laughed softly and nodded. “Alright, I will talk to Professor Sprout and let her know that you will join me next year a few times a month.”

“Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!” Ron beamed at her and left the hospital wing again, this time looking for a specific Slytherin.

He didn’t get far, however, as he was quickly intercepted by his Hufflepuff house mates and they pulled him into the Hufflepuff Common Room for a party. Well, he would have time to talk to Draco tomorrow.

Today, they were going to party their heads off. They had beaten the dragonpox disease once and for all! He hugged Susan and Hannah tightly and they danced around the fire in the middle of the Common Room.

Dove Malfoy, Hogwarts' Heroine, Creates Cure for Dragonpox

Amidst the chaos and fear that gripped Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry earlier this year, a beacon of hope emerged in the form of Dove Malfoy, a brilliant young witch who single-handedly developed a cure for the deadly dragonpox outbreak.

The outbreak at Hogwarts, home to hundreds of students, sent shockwaves throughout our community, especially by the lack of transparency by the current Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

In the midst of the panic, Dove Malfoy, a third-year student in Slytherin House, stepped forward with a bold proposal. Despite her young age and her family's reputation for darkness and prejudice, she believed she had developed a cure.

Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron, was initially sceptical, but she was persuaded to give Dove's potion a try. According to our anonymous sources, the results were nothing short of miraculous. Within days, the dragonpox symptoms began to subside in those who had taken the potion. The pustules started to heal, the fevers broke, no coughs and sneezes and the students began to feel better.

News of Dove's success spread like wildfire, and she was hailed as a heroine. Students, faculty, and even the Ministry of Magic expressed their gratitude for her ingenuity and bravery.
Her actions had a profound impact on the status of the Malfoy family. They were no longer considered pariahs; they were respected members of the wizarding community.

Dove Malfoy's legacy lives on, not only as the witch who saved Hogwarts, but also as a symbol of the Malfoy family's redemption. Her story is a reminder that even the darkest of times can be overcome by acts of courage and compassion.

Dove, modest and unassuming, insisted that she was simply doing her duty. She said that she had always loved studying healing magic, and that she was glad she could use her skills to help others.

“Yeah, I never said any of that” Kefira said with a raised eyebrow. “Why would they just invent a quote?! And why use the name that I don’t like?!”

Raven snorted. “Because it sounds good? For both.”

Draco looked up from where he was eating his breakfast and smirked. “It does sound nice, that you were doing your duty.”

“But this wasn’t my duty! I’m in third year!” Kefira said loudly and rolled her eyes. “And I just wanted to save you!”

“Yeah, and that sounds selfish” Draco winked at her which made her roll her eyes.

“I hate you.”

Someone cleared their throat behind them and they turned to see Severus standing in behind them, the black panther following him around again. Severus raised his eyebrows.

“Kefira, please advise me on the appropriate recipient for the cleaning bill for my lab.”

Raven watched his sister blush and he sniggered, receiving a little slap on the top of his head. “Our parents?” he asked when Kefira didn’t answer quickly enough.

Severus raised his eyebrows. “Do you really want to give your parents the information of how badly you’ve treated my lab?”

“She did invent the dragonpox cure there” Draco argued and shrugged his shoulders, “you could create a museum out of it and you wouldn’t have to clean it.”

“It is appalling that you three call yourself my godchildren” Severus said, though he clearly had to work hard on keeping a straight face. Meanwhile the panther next to him was purring, Severus sent him a glare as well. “All of these spilt potions could react to each other and eventually blow up my lab!”

Raven grinned at him. “A stasis charm could help with that” he offered, making Draco snigger.

Severus sighed. “I will write a letter to your parents and request a Howler for all three of you.”

“Just one for all or…” Kefira asked and dodged Severus’ hand as he wanted to tap her head, like he had done so with Raven.

“You’re the worst.”

“Thank you!” Draco called after him and sniggered, turning to Kefira. “What did you do to his lab?”

“Nothing!” she argued.

“The worst” Raven said at the same time, receiving a glare from his sister.

Kefira turned to look at them. “I healed dragonpox!”

Draco sniggered. “Is that your excuse for everything now? Miss Malfoy, where is your homework? I healed Dragonpox! Miss Malfoy, you should eat more vegetable! I healed dragonpox! Miss Malfoy, why are you out past curfew?”

“I healed dragonpox!” Draco and Raven said at the same time, sniggering, while Kefira rolled her eyes.

“You two are the worst people to be stuck with as siblings.”

Ron walked up behind them and laughed. “There are worse people, Kefira.”

The three of them beamed at Ron. Raven pulled him into another hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The next few weeks until the end of the school year flew by fast. Ron hadn’t gotten back his rat and he had told their group about his finding, making the terror twins and Percy almost puke. They later got Raven’s attention and handed him a piece of parchment telling him that he was the best person to play around with it, since he also had mischief in his blood, even if James Potter wasn’t his father.

Raven had thought about keeping the map, but ended up handing it to Severus who together with Sirius and Professor Lupin decided to keep watch over Dumbledore that way.

“If we see him cornering you children, we’ll be on our move” Professor Lupin promise with a kind smile.

Raven was sure that with the adults keeping an eye out for them, they would be safe. Apparently, Dumbledore had been able to talk his way out of the disaster that was the dragonpox outbreak. Several people had argued against him remaining the headmaster, but he apparently had people in powerful places.

Even their alliance wasn’t able to remove him, which saddened Raven a bit.

And worse even was when two days before the year ended, the Ministry walked in and removed Professor Lupin from his post as Defence teacher. Practically the whole school was rioting, swarming the halls, making it hard for the Aurors to walk through Hogwarts at all.

Professor Lupin was clearly moved to tears by their actions, but it didn’t help sadly. Even Severus was sad that he was gone. Though he had heard Sirius mutter to his godfather that Professor Lupin could just come by for the weekend, which seemed to turn his sour mood into a hopeful one.

Adult relationships were so complicated, Raven thought.

And before they realized it, the last day had come and they were all sitting in the Hogwarts’ Express, calmly getting closer and closer to Hogwarts. Raven had asked his parents if Blaise could come to them over summer and luckily, Lucius and Narcissa had agreed quickly, after he had told them that Blaise didn’t have anyone left to go to.

“What a year” Pansy said with a sigh. She was sitting on the floor, her back on Draco’s legs. All of the abducted children and their friends were sitting in one compartment again. It was so full that even the floor was used, proven by Pansy’s will to sit there.

Ginny snorted at that. She mirrored Pansy’s place, though sat with her back towards Graham’s legs. “It’s been the worst two years for me. I think I should drop out of Hogwarts.”

“Pardon, what?” Graham asked and leaned forward. He had stopped his conversation with Konstantin and brushed through Ginny’s hair. “Did you just say you were going to stop coming to Hogwarts?”

“Yeah!” Ginny looked up. “My first year, I get in contact with a cursed item and the next year, dragonpox rages through the halls!”

Kefira snorted. “Sure, what are we supposed to say then? First year, the troll incident, second year, I get petrified by a giant snake and third year, Draco and many of our friends get dragonpox?!”

There was a heavy silence in their compartment, only the train’s noise rushing from the outside and the hallways. Raven frowned, looking around, before he realized what just happened… Kefira had just told everyone who they were!

He turned to his sister only to see her panicking.

Draco moved to squeeze himself next to her and Daphne. “Okay, I guess the secret’s out.”

“Wait!” Blaise held his hands up, then he turned to Draco with anger in his eyes. “You use confundus on me! We met with the Golden Trio and you even called them your siblings…!”

Draco ducked and blushed slightly. “I… I know. I shouldn’t have done that, but I suddenly panicked and… what if you had told someone…?”

“You could have just made me promise not to tell anyone!” Blaise glared at Draco and grabbed his stuff, walking out of the compartment. Raven watched in shock as his protector walked out. He wanted to follow, but he knew that he should stay for a little longer to help diffuse anything.

Graham hummed thoughtfully. “Well that was dramatic.”

“Graham, don’t” Ginny said, shaking her head. “We don’t know what has brought this on.”

Kefira sighed. “I guess, introductions are in order?” she asked and looked at Daphne, Astoria and Luna. “I’m Kefira Malfoy, formerly known as Hermione Granger. Damn that name feels weird.”

Daphne widened her eyes. “But… I thought Granger died?”

“Technically yes, but she never existed” Draco explained with a shrug. “Some old fool abducted my siblings and we found them again by accident.”

Astoria gasped softly. “Siblings?” Her eyes fell on Raven who sent her a smile.

“A.k.a. Harry Potter.”

Luna sniggered. “Raven Malfoy fits you much better.”

Raven grinned at her and nodded. “I like my current family much more, I’ve got to admit.”

Daphne looked over to Ron, Ginny and even Konstantin. “I have a feeling that you lot have some secret identity as well.”

A knock on the door made the discussion die before it even started. The door opened to reveal George. “Hey guys, a little Slytherin just ran into our compartment and keeps calling us liars… I guess he belongs to you?”

Raven sighed. “I’ll deal with it.”

He got up and smiled at his siblings, making sure to let Draco see that he wasn’t mad at him. Clearly, his brother had always been up for protecting them, even hexing his friends. While he didn’t understand it per se, he could see where his brother came from. Though he would never do the same to the people around him.

Following George, they walked down the hallway, evaded the Trolley Witch and then ended up in the compartment, where Blaise was currently hiding under the side-table. Before he could say anything, Konstantin showed up at the door.

“Oliver, Fred, George, Lee, there’s a discussion going on with our allies that kind of needs you as well. Do you have the time to follow me?” Konstantin asked, sending Raven a smile.

The four boys stood up, most sending Blaise a careful glance, though they all ended up following Konstantin to the other compartment. Raven wondered how full this was going to be, but he didn’t dare leave Blaise alone.

Sitting down on the floor as well, he waited for Blaise to be the first to talk. It took a little bit, finally, the other boy looked up at him.

“Why is it always me?”

Raven frowned. “What do you mean?”

Blaise sniffed. “I lost my family and now I will lose my friends as well.”

“What? No, you won’t!” Raven shook his head and scooted next to Blaise. He was sitting so close, that they were touching. “Draco probably realized that having you all know things is too dangerous. And we did reveal a whole lot during that meeting in Hogwarts.”

“I knew who you all were all this time and Draco just decided to take that memory away!” Blaise pulled his knees up. “Who else took things from me? I have… I’ve got nothing! I-“

“If you say, you’re nothing, I’m going to punch you” Raven said with raised eyebrows. Blaise let out an exasperated breath and shook his head.

They stayed there quiet for a little while, Raven giving Blaise as much time as he needed, before he placed an arm around his friend. “I’m sorry you feel this way. Just know that I won’t abandon you.”

Blaise chuckled softly, leaning his head into Raven’s shoulder. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”

“Because of Draco’s hex?”

“No” Blaise shook his head. “Just… my family was known around the world for what my mother did. And while she wasn’t the best mother, she was a warrior. She would have known what to do next.”

Raven frowned at that. “But, we’re children. Shouldn’t we just be able to do nothing?”

Blaise sighed. “You and I both know that despite being children, our childhood doesn’t reflect that, really.”

“What did your mother make you do?”

After a sigh, Blaise murmured, “Training.”

Raven honestly expected the worst, so when Blaise said his real reason, he was happy to know that they weren’t as bad as his ‘relatives’ would have been.

“Training. While she didn’t believed my nonna about the family being Lady Magic’s protector, she did think, that there’s greatness in me or something. And she had me in fight training ever since I was five.”

“Five?!” Raven widened his eyes in shock. “Didn’t you get slapped around at five and fighting?”

Blaise sniggered softly, his amusement dissolving into a gentle sigh as he rolled onto his side, his face nestled into the comforting warmth of Raven's neck. His arms, usually so carefully guarded, snaked around his torso, drawing him closer, clearly seeking solace and comfort. Raven was shocked, but not displeased.

“It wasn’t a fight at five. I was learning how to fight.”

“Oh.”

Blaise chuckled softly, slightly amused, clearly. Raven felt his touch, the warmth of his skin against his, and his heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings. He could feel the tension in his body, the slight tremble of his muscles, and it only intensified his own emotions.

In an instinctive gesture of affection, he wrapped his arms around Blaise. The other boy's breath was warm against his skin, sending shivers down his spine. He inhaled deeply, savouring the scent that was uniquely Blaise, a mix of lavender, spicy cologne, and something else, like… raspberries?

His heart pounded in his chest, threatening to burst out of his ribs. He wanted to hold Blaise forever, to never let him go. But he was afraid, afraid of revealing the feelings that had been growing within him, afraid of the unknown, afraid of what might happen if he did.

Instead of speaking, he held Blaise tighter, pulling him closer, hoping that his silence would convey the depth of his feelings.

Raven brushed Blaise’s hair out of his face softly and smiled down as he noticed his friend falling asleep on him. He kept holding him softly, making sure that he was alright.

Only a few seconds later, and Raven could hear the twins’ loud voices, happily yelling at Lee and Oliver Wood. He chuckled and looked down at Blaise, thinking whether or not he should wake him up before the twins would see him.

Just then the door opened. “Awwww! Georgie, look at that!” George swooned as he opened the door and his eyes fell on Raven and Blaise.

“Sweet first love, how adorable, Freddie!” Fred added.

“One more word and I will stuff both of you into a cow from the back” Raven commented darkly.

When all five entered the compartment again and Konstantin closed the door and warded it with a spell Raven was sure he had gotten from Bill, they grinned at Raven.

Oliver Wood snorted at his threat. “Yep, it makes sense now.”

Raven smiled at him. “Sorry, captain, for not playing for you anymore.”

His former captain waved him off. “You weren’t playing for Slytherin. Just promise me one thing: Go professional!”

“Professional?” Raven frowned at that. “I didn’t even think about doing that.”

Oliver sat down with a devastated look. “I have failed as captain!” he called out and threw his hands up.

Konstantin snorted. “So dramatic.”

Raven watched as Oliver winked at him and Konstantin blushed deeply. He looked over at Fred and George to find out whether they had seen it as well and the twins winked at him. Clearly, they had seen that there was dynamic there.

“I was actually thinking of becoming a Curse Breaker. Gringotts has already asked when I can start there” Raven said with a grin. “They even told me they would fire Bill, once I’m there.”

George sniggered. “Please tell me that Bill was acting up with that!”

“Obviously” Raven said with that. “But do you think I can do both?”

Oliver frowned. “Be a professional Quidditch player and Curse Breaker at the same time?” he asked, clearly doubting that. “Kid, if anyone could do it, my guess would be on you.”

Raven beamed at his former captain. “Thanks!”

“Careful now, Wood! Whatever team ends up getting our Malfoy, he will crush your team!” Lee said ducking a hex coming from the other boy.

Oliver got up and rolled his eyes. “I will find the team mates who don’t question my authority.”

“Good luck with that!” the twins said as one, leaving Konstantin, Lee and Raven to snigger about that. Oliver flipped the whole compartment off and left with a grin on his face.

Raven looked at the rest. “So, they all know now?” he asked Fred.

“Yup” Konstantin answered instead. “They’re all confused, but happy to fight with us.”

“The longer this goes, the less friends Dumbledore will have” Raven summed up the situation with a shrug.

Raven ran out into the garden and was soon rolling on the floor with Bruno, the Bernese Mountain dog, and Isabella, the Labrador. Blaise followed him a chuckle and greeted Isabella and Bruno happily. He had been rather cold towards Draco since he had found out that his supposed friend had destroyed the memory. Raven understood, but he couldn’t be mad – he understood both sides.

“I always thought that the Malfoys try to be very pureblood like” Blaise said with a snigger when Raven tried to fight Bruno off.

Raven shrieked when Bruno managed to lick his face and push him more into the dirt. He laughed loudly. “Help, Blaise!”

The other Slytherin snorted and walked over, pushing Bruno a little out of the way. Not completely and Bruno lay down on top of Raven’s legs, making it impossible for him to move.

“That dog is in love with you” Blaise announced with a little laugh.

“He is” Raven agreed and laughed. “As for the pureblood thing, I don’t know. I had etiquette lessons last summer, they’ll probably continue this summer. But they also just let us be children.”

Blaise hummed thoughtfully. “Do you think it has something to do with the fact that you were kidnapped as children?”

Raven nodded, his eyes trailing to the house behind Blaise’s back. “I think that’s part of it, yeah. But I also think that our parents just love hearing us having fun.”

It seemed as if Blaise understood that. He sat down onto the grass as well, much to Isabella’s joy, who tried to lick his face. Sniggering, Raven continued to pet Bruno, while Blaise fought the dog’s attention.

During the next few days, Raven caught Draco’s multiple attempts at apologizing to his childhood friend. It never worked and while Draco grew more and more frustrated, Blaise seemed more set to never accept his apology ever.

In a way it was like watching a movie, where everything went wrong. And it just kept getting worse and worse.

Raven would have loved to lock these two into a room and let them fight out their differences, but Kefira convinced him that that would end up in a death. And since Blaise knew how to physically wield a weapon, they both had to admit that the dead person would be their brother.

Lady Magic had at least calmed him by telling him that these two were closer than it seemed right now. Sooner or later, these two would find common ground again. Raven really hoped that it was sooner.

As anticipated, Lucius and Narcissa handed the children their study lessons two days into the holidays. Even Blaise received one, which warmed Raven’s heart and he went to sneak into Blaise’s room that night.

“Do they really expect me to continue training?” Blaise asked, when he showed his lesson plan to Raven. “It’s like they knew what my family was trying to teach me!”

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “You said once that all pureblood ladies have started something like a war group. Chances are that your mother or grandmother has told someone what to keep teaching you in case they wouldn’t make it.”

Blaise hummed softly, his brow furrowed in concentration as he seemingly contemplated the problem at hand. “I guess.”

“Can I… can I ask you something for that night?” Raven asked carefully. He didn’t want to overstep and he was unsure whether or not his friend would be open to talk about it. When Blaise nodded, he continued. “Do you know who did it?”

Sighing, Blaise shook his head. “I know they spoke English. That’s all. One smelled like oranges and vanilla.”

Raven placed a hand on his arm. “We’ll find them. And we’ll make them pay” he said darkly.

“Not sure you’re supposed to make promises like that, as heir to the Ancient House of Malfoy.”

“I’m not the heir” Raven said and smirked. “So, I can walk around and help you take revenge. And best part is, that I’ve got Lady Magic with me. She’s going to make sure that we’ll find the real people.”

Revenge isn’t really my line of work, he heard Lady Magic whisper. But he grinned, when Blaise sent him a soft smile.

“Thank you” Blaise said softly. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Raven beamed at him. “You don’t need to think about that, because I won’t let you be alone anymore. That is definitely a threat.”

Blaise sniggered and leaned over. He hesitated, before hugging Raven. There was something in his eyes that Raven had anticipated him, to lean in for a kiss. This was better… he knew how to react when someone was hugging him. Kissing was new…

“Thank you, Raven.”

Chapter Text

Their group once again met in Ireland. Everyone bar Riagán’s daughters was sitting in the enlarged stable. Raven watched curiously, as Arthur and Amelia were discussing whether or not she and Lord Picquery had set him up with someone called Thomas? It was actually funny listening in on them, while they clearly thought no one was listening.

“But why would you not go there yourself?” Arthur asked, amusement in his eyes. “You gave me an emergency portkey to America. Going yourself would have been easier, right?”

“Sure, but then you wouldn’t have met him” Amelia argued and shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, so you knew he was working there?”

“No! Lord Picquery knew the shop! I just gave you the portkey!”

“But why did you send me there?!”

“Are you saying you’re not happy about that?”

“I’ll have you know that I’m supposed to invite all of you over there. At the moment, your name is stricken from the invitation.”

“Good, I’ll have to work, anyway.”

Narcissa cleared her throat and Raven looked at his mother, who was working hard on not laughing. “As funny as it is to see you two bicker like an old married couple, there are a few things we need to discuss.”

“We’re not married” Amelia said.

“We’re not bickering” Arthur argued at the same time, before he snorted. “And that. We’re also not married.”

Lord Dolohov seemed amused. “Alright, we got a bit off topic in our meetings since the dragonpox outbreak. Here’s what we did so far. We created three groups, first of – Horcruxes.” He turned to look at Bill, which made the former Weasley blush slightly. Raven frowned at that, but watched as Bill tapped his index finger on the table for a few seconds.

He then sighed, when everyone was looking at him. “Alright, I guess this is my party now.”

“Is it really a party?” Konstantin asked, amused.

Raven sniggered while Bill rolled his eyes.

“I’ve joined the goblins hunting for Horcruxes” Bill announced while Raven watched Amelia and Susan looking a little uncomfortable. He would probably look the same, if his siblings were doing something so dangerous. “So far we’ve tracked down two of them, the rest we’re still looking for.”

“How many are there?” Theodore Nott asked, both curious and a little pale.

Kefira held her hand up to stop Bill before he answered. “Can someone explain to me… us… what Horcruxes are?”

Narcissa sighed. “It’s the vilest magic there is. Someone who tries to hide themselves from Death, may use this to… quite literally become immortal.”

Raven stared at his mother in shock. He hadn’t even realized that he was slowly starting to panic, when Lady Magic spoke up in his head. My child, no one can become immortal. Humans are built to die. Calm yourself, my favourite.

Bill rubbed his forehead, clearly trying to think of how to answer this without answering it. He seemed to come to the conclusion that he probably shouldn’t lie about some things. “At least six.”

Raven stared at Bill in shock. He wondered what someone would have to do in order to make these Horcruxes and then, what it would take to destroy them. Bill must have been an amazing Curse Breaker if he was allowed to join the goblins hunting for such dark things.

“That is just to inform you that we can’t yet destroy You-Know-Who, because as much as it pains me, we’re just not making headway as quick as we wanted to” Bill finished his explanation. “That being said, we should focus on Dumbledore.”

Lord Picquery nodded. “Our turn for the first successful operation. We were able to get Lord Akingbade seated as Supreme Mugwump ever since the elections in May started. While Britain was still working through the fact that there was a dragonpox outbreak, Lord Akinbade had no problems getting elected.”

Lady Picquery chuckled. “I guess it also helped that Hogwarts couldn’t receive any mail so Dumbledore couldn’t have run against him even if he wanted to.”

Raven nodded at that. Dumbledore certainly had other things to do than to try and outrun a young Lord from Africa, who was really making a difference out there – as far as the international newspapers could be believed.

The national newspapers were still too focussed on Kefira and what a wonderful thing she had done for everyone. She was constantly getting asked to do interviews – so far, their parents hadn’t allowed her to do one. Raven suspected that they talked it over with her and that she told them, she didn’t want to give an interview. And in order not to make her unpopular, Lucius took the fall.

“The next step was on us” Narcissa said with a quick smile. “While the headmaster was dealing with a few things, we were able to get Minerva onto the Hogwarts School board and we could get some changes through, however, the old fool came back too soon.”

Amelia Bones nodded quickly. “Which only left the Wizengamot for us to overthrow. And as we’ve all realized with the latest vote and the fact that Molly is still in the Ministry holding cell, that is not going great.”

“That being said” Lord Nott said with a quick nod, “some things have been changing here as well. There’s a newly established Health Board for Hogwarts, where most parents who had a sick child in Hogwarts care are sitting in. We’re working with several healers and secretively, Madam Pomfrey, to figure out how we can make Hogwarts safer and the lines to worried parents more direct.”

Ron nodded, darkly. “I guess having to go over the headmaster gives way to more manipulations.”

Arthur agreed. “Yes. So far, Madam Pomfrey has offered to get an unwatched fire place installed in her office, so that she could do the contacting.”

“It is illegal though, to do that without proper instruction from either the Lords and Ladies of the four houses or the headmaster’s offer” Lord Dolohov announced and leaned back.

“We were also questioning of maybe Lady Magic residing in young Mister Malfoy could help eliminate the old idiot” Lord Nott continued and looked at Raven, intrigued.

Raven felt his ears burn at the sudden attention he was getting from anyone. He cleared his throat. “Uh…”

Youngling, do you allow me to quickly take over your speaking organ to inform your family of our power?

“Sure” Raven said and felt his throat warm up with sudden magic. When he spoke next, he felt magic swirling around their group. “Magic doesn’t work like that, sadly. Albus Dumbledore so far has been able to not make broken promises on his magic. So, I couldn’t do anything.”

The magic settled again and Raven cleared his throat with a sheepish grin. There were multiple ‘holy shit’s and ‘freaky’ or ‘amazing’ whispered around the table and Raven ducked his head, before he was pulled into a hug by his sister.

Ron snorted. “Worth a try” he said, when no one else spoke up. “So, the other new thing is that the Malfoy family name has risen through the ranks, right?”

Lucius seemed to catch himself the fastest, while Raven gave Ron a thankful look. He just grinned at him and they watched the continued planning.

“Exactly” Lucius said with a quick nod. “Thanks to Kefira we’re no longer regarded as the dark family who’s followed the Dark Lord without questioning everything. The official ranking of families will be out at the end of August, but my guess is that we’re somewhere at the top.”

“Which gives us more tools” Narcissa said with a wicked grin. “I’m planning on doing an interview in order for people to back off of Kefira, in which I will describe exactly why we’ve announced the House of Dumbledore our enemy house.”

The Picquerys seemed delighted, Raven could tell that the twins were also thinking of ways to do that. Lord Nott and Lord Dolohov seemed thoughtful, while Susan hummed quietly.

“You’re not telling on the Weasleys, are you?” Arthur asked carefully. “I still need a little more time to figure everything out, before I go public. I will do it, I swear, but-“

“Dear friend, take a deep calm breath” Narcissa instructed Arthur with a smile. “I’m not going public with the fact that Raven and Kefira were stolen from us. Nor will I tell them that the Weasley family was a scam. You take all the time you need and when you’re ready, we’ll be by your side.”

The terror twins held their hands up as well. “Count us in too! We’re going to make everyone fear trying to harm you!”

Lady Picquery chuckled, while her husband muttered under his breath, “I’ll get the shovel ready for anyone who dares talk against them.”

Lord and Lady Graham had been quiet until now, but the lady spoke up next, clearly trying to get them back on track. “So our new plans are as follow: Heir Bones and the goblins will continue looking for Horcruxes and tell us when we’re ready to get You-know-Who out. Lady Bones continuously works on the Ministry side, while Lady and Lord Picquery hire Kingsley Shaklebolt or Mad-Eye-Moody, depending on who’s interested in joining us to find out who Dumbledore’s Second is.”

“What is a Second?” Kefira asked curiously.

Susan perked up. “Oh, I know this! It’s like a proxy Head of Wizengamot. Every Chief has one in case they suddenly drop dead.”

Charlie sniggered as several people turned thinking. Raven thought that maybe they were trying to find a way to make the Chief ‘suddenly drop dead’ as it was.

Lord Montague continued explaining their strategy. “While Amelia continues spreading doubt through the ranks, we will hopefully have enough people thinking Dumbledore’s hiding something to get him temporarily out of office.”

“In which case, we bring Molly up and further destroy him!” Konstantin added, his eyes shining with happiness of finally having figured it out.

Lord Dolohov beamed at his son and placed an arm around him, pulling him closer, before he whispered something in his ear that made Konstantin look at his father in awe. Raven grinned at the scene in front of him and he turned back to the normal discussion.

“The Health Board will continuously visit the school whenever” Lord Nott explained with a wicked grin. “So feel free, to tip us off.”

Ginny’s evil grin grew wider and Graham sniggered while Raven rolled his eyes. Dumbledore was going to hate his new reality.

They continued talking for a while longer, but nothing really came from it. Finally, after the other children had also gotten a bit restless, the adults let them go outside and play while they continued to plan on how to take over the world.

Lucius followed them outside, where he made them all wait and he watched them all closely, before he started. “You have all gone through some very rough times, so we adults have decided to treat you this summer. On the 18th August, there’s the Quidditch World Cup and we’ve got tickets for everyone.”

Raven squeaked with excitement, the only sound, before chaos broke out. The children were freaking out, Ron listing every little detail he knew about the world cup, while Draco started jumping up and down, followed by the Terror Twins who were probably already thinking of a way to bet for things. Raven sniggered and looked at Ginny and Graham who were staring at Lucius as if he had announced to them all that he had been possessed by a Bowtruckle for the past forty years.

They ran off soon after, dividing into two teams for a mock Quidditch World Cup, with Kefira being the announcer. Bulgaria won by a two hundred points margin. Mostly because Raven, Draco and Ron had ended up on the same team and not even the Terror Twins could fight against the three of them.

Before the day was over, Raven managed to catch Bill before he was leaving. He did see him watching Lord Dolohov disappear with Konstantin. Maybe he was worried about his fake brother? “Bill, before you go, can you help me with something?”

The older former Weasley child smiled at him. “Sure, kid, what’s up?”

“How do I become a Curse Breaker?”

Bill chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that the goblins already love you to bits, you won’t have to work very hard to impress them.”

“But I want to!” Raven scowled. “I don’t want to have things given to me like before. I want to work for it.”

“Alright, I get it.” Bill hummed, thinking quickly. “There are a few different ways of becoming a Curse Breaker. One, go through the Academy. It’s where you learn all of the things needed for curse breaking. Second, you have family as Curse Breakers who have been teaching you the ins and outs of it, ever since you existed and third, you… successfully break a curse on something to show that you have what is needed for the job. There are pros and cons on every option.”

Raven frowned. “So, if I for example, were to take away Sev’s dark mark…?”

“You’d get a job offer from Gringotts Curse Breaking Division within the week” Bill said with a smirk. “May I ask, why not your father’s?”

“Oh, well…” Raven blushed slightly, “what if something goes wrong? I can’t lose my father too. And… and Severus kind of offered to have me test my theories.”

Bill seemed amused and interested. “Are you working on breaking the curse? How close are you to doing it, actually?”

Rolling his eyes, Raven snorted. He wasn’t a genius like Kefira, but he was sure as hell going to work on finding a way to remove the Dark Mark on his father’s and godfather’s arm. “I’ve got a few theories. But I am only in fourth year, not even, so, I guess there is a lot of time.”

“Hey if you do, you and Kefira will be the most famous people in Great Britain.”

Raven sighed. “Well, Kefira’s first anyway. So hopefully, my findings will not surpass hers and I can stay hidden.”

“You confuse me, Raven” Bill said with a chuckle. “Anyway if you do manage to find a way to remove the cursed tattoo within fourth year and Gringotts gives you the opportunity for curse breaking, I’d help you out with all the questions you could have.”

“Thanks!”

Severus was running again. The lake seemed to be too small. He had already run twice around it, and his mind was still in overdrive. Slowing down, he continued to walk for a while longer, as the castle came into view again. He looked at it from the well-hidden space close to the forest.

Just then, he realized how much he hated this place.

Hated how much of a slave he felt in its walls. He had nowhere to go when he had been a teen, which was why he had tried to stay here as long as possible. All of the holidays, which wasn’t allowed. He had successfully hidden in its walls second year. But Slughorn had found him after five weeks and sent him back.

There was no escaping his life outside of it the castle.

He’d had developed an ambition then in seventh year, brewing potions. He’d always been good at it, but seventh’ year he had succeeded with a few difficult brews. Most importantly, he had gotten the interest of several potions masters that had taken him under his wings.

That was how he had finally perfected the Wolfsbane potion. He would have gotten the attention of the entire world if he had published it under his name. And he had realized that during a war, where the Dark Lord had been counting on the werewolves’ help, he couldn’t be famous for that. If would have likely been murder to allow his name next to the Wolfsbane.

So, he had asked the Potion Guild to publish it under anonymously.

Ever since then, he had worked to improve the world.

Not by teaching, but by inventing.

And when the dragonpox started and Sirius had gotten ill, he had realized that if he’d had enough time, he would have found something. Kefira was an amazing brewer, but all she came up with, he knew himself. It wasn’t just a thing to make him feel better… when she had explained how she had gotten to her cure, he… he knew.

He was holding too many strings in his hands to be helpful.

Hogwarts was keeping him back from being truly amazing. For doing something big that would finally take away his guilt for not having published the Wolfbane under his own name. No one knew he was that good.

Severus sighed, and leaned against a tree, watching the sun creeping over the lands. For anybody else, the sight of Hogwarts in the morning sun would have been astonishing.

For him… he could count all the things that were wrong.

He was a potions master, but he only brewed the most basic healing potions for the hospital wing. The teaching didn’t really help him feel better and despite the fact that most thought him blind of students’ needs, he did know that a lot of them feared him.

He wasn’t a good professor. He knew that.

And he had only accepted a place at Hogwarts to be in Dumbledore’s safety. Because he was a coward. Still was, probably.

“Hey.”

Severus startled and looked at Sirius who was standing next to him. His partner seemed concerned, if the crease in his forehead could be judged.

Sighing, Severus turned back to Hogwarts. “I’m just thinking about how much I hate it here.”

Sirius hummed at that and leaned at the tree as well, close to him. Their hands found each other and their fingers intertwining. Then Severus felt himself pulled over to Sirius who looked smug about being able to pull him into a one-sided hug.

Severus snorted. “You’re an idiot.”

Grinning, Sirius placed a kiss on Severus’ cheek. “You know, you don’t have to stay here. You don’t really have to serve either master. Live your dream.”

Severus pulled his sleeve up trying to show Sirius that it wasn’t that easy, with a Dark Mark on his arm, but before he could finish his action, his partner, smoothly pushed his arm back down, behind his back, where he couldn’t see it anymore. He moved closer, their lips barely touching.

“Are you trying to distract me?” Severus whispered, unable to really concentrate on the fact that Sirius was obviously trying to divert his attention. He could feel his heartbeat fastening and moved slightly closer.

“Maybe” Sirius answered just as quiet, before kissing him, slowly.

Severus melted with his touch. He let him show all the affection he had been missing his entire life. Sirius clearly didn’t throw that momentum away, deepening the kiss soon after, becoming almost passionate.

Finally, Severus pushed him away, panting. He chuckled, his mind back to working. “I’m not really into outdoor sex.”

Sirius belted out some laughter and softly pushed Severus against the trunk of the three, he body in Severus’. “I could change your mind?”

“In your dreams” Severus said dryly, grinning over the fact that Sirius’ mind was clearly running with the idea.

He sighed, placed a kiss on Sirius’ cheek. “Let’s go, only one more day here and then we can go and meet Remus again.”

Sirius hummed at that. “Maybe the two of us can convince you to-“

“No one will convince me about that ever” Severus said and flicked his nose, which made Sirius jump slightly.

“Should we bet?” Sirius’ had this dangerous glint in his eyes.

Severus stopped walking and turned to his partner. “I wish for you not to joke about this, please. I feel uncomfortable with the idea of outdoor sex and I would rather not have you and Remus try to coax me into doing something I feel uncertain with.”

Sirius nodded. “Understood” he said and sent him a smile. “Sorry, I’ve pushed you. It wasn’t my intention… well… not that far anyway.”

Severus chuckled. “I know.”

A day later, two things happened at the same time. They were in Remus’ rented apartment, when the mail came. There were a bunch of letters, Remus and Severus had the most, while Sirius received mail from Gringotts.

Severus opened a letter from the Potion Guild with shaking hands and found that thankfully, they hadn’t removed his status, but that they were inviting him to join Kefira to Greece, where this year’s Potion Guild presentation was. Apparently, they wanted Kefira there to honour her and have her present her findings to the guild.

While we do not condone the methodology employed in the creation and testing of the novel potion, it is recognized that these actions occurred within the context of an extenuating circumstance. The potential loss of life necessitated a prompt and decisive response, and the resulting intervention is acknowledged to have likely saved many young individuals.

Therefore, we extend a formal invitation to yourself and Miss Malfoy to participate in this year’s Presentation where she can expound upon her unique solution. Your presence as her Potion Master is deemed essential to provide context and facilitate a clear exchange of information.

An individual letter with the same information has been penned to Miss Malfoy.

“Holy shit” Severus said, eyes wide.

“Merlin's beard” Sirius said at the same time and Severus looked up to see his partner looking over the Prophet. Remus looked up as well and tilted his head in silent question.

Severus got up and leaned over the opened Prophet, only to see the picture of Pettigrew and the Ministry announcing they have found the rat.

Grinning, he sat back down. “Looks like you’re finally given a trial.”

Remus chuckled and leaned over his letters again. Sirius stared at the Prophet, before he turned to Severus.

“I can be free?”

“Obviously” Severus answered.

“By the law” Remus added. “You’ll never be freed of us.”

Snorting, Severus opened another letter and grinned when Sirius threw their partner a dirty look, which as usual, Remus didn’t catch.

“You should just stop trying” Severus deadpanned, receiving a glare as well. He just winked at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

“Funny.”

Ron was a little on edge to say the least.

His father had denied his request to go and stay with Susan and Bill and Amelia and instead ordered him to attend this evening’s supper. Usually before, whenever Ron had asked to stay somewhere else, he had agreed without much thought. So… something had happened.

Honestly, Ron was unsure whether he was going to like that change that was surely heading his way or not.

The last few weeks or rather months of school were already too much. Having gotten dragonpox, clearly to the point where he would have almost died, since he hallucinated at one point. And then, Kefira’s amazing rescue along with the reduced school schedules and all of the weird student interactions he had witnessed. Kefira and everyone coming out about their abductions on the train and this morning, when he finally realized who Peter Pettigrew was.

He knew he had heard this name before and it was the person who Sirius Black supposedly killed.

When the house elf appeared in his room to let him know that it was tea time, he took a deep breath and braced himself. The walk to the dining room was taking him longer today than it had ever before and with every step closer to his ‘family’ his heart started to pound heavier and heavier. He hated himself for dreading a family night.

Did other people feel this way? Did his fake siblings feel like that whenever they were talking to their families?

He knew the answers. He could see the joy in their faces whenever they were together. The obvious love and respect the others had for the former Weasleys was heartwarming.

If only his own family could be like that.

He knew that his father had gotten better at showing feelings. It had taken a while though to break through the ice and getting to know each other. With Theodore, he didn’t know where he stood. The Slytherin was a mystery to him.

As he approached the dining table, his family, was already sitting there and he took the empty seat, trying hard to remember what little etiquette he had learned whenever he stayed here or from what Raven had taught him during the school whenever they were bored. Which… didn’t happen often.

They ate in silence for the most part. Talking only when asking for a specific dish or water or whenever his father was politely asking about their day. Ron didn’t have much to tell, since he spent his whole day kind of sulking in his room. He did read interesting facts about Dark Magic, in his silent quest to find a solution for the Horcrux bullshit.

Theodore had apparently spent his day outside by the lake. Ron didn’t even know that there was a lake on the property. That was awkward.

When tea was over, the children still weren’t allowed to leave. The elves popped in and served them pudding. Ron wondered what was going on, but decided to let his father come to a natural change for the topic.

It wasn’t really ‘natural’, in the end.

“I believe you were wondering why I’ve denied your request to see Miss Bones.”

Ron looked up surprised, when his father suddenly changed the topic, and nodded then. “Yes” he said slowly. “You hadn’t done so before.”

His father inclined his head. “Indeed. As it turns out, your brother has something to tell you.”

Expecting the worst, Ron paled. He looked over to where Theodore was sitting and just slightly fidgeting with his jumper. Hm… that was new. Whenever he had insulted him before, he never seemed nervous about this whole thing. So, whatever it was… it would have to be either very nice or incredibly terrible. His bet was on the latter.

Theodore cleared his throat while Ron got himself in the mindset to be terrorized by his brother.

“I want to apologize.”

“What?”

Well, that took him off guard.

Theodore shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable. He avoided eye contact, his gaze steady on the elven made table cover. When he pressed his lips together tightly, Ron thought that it seemed as if he was having an internal conflict with himself.

“I’ve been treating you unfairly for the last year for something you had no control over” his brother said slowly, as if he had to think over every word he added.

Ron was stunned. Even if threatened, he couldn’t have said a word. This situation… seemed unreal. His brother was apologizing?

Was the food poisoned?

“When you got stolen from us, I wasn’t old enough to have memories of my mother. And whenever father would talk about her, I wanted to be able to talk to her, meet her too. The moment father told me about my missing brother and how hard it was to lose our mother, I realized that without you in my life, I would have been able to meet her.”

Theodore glanced up at this point, only to stare at the table cloth again. Ron let got a sharp breath, realizing that he had held it ever since his brother had started to apologize. Never in a million years would he have thought that this could happen.

It was quiet at the table for a little bit, before Theodore continued softly. “I guess this feeling has been festering for a while now. I don’t even remember a time where I didn’t curse your name.” He looked up, now finally keeping the eye contact. “And I’m sorry.”

Ron wasn’t sure where to go from there. It was amazing that his brother apologized, but… he didn’t feel… like family. Not really. Not like before in the Weasley household.

Then again, the question was, if that could even be counted as a family.

“I know that’s not something you can forgive just now, because I’ve made you feel unwelcomed und hated in this family” Theodore continued, now making sure to keep healthy eye contact. “But I want to make it up to you. I want to be a better brother for you.”

Holy shit.

Ron finally realized why Raven couldn’t stay mad for so long. Why he forgave so easily. Because when you were searching for people, for a connection, a family… it seemed that forgiveness was easily given. Well, to a point at least.

He cleared his throat, finally able to overcome his surprise and speechlessness. “If you really intend to change things, I’m willing to give you another chance. It must be hard to life your whole life thinking that I destroyed everything and then for me to come back.”

“You didn’t destroy everything” Theodore said, shaking his head. “I still had our father. It’s you who’s had a tough life. You were a Weasley ever since you could think and then from one day to another, you realize that everything is… wrong.”

“It’s not that bad. My brothers… well fake brothers are still there for me.”

The two brothers sent each other a smile. Well, the start of a smile at least. But it was a start for a… friendship? Brotherly love? Hm… maybe.

“Now that you too made up” their father said with a soft smile, “if you still want to go to Miss Bones’ house, you’re welcome to do so.”

Ron thought about it… for about two seconds. Then, he looked over to his brother and shook his head. “I think we ought to get to know each other. What better time than now. Do you play chess?”

Theodore grinned wickedly. “I haven’t found anyone to play with in a while. No one seems to dare play against me.”

“I will” Ron answered, grinning just as wickedly. “After all, McGonagall called my chess playing in first year ‘Hogwarts’ greatest chess game in centuries’.”

“Well, that has clearly gone to your head, if you still remember the phrasing” Theodore said with a snort.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. “You can tell me if it’s overrated after your first lost game.”

Their father seemed amused, as the two of them got up to head to the games room. “No magic without elves present!” he called after them.

Ron snorted and followed his brother, feeling much better than before tea. This family dynamic he could get used to.

Back at the Malfoy Manor, things had gotten back to normal, at least a little bit. Narcissa had noticed that there was a rift between Draco and Blaise, but she didn’t ask. She knew what had happened to the poor boy and didn’t want to make it worse somehow.

She was glad however, to see her boy Raven making sure that Blaise was alright. She questioned if Raven was mature enough to see his attraction to the other boy, but she once again didn’t ask him. All in due time.

The four children had been given duelling and self-defence classes and it had soon turned into a two-group activity. Raven and Blaise were working so well together that it seemed these two could talk without having to do so. They could anticipate the other’s reactions and fight off of each other.

Lucius had hired a lot of teachers to face off against them. And even a fight where Raven and Blaise were outnumbered ended in their victory. Narcissa wasn’t able to understand how it went so well.

On the other end where Kefira and Draco who also had developed their own fighting style, but were too deep in their minds mostly. The same instructors Lucius had hired to fight against Raven and Blaise were able to defeat the other children in less than fifteen minutes.

Usually, the first five minutes went well, but after another five minutes, Narcissa could tell that their attention was dwindling and within the next five minutes, they would lose concentration.

Just to show the two siblings how a good fight would look like, Narcissa had brought them into the watching nook, for the fighting room, where Blaise and Raven were currently fighting against five fully grown adults.

Raven had mastered to silently cast his spells just a day ago, making him even harder to predict and with Blaise’s interest in magically increased Muggle weapons, the duo had gotten practically unbeatable. Narcissa had watched Blaise teach Raven a few things with Muggle weapons as well and her son had taken a liking to throwing knives.

The second they had entered the viewing nook, Kefira and Draco were standing at the window, staring at their brother with awed expressions. Narcissa chuckled softly, stopping behind them. She watched as Raven cast a few spells against two people at the same time, ducking another spell and throwing something towards Blaise.

The other boy took his spell, jumped on it, and rode it to the back of the other man. The men were calling to communicate, focussing more on Blaise only to miss Raven throwing three knives. The ‘Protegos’ came too late for two and they hit the floor, where the elves quickly brought them to the mediroom.

While the three men focussed back on Raven, Blaise took one man down and cast a spell at the one to his right, while Raven broke through the protego with his own magic and cast a quick spell to make him fall to the floor, where they continued fighting.

“They’re so good!” Kefira said without taking her eyes off them.

Just as Narcissa had hoped, things didn’t go swimmingly either. The man fighting with Blaise had clearly realized that Raven had his back to him and sent him a curse. Blaise, not one to let that go, conjured his magically strengthened sword and cut the magic.

“Wow” Draco breathed, stunned.

The curse hit Raven in the back, though it wasn’t that strong anymore, since he fought through it clearly, his anger fulling his magic and he punched the other man off his feet, before throwing a knife towards where the magic had come from.

Blaise ducked just in time for the knife to fly over his head and hit the other wizard in the shoulder. His outcry made him weak and Blaise cast something on him, making him fall to the floor, passing out.

Raven snorted when Blaise got up. “Sorry, I thought you were somewhere else.”

“Yeah, they used runes on their shoes” Blaise answered with a grin. “Should we ask your parents to start fighting on uneven terrain?”

“Please!” Raven called out and threw his hands up. “I want some kind of a challenge!”

Blaise sniggered. “There’s a training base for fighters somewhere in France. We could ask if we could rent it for a day and give our enemies an hour to prepare. That would be fun.”

Raven smirked and nodded enthusiastically. “I would love it. Let’s go find Lucius!”

When they left, Draco and Kefira turned to look at Narcissa in shock. “How can they be so good?!” Kefira asked and shook her head. “They’ve had the same time training like us, right?”

“Blaise has been fighting since he was a child. I do believe his fighting style just fits Raven’s and they feed off each other” Narcissa explained. “This is for you to see how two people could be in sync with each other, okay?”

Draco nodded. “We’ll have to try and find a way to work together as seamlessly.”

“Exactly” Narcissa chuckled. “Now, let’s go down and get dinner ready.”

The rest of the house came down a few minutes before dinner and Narcissa watched her children (including Blaise, yes) closely. Draco and Kefira seemed to watch the other two boys closely as if they were trying to find out whether or not their reaction time and fighting style also presented during dinner.

Narcissa could see that it did, but he doubted that the children were able to see it. It was subtle. The trust between these two was on another level and while the other three were siblings, triplets even, she could tell that there was a bond between Blaise and Raven.

“Draco, remember to help the elves out and clean the dishes” Lucius said as he turned the page in the newspaper one morning. Narcissa chuckled as she watched him snack on the strawberries on his lap. It was clear that he didn’t feel like sharing the berries with his children, which she thought was hilarious. Especially, since Raven had been levitating one over to him whenever Lucius wasn’t looking. He was sharing the strawberries with Blaise whose sniggers almost got them caught.

Their son rolled his eyes, before looking at his sister. “Does Kefira also have chores?” Draco asked, mischievously. Raven too suddenly had humour in his eyes.

“Yes, I’d assume so” Narcissa said with a little frown, unsure of where this discussion was going. “Why do you ask?”

“You know, since she saved the wizarding world and all” Raven answered and ducked from a stinging hex his sister was sending him. Then, both boys ran away, sniggering. Blaise waved and ran after the other boys as well, though not before levitating the whole bowl of strawberries to him, without Lucius noticing it.

Kefira sighed and sat down next do Narcissa. “Why are they like this?”

Narcissa chuckled softly. “You know, in a way they’re keeping you humble.”

“What?”

Lucius placed the newspaper back on the table and leaned on it, with a soft smile. “The boys are just a little rebellious.”

Narcissa chuckled and shook her head, turning to their daughter. “Think about it. If you had cured the wizarding world of its worst disease and you had no one to remind you that you are just a child, darling, it could go to your head. They might not realize what they’re doing by continuously asking if you also have to do the chores or homework or really any work, but they are reminding you that you are their sibling. A very talented witch, but still on the same level as them.”

Kefira sighed. “I guess I can see what you mean.”

Narcissa chuckled. “Now, go and show them that you are their sister.”

Grinning devilishly, Kefira got up and raced after them. Narcissa looked after her amusedly, before she turned back to her husband who looked at his lap in confusion.

“Didn’t I have a bowl of strawberries or was I dreaming that?”

Narcissa laughed lightly. “You had, my darling. Did you not notice the boys taking them?”

Lucius looked up at her, clearly amused. “Would you believe if I’d say I hadn’t?”

“I would think you’re a terrible liar.”

“Then I do believe I’m a liar, my flower.”

Narcissa shook her head fondly. She got up and kissed her husband. “You’re terrible, my darling. I do hope that when Minerva arrives, she can set your head straight.”

“I do prefer my head slightly askew, thank you very much. It gives me a unique perspective.”

“Does it now?” Narcissa asked with a smirk playing on her lips.

Lucius grinned at her. “Maybe when she comes, she can set your head straight! Wait, we could make a two-for-one-deal.”

Narcissa laughed and shook her head. “Oh Minerva has her work cut out for her then, we both know that my head is more a labyrinth than a logic puzzle. There are so many hidden nooks and crannies that one could get stuck easily.”

“Is that your way of confusing any Legilimancy?”

“Almost certainly.”

“Who is talking about using Legilimancy?” Minerva’s voice sounded from the door. “I do hope you’re not talking about the children? I have had enough dealing with idiots when it relates to children.”

Narcissa chuckled and beckoned her inside. “Don’t worry, we’re not doing something illegal.”

Lucius hummed. “We’re letting the children use magic outside of school…”

“That’s not illegal” Narcissa stated. “Just not really approved.”

“By Dumbledore” Minerva said while rolling her eyes. “And I do not approve of him.”

Lucius sighed. “So, he’s wormed himself back to power?”

“For now” the deputy headmistress said, anger in her eyes. “I’ve already got a deal with Miss Bones to tell her about everything.”

Narcissa was interested. That was a very good deal for Amelia! “She must be over the moon.”

“With happiness and with worry” Minerva agreed and sat down with a sigh. “And I am dead tired. I won’t survive another year like that.”

“We’re lucky you did survive” Lucius said earnestly. “Dragonpox got you, didn’t it?”

“Two weeks before Kefira found the cure, yes” Minerva sighed. “I was doing my own research on how dragonpox started in Hogwarts, seeing as none of the Chang family were showing symptoms and their St. Mungo’s files mentioned that they tested negative the entire time.”

“What?”

“Wait, no!”

Minerva’s expression darkened with Lucius’ and Narcissa’s surprise. She nodded and rubbed her forehead. “I lost all my research after I came back into my office. So… someone wanted me to stop looking.”

Lucius seemingly growled. “Dumbledore?”

“Who else, honestly?”

Narcissa was very worried about Minerva’s calm statement. “You’re not safe there!”

“If I’m gone, then the children aren’t safe!” Minerva said instead and shook her head. “Albus is trying to take over the school, make the children go to a war for him. I need to be there, to stop his crazed old mind from destroying our future.”

“You carry too much burden, Minerva” Narcissa said softly. “We’ll figure out what happened to the Chang family.

Lucius looked at her much calmer than Narcissa felt. “If you need help, any kind of help, tell me. Even if it’s just to discreetly bury a body.”

Minerva laughed brightly and Narcissa rolled her eyes. “You don’t have any experience with that.”

“One has to start somewhere.”

Chapter Text

‘Merlin, I can do it!’ Draco almost screamed through their shared siblings’ link. He had been so incredibly afraid to have lost the power to speak through the link, especially seeing as Raven still hadn’t managed to do so. And during his illness he had realized that it took a lot of mental effort to talk through the link, which he didn’t have that time. However, as it turned out, having caught dragonpox seemingly gave him the option to talk to both siblings at the same time. The thing that his sister had been able to do ever since she got petrified!

Kefira’s amusement shone through their link. ‘Good job, brother dear, now can you please go back to sleep? It’s well past midnight. Wait, were you up until now?!’

Draco rolled his eyes. ‘Sorry, I just wanted to brag!’

‘Do it tomorrow.’

Snorting, Draco grinned and put his feet on the cold floor. He snuck through his room and across the hallway, to open Raven’s door. There, he tiptoed inside, and climbed into his brother’s bed.

“Congrats” Raven said, clearly feeling down.

Draco sighed as he placed himself next to his brother, pulling him into a tight hug. He had felt Raven’s irritation as soon as he had announced his success in finally being able to add both Raven and Kefira to his conversation.

“I’m sure you will learn it soon as well!” Draco whispered and they watched the reflection of the pond’s water on the ceiling of Raven’s room.

Raven sighed softly. “You can be proud, Draco. You don’t have to be timid because of me. I know you’ve been practising ever since you realized that Kefira can do it.”

Draco pulled Raven even closer. “Now you listen to me, little brother.”

“Little brother?!”

“Yes” Draco said and sniggered at his brother’s outrage. “I am proud of myself, but I also know that you’ve been working nonstop on finding a way to communicate with us. I know you can do it.”

Raven sighed. “Do you know what the decisive factor’s going to be? It would be so much easier to find my connection with you two.”

Draco shook his head softly. “Sorry, duckling, but I have no clue what makes our siblings’ link work.”

There was beat of silence, until Raven sniggered. “Did you call me duckling?”

“Yeah.”

Another chuckle and Raven moved around in Draco’s arms until he seemed comfortable. “Thanks, Draco. For thinking of me, even though this is your success story.”

Draco snorted. “It’s not a full success until you can do it too. Kefira and I have already planned our party for when we can finally discuss pranks without anybody listening in.”

“You are both the worst siblings to have.”

“Whatever” Draco made himself comfortable. “I’ll sleep here tonight.”

“Really? I hadn’t guessed.”

Raven’s sarcasm was strong and Draco sniggered, hugging his brother one more time. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Albus watched Fletcher leave his office with a wicked grin. He had finally figured out how to go about finding Lady Magic’s host or whatever name she had given it. If he himself wasn’t looking for the host, he couldn’t really be the one who would lose his magic when the idiot was found.

There wasn’t much information out there, but he knew for a fact that only old families would have access to the ritual that would bring her back. So that was one of the ways to start looking.

He had several things going on at the moment. And all of these things were very close to collapsing. Frankly he didn’t know how all of his careful planning had gone to the dogs in recent years. Everything had been going well for so long and now suddenly…

Sighing, Albus sat down heavily behind the desk in the headmaster’s office. He was not where he had wanted to be at this time in his life. Watching the downfall of Grindelwald had given him in inkling about how not to go about reaching world wide adoration.

And now he couldn’t help but question his own decisions. Was it really wise to have stepped down as Supreme Mugwump? He hadn’t wanted to fight with the Picquerys. Seeing as they were backing the boy from Africa, that could have ended up ugly.

Why were they interested anyway? They hadn’t shown any interest in international wizarding law, so why now?

The new health board for Hogwarts was also one of his worries. He had intended to let the dragonpox run its course. A good chunk of children had been infected, dark mostly, obviously. A dragonpox study he had been able to bury a few years ago had shown that it liked to fester in the dark, so Slytherin and Hufflepuff were mostly targeted, as were a lot of students who were loners and didn’t like the sunlight. These children couldn’t be used.

And he would have finally been able to get rid of one of the Malfoys. The parents would have been inconsolable and he could have risen to full political power again.

Instead, he had been pushed around, almost dethroned from the Wizengamot and only thanks to some favours with very rich and influential people, he was able to keep both his job as Chief Warlock and Headmaster.

Why was everything going so wrong?

He had plans upon plans and even his contingency plans had alternative plans… Yet, here he was… almost ruined.

Albus hummed thoughtfully and started looking through his desk. There had to be something that could bring him back to the good old wise man persona he was portraying to the public instead of the homicidal Headmaster from Hogwarts that everyone thought he was.

He pulled out the almost finished contract with the Ministry about the international games… Thoughtfully, he looked at it and narrowed his eyes.

This could be a very good way to get himself back in the good grace of the public. And if he played his cards right, he could potentially get rid of one of the Malfoy triplets.

It wasn’t like he hated them the most, but if they were indeed magical triplets, like the Weasley twins, they would be much more powerful than he was. And that was dangerous to all his plans.

“It could work” he mumbled to himself, before he started finishing the contract. “It might just work.”

If he hadn’t been so deeply in his own thought, he would have realized that his magical core had started leaking softly. But as he was strategizing, it went unnoticed for now.

About a month into the summer holiday, Ron was finally able to come to see Raven, Kefira and probably most importantly, Draco. Raven sniggered as he watched Ron and Draco blush around each other and he really tried to have them talking to each other, but… it didn’t really happen.

“Oh shush, Raven” Blaise said and shoved him slightly. “They’ll figure it out eventually.”

“But why are they so oblivious! Or… do you think they’re not and they just don’t know how to talk about this?”

Blaise snorted. “Probably.”

Then, he proceeded to teach Raven how to throw the shuriken, or throwing star. They were practising with non-magical shuriken for now, since they didn’t really hurt the opponent. The magical ones, especially the ones that Blaise’s family seemed to have collected were magical and therefore deadlier to use and also based on a automatic recall system, where you just had to snap your fingers close to the pouch and they would be appearing there again.

Blaise had shown him how he could use them efficiently, and Raven had immediately liked them. But practise had to be done with Muggle shuriken.

Also, since the sun was out, it was decently warm, which meant that Raven and Blaise could practise outside on uneven terrain. Next to them, safely separated by a magical wall so no weapons could get through, were Draco and Ron, flying around.

Kefira sat by one of the goal posts, reading a book. Raven would bet it was a potion’s book, she had clearly found her passion.

Earlier that day, Severus, Sirius and Remus had stopped by. McGonagall had also been there and when Kefira left to the potions lab with Severus; Minerva, Remus and Raven’s parents went to strategize, Raven had begged Sirius to teach them some fighting.

Sirius was more than happy to teach them some sword fighting and in the process realized that Blaise was rather good with it. In the end, these two fought each other, resulting in a draw.

Raven loved watching these two and immediately asked for ‘classes’ with his previous godfather. Sirius obviously agreed and also offered to be part of the fighting group they were planning in France. Blaise really seemed to like him, since he told him to be in the second group.

The first group were the weaker fighters, since Draco and Kefira also wanted to be involved in the fighting. Raven knew that Lucius and Narcissa had been arguing with his siblings. In the end, they were allowed to fight one group.

With Sirius in group two, they were now pretty strong.

Raven was looking forward to it.

Before he could throw the next star, he saw from the corner of his eyes how Ron had tackled Draco in the air and they slowly dove towards the grass. Blaise frowned and turned as well, just in time to see them kissing.

“Holy shit!” Raven managed. “I didn’t think they’d do it before fifth year.”

Blaise snorted and looked back at Raven. “Not everyone is as slow as you.”

Rolling his eyes, Raven threw the shuriken without looking, before he turned to see he had hit his goal. “I don’t think that was slow.”

He saw Blaise hiding a smirk when he nodded. “Good job there, Raven.”

“Thank you!” Raven said loudly and rolled his eyes, before he grinned. “Do you think you can to a Robin Hood with the magical shuriken?”

Blaise frowned. “What’s a ‘Robin Hood’?”

Raven sniggered at that. “It’s a move you’d so with an arrow, where you shoot it and split the other arrow in two. It’s a bit of a bad move in the Muggle world, I believe.”

“Hmm” Blaise looked at the shuriken and then picked his own up, seemingly calculating it. Raven watched him closely and realized something…

Shit, he was attracted to Blaise! And he had just made fun of Draco and Ron! Did his parents know?! Did Draco and Kefira know?!

He looked over to where Kefira was reading. That moment she looked up and sent him a quick smile, while turning the page. Then, she turned back to her book. He didn’t dare look to where Draco had been pulled away by Ron.

They definitely knew.

The second Blaise threw the shuriken, Raven’s attention was back on him. Even with the added magic, he hadn’t been able to split the other throwing star and Raven sniggered.

“What?” Blaise asked and raised an eyebrow.

“I guess you’ve got something new to learn.”

Blaise rolled his eyes good-naturedly and smirked then. “You better believe that the next time I’m showing you, I can do a… Robin Hood?”

Raven nodded and grinned. “I’ll wait and see.”

Bill was taking a break from his job, mostly because Susan was home and she had lightly forced him to take her out to Muggle London, when he was surprised to find Lord Dolohov there. Bill had just rounded the corner with Susan who was window-shopping in a jewellery store, when he caught the person inside the store looking at a few rings.

Lord Dolohov wore a charcoal grey suit, with the button closed to fit him nicely, as well as a crisp white shirt with a subdued pattern on the dark red tie. The way he held himself, it was clear that he knew the power he held as a well-dressed man. As he asked for one of the rings, his arm moved and Bill would see a cufflink made from dark red gemstones.

Bill had to look away, to keep his composure and had wanted to pull his niece to another place to silently disappear, when Susan pointed at a necklace in the window.

“Can I have that? Please?!” she begged and Bill was honestly torn between wanting to be a nice uncle and hiding himself away from the man he kind-of adored.

Susan’s puppy eyes won him over and he chuckled and nodded. She cheered and almost ran over to the entrance, while Bill composed himself. He followed her and made sure not to look too unprofessional, but since he hadn’t thought he would meet anyone in Muggle London… there was no helping really.

He had just thrown on some jeans and a blue shirt with the words ‘I can make coffee disappear’ written on it. So… not really the thing he had wanted to wear when meeting Lord Dolohov.

As he entered the shop, he felt a wave of nervousness wash over him. Susan was already talking to another woman inside the shop and he smiled at the woman about his age.

“Mister Bones” Lord Dolohov said, his voice a smooth baritone that sent shivers down Bill’s spine. “What a coincidence to meet you here.”

“I would agree, Lord Dolohov” Bill stated, blushing as his heart pounded in his chest.

“What brings a fine young man like you to this establishment?” he asked with a smile, his lips curving into a gesture that was both charming and inviting. Was he flirting?

No. Bill decided he wasn’t.

“My niece wants to pick out a bracelet” Bill explained and motioned to where Susan was still busy talking with a saleswoman.

Lord Dolohov chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I see. It’s a good thing that your niece has someone in her corner to help her pick out a nice bracelet.”

Bill chuckled, feeling his cheeks heat up. This wasn’t flirting. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know what I was doing. I’m not really the person to go to when dealing with jewellery.”

Lord Dolohov smiled openly at him, before he leaned in conspiratorially. “There is always space for improvement.”

As Bill inhaled the familiar spicy scent of his aftershave, his legs trembled, and he almost collapsed. Why was he so dramatic? What was his body so dramatic!?

“I- um” he stammered, trying to find something to say. “So, what brings you here?”

The other man chuckled softly, his eyes staying on Bill. He kept his proximity, seemingly feeling perfectly happy at how close they were now standing. “I am acquiring a new signet ring of succession for my heir apparent” he said slowly. “One to which I can add as many safety precautions as my paranoid mind will permit.”

“I see” Bill said, feeling stupid for only being able to say the most basic thing. Why couldn’t he keep the conversation flowing?

Before he could start to try and find a new topic, Susan was next to him. “Can I have it?” she asked and he turned to look at his niece. She wore a very nice bracelet on her arm, with a few animals in gold.

Bill looked at the saleswoman, before he smiled at his niece. “Uh, sure.”

Before he could fully turn to the discussion his niece was having with the salesperson, Lord Dolohov inclined his head. “Have a nice day, Mister Bones.”

“You too, Lord Dolohov.”

“I sense an interesting dialogue left unfinished. I would be delighted to repeat this experience more frequently.”

Uh, what?

Bill turned and looked where the aristocrat Lord had just left the shop. That wasn’t… he wasn’t flirting right? He was just… he was just being nice. Like Lords were supposed to be. Right?

“Bill?” Susan asked with her eyebrows raised. “If it’s too much money, I can put it back.”

“What?” he asked, and looked at her, before his brain kick-started again. “No, absolutely not. You’re getting your bracelet. How much is it?”

While it was nice going out with his niece to spoil her, the encounter didn’t leave Bill’s brain. And even that night, he was laying in his bed, playing the dialogue in his mind… He couldn’t stop wondering whether or not he was reading too much into it. Was Lord Dolohov really just nice to him? He knew he had a crush on the man, however unrealistic that was, but… It couldn’t be real, right?

His secret crush couldn’t have feelings for him as well, could he?

Nothing made sense anymore.

Why would he say that he wanted to catch up with him more? And more frequently… that made no sense. None whatsoever.

Chapter Text

Okay, so Raven had never before been to the beach, let alone another country. Having now just travelled via portkey to another country – over the ocean! – was terrifying. And he hated the fact that he landed so hard.

On top of Blaise.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m so… are you alright?!”

Blaise laughed and got up. “Yeah, don’t worry, Raven. I was honestly betting with Kefira that you wouldn’t make a graceful entry. So, you just won me a bunch of galleons.”

Raven rolled his eyes. “I want half of what you won.”

“Not possible if you don’t know the sum.”

“You were winning with my help!”

“I would have also lost with your help” Blaise retorted with a grin and ducked as Raven tried to jump on him and throw him to the floor.

Kefira walked over to them, rolling her eyes. “Can the two of you stop? We’re drawing a crowd.”

That stopped both of them and they quickly got up and presented the pureblood children they were supposed to be. Arthur seemed amused by them – well, actually all adults for this trip were laughing or chuckling at them.

The group of allies made their way through international portkey customs, before they were unleashed to the New York streets. Though not before the North American Auror force reminded them that magic was not to be seen in America and that here, the laws were much stricter than in Europe.

“And here I was thinking that this was the land of the free” Graham joked, receiving an identical slap over the head from the terror twins. “Ouch, that was a joke!”

“Terrible” George said sarcastically.

“Really bad” Fred continued and they evaded Graham’s hits.

That again drew Ginny’s attention and she without question ran to defend her brother, which meant that the twins were at the receiving end of her hexes. Raven sniggered at that, evading a stray curse and watched as Lord and Lady Montague tried to get their children to listen to them, while the Picquerys just seemed amused.

The little daughters of Riagán O’Brien were laughing an tried to fight as well, which had Amanda and Riagán trying to get them to be nice little girls again. Raven sniggered and grinned when Róis beamed at him.

“Is this going to happen the entire trip?” Bill asked with a lopsided grin. “Is this what I took my holiday for? Watching them fight?”

Raven turned to Blaise with excitement. “We could ask Ginny to side with us when we fight in France!”

Blaise sniggered, blocking another stray spell. “We don’t really know her fighting style. Would it even fit with ours?”

“Is that the only thing you have against that?”

“At the moment, yeah.”

Raven grinned. “Then we should just try it.”

Blaise returned the grin, even if it was less excited. “We’ll ask her parents when we’re back.”

The trip was going to be two weeks in New York and surrounding magical places. It was where Arthur had met apparently his school year sweetheart or something. And while Raven was interested to see who had made Arthur turn back into a man with goals and ambitions, he was also happy to experience this new world.

“Cut it out, or security will be here in a second!” Lord Dolohov called over the mess and rolled his eyes, when the other children started to snigger. “It’s like a Muggle circus in here.”

Konstantin looked up at his father. “When did you go a circus?”

“I was dragged to one, in one of my dates. I hated every part of it.”

George stepped next to his former brother. “I like them! Mostly, because of the clowns.”

Konstantin raised his eyebrows. “Because you are one?”

“What?!”

“How dare you!” Fred mirrored his brother’s pretend hurt and anger.

Lord Dolohov sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Here we go again.”

Raven sniggered at the situation, but let himself be pulled further by Blaise. Their group made it through all the controls rather easily. Before the twins could lay into their desperate cries, they entered the arrival hall. So, it was a little like an airport.

“Arthur!”

Everyone in their group looked over to the man with auburn hair in a pony tail walking through the crowds with a big smile. Seeing the change to Arthur himself was fascinating. The man who Raven had always known as being open and gentle, but still strict and put together, grew a giant soft smile.

“Hi Thomas” he said softly and the two men hugged each other. Then he motioned to their group of allies. “It’s a bit of a crowd that wanted to follow me.”

“All very welcome” Thomas said with a big smile. “I’ve rented one of the smaller magical castles for you. It should have enough room for everyone to live together.” As he turned, Raven caught him winking at Arthur, who blushed slightly and chuckled.

The twins cheered already. “Yay, roommates!”

Ginny glared at them, while Susan snorted. “Can I room with Bill?”

“Nope, that is my pleasure” Charlie announced and winked at his brother who rolled his eyes.

Thomas laughed, turning to walk backwards next to Arthur. “There are enough rooms for everyone to have one all to themselves.”

“But how else shall I ask Bill all these interesting questions?” Charlie asked, pretending to be innocent, but Raven knew that there was something going on, since Bill rolled his eyes again.

“If you try to sneak into my future room and ask questions, I will throw you into the ocean and see where it takes you.”

Ron sniggered. “In New York? I don’t think there’s an ocean around.”

“It might have access to other water sources” Theodore answered instead, with a shrug. Raven watched fascinated as the two Nott brothers grinned at each other. When did that happen?!

“A river then!” Bill said and threw his hands up, “stop working together!”

The adults were laughing at their discussion and Raven grinned at Blaise who had also followed this with great pleasure.

Luckily for all of them, they soon left the American Ministry without being stopped for having performed underaged magic. Well, Ginny and her fake siblings, anyway. Raven had kept his wand close and enjoyed watching everyone.

They moved into their home and apart from watching all of the chaos around seeing as a few very respectable families moved into the ‘castle’, Raven also kept a close look on Arthur and his ‘lover’. Thomas seemed very nice and admittedly had almost heart-eyes when he looked at Arthur. Okay, no, they were actually really cute.

With the castle being taken over by the families Malfoy, Nott, Montague, Dolohov, Bones, Picquery, O’Brien (including the little girls), Weasley and technically the last remaining Zabini, the dinners were pretty much crazy. Raven loved this huge ‘family’, it was certainly funny to follow the terror twins and help them prank everyone.

Sirius had thought about following them, but apparently, Professor Lupin and Severus had told him that they were also going to have a little holiday. That, and Raven’s parents had told him that he didn’t need to be around them all the time. The goblins were still happy that he was close to him usually.

However, Sirius had made sure to hand Raven a bunch of pranking material, which he had happily shared with the twins. Much to everyone else’s horror.

Thomas seemed amused by everyone’s antics and brought the terror twins to his shop, showing them what was important in running a shop. They took everything in eagerly and later that day announced to everyone that they would be opening their own joke shop after graduating Hogwarts. Thomas had apparently turned into their hero.

“I didn’t expect anything else” Lord Picquery said with a chuckle and turned to his wife. “You?”

“Not at all” Lady Picquery answered with a chuckle. “We do hope however, that you keep our good name that way. It’s not easy to remain number one wherever we move.”

Raven frowned at that. “Is that really what’s happening? Wherever you are?”

Lord Picquery chuckled. “Not in Asia, they have stronger families than Europe and America, but pretty much else, we’re rather high ranked.”

Humming thoughtfully, Raven then turned to Kefira. “Since you healed dragonpox, I believe our name is also going to be as high wherever we are.”

“I will kill you, Raven” Kefira said in a monotone voice, bent over the newspaper, without looking up.

Raven sniggered and saw Thomas’ confused look. “She always does that” he explained, which made him chuckle.

Before they could do more fun things, Susan ran in and grabbed Raven. “They procured a Quidditch field! We’re going to play again. You’re in, right?!”

She had been talking while pulling him outside. So, either way he had to be ‘in’. Laughing, Raven nodded and willingly followed Susan to the magical sports field, where the twins were already divided everyone around into teams. Naturally, Graham picked the twins (they come as one, yes), Ron, Raven and Konstantin, while the rest tried to make it a fair fight…

It really wasn’t.

But it was a great holiday.

After their return to the UK – and leaving Arthur in America for a little bit of alone time with Thomas – came the biggest announcement for their group of allies. Well, they already knew that they were going to the Quidditch World Cup at the 18th August, but apparently, they were in the Minister’s box!

There was genuine shock going around, when the adults told them.

Followed by so much enthusiasm that said adults left their space almost immediately.

It took two days before the children had calmed down from their announcements, though when they finally had calmed down, the arrival of the Quidditch World Cup had taken over their little bodies (for some) and they were hyped to go to the game.

Arriving with their huge group was… a challenge to say the least, but they managed eventually and trekked through the grounds to find their spaces and tents. Sadly, they hadn’t all been at the same area (for whatever reasons) and in the end, only the Picquerys were close enough for a short walking distance. The Notts – much to Draco’s disappointment – had been given a space at pretty much the other end of the field. As had the Montagues.

So, they couldn’t have split it of due to last names…

Raven shrugged his shoulders and pretty much immediately convinced his parents to let them go investigate the market in the middle (and potentially meet everyone again). Blaise looked still uncomfortable around Draco and Raven wasn’t going to blame him. He would rather these two not get into each other’s hair at the Quidditch World Cup.

Thankfully, Narcissa and Lucius let them go and they soon found Graham, the twins and Ginny along with Susan, Bill and a few others from Hogwarts. Blaise pulled Raven away after a while and they went to explore the fanfare market. Raven bought himself a jersey of the Irish team (having to cheer for the team closest to one’s country, as he explained), while Blaise bought a miniature of Krum’s broom that was enchanted to follow him around. He pocketed it rather quickly after realizing how many people were around and would have probably tried to take it.

“We’re betting that Bulgaria will catch the Snitch, but Ireland will win!” Fred announced, before switching his magical eye around, clearly pretending to be George. They had found them in front of the betting station and sent them questioning looks.

Raven sniggered. “How did you come to that revelation?”

“If you’re betting for the least expected thing, you’re going to eventually win more money” George explained, frowning at his brother, before switching the eye around as well. He looked stupidly pleased with it.

Blaise snorted. “And how much money did you lose that way?”

Fred, pretending to be George, shrugged his shoulders, “too much to count. But it will work one of these days.”

“Yes, that is what every gambling addicted person tells themselves” Blaise commented dryly.

“We’re not addicted!” George answered and rolled his eyes, before he frowned and turned to his twin. “Are we?”

Seeing Fred looking uncomfortable made Raven sigh. Great, were the twins really addicts? That would be very bad.

“Maybe we shouldn’t…” Fred offered and they quickly left the line, walking to the other side of the market.

Raven looked after them, before sighing and getting in line. Blaise frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Betting for them. If their prediction really would come true, I think they would be very mad if I kept them from it. So, I’m betting half my money on that.”

Blaise narrowed his eyes, before joining him. “I’ll do so too. But I’ll keep my winnings, I’ll share it with you, because you’re a good person.”

Raven laughed lightly and beamed at his friend. “Thanks!”

In the end, he was incredibly surprised by the twins’ correct announcement. And when they zeroed in on him for having lost them their money, he just gave them the ticket he had gotten for his bet and they stared at him in shocked silence.

“Just promise me you won’t continue betting” Raven said earnestly. “It’s not worth the risk of losing all your money and eventually your livelihoods.”

The twins promised him that, before running away. Blaise grabbed his hand and they wondered to the betting station, where Blaise got his portion of the money and once they were back in the tent, he separated it into two stacks of money, one galleon in difference.

“You take the bigger amount” Raven said and smiled at his friend, “it’s your win.”

Blaise grinned at him, “thanks, I guess. Now at least you’ve made more money than you spent for the twins.”

The festivities were going wild, everyone celebrating the Irish’s win, before Raven caught something that made him freeze. Big, hooded figures marched between the people, starting fires. At first, he thought it was an accident, but he quickly realized that…

“DEATH EATERS!” someone yelled, bringing the utmost chaos with it.

A cacophony of cheers and laughter that once painted the air with merriment curdled into a bloodcurdling scream. The festive atmosphere of the field shattered like a dropped glass, replaced by a tide of terror that surged through the crowd like a rogue wave.

Raven froze at that, turning to look where this person was screaming from. Too many people with fear were around to filter out where it came from.

Panic, raw and primal, flickered in every eye. Faces contorted in masks of horror; their joyous expressions replaced by a chilling emptiness. Bodies, once swaying in rhythm to the celebratory music, became a tangled mess, scrambling over each other in a desperate bid for escape.

Laughter morphed into shrieks, cheers into choked gasps. The air, thick with the scent of roasted meats and spilled butterbeer, now reeked of fear and the acrid tang of overturned cauldrons. The vibrant colours of the celebratory banners blurred into a dizzying kaleidoscope as people stampeded towards the nearest exit, trampling over fallen bodies and abandoned belongings in their haste.

Raven look for his family, his friends, but found no one familiar around. He heard people screaming other’s names, but his own name was nowhere to be heard.

Children, separated from their parents in the chaos, cried out in heart-wrenching sobs. Adults, their faces etched with terror, clutched their loved ones close, their desperate pleas swallowed by the rising tide of screams. The once-festive music, now a discordant cacophony, served only to amplify the growing pandemonium.

From the edge of the field, dark figures emerged, their chilling laughter echoing through the pandemonium. Clad in ominous robes and wielding malevolent wands, they waded into the throng of panicked revellers, their presence a harbinger of chaos and despair. The joyous celebration had descended into a scene of utter pandemonium, a stark reminder of the fragile peace that existed in their world.

“Raven!”

Looking around, Raven found Blaise fighting against the tide of panic and masses fleeing the scene. He let himself follow the rush and found himself soon next to his friend.

“It’s Death Eaters!” Raven told him and Blaise pulled him behind a tent.

“What do you mean?!”

“I saw them!” He pointed to the other end of the field, where he had seen the dark figures. “We have to do something to keep them away from the people.”

Blaise grabbed his arm and held him back. “We’re children!” he said, his voice hard and strict. “We’re not supposed to do anything!”

The field emptied itself, while Raven stared at Blaise. He knew he was right, and judging by the lack of spells shooting around, the Death Eaters clearly weren’t around to punish anyone. He took a deep, quick breath and nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go” he said, watching Blaise take a quick, relieved breath.

As they turned, they saw a man, pointing his wand at the sky, “Morsmordre!”

When Voldemort’s symbol appeared above them, Raven felt fear rush his own system and he turned to Blaise, who seemed to be frozen in shock, staring at the green snake in the dark sky. Only illuminated by the light of the close fire dancing over their faces, Raven could read Blaise’s expression of horror und uncertainty very clearly.

“He can’t be back!” Blaise whispered, but then seemingly woke up from his mind, looking around in alarm. “Let’s go, quick! Before they figure out we’ve been here und seen it!”

Bill was still trembling from what he had witnessed and heard from Raven and Blaise when they had found their families again. He was very happy that Riagán hadn’t allowed his daughters to go with everyone else, because he had feared everyone’s safety during the attack, but he knew that they were all good fighters. Not like Blaise and Raven (if one had to believe the rumours), but good nonetheless.

So, when he went to work the next day, he had thought that all excitement for the week was over. He did not expect to be called into a meeting with the goblins and the Horcrux hunting crew to find even more disturbing news.

“During the screening of your little friend Raven Malfoy, we had found some irregularities which we hadn’t been able to read before” Hembrock said in Gobbledygook which made Bill a bit uncomfortable. The goblins hadn’t been able to find out what was going on for over a year?!

He took a steadying breath, getting himself ready for any possibility. “And now you’ve figured it out?” he asked, carefully.

Hembrock looked like he could murder every wizard on this planet. Bill wasn’t sure if he would make it out alive… “We did” the goblin confirmed with a dark look. “The reason we couldn’t figure out what it was before, was due to it’s connection to the main soul.”

It sounded worse and worse… Bill was starting to get mortified of whatever happened to Raven. And he did not like the fact that the entire Horcrux team was around. It could only lead to one explanation. A dreadful, painful truth that he would rather not face, nor would want to explain to Raven’s family.

“The attack on little Raven’s person when he was a baby and when he supposedly destroyed your Lord Voldemort, left him vulnerable to any attachments.”

Bill closed his eyes in horror of what was probably about to happen. “Soul attachments?” he asked, his throat dry.

Hembrock growled. “Yes. The unidentifiable substance we couldn’t remove from Raven Malfoy turns out to be a Horcrux of the wizard called Lord Voldemort.”

The heavy silence reigned upon the group. Every goblin probably thinking about how to destroy the holder when it was Raven Malfoy, the boy who seemed to be honoured by every goblin around. Bill put his head in his hands and stared at the table underneath.

That was allowed a swear word. Fuck!

“We have never been able to remove a Horcrux from a vessel without damaging said vessel” a goblin spoke up, concern in their voice.

Bill closed his eyes, trying to focus on the problem ahead. Horcrux needed to be destroyed in order to destroy You-Know-Who. If not all Horcruxes could be destroyed, then he would never really die. So… Raven had to die?

Wait…

“Raven has to die” Bill said slowly, earning himself a dark glare from pretty much every goblin around. “No, I’m not saying he will have to stay dead, all I’m saying is that…”

Hembrock held his hand up to silence him quickly. “If he dies, the soul will search for another attachment. The healer in the room, the animals under the earth… we’ll never find the soul piece again.”

Bill hummed, knowing that Hembrock had a point. “Then we’ll use wards and tweak them so no ‘soul’ can leave the circle of runes. Place another object in said circle while Raven… supposedly meets his end and when everything is said and done, we bring our healers in and get them to revive him again.”

“It’s incredibly risky” another goblin said, thoughtfully. “We’ve never done that before!”

Hembrock narrowed his eyes. “We could ask the Potions Guild for help, creating a potion that has a temporary death as a side-effect. That way we reduce the risk of Raven staying dead.”

The goblins stared at their leader as if he was crazy. Bill however, had realized that Hembrock knew the soul couldn’t stay. And if Raven had to die to remove the soul, they could at least try to make it as humane as possible.

“Here’s our action plan” Hembrock continued, “while the Potions Guild will work on this potion, half of you will be researching if there is any other possibility to remove a soul shard from a vessel without damaging the vessel. The other half will be looking for more Horcruxes. I think we’re close.”

“I hope so” Bill murmured to himself, as Hembrock placed him in the second group.

And he also hoped that the Potions Guild would come up with something… anything… to save Raven’s life.

Chapter Text

With the lack of national news considering there had been Death Eater activity at the Quidditch World Cup, Raven and his family moved to France for their long awaited fighting sequence. At least here, the international news was reacting harshly on the British Ministry for endangering everyone.

Raven and Blaise with the recent addition of Ginny Montague didn’t much care about it, they let the adults work the politics angle while they were on the fighting ground. Draco and Kefira were already inside the uneven training ground, getting a look at it. However, both Raven and Blaise had decided against it just to make it more interesting.

Never before had Raven felt so powerful. He knew that he was able to fight whatever was going to come at him. He had Blaise next to him – and Ginny who was just a badass fighter by herself. He was really hoping that the three of them could form some kind of new bond that would make them unstoppable.

Lucius and Lady Montague as well as Professor Lupin had gone into the political world of France, which was apparently one of the highest regarded places around Europe. They unlike Britain had a very high standing for creatures, which was why Professor Lupin had offered to come with them after he heard from Severus where they were going.

Raven strapped his knives to his body, placing a new addition to his lower leg, while Ginny watched clearly fascinated.

“This is awesome!” she whispered, probably more to herself.

Grinning over his shoulder, Raven nodded. “I think so too. Blaise has shown me quite a lot.”

“He hasn’t been able to fight with a sword, yet” Blaise said as he entered the last door to the outside, where they were waiting for Draco and Kefira to finish their fight. They would then go out and fight group one without any preparation. Group two would get an hour head start.

Ginny turned to face the Slytherin. “Teach me too! Please! I want to be that cool!”

Blaise snorted. “I’m pretty sure you’re already ‘that cool’.”

Shaking her head, Ginny looked at him with wide eyes. “You have no idea! I want to be an Auror, if I have practical weaponry experience, my status would be so freaking high!”

“She’s not wrong there” Raven said, sniggering at Blaise’s look.

“Okay, if… and only if we win both groups, I will ask your parents to join our fighting sessions” he finally relented.

Ginny perked up immediately and grinned at him darkly. “I will make sure we do.”

Raven tilted his head slightly. “Blaise, I also want to win both fights… isn’t this promise a bit…” he didn’t finish, since Blaise winked at him and he immediately realized that his friend had already decided to add her too. And well, she was a great fighter, even if they hadn’t seen her fully go out and attack.

That first group was not going to realize what had hit them.

About thirty seconds later, the door opened and Draco and Kefira stumbled through, completely knackered and Draco was even bleeding from his right ear. Raven widened his eyes and got up immediately.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“Hm?” Draco looked up and grinned at him, “yeah, we… we didn’t win, but we gave them a fair fight.”

Narcissa walked in and seemed to have heard him. By the look she gave Draco, she seemed to not be on his side there. However, she didn’t say anything, apparently deciding to wait for later – or maybe even never.

“Five minutes, children, then the adults will be ready for your fight” she informed Ginny, Blaise and Raven. Then, she took the other two away and clearly towards the viewing deck. Though before the door closed behind them, she healed Draco’s ear.

Raven turned to look at his teammates. “Ready?” he asked with a grin.

Ginny’s expression turned dark with a smile that would definitely make anybody opposing her freeze in fear. “Absolutely.”

She pulled out her wand and placed herself at the door. ‘She’s scary’, Raven mouthed to Blaise who simply snorted. He checked the sword strapped to his person, as well as the newest addition to his arsenal – a tomahawk – which he had bought in New York’s darker magical district. He had done incredible stunts with it in training.

And European people probably didn’t expect other weapons than the ones they grew up hearing.

Raven flicked his wrist and caught the wand shooting out of his holster. “How funny would it be if we beat them in five minutes?”

Ginny snorted, before she started laughing loudly. Turning her head slightly, she grinned at him. “Let’s make that happen!”

“I think both of you have too high egos” Blaise said, while he checked his wand holster, before seemingly being satisfied with the result. “We’re fighting a group of adults.”

“Adults who have no idea how good we are” Raven countered.

Ginny nodded. “Also, they’ve been fighting Draco and Kefira before, right? They might expect us to be on the same level.”

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “Narcissa might have already told them that we’re a bit more advanced than they were.”

“Whatever happens” Ginny said, while facing the door again, “I can’t wait to see Graham’s face when we’re kicking their butts.”

Blaise sighed, but didn’t say anything else, while Raven sniggered.

Their discussion couldn’t go much further, as the door opened to the unknown land. Raven stepped aside and let Blaise take the lead. Ginny let him pass her as well and they slowly made their way out onto the battlefield.

Sunlight dappled the uneven forest floor, casting flickering shadows across the magical training ground. Twisted roots gnarled beneath the surface, threatening to trip even the most nimble trainee. Moss-covered rocks, some barely visible, dotted the path, forcing quick adjustments in stride and adding an element of surprise. Here, every step demanded focus and agility, turning the picturesque forest into a challenging obstacle course that tested not just skill, but also awareness and adaptability.

“Awesome” Raven whispered, before his eyes moved over the trees surrounding them. His free hand was close to the throwing knives, just in case.

The three of them moved silently through the ground, keeping lookout over their path. Raven had noticed how easily Ginny fit into their dynamic, keeping up with their silent discussions like she had been part of it from the beginning.

Holding her hand out, she silently stopped them and directed their attention over to a person sneaking around the forest, to try and attack them from behind most likely. Blaise raised his eyebrows and seemed to consider their strategy. They then started moving away from whoever the person in the woods was, so if he was trying to attack them, they would be long gone.

It took them two minutes to find the other two people. Raven threw a knife, hitting the man into the shoulder, the surprised scream seemed to startle the other man, just enough for Ginny to take his wand away in the attack. Blaise was keeping their backs safe and waited for the other man to make it to them.

Meanwhile, Ginny and Raven took the two men down without much theatre. The moment, they turned to Blaise, he had apprehended the third guy.

And that was all for group one.

Ginny seemed thoroughly disappointed. “I had expected more, seeing Draco’s and Kefira’s situation” she confessed on their way back to the base.

Blaise chuckled. “Yeah, agreed. Then again, these two are more in their heads and don’t really… I don’t know, fight with their hands.”

“But fighting with your head is also important” Ginny argued back to which Blaise nodded.

“Agreed, however, using your brain to fight good and trying to remember all you’ve learnt only to miss what’s right in front of you is not the same thing.”

Nodding, Ginny turned to Raven. “So, what’s our next plan?”

Raven grinned, “we have a one-hour break and group two can come in here and prepare whatever they think is necessary to win against us.”

Blaise perked up with an anticipatory gleam in his eyes. “Can’t wait.”

“It’s probably going to be fun!” Ginny added and the two wore a matching dark grin on their faces.

Raven snorted silently. He hoped that group two was well prepared for what was probably going to happen to them in between Blaise and Ginny.

“Do we want our children to go back to Hogwarts?” Edmund Montague asked as he watched over the fighting preparations that group two was undertaking.

He noticed how Narcissa had frozen. He followed her gaze and found Kefira and Draco sitting in the corner with Graham, most likely talking school things. It was Graham’s last year and he was very happy to have him safe from manipulative headmasters after that.

But Guinevere was still under his thumb and he was honestly considering enrolling her into Beauxbatons, were it not for Ginny’s lack of French knowledge.

Narcissa sighed softly, turning back to the window into the fighting area. “We can’t expect the children to be happy if we take them away from Hogwarts. They have friends outside of this group.”

“But not many” Edmund countered and narrowed his eyes, as he found Sirius Black entering the arena. This was going to be interesting at least. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing his daughter getting captured.

“Ed” Narcissa finally said and rolled her eyes, “how would you have reacted if your parents had moved you to a different school? That being said, we don’t technically have a way to move Blaise Zabini. His ancestors have paid his full tuition until he finishes Hogwarts. Raven will never let him alone.”

Edmund chuckled at that. “These two are infatuated.” They silently watched over the great work that group two was doing. This was definitely going to be much harder for the teens than the one before. “It was just a thought.”

“The Picquerys would never agree to that, they’d rather fight than flight” Narcissa offered with a kind smile.

“I guess” Edmund said thoughtfully. A loud sound, almost like a trumpet, alerted everyone of the hour was up. The three teens were at the window in seconds and Edmund could see concealed worry in Graham’s expression.

They watched as the three fighter teens entered the arena much like before. Zabini at the front, Malfoy to the left and Ginny on the right. They were well prepared and caught onto a few traps. Raven took down a trap, most likely to take it with them and build it up somewhere else.

Ginny seemed to have realized that they had a shadow after five minutes of silently stalking each other. The second the stalker had been caught, he alerted the other ones and the fight started for real. It was four adults against the three teens.

Edmund stepped closer to the glass to see it all unfold. Within ten minutes of magical fighting, Blaise brought out a sword, attacking the adults he was facing like that. After a first scare, the two men drew back, clearly intending for Zabini to follow them into their lair. Clearly, that boy was smarter than they had thought, as he sent a knife flying after them, before joining the other fighting teens. Sirius Black was facing off against Raven and they were both pretty much equal for the moment.

Edmund could see that Black was just testing the boy’s limit. Meanwhile, Ginny was facing off against a young looking woman in a full Auror outfit.

Zabini kept their backs safe, watching the two retrieving men like a hawk, while still managing to keep up with protecting the other two with skilled magic.

“They’re so good!” Graham said in awe.

Edmund chuckled at that and looked at the scene through Graham’s eyes. In fact, seeing his little sister fighting a grown woman, taking on Sirius Black as well right now… he could see how Graham thought that the three of them were good.

However, Edmund was sure that they had forgotten about the two people running into the forest. That was until, Raven and Blaise effortlessly switched places and as much as Black seemed to want to get to Raven, he couldn’t get past Zabini and Ginny, who had bound the Auror just now.

Raven then started to rebuild the trap a few feet into the forest and Edmund watched with surprise as he added a few more, all leading to the attacker’s imprisonment.

Then, he joined Ginny and helped her making sure that the Auror couldn’t get out of her ropes. Edmund was sure that if he could hear what she was screaming at the children, he would be seriously unimpressed.

As soon as they were done, all three teens attacked Sirius Black in full force. Now, Edmund could see the training Sirius had gone through somewhere. He was keeping himself rather well, even if he was being attacked from every angle with every weapon Edmund could imagine. Narcissa next to him seemed pleased, judging by her expression.

Sirius was clearly getting tired from the continued warfare around him and he tried to get more space between the children and himself – also probably not risking having someone in his back – so, he retreated to the edge of the arena, just as the two other men showed up.

Raven ran over the field to that they would see him and to get to him, they would need to go through the traps.

“Surely, they’ll see-“, Edmund stopped, as he watched the first guy walking through the string-set up that pulled him into the sky by his ankles. The other man jumped over a few traps, clearly trying to guide Raven to a trap previously set up by them.

Meanwhile, Ginny had distracted Sirius Black enough for Zabini to entangle him into a mess of human capturing flowers. Ginny then ran over to attack the other man fighting Raven in the back. It worked out incredibly easily and the man went down, by whatever spell she had used.

The teens looked at each other, taking a few seconds to breathe.

Edmund relaxed, seeing his daughter not being beaten up. He was rather happy with that.

His eyes darted over the scene underneath him, only to see the woman in Auror robes freeing herself and getting back up. There was something dangerous in her eyes as she accio’d her satchel.

Narcissa chuckled at seeing her. “As Black as they come” she commented and Edmund frowned at that.

“They’ll see her, right?” Kefira asked with wide eyes.

“They have to!” Draco insisted, keeping watch over their brother.

Edmund hummed thoughtfully, watching as Sirius Black got himself out of the mouth of the man-eating flowers. The two adults seemed to have noticed each other across the training ground and nodded at each other.

“Oh no” Graham whispered.

Waiting for the teens to notice the adults still standing was torture Edmund didn’t need. Luckily, they did eventually find the adults in the arena.

“Sirius, if you stay down, I will give you something!” Raven screamed breathlessly, as he dodged another spell, sending a knife towards him and adding a hex, hoping for the man to not notice it. Obviously, it didn’t work.

“What will you give me!?” Sirius called back, sending an array of hexes and curses after Ginny who had tried to sneak closer to him. She protected herself with a conjured stone and Raven watched in awe at how badass she looked with debris and small stones raining down around her, while she just stood there, accepting her fate. There were stones in her wild hair and she had grabbed a dagger lying on the ground as her additional weapon, twirling it in her hand as if she was a natural. She probably was.

Sirius concentrated back on Raven, sending the knife back after having it stopping in mid-air. “I don’t know yet!”

Sirius laughed, sounding slightly crazy.

Raven ducked the knife which sored over his head over to the side where Blaise and Tonks were fighting. “Incoming!” he called over to the pair.

Both ducked.

Damn.

“I don’t think I’ve given it my all” Sirius called, as he took down each and every attack from Ginny.

The Ravenclaw stopped and tilted her head. “What do you mean?” she asked, suspiciously.

Sirius just grinned at them, transforming into the black panther that Raven had seen around Severus in Hogwarts. It leaped off the ground, racing towards Raven who jumped out of the way, Ginny sending a hex towards the Animagus that had him evading it.

Then, he ran further.

Blaise!

“DUCK!” Raven screamed, grabbing a knife while he rolled himself on his stomach, taking the momentum for another turn and threw the knife after Sirius. The added magic helped.

While the knife followed Sirius, Raven got up. Ginny was already running towards Blaise, a spell leaving her wand. The dagger flew away after the magic.

Sirius jumped. Blaise ducked. The knife collided.

Ginny’s spell hit. Tonks screamed.

The dagger flew off into the distance.

Blaise took down Tonks. Raven captured Sirius.

“Shit” Ginny swore and bent over, breathing heavily, then she looked around suspiciously.

Raven followed her eyes and saw that the other men were still out.

“Did we do it?” he asked, a pain in his side. “That took the last out of me.”

Sirius transformed and sighed, laying on the floor. “Children, I cannot believe you! How did you do that?!” The knife was in his neck and Raven briefly wondered if he had severely wounded his adult protector, when the medics arrived and helped clean up everyone.

Blaise walked over to them with a big grin. “Good job, Ginny, I guess you can train with us.”

Ginny just groaned, still bent over. Finally, she took in a deep breath and stood up again. “Fucking hell, that was awesome.” She flicked a few stones out of her hair and beamed at the Slytherin.

Auror Tonks got up as well, just when an older man appeared. “Oh shit” Tonks swore and straightened her back. “I am so sorry to have let you down!” she told the older man, who was probably her mentor.

Raven watched as he waved her off. “You did well, kid” he said, before turning to the three students. “I am honestly surprised by your effort and talents.”

“Thank you, sir” Blaise said with quick nod.

The man looked at him with a slight smile. “I had expected nothing else from a Zabini, son. My surprises are more in the sense a Montague and a Malfoy can fight like that. Keeping up with a Zabini is no easy feat.”

“Thank you, sir?” Raven said, a little unsure of how he had gotten to that point in his life.

Ginny however, beamed at him. “Thank you!”

“If any of you want to become Aurors, let me-“

“Yes!” Ginny interrupted him and jumped up. “Me! I want to be an Auror, when I’ve graduated.”

Raven sniggered when he saw Blaise shaking his head over Ginny’s actions. The older man handed Ginny a card and when Raven caught the name, he knew that this man was the real deal. His family had wondered after all if they should hire him to snoop on Dumbledore.

“Moody. Alastor Moody” he explained when he saw Raven’s curious glances.

Blushing slightly, Raven nodded. “Happy to make your acquaintance, sir.”

When they left again, he turned to look at his friend and pretty much fake-sister. Blaise sniggered and put his arm over Raven, following Sirius, Tonks and Ginny out of the arena.

“It was fun” Blaise stated and grinned when Ginny looked over her shoulder, nodding enthusiastically.

Raven chuckled. “We’ll definitely have to ask Lady and Lord Montague if she can come train with us.”

“Agreed.”

While the trip to France had been mostly for Raven and Blaise’s enjoyment, Kefira knew that the family trip to Greece was because of her. Severus had picked them all up and brought them to a hotel, before throwing Raven, Blaise and a somewhat unwilling Draco at Sirius and Professor Lupin, and travelling with Kefira’s parents to the place where the Potions Guild resided.

The building resembled a stately museum, its grandeur defined by the ubiquitous expanse of white marble. Gleaming columns framed soaring archways, casting long shadows upon the immaculate floors. Perhaps grand sculptures adorned expansive halls, or sunlight streamed through tall stained-glass windows, bathing the interior in an ethereal glow. It was a place of elegance and refinement, a testament to architectural artistry where the stark beauty of marble dominated every surface.

Kefira remembered in what state she had left Severus’ potions lab and she questioned how much cleaning must be done here to keep it this clean.

“Come along” Severus beckoned her to follow him and her parents and they made their way through a labyrinth of corridors and hallways, open rooms and hidden doors, until they finally reached the big meeting space.

The vast meeting hall echoed with an air of hushed reverence, reminiscent of a grand cathedral. White marble seemed to stretch in every direction—pillars rose like sentinels to support a vaulted ceiling, sunlight filtered through high windows, casting an almost celestial glow on the intricate marble floor and the thousands of people sitting in their chairs waiting for the presentation to start. Kefira felt that the scale was overwhelming, designed not to comfort, but to inspire a sense of awe. It was a space where the weight of history mingled with the promise of momentous decisions, where whispered words amidst the cool marble seemed to carry an amplified significance.

She felt a little overwhelmed by all this and was happy that both her parents had agreed to come as her guests. Severus as well was a calm figure in the midst of all this… unidentifiable chaos.

“Kefira, you know what you’re talking about” Severus said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Nervousness is normal at this point. I still get nervous whenever I have to speak or talk about a potion I’ve been working on. That’s part of it. And if you change your mind, no one is going to mad at you for publishing it anonymously. Though, I believe that all of Hogwarts and the students’ parents already know about you.”

Kefira thought for a second. She had heard Severus complain about having published a potion anonymously and how much he had wanted to be seen.

She too wanted to be seen, known for her talents. “I’ll… I’ll do it.”

Her mother brushed some of the blond hair away. “Little lion, you know you don’t have to. We’re all proud of you, no matter what you decide.”

Kefira beamed at her mother. “I know. Thank you.”

“Will I understand any of it?” her father asked and Kefira sniggered, when Severus shook his head with a lopsided grin.

“Come on, let me introduce you” Severus said and lead them to the other end of the stage, where a few older gentlemen were talking quietly. Severus bowed respectfully and they started talking.

In the end, Kefira turned out to be less nervous than she believed she was. Her presentation – which included a live on-stage brewing of the potion – went as smooth as it could go and earned her the title of ‘Youngest witch to ever achieve the Bronze Cauldron status’.

Apparently, there were five stages. Bronze was someone who had something exceptional or was just starting out as an apprentice. The next stage was a Silver Cauldron, which was reserved for those who had done something great after finishing the apprenticeship – and were recognized within the Potions Guild. The next step was the Platinum Cauldron, which Severus apparently held. It was for handed over for help for the community.

The second highest status symbol was the Gold Cauldron, which would go to people with exceptional talent and future vision for the Potions Guild. These people were also the ones to judge everyone else, taking away status or granting it.

And then, finally on the top there was the Mithril Cauldron, which could only be held by two people at the same time. It was rumoured that there was a third person who could take over in crisis, should the other two be indisposed to lead somehow. These people had the ultimate power to take the Potions Guild wherever they saw fit – the Golden Cauldrons had a veto right, though.

The only way to get rid of a Mithril Cauldron was to die.

Was it a bad sign if Kefira really wanted to get the Mithril Cauldron?!

With the greatest pleasure, we are finally granted a look into the Wizarding family grading systems again. As every year, we have written about our suspicions on where each family might stand. To see what points have to be met to rise or fall within the English wizarding society, see the full list of wizarding families on page 5 and 6. As a reminder, this has nothing to do with ancient and noble families, which are presented on page 15. Here are the top 10 houses of Great Britain:

1. Picquery
2. Scamander
3. Malfoy
4. Shacklebolt
5. McGonagall
6. Bones
7. Dumbledore
8. Montague
9. Slughorn
10. Longbottom

“Never before did we beat the Shacklebolts!” Lucius said in shock as he looked down at the newspaper.

Narcissa leaned over and read the list, before smiling. “I see the Longbottoms have finally made it into the ten most influential families this year. This is great news.”

Raven looked up from his breakfast, which contained a lot of fruit, thanks to the little house elves. Or maybe it was Blaise’s doing, since he seemed to take Raven’s health very seriously. Especially, when Raven caught him sneaking some apples onto his plate. He pretended not to have noticed it. It was cute.

Looking to his father, he asked, “so what position is Dumbledore?”

“Seventh” Lucius said with a thoughtful hum. “He hasn’t been this low in four decades, if I remember my father’s words correctly.”

Kefira hummed at that. “Is it now a problem that Lady Picquery will hire Lord Shacklebolt to spy on Dumbledore?”

Narcissa chuckled. “Not that I think of.”

Before Raven could ask more questions, Draco burst through the door and sat down next to them. Kefira grinned maliciously. “Did you spend too much time fire calling someone yesterday?”

“No!” Draco answered, sounding like a pouting child.

Kefira sniggered. “Did the Notts make the list?”

Draco perked up, before sending their sister a glare. ‘Stop it!’ he sent them through their link. Raven sniggered.

“No, they must have been eliminated by the Montague’s rise” Lucius explained and hummed thoughtfully, “I don’t remember what they did that made them climb.”

“Associating with Kefira” Draco said drily, which made their sister throw him a glare.

She then changed her expression into the sweetest smile, anyone had ever seen. ‘If you stop talking about my fame, I will stop bringing up Ron.’

Draco blushed so hard, Raven thought he resembled a tomato. He sniggered as his brother glared at the two of them. ‘Fine, I’ll stop!’

“I haven’t promised anything” Raven whispered with a wicked grin that made both his siblings turn to glare at him.

Blaise frowned at that, but sent his own glare to the other children.

Clearly, the adults at the table hadn’t realized a thing, as they continued talking about the list.

“Beatrice will be so annoyed that Dumbledore still beat the Montague family” Narcissa remarked with a little chuckle and Raven frowned, until he remembered that Lady Montague was called Beatrice.

Lucius chuckled at that. “The Malfoys have never been this high up, ever. No one can challenge the Picquerys, and the Scamanders are legacy, really. They’d have to so something ridiculous to be removed from here…”

“We could frame the list for you” Professor McGonagall offered as she walked into the room with tea in her hands, which made Raven snigger. Lucius raised his eyebrows and looked at him, shaking his head, before he sent a glare at his wife.

Narcissa chuckled, beaming at the professor. “Amelia will possibly throw a party later this week to celebrate her rise above Dumbledore’s house.”

Lucius hummed at that, looking back at the newspaper, further in. “I assume, we’ll have to make an appearance, seeing as we’re number three UK-wide.”

“Probably” Narcissa smiled. “But we should do it regardless, they’re our friends.”

Chapter Text

“I know I’ve asked it before and I also know it’s far too late to ask that question again, given as Hogwarts starts in two days, but-“ Lord Montague took a deep breath after that start to the sentence. Raven really wanted to laugh about it. “Do we want our children to go back to Hogwarts?!”

“Well, it is most of our last year” Konstantin said and shrugged his shoulders. “Thanks to old Dumbledore I’m a year younger, so… we could still be around to protect everyone.”

Graham nodded. “Agreed. Maybe we should try to get our plans to speed up so that next year, the old bastard isn’t the headmaster anymore and we can send our family members there without trouble.”

Lady Montague sighed. “I would say ‘language’, but your sister clearly doesn’t care.”

“Damn straight” Ginny grinned and looked at the adults around Ireland. Even Arthur had returned for their last meeting.

Raven grinned at his friend. Before he could say anything though, the Weasley Head cleared his throat.

“I would like to make the old man’s life a little more hellish than before” he said with a devilish grin. “It’s time to reveal what happened to the Weasley family. That will take his attention away from the children for a while at least and we can make sure that Molly will be given a trial. She’s been in that whole for a while” he paused. “I consider this enough punishment for not being tried.”

Narcissa placed a hand on his arm. “Are you sure you want to do this, Arthur?” she asked softly. “Nobody is forcing you to come out. What Dumbledore and Molly did to you can also be worked through in silence. Out of the public eye.”

Arthur smiled at her. “I appreciate your concern, but Thomas and I’ve been talking. It makes more sense to hit the public with the knowledge that I have. We don’t’ have to announce your real identities, but telling everyone what has happened to me and how I feel about it, it might make some of the other families wonder or question their own family dynamic. It’s going to create such chaos that the old man won’t know where to start.”

Lord Dolohov hummed softly. “It’s worth a try. But only if you’re absolutely sure you want to do this.”

“We will stand with you through this, whatever you decide” Lord Nott added with a smile.

“Thank you. I am sure” Arthur said with a nod. “And if things turn sour, Thomas has already offered to take me to America at a moment’s notice. He knows I’ve got unfinished business to attend here, though.”

Raven sniggered into the following silence, and when the attention turned to him, he grinned. “I really want to see Dumbledore’s face when he realizes what’s going to happen to his carefully crafted plans.”

The families grinned and it was quickly decided that Arthur would go into the public the day after Hogwarts had started again, so that the children could warn their friends and come clean before it was public knowledge. Then again, thanks to Draco’s admittance on the train at the start of summer, a lot of students already knew.

Konstantin beamed at his father. “I will let the public know who I am” he turned to Arthur, “I will stand with you.”

The twins perked up. “Us too!” they said at the same time. George then continued, “just imagine how much fear this will give Dumbledore and anybody who still associates with him.”

“He took something from UK’s most influential family at the moment? People will shit themselves” Fred announced with a vicious grin.

Raven snorted. He watched as Ron and Theo were writing something back and forth on a piece of Muggle paper, before Ron sighed and looked at his former father.

“I don’t think I’m strong enough to openly stand with you” he said and ducked his head, clearly ashamed. “I’m just getting to know who I am and who my family is…”

“That is alright, son” Arthur said warmly, “I don’t need all of you by my side. The knowledge that Amelia will be there is absolutely enough. Anything else is an added bonus.”

“We’re bonuses!” the twins cheered.

“Devils” Bill corrected them and dodged a flying spell with ease. He grinned, though blushed immediately, when he seemed to notice Lord Dolohov’s eyes on him.

Raven sniggered at that.

Graham and Ginny had a whispered discussion and she nodded, though clearly unhappy. “I’m not openly joining you, but you should know that I would have!” she added, with a dark look at Graham who seemed satisfied. “But I understand the dangers with going public.”

“I will keep Konstantin out of school for the first two nights, a sudden ‘illness’ will be good enough” Lord Dolohov explained with a quick smile. “Did you already talk to the press?”

Amelia grinned. “I’ve made an announcement in the right circles that Arthur will be holding a press conference two days after Hogwarts starts. The old Headmaster will only hear of it after it’s done, or during, depending if he listens to the W.W.N.”

“Good” Lady Picquery said with a kind smile, “We’re absolutely by your side. And if you want to add any more pressure on the headmaster, we could get you a meeting with the Head of the ICW or Lord Akingbade.”

Arthur chuckled. “I won’t say no to that, but maybe we should wait what the effect of the announcement will be.”

Frankly, if Ron would have bet for how his relationship with Draco would have started, he had never considered this. He was aware that Draco must have familiar feeling for him, but he had always thought that the blond would be the one to make the first step.

And then he didn’t.

Ron had tried to offer him as many openings as possible to just… say something, even do something, but he didn’t.

Okay, maybe the shy smiles and glances should have been an indicator that the normally so self-assured Slytherin wasn’t so confident when it came to Ron. But honestly, he… he was unsure himself. Not of his feelings for Draco, but for how to start this relationship.

He had never done this! No one had ever shown interest in him! There had always been his older brothers and everyone just fell in love for them. Never for him.

And then there was Draco.

That day in summer, a month into their holidays…

Ron had finally been granted a visit to the Malfoys and he had taken off, bidding goodbye to Theo who seemed to be studying something. “Can I help you with this, when I’m back?” Ron asked, slightly unsure. Their brotherly bond was still new.

Theo grinned and shook his head. “It’s very complicated and I’m not even sure if I understand half of it. I’ll ask father tomorrow to explain it to me” he stopped and looked at him, “I’ll wait for you to be back.”

“You don’t have to-“

“It’s only fair” Theo stated strongly. “Now, shoo, I’ve got to concentrate.”

Ron grinned and left the Manor, finding the children in the Malfoy Manor playing outside. And… he realized only then how much he had missed being around Draco. Damn, why wouldn’t he concentrate on keeping his face from colouring?!

There was a noticeable distance between Draco and Blaise. Ron couldn’t blame the other Slytherin, he wouldn’t know how to react either, if he realized that a friend had tinkered with his memories. But since Blaise soon split off with Raven to start working on throwing weapons and Kefira left them to go read somewhere else… he was left with Draco.

As if it was planned…

He narrowed his eyes and looked over to Raven who grinned at him, before concentrating back on Blaise’s explanation. Unbelievable!

“Let’s go flying” Draco offered and smiled at him.

“Sure” Ron answered, accepting a broom and they soon hit their air, flying circles around the pitch in the backyard.

“First to throw three balls through the other’s hoops wins” Draco yelled, a Quaffle in his hands.

Ron perked up. “Where did you get that?!” Did he had this in his hand the entire time?!

Draco smirked. “Unimportant, first shot!”

He shot from where he was hovering in the air. And promptly missed. Horribly.

Ron sniggered loudly. Draco rolled his eyes. “Yeah well, there’s a reason I’m a Seeker and not a Chaser.”

Unable to keep it together, Ron leaned forward, heavy on his broom, laughing loudly. Draco huffed annoyedly. “Seriously, Ron, this was just… one time!”

“Okay, okay” Ron said, trying to control his laughter and held his hands out. He rubbed the laughter tears out of his face and huffed. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s play.”

Sweat dripped down Ron’s forehead as he flew a quick circle, catching his breath after a particularly gruelling stunt he had pulled – where he had lost the ball. His gaze, however, wasn't focused on the ball, but rather on Draco across the field. He was a whirlwind of controlled chaos, flying much better than passing or throwing the ball. There truly was a reason why he was a Seeker.

Draco had always been the star player, a natural talent who made the complex game of seeking the Snitch look effortless. While it had looked almost easier with Raven flying the few games he had played, there was something else with Draco’s grace and effortlessness in the air. He looked at home there.

Then again, there was something else about him now. It wasn't just the skill; it was the way his eyes crinkled with focus, the way his blond hair stuck to his forehead with an endearing dampness. A laugh bubbled up in his throat, surprising even himself.

“Ron! Come get me, or I’ll win!” Draco yelled over the pitch, before he settled in the air, his head tilted. Damn, could he be even cuter?! “Actually, I’ll win either way. It’s still two-zero.”

Ron ducked down on his broom and dove straight into Draco, pulling him do the ground in a swirl of their brooms encircling each other. It was a somewhat safe thing to do. More or less. If calculated correctly…

He tackled Draco to the ground and kissed him. Ball and brooms forgotten next to them, Draco returned the kiss and pulled him closer. Ron deepened it, his hands grabbing the collar of Draco’s shirt, pushing him down. This was bliss, especially with Draco’s arms around him.

Finally, he pulled away, breathing hard. Draco let his head fall back and he sniggered. “Fuck, that’s cheating!”

Ron snorted. “You want to go back up and continue play? I’ll much prefer to stay here. Kissing you.”

Draco grinned and turned back to Ron. “I’m amenable to that.”

“Imagine that, I’m in so much luck!”

“Shut up and kiss me!”

Ron sniggered and leaned down, kissing his… boyfriend? He sure hoped that it was going to be his boyfriend soon.

“Oh, Draco’s here as well” Theo said as they stood on the platform for the Hogwarts Express. Ron narrowed his eyes and turned to his brother, who was looking at him carefully. Obviously hiding his amusement.

“This really gets old when you continue with that for the fifth time. I’m not even going to look anymore.”

Theo grinned. “Even more fun, when it’s actually him who’s coming our way right now.”

“What?” Ron jumped and looked around, only to realize that his brother was teasing him again. He glared at Theo who sniggered. “I hate you so much right now.”

“Boys, behave” their father said, but he seemed amused by their banter. “Theodore, you know that all the things you do to your brother right now will come back eventually.”

Theodore snorted. “Good thing I’m ace then, huh?” he asked Ron quietly.

Ron shook his head with a grin, looking out over the people arriving at the platform. Their newly formed brotherly bond meant that they had a lot of late night talks, helped along by their father who had – at first – locked them in a room for a night. It had soon turned into them asking their father for a sleep-over in the other’s room.

And they had talked. And talked. And talked until the sun was up again.

Ron knew so many secrets from Theo that he wasn’t sure if he could ever look at his brother the same way and just see a ‘cold, disinterested’ boy that everyone else was seeing. His brother was such an amazing person, when he was open to getting to know people.

The one thing that was the hardest pill for Theodore to swallow was the fact that he was most likely going to defy pureblood rules. He was asexual and not interested in pretending to be anybody else to produce an heir. He wasn’t sure if he was also aromantic, but he knew that even the fact that he wasn’t going to have children as the eldest son would lead to problems.

“I’ve got you Theo” Ron had told him then, “I want to have a huge family. There’s going to be an heir for our name, I promise.”

In turn, Ron had opened up to Theo about his problems with his original name ‘Alden’ and how he hadn’t wanted to accept it, because it would make him even closer to the Notts and he hadn’t felt at home for a long time. And obviously, he had gushed over Draco most nights…

Now, when he thought of himself as ‘Ron’ all he could see was that he was denying himself a family. And with his actual closeness to Theo… the desire to be called Alden Waverly Nott had grown exponentially.

He was a Nott after all.

He should probably start right now, anyway! In public, he was already known as Alden, so he could also ask his friends to use his actual name! They had accepted Kefira and Raven… they were most likely also going to name him Alden.

There was a certain happiness in that name.

“Oh, Draco Malfoy’s here.”

“Theo, for fuck’s sake, if you do this one more-“

“Hi Alden” Draco’s voice interrupted Ron’s… Alden’s rant and he almost jumped into the air.

He turned around while Theo sniggered into his hand. “Hi” Alden said loudly and cleared his throat then. “Hey, sorry… Theo’s being a dick.”

Draco smirked. “I’d gathered. We’re boarding the train, want to join us?” he motioned to his family that was currently bidding goodbye to Kefira, while Raven was pretending that he failed to carry two trunks into the train at the same time that had obviously added featherlight charms on it. Meanwhile, Blaise was obviously annoyed at Raven’s physical comedy.

Alden sniggered. “Sure. If-“ he turned to his family, “if that’s alright with you?”

Their father smiled and nodded. “Of course, boys. Have fun, boys. Be safe.”

Theodore hesitated, before he looked at Draco, “could I join you?”

“Absolutely” Alden answered instead. “He’s with me, so don’t you argue” he warned Draco then.

His boyfriend held his hands up. “Wasn’t going to. Let’s go.”

They settled into a compartment after Raven had been reprimanded from Kefira and Blaise at the same time. He obviously didn’t take it to heart and started explaining what he had done as soon as the terror twins had arrived who high-fived him.

“This is going to be hell” Draco muttered under his breath, while Alden just sniggered.

He loved seeking Raven growing into his own person. And that person obviously loved to play innocent pranks at the people around him… The trunk one hadn’t even hurt anyone… just physical comedy.

Soon, the compartment had once again outgrown the number of people sitting inside. Alden was pushed into Draco and let out a shout of surprise when the Slytherin pulled him into his lap. Theodore next to him snorted, but sent him a quick grin.

Alden loved the brotherly bond between them.

“Welcome everyone” Dumbledore said with his fake happiness. Raven looked at Ron… no Alden across the room and the two of them rolled their eyes. Some of the first years had seen it, since they looked at him questioningly.

Now wasn’t the time to explain though, they would seen soon enough why he hated the old man.

“This year, I am very happy to introduce to you… a very old tradition that our school used to be a part of. The Triwizard Tournament!” He beamed at the students, some of them clapping even though they knew next to nothing, but his announcement sounded so grand… it had to be grand.

Raven narrowed his eyes and leaned over to Draco who had just opened a channel for the siblings to speak there… well for Kefira and Draco to speak through it, Raven was still trying to master this stupid thing. “This is bad, isn’t it? What does Kefira know about it?” he whispered.

‘It’s known as the Death Tournament’, Kefira’s voice was in his head. ‘It was discontinued sometime in the 17-hundreds because too many people had died. This can’t be a good sign.’

‘Unless Dumbles wants to distract us with it. Or get bonus points from the public’ Draco offered as an idea.

Raven shook his head as he watched the headmaster explain how it worked. “If it really is known as a Death Tournament than there’s nothing to gain from the public” he said quietly for Draco to hear and to tell Kefira.

‘So it’s for us, then?’ Kefira asked, clearly unsure.

Raven nodded darkly.

‘He might try to get rid of some people’ Draco pondered. ‘Us, maybe?’

Groaning, Raven leaned over to his brother again, “do you want to bet, he wants me in there?”

Draco’s eyes narrowed and he fixed the headmaster in a dark stare. ‘That is absolutely a possibility. I will kill him personally if he’s going to throw you into a fucking Death Tournament!’

‘I’ll give you an alibi’ Kefira’s dangerous tone rang through Raven’s head and he snorted. “Me too.”

They focussed back on the outside world and Raven saw Blaise looking at him a raised eyebrow. He sighed, “Dumbles will want me in there, I’m certain.”

Blaise sighed. “So am I.”

They turned back to the front, watching as Dumbledore explained how the reaping worked and that the winner of the tournament would await eternal glory.

Pansy snorted. “Yeah, I couldn’t name any winners of the Tournament if my life depended on it. Not so eternal, huh?”

Raven sniggered at that and nodded. The students began arguing against the Quidditch ban, especially the seventh years and Raven could see the twins leading a rebellion at the end of the Slytherin table, soon joined by the Hufflepuffs. The Gryffindors, not one to be upstaged, started a louder rant and the Ravenclaws seemed too amused to join. Though they did add to the noise and helped rally up more people.

It took a while and not even the late arrival of their professor could quiet things down. Raven laughed happily, seeing as Dumbledore lost control of the crowd fully and decided to retire for tonight without calming everyone. The other professors let everything continue without trying to interrupt.

Raven could see Severus smirking behind his hand, while the big black panther at his feet seemed to watch the students with amusement. Professor McGonagall as well seemed too amused to stop the rebellion, though she did keep an eye on the students, clearly ready to intervene should it go too far.

Since it didn’t, the students came to a mutual decision to still play Quidditch, even if the school didn’t have any official matches planned. McGonagall, always the Quidditch fanatic, and Madam Hootch, who would have been at Hogwarts all year for nothing really without Quidditch, promised to plan some matches to fit around the tournament’s task.

“We should all write home and tell our parents what Dumbledore is planning this year” Susan said as she flagged down Raven and his friends when they were walking down to the dungeons.

Theo snorted. “They’re going to kill him.”

“Exactly” Alden said with a devilish grin. “If we don’t tell our parents about he age line, they’ll certainly tear him limb from limb.”

The Slytherins around sniggered and some of the Hufflepuffs were jumping in glee. Draco walked through the crowd and rolled his eyes. “Why are you a Hufflepuff, again?”

“Hey, nobody is going to mess with my friends and family. Badgers are much scarier than snakes, mate.”

“Mate?” Draco narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you mean ‘love’?”

Alden snorted and rolled his eyes. “Of course, love. So, who was betting on Draco’s reaction?” he asked and turned to his house, several Hufflepuffs groaned while Draco opened his mouth like a fish as if trying to come up with something to say, but utterly failing.

Raven sniggered and placed an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Didn’t see that coming? What a shock.”

“I hate you.”

Bill breathed heavily as he evaded the hands coming from the deep of the dark lake. He knew exactly what was going on, knew exactly what was hiding here. And he knew where he had gone incredibly wrong!

His urge to find out whether or not his calculations had been correct had him run into danger and he hadn’t even thought about it being real! Why the hell would he end up on an island in the middle of a Inferi-infested lake with no way to escape?! He runes at the entrance should have helped his memory that apparition wouldn’t work in there.

Not that he hadn’t tried. And woken up a thousand Inferi along the way.

He couldn’t do this any longer. Evading the Inferi was tiring and he couldn’t hold himself up anymore.

With his last magical reserve, he cast a Patronus, “Help me! Crystal Cave, Western Wales.”

Then he passed out.

When he flickered back to consciousness, a sterile scent, sharp and unfamiliar, assaulted his nostrils. Gone was the damp, earthy musk of the cave. His eyelids cracked open, heavy and gritty. Sunlight, a forgotten luxury, streamed through a high window, casting stark white squares across the crisp white sheets that engulfed him. He wasn't in the cave anymore. The light almost gave him a headache.

A wave of nausea rolled through him, pulling a groan from his lips. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest. He tried to shift, but a searing pang shot through his arm, anchoring him to the bed. A web of dull aches throbbed across his entire body – a testament to the ordeal he'd clearly endured. His vision swam, focusing with difficulty on a blurry white ceiling speckled with tiny, flickering lights. Even the air felt different - cool and sterile, lacking the earthy weight of the cave. It was then he noticed the thin plastic tube snaking up his nose, the rhythmic beep of a machine beside him a constant reminder of his vulnerability.

He was in a hospital bed.

Muggle?

“Mister Bones” a nurse said, wearing a St. Mungo’s outfit. “We’re glad to have you back.”

Bill struggled against the breathing tube and was then swiftly released from it. “How long was I out?” he asked, his voice rough.

“Five days” the mediwitch told him. “Your family is waiting.” She hesitated, before continuing. “A healer will want to speak with you first. It seems that you… you might have significant damage from whatever happened to you.”

“Damage?” Bill asked, his memory coming back to him. The last thing he saw was the Inferi army crawling over him. He jerked up, trying to sit, but his entire body screamed at him. He lifted an arm and found his skin rotting. “Fuck.”

By that point the mediwitch had already left and Bill closed his eyes, trying not to vomit from the sight of only his arms. Gringotts would kill him. Susan would kill him… damn, Amilia would probably skin him alive for his own stupidity.

“Good to see you alive” a soft aristocratic voice spoke up and Bill turned his head to the entrance to his room. He wouldn’t have to look to know that it was Lord Dolohov.

“Alive?” Bill asked, bitter and looked up at the flickering lights. “I don’t want to know what happened. Clearly, I won’t live for much longer.”

Lord Dolohov chuckled softly. “The Inferi curse only works on dead people. You’re not dead.”

“On my way to it” he stated instead and motioned to his arm, which he didn’t want to look at. It was disgusting. How could he ever look into a mirror again?

“Not dead” Lord Dolohov repeated. “All curses have counters.”

Bill turned his head and raised his eyebrows when he looked at the older man. “This isn’t a magical curse, though. I was bitten, most likely. People have tried to find counters for Inferi, nothing happened so far.”

Lord Dolohov seemed quietly amused. “And do you not work for the goblins who have the most knowledge in healing and the best curse breakers?”

“Evidently not, as I thought myself to be one of these good curse breakers.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, it’s what makes us humans. Keeps us humble.”

“Won’t be so humble, when I’m dead” Bill said bitterly.

Lord Dolohov shook his head. “You’re not dead yet. And I will make sure to find something to stop that from happening. I’ve got a vast amount of knowledge in my family library, I will have you know. Plus… I feel personally involved, since your Patronus came to me for help.”

Bill widened his eyes in silent panic, turning back to stare at the ceiling. He cringed slightly with the knowledge that his cry for help had gone to the man he was interested in. What did Lord Dolohov see when he came to rescue him?

For all he knew, he could have been in the middle of being a feast for the Inferi!

He felt movement to his left and looked to see Lord Dolohov leaning closer. “There’s a slither of hope, Mister Bones” he said softly, “however, it does require you to accompany me wherever I go.”

“Why?”

“When I got there, the Inferi had devoured half of your soul. In order to safe you, I bound the rest of your soul to mine” Lord Dolohov hesitated for a second, before he continued, “I must admit, I acted out of pure panic and fear. So, I used an old spell that as far as I know has no counter to this moment.”

“Wait” Bill held his hands up. Or tried to, but the pain shooting through his nerve system was keeping him from doing that. “Hold on… I’m bound to you?”

Damn it, why did his mind betray him?! He didn’t like the sound of that! No. No, stop it… No! He didn’t like…

Okay, no. He liked how it sounded, but… it was a bit… It wasn’t how he had wanted to end up bonded to Lord Dolohov. Damn it, he wasn’t even on a first name-basis!

“For the moment” Lord Dolohov said calmly. “And rest assured that I have tasked every professional I know to find a counter to it. I’m sorry for doing this to you.”

“I… I don’t really mind” Bill said quietly. “Maybe I need to take a break from curse breaking. This little adventure sure will make Susan and Amelia rip my head off.”

Lord Dolohov chuckled and nodded. He straightened and smiled. “I’m around the corner talking to the Healers. If you need me or the pull in the bond is getting too strong, yell.”

“Sure” Bill said softly, watching him leave. He didn’t notice the bond. So, it seemed to be fine with the Lord around the corner. Sighing, he placed his head on the pillow. This was so very bad.

And he didn’t even get the Horcrux that was supposed to be in there. Just the calculations which had led him there and-

“Michael Julius Bones!”

He winced as he saw Amelia walking in, her eyes furious and then shock, when she saw him. It quickly turned to anger again. “What did you do?! Why were you alone? What happened to you?!”

Bill sighed. “I, uh… I was looking for Horcruxes late one night and then I calculated it and… and I went there… Didn’t think there would be anything around. The, uh, the runed should have been a warning. The Inferi…”

Worst explanation ever.

Amelia looked right out murderous. “Why do you look like that?!” she demanded.

“Inferi” Bill explained, unsure of where to go from here.

Lucky for him, that moment, a healer walked in. “Ah, Lady Bones, good to see you. Your brother is relatively unharmed.”

Bill saw Lord Dolohov leaning at the door frame while Amelia faced the healer. The other man seemed amused and when he caught Bill’s gaze, he winked at him, turning his attention back to Amelia. Was he enjoying the fact that Amelia was most likely going to murder him?

“Unharmed?!” Amelia repeated, her voice clearly stating the disbelief she felt with that. “His skin is rotting!”

Okay, so at least Bill wasn’t the only one on the hit-list that Amelia was currently creating.

The healer cleared his throat. “Well, yes. But it could have been worse. Was it not for Lord Dolohov, he might have been dead on arrival.”

Ah, the healer wanted to add Lord Dolohov to Amelia’s hit list to save himself. She raised her eyebrows and turned to where the healer was looking, only to see the older man leaning at the door frame. He sent her an apologetic smile.

“Ah, Amelia, you know my proclivity for... direct action in moments of disarray. Upon reaching the cave and witnessing the Inferi indulging in a most unpleasant repast with your brother, I must confess, a certain... heightened emotional state took hold. In my haste, I may have, let us say, inadvertently intermingled his remaining soul with my own. Did I perchance mention the heightened emotional state?”

Amelia closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose, before she breathed out slowly. “Is there a counter to your panicked… oh sorry ‘heightened emotional state’s decision?” she asked, finally.

Lord Dolohov opened his mouth, before closing it again. That seemed to be enough explanation to her and she sighed. Bill wasn’t so sure if this was enough to get Lord Dolohov a place on her hit-list.

“Alright” she finally said. “Thank you for saving my brother. I guess you’re now the caretaker.”

“I… what?” Bill asked and tried to sit up again, only for him to groan and stop trying. He grimaced. “Fuck. I don’t need a caretaker!”

Amelia wasn’t amused. “Until we’ve found a counter for both the Inferi bite and the soul bond that Antonin has performed on you, you will need a caretaker. And since Antonin was so helpful to volunteer…” she looked over to Lord Dolohov who seemed amused by this.

“Consider it done, Amelia” he agreed, realizing that she had been waiting for his acceptance.

“There you go” Amelia told Bill, her eyes holding knowledge he hadn’t want her to have. Did everyone know he had a thing for the Lord?!

Bill sighed. There wasn’t really any other way to go.

He had a soul bond to Lord Dolohov now, if he liked it or not. He could at least make the best of it. Until the goblins would find out how stupid he was and would try to kill him themselves.

Hembrock was probably already planning his funeral by now.

Hey, if he worked together with Amelia, at least that would be someone off her hit-list. And the goblins would get money for killing him. Win-win for everyone.

Chapter Text

Arthur’s public statement to what had happened to the Weasley family was a masterpiece in itself. First and foremost, thanks to the Malfoy family’s connection with the goblins, Arthur was permitted to do the interview in front of Gringotts which garnered such a big crowd that several Ministry employees were requested to stay on guard. Secondly, having different families with him, on the small podium, especially such strong families like Picquery, Bones, Dolohov and Malfoy, was a sure sign to get everyone’s interest. Since the Dolohov family wasn’t top ten, his status wasn’t the same as the other families, but Lord Antonin Dolohov was a pureblood lord and people respected him wherever he went, so it was still a sign of status to have him on the stage.

“Thank you for coming” Arthur Weasley started. He smiled quickly and sadly into the crowd, before he continued, “I have brought several people here to explain my absence in both politics and society. And since I am aware that it could be a national problem we’re facing right now, I will hold this explanation as publicly as I can.”

Arthur shifted, looking over his shoulders to the families behind him. It was clear that most of his strength right this second came from them.

When he turned back again, he had a determined look. “As you’ve known yourself, the Weasley family has always held a lot of children. About twenty-two years ago, my family had grown for the very first time. And then steadily, more children have been added to this mix. What you do not know is that none of these children were mine. Nor Molly Prewitt’s.”

Confused glances from the crowd reflected the feeling that Arthur had had when he had first realized what had happened.

“I have only recently come to terms with what has been done to me and my supposed family. You see, I was harbouring abducted children. My former wife accepted the children from other families into our lives, claiming them to be ours, while having me under a number of spells, potions and compulsions I didn’t even consider her statements to be false.”

“Whose children did you keep?” someone yelled from the crowd.

Arthur took a deep breath. “I will due to obvious reason not tell you the family names of the children who are not yet adults and cannot consent on their own. My two adult sons, William Weasley and Charles Weasley, belong to the family Bones and O’Brien. They have reconnected with their families and as you can see with Amelia Bones’ behind me, we have formed an alliance.”

“So the other children are Dolohov, Malfoy and Picquery?” another person yelled.

“No” Arthur said, deciding to not correct the semi-lie he was currently telling. “These are the allies I’ve made through this whole ordeal. They – and many others – are standing with me, they’ve helped me through this harsh time if realizing that my family has been forged to look this way.”

“Why are there so many dark families with you? You’re a light wizard!” yet another person yelled at Arthur.

Sighing, the Weasley Head shook his head. “Does it really matter who is with me or with whom I spend my time? My children come from predominantly dark families. My guess is that whoever has orchestrated this has been trying to make sure that dark families won’t have as many children so that they’re looking weaker than they are. And one last thing; dark families aren’t bad! I know of one specific light magic user who is the darkest of us all.”

A quick silence filled Diagon Alley, before several people wanted to know who Arthur was referring to. However, the man just continued.

“We are here today, because we want to make sure that the public is aware of something: There are more than a dozen other children or adults who are going through the same thing than my children are going through right now. Except my children know what has been done to them and you don’t. I’d advise anyone who’s even a little bit suspicious of their heritage to go visit Gringotts and find out who they are.”

Arthur stepped back and let Aymer Willalme Picquery step forward. The Lord looked thunderous, as if he was just waiting for someone to say something so he could yell back at them.

“Anyone who doesn’t have to funds to go to the goblins and ask about their heritage will be receiving the needed money for the test from our family. Everyone has the right to know who they are.”

With that he stepped back again. Amelia Bones took the stage and she looked down into the crowd. “Obviously, this is a very dismal situation, but you can rest assured that the Aurors under my watch will do anything in their power to go after the person responsible for this tragedy.”

“Who did this?”

“Do you have any suspicions?”

“Can we interview the children?”

“Where is William Weasley?”

“Where are the children?”

Amelia raised her eyebrows. “The children are safe. We have our suspicions, but we will not confirm anything. However, several witnesses have seen Santa Claus at the scene.”

With that, the adults left the stage and went inside Gringotts, where Hembrock was waiting for them. He had a mischievous grin on his face and then led them through the bank.

“Congratulations, the masses will probably need a little to figure out who you were referring to, but I have no doubt they will make the connections.”

Amelia snorted. “They better.”

Narcissa Malfoy chuckled. “If not, then our Santa Claus will have understood the reference and will most likely try to do damage control.”

“I cannot wait for that to unfold” Lord Antonin Dolohov said with a chuckle.

“Arthur!” someone called in the back and Arthur turned immediately to see Thomas, who was being held back by the goblin guards. Quickly he returned to the entrance and grabbed his boyfriend’s hand.

“Thank you for coming today! I wasn’t sure if you could make it” Arthur said quietly.

Thomas sent him an odd look, before his expression softened. “I always have time for you, Arthur. My shop opens when I’m there and closes when I’m not there. It doesn’t really matter when I work. And you’re important to me.”

Arthur blushed slightly. “I’m… not used to that. So, thank you.”

Behind his back, Amelia started cheering and clapping. When both men turned to her, she held her hands up in a questioning motion. “Can we please continue to get out of Gringotts through the back? I need to go to St. Mungo’s and see my idiot brother.”

Narcissa chuckled and waved the two men closer. “How about the rest of us goes out somewhere? You’ve shown us New York, we could show you around Muggle London.”

“I’m in” Thomas said and grinned, as he followed Arthur and the rest so that they could make it out of Gringotts unseen.

A month later, or maybe more than a month, saw Raven sitting at the Slytherin table with his friends and siblings, when the Terror Twins came sitting down beside them. George smirked at them and looked at Fred excitedly.

“I don’t like your looks” Theodore said – a new addition to their group, but since Alden had been so active in getting his brother to be everywhere they were… he had somehow integrated rather well. “You speak of trouble.”

“We haven’t even opened out mouths yet” Fred argued.

Pansy snorted into her tea and looked up. “Wherever you go, there’s trouble. And seeing as the other schools are supposed to arrive here today, I fear for them.”

“You’re just being mean” George stated and rolled his eyes. “We are here on a totally different mission!”

“Which would be what?” Daphne asked, suspiciously.

Raven caught Alden walking closer, clearly interested what his fake brother’s were up to. Or maybe, he was actually looking for Draco, one never knew with these two.

Fred’s eyes were wide again, like a child’s, as he asked them. “Did you know that the people from Eastern Europe arrive by boat? We should greet them as pirates!”

“Oh no, they most certainly have cannons on their ship” Alden answered, but sniggered at the same time. “I want to see it!”

“I’ll help the fight!” Raven said with wide eyes.

“No you won’t!” Kefira stated and narrowed her eyes. “This is honestly the worst idea ever! You could get hurt!”

Raven rolled his eyes. “I’ve got the twins with me, they’ll make sure I won’t get hurt.”

“Exactly” they said at the same time.

“Also, just think how funny it would be for the other school to see us being idiots. Have something to laugh at after their long travel!” Raven argued.

Draco narrowed his eyes. “It’s a magical way of travel, it will take at maximum one hour.”

Fred held his index finger up. “One hour of being trapped on a tiny ship!”

“Don’t worry” George said with a wicked grin, “We’ve already got Graham, Ginny and Lee to help us out.”

“And me!” Raven grinned and shook his head, when his siblings clearly wanted to argue. “No, I’m doing it. Get over it. It’ll be fun!”

Draco glared at him. “I won’t cover for you.”

Theo smirked. “I will, don’t worry.”

Blaise looked at Theo in surprise, no actually, most people did. But he was the one who then turned to the twins. “I will join as well. Ginny, Raven and I have learnt how to fight together this summer. With us on board, no one will sink the ship.”

“Perfect” Fred grinned.

“Be ready an hour before the school assembles, we have some scarifying to do” George explained and got up. “Oh, and don’t let Snape know, I’m sure he would try to stop us.”

“I will try to stop this!” Draco said loudly, bit was hit with a hex.

Raven tilted his head, when he found Draco unable to open his mouth. Alden frowned at the twins, who looked at him. “Sorry, little brother. Your boyfriend can speak again when we’re on the ship.”

Alden raised an eyebrow. “But that would be an hour before the schools arrive. Ample time to get some help and make the professors to come and get you.”

George frowned at that and looked a silently smug Draco Malfoy. Raven raised his eyebrows at the thoughtful expression the twins were wearing. Then, Fred nodded and turned to the other Slytherins in their year.

“If you keep this little Malfoy from getting a professor, we will give you a voucher for any product, no matter how crazy or expensive in our shop, whenever we open it.” George announced.

“And whoever can prove that they were personally responsible for making sure our little Malfoy won’t get the professors, gets a years’ worth of pranking supplies” Fred added with a grin, which made Draco try and say something, though the hex was clearly keeping him from doing so.

Alden frowned. “What if he gets hurt in the process?” he asked, clearly not willing to get his boyfriend hurt.

The twins looked at him, then each other and then to the Slytherins present. “If you hurt him, we’ll come after you which whatever we’ve got in store” Fred announced to that.

“Happy with that, little brother?” George asked Alden with a wicked grin.

Draco was shooting knives from his eyes, when Alden shrugged and nodded. “Sure.”

Raven sniggered as the Slytherins from his year tried to come up with a way to get the years’ worth of supplies. He winked at his brother when he glared at him.

‘I will kill you for this, Raven’ Draco spoke through their siblings’ bond.

Kefira snorted. Though she too looked uncomfortable. ‘Are you sure this isn’t going to hurt you? That it’s safe?’

Raven nodded happily at his siblings, unable to speak to them when there was so much chaos around. Also, Draco was currently glaring a hole into Alden’s back. So much so, that his boyfriend actually walked over to the twins and asked to join their adventure.

They accepted him with open arms.

“Severus, do you know where the students are that you’re so clearly missing?” Minerva asked and Severus looked up from where he was standing next to other professors. Sirius – still hiding as his panther – lay by his feet, observing everything closely.

“I don’t think I’m missing students” Severus said lowly, his eyes wandering over the assembled student body. Only then, he realized that indeed, a few students were missing.

For one… the terror twins weren’t here. “Oh shit.”

Minerva chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m missing a student as well.”

“Funny that you mention that” Pomona spoke lowly as well, “one of mine isn’t here. I know that there’s nobody else in the House.”

Filius chuckled. “One of mine isn’t here as well. Miss Lovegood said Miss Montague is ill, but I checked the Infirmary before coming down here.”

“This is very bad” Severus hissed and observed how his godson was trying to get a clear view of the lake. He frowned and looked out there as well, unable to see anything.

Minerva frowned. “If they’re not in Hogwarts, where could they be?”

A fresh breeze ruffled Lee Jordan's bandana (which was actually just a Gryffindor scarf) as he surveyed the makeshift pirate ship - a small sailing sloop adorned with a bedsheet sail emblazoned with a skull and poorly drawn crossed bones (courtesy of Alden’s artistic talents, or lack thereof). Raven sat on the back, unable to help his sniggers.

He had no idea where the twins had found the ship (nor the canon, honestly), but the ship was about twenty-five feet long and was sailing very smoothly. They had a lot of things on the boat for their sacrifice.

They had put out to sea about twenty minutes ago and just enjoyed the anticipation of waiting for another ship and being idiotic children. Thanks to Blaise’s amazing help, they had actually gotten enough food for them to stay on water for a while.

“This is awesome!” Ginny cheered and Graham snorted.

“Just wait until the Kraken realizes that we’re here.”

“Alright, crew” Lee bellowed in his best Captain Blackheart impersonation, “are we ready to appease the mighty sea gods?”

“Why?” Alden called back and ducked as George tried to hit him over the head.

“Aye, Captain!” cried Fred, far too dramatic. On the other hand… it was the Picquery terror twins, there was nothing ‘dramatic’ about hem, really.

Actually, Fred and George, sporting mismatched eyepatches fashioned from socks and Slytherin ties, brandished their wands like tiny swords. Ginny adjusted her (borrowed) Gryffindor scarf tied around her head like a pirate queen with her brother as her bodyguard. Alden, clearly uncomfortable in his oversized transfigured pirate hat, walked along the side of the ship to the front.

“I’m ready for whatever!” Blaise called from the middle of the ship, where he was trying to figure out if he could somehow steer the boat by their… admittedly pathetic sail. Raven just sniggered.

“Excellent!” boomed Lee. “Then let's offer a sacrifice!”

Fred, ever the opportunist, whipped out a crumpled pack of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. “Avast, ye scurvy sea dogs! The mighty Kraken demands a tribute!”

Graham, rolling his eyes, snatched the bag. “George… or Fred, these are Bertie Bott's Beans, not a Kraken snack. We want to impress, not traumatize the poor beast.”

Just then, Alden piped up, humour in his voice. "Actually, Krakens are more of a cephalopod, and they tend to eat crustaceans."

“Wait… is that what we’re doing out here?” Ginny asked and tilted her head. “I thought we would try to fight the Durmstrangs!”

Blaise sniggered. “I agree with Ginny, that’s why we have a canon on board, right?”

Graham snorted. “I already regret having agreed to this.”

Raven felt a tug in his mind and knew that Lady Magic seemed to be telling him something without actually speaking. He bent over the railing and looked down into the vast endless depth of the Black Lake.

At first, he didn’t see anything, the discussion turned to background noise. However, his eyes spotted a dark shape emerging from the depth of the lake. It looked like a huge, giant sea-monster. Bigger than the Kraken.

Dread filled his stomach, did they even know what sort of creatures were in the lake? Or were they just… about to turn into food?

A sleek black galleon, emblazoned with a menacing silver dragon sliced through the water surface with a chilling silence. Apart from the gasps of the ‘pirate crew’. Its towering masts scraped the low-hanging clouds, the sails slurring water at the feeling of fresh air. And it was certainly made of magic.

As the ship came closer, Raven could see several people looking over the railing, grinning at their little ship and playful actions. Most importantly though, it was Victor Krum, Quidditch World Star, leaned over the ship and grinned down at them.

Lee along with all of the ‘pirates’ froze, mid-harangue. “Um,” Lee mumbled, the wind suddenly stealing his Captain Blackheart bravado. “Fancy... seeing you here?”

Krum smirked, tilting his head slightly. “Sacrificing to the Kraken, are we, Hogwarts?”

Obviously, Lee was nervous, since he couldn’t get any words out. Not the twins though. “Absolutely not, kind sir” Fred announced loudly, doing a fancy bow that frankly rocked half the boat.

Raven sniggered when George cut in. “We are just practicing our Quidditch throws.”

“With Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans” Krum asked, his eyebrows slightly raised. “What’s with the flag?”

He pointed at the sail with the bones on it.

“We were hoping to battle your ship” Ginny called up to the students waiting and listening in.

A couple of students laughed, Krum himself seemed amused. “With that baby boat?”

“We have a canon!” Fred yelled.

“A big, scary canon!” George added.

Raven wanted to laugh so loudly, but he honestly couldn’t, or he would lose what was spoken in the conversation. Blaise sniggered next to him, while Graham and Lee smacked their hands on their foreheads. Alden himself was just as amused as Krum himself.

“Good luck with that!” Krum called at them, when the ship passed them. “Maybe next time!”

They went to the shore, while the ‘pirates’ laughed. Ginny however, actually fired the canon after them. She obviously missed.

“Did you just throw Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans?” Fred asked, clearly in awe.

“Nope” Ginny grinned and straightened herself again. “Graham’s lucky socks.”

Graham looked up in alarm. “My socks?!”

Lee sniggered, having regained his composure and he dodged an attack from Graham who after that tried to jump into the lake to get his lucky socks back.

“I’m pretty sure the Kraken already ate them” Ginny said, mischievously. “I added crabs from the kitchen to it.”

“No!” Graham yelled and fell to his knees. The rest of the crew turned their ship around (with ample help of their magic) and made their way to the shore themselves.

Raven grinned and looked over to the twins, sneaking closer to their whispered discussions. “Well, that didn't go quite according to plan” Fred whispered.

“Maybe next time” George replied with a wink, “we'll sacrifice something a bit more...Durmstrang-ish.”

“If you think of sacrificing Krum, several people will want to talk to you about that” he added, making both brothers jump. Then, they sniggered.

“Thanks for the heads-up, little brother.”

Severus glowered at all of the Slytherin students in his office, before he sighed. “Detention for you all for the next week.” He dismissed them after that, but asked for Raven to stay behind.

Raven did, sending a quick smile at Blaise.

Finally, Severus looked at Raven who grinned at him. “What?”

Pinching the bridge on his nose, Severus sighed. “You children are going on my nerves, really.”

Sniggering, Raven shrugged his shoulders. “It was just fun. No one would have been hurt, even if they had shot their canons.”

“You cannot know that” Severus argued, but Raven grinned.

“Where’s Sirius today?” he asked to change the discussion. He had realized that the panther hadn’t been around since they had come back from the lake.

Severus leaned in front of his desk. “Fighting with the goblins and then he’s visiting Remus. And who knows what else. It seems that he’s always busy.”

Raven grinned. “But he still finds time for you, which is nice.”

His godfather chuckled. “I agree. Well, Raven, do you need to go back to the Common Room?”

“Can we brew something together?” he asked instead.

“Of course.”

They walked to Severus’ personal potions lab which looked clean once more. As if Kefira had never been in here and never destroyed half the place with her invention to cure the dragonpox. Severus grabbed some ingredients and Raven helped him prepare them in silence.

It was relaxing here, next to his godfather. Working together like they had done so for years. And in a way, Raven knew that the two of them had been working together for a while. It had taken a bit of time to get as comfortable as they were right now, but… it had definitely been worth it.

Once you got to know the real Severus Snape, he wasn’t as scary as everyone thought.

“Good job” Severus said finally. “You can really understand the theory.”

Raven shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not as good as Kefira or Draco, but… I try.”

Severus chuckled. “Once all the threats are done with, I’ll come visit you more often and we can prank the others with the potions again.”

“I’d like that!” Raven said, beaming at his godfather.

“Alright” Severus pulled him into a quick hug. “Now, time to go back to your Common Room.”

Raven nodded, though only followed Severus’ orders, when his godfather practically dragged him to the entrance. Something was holding him back.

“You know, Raven” Severus said softly, “not everyone has to be something great or big. The small actions count as well. You’ve had fun with your friends on the lake. Laughter and happiness bring joy to one’s heart. Never forget that.”

“I won’t” Raven promised. “I think it’s important that we can have fun together. I like the twins for that.”

Severus chuckled. “And Blaise?”

Raven tilted his head in soft confusion. “Blaise? He… he doesn’t… well, I mean, he’s… he’s nice…”

“He is, yes.”

“And we can fight together, nicely.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I like him.”

Severus frowned. “You like him? As a friend?”

Raven hesitated. “No… like… like you and Sirius.” He blushed with that. “I think.”

Chuckling softly, Severus pulled Raven into another hug. “Hey, shadow, you’re still young. You’ve got your whole life to figure out in what kind you like Blaise. But I can see that he likes you too.”

“Really?” Raven asked, his voice hopeful.

“Yes, shadow.”

Happiness and love filled his heart from just these two words. Not because Severus had said that Blaise loved him, but because Severus’ voice itself had been filled with love and just… acceptance. It seemed that he had truly found a place where he belonged.

A family.

His family!

“Love you!” he said quickly and dashed through the door, leaving a stunned professor behind.

Chapter Text

“Cedric Diggory!”

Hogwarts cheered so loud that Raven held his ears closed. He snorted when he saw Alden throw a confetti canon in the air. Most likely, the twins had shared one with each house just in case.

His point was proven, when Luna and Ginny made theirs explode, Lee and Neville let theirs go off and the twins joined the fun too. Confetti in all colours of the houses rained down upon the students.

“Go, Ced!” the Hufflepuffs were cheering and soon all of Hogwarts joined in as well.

‘Can they not quiet down? I’m trying to read’, Kefira’s annoyed voice spoke in their mind through the noise. Raven sniggered and looked over to where his sister sat, a potions book in her lap, studying it intently.

Draco rolled his eyes and tried hitting her on the back of the head to make her focus, but she had clearly seen him coming. Even though she was reading. She ducked away and hit him over the head with her book, before she went back to reading.

Blaise next to Raven snorted. “These kinds of reactions, the two should have when fighting together on a battlefield, not now.”

“Agreed” Raven said, turning back to the choosing of the Champions. “But I think here they can act through their instincts, while on the field, they’re thinking too much.”

“Fleur Delacour!”

More cheering, Kefira’s annoyed statements. Blaise leaned over and explained that the place where they had their fight with Sirius and a few others was actually owned by the Delacour family. “They’re very rich and influential” he finished his explanation.

Frowning, Raven followed her as she left through the backdoor of the Great Hall. “Is it like the Picquerys?” he asked, curiously.

“More like the Scamanders. They have a legacy status. If the Goblet of Fire hadn’t chosen her, a few people would have questioned its creation.”

Raven watched with fascination, as the fire spit out another name. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment yet again.

‘Can we leave, please?’ Kefira asked, annoyedly. Just like a child on a road trip.

Sniggering, Raven turned to look at her, while Draco answered. ‘Just because you’re not interested doesn’t mean that the rest isn’t!”

Kefira only glanced up for a second to glare at their brother, before she turned back to her book. ‘My life was perfect, before you became my brother. Not you though, Raven, you’re perfect.”

Draco gasped in mocked horror, while Raven snorted.

“Viktor Krum!”

Raven caught his sister looking up, following the Bulgarian Seeker’s way through the cheering crowd. When she realized that he was watching her, she stuck out her tongue at him. Raven grinned.

‘Now it’s over, we can finally go back!’ Kefira got up, her face almost in the book, when the fire shot up again.

Everyone froze. The children of the allies looked at each other, questioning which of them would be entered into the tournament without having wanted to. After a discussion a few nights before the schools arrived, they had all decided that it was too dangerous to be a part of the tournament.

The twins had put on a show of trying different things to get through the age line, but it had just been a few ways to check if anybody could mess with them. They had come to the only conclusion: only an adult could mess with the Goblet of Fire.

The piece of parchment sailed through the air, almost peacefully, as if unaware of the dark future it would bring to anyone of them. Dumbledore caught it, his arm resting in that position, before he slowly pulled it down, as if putting on a show.

“He’s to blame for whatever comes next” Raven whispered to Blaise who nodded darkly.

“I should have entered the twins’ betting pool” the other Slytherin said.

Raven snorted. “Who do they think will be the one called up?” he asked, though he thought it was most likely going to be-

“Raven Malfoy!”

“You.”

… him, yes.

Exactly.

Raven rolled his eyes.

Kefira’s book fell to the floor, the only noise through the sudden quiet. ‘Did he just say Raven?!’

“No thank you” Raven called through the silent Great Hall. Several students sniggered at his answer, while a lot of people looked at him confused. Raven saw his godfather getting up and leaving the Great Hall with the panther beside him.

If he had to guess, Sirius was going to call the goblins. He needed to stall until they were here, he so desperately wanted to see how they would react to him being called as a tournament champion.

Alden sat on the other end of the hall, looking deathly green. Several students of Raven’s own house seemed to be sick. No one moved, no one even called. And of course no one cheered.

“That is unfair!” the headmaster of Durmstrang called. “If Hogwarts has two champions, I also want two champions for Durmstrang!”

Dumbledore shook his head. “No, no, there must be a mistake… But the Goblet of Fire doesn’t make mistakes…”

He seemed to wait for the student body to engage and call Raven to the front. But thanks to the twins’ efforts, they had all witnessed at least one test or heard of one. They all seemed to realize that Raven could not have done it himself.

And so… no one ordered him to face the music. If anything, the people around Raven scooted closer together. Blaise took out his knife and sat on the floor in front of Raven, glaring at the Headmaster with such anger in his face that a few students had feared of coming closer.

Their allies however had moved closer and stayed with Raven.

You could swear on your magic in my name that you didn’t put your name in the goblet. Then cast an easy spell, even the non-believers will have to believe you.

Raven took a deep breath and thanked Lady Magic for her suggestion.

“I, Raven Abraxas Malfoy, swear by my magic and in Lady Magic’s name that I did not put my name into the Goblet of Fire and did not ask anyone to do so in my name! So mote it be!” he called into the somewhat empty Great Hall. A few people had been whispering, but with his magical swear, most were quiet.

Then, he focussed on his magic. “Expecto Patronus!”

A blue-silver dragon emerged from his wand, taking the air with two massive wings. It flew a loop, before diving towards the ground and landing in front of Raven who grinned at it. Professor Lupin had shown them how to do it last year, but he had only been able to create a physical form over the summer with Blaise’s help.

I’m pretty sure I told you to cast an easy spell.

“Yeah, but this is more fun” Raven argued against Lady Magic’s rather sarcastic comment and he smirked into the crowd. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it.”

“Be that as if may” Dumbledore said loudly. “Please come to the front and-“

Raven opened his mouth to call the old man out, when the door was ripped open. Severus and the panther had returned, along with an army of goblins. At the front, Hembrock. Raven smirked and nodded, as he saw them walking towards the old man.

Dumbledore was obviously annoyed, but he played it off… strangely. “My… friends from Gringotts, welcome! How can I assist you today?”

Hembrock narrowed his eyes, a dark expression on his face. “We are not friends, Lord Dumbledore. The Goblin Nation has come to destroy the Earth Goblet. Your kind has messed with its original magic, good magic, and turned it into something evil. Clearly, whoever has messed with it, has removed their magical signature.”

Raven widened his eyes with the show that the other goblins put on, by testing the Goblet of Fire. It was a lightshow, blue, green, white, red lights all flying around the goblet.

Meanwhile, Hembrock continued, “This goblet has been a present from our Nation to yours, but by adding another layer of magic, you destroyed this sacred artifact. We’ll be taking it back to Gringotts and keep it safe from any maleficent actions.”

With that, the goblins grabbed the Goblet Of Fire… or Earth Goblet, as they had called it, and left the hall.

Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders and then turned to Raven. “Mister Malfoy, come on now.”

Raven got up. “If you make me be a part of this tournament, I will just fail at everything intentionally. I do not want to be in this Death Tournament!”

While the rest of students joined in and told the headmaster off for trying to include Raven in it, he turned to ask Lady Magic what would happen if he were to intentionally fail at everything.

No one has ever tried to do something like that, but I can assure you that you only have to step one foot into a task in order to not lose your magic. The goblet will consider this as partaking in the tournament.

Thank Merlin!

Kefira wrote down a few things on the potions he was creating for Minerva McGonagall. She was seated in the library, at the very end. Almost no one would go back that far. The most used books were at the front and there were bigger tables to work on there too.

Sometimes, someone would come here by accident or they were lost in their thoughts or reading while walking. A lot of Ravenclaws apparently had the tendency to do that. Walk around while reading?! How could they take anything in? And more importantly, how could they stay on the path and not just walk into doors and walls and tables…?

For being a booklover, Kefira didn’t understand that part.

“Hello” someone spoke and Kefira nearly jumped out of her skin.

She looked up to see the Bulgarian Seeker standing by her table. “Um… hi? Can I help you?”

Krum sat down opposite of her and looked at her calmly. “You’re Kefira Malfoy, right?”

“Yes? And you’re Viktor Krum, famous Quidditch star. So where do we go from here?” she asked with a quick smirk. “Also, you are kind of interrupting my studying.”

“Oh, very sorry. I just needed to find you and thank you.”

“Thank me?” Kefira was unsure of what to say or ask. “Whatever for?”

Her stomach lurched as Krum ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture that sent a quick shiver down her spine. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the dusty library windows, casting a golden glow across his face, highlighting the laugh lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. Even through his stern expression, she could see that he seemed to be happy person. Kefira bit her lower lip and desperately tried to focus on the tangled mess of notes in front of her, the chicken scratch that represented hours of research blurring on the page. But Viktor Krum’s presence was a tangible force, his nearness drowning out the quiet hum of the library.

She looked back up to see Krum having watched her carefully.

“You saved my parents” he stated softly. “They were at the brink of death from dragonpox. The publication of your potion, of your cure… it saved my parents. Thank you.”

Kefira stared at the other boy in shock. “You… you’re welcome” she said softly. “I was just trying to save my brother and friends. But I’m glad you have family left.”

Viktor Krum smiled at her. It seemed as if there was a whole sunrise in his eyes. The whole world lit up with it.

As he got up, Kefira held her hand out. “Hey, there’s a weekend… well, no. Next weekend, there’s a Hogsmeade weekend, where we can go visit the nearby village. Do you… could I invite you there?”

“As in… a date?” Viktor Krum asked, unsure.

“Yeah?” Kefira asked slowly, unsure herself. What had possessed her to ask such a question?

“Of course” the Bulgarian Seeker said with a smile. “Nine o’clock by the castle entrance?”

Kefira nodded as if in trance. Krum grinned and waved goodbye, disappearing around the shelves. Meanwhile, Kefira went back to her studies, unable to believe that she had just kind of successfully asked Viktor Krum out on a date!

“Holy shit” she whispered to herself, feeling too giddy to finish her research today. So, she packed up and went looking for her friends to tell them what had just happened.

With Bill out of the playing field (hopefully only temporarily), it had been one of the goblins to inform Raven and the families of the Allyship about the Horcrux in Raven’s mind. They had done so after everyone had gotten together - read: the children had snuck out of Hogwarts - when Charlie had heard from old friends that there were dragons used in the first task. Apparently, they had thought it was a good thing to bring all of the negative topics up in one meeting.

The only problem was that now, everyone was worrying about Raven all the time.

None of the Malfoys had taken it easy that Raven would have to die to get rid of the Horcrux in his mind and it had taken a Calming Draught to get Narcissa, Lucius, Amelia and Susan to calm down. The rest wasn’t looking good either, but they were relatively calm for the occasion.

While everyone thought that his siblings were taking it very well, Raven, privy to their secret discussions, knew better.

‘I will kill him! Dumbledore, the Dark Lord, anyone who comes after you!’ Draco promised, his voice almost thundering through their shard siblings’ link.

‘Whatever you need, I’ll provide it’ Kefira added darkly. ‘I can do whatever potion you need.’

‘I’ll get Dumbledore when we’re back from our family emergency’ Draco said.

‘I’ll find a poison you’ll like.’

Lord Nott was the only one who was thinking clearly, it seemed. “So, we’ll add two more problems onto the list of troubles that need to be dealt with as fast as possible.”

“The dragon one we can deal with” Charlie said immediately. “My friends told me that they were supposed to transport nesting dragons from Romania to the UK, took a lot of paperwork to make that possible.”

“Nesting dragons?!” Alden asked and shook his head, “but the Ministry has a rulebook about that! They shouldn’t be allowed to enter!”

Lady Montague chuckled darkly. “Unless you’re Dumbledore.”

Riagán O’Brien snorted. “Actually, he just paid the Ministry to look the other way after filling out the paperwork. However, that does narrow down what we think the task is going to be.”

Konstantin sighed. “Getting an egg?” he asked.

‘I’ll kill Dumbledore’ Draco repeated in their heads.

Raven sniggered at his comment and he rubbed his forehead. “Okay, I’ll get the champions together, we’ll figure it out. What do we do with the Horcrux?”

“We’re not going to kill you” Lord Picquery stated immediately. “I’ll write a letter to Arthur’s Thomas. The Potions Guild is working on a potion to make sure you’re only temporarily dead, maybe Thomas has an idea as well.”

“We’ll leave it in?” Raven asked, slightly scared of what it meant to live with a Horcrux in his head.

Lord Dolohov nodded softly. “For now. We’ll get it out eventually, I promise you this.”

Raven nodded. “Thank you.”

You know, child, there is one positive thing to having a Horcrux and me in your mind. Lady Magic paused for dramatic effect, clearly. It was a bit funny to think that she would do that. When the Horcrux in your mind is destroyed, I can go after the magical signature of it and take the rest down. I’m sure Lord Death wouldn’t mind me doing that.

“That does make me feel better” he muttered to himself, though meaning it for Lady Magic.

Soon enough, the meeting ended. Mostly, because Dumbledore would realize that the children were gone and not studying if they didn’t show up for dinner. One by one, they slid through the fireplace in Severus’ office – more or less elegant.

In Raven’s case… definitely less.

Bill was in his hospital bed, when two people arrived.

He’d had about enough of all the doctors and Healers and Mediwitches who wanted to study him. They could go back to that hellhole he had been in and get themselves infected if they really needed to have a test subject. He just wanted to go home.

Even Gringotts hadn’t been able to find a cure and everyone was at their wits’ end.

“Well hello, gorgeous man” he heard Lord Dolohov’s voice.

Raising his eyebrows, he turned to the entrance, where he found the Lord leaning against the doorframe with a grin.

“Very funny” Bill said. “The rotting has gone to my face, the one thing I was proud to keep as it was. Doesn’t feel so ‘gorgeous’ anymore.”

Lord Dolohov chuckled. “Whatever might be the case, it hasn’t overtaken your humanity and humour. So… still gorgeous.”

“I was prouder of my looks, to be honest. So, the fact that this might be unrepairable damage… that’s a hard blow.” Bill sighed.

“Are you always this negative?”

Looking at the Lord, Bill saw him still with a grin. Clearly, he was amused by Bill’s situation.

“Yes!” he said, pulling his blanket down to reveal his arms which looked… as if he had returned from death. It was disgusting. “Soon, the only thing remaining will be my bones and my humour.”

Lord Dolohov chuckled. "What have the healers and researchers found so far? Do they have any updates, or is today your day free of poking and prodding?"

Bill snorted. “Feels like that. And no, they haven’t found anything. I’m about to lose my mind.”

“Then, I’ve got something.”

“What?”

“Well, I didn’t find it, mind you, but Declan’s family found it” Lord Dolohov said and Bill needed a second to remember who the hell ‘Declan’ was… Charlie. So, O’Brien.

Tilting his head, Bill frowned. “They found something? And it could help?”

“Amanda O’Brien studied healing, before she went to research different illnesses” Lord Dolohov explained. “Obviously, ever since you’ve been attacked by the Inferi, the Allyship has been looking for ways to cure it. Amanda thinks she’s found something.”

Bill waited for more to say, but there wasn’t anything. That made one thing clear. “So it’s something experimental that the UK magical government wouldn’t agree with? That’s why you don’t have it here?”

Lord Dolohov grinned. “You catch on rather fast.”

“To be frank, I would do anything about now to get rid of this. The mediwitches are talking about what happens when it reaches my organs and… I have no idea, why they were discussing theories in front of me, but I cannot unhear it.”

“Something suitable for dinner, then?”

“If you want to lose appetite, definitely.”

Lord Dolohov chuckled again. “I’ll ask the healer to give you into my care.”

Bill blushed at that. “What… that… I… It’s not necessary, there’s…”

“I will not accept any other option” the Lord stated, before he winked at him. “You are, after all, still bonded to me. We haven’t found anything to stop that.”

Lord Dolohov left the room, while Bill was still blushing. Shit. Shit! Why was he so… interested in the lord? He couldn’t keep his interest to himself, it seemed. Clearly, Lord Dolohov knew that he was interested. Why else would he make such statements and winking?!

It only took him about ten minutes, before he came back with a healer. Clearly, the man wasn’t interested in losing Bill as their scientific guinea pig. However, Lord Dolohov had friends in higher places and could eventually take Bill away.

Not after having threatened to grab a portkey and taking Bill with him whether or not the Healer released him.

“You’re signing his death warrant” the healer stated, darkly. “He’s got but a few weeks to live, before his body will shut down.”

“Thank you” Lord Dolohov said with an eyeroll. He seemed far less amused when he was talking to the healer. “I don’t think I need to listen to this.”

Bill now questioned all the interactions he’d had with the Lord… He had always seemed so happy, so… flirty? Was he flirting with him?

Oh fuck.

“The transportation will hurt” Lord Dolohov said softly, looking at Bill. “Do you think you can handle travelling while standing or should we take the bed and then send it back?”

“Excuse me, but this is St. Mungo’s property!” the healer stated loudly.

Lord Dolohov turned to look at the man in a death stare. “I’m pretty sure with the amount of galleons I give here for charity, I can take a bed with me for a night.” He paused, before standing much taller. “I could also stop all of my payments to St. Mungo’s, now that I’m thinking of it. If I’m being treated like that, as a helping hand, I do not want to know what your patients will experience here.”

“Being theorized about in front of the patient” Bill said darkly.

“I see.” Lord Dolohov seemed to be thinking. “How about that; I’ll take the bed and add the amount to my next donation. Which frankly, will be my last donation to this institution. For now at least.”

He placed the portkey on the bed, while the healer tried to say something, but before he could say whatever was on his mind, they were whisked away. Bill groaned at the pain pulsating through his body, even after they landed and he took a calm breath, to steady himself.

A wave of nausea receded, leaving behind a dull ache that throbbed throughout his body. Slowly, he cracked open his eyes, blinking against the unfamiliar light filtering through a small, diamond-shaped window. Cobwebs, shimmering with trapped dust motes, adorned the high corners of the whitewashed ceiling. The air smelled faintly of hay and damp earth, a stark contrast to the sterile hospital room he'd become accustomed to. He was no longer in the cold, stone prison cell. Instead, he lay in a simple, familiar room. At the foot of the bed, Lord Dolohov stood, a dark silhouette against the pale sunlight streaming through the window. His tall, imposing figure was partially obscured by a heavy oak wardrobe adorned with intricate Celtic knot carvings. The rhythmic tick-tock of an old grandfather clock echoed in the otherwise quiet room, the only sound besides Dolohov's steady breaths.

“Alright?” his smooth voice seemed to be a salve for his slowly ceasing pain.

“Not really, but… hopefully soon.”

The Lord smirked. “For the Inferi, yes. Soulbond… we’ll see.”

Bill smiled at him. “Thank you for doing this, you know. You didn’t have to, but you’re still helping me.”

“Well” Lord Dolohov seemed to struggle at stating why he was helping him or maybe he was just unsure of how to accept that thank you. “Call me Antonin.”

With that, he bowed quickly and left.

Bill’s heart flattered. Antonin.

When trumpets sounded, it had turned into normalcy. It had been going for about two weeks at this point and it was just hilarious to witness. Raven snorted and stopped in the waiting hall in front of the Great Hall for the inevitable.

“What are you waiting for?” Blaise asked him.

Raven turned around and smirked. “Moody’s on the move” he told Blaise who came from the other direction, so he clearly hadn’t heard the music. His friend listened, before clearly hearing the trumpets.

“I see” Blaise smirked. “So he wasn’t able to remove the spell, it seems.”

The twins had come up with the most fantastic prank ever. Whenever Moody would leave his personal quarters or classroom, there was a whole marching band following him. And by that, they had hexed something that would make that sound. No one knew what they had done or how, but… the result was just too comical and entertaining.

In fact, a moment later, Moody walked past with invisible trumpets playing every step he took. Clearly, the Auror couldn’t keep this from happening.

Raven watched him for a moment longer, before he turned to Blaise. They hadn’t yet followed their professor into the Hall. Something was up there. “Hey, remember when we went to France and fought with group two?”

“Yeah, why?” Blaise asked confusedly.

“That’s not Moody” Raven said, pointing into the Great Hall. He then raised his eyebrows. “We met Moody, when he came talking to Tonks, remember?”

Blaise frowned and tilted his head. “Yes, I remember. And you are absolutely right. He doesn’t have the same magical feeling around him as he did in France.”

Raven nodded. “So the question is, who is this man and where is our real Moody?”

“There’s a box in his office” a new voice said and Raven turned to see Neville standing there behind him.

“What?”

“He’s got this huge metal box in his office. Told me not to think about it” Neville explained with a shrug. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about since.”

“When did you go into his office?” Blaise asked, suspiciously. “Did you make sure that you weren’t alone?”

Neville shook his head. “Why should I… I mean, no, I went there after he showed us the Curses.”

Blaise rolled his eyes. “I should have been suspicious from the start, honestly.”

“Do you think he’s got the original Moody in the box?” Raven asked Neville.

“I would bet my Lordship on that, and my magic.”

Raven snorted. “Alright, let’s go now.”

“Now?” Neville and Blaise asked at the same time.

“Yep” he peered into the Great Hall and saw their friends, but more specifically… “GINNY!” he hollered into the room and Ginny jumped up and raced towards them.

Grinning, Raven gave her a high-five, when she arrived. Her auburn hair was in a high ponytail, something she had done more since learning that fighting with open hair was rather a hindrance. It did suit her well.

“Ready for anything!” she claimed and grinned then at Neville. “Hi Nev.”

The Gryffindor widened his eyes. “Uh… hi? You’re a Montague!”

Raven snorted and pulled his friends with him. Now that Not-Moody had trumpets on him, he was rather easy to hear approaching. So, for the moment they were safe.

“Good observation” Ginny stated with a grin. “But don’t worry, I don’t eat Gryffindors for breakfast.”

“Just for lunch” Raven explained and dodged a hex from his friend. Blaise snorted and rolled his eyes.

Before long, all of them made it to the Professor’s quarter and Neville showed them how to get inside – since the professor hadn’t changed the password yet. What an idiot.

As they entered, they were met with multiple crazy gadgets, each one looking weirder and more unusable as the next. And of course, the big metal box in the corner.

“Really obvious” Blaise said and raised his eyebrows. “Whoever this fake Moody is cannot be that smart.”

Ginny hummed, having been let into the secret of why they were going through their professor’s stuff. “I also cannot believe that our real Moody would get caught by this idiot.”

“Everyone has a weak point” Neville said with a shrug. “Here” he held out a small Muggle pin.

Raven took it without questioning and knelt in front of the metal box. He had learnt how to pick a lock when he was very young. His school had gone to the library and Raven knew that this was his one chance to find something to help him make his life better. And the lockpicking book was the first thing he had seen.

“Uh… magic?” Ginny asked with raised eyebrows. Even Blaise seemed confused, but Neville pointed out the runes on the box.

“I don’t take Runes, but I do know these. My grandmother had a small box for documents with these runes. They’re basic security runes to make magic worthless if used on it.”

Blaise frowned and turned to Neville. “Hey, quick question, did you hear what happened to the Weasley children?”

Ginny froze and looked at Blaise with a calculating look. Raven looked over his shoulders at him as well, before completing one of the three locks on the box. He moved to the next one, but waited for Neville to answer, before he continued.

“Yeah, it’s confusing how something like that could have happened to them” Neville said softly. He seemed unsure of where this would go, but as Raven turned back to the lock, he realized what Blaise was insinuating.

Neville could be like them…

“He said that other children could be going through the same thing” Ginny said softly, clearly also having figured out where Blaise was going with this.

Sighing, Neville shook his head. “Yeah, after Harry Potter disappeared, my grandmother took me to Gringotts for something. I believe she thought that I would inherit something from him. Anyway, we did the inheritance test and… sadly, I’m a Longottom. My relatives are just idiots who hate me because I’m going to be a Lord and they can’t.”

Blaise shrugged his shoulders. “Worth a try. It could have been.”

Neville chuckled, when Raven got the second lock cleared and when he looked back at his former Housemate, the Gryffindor grinned. “I know who you are though.”

“Really?” Raven asked and moved to the last lock. “I’m surprised not more people know, seeing as the headmaster clearly wants to take me out.”

“Do you know where the Weasley’s are?” Ginny asked, suspiciously, which made Neville grin.

“Also a yes. It’s kind of obvious that the twins didn’t change names” he said, before looking at Ginny. “And neither did you.”

Ginny held her hands up. “Okay, seriously, my name is Guinevere and… I’m never going to use that one. The second I’m an adult, I’m requesting a name change.”

“To what?” Raven asked. “Cinnamon?”

“Who the-“

“Veraminta?” Blaise offered.

Ginny glared at him. “I’ll kill you.”

“Then probably ‘Satan’” Blaise sniggered and Neville grinned.

“I would stop if I were you, just in case this gets out of hand and we’d have to fix the room up” he said, just when the third lock opened. All of them grabbed their wands and were ready for anything, just in case.

When Raven pushed the lid open, they looked down into the abyss, almost. At the bottom of the large hole sat a man passed out.

“Shit” Raven swore and looked around. “Do you think we can smuggle him into the Infirmary?”

“We should” Ginny said quietly. “Everyone’s eating at the moment.”

With combined effort, they levitated him out of the hole and Ginny transformed a book into a stretcher, where they laid him onto. In a last effort to keep their finding hidden, Blaise transformed another book into a similar looking body than Moody and placed it at the bottom, after adding a spell to keep the transformation there for ten months. That should have bought them some time.

“There’s a secret pathway from the second floor to almost the Infirmary” Raven told the other and started to lead the way. The rest followed quickly, making sure that Moody wasn’t being more damaged than he already was.

The daylight now was illuminating a skeletal figure, highlighting the gaunt hollows beneath his cheekbones and the tangled mess of hair clinging to his sweat-streaked face. His clothes, once vibrant, hung in rags, revealing raw patches of skin where they'd worn through entirely. The man, a mere shadow of his former self, seemed to have surrendered completely to the darkness that had held him captive for so long. Or maybe it had happened through potions and spells…

Raven really hoped that he hadn’t been put under potions and compulsions…

“We can’t bring him to the Hospital Wing” Raven said suddenly and stopped before the route would take him to the Infirmary. “What if Dumbledore is in on it?”

“Where else then?” Ginny asked and looked at the floating stretcher.

Blaise frowned. “Professor Snape has a fireplace. We could bring him there and have your families take care of him.”

Neville seemed confused about that. “They would do that?”

“You will see, Nev” Ginny said with a quick grin, “even if we’re dark families, we take care of others.”

“I do see that, it’s just… I was told so many other things…”

Raven smiled back at his former housemate. “We’ll invite you to our homes over the holidays, Neville. Maybe by seeing it with your own eyes, you can realize that we’re not so bad.” Then, he changed course and led the other three through the hidden tunnels to Severus’ quarters.

Lucky for all of them, Severus wasn’t really interested in joining the staff until later, so he was somehow still in his rooms. He listened to their explanation and then promised to take Moody to a safer place where he could rest and heal. Apparently, he had been at the brink of exhaustion and could have very likely died in there in a few weeks or months. Who knew how much stronger the Auror was.

“I’ll take him to Riagán” Severus promised Raven and smiled. “Your families will take care of him, I’m sure.”

“How do you know of Riagán?” Blaise asked with a tilted head, having only been introduced to the Irish farmer last summer.

Severus smiled at his snake, “I was introduced alongside Sirius Black last Christmas. And to the Alliance.”

Neville widened his eyes. “Alliance?”

Ginny grinned and pulled him with her, starting to explain how that came to be. Meanwhile, Severus floo’d away with Moody in tow and Blaise and Raven went back to the Great Hall, where the trumpets sounded again.

“Never change” Raven told the twins with a snicker.

Chapter Text

Alden was helping around the Hospital Wing, having gotten used to where he could find what. He had gotten so used to being around here that Madam Pomfrey had given him the task of keeping up with their potion supply and checking whether or not more had to be ordered.

He was very proud of being able to help the Mediwitch of Hogwarts. Quickly he had realized that Madam Pomfrey was very intellectual, very smart und sly, like his friends. A true Slytherin. And he had also realized that sometimes, especially with children, she needed to be.

That realization had then led to him questioning whether his ideals of wanting to become a healer or mediwizard were good enough, or if he needed to be a Snake. Once again, Madam Pomfrey had come to his help.

“There are a thousand different ways to get the same results. Some are faster and more direct, while others take time. The scenic route can be nice for a change as well.”

Alden frowned. “Are you telling me to wait to become a Healer?” he questioned her method of teaching.

Madam Pomfrey chuckled. “No, certainly not. I’m just saying that what has worked for me might not work for you. And maybe you don’t want to work in a school full of children who will do whatever it necessary to not take the potions.”

Grinning, Alden shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know yet.”

“See? You’re in fourth year, Mister Nott. You can do whatever you want do.”

In addition to spending time in the Hospital Wing and learning healing from the amazing Madam Pomfrey, Alden had also taken to spending some time with his brother – and for obvious reasons with Draco. Apparently, over the summer, Draco had taken inspiration of his godfather and had started jogging as well. Though he hadn’t been able to get around the lake every morning (did Snape actually do that?!), but he had tried to do so after dinner. Alden had usually joined him.

“I don’t see, how this is relaxing!” Alden wheezed as he tried to follow Draco’s routine.

“Me neither!” Draco yelled at the top of his lungs, finally stopping halfway around the lake. He was breathing heavily and bent over to most likely calm his nerves. Alden came to a halt as well, but he pulled Draco with him to take some steps and not just stop out of nowhere and destroy his system – or something.

Alden snorted when Draco started walking on his own again. “I thought maybe Sev figured something out…” he was still breathing heavily between the words, “but this is just torture.”

Laughing softly, Alden looked at the slowly darkening sky. “Maybe it’s good for Snape. But we need something else? I know that whenever my fake brothers were putting us through Quidditch drills, it felt like a workout.”

“I’ll try that any day!” Draco said, before collapsing to the ground. “Just leave me here to die.”

Alden snorted. “You’re so dramatic. Come on, up!”

“No!”

“I will leave you here for the werewolves to munch on.”

“Then my life has had a purpose.”

“I’ll tell Kefira and Raven that you think this is your only purpose.”

Draco groaned, but he got up.

Alden sniggered as he watched his boyfriend taking a few steps. “Why do they have so much power over you?”

“Who? Raven and Kefira?” Draco asked, before he grinned. “Kefira could kill me a thousand ways through whatever potion she’s currently working on and you do not want to see Raven fighting… he’s so fricking scary!”

“I need to see that!”

Draco glared at him, which made Alden laugh. “Your fake sister is pairing up with Raven and Blaise. They’re unstoppable.”

Alden grinned. “I believe that when I see it.”

He believed it.

No one had to see Ginny pairing up with Raven and Blaise, he had seen Blaise working on his sword skills outside one evening. He looked magnificent. He could understand why Raven had fallen for the Slytherin (even if it took him far too long to get his shit together and ask him out!).

“Good evening, Mister Bones.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “At least call me Bill. I’m supposed to call you Antonin, right?”

Lord Dolohov smirked at him. “But ‘Bill’ isn’t your name, is it now?”

“So? You’re not going to call me that?” Bill questioned and tilted his head.

Since he had been placed here with the O’Briens, he had gotten to learn that Lord Dolohov, or Antonin, was much more relaxed. Though he still looked immaculate, he wasn’t wearing suits all the time. He did however, know how to dress stunningly in button-up shirts and well-fitting trousers. Bill did not want to know what the man looked like in a simple t-shirt and jeans… he probably wouldn’t survive it.

“If you’re looking to shorten your name, you know that Michael can also be Mike?” Antonin asked with a chuckle.

“How about this; if you heal my rotting skin, I will consider you calling me Michael.”

Antonin laughed softly. “Consider? Mister Bones, if Amanda manages to heal you, you will need to do more than just ‘considering it’.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “I will formally change my name. I won’t think of myself as William and will henceforth be called Michael. Is that good enough for you?”

Sitting on the chair by the window, Antonin crossed his legs elegantly. Okay, who was he kidding, whatever that Lord did, it was elegantly.

“Have you ever questioned why you aren’t able to accept your name given to you at birth?” he asked softly. “You know, Konstantin changed his name instantly, accepted his new family. It makes me wonder why you haven’t done so.”

“I… I don’t know” Bill said slowly. “I guess I’ve been living with my name for so long that… it’s strange to change it now.”

“Plenty of people change their names, even in adulthood.”

“But these people weren’t happy with what their parents gave to them. I like ‘William’, I like being called ‘Bill’. It’s… natural.”

Lord Dolohov… Antonin hummed thoughtfully. “What does your sister call you?”

“Michael” Bill said quietly. “Susan too.”

“And you want to change that?”

Bill shook his head softly. “No. I… I like them calling me that name. It feels familiar.”

It was quiet in the room. From somewhere downstairs, he heard Roís working on her piano skills. The faint sounds consisted of repetitive musical scales. It had a certain charm to it.

Bill settled deeper into the worn armchair, the familiar creak a comforting presence in the quiet room. A shaft of golden afternoon light slanted through the window, illuminating dust particles dancing in the air. Outside, the world hummed with life. A symphony of chirps and whistles filled the air as birdsong echoed across the rolling green hills. A lone sheep, its fleece catching the sunlight, let out a bleating call, a sound that spoke of peaceful routine. Distant voices and the rhythmic crunch of footsteps on gravel painted a picture of farm life unfolding just beyond the walls.

Across from him, Antonin sat perched on the edge of the sofa, his gaze fixed on him. His expression was unreadable in the dappled light, but a hint of softness softened the corners of their mouth. Bill felt a warmth spread through him, a quiet joy at simply sharing this moment, this space, with Antonin. The sounds of the world outside faded into the background, replaced by the silent conversation passing between them.

It felt oddly comforting being here. For the first time in his life, he realized that there was no need for adrenaline, no running for his life, no hiding. Here, he could just be him. In a room with Lord Antonin Dolohov.

“I will call you Michael, then. If you’ve got nothing against it” Antonin said softly, an unreadable expression crossing his face for a second.

“I… I don’t mind.” Bill tried his hardest to bury his feelings as deep down as he could, but when he looked at the other man, all he could feel was this soft pull, the need to have all his attention. For the first time, he felt like he wanted to be loved.

And maybe it was because technically Antonin had bonded the rest of his surviving soul to himself, but… honestly, he had felt attracted to the man before this whole Inferi disaster.

Antonin cleared his throat softly. “I came here to tell you that Amanda has found the potion for the Inferi bite. Somewhere deep in Africa, there’s a tribe that has had multiple Inferi-infestations. They have this potion in stock, just in case someone gets bitten.” He pulled a vial out of his pocket. “It does pay to have friends in high places.”

“You mean the Picquerys who know half the world?” Bill asked with a grin.

“Exactly” Antonin smirked. He handed him the vial. “The instruction is that you take a sip before every meal and your skin should go back to healthy within two weeks. There will be scars though.”

Bill snorted. “I’m a curse breaker. Having scars is part of the deal.”

Antonin hummed, as he watched Bill place the vial on the bedside table. “Scars do not define beauty, you know that, right?”

Looking up, Bill tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“You don’t look like you know it. So, let me rephrase that… you’re still gorgeous in my books.” With a wink that spoke volumes, he rose from the sofa, the door closing softly behind him as he exited.

Bill put his hands over his head. Fuck.

He was in too deep!

“Hey, good luck!”

Raven looked up and found Blaise by the tent entrance to the first task. Grinning, Raven walked over to his friend. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got this.”

“I know, but… just in case.”

Frowning, Raven tilted his head. “Just in case what?”

Blaise grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. Raven gasped in surprise, but used to motion to crash into his friend, pressing a kiss on his lips.

That seemed to short-circuit Blaise and Raven sniggered, when he leaned back. He grinned, when Blaise blinked, coming back to himself.

“I… I just wanted to wish you good luck! I would have prepared more if I knew you were going to kiss me! I was going to threaten you not to get hurt!”

Raven beamed at Blaise. “You can still do that.”

“Don’t get hurt!” Blaise glared at Raven, before his expression softened. “Especially not now that we’ve kissed. I kind of want to do that again, after that task of yours.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

Someone called for the champions the gather around someone from the Ministry. Raven squeezed Blaise’s hand. “Do me a favour and make sure that Kefira and Draco are okay. I know you’re still not okay with what my brother did, but I don’t need all of you worry about me.”

Blaise nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Thank you, you’re the best.”

“Mister Malfoy!” Dumbledore called from the tent. Raven rolled his eyes and sent Blaise a kiss, before running over.

This was epic… he had kissed Blaise! And it felt so freaking good! His head spun, a delicious mix of shock and exhilaration. It was like a lightning bolt had struck him, a jolt that coursed through his entire body. Every nerve ending sang, alive with a sensation he hadn't anticipated. Well, he had anticipated it, having started it… but still.

Even facing a dragon couldn’t change his happiness now.

Kefira was pacing. It had been three days after the first task. And while nobody got seriously hurt (let’s ignore Cedric Diggory’s half melted face and Viktor’s broken arm and new scar on his shoulders), she had been dealing with other things as well.

Most importantly, after she had made sure that all the champions were okay (Cedric was being healed by Alden and Madam Pomfrey in the Infirmary tent and Viktor was prodding his broken arm with interest, clearly his adrenalin was too high to feel anything), she had finished her potion and sent it off the Potions Guild for testing.

It was the potion that could help Minerva McGonagall really connect with their parents. Kefira knew that her parents were trying to make sure that the professor felt at home, but she could see that the other woman was unsure and often excluded herself from any family activity. After questioning, she had been told by her mother that the Gryffindor Head of House thought herself to be too old for the pair. Kefira had known about that insecurity for a while now, but now she had finally been able to work out the problems with the potion.

And it worked!

But the testing of the potion took so long!

Severus had laughed a little, when she went to him to complain. “Little Lion, sometimes these tests take over a year!” he said softly.

Kefira huffed and had returned to the Common Room to continue pacing.

“Sit down!” Pansy demanded there and had pulled her into a chair by the fireplace. “How can we make you relax?”

“Quidditch!” Graham yelled, which made Kefira snort.

“No!” Daphne yelled back. “Not everyone liked Quidditch as much as you!”

Graham rolled his eyes. “You’re just jealous I’ve got a hobby!”

“Does murder count as a hobby?” Pansy deadpanned, which made half the Common Room run, while the other half – including Graham – laughed about the absurd situation.

Fred and George came running and asked around why half of Slytherin house was running away and why they hadn’t been the cause of it. Graham snorted.

“Do you always have to be the cause of panic and fear?” he asked.

“Yes!” Fred announced and threw his hands in the air. “We need that!”

“It’s what makes our life worthy!”

Pansy and Kefira sniggered at the unimpressed look Graham was sending the twins. “Both of you need to rethink that statement” the seventh year said and crossed his arms. “It’s sad, really.”

“Do you want to make us happy?” George asked, overly dramatically batting his eyelashes.

Graham stared the twins down. “What would happen – hypothetically – if someone would murder the Picquery twins?”

Daphne snorted. “You would probably be announced as the enemy house for Picquery.”

“I can live with that.”

“Now wait just a minute!” Fred yelled, before he dashed away, running for his life as Graham clearly hunted the blond. George tried to intervene, but was soon also on the run and the three of them raced out of the Common Room, when Blaise and Raven entered.

The two looked slightly confused, but when Raven looked at Kefira, she sniggered. “Graham just decided that he doesn’t care if Montague would be the enemy house of Picquery. He’ll kill the twins.”

“If anything, they’ll end up making out somewhere” Pansy said, while rolling her eyes. “And you, miss, will be coming with me and the rest of whoever wants to play Quidditch and we’re going to distract you!”

“But I don’t like Quidditch!” Kefira whined.

Pansy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Miss book-smart, when have you ever tried Quidditch in your life?” At Kefira’s silence, she seemed happy. “See? Now, move your ass and we’re going to see how bad you really are at that game!”

Spoiler…

As soon as Viktor Krum showed up, Kefira lacked any flying skills at all… But watching Victor wowing the students of Hogwarts was absolutely worth it.

If there was one good thing coming from the Triwizard Tournament… or maybe now it should be called Quadwizard Tournament, it was Raven and Blaise getting together. Raven hadn’t even been aware that he could understand the dragons, their language sounding vaguely familiar. So, he had talked to the nesting mother dragon through their language – or as Draco put it excitedly through their link ‘Parsletongue’.

Some people had been scared when they had heard him. But his support system in all houses had made it bearable and after two weeks, everyone was back to how it had been before.

Mostly, it had to do with the twins walking around in Muggle suits when there was no school and pretending to be his lawyer. Blaise had hexed them multiple times when they argued that he had not put in a formal request to see Raven.

“I don’t need a request to see my boyfriend” Blaise had argued multiple times, but the twins did not care, obviously. It was still funny.

The rest of the year had gone quietly and soon the yule ball was announced. Raven didn’t bother long before asking Blaise to be his date. Kefira got asked by Viktor Krum, which she accepted, much to Draco's annoyance. Their brother actually stopped Kefira on her way to the Great Hall.

“Did I hear that right?!” he asked Kefira with slight anger in his voice. “Did Krum ask you out?!”

Kefira rolled her eyes with a grin. She was obviously amused. “He did.”

“He asked my baby sister out!” Draco almost screamed through the hallway.

Raven snorted as Kefira raised an eyebrow in a clear challenge. “First of all, we're the same age! Secondly-”

“Yeah, but I'm the oldest! You're my baby sister!”

“Secondly” Kefira stared Draco down. “It is my fucking decision who I'm going to the ball with. Who are you taking then?” Before Draco even had the chance to open his mouth and say that he clearly went with Alden, she spoke up again. “I do not approve!”

Nevertheless, Draco asked Alden out, though not before being a nervous wreck, driving Pansy and Daphne almost crazy. And well, Kefira did end up going with Viktor Krum, grinning at the other girl's tears.

Neville had asked Ginny to be his date, Susan asked Hanna ‘as a friend’, since both apparently didn’t like the people at Hogwarts (who were single). Cedric Diggory asked Alicia Spinnet and Fleur Delacour went with Marcus Flint. Konstantin asked Angelina Johnson, Theodore in a surprising turn of events asked Luna Lovegood out.

But by far the most confusing thing was when both Picquery twins asked Graham Montague to be their date. Several people didn’t understand how that would work and told them that what they were doing was stupid and idiotic to which they then hexed everyone’s underwear off.

Raven thought it was too funny. But it was also funny to see the twins blushing around Graham, or he doing the same. Ginny had gone to mercilessly teasing her older brother about it. And since he had seen her fighting with Raven and Blaise over the summer, he knew that there was nothing he could do to best her.

Except tease her for going with Neville Longbottom.

After having had the ‘pleasure’ to know what Bat-bogey-hexes were, he soon backed off. Some Gryffindors asked whether or not Neville was coerced in asking her out to which he responded with the same hexes. Much to the joy of everyone else around him, congratulating him on his magic use.

At the same time, Raven was aware that his family was researching safe ways to remove the Horcrux in his mind. He had talked with Blaise about this and after his boyfriend had had some serious breakdown, fear of loosing what family he had left running so deep in his veins that he had almost not let Raven go, they had come to the conclusion that Blaise would look for something as well. Even though his family library had gone up in flames with the murder of his family (which was still an unresolved case), he had some books in his vault which could be helpful.

In the end though, the case was still the same: Raven had to die to get the Horcrux out. And for Lady Magic to destroy all the Horcruxes everywhere.

Two days before the Yule Ball was supposed to take place, Raven experienced what mild fear was like once again. He had been working with Severus in his potions lab, when a letter came and Severus froze in his tracks.

Raven peered over his arm and read the frightening letter.

The old crowd meets again! We all know the mark is getting darker. Meet up tomorrow in Lord Nott’s Manor!

“I thought Alden’s dad wasn’t a Death Eater” Raven said quietly, which seemed to startle Severus.

He looked at him with shock in his eyes. “He’s not” Severus answered. “He was the only one being spared of the mark, for whatever reason.”

Raven frowned. “Do you think he wants to join?”

“No” Severus shook his head. “I think he wants to get some insight into what’s going through everyone’s mind.” He paused for a second. “The mark is getting darker, after all.”

“Will you go there?”

Severus looked at him softly, “Shadow, such is my job as a spy. At least for now.”

“I’ll tell Sirius and Professor Lupin” Raven threatened.

Chuckling softly, Severus ruffled through his hair. “I’ll tell them myself. But good to know that you’d make sure I’m being protected.”

“Sirius could come with you as the panther! Protect you even more!”

Severus sighed. “Tomorrow is Full Moon, I don’t think we should let Remus alone then.”

Raven shook his head. “No, you’re doing that thing again! I will definitely tell Sirius and Professor Lupin about it.”

“What thing?”

“That thing, where you pretend like everyone else is more important than you! Sirius wouldn’t mind coming with you for a few hours. And we know that Professor Lupin takes the potion, so he’s sane during the moon. He’ll understand that he’s going to have to be alone for a few hours. To make sure that you’re safe.”

Severus seemed to hesitate, but Raven shook his head. He placed the ingredients onto the table – happy that they hadn’t started to brew yet – and marched over to the living room and the fireplace.

“Yorkshire, Lupin residence” Raven yelled and stuck his head through. “Professor Lupin! Sirius!” he yelled into the empty house.

The room was bathed in a warm, orange glow emanating from the crackling fireplace. A worn armchair sat nestled beside it, a well-loved book abandoned open face down on its armrest. Professor Lupin would never do that to a book, Raven was sure. That was a sign that Sirius was round. A half-eaten piece of chocolate was on the living room table - a telltale sign of Professor Lupin's recent presence. Sunlight streamed through a grimy window, illuminating a layer of dust motes dancing in the air. Everywhere spoke of a recent, hurried departure. Stacks of papers lay scattered across a low table, some covered in Professor Lupin's neat handwriting, others filled with cryptic symbols Raven couldn't decipher. Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the rhythmic crackle of the fire.

“Professor Lupin! Sirius!” he screamed louder. This seemed to have worked, as not long after, the two men came running. Before they could even ask something, Raven told them, “you need to head through, Severus is thinking about being an idiot!”

Both adults were obviously amused and when Raven got out of the way, they stepped through. So much more elegant than he would have ever done.

By that time, Severus was also entering his living room. “Good day, gentlemen” the potions master said with a smirk. “It seems my godson is very concerned about me.”

“And for good reason!” Raven added with a dark glare. He turned to look at Sirius and said, “there’s a Death Eater meeting and Sev wants to go alone, unprotected because it’s a full moon and he thinks you should be with Professor Lupin and not with him.”

“Severus!” Sirius yelled and threw his hands into the air. “What is wrong with you?!”

Professor Lupin chuckled in the corner, while Severus held his hands up. “I can explain.”

“No, you’re not going to ‘explain’ shit!” Sirius yelled, before turning to Raven. “Do me a favour, kid, hold your ears closed for a second.”

“I’ve heard Draco and Alden curse for long enough.”

Professor Lupin sniggered. “Yeah, but Sirius doesn’t want you to know that he’s going to yell at your godfather.”

“Okay, you make it sound worse than it actually is” Severus tried to talk himself out of being yelled at, but as soon as he stopped talking, Sirius had a go at him and took. Him. Down.

Raven left, after Sirius tried to attack Severus and smothering him to death ‘with my fucking love for you idiot’, Professor Lupin holding his partner back and shooing Raven away at the same time. When he closed the door, he caught sight of Sirius freeing himself and running after Severus who tried to evade him, by running around the kitchen table. All while Professor Lupin was chanting for Sirius to catch the potions professor.

“Adults are weird” Raven murmured to himself as he made his way to the Common Room to find Blaise and Theodore to tell him what was going on in his house tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The public knew!

The people in the UK were aware that it was old Dumbledore who had abducted the Weasley children! While Arthur hadn’t said anything outwardly, maybe the comments from Amelia and Charlie whenever he had gone to Diagon Alley, had been enough to tell the public what was going on.

Or maybe it was the fact that Dumbledore was so quick at destroying any and all rumours about his actions. And well, the public had long ago lost trust in the headmaster.

Probably right after it had become public knowledge that he hadn’t told the parents of the Dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts.

The shouts for Molly Prewitt’s trial had finally been heard, especially during the tournament, where Dumbledore didn’t have time to visit the Wizengamot and had – stupidly, quite frankly – told his Second that he should take over one meeting. What could one meeting do to him, huh?

Destroying his public persona for one.

Dumbledore’s second was a rather unknown wizard called Nicolas Hazlerigg, who seemed to be just as old as Dumbledore, but not as stupid. He had clearly kept up with the news, since his first question was whether or not the Wizengamot wanted to trial Molly Prewitt. Smart guy.

Molly was so quickly put through the trial, that one could have thought this was supposed to happen today anyway. While on trial, the former Weasley incriminated Dumbledore so much that the Heads in Wizengamot decided on a Vote of No Confidence in Dumbledore.

Especially with several people in the Wizengamot having decided to keep their house the enemy house of Dumbledore’s. It just made sense.

Nicolas Hazlerigg was voted to be the Head of Wizengamot for a trial phase of six months, which he gracefully accepted and then made it a point to hear every fraction out and what the current problems were. The session concluded with a promise to have all Aurors and high department workers put under a vow to protect the Ministry and everything around it. To say that the people were happy with him taking over from Dumbledore was an understatement.

And Dumbledore… he knew of nothing.

Going to the Death Eater meeting with a panther next to him was absolutely safer than going alone, Severus had to admit. He could tell that Sirius was very interested in everything around, which luckily just made it look like he was a normal cat.

When he arrived at the Nott Manor, he could tell that Theodore Sr. was just as unhappy as he was to be there. In addition to Theodore, there was also Lucius, looking like he would want to murder them all. Antonin sat alone by the Gramophone nursing a drink and hexing anyone who came too close to him. Well, except for Lucius and Theodore.

Really, it was obvious that these three were working together. Then again, it probably was just obvious to Severus, because he knew of it.

When they caught sight of him, they greeted him respectfully and Lucius knelt next to Sirius. “Don’t do anything stupid” he said quietly, so only the four of them could hear it.

Sirius looked affronted and Severus snorted. “Just be a big cat” he offered instead, which sparked some mischief in his eyes.

“That’s not a good sign” Theodore said with a raised eyebrow.

“If it means I can get home earlier, I’d accept anything” Lucius said with a sigh, before looking at Sirius. “That wasn’t a challenge.”

Severus chuckled. “You seem to know him well too.”

Antonin snorted at that and shook his head. “Everyone knows of his pranks, Severus.”

Before they could talk more, Goyle Senior called them over to sit at the table, where the head was empty for now. Theodore looked darkly at where his space was supposed to be. Still, he took the seat next to Lucius.

And then they waited for anybody to speak and tell them what was going on.

It took a while for Goyle to make everyone speak of what they had heard and wanted out of finding their Lord. But the more he talked, the more Severus found himself pulling away from this community.

There was so much hatred, so much frustration and anger in that room, so much fear of what could happen. He looked at the members with open disgust on his face. More than once, he had turned to the three members of the Allyship and saw them exchanging looks he couldn’t decipher.

Well, he knew that they were also not happy with being here. However, it was impossible to read deeper into their silent conversation.

Two hours in – for fuck’s sake! – and still no results had come of it. Sirius clearly had enough of it, as he started running around, chasing invisible mice. Theodore then explained that they indeed had a mice problem – most likely to get everyone out – and that the house elves had been unsuccessful in finding all the mice. Then Antonin pretended to be allergic to mice and Severus caught him taking a sneezing pill while he pretended to cough.

He sneezed over half the assembled Death Eaters.

Severus had to occlude so hard to make sure he wasn’t laughing on the floor. Judging from the looks Lucius and Theodore had, they too were trying to concentrate on something else. Sirius however didn’t have such restrictions and ran into a wall after sneezing as a cat (laughing, maybe?).

The meeting ended shortly after.

Once the last non-member of the allyship left, Severus let his shields fall and started laughing so hard he had to held his stomach. Sirius transformed and sat on the floor sniggering.

“Genius, Dolohov! Genius!”

“Why thank you” Antonin said with a smirk. “I’m here all week.”

Theodore snorted. He leaned back and called a house elf for some Fire Whiskey for them all. “Clearly not. You’re up in Ireland all week.”

Antonin shrugged with a smirk, accepting the drink. “I’m not going to deny that. So, what did we learn today?”

“It’s easy to gross out Death Eaters” Sirius offered with a mischievous smirk.

Severus sighed and rubbed his forehead. “If you’re thinking of doing this more often, I’ll never take you with me anymore.”

Lucius chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “We learnt nothing helpful. Except that everyone’s as unsure of what’s going on as we are.”

“Which we can use to our advantage” Antonin said with a thoughtful hum. “We could steer them into a direction we think is wrong.”

“But if it turns out to be right…” Theodore raised his eyebrows. “I’d rather stay an observer and wait for the moment where striking is necessary but also important.”

“Agreed” Lucius said with a soft sigh. “Let’s keep an eye out for anything strange happening. The marks don’t just go darker from nothing happening.”

Antonin nodded. “We should also make sure to destroy all the Horcruxes in a timely manner.”

Severus agreed with that, but Lucius spoke up again. “We’ve talked about this with Raven and he informed us that Lady Magic would take care of that, once the Horcrux in his mind is destroyed.”

“Oh” Antonin seemed genuinely surprised, while it was nothing new for Severus. Then again, he had been around Raven long enough for the child to trust him and he had told him what was going to happen to him sooner or later. Also, the Potions Guild was working hard on a potion to make sure the drinker wouldn’t die… for long.

“Welp” Sirius said as he got up. “It was fun, let’s do it… never again, please. Sev, time to go back, unless you want all the children worry about you.”

Rolling his eyes, Severus got up, much to the amusement of the others. He bid goodbye and soon, they arrived at the Lupin Residence, where Severus made sure that his partners were okay, before he left for Hogwarts.

After he made an appearance in the Common Room – mostly to calm his godchildren – he headed up to Dumbledore’s office to tell him that the meeting hadn’t been successful.

Boring really.

After the student body had revolted and almost destroyed half of Hogwarts, Dumbledore had let them go home again. It was probably also because there had been multiple letters from parents about the lack of children at home.

Neville had surprisingly joined Raven, Kefira, Draco and Blaise back at Malfoy Manor, where his grandmother had waited. She had been let into all of the secrets and therefore decided to have Neville stay with them (and train with them as well).

At first, he had been paired with the chaotic duo (meaning Draco and Kefira), but soon – after a change of wand lead by Raven’s father – he had excelled. And he had been thrown into the mess that was Blaise, Raven and Ginny. Within seconds he had integrated and acted as a dumb distraction for any of them.

Sirius had tried to fight the four on his own on the snowy grounds outside, but had incredibly misread the strength of the newly formed group. Most likely, he had thought that having added a new member would keep them confused and disoriented.

But Neville was an incredibly powerful wizard who thanks to years of having to fight a misfit wand had developed such a magical strength that even Blaise with his years of knowledge in all kinds of fighting forms needed a bit to come out on top. Raven loved watching the two of them fight (more so, because he could watch his boyfriend).

One evening, Raven found Blaise sitting on the balcony, watching the soft snowfall. He sat perched on the edge, a solitary silhouette against the backdrop of the soft lights on the ground outside. Snow, soft and silent, fell in swirling patterns, blanketing the world in a new pristine white. But the peaceful scene did little to lift the weight that seemed to press down on Blaise's shoulders.

His posture was the first thing that struck Raven. His usual vibrant energy was muted, replaced by a slumped form. His chin dipped low, almost resting on his chest, as if the weight of the world was too much to hold. His gaze was fixed on the falling snow, but his eyes seemed vacant, unfocused, as if his mind were a million miles away. Even the way he held himself, the slight inward curve of his spine, spoke volumes. It wasn't a dramatic pose of despair, but a quiet, introspective sadness that tugged at Raven's heart.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked softly, though he already knew the answer.

Blaise looked up, as if he finally took in a breath of fresh air after almost drowning. The movement was slow, almost pained, like dragging himself from a deep well of sorrow. He straightened up a fraction, a ghost of a smile flickering on his lips. It was a valiant effort, a desperate attempt to mask the storm brewing beneath the surface. But the smile never reached his eyes. They remained clouded with a deep sadness, glistening with tears that threatened to spill over at any moment. Each blink seemed like a battle, a struggle to keep the dam from breaking.

“Yeah” Blaise finally answered, his voice rough and choked, barely above a whisper. It was a single word, but it spoke volumes of the emotional turmoil he was trying so hard to contain.

Raven sank to his knees next to his boyfriend and opened his arms for Blaise to dive into. He did and held him tight, his tears rushing out. Finally, he succumbed to the sadness he had tried to keep away. Holding him tightly, Raven made sure to keep him safe.

He rocked softly from side to side. “I’ve got you, you’re with me” he whispered softly.

Finally, after the tears had gone and Blaise was just snuggling with Raven, he pressed a soft kiss on Blaise’s forehead. “I’ve got you” he repeated softly. “You’re safe with me.”

“But are you with me?” Blaise asked, clearly scared of the answer.

“Oh well” Raven shrugged his shoulders – as best as that was possible with Blaise still in his arms, “I’ve been in danger ever since I can think. And let’s be honest, with the four of us in one house, we can fight anything that’s coming our way.”

Blaise sniffed and sat back up. “I’m just… I was thinking and… I’m scared. What if they come back for you?”

“Who?” Raven frowned. “What are you talking about, Blaise?”

“Whoever killed my family!” Blaise whispered. “It was a year ago.”

Oh.

That made sense.

Raven leaned forward and grabbed his boyfriend’s hands. “If they come back, we make sure they remember who we are. We’re going to kick their fucking head’s off, okay?”

Despite the dire situation, Blaise surprised them both with a choked laugh that escaped his lips as a dry, humourless snort. It was a sudden, unexpected release of tension, a flicker of his usual self fighting its way through the cracks. With a movement that seemed to defy his earlier dejection, he threw himself sideways, collapsing onto the balcony floor with a soft thud. In a single, fluid motion, he rolled onto his back, his head coming to rest in Raven's lap, much to his amusement. His breaths came in ragged gasps, remnants of the laugh caught in his throat. For a moment, there was only the quiet sigh of the wind and the soft patter of snow. Then, in a voice thick with emotion, Blaise finally spoke, the words barely audible. “Thank you for being here for me.”

“Always, Blaise. Literally… whenever you need me.”

Blaise smiled up at him. It finally reached his eyes. “I love you. And I know that’s probably too early for us to say, but… it feels like you’re the only family I have left. So… don’t say it back please.”

Raven returned the smile and nodded. “Not yet, okay. But once this tournament is over, or rather, when the dangerous things are over, I will say it.”

In addition to Bill, who was being treated by a Healer paid by the allyship, Auror Moody had also arrived in Ireland and was also being treated by that Healer. Meanwhile, Amanda O’Brien, Charlie’s step-mother, was researching how to end the curse on Bill. Riagán was taking care of the farm and had recently also taken up a few courses on magical law. Not that he wanted to be an Auror, but he had told everyone that having seen the injustices done to his family, as well as the families of the Allyship, he wanted to help out more.

Charlie was working in a dragon reserve in Ireland, when over the holidays, dragonpox had broken out again. It was nothing new in a dragon reserve. And thanks to Kefira’s cure, it ended with no casualties and no problems with staff. He had gotten so many gifts to hand over to Kefira that he wondered how much fan mail she received every day.

Next to Amelia’s continued visits to check in on her brother, there was also Lord Dolohov who regularly came by to see how Bill was doing. Charlie would bet that these two were about to talk about their feelings. Just a few more days… or weeks. If Dolohov was anything like Bill, it could also go on for a few years…

Amanda was looking for a cure for the Inferi-bite. They had found something recently and yet, Dolohov still came by every day. He claimed that it had to do with the Soul Bonding that he had performed to make sure Bill would survive, but… Charlie knew better.

Any by that he knew that the two of them were interested in getting to know each other better.

One thing, he had questioned from the beginning was the spell used in the Soul Bonding. He had seen a bonding spell used on animals before, knew that it meant that they couldn’t be alone anymore. Then again, he was aware that Bill was alone most times and it didn’t seem to affect him. Neither did he look like he was missing his soul, like the people from Azkaban after the Kiss.

So, which Soul Bond did Dolohov use?

All the libraries around didn’t have books on soul bonds (which frankly was a wise thing to do). So, the only thing to do was to venture out into the Kingdom and look for dark spells. Maybe a book shop in Nockturn Alley had something.

Charlie went into the house and got ready to go out. While he grabbed his clothes, he pondered over the fact that had he still been a Weasley, visiting Nockturn Alley would have been a deadly thing to do. Though now, where Arthur had spoken out publicly against Dumbledore, the darker families had welcomed him with open arms. It helped that Narcissa and Lucius had stood with him.

Stopping in the middle of putting his jeans on, Charlie frowned. Oh, these adults were smart!

When Arthur had spoken about his family, there had been light, neutral and dark families up there with him. This had probably revolutionized the magical world. Suddenly, the alliance was open to the world and everyone could see the three strongest fractions working together to right a wrong…

A giggle brought him out his mind and he turned to the door, seeing his half sister Róis peering into his room. And the fact that he was standing there with one leg in his jeans must be amusing to her.

“Funny, huh?” Charlie asked and winked at her. “Where’s mum?”

“She went to buy some fruits” Róis explained with a grin. “I hid the strawberries.”

Charlie snorted and quickly dressed himself, before he walked to the door. “Why did you hide them?” That wasn’t really a question… Róis loved strawberries to death. If she spotted any in the kitchen, they were gone the very next second.

“I’m not telling you where I hid them, if that is your next question!” she said and glared at him.

Damn, she knew him well.

“Wasn’t going to!” he lied easily, but grinned.

As they passed Bill’s room, Charlie could see through the open door his fake brother sleeping, with Antonin Dolohov reading a book in the corner of the room. Damn, they looked really sweet together. He continued walking, before any of the men realized he was there. Róis skipped in front of Charlie and stopped at Auror Moody’s room.

“Do you think he’s awake?” she asked curiously.

“Don’t know” Charlie said with a shrug. “Why do you ask?”

“Maybe he also likes strawberries?” Róis said, thinking out loud. “I would share them with him.”

Charlie snorted. “But not with your favourite brother? I feel personally attacked!”

Róis sniggered happily and quietly opened the door, peering inside. Charlie did so as well, finding only a sleeping Moody inside.

Sunlight streamed through half-drawn curtains, illuminating a room hushed with the quiet sounds of the farm animals outside. Soft linens pooled around a figure nestled in bed, Moody’s pale face framed by a mess of hair. A single bedside table held a vase overflowing with wildflowers (mostly collected by Róis, a worn book with a colourful bookmark peeking out, and a glass of water with a straw, condensation clinging to its side. The air smells faintly of healing potions and chicken soup, a testament to the care being poured into the room's fragile inhabitant.

“If he’s eating chicken soup, maybe strawberries as well?” Róis whispered and Charlie closed to door softly again.

“Kid, you are far too attached to these strawberries. You know mum was going to make a strawberry roll, right?”

Róis’ eyes widened comically and she dashed off, looking for her hiding spots. Charlie snorted and walked down the stairs to find his father in the kitchen. The familiar scent of peat smoke mingled with the aroma of freshly baked soda bread. Sunlight slanted through a small, high window, illuminating a room that seemed to overflow with warmth and the comforting sounds of a kettle singing on the hob. A worn wooden table, its surface scarred with countless meals, sat in the centre, a steaming mug of tea beside a plate piled high with soda bread. The air was thick with the murmur of Irish Gaelic radio, a news program Charlie only half-listened to as his gaze fell on his father.

“Why do you have a Muggle radio on?” he questioned his father and sat down to eat some of the soda bread. “Also, why are you here eating?”

Riagán chuckled. “Joey told me to take the rest of the day off, he wants to prove that he can do what’s necessary to run a farm.”

Charlie looked up in alarm. “Is he thinking of quitting?”

Joey was a very good farmer’s help and seemed to understand what work needed to be done when and… he was seemingly the only help that was thinking for himself. The others just accepted what work was given to them and when they were done, they waited for a new job to be given to them.

Riagán grinned and shook his head. “He told me he wanted to make sure that I should be able to take holidays as well. So, he’s been learning as much as he can to give me a carefree holiday.”

“Nice” Charlie said, starting to eat lunch.

Usually, the family only met for dinner once all the farm animals were taken care of. Breakfast was too early for the girls, so it tended to only be Riagán, Charlie and Amanda. Lunch was usually just Amanda and the children, so dinner was the time to meet and talk family affairs.

“Did Muriel go shopping with Amanda?” Riagán asked, curiously.

“I think so. Frankly, I didn’t listen, but from what I heard, they left together.”

His father nodded. “Good. So, she’s ten now and she’s going to be eleven by summer” he said with a sigh. “I want your opinion.”

Charlie knew exactly what his father was going to ask him. “Hogwarts or Beauxbatons?”

“Or… Erehnoll” Riagán said softly.

“That… where is that?”

“Northern Ireland” Riagán said. “It’s a very small, prestigious school, invites only.”

Charlie frowned. “Then, how is it even an option?”

“Because former students can request their children to be accepted. And I went there, House Rookclaw.”

Grinning, Charlie nodded. “Then, I don’t think that’s a real question. While Northern Ireland is still part of the Kingdom, Dumbledore’s feelers probably won’t reach it. You should request for her to be there.”

His father frowned at him, before clearly being surprised. “I thought you would want her to go to Hogwarts… All the other children from the Alliance are there?”

“Sure, but they’re just there, because their parents don’t want them being ripped away from their friends” Charlie explained with a grin. “I want Muriel and Róis to have the best experience in learning magic and this seems to be exactly what I’d want for them.”

Riagán smiled at him softly. “I would have wanted the same for you, you know.”

“I know, don’t worry. I’m okay learning of Erehnoll from my sisters.”

Before they could discuss it more, Róis came running into the kitchen. “I found strawberries!” she said, breathing heavily, holding an unopened box of fresh strawberries in her hand. “Mum can make the strawberry roll!”

Charlie held a hand in front of his mouth to keep from laughing, while his father pressed his lips together, keeping it together. “Very good, Róis!” he praised her. “I will tell mum about you finding her missing strawberries.”

Grinning, Charlie got up. “Well, you two have fun here. I’m off to London to try and find a book about the soul bond” he explained to his father and then kissed Róis’ top of the head, much to her annoyance.

“I hate you!” she yelled after him.

“No, you don’t!” he responded laughing as he stepped out of the house to apparate away.

“Wait” Raven said slowly, this time out loud. He had been thinking for over half an hour, staring into the abyss of the fire. No actually, he had been thinking about something ever since they had arrived back at Hogwarts, a day before school started again. He had been pondering over the Dark Mark and how something like that had been able to be created.

All the texts he had read (most of them illegally handed to him through other dark families), had led him to two possibilities. And the more he thought about it, the more there was only one possibility really.

The dragon language thing. That was the solution to this riddle.

“Draco?” Raven asked as he sat up and looked around the darkened room. It must be close to curfew, but their friends were still around. Daphne and Pansy were explaining Astoria something from their fourth year curriculum, Kefira seemed to be reading a potion’s book (did she even read other books?!), Theodore and Blaise played chess in the furthest corner away that still received fire from the main fire place. The twins seemed to be working on pranks with Graham Montague pretending to be asleep on the couch next to them.

Raven’s brother looked up from the book he was reading. Kefira did too, clearly interested in what it was that he had to ask.

“What is that language called that I spoke to the dragons?” he asked, unsure.

“Parsletongue” Draco said immediately. “It’s the language of snakes, actually. Dragons seem to understand it as well and-“

“I think it could be the key to removing Dark Marks” Raven interrupted his brother and raised his eyebrows.

The Common Room was suddenly quiet. The few children not from their Allyship turned to stare at Raven as if he had lost his mind. The rest stopped what they were doing and came closer, sitting down.

“How so?” Daphne asked, clearly thinking of her father who had been forced to take the Mark a few days before You-Know-Who died.

Draco too had wide eyes, obviously hoping for something that would help. Since there were a few more children of Death Eaters around, Raven received similar looks from others. Blaise just smiled at him through the room and grabbed his cup of water.

Raven grinned. “I’m pretty sure that the Dark Mark is just three spells intertwined with a finish of the Parsleytongue.”

Blaise snorted water through his nose and started to laugh, while Draco sniggered. The twins had wide eyes and immediately scribbled something down. Kefira cackled and Raven tilted his head.

“What?”

“Parsletongue” Pansy said, clearly trying to keep it together. “But I love Parsleytongue much more!”

Raven rolled his eyes. “That’s what I meant. Anyway. I’ll go find Sev to ask him about his opinion. Maybe he even lets me look at the mark…”

“It’s close to curfew” Kefira said, turning back to her book.

“It’s pretty much around the corner anyway” Raven countered with a shrug.

Blaise grinned, while most people turned back to the things they had been originally doing. “Don’t get caught” he said with a wink. “Filch is around a lot these days. And we all know that Professor Sinistra can’t keep away for too long.”

Raven raised his eyebrows. “And how would you know that?”

“Trade secret” Blaise grinned, before Theodore cleared his throat and Raven’s boyfriend turned back to the chess set.

“I won’t get caught by Filch” Raven promised with a snigger.

He left the Common Room and headed for the Potions master's office, hopeful to maybe be able to destroy the Dark Mark. Or at least finding a solution to it. As he rounded a particularly dusty suit of armour, a hand clamped down over his mouth, stifling his surprised yelp. A second hand, cold and rough, seized his arm, twisting it behind his back with surprising ease.

Before he could react, his legs were swept off the ground. The world tilted crazily, the stone floor of the hallway rushing up to meet his vision. A muffled curse escaped him, his wand clattering somewhere out of reach. A sharp knee connected with his attacker's groin, eliciting a pained grunt.

“Not so fast, little fighter” a sibilant voice hissed in his ear. It was muffled by the hand, but the oily tone sent chills down his spine. He was shoved, unceremoniously, into a hidden passage behind a tapestry depicting a one-eyed troll offering tea to a rather disgruntled gnome.

Raven bit the hand that was holding him, his attacker screamed, though before he could fight more, a magic-repelling wristband was shoved over his left arm, locked with a strong magical sticking charm.

The air in the passage was stale and thick with the smell of mildew. His eyes adjusted to the dim light, revealing a narrow, twisting tunnel barely wide enough for two people. They were propelled forward at a brisk pace, his captor's grip like a vice on his arm. The sound of their hurried footsteps echoed off the damp stone walls, punctuated by his own ragged gasps for breath.

Well…

He hadn’t been caught by Filch…

So at least he had kept to that promise…

Chapter Text

“The Second Task is about to begin!” Alden hissed. “Where is Raven?!”

He had just headed over from where Madam Pomfrey was building he Mediwitch tent bythe shore of the Black Lake. And Alden hadn’t seen Raven at all since Friday evening. Now it was Sunday. While Raven did have a ton of other friends and it wasn't unusual to not see him for the weekend, he would have heard from other people. And seen him during the feasts.

It seemed as if his family hadn’t any clue either. And well, the fact that several other children were in danger didn’t help. Susan looked green and about to throw up any minute now. Hannah wasn’t doing better either, she held Neville’s arm tightly. The poor boy had just offered to help her go to the floating spectator stands… it seemed he was imprisoned now.

“If he doesn’t at least try to save Blaise, he will lose his magic!” Draco said with slight panic. Alden could tell that his boyfriend was obviously distressed. He grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly.

“Have you seen Raven in the last few days?” he asked carefully.

Pansy shook her head with a dangerously dark look in her eyes. “He went to talk to Professor Snape on Friday. Nothing since. But then again, when Kefira was working on the cure, we hadn’t seen her for a few days in a row.”

Something told Alden that it wasn’t the same. And judging from the look Draco had, it definitely wasn’t the same.

Alden pulled his boyfriend to the side. “What’d going on?” he asked softly.

“I can’t reach him” Draco whispered. His voice almost drowning in the noise happening around them. Durmstrang had just arrived, Viktor Krum looking murderous. He had probably just realized that Kefira was under water.

Despite what other people said about them, Kefira and Viktor kind of matched, in the weirdest way possible.

Alden turned back to Draco. “I mean, no one can. We’ve been looking-“

“No” Draco hissed and moved closer. “We have a siblings’ link” he whispered into Alden’s ear. “I can’t talk to Kefira nor Raven at the moment. Kefira said it was going to happen, magical sleep and all that stuff, but… Raven’s link broke Friday evening. I didn’t realize it at first, but it’s… it’s… gone!”

Staring in disbelieve, Alden didn’t know what to say. While sibling links could be possible with twins and triplets, they were incredibly rare. Everyone knew the Picquery twins had them, but that was just because they had never realized that other people didn’t communicate that way.

It was kind of amazing that the Malfoy triplets had the link!

“Do you think someone took him because of that?” Alden asked quietly, respecting Draco’s decision to keep it as quiet as possible.

His boyfriend shook his head. “No one knows. Not even our parents. Well, I assume mother knows, she always made sure that I practised my linking. But Raven hasn’t been able to communicate with us through it. And in order for someone to exploit it, the link should be open. It isn’t.”

“But you think it’s an abduction?”

“Can’t be anything else” Draco said with a dark look. “If he’s going to lose his magic over this…” Clearly, he couldn’t finish the sentence.

Alden just nodded and lead his boyfriend back to their friends, who had been discussing the task. What else was there to discuss out on the lake anyway?

“I don’t understand why they needed to move the Second Task up a month?!” Susan complained. “Who decided it needed to be in January instead of February?”

Ginny walked over to them with a dark look. “I contacted the parents of our ‘prisoners’. Lady Malfoy will be a stand in for Blaise’s family. I want Dumbledore killed for throwing Graham into the lake as a prisoner for Fleur Delacour. They have nothing in common.”

Alden stared at his fake sister. “They took Graham?! Didn’t she go with Marcus Flint?”

Hannah snorted. “Yeah, but they realized that Flint wasn’t a student anymore. They just outplayed the tournament.”

“I have to go” Alden said as his eyes moved over to the tent where Madam Pomfrey had just finished. “If Raven shows up, please tell me!”

“Will do” several people promised and Alden fought his way through the masses to the mediwitch.

Madam Pomfrey took one look at him, before frowning. “Are you getting ill? This weather probably isn’t the best for staying outside, Mister Nott.”

Alden shook his head. “No ma’am. I’m just worried. Raven hasn’t shown up and no one knows where he is. What if he loses his magic, because he can’t take part in this?”

The mediwitch chuckled. “If he’s physically being kept somewhere then there’s no need to fret. The tournament rulebook has several additions. One of these is that should a champion be kept from partaking, for example physically being imprisoned somewhere, the captures will have to fight in their place. If they won’t, they are the ones to lose the magic. The champion will have to partake in the task when they’re freed.”

Sighing, Alden shook his head. “Doesn’t really help in keeping me calm.”

The game went on without many problems. Viktor was the first reaching the surface with Kefira. He made sure she was alright and picked her up bridal style when he could stand on the shore. When they walked into the medical tent, Alden could see several bites on his arms and legs. Kefira herself had a nasty bite mark on her lower arm.

“That was terrible” she growled.

Viktor snorted, as Madam Pomfrey cleaned his wounds. “You were asleep for most of that.”

“And I still hated it. Did Raven make it?” she asked Alden. He shook his head, which turned Kefira’s playful expression serious immediately. “Do you know where he is?”

“No one knows” Alden said carefully. “Let’s just hope that he’s still alive.”

After fifty minutes, Cedric and Fleur came up with their prisoners. Graham looked like he wanted to kill the headmaster, next to Fleur who wore the same expression. Let alone the Picquery twins and Ginny with her parents. Dumbledore was likely dead by the end of the night.

That only left…

“Blaise!” Alden heard Draco call.

Alarmed, Alden whirled around, his heart stuttering in his chest. A cold dread, like a serpent coiling in his gut, squeezed tighter with each passing second. There, on the edge of the floating spectator stand, he could see Draco running through the assembled students and judges. Several people tried to keep him away, but Alden’s boyfriend fought them all off.

Then he ran faster and jumped… head first!

Draco, normally the picture of controlled pride, had thrown himself into the icy depths of the lake without another word, his robes billowing around him like a dark shroud. There was no struggle, no cry for help, just a silent plunge that sent ripples across the glassy surface.

This wasn't the bravado Alden knew him for. It was a different kind of desperation, a quiet act fuelled by something unseen. And in that unsettling stillness, Alden felt a soft fear bloom in his chest – a fear for the future yet untold…

“Did he just jump?!” Viktor asked shocked.

“DRACO!” Kefira screamed and struggled against Viktor’s and Madam Pomfrey’s hold. “No, no, no, no, no! First Raven and now Draco?! NO!”

“He went after Blaise” Alden explained, keeping his voice as calm as possible, even if his heart was racing, tearing his body apart. ‘Please, in Merlin’s name let him be alright!’

Several other people – from the Ministry mostly – were lunging after him, clearly aware of the dangers down there. Hell, the three champions looked like shit! And they had trained for this moment… not like Draco!

Alden was going to kill him for doing this to him! Them (judging by Kefira’s fearful expression)!

It took about twenty minutes of complete silence, where even the students and judges on the stands were too shocked to talk, before a few people reached the surface again. Alden ran out of the tent into the flat space of the lake and caught sight of his boyfriend, dragging Blaise with him. Behind them were the four adults who had followed Draco into the lake.

“Thank Merlin!” Alden wanted to fall to his knees, but he kept it together and pulled Blaise up once they had reached him. “Alright, Blaise?”

The Slytherin seemed in too much shock. He shook his head, but allowed Alden and later Draco to put an arm over their shoulders so that they could bring him to the medical tent.

Madam Pomfrey was holding a speech as soon as Draco entered about his recklessness and idiocy. Once she was done, he simply said “Raven wasn’t there! Who was going to get Blaise out of there?!”

Even though he was clearly beside himself, Blaise looked at the other Slytherin. “You got me out, because Raven didn’t make it today?” he asked softly, almost in a whisper.

“Yes!” Draco called and rolled his eyes. “I know we’re still not on good terms, but you’re my friends. And you’re Raven’s boyfriend. He would never forgive me if I hadn’t at least tried… Merlin, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive me! You’re still important to me!”

Blaise sank into a bed, pretty much without a response. Alden did hear him explaining a soft ‘oh’, but that was all, before he was out like a light.

“Can we move everyone up to the Medical Wing?” Alden asked Madam Pomfrey who readily agreed. Without waiting for the points – none of the champions were interested anyway – they snuck their way up to the castle, where all the participants fell into a bed and let their exhaustion overtake them. Dumbledore the lucky bastard was gone before any of the Alliance could get their fingers on him.

Meanwhile, Alden walked over to Draco and glared at him. “Never do this again!”

“Can’t and won’t promise you that. Raven is my brother. I’d do anything for him. Anything for you too.”

Sighing, Alden rolled his eyes. “I’ll lock you into a room and never let you go then.”

When Raven came to, he realized a pretty big flaw they had ignored so far… Their training had been for group fighting. And now he was alone.

The wristband was tight and seemed to blast the magic controlling shit everywhere. He had no contact to his siblings, not even Lady Magic was around. It seemed to eliminate her as well as his own natural magic.

So, the only thing he had left was the knife on his lower leg.

Two on one wouldn’t be that hard, he had fought two people at once before, but usually someone had been with him and helped him win.

He could do this alone. He had to.

Raven blinked and for the first time, truly looked around the place where he had been thrown into by these two idiotic men. Dim light filtered in through a narrow, cobweb-draped slit high in the rough stone wall, barely illuminating the oppressive space. The air hung thick and heavy, carrying the unmistakable scent of damp earth and something far fouler, like forgotten vegetables left to rot. Moisture beaded on the cold stone walls, glistening in the faint light like a thousand unwelcome eyes. His fingers, brushing against the floor, encountered a layer of slick mud, sending a shiver down his spine. The only sounds were the distant drip, drip, drip of unseen water and the frantic hammering of his own heart against his ribs. It was a place of forgotten things and forgotten hope, a dark and damp cellar that seemed to swallow the very breath from his lungs.

Great, just great.

Taking a deep breath, Raven focussed on what was going on right now and what he could do at the moment. Overthinking and freaking out wouldn’t help him here. That was one thing he had learnt while training with Blaise. No panic, thinking while acting was always the best thing to do.

And there was one thing he had going for himself.

At least he wasn’t cuffed to something. And this room was bigger than the cupboard the Dursley’s had pushed him in, so he was feeling alright.

Yes, the magic repelling wrist band was an annoyance, but Raven had learnt to fight without magic for a reason. Not… not exactly this one, but… It was good training if nothing else.

Getting up, he moved silently to the door that lay hidden in the shadows underneath the high sky light. He listened carefully to a sound, but when nothing came through (except the unnerving drip from whatever water source was around), softly sank on his knees and spied through the keyhole.

Raven pressed himself flatter against the rough stone wall, the damp seeping through his robes like a chill hand. While it was dark on the other side of the hidden doorway, a sliver of natural light, perhaps from another high window, sliced through the gloom, revealing the faint outlines of a room. Two figures, bulky silhouettes against the faint light source, sat hunched over a massive oaken table. The air, thick with the scent of stale ale and woodsmoke, carried the murmur of their voices – too low for Raven to discern the words, but enough to send a jolt of nervous energy through him.

He strained his ears, the silence punctuated only by the erratic thump of his own heart. And the fucking drip of water somewhere in the shadows. No movement came from the room. Hesitantly, he peeked through the keyhole again. Their faces remained obscured, focussed on something else.

Lucky him.

So, Raven looked again and concentrated hard enough to seemingly breach their silencing charm. Or his magic worked… or they simply dropped it. Probably the latter.

“What’re you thinking?” the man on the left said in a rough voice.

Raven winced again, not just from the chill seeping through the stone but from the overpowering sweetness that assaulted his senses. A clear headache was forming just from being in the same area than… whatever that was…

“What do we do now?” the other man asked. The smell of mint, orange, and vanilla hit Raven's nose with such intensity it was almost nauseating. It was a bizarre olfactory assault – a clash of festive cheer and something altogether more sinister. Maybe that was why the man liked to wear it…

He squinted through the keyhole, trying to decipher the scene within the other room. The two figures remained obscured, their conversation something between a hidden whisper and a low rumble. The mint, however, seemed to be emanating from the man on the right. Judging by the other guy’s pained expression.

Raven watched closely, as they stared at each other in silence for a bit.

What were they looking for from him? He had nothing more to give… No one knew he had once been the saviour! Well… most didn’t.

But then the second man spoke, his voice dripping with a casual cruelty that sent shivers down Raven's spine.

“Depends” he drawled. “Does the little songbird have a pretty voice, or do we just get straight to the point?” Raven's breath hitched. Songbird? Point?

Oh, he was going to mess them up so badly!

“Last time I had more fun, seriously, burning houses is much more interesting than kidnapping a child.”

“Absofuckinglutely.”

“Hey, maybe we can burn the boy?”

“I wish.”

Raven’s hands moved to his leg and got a hold on the knife he kept there. The fact that he still had it, while they had obviously taken away his wand just proved to him how basic these idiots were. Despite the fact that their obvious scare tactic seemed to be the use of mint, vanilla and oranges, they seemingly had nothing else left in there. Maybe it died with their sense of smell.

Disgusting really.

He stepped back and grabbed a smaller stone from the floor, which he threw at the door, to make it look like he hadn’t just listened in on their conversation.

One man laughed – judging by the voice, not the one with the scare cologne on. He heard scratching from a chair being pulled back on the floor.

“Looks like our princess is awake!” the second guy called loudly.

Raven huffed a breath of air. “Princess? Then I guess I’ll be Joan of Arc!”

The second the door was opened, Raven stormed the other room, knife in hand.

The man closest to the door, heavy set with no weapons and no wands on him whatsoever, startled by the explosive entrance, barely had time to react. Raven's attack was a whirlwind – a dark shape hurtling out of the shadows, a glint of steel flashing under the dim light. The man threw his arm up in a desperate block, a vial of something clattering to the floor with a sharp snap. Glass shattered, the sickly-sweet scent of something earthy intensifying for a moment before dissipating.

The impact sent Raven stumbling, his momentum momentarily broken. The second man, the one who spoke of the "songbird," reacted with a snarl of his own. He slammed his fist onto the table, knocking over a tankard of ale that splashed across the room. In the blink of an eye, his hand darted under the table, presumably for a wand.

Raven, regaining his balance, took in the situation. The first man clutched his arm, a grimace contorting his face. The other man, now brandishing a shorter wand, moved with a predatory grace that spoke of experience in violence.

Two against one, and Raven with a weapon and no magic. The odds weren't good, but doable. He couldn't afford hesitation. He lunged at the first man again, aiming for the vial that had fallen near his feet.

The second man roared and charged, his wand waving in a deadly movements. He screamed “Avada Kedavra” while the heavier man tried to run from the magic’s effects. Raven frowned, when not even a spark lit up from the wand.

“No magic?” Raven asked with a smirk. “Welcome to the club.”

Then, he threw his knife at the first man. It flew in a straight line, through the small spot illuminate by the sun light, before hitting the man in his shoulder. The man yelped and stumbled back, taking the second guy’s attention. Seizing the opportunity, Raven lunged at the shattered vial on the floor. He snatched a shard of glass, the sharp edge cutting his fingers, but that didn’t matter at all! He threw it hard. The shard whistled through the air, a silent scream, aimed for his exposed neck.

Raven didn’t even wait for the impact, instead, he launched himself towards the doorway, hoping to use the narrow passage as a bottleneck, to slow them down. He could hear their enraged shouts of pain behind him, the clatter of the wands and footsteps through glass shards. But he didn't dare look back. All his focus was on propelling himself forward, on escaping this dark, menacing cellar before they closed the trap.

Behind him, he could hear them running, but their steps grew heavier and heavier. The further Raven ran, away from wherever they had kept him, the looser his magic repelling wrist band got.

Finally, when he couldn’t hear them anymore and he found the entrance to that hellhole, he climbed through to see he was somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. Probably not far away from the school.

He grabbed the wrist band and pulled his off his wrist, throwing it as far away as he could. “Fuck!”

Language!

Raven laughed, delighted to have Lady Magic back and now, he could slowly feel his magic coming out of the shelf. “I’m so glad you’re back”, he said happily. “Do you know who did it?”

Oh, we all know who’s the real villain here.

“Dumbledore. What a shock.”

“Well” a voice said behind his back, which made Raven turn so fast, he hadn’t thought was possible. “I hadn’t thought you’d have eyes in the back of your head.”

Dumbledore.

Raven narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“There were alarm bells going on here. I’m very glad you’re alright, my boy.”

“Not your boy” Raven stated darkly. “And you know, I never was the Potter’s boy either. They wanted to hand me back to my family. Did you know?”

“Of course I knew. Who do you think orchestrated their deaths?”

Raven raised his eyebrows, seriously unimpressed. It seemed as if Dumbledore had come here to tell him about his plans… how… interesting.

“Any human with less self-control would attack you for such a statement” he said calmly.

Dumbledore seemed amused. The idiot. “You’re not holding any weapons nor your wand.”

“Well, my knife is in the shoulder of one guy, and there’s a glass shard in the other’s body. Doesn’t need much to fight and hand out damages. You’re pretty old, you know.”

“Why thank you, I hadn’t noticed” Dumbledore said with the typical grandfatherly sparkle in his eyes. His voice though was pure sarcasm.

Raven rolled his eyes. “So, you orchestrated the Potters’ death? For what… to get me to fight You-Know-Who?”

“His name is Voldemort, use it!”

“No thanks” Raven crossed his arms.

“You know, Harry, fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.”

Raven cringed when Dumbledore used his old name. “I don’t fear You-Know-Who. I’m just showing respect, something I know you don’t have any, since you called me by my… what are the Muggles calling it? Ah, deadname! I’m not a Harry anymore, I’m Raven Malfoy!”

Even saying the word ‘Harry’ felt weird at this moment in time.

Dumbledore chuckled. “How sweet. I will have to fix that when we go back.”

“Go back?” Raven shook his head. “You think I’d willingly go back with you? I would even take one step into the same direction, old man, that’s how much I trust you at the moment.”

“A simple Oblivious can solve all the problems.”

Raven was surprised by the lack of fear he felt. “My family remembers. They’ll come get me.”

Dumbledore grinned, an evil expression swooping over his face. “If the public thinks they’ve kidnapped a Potter, they’ll all keep them away from reaching you. Power of the public is a fantastic thing, Harry.”

“Raven. My name is Raven Abraxas Malfoy, you dick.”

Dumbledore raised his wand, pointing it at Raven’s forehead. Raven was just about to think of what options he had left, when Lady Magic spoke up again.

Do nothing, she said, humour in her voice.

Nothing?

Dumbledore seemed to focus hard on something, but nothing happened. Frowning, he pulled his wand closer, inspecting it carefully. Then, he pushed it on Raven’s chest and glared at him, as if he was trying to use magic.

And it… failing.

Raven frowned. “Huh, I guess you tried to look for the host for Lady Magic, didn’t you?”

The older wizard was clearly annoyed. “What does that have to do with anything?” Then, realization dawned in him. “No” he whispered to himself more than to Raven.

Grinning, Raven shrugged. “If I remember correctly, she stated that whoever tried to mess with me, would lose their magic by the end of it all. So, Headmaster” he said mockingly, “where is your magic?”

“That can’t be… it… it can’t be” Dumbledore whispered to himself, trying spells upon spells with no luck. Not even easy spells like ‘lumos’, not even spoken out loud, happened. Nothing. No sparks, no crazy effects… no magic.

“Wow, everyone joins the no-magic-club today. Fun times” Raven commented sarcastically.

Dumbledore turned to look at him, pure anger and fury in his eyes. “This is not over, not ever!” he growled.

It is, actually, Lady Magic said in Raven’s mind and within seconds, the old man started to fall to dust. As if he never existed in the first place. The old man seemed to not realize what was happening, murmuring to himself about what he could to do regain the position of power he had held before everything had been destroyed by the alliance.

Finally, Raven stared at the little piece of dust left on the floor. “Holy shit. No one's going to believe me, when I tell them what happened.”

You can show it in a Pensive. Just know that your family will likely have a word with you for the amount of cheek you’ve shown throughout the discussion with Dumbledore.

Raven snorted. “Yeah, I can see that.” He looked around. “Any change you know how to get back to the castle? Oh and, do you think I could get my knife back?”

Chapter Text

Sirius was racing through the Scottish Highlands. His magic pulled him further and further until he couldn’t keep up with it. He changed into a panther and dashed after what his magic wanted him to catch – most likely the smallest Malfoy heir, friend to the goblins.

Before long, he realized that his panther form couldn’t handle the long running. He stopped, transformed back into a human and breathed heavily. “Okay” he wheezed and closed his eyes to focus. “Not panther then. Probably won’t do the Muggles good to see it anyway.”

He felt his body change, horns growing out of his head and he shook his body. When he opened his eyes again, the world had changed. Shades of blue and yellow, while red and green turned to something of the same.

Sirius shook his head, feeling the antlers on his head. He couldn’t understand how Prongs thought this was normal, seriously.

Then, he started running again, following his magical pull through the Highlands. He hoped that he wouldn’t meet Muggles anywhere. While a panther was a scary thing to meet seeing a pronghorn antelope anywhere outside of the western part of the United States… that probably was confusing as well.

His magic pulsed, a thrumming rhythm beneath his skin, pulling him deeper, ever deeper, into the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The wind tore at his fur, a banshee's wail that gnawed at his antlers. His four legs, fuelled by what seemed raw magic, pumped like pistons, barely touching the ground as he skimmed over the undulating landscape.

The world became a blur of emerald valleys plunging into sapphire lochs, jagged peaks clawing at the stormy sky, and ancient forests swirling past in a dizzying kaleidoscope of green (or red) and shades of yellow. The very air crackled with a wild, elemental energy, as if he had been chosen by magic itself.

Sirius wondered if this was how Raven felt, whenever Lady Magic was around and opened up to him.

Finaly, his magical pull led him sharp right and he raced up a hill only to be met with a Muggle Village. Sirius jumped behind a bush and transformed into Padfoot. No one would bother a homeless dog, right? Not even look at it more.

Lucky, he wasn’t a panther who ran through the village… although, that would have been fun to do when he wasn’t looking for Raven.

Padfoot found his way through the village until was further away, then changed back into the pronghorn antelope. He had learnt this while in Goblin Healing. They had him train for different animals for different situations. And one situation had been fast and long-distance travel. He had worked hard on getting this down.

And so, he started running again, further and further, until the magical pull suddenly stopped. Sirius frowned and transformed back to a human. He grabbed his dagger and kept walking into direction where he had last felt the pull.

Just as he was about to reach the top of another hill, he saw movement to his right and looked over to see…

“Raven!”

The blond boy looked up and widened his eyes, before he started running towards him. A stone as heavy and big as one from Stonehenge fell from Sirius’ heart. He pulled Raven into a tight hug.

“I’m so glad I found you!” he said.

Raven sniggered. “I guess that was why Lady Magic told me to go into this direction.”

“What happened? Do I need to take care of someone for you?”

“Nah” Raven shook his head. “But, no… we can go back, if you want. I was trying to find my knife, but it’s gone! That was my favourite knife.”

Sirius chuckled. “I’ll come looking with you. Just a second.” He conjured a Patronus. “Go find the Malfoy family or Narcissa, if they’re not in the same room, and deliver the message: I found Raven, he’s alive and unharmed-“

“You don’t know that! Maybe I was-“

“Hey, I’m delivering a message, idiot” Sirius grinned and turned back to the Patronus. “He’s lost his knife, I’ll help him look for ten minutes, then we’re going to the Hogsmeade and I’ll deliver him to the Medical Wing.”

Raven sniggered when Sirius then hit him softly over the head. Sirius smiled as he watched the blueish wolf dash off. “I’ll do a quick scan, so we know you’re not seriously hurt.”

“Lady Magic already healed what was broken.”

“Just… please let me do this for my own paranoia.”

Nodding, Raven didn’t move while Sirius did the spell he had learnt from Severus. Luckily, the poor child really wasn’t hurt. And so, Sirius followed Raven over the hill, where a small hut was hidden behind a fair bit of trees and bushes.

Raven opened the door and Sirius looked down to see the hut only existing there to hide stairs going own into the earth. “Looks scary” he said and shook his head as Raven snorted.

They walked down, Sirius keeping watch on any dangers, but nothing was there. Down at the bottom, there was a room filled with whiskey and other things, a big wooden table and two doors to the left. Both were opened and except for one single window didn’t contain anything else.

“A bit bleak” Sirius said while he shook his head. “Accio knife!”

Nothing happened and Raven pouted. “That’s not fair! I loved that knife!”

Sirius snorted. “Yeah, well. I’m sure someone will buy you another one. And if not, just come ask me for one. I’m sure I can ask the Goblins to make you one.”

That seem to delight Raven and he nodded happily. “Thank you! Oh, and… we don’t have to worry about Dumbledore anymore.”

“How so?” Sirius frowned as he watched Raven snigger and running up the stairs. Sirius quickly followed and almost ran over the boy, who had stopped outside.

He pointed at some dirt on the floor. “This is what’s left of him.”

Sirius needed a second to understand what was going on. “What did you do?” he asked, awestruck.

Raven grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “He realized that I was Lady Magic’s vessel and… she destroyed him. Also, I got his wand” he said nonchalantly and pulled the wand-

“The Elder Wand?!” Sirius whispered, his brain completely failing to work anymore. “Holy shit.”

He took about a minute to focus again. Then, he asked Raven to hold on tight and they apparated across the country, appearing in Hogsmeade about two feet before the no-apparition zone started.

Sirius pulled Raven with him, but they didn’t get far, as a scream made both of them jerk and they looked up to the castle, where Kefira ran at them in full force. Behind her, Draco, Alden and Blaise with every member of the Alliance and all the friends they made.

“Oh-oh” Raven said with wide eyes. “Is it too late to run?”

“For you… yes” Sirius answered, grinning.

He received a massive side-eye, before Raven was pretty much run over by his friends and family.

“You’re in possession of Dumbledore’s wand?” Amelia Bones asked Raven when everyone had finally made it to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had declared him healthy, but wanted him to stay in the Infirmary for another night, just to be sure.

Nodding, Raven tilted his head. “Yeah? Why?”

Amelia leaned forward. “We can prove so many things if we hand it in and use Priori Incantato with Runes” she explained. “The Unspeakables might be able to do wonders with it.”

Sirius cleared his throat. “We… might not want to let the Unspeakables use this, Amelia.”

All eyes turned to Sirius, suspicious or questioning. Raven himself was unsure of what was going on. Severus was the first one to speak up. “How so? What do you know?”

“Show them his wand” Sirius said instead and looked at Raven.

So, Raven did.

At first, there was a bunch of gasping, before Lord Picquery leaned closer, inspecting the wand carefully. Raven just left it on the blanket, but no one seemed to dare touch it. Confusing not only him, but clearly Kefira as well.

However, she had Viktor next to her who leaned over and whispered something in her ear that made her widen her eyes comically, before staring at Raven in shock.

“Can somebody tell me what makes all of you react this way?”

Lord Picquery turned to his wife. “It’s real.”

“It’s real?” she repeated, her eyes shining in terror and shock. “So… the others could be… they could be real as well?”

“Wait, wait, no” Alden spoke up next. “It can’t be real. It’s a children’s tale!”

Lucius sat down next to Raven and softly moved some hair out of his face, before he could demand answers again. “It’s the Elder Wand” he explained softly. “A children’s tale. No one thought it to be true.”

Raven frowned. “Then, how do you know it’s real?” He looked over to Lord Picquery. “For all we know, Dumbledore could have specifically crafted it that way.”

Lady Picquery chuckled at that. “Agreed, and he would have definitely done that. However, in addition to our capabilities as Seers” she motioned to the twins who rolled their eyes, arguing that they hadn’t even seen anything as of now, “our family magicks allows us to inspect magic to the finer details. If my husband says it’s real… it is.”

More gasps.

‘They didn’t explain it really’ Draco’s voice sounded through Raven’s head. It was soothing knowing that the connection was still working after the wristband took that away as well. ‘Basically, there were three brothers, they cheated death and the personification of death gave them each the choice for a gift.’

‘Oh, I read about this!’ Kefira interrupted him, which made Raven grin and he looked over to where Draco was rolling his eyes, but he still seemed amused.

‘Do you want to tell it then, or shall I continue?’

Kefira sent their brother a quick glare, which made Draco look at her smugly. ‘The first brother chose the strongest wand ever made, the second brother chose a way to speak to the dead and the third brother chose a way to hide from death. According to the books, he received a cloak that would hide him from death until he was old and ugly and he greeted death like an old friend.’

Raven frowned and looked at Draco. “Like the invisibility cloak I received from Dumbledore from James Potter in first year?”

The discussions around the room ceased and everyone stared at him. Raven could hear Lady Magic in his mind laughing. It is exactly that cloak, she confirmed.

“Oh shit.”

“That’s two out of three” Blaise said with wide eyes.

“What happens when I’ve got them all?”

“Master of Death!” Ginny whispered awed. “But that’s just hypothetical. No one knew if these things did actually exist.”

Raven stared at her in shock. Wait, did that mean that should he gather all of these things, he wouldn’t only be a vessel for Lady Magic, but also be the Master of Death? Lord Death?

That is exactly what would happen if you get a hold of the thing that can communicate with the dead.

“I’m not getting the dead-speaking thing” Raven said, shaking his head. On the other hand, maybe that was thing missing for him to be able to communicate with his siblings?

He threw that idea away quickly, seeing as his siblings could do it without the Deathly Hallows.

The next two days were filled with strange happenings. First of all, the rumour that the parents of the Alliance had killed Dumbledore the night they had all stayed in the Hospital Wing with Raven was just too funny.

Once Raven had been found healthy, the idiots from the tournament had thrown Raven into the lake to ‘save’ his prisoner. Blaise had told them that he didn’t fancy going down there again. Narcissa had been on his side and didn’t leave the tournament.

The next thing they wanted to do was Kefira or Draco. Once again, Narcissa had argued them out of it (with very unladylike swearing), then Alden had offered to be down in the lake. Theodore tried to get him out of that decision and even tried to get their father to stop Alden.

“Thanks for caring” Alden smiled at his brother. “But I’ve made this decision. And I don’t want Raven to lose his magic.”

Theodore then turned to the tournament planners. “I’ll be down there as well to make sure that nothing happens to him!” There was no space to argue. And so, they let the two boys go down. Alden in a sleeping state and Theodore with a specifically brewed potion by Severus so he could stay there without problems.

Before they went in, Raven pulled Theodore away from everyone. “I’m not going to get him, you know that, right? I’m just jumping in the water in order not to lose my magic.”

“Obviously. Why else do you think, I wanted to be down there with him?”

Raven smiled at him. “You’re a good brother, you know.”

Theodore looked at him surprised, before he sent him a quick smile. “Thanks. Took me a while to figure my shit out.”

“That’s fine.”

They were separated, Theodore jumped in with Alden, and Raven waited by the shore with the rest of the champions and their family and friends. He was given a motivational speech from Viktor, which made him snigger, especially when Kefira tried to unsuccessfully interrupt and tell him that Raven wasn’t looking to compete. Viktor just continued.

It was a nice speech, really. Even if Kefira had her face in her hands and shaking her head.

The edge of the dock rushed towards him as he was allowed to start the tournament task, a blurry mess of splintered wood and churning black water. He didn't slow down, didn't hesitate. He launched himself, a flying projectile propelled by raw terror of hoping to make it out alive, and met the water in a bone-jarring crash. The icy cold stole his breath, the darkness swallowing him whole.

Fuck, who the hell would do a lake task in January?!

He concentrated on swimming, keeping himself warm. The world underneath the surface was interesting, always moving. There were a few fish, fleeing as they saw him. Raven swam a bit further, before deciding that he had wasted enough of everyone’s time.

He broke the surface in a gasping cough, sputtering for air. But the reprieve was short-lived. A powerful grip clamped around his ankle, dragging him down again. Panic clawed at his throat, a primal terror that choked off reason. He thrashed, kicking wildly, but the unseen force held him firm, pulling him under.

In that desperate moment, something primal shifted within him. Fear, instead of crippling, became a catalyst. He focused, channelling his terror into a laser point of will. Ignoring the burning in his lungs, he forced his eyes open, searching for the surface – a beacon of salvation in the murky green depths.

With a surge of adrenaline-fueled defiance, he slammed his fist against the unseen hand gripping him. It wasn't a physical attack, but a desperate act of defiance. And then, he remembered. His wand! It was strapped to his arm, a forgotten weapon in the heat of the moment.

He ripped it free, a surge of relief washing over him as the familiar weight settled in his hand. Barely breaking the surface again, he pointed the wand blindly towards the sky, focusing all his remaining energy on a single, desperate yell underneath the water. "Accio Castle of Hogwarts!"

The air crackled with magic, a jolt of white light erupting from the wand's tip. The magic fighting with the natural construct of a huge fucking castle, before it pulled Raven out into the air.

If the castle wasn’t coming to him, he would be thrown at it… which was what he had wanted to do.

It felt like an explosion, a force that ripped him from the water's grasp and propelled him skyward. He broke the surface in a shower of spray, gasping for air, his body a mess of aches and chills. But he was alive. He had escaped.

Cancelling the spell mid-flight, made him fall into the shallow water of the Black Lake, close to where his family and friends were. Draco and Kefira ran at him and pulled him up, guiding him to the medical tent.

The commentary on his attempt by the Ministry worker was obviously idiotic and they went down to get Alden and Theodore.

Raven fell back onto the bed, exhaustion high, while the mediwitch looked him over. ‘That was terrible.’

He didn’t notice his siblings’ shocked faces as he lost consciousness and drifted off to sleep to recover from what he had experienced.

The other thing happened a day after, where the age-old question of what would happen when someone took Polyjuice potion from a transfigured book page instead of hair of an imprisoned Auror was answered.

The most hilarious and nightmare inducing partial transfiguration… Obviously, whoever was hiding Auror Moody had been brewing a new batch of Polyjuice and when they drank something in the Great Hall, an ear-piercing scream erupted form the individual.

Raven had never seen Severus sprint out of the Great Hall as fast as he had just then – most likely getting Amelia down here.

The rest of the student body watched in horror as the man changed from Mad-Eye Moody to… a partial book… His skin was dark leather, his hair feathers and the crazy eyes moved around everyone as if he expected an attack from every side.

“Holy shit” Daphne whispered next to Raven. While several professors had their wands out and made sure he couldn’t move a single muscle.

“Do you know who this is?” Kefira asked with wide eyes.

Pansy narrowed her own eyes and seemed to be thinking of who this was. “It’s a bit hard to read, really… If his hair wasn’t feathers, I’d say…”

“Barty Crouch Junior” Severus said loudly as he walked through the Great Hall, a few Aurors behind him. And of course Amelia.

The Auror that Raven recognized was Kingsley Shacklebolt frowned at Severus. “I thought he was dead?”

“Obviously not” Severus frowned. “Or maybe it’s not so obvious anymore. What did you mix in your potion?”

“Nothing” the man hissed, his tongue moving out of his mouth like a serpent.

Raven leaned over to his brother. “This guy is crazy.”

“And supposedly dead” Blaise said darkly. “According to Azkaban’s death scrolls, he died about twelve years ago.”

Professor Sinistra got up and turned to the Aurors as well as professors. “We should take this somewhere away from the children.”

The Aurors walked over and grabbed a partial transfigured Barty Crouch Junior, while Professor McGonagall agreed. “Good idea. Children, off to your Common Rooms. The morning classes are cancelled.”

Kefira groaned. “Why does it always take potions away when classes get cancelled.”

Theodore snorted at that. “Kefira, do you really need potions classes? You are a published author in the potions field. You single handedly created a cure for Dragonpox.”

“Still! We need to learn.”

Raven smirked. “Hey, we could invite the Badgers over to our Common Room, have the allies meet and talk again. I miss Susan.”

“I miss you too, Raven!” Susan called from the other table, which made a few Snakes look over and Raven sniggered.

The Badgers ended up crowding the Slytherin Common Room and neither Head of House argued against it, making sure that everyone felt welcomed.

Interesting Updates from Hogwarts

For a complete picture, every update has a detailed companion article. Read more on the indicated page after the update.

• Headmaster Dumbledore is pronounced dead, officials from Gringotts announce. He died due to age and loss of magic. (See page 3)
• Professor Moody was kidnapped and replaced by a Death Eater. He was found in Ireland under the medical care of the O’Brien family. (See page 17)
• Fourth Triwizard Tournament champion receives 3 points on the latest task. (See page 8)
• Department of Mysteries announces an event to look into Albus Dumbledore’s wand history (no wand inspection for the public; done by private investigator. The DoM simply has the results). Apparently, the Headmaster of Hogwarts created Dragonpox at Hogwarts. Chang Family sues the Dumbledore Family. (See page 3 for the DoM event; page 16 for the lawsuit)
• Hogwarts Health Board creates new safety rules for sporting events, including Quidditch and the last Triwizard Tournament. (See page 24)
• Professor McGonagall announced Headmistress of Hogwarts by united vote. (See page 5)
• Hogwarts is hiring: DADA Professor, Head of Gryffindor House, Transfiguration Professor, new courses will be added for next year, we will inform when the new positions will be announced. (See page 18)
• The newly established potion from Potion Genius Dove Malfoy will be released to the public at the end of February. It’s tested to take off a specific number of years from a witch or wizard and will be specifically used in the medical field. (See page 10)

“Wait no” Kefira said with a frown, “why would they announce it in the newspaper and not to me?”

Raven sniggered and pointed to the owls arriving for breakfast. “Pretty sure they’re here right now.”

Draco snorted. “It is kind of funny, that you keep finding that stuff through the paper and not from actual people.”

“It’s stupid, is what it is.”

“But, hey, congratulations” Blaise leaned over from his seat next to Raven. “Loos like you have two potions published. Do you still want to go to potions class?”

“Yes!” Kefira cried, outraged, while the rest of Slytherin laughed over her clear love and need to learn things. She hit Draco over the head and tried with Raven but he just ducked away and used Blaise as his shield.

Chapter Text

Bill had been cleared by Amanda’s Healer. And told to go report to the goblins.

He had never felt so ashamed when he as on his way to Gringotts. Never in his life had he done something so stupid without at least having backup somewhere he could get to.

Going into a cave somewhere out in nowhere and then being attacked by Inferi, threatened to be turned into one while at the same time being alive, was the absolute worst thing to do. And he had done it. What kind of stupidity had possessed him to go there anyway?!

Yes, they were researching Horcruxes. Yes, he had calculated this and actually found it. And no, he had never just run off to find something that he and any other Curse-Breakers had found. Something had to have had possessed him to do so.

He stopped the first time in Diagon Alley, when Gringotts came into view. “Fuck” he swore quietly and took a deep breath. The goblins would likely kill him for something so irresponsible.

Closing his eyes for a second, he took all the courage he had and continued walking (with eyes open, obviously).

Then, he stopped a second time, when he found the guards outside actively looking for someone. Not many people knew what the guards were doing, but as a Gringotts employee, he had walked past them enough times and have been given explanations for their behaviour to know what to look for.

And these guards could be looking for anyone, yes…

But it was more likely they were looking for him.

“Let’s get this over with” Bill said, taking another deep breath and headed towards the employee entrance, where he was quickly stopped by a guard.

Obviously.

“Follow me, Mister Bones” the guard said in Gobbledygook with a quick glare, then turned and led him through the halls of Gringotts.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out where they were going – Hembrock was technically his boss, even if he also was a family accountant. Some – read: incredibly talented – goblins had two important jobs.

So, when the guard stopped in front of Hembrock’s office and knocked, Bill wasn’t surprised. Scared shitless, yes. But not surprised.

The goblin left, while Bill opened the door and faced his biggest fear. Goblin Hembrock. How Raven could have this goblin as his family accountant and not pee himself every time he had to see him was beyond Bill.

His boss looked up and raised his eyebrows. Clearly, he saw what was happening with Bill’s face. He spoke in Gobbledygook. "Well, well, well. Look who's back, sporting some new war paint. Let's just hope they serve as a permanent reminder, shall we?"

Bill sighed. “They do.”

Only goblins would call scars ‘war paint’…

“Excellent. Per the terms of your Curse-Breaker contract, you will now undergo a mandatory two-week medical assessment followed by two intensive weeks of combat training with our soldiers. Your final placement, including the punishment of being reassigned to a first-year trainee position, will be determined after the health scan results are reviewed. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Hembrock nodded. “Very well. We will start with a full health screening and see whether you running off without telling anyone was your own decision or a compulsion. When were you last checked fully?”

Bill frowned. He tried to explain it in Hembrock’s language, but the words didn’t come out in Gobbledygook. English it was then. “When we figured out I was a Bones. So a good two years ago?”

Holy shit, was it actually two years already?!

Humming thoughtfully, Hembrock scribbled something down, before he continued the conversation in English as well. “I might have to change this for the whole department. We can’t have that again. Regular screenings should be the norm.”

Without knocking, a medical goblin arrived and Bill took a seat on the couch, waiting for her to finish the scans. When the parchment appeared, Bill took one look and groaned.

Michael Julius Bones (immediate cleansing requested)

“Congratulations, you may keep your job” Hembrock said, once again in Gobbledygook. Bill caught a tiny glimpse of relief in his eyes. “You’re still going to have to do two weeks with the medical staff and then two weeks with the soldiers, but that’s all.”

“Thank you. For not… firing me.”

Hembrock shook his head. “You’re a good man. If you had run off on your own, I would have had you fight for your current position. That wasn’t like you. Glad to keep you here, lad.”

After a full day in the medical wards of Gringotts, Bill walked home. He briefly considered going to his sister’s house, but decided that he was too tired to talk today. Despite Amanda’s healer having cleared him, spending any number of hours in the medical wards of Gringotts was hard work.

“Good evening.”

Bill froze, keys to his apartment in his hands, when he heard Antonin’s voice. It seemed, as of the Lord ha waited for him outside of his flat in Diagon. In the dark no less, like a real stalker…

“How do you know where I live?” Bill asked, somewhere between amused and suspicious. More amused actually.

“I’ve got my connections.”

Bill chuckled. “You asked Amelia, I assume.”

Antonin grinned slightly. The light from a nearby torch illuminating only his face. “Oh, a Lord never reveals his sources.”

“Uh-hu” Bill smirked at that. “And what exactly are you hoping to achieve by waiting outside my apartment?”

“Nothing really” Antonin stepped out of the half-shadow he was standing in still. As always, he looked like an impeccably dressed Lord of High Society.

His tailored suit, a deep charcoal that seemed to absorb the light around him, fit him to perfection. A silk cravat, the colour of a summer sky, peeked out from the open collar of his white dress shirt. Polished leather shoes, gleaming like obsidian, completed the picture of wealth and refinement. A gold watch chain, glinting in the dim light, stretched across his waistcoat, the fob tucked neatly into his pocket. He was the epitome of understated elegance, a man who commanded attention without ever seeming to raise his voice.

Though it really shouldn’t have, Bill was once more astonished by Antonin’s style. He turned away, chuckling. He wasn’t laughing because of what he saw, but because he knew that he was in too deep. There was no way out of this state of mind. He was far too deep in love with the older man. And seeing him dressed like that… It made his whole body react in not really unpleasant ways.

“Okay, before we go any further” Bill said, leaning against the door to his apartment. “I just have a few things to consider.”

“Go ahead” Antonin sent him an encouraging smile.

Bill rubbed his forehead, feeling a tiny scar. “First of all, I am too young for you – no, let me finish” he held his hands up to stop the other man from talking. “I’m too young or you, you have an adult child! Konstantin was my brother, how… how weird would that be? Also, I don’t have any status or style, really. My job is incredibly dangerous and any loved one of mine would have to… to fear for my life every day when I’m at work. I can’t… I can’t really let anybody go through this.”

He paused and sighed. When he realized that Antonin didn’t say anything, and also hadn’t left yet, he stopped leaning against his door and straightened his back, to face the other man fully. He stared at the floor first, before he nervously licked his lips.

“And yet” he started quietly again, looking up into the soft expression that greeted him. “I can’t find myself pulling away from you. I…” he didn’t want to say he loved Antonin, because that was definitely too early, but… “I don’t really want to imagine my life without you…”

Antonin chuckled. “So, may I counter your points now, or should I wait for a bit longer?”

Bill rolled his eyes. “No, go ahead, if you must.”

“Thank you, I must. First point, you are not too young for me, you are young, yes, however, I would ignore the ‘too young’ part. Wizards tend to age for over a hundred years, who would even ask our age difference then? Secondly, Konstantin was your brother, you two have a close bond. What better way for me to know that you will love him too? I wouldn’t want any relationship where my son would have to feel as if he wasn’t important to my partner.”

Antonin took a deliberate step closer, the air around Bill crackling with a sudden awareness. His breath hitched in his throat as Antonin's hand cupped his cheek, a soft smile gracing his lips. He tried to fight it, but knew that he had long ago lost this fight. He let go of the key to his apartment, heard the noise, but didn’t register anything else.

“I don’t care about status or style or even name” Antonin continued softly. “Since you’re the youngest sibling and your late sister had a child, the title would never go to you anyway. And it doesn’t matter to me, I do have a title and a name. And maybe style for us both” he winked at Bill, who let out a breathy laugh.

“This-“

“I wasn’t finished, dear” Antonin said softly. “I know your job is dangerous, I’ve seen it.” The fingers of his free hand traced the scars on Bill’s face. “And your Patronus came to find me. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is your passion, it’s what you’re good at. And whenever you are in danger I will come and get you. That’s a promise. As much as you can’t imagine your life without me in it, I wouldn’t want to miss you in mine.”

He leaned in gently, pressing a kiss on Bill’s lips that destroyed Bill’s brain. All it screamed was that he loved this, wouldn’t let go, never in a million years.

Bill chuckled. “Damn.”

Antonin grinned, leaning against the doorframe to Bill’s apartment. Bill just looked at him for a while, before he grabbed his keys.

“Did you rehearse this?”

“Oh yes, multiple days” Antonin answered. “Every time you were asleep up in Ireland.”

“I should have known” Bill responded, joy filling every inch of his body. “Do you want to come in? There’s not much food around though, I haven’t been here for… a couple of weeks, maybe months, I have no idea anymore.”

Antonin chuckled. “Sure, there’s always delivery.”

Over the next two months, a lot of things changed. Moody was declared healthy and retired from the Auror Force. He did end up coming to Hogwarts to teach DADA as long as there was no replacement. It was much more pleasant to be taught by the real Moody and he had some pretty interesting stories from his time as an Auror.

They were doing much more practical stuff and even opened up a duelling ring, where every student in Hogwarts quickly realized that no one was messing with Raven, Blaise, Neville or Ginny. And these four together were a power house. Not even the twins messed with them, who according to the always reliable rumour mill had tutors from all over the world teaching them duelling styles every summer holiday twenty-four-seven.

Kefira and Viktor grew much closer and could be seen walking around together, talking. Or reading books in the library. Or teaching Kefira how to fly. She didn’t like it, but Viktor made sure that she wasn’t spending all her time in a darkened room full of potions fumes. And Kefira herself was teaching Viktor a few easy potions.

It was quite cute really.

Raven had also realized that Draco and Blaise had come to an understanding. According to Alden, Draco had jumped into the lake to save Blaise when he wasn’t there to do it. That seemed to bond these two who had been in a strange friendship-hatred ever since the train home last summer. It was nice, seeing them rekindle their friendship, even if it was slow-going. Raven understood that trust couldn’t just be handed back without precaution.

After the potion was announced and published, Kefira had talked to their parents and to Minerva about why she had created it, Minerva had almost cried, Narcissa cried and Lucius was teary-eyed. And Minerva had taken the potion to take some years off. Raven could see how much more confident she was around their parents. It was… weirdly cute. In a really… weird way. At least for Raven.

It was probably sweet for their parents and Minerva.

After the revelation that Dumbledore had indeed created the Dragonpox outbreak at Hogwarts, Minerva, as her first act of Headmistress, had called the goblins to look at the wards and make the school generally safer than before. She wanted a lot of things done quickly, including making sure that Hogwarts was accessible to everyone.

The fact that the endless turning stairs hadn’t killed someone in all of Hogwarts history was a miracle.

Raven had been busy as well. He had visited his godfather and made a deal with him. He knew Severus hated being a professor, he wanted to create potions, play around with it and all that stuff.

So, he insisted (pressured, really) that Severus quit, now that Dumbledore was dead. He could open his own little shop down in Hogsmeade and come back to Hogwarts in the evening to meet his partners.

“I’m sorry, why would I do that?” Severus asked, suspiciously, eyeing the sleeping panther in front of the fireplace. If anyone was coming through, they would fall right over Sirius… Why would the idiot pick such a stupid place to sleep?!

Raven grinned. “Obviously, Remus should re-apply for the DADA position! Sirius can be the Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration Professor, if he wanted to.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think we should let Sirius run rampage over a bunch of children. In Gryffindor no less.”

“Only Remus could run rampage as a werewolf” Sirius said, sleepily.

Raven sniggered. “I think it would work. And you’d still be around us!”

“You thought this through, haven’t you?” Severus said with an amused smirk. That was until Remus floo’d into his quarters and fell over Sirius, both cursing the other. Severus sighed and shook his head. “Unlike some people.”

Raven left the triad to their own devices, now that he had talked to Severus and maybe got him an idea of his own future. He wouldn’t mind getting another professor, if it meant that his godfather could be happy.

As he entered the Common Room again, he found Kefira and Draco looking at him just slightly strange. They had done that ever since he had gotten back from the lake… Raven really didn’t know why, especially since apart from the odd looks he received, nothing had really changed.

Now, however, there was a reason to the odd looks, since Blaise was sitting with them. And as soon as Raven had entered, the Slytherin got up and walked towards him, his hands behind his back. He was hiding something.

“Blaise?” Raven asked slightly confused.

His boyfriend smiled. “Hey, I… I heard that you lost your knife.”

Raven groaned. “My favourite one! I should have added some magical protection to make sure I could just call it back when I threw it into someone.”

Blaise chuckled. “Would be a good addition to your next favourite knife.”

“Huh?” Raven tilted his head and frowned at Blaise. “I’m sorry… what? This feels a bit…”

Blaise showed him his hands, in which lay a beautiful throwing knife. The knife was expertly crafted, with a gleaming, polished blade that winked in the light. The grip, designed for optimal control, was wrapped in smooth, black leather that contrasted elegantly with the silver of the blade. The tang, the part that extended into the grip, was likely full tang, meaning it ran the entire length of the handle for perfect balance and strength. It was a weapon that spoke of both lethality and beauty.

“Wow” Raven breathed, before his eyes found Blaise’s. “What’s going on?”

“This is my… courtship gift for you” Blaise spoke slowly and quietly. Still, everyone seemed to have heard him as the background noise of people talking dropped to basically zero.

Raven widened his eyes. “Courtship?”

“Yes” Blaise said with a soft chuckle. He seemed to find his courage again. “I know we’re already in a relationship, but… I wanted to make it official. If you accept this, our parents… well your parents and a representation for mine, they will draw up a marriage contract. We could do it without one, obviously, but… marriage contracts are usually blessed by Lady Magic herself.”

He’s not wrong. It would suit your relationship and your magic, Lady Magic spoke in Raven’s head.

Raven nodded, tears in his eyes. “I accept. Blaise, did you really think, I wouldn’t?!”

“I didn’t know!” Blaise sounded really annoyed by that.

Raven sniggered and walked closer, accepting the courtship gift, with everyone present cheering them on. Most of all, Kefira and Draco, who seemed to have been in on everything.

“I really hate them all” Raven rolled his eyes which made Blaise chuckle.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Ginny’s out front” the twins said in unison. “And Neville’s waiting.”

Raven groaned, but he stripped the knife to his lower leg and grinned at his… partner? “Let’s get this over with, so everything can go back to normal.”

Raven made one big mistake in thinking things could go back to normal in the next two months that followed. First of all, what was normal anyway?! At least in the Malfoy household. Secondly, people started to worship Raven for defeating Dumbledore…

Where the hell had they gotten this news?!

Thanks to pretty much all he parents of the Alliance (and especially the Picquerys), the media buzz soon stopped and after Narcissa and Lucius started threatening to get their lawyers involved, everyone left Raven alone.

And it seemed as if the students at Hogwarts knew who Raven really was and didn’t look at him as if he had invented Magic itself.

Also… the twins helped by delivering pizza everywhere, claiming it to be an order from Raven, even though he tried to tell the other people that he had nothing to do with it. No one believed him anyway – about the pizza. Or actually, they believed him, but decided to play along with the twins.

Graham did try to stop them, but they hired Ginny and Neville as their bodyguards and he soon backed off.

“If Graham really scared of the twins?” Alden asked, as he sat down next to Raven on the Slytherin table, much to Draco’s delight. “I don’t think that’s a good thing to build a relationship on.”

Theodore snorted, as he piled some mashed potatoes on his plate. “No, I think, he’s scared of Ginny and Neville.”

“Oh yeah” Pansy agreed, grabbing a few meatier items from the middle of the table. “These two are deadly. Hand me the peas, please?”

Kefira handed the plate over, before she stole some fish from Viktor’s plate with a quiet snigger. “Hey!” Viktor called out, but didn’t stop her. He did lean over and grab the dish with the fish, placing it in front of her. “There you go, just ask!”

“They trained well” Raven said, leaning out of the way of a corn dish. “Also, Ginny went with us to France to fight some adults.”

“Oh yes” Draco said with wide eyes and a happy grin. “She was awesome. Actually, all of us were.”

Blaise raised his eyebrows. “All of us?” He ducked as Draco shot some carrots over the edge of the plate. It still hit him in his chest. Without retaliating, he brushed them off on his own plate.

Raven sniggered. “Let’s just keep my brother’s illusion alive. May I have the bread?”

“No!” Draco called and tried to keep Daphne from passing it. Raven received it from the other side, where Viktor was sitting with a few Durmstrang people.

“Also, Ginny definitely taught Neville a few tricks, so I wouldn’t mess with him” Kefira added, grabbing bread from the still struggled over basket between Draco and Daphne.

Pansy nodded. “We saw. Hey, where did you get the carrots, Draco?”

“They’re mine!” Draco called out, both hands on the basket.

“I’ll just take yours then” Pansy grabbed her fork and leaned over. Draco screamed and let go of the basket, protecting his plate. Daphne yelped and threw the bread over the Ravenclaw table.

Ginny cheered. “Thank you, Daphne!”

“You’re welcome, darling!”

“Mate, it’s crazy here at the Slytherin table, I think I’ll head back” Alden said with a wicked grin, getting up.

Draco screamed “NO!” and pulled him down. “You’re staying here now!”

“It’s usually just Draco and Kefira, who are crazy” Pansy explained with a grin.

Glaring at her, Draco narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry, who was just going to steal my carrots?! Oi, Montague! Pass the carrots down again!”

Alden laughed and looked at his brother. “Is it always like that?”

“Sometimes” Theodore said and rolled his eyes, whole some students tried to argue against it.

Soon enough it was the middle of June. The third task was getting closer and closer and Severus was about to lose his mind. He could see his mark getting darker with every passing day and while Raven’s idea to use Parsletongue on it was really good, they hadn’t found any idea of where to start and where to end.

He had already realized that his morning runs around the lake had turned more into a sprinting thing, just to get his head cleared. And it still wasn’t working. He came to a halt again somewhere in the middle of the forest, behind the lake.

The morning view of Hogwarts was beautiful, really. And yet…

When Raven had talked to him about his future, he had realized that he didn’t want to be teaching anymore. He wanted to create, brew, be crazy with potions, see where it would lead him.

And he couldn’t do that as a professor.

Sighing, Severus walked the rest of the path, unable to settle his chaotic mind. Before he reached the castle, an owl swooped down and demanded he’d take his letter, before flying off silently.

We did it. The potion for Mister Malfoy is ready and shipped to the British Ministry, Amelia Bones. Take it within the next ten days and you’ll have a potion that will kill the drinker and should revive them after one minute. ~ Potions Guild

Severus stopped breathing.

“Fuck.”

That feeling was worse than he would have imagined. He did not like the ‘should’-part. Not at all.

Chapter Text

Everyone who knew Raven and was allied to his family, was joining him as he left on Friday evening to visit Gringotts. His siblings were with him, all the former Weasley children and their families (even Riagán travelled down to London, leaving the farm over the weekend in Joey’s hands), Arthur arrived with Thomas, and Neville joined with his grandmother.

It was the event of the year.

Funny, especially as the last ever Triwizard Tournament was taking place later this month at Hogwarts.

Gringotts had threatened to come after the entire wizarding world, if Amelia wouldn’t administer the potion within Gringotts healing wards and naturally, nobody wanted a fight with the goblins over this.

So, as they made their way down to the healing ward in Gringotts, Raven could tell that most of them were incredibly nervous. Most of all was his entire family. And obviously his intended.

Raven grabbed Blaise’s hand as they followed Hembrock through the hallways. He squeezed softly and smiled when Blaise sent him a concerned look.

“It’s going to be okay” Raven whispered softly.

Blaise shook his head. “I’m not… I’m not worried you’re not coming back. You’re something of an unbeatable force of nature. Nothing can stop you if you want something.”

“And I want to spend my future with you, you know.”

Smiling, Blaise squeezed his hand back. “You’re cute.”

Raven rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Right back at you.”

The hallways got curvier and not as shiny as before. It seemed as if the goblins took the stones away and decided that this was enough work. The edges of stone created shadows of all forms and sizes. Raven looked over his shoulders and could see several people looking around anxiously.

Surprisingly – actually not really… Sirius seemed amused and happy to be there. It seemed as if he had a spring in his steps as he walked further down the creepy hallway. He seemed right at home here, which… really should be surprising, seeing as he had lived here for weeks? Months? He couldn’t remember.

Also Bill – a.k.a. Michael as he wanted to be called from now on – seemed happy to be around here. He greeted several goblins as they reached the healing wards and they returned the greeting.

“Hey, I can do that too!” Sirius claimed, which started a mini-war between the two idiots. Dolohov finally pulled Michael back and Severus with Professor Lupin’s help got control over Sirius. The goblins seemed just amused by this.

Raven sniggered, but quickly turned back to Hembrock.

“We’re here” the goblin said with a smile. “Mister Malfoy, please lay down, Lady Bones, hand the potion over to our healer, please.”

Lying down on the hospital bed, Raven looked over to the assembled crowd, he smiled. “It’s not going to be for long, don’t worry so much about me.” He spoke more to Blaise than to the others.

Draco rolled his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Kid, we’re always going to worry about you” Amanda said with a soft expression. “Especially since you’re literally going to die.”

“And then coming back” Raven said with a shrug.

The healer walked forward, the vial in his hands. “Do you want to say goodbye?” he asked with a heavy accent.

“No!” several people called out and Raven sniggered.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy, no worries!”

‘This is terrible joking material, Raven!’ Kefira said through their shared siblings’ link.

‘Honestly!’ Draco agreed.

Raven sent them a wink and then smiled at Blaise, before he turned to the healer. “I’m ready.”

“Mr. Zabini?”

It had been five minutes already… This potion was supposed to bring Raven back in a minute! Why wasn’t it working?!

Blaise turned around to see Amelia Bones standing behind him. “Yes Ma’am?” he asked, carefully. He wasn’t sure why he was so careful, but he felt something dangerous coming his way.

Lady Bones sighed and beckoned him with her. “Do you think, you’ve got a few minutes to follow me?”

Looking back, he could see so many people surrounding Raven’s… dead… body… If he were to wake up, there were people around him.

“Yes.”

Lady Bones nodded. “We have found the two people attacking Raven.”

“Okay. Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Right before he was going to take the potion that was killing and resurrecting him? Not the best idea, I’d suppose.”

Blaise nodded, his worries still high. “I guess that makes sense. But why talk to me?”

“They’re arsonists.” Lady Bones seemed unsure of how to continue her thoughts. “In addition, they… they’re assassins. Not high-end killers, since they’ve been leaving a lot of survivors, but they are being paid to kill.”

Blaise stopped following her and stared. He knew where this was going.

“BLAISE!” his mother screeched, Blaise jerked back.

“Avada Kedavra!” green light lit up the blackness of the night. Blaise saw the shadows of the two men on the walls. Like the Grim Reaper.

The air turned thick, heavy with a sudden pressure Blaise couldn't explain. His breath hitched, caught in his throat like a fly in a web. Images, sharp and vivid, flooded his mind, erasing the present like a tide washing over sandcastles.

He wasn't in the dark corridors of Gringotts waiting for his boyfriends’ survival anymore. He was… somewhere else. A wardrobe, seeing his bedroom wall bathed in an eerie green glow, his mother's panicked screams echoing in his ears, a sound both familiar and terrifyingly distant. The frantic rush of nights spent on the run, the constant fear gnawing at his insides – it all came rushing back, a torrent of memory he thought he'd dammed shut forever.

His body tensed, a primal instinct taking over. He wanted to run, hide, do anything to escape the suffocating weight of the past that had just slammed into him. Confusion mingled with a raw, primal fear, leaving him disoriented and struggling to breathe.

“Hey, hey, Blaise, deep breaths. Deep breaths, follow me.”

Blaise closed his eyes, following the distant voice, until he was back. He was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. Lady Bones knelt in front of him, as did Ginny. She seemed to have followed them and was here.

Ginny looked very worried, while Lady Bones sent him a smile. “Okay?”

Blaise sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, dear. You’re handling all of this very well.”

Ginny frowned and then grabbed Blaise’s hand. “Nobody should go through what you went through. Raven wouldn’t want you to go through this alone. So, I’m here.”

“But you’re not with Raven” Blaise said quietly.

Snorting, Ginny pulled him back to his feet. “Come on, Blaise. Raven has like fifty visitors waiting for him. And none with you? Definitely not!”

They heard someone running and Blaise turned to look down the hallway, before he saw Neville chasing after them. Ginny sniggered and turned back to Blaise.

“See? We’re together. Through fights and struggles and fun.”

Blaise chuckled, softly. “Alright. Is if okay, if they come with me?” he asked Lady Bones who smiled at Ginny and a heavy breathing Neville.

“Of course.”

They were led through the tunnels and catacombs of Gringotts by Amelia Bones who seemed to know exactly where they were going. And after about ten minutes (it felt like ten minutes, anyway), they met with a few goblins who opened a cellar to them.

“Why are they in Gringotts?” Blaise asked, slightly confused.

Lady Bones chuckled at that. “The goblins were the ones who found them. And they seem to take things very personal, when Raven is concerned.”

“So… they’re keeping them imprisoned? Wouldn’t that start a new goblin-wizard war?” Neville asked, slightly unsure as they passed another door with goblin guards.

Blaise hummed thoughtfully, while Ginny sniggered. “I don’t think anybody knows about this.”

Neville frowned. “That makes it even worse” he whispered.

Lady Bones shook her head. “Don’t worry. The Ministry is aware of it, which is why I am here.”

“And you accept it?” Blaise asked, curiously. He still felt off, but it was good to have two friends with him.

Ginny grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Blaise sent her a quick smile.

They stopped in front of another door. Lady Bones turned to them and smirked a little. “We had to accept it. If we hadn’t, the goblins would have started a war with us.”

Ginny frowned at that. “Over two idiots?”

“Over not letting them protect a friend of the goblins. That is in fact something they are allowed to start a fight over” Lady Bones explained with a shrug. “The Ministry would rather keep peace with the goblins than try to trial two idiots who decided it was a good idea to kidnap a friend of the goblins.”

Neville hummed. “They should have done that to Dumbledore then.”

Ginny snorted and Blaise chuckled. He turned to his friend and put an arm around his shoulders. “I don’t think the Ministry would have let them keep old Dumbles.”

Lady Bones smiled at them and opened the door. Blaise sighed, before he followed her in. He looked at the two cells that were inhabited at the moments and bit the inside of his cheek. He hadn’t seen them, only heard or… smelt that one guy.

He stood before the prisoner in the damp, subterranean cell. The air hung heavy, thick with the smell of mildew and despair. But then, a faint aroma cut through it – a familiar blend of mint, orange, and vanilla. It was the same scent that had haunted his nightmares, a chilling echo from his past.

“It’s definitely one of them. Id’ recognize that smell anywhere” he said, his voice rough.

“Fuck you, kid.”

“Shut up, Lawrence.”

Blaise raised his eyebrows, while Ginny snorted. Neville shook his head, silently.

Turning to Lady Bones, Blaise nodded. “I also remember their voices.”

The man in the right cell stirred, slowly rising with a wince that spoke of cramped muscles and neglected aches. He was a gaunt man, his clothes hanging loosely on a frame whittled thin by time and hardship. His once-vibrant hair, now a mess of unwashed strands, clung to his head in damp clumps.

He approached the bars, his movements deliberate but not entirely smooth, like a machine that hadn't been oiled in a while. His eyes, a startling blue against his sallow skin, held a disconcerting intensity. They flicked around the visitor's face, taking in every detail with an almost predatory sharpness. Yet, beneath that intensity, a flicker of something else flickered – a hint of mania, an edge sharpened by the long days and nights spent in this damp, isolated tomb.

Blaise knew instantly that this man was there the night his family was murdered. Ginny squeezed his hand slightly, making sure she was there for him. He sent her a grateful smile.

“Zabini, isn't it?” he rasped, his voice a dry whisper that scraped against the silence. A smile, more of a grimace, stretched his lips, revealing teeth stained yellow from neglect. “The one who bolted. Can't say I blame you, kid. Survival instinct, right?”

There was a manic glint in his eyes, a hint of someone teetering on the edge of sanity. It wasn't the wild, unhinged laughter of a lunatic, but a more subtle disquiet. He was a man pushed to his limits, the harsh environment and his circumstances wearing on his mind, leaving him a shell of his former self.

Ginny dashed forward clearly trying to defend Blaise, but was held back by Neville. Lady Bones was about to say something, when Blaise walked closer to the bars as well. “You try hearing your loved ones die in front of you.”

“You know, you’re next, kid!”

“Don’t worry” the goblin guard to the right said with a twisted smile. “They won’t make it out alive.”

“I’m a wizard!” the guy at the bars screamed, his voice breaking, pulling and pushing at the bars as if he was… no he was crazy. “Where are my rights?! Where is the goddamn Ministry?!”

Lady Bones looked at him darkly. “Right here. And I’m not going to talk the Goblin Nation out of keeping you. The Ministry has decided to hand you over to the Nation.”

“You can’t do that, I have rights! I belong under wizarding laws!”

“So did my family” Blaise said dangerously. “And thanks to you, they don’t anymore. It seems only fair that you get to see what you did to so many other people.”

The wizard behind the bars started to laugh. And he couldn’t stop. Lady Bones then ushered them out. Blaise just shook his head, while Ginny looked over her shoulders as the goblins closed the doors again.

“He’s lost his mind” Neville said softly. Something was shining behind his eyes, something Blaise didn’t recognize. Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug, while they walked to the other side of Gringotts.

“At least he can’t hurt us anymore. He deserves all the shit the goblins will give him” she said quietly. Blaise could only agree.

Raven opened his eyes and found himself… not in Gringotts’ healing wards. He scanned his surroundings. The room itself seemed cobbled together from fairytales. Walls glowed with a soft, ethereal light, emanating not from any visible source but from the very air itself. Bookshelves, overflowing with leather-bound tomes etched with strange symbols, lined the walls. In the corner, a crackling fire cast dancing shadows on the stone floor. And then there was the window.

It wasn’t a window in the traditional sense, but rather a portal, a shimmering rectangle that depicted a scene so vivid it stole Raven’s breath away. He got up quickly and looked outside. Lush green hills rolled down to a crystal-clear lake that sparkled under a cloudless sky. A quaint stone cottage, its roof thatched with a golden straw, nestled amongst the trees, smoke curling playfully from its chimney. The image pulsed with a strange energy, the very essence of the place seeming to seep through the magical pane.

Suddenly, a soft chuckle broke the silence. A woman materialized in a chair by the window, her form coalescing from the very air like smoke taking shape. Lily Evans Potter – or rather Lady Magic’s preferred form when talking to Raven, her face a canvas of time etched with wisdom and a hint of mischief. Her eyes, the colour of twilight, held a universe within them, their gaze both comforting and unnervingly perceptive.

“Awake at last, Raven” she said, her voice like the tinkling of wind chimes. “Welcome, once again, to the in-between.” She gestured towards the window. “And a glimpse of what could be, perhaps? Ireland, I believe. A beautiful corner of the world, wouldn't you agree?”

“What do you mean by ‘could be’? This place actually exists?” Raven turned to the window again and was still stunned at the beauty of that place.

Lady Magic chuckled. “That’s the Window of Death, as we call it. It’s a movie screen for wizards and witches who are facing their last few moments before moving on or for others to rethink their current positions and fight. Usually, there are family and friends here with them.”

Raven frowned. “Wait… will I die? Was the potion faulty?”

Lady Magic was clearly amused by this. “It wasn’t. You’re not dead, you’re in the in-between. Here, there is no distinctions between dead and alive, except that you have a set amount of time you can be here, before it will start to get uncomfortable for you.”

“Okay” Raven shrugged his shoulders. “And what do I do while we wait for the potion to take effect?”

“For one, I will get rid of this” Lady Magic pointed at the corner of the room, which Raven hadn’t seen before. There was a dark cloud, almost fog keeping him from looking what was hiding there.

Even if Raven wasn’t able to see what was there, he knew what it was. “That’s the Horcrux, isn’t it?”

Lady Magic nodded. “Yes. I hadn’t realized how clouded your mind was with it in it. I guess when you wake up, you will have much more power. Even I will have more power thanks to this connection.”

“Can I talk to my siblings, finally? Do you think this has been blocking the connection from my part?”

“It definitely has been disabling any connection to your siblings, but it is breaking” Lady Magic explained with a soft chuckle. “And you have already communicated with your siblings in your mind.”

Raven frowned. “What? No, I haven’t.”

Lily Potter chuckled softly. “After your task in the lake, the panic broke something in the fog. You spoke to them. That’s why they were looking at you strangely.”

Oh. That made a lot of sense.

Raven shrugged his shoulders and looked outside the window, while Lady Magic did whatever she had to do to get rid of the Horcrux and any other Horcrux in the country that the idiot created. He could feel the pressure in his head relaxing and he took a deep breath.

“Well then, now we just have to wait until the potion takes effect and you can be back with your family” Lady Magic spoke softly. “For the time being, do you want to talk to other people?”

Frowning, Raven turned around. “What do you mean? Other people?”

“Dead people” Lady Magic explained with a chuckle. “King Arthur, Merlin, your ancestors, maybe a former headmaster, even Dumbledore?”

“I’m not going to talk to Dumbledore” Raven rolled his eyes.

Before he could say something else, there was a knock at the door that seemed to have just appeared out of thin air. Frowning again, Raven turned to Lady Magic.

She shrugged. “There seem to be people here to talk to you.”

“If it’s Dumbledore, can I hex him in the in-between?”

“No, but I’ve seen you punching people. That still works.”

Raven snorted and walked over to open the door. He stilled as he saw the people outside. James Potter and Lily Evans.

“Um… hi?” he said after a bit of hesitating. “Are you sure, you’re here for me?”

“Yes” James Potter said with a quick, unsure smile.

“We are, deary” Lily Potter said, “we were hoping you could hear us out.”

“Oh.”