Chapter 1 – Fox Hunt

After one year, you and your friend Leland have returned to London. Hob-knobbing across the Americas cost more money than expected but you still have some funds left because you both decided not to stay at the finest establishments. Leland is none the worse for wear, his brown hair has a couple greys popping in but that's due to the amount of partying you both did. His brown eyes aren't really wrinkled but he does have a tired look about him. Many think you are brothers because you both look similar in a non-descript, easy to blend in sort of way. While he has a little more of a build, at least your two inches taller than him. Your clothing is a little bit better than what you normally, more middle class. Of course, Knockturn Alley is more your style. After perusing through Diaigon Alley, you head to your favorite pub, Doppler's Dive.

On this balmy Wednesday evening, in the small cigar smoke filled pub, you see the regular riff-raff who also wish to remain anonymous. Not much has changed this past year: same wooden furnishings but a little more worn. After you finish your first ale which seemed a little watered down, a young wizard, maybe fifteen or so with very dark claret hair and eerily vibrant green eyes strolls in carry a duffle bag. From his rather expensive looking clothing, he looks like an easy mark. Leland nudges you. You can tell he's thinking the same thing. "We can follow him once he leaves." You nod in agreement.

Throwing a handful of gold galleons on the bar, the young wizard cheerfully looks out into the crowd. "For the next two hours, Rodnik Russian vodka is on me! Everyone, cheers!" The elderly bartender grins heartily, since the young wizard ordered the best and most expensive vodka around.

Leland nudges you again. "This is going to be really easy."

You wave the boy over. "Please join us."

"Thanks. This is my first time at a place like this." With his shot of vodka in hand, he sits across from you in your booth and shows you two bottles on wine within the bag. "If you'll listen while I tell my story, I'll share this wine with you. It is Madiera wine and these two bottles have been aged for nearly 75 years. Each bottle costs over a thousand galleons. By the way, Madiera is a dessert wine, so I hope you like it sweet."

Leland nods. "We do."

"Promise you will drink both bottles with me, not leave until I finish my glass and not tell anyone anything I say. In essence, we will have a magically binding agreement." Within the bag, you hear some clinking, possibly gold galleons. "You see, I stole a bunch of money and the wine, so I'm getting rid of the evidence. I don't want you to use anything I say against me."

Leland gives you a sly look. You both know this rich kid is running away with lots of galleons: the perfect mark. "We agree."

All of you touch the tip of his wand simultaneously causing a glowing lattice to briefly surround all three of your hands: a binding agreement. "It is set, then." With one gulp, the young wizard swallows the entire shot of vodka. "By the way, how do you like the ring?" He extendeds his hand so you can see his copper ring of a fox circling his finger, with Islamic green emeralds for eyes.

"Nice," you remark. That will fetch plenty of galleons.

"The story revolves around this ring. It has comedy, tragedy, political intrigue, drama, irony, betrayal, mystery, death, torture, perversion and a lot of revenge. Oh, I almost forgot, it also has the tragic end of a pure-blood line. To make it even more entertaining, I'll play some music on my IPOD. I'm sure you're not familiar with Muggle music so I'll let this be an introduction. First, let's start with a little My Chemical Romance and their song "Teenagers". You might agree that this song befits me considering the hoax I pulled. We'll also close the story with that one." Curiously, this tiny box the size of one third of a deck of cards bellows forth music of a large band.

"My story starts with a witch: Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa has long blond hair, blue eyes and carries herself with a very understated elegance. Though she's fifty, she looks like she's in her late thirties, with a figure a witch half her age would kill for. Lucius is a lucky wizard and he realizes that." Both Leland and you shift uncomfortably at the name Malfoy. "Don't be nervous. Lucius Malfoy is the very wizard I stole the wine and money from. Trust me; he won't be coming after it. My revenge is justified and cruel. Listen to my story and decide for yourself. Besides, you're stuck here until I finish my glass of wine, per our pact. The events began about a year ago."

Over a year ago, I helped the Malfoy family through a crisis so they decided to adopt me since I was an orphan of two years. Upon my arrival at Malfoy Manor, the thought of having Lucius Malfoy as my father horrified me. The moment I stepped in the door, Narcissa showed me to my room. "Brandon, this is your room. Our room is just down the hall. You may add to it if you like, but if you want different furniture just let me know and I'll take care of it."

My vast room included a bay window, a king bed bigger than a regular king, a triple dresser, a fireplace, two humungous lounge chairs and a master bath. All of it done in Persian indigo (a color Narcissa told me the name of) and gold, my favorite colors. Across the hall, they gave me my own study. "Thank you Mrs. Malfoy. This is perfect."

"Please call me Narcissa. If you wish to stay with us and you feel comfortable doing so, you may call me Mother. You may call my husband Lucius or Father, likewise." Then she invited me for tea in her den. Unlike the rest of the manor which tended to be a little dark, her study was white and silver. "I want to explain a few things about Lucius, so you will feel more comfortable. First, as you may have seen, he doesn't show emotion readily. That's the way he is and is not a reflection on you. He loves the entire family. As head of the Malfoy family, if you have any problems, he is here to help." Then she gave me a small velvet pouch. "This is your portkey. Please don't flaunt it in front of the boys. You see, they're still too young, and we think they might simply use it for quick get-aways." Draco and Hermione's two sons, Scorpius and Severus, were known to get into trouble.

That weekend, Narcissa took me for a Malfoy overhaul. Their tailor fitted me with an entirely new, very stylish, wardrobe. My new sister's parents are dentists, so my teeth are now pearly white. We followed it up with a complete physical…ugh: needles, needles and more needles. All in all, it wasn't too bad. After that weekend, I returned to school, visiting the manor sometimes for long weekends. In a couple of months, I took my finals.

"That summer, the real fun began. For this segment of my story, let's enjoy some rockabilly, some punkabilly and a little surf guitar, my favorites." Guitar rifts with a twangy but upbeat sounds eminated from the tiny box.

My first morning, we all gathered for a huge family breakfast in the grand dining hall. My new sister, Hermione, who looks just like she does on her book covers but petite, toasted to our health. She, her children, and I drank something known as an Orange Julius, like an orange milkshake but better. I noticed she winked to her husband, Draco but I didn't think much of it at the time. That afternoon, all of us who had the Juliuses felt horrible. Lucius had decided to expose us all to Vritra Pox.

Vritra Pox has very recently been shown to give immunity to Dragon Pox, once one recovers from it. Exposure to Vritra in adults only results in death for one in every ten thousand, unlike Dragon Pox, where death is certain. Only Hermione had a choice. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco had all had Dragon Pox so they were already immune. I stayed in bed, sick and cheesed off. Narcissa played Nurse Mum to me, which I actually liked. You know its nice having someone bring you juice and soup in bed. On the second day, my fever broke, but, per Lucius' decree, all the infirm had to remain housebound for two more days. However, the Malfoy Miscreants decided to entertain me. Let me step back a moment and explain the Miscreants.

The two brothers, Scorpius and Severus, received the nickname of the Malfoy Miscreants because of all the mischievous pranks they pulled at Hogwarts. They're about nine and already can cast spells. They take a couple of classes at Hogwarts but because of their age, they only attend one month each semester under a special program. It seems that a muggle born witch and a pure-blood wizard created genius children. Anyhow, in spite of the fact that the boys seemed well-behaved for a couple of months, their reputation stuck to them. Married couples and twins don't spend as much time together as those two, but they never tire of each other. They even have secret names for each other. When they get older, I'm sure a witch will try to come between them, since it is such a classic scheme. However, she'll be shocked when they choose each other over her.

The oldest, Scorpius, is reserved and plans elaborate schemes. Strangely, for all those childish pranks, sometimes, he shows wisdom beyond his years. Oddly, he looks more like Lucius than Draco except he has his mother's eyes and curls but still with the Malfoy silver hair. His brother nicknamed him Scorch, because he flies so fast and low to the ground, that he scorches the earth. Scorpius tends to look after everyone.

The second oldest, Severus, is highly creative. Though Sev is a good kid, he can be very obnoxious which he gets from his father. I've seen some pictures of Draco as a child and Sev is the spitting image of his father growing up. Scorpius nicknamed him Forte because he's loud. Actually, he's also quite the entertainer.

"We thought you could use some company. I brought Father's CD player and a bunch of CD's. What's your pleasure?" Sev setup his DJ equipment.

"Play a variety please," I answered. "Wait a sec, your father has a CD player?"

"Yeah, because of mum he's had a little exposure to the muggle world. He loves music, just like me." Sev beamed at that admission.

"Since you're new to the family, let me give you some advice to make your life easier. First, Grandfather is like Father. If he promises a punishment, he will follow through, so behave, or at least don't get caught." Scorpius laughed, quite pleased with himself. "Also, don't argue about your punishment, because that only makes it worse, right Sev?" Sev rolled his eyes. "Second, never ever cheese off Astrum; she will get even. Sev can attest to that."

"That's the truth." Sev looked ashamed. "We all know who she takes after."

That afternoon and the next day, the boys and I read together, played some chess, and a few other games. Overall, it was nice being a pseudo uncle, big brother type to them. They even offered to induct me into the Miscreants. At the time, I couldn't understand Scorpius' comment about Astrum, because she seemed like sweet child with her curly silver hair and grey eyes. Each evening, she kissed every member of the family goodnight, including me. Later, I'll tell you all about Astrum.

Beginning that Wednesday and each one following, the three of us, Lucius, Narcissa and myself, commenced our mandatory dinners together. For the first one, we simply chatted about this, that and everything else. On the second dinner, the hammer fell.

"Brandon, as I understand it, you did very well in all your classes. However, in Dark Arts, you only did fair in field combat. Therefore, you will be joining my son and I every Saturday morning, promptly at ten, for two hours of training. Also, your memory only extends to the written word?" I nodded since my eidetic memory only extended to the written word at the time. "So that you can cultivate your skill, Monday nights, we will begin some exercises to extend your memory to images and sounds. From my research, you at one time had those abilities, but because of lack of use, they were lost. We don't want your unique gift to degrade with time." Lucius took a sip of wine. "Additionally, we will be working on your fear of snakes. Further, as Draco explained, on Thursdays, you will catalog with my daughter and I. In addition to your allowance, you will be compensated for your work. "

Without my consent, Lucius had my life planned out. Even though Lucius is in his mid fifties, he is just as imposing as ever both magically and physically, so I didn't argue. After all, I could use the money. Girlfriends tend to make that a necessity.

Then Narcissa joined in. "Tuesday mornings at nine, you will join the children and me for dance class as well as etiquette lessons. For many of the functions we attend, it is expected. On Sundays evenings, the entire family dines together. The dress is semi-formal. Within your study, you'll find a calendar of all of the functions we are expected attend. It is only once a week. You may bring a date to many of them if you like. Otherwise, you're free to do as you please, within reason, of course. Remember, we tend to be in the public eye." In the interest of world peace, I went along with the life plan.

To help with my fear of snakes, the entire family decided to join in solving my problem. At that time, simply the sight of a snake paralyzed me. As a child, I had gone to a movie location with my grandfather, and was bitten by a venomous snake. I nearly died, and it was the most agonizing experience I've ever known. Pardon me, maybe you don't have a knowledge of muggles. A movie is like a very elaborate play.

First, the children brought in their toy snakes, and would make them dance and do silly acrobatics, which eventually enabled me to be within the same room as the toys. Next, Narcissa would read with me about snakes, showing me very detailed pictures, to help me better understand them. Then, along came Draco, who, during our dueling practices, loved to command, "Serpensortia," every chance he could; even when we weren't dueling. That was great fun! Last but not least, we had Lucius' brand of psychology.

One day I opened my wardrobe and a black, fourteen foot tall king cobra leapt out at me. Yes, it raised itself that high. Moments later, Lucius stood above me, lightly slapping my face. Of all things, Lucius is an animagus. "Brandon, snap out of it." The next day, I practiced my sword fighting. When I rested, that same giant cobra slithered under the bench and sprang at me. Somehow, my hand caught Lucius' before he had a chance to slap me. "Good reflexes," he remarked. "We will do this more." We did, many, many times.

One Saturday, I was preparing for a special date with my girlfriend, so I grabbed my clothes from my wardrobe. Instead of my clothes, the giant cobra loomed in front of me. "Damn snake, I'm going to wring your neck!" Before the cobra could strike or move, I grabbed each side of its hood so it couldn't move and readied to bash its head.

Then Lucius stood before me, with my hands around his neck. "Excellent, Brandon," he remarked with a hint of a smile. "Your sword fighting has greatly enhanced your reflexes. Even Draco has a difficult time with me in that form." As he left he gave me some advice. "Better to meet your enemies with anger than with fear. However, when you see fear in their eyes, it elates you."

Not long after, I had a fencing tournament in the Muggle world, so I followed my usual routine. Let me take a moment to explain my fencing. I picked up on swords at five when my muggle grandfather taught me. Nowadays, I know may different techniques of sword fighting. It's like I'm a natural.

The evening before, I had a very well balanced meal, read a book, and an hour before bed, drank one shot of Rodnik vodka to help me sleep." Leland seemed taken aback at that comment, just like you. "Don't give me that look. Most teenagers do it at parties to impress their peers. Peer pressure is entirely the wrong reason to do something, and I never have succumbed to it. I only do things because I want to. Also, I have my shot only before a tournament. One bottle lasts over a year, which is a good thing, since I only like Rodnik.

That day I did brilliantly, first in my age class. Afterwards, I sat on the grounds of the manor, all alone, and treated myself to the one vice I allow myself to have, even if it is only five times a year. Addiction is horrible, but withdrawal is worse, so like I said before, I ensure I never get addicted to anything. Moreover, I never even considered, nor will I ever experiment with, illegal potions.

"Brandon, what do you think you are doing?" Lucius snatched my clove cigarette from my hand. "You are too young for this. What you do when you are an adult is your business, but until then it is mine. Give me the rest of them."

"No, I won't." Then he levitated them from my pocket and apparated into the manner, going for my stash. Once I got to my room, he had my two cartons of cloves and my half a bottle of Rodnik vodka. "Give those back to me. They're mine!"

"As long as you live in my house, you obey my rules. Underage smoking and drinking are forbidden."

"Fine! Then maybe I shouldn't live here anymore! It's not as if you're my real family!"

"In another month, you will be. The adoption papers will be finalized then." Casually, Lucius strolled into his study.

"Are you sure you want to do that? I'm not superior as a wizard by skill or strength! Moreover, my parents were never married so not only am I a Mudblood, but I'm a bastard as well!"

"Stifle yourself and sit down," he calmly ordered from behind his desk. "I know more about you then you know about yourself." He removed a thick file from his desk. "Hogwarts didn't even have this. Your grandfather's name was Ivan Gold, an adopted name for his career. His real name was Ivan Golubev. Your mother's name was Veronika Golubev. Your mother had returned to Russia three years before you were born. You were born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in a Muggle hospital. Your father was listed as unknown. Your birth name is Boleslav Golubev. They called you Brandon, since it sounds more British. Very soon after your birth, your mother moved to London. The man you thought was your father, was a lover she met in London when you were two. Basslethorn was the name of your mother's lover. As far as I can tell, the name was simply used, without a formal adoption or marriage." He slid the file to me. "You're welcome to verify it, but on my honor I speak the truth."

"I believe you. My father was probably some pure-blood ashamed of his mistake. Are you trying to correct a mistake? If not, why do you want to adopt me?"

"I'm not trying to correct a mistake. As far as your lineage goes, I do not know of any particular family in that region. For all I know, your biological father could be a Muggle. As to why I'm adopting you; the entire family came to care about you when you helped us during that crisis, as well as during the time you have spent with us since. Until today, we thought you felt the same way."

I shrugged. "I don't like all these rules. If you cared so much, you wouldn't be so strict."

"Draco is very strict with his children. Do you think he doesn't care for them?" I shrugged. "I'm preparing you for the harsh world out there. Maybe you should go to your room and think about it?"

Not only did Lucius confirm my illegitimacy, but now I wasn't who I thought I was by name, or by nationality. I stormed into my room and slammed the door. How dare he investigate my past! Ignorance was such bliss. Then he told me I needed discipline. After all, didn't I do everything asked of me without argument? Considering his past, how could he, of all wizards, criticize? Lucius Malfoy acted exactly like I had expected him to. However, Narcissa made life at Malfoy Manor tolerable.