Back in the living room of his little house, Greyson wondered exactly what he'd got himself into. If Voldemort was involved, you could be assured it wasn't going to be pretty.
Seconds later, a still laughing ghost appeared to walk into the living room through a wall.
"Care to share with the class?" Greyson asked.
"Eventually. So what changed? After the Adoption, I mean?"
Greyson frowned.
"I will explain, uncle. I will." Ghost-Harry assured him.
Greyson put all three Inheritance Tests down on the table.
"Animagus? Bindings? Bloody Dumbledore! The bastard, he bound my magic! Why would he put all these charms on me? I don't get him. He didn't even give me a chance!"
"Easy, lad. Perhaps if you tell me your story, I might be able to shed some light on the idiot's actions." Greyson suggested.
"Humph… maybe. We'll see. Ok. Where to start? I don't know. Ask me a question, get me started."
"Alright. Let's start with why you said your time was running out, you said something about baby-Harry waking? What has that got to do with ghost-you?"
"Right… this is complicated. Really complicated… when I was seventeen I was killed, Moldysnort hit me with a Killing Curse."
"He used Avada Kadavra!? On a seventeen year old?"
"It didn't matter to him how old I was, he'd already tried it on me as a baby. Didn't quite work, but gave me that fancy scar."
"Baby? He tried…? No. No, we'll come back to that. Time, Harry, why the time limit?"
"Ok, back to seventeen and me being killed. Killing me destroyed the Horcruxe in my scar, I knew that going in, but dying? Not great. I ended up in one of those halfway places. Dumbledore was waiting for me."
"Dumbledore?"
"Yeah. He'd been killed the year before, idiot put on a cursed ring, another Horcruxe, and it was killing him, so he used that to buy the Dark Lord's confidence in his pet Death-eater."
"Who was that?"
"I'm not saying, mostly because, I'm hoping to turn him back."
"Once a Death-eater always a Death-eater." Greyson growled.
"Not according to Merlin."
"Merlin? The Merlin?"
"Yep. He told me how to remove a Darkmark, if the bearer is honest and swears by their magic that regret it and are willing to make an Unbreakable Vow to not serve the Dark Lord again, the mark can be revoked. I'll come back to that later. Anyway Dumbledore told me that once the Horcruxe was destroyed, I had to make a choice. The choice to go back or to go on. And pretty much as soon as he said that, he left. Before I could make a decision, I heard a voice behind me, when I turned around, there was Death and Merlin."
"Whoa, whoa, what? Death?"
"Ah, yeah. Part of my long story, but if I'd done what Dumbledore wanted I would have become the Master of Death. But.. back to the story. Death and Merlin talked to me and gave me options. More options than Dumbledore knew about."
"What were they?"
"The first option was to go back to the forest just seconds after Moldysnort killed me, but because I'd died the Horcruxe was destroyed so Moldysnort's was mortal, no Horcruxes left. All I had to do then was kill him."
"Dumbledore wanted an untrained seventeen year old to kill Tom Riddle? I knew he was an idiot, but this?" Greyson gently laid baby-Harry on the sofa and got to his feet swearing and to distract himself he headed for the kitchen and set about making a protein potion for baby-Harry, who was still gnawing on his chubby little hand.
"Yeah. Good thing Merlin and Death had other ideas, isn't it? So option two? Death sends my consciousness back in time to my first day at Hogwarts. Not a bad alternative, but still limited. Merlin offered more options. He and Death send my consciousness back in time to the point of me being made into a Horcruxe. It was they that told me about you, it was they that prompted Petunia to remember you and it was they that caused her to bring baby-me to you. But Death gave me a bonus, he really doesn't want me to be his Master just yet. When Moldysnort's threw the Killing Curse at baby-me, it rebounded and struck him, baby-me was knocked out by the concussive blast, Dumbledore got there before the Aurors and as we now know, cast a sleeping charm on baby-me. Death offered me the chance to have whatever time baby-me was under the charmed sleep, to talk to you."
"Alright. But why me?"
"I've been asking myself the same question since I was about three. To my knowledge, no one had answered it, fully. But why you? Initially, my first reaction was, 'anyone but the Dursley's', but then Merlin told me you were an Unnamed. I didn't know what he meant by 'Unnamed', I'd never heard of them, so he filled me in. Or tried to, I don't know how much of what he told me is true, but if even a quarter of it is right? Then I stand a chance of living past seventeen."
"What did he tell you? We're sworn to secrecy, so I can't tell you, but… if you already know I can confirm or clarify details." Greyson assured him as he held a lidded baby-cup to, still sleeping, baby-Harry's lips.
"Thank heavens for that. That'll make this much easier. Ok. Merlin says that the Unnamed are basically like a wizarding military, trained for battle. They're trained in standard magic , elf-magic and goblin magic. When he died the Wizengamot were discussing adding wandless and wordless magic, too. But, of course, he died before that was decided. How close was he?"
"Not too far off. We're no longer the military, now we're the link between the Ministry and the Queen. Kind of…. It's more involved than that. The Unnamed are at an all time low in numbers right now and we're trying to track Voldemort's movement-"
"Please don't say his name, uncle. I don't know when it starts but there will be a Trace on the name, his followers can use it to track their enemies." Ghost-Harry cut in.
"Huh? Oh, that's clever, but the Unnamed can't be tracked by anyone or anything, not when we're robed."
"It's not people that are being tracked, not people, but the name itself is traced to the location it said at."
"Ah… that might be different. I'll have to let the research department know, see what they can do to mitigate it."
"Thank you, uncle."
"It's ok, Harry. Now back to the Unnamed. We're trying to track him, but so far we're not having much luck or co-operation from the ministry. Today is the first I've heard of any deaths, but I was on my mandatory leave days. And I'm sorry they were your parents, Harry."
"Yeah, me too, but it was so long ago for me that I don't really remember them, but I'm sure after he... we… after baby-me wakes, that's going to be different."
Greyson paced for a few minutes before speaking again.
"Harry, I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask to bring in my supervisor. Tristan is the Master of the Unnamed, he's like… uh… he answers only to the Queen, not the ICW, the Ministry or the Wizengamot, only the Queen. This is so far outside my scope that I need advice and I think he's the only one that could possibly help."
"Do you think he will listen to me?"
"Yeah. He'll listen to a ghost, we've used their information before to solve crimes. He'll listen to you."
"Alright. Can you call him, now? Time is running out."
Greyson stood and crossed to the fireplace and knelt, he called out a word and a voice answered.
"Whisper? You're late. Why aren't you here?"
"Got a… situation… that I need your help with. And at least two people dead at Godric's Hollow. You-Know-Who's involved."
"It's worse than that. And use his name, Whisper, don't play into popular trends."
"I'm not." Greyson said. "There's a trace on the name, not on the people who said it but the location it was said at. Death-Eaters are using it to track down the opposition."
"Ah… tricky bugger. Now, Godric's Hollow, you said? I'll apparate and meet you there."
"No, Rumour, come here, to my home. There's more to Moldysnort's actions than meets the eye."
"Moldysnort's?" The other voice asked.
"Oh… ah, that's what my… informant calls him. Catchy?"
"Very." Was the dry answer.
"Please, Rumour, this is important." Greyson urged.
"More important than the deaths of 12 muggles?"
Ghost-Harry nodded.
"I believe it will be."
There was silence for a few moments while that sunk in.
"Alright. When do you want me, there?"
"Now."
"Put the kettle, Whisper."
"Will do." Greyson stood and crossed the room, headed for the kitchen.
"Rumour? Whisper?" Ghost-Harry asked.
"We're the Unnamed. We don't have names, we have code-names. Whisper, Rumour, Smoke, Mist, Murmur, Shadow. All things that can't be tracked or traced." Greyson answered as he filled the kettle and lit a burner under it.
There was a thump from the living room and that other voice, Rumour, spoke.
"Is there a reason you're telling someone about the – Oh... A ghost? But? Who are you? Are you why Whisper called me here?" The man in his forties was average, average height, average colouring, average weight, just average, someone you'd pass on the street and the only description you could give would be… average.
"Ah, Rumour. I'd like you to meet Harry. Harry, my boss, Rumour."
Harry smiled hesitantly.
"Hello." He said.
"Hello. Uh… Whisper? Why is there a baby on your sofa? Whose is it?"
"Uh… that's part of the problem. Harry?" Greyson had no problem throwing Harry to the wolf.
"That baby… is me. It's complicated but, I've been sent back in time, my consciousness that is. Look, you two get your tea and let's go sit and I'll tell you my life story and hopefully we can work this out before baby-me wakes up."
Ghost-Harry floated his way back to the living room and did the ghostly equivalent of sitting on the arm of the sofa, nearest his baby-self. The two men joined him within minutes, mugs of tea in their hands.
"I'll start from the day Moldysnort killed my parents and work my way forward. Alright?" Harry asked Greyson.
"Of course, Uh…. Harry? Should I set up a dicta-quill to take notes?"
"Please." Ghost-Harry waited while Greyson set up the quill. "I don't remember much about that night, just bright green light and then everything went black. When I woke next, it was to my Aunt Petunia's screams. I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until my 11th birthday. It was brutal, I was her slave, basically. Treated no better than a House Elf and in many cases, far worse. I did all the cleaning, the laundry and once I could see over the stove I did most of the cooking, too, but I was rarely fed. It wasn't until I got to school that I found out my name wasn't freak. I knew nothing about my parents, magic or Moldysnort. Nothing." The ghost stood and removed his clothes, scars and marks from old injuries littered his body.
"Bloody hell." Rumour exclaimed.
"Yeah. I got my letter from Hogwarts and my dipshit uncle tried to run away from it, we ended up in an old lighthouse out in the middle of a harbour. Headmaster Dumbledore sent Hagrid, the groundskeeper, to fetch me and explain about magic and that I was a wizard. It was a shock. I seemed to fit in, though, made some friends, or so I thought. Ron, Hermione and later Neville and the twins. Hogwarts was an amazing place for me, the first place, I'd ever felt safe."
"Hell." It was Greyson this time.
"First year was… interesting and pretty much set the tone for the rest of my time there. First year? Dumbledore brought the Philosopher's Stone to the school. Each of the teachers put a challenge as part of the defence of stone. Well… Three first year students got past their challenges, but it was really bait for Moldysnort, who was possessing the DADA professor. Whatever protection my mother gave me when she died, burned the professor when I touched him, I burned him to death, releasing Moldysnort's spirit."
"First year? You killed a professor… a DADA professor, in your first year at Hogwarts?"
"First year. Second year? We dealt with the Chamber of Secrets and a basilisk."
"A basilisk?" Greyson screeched.
"Yep. Salazar Slytherin bred her and put her in the Chamber, Riddle opened the Chamber 1943 and she killed a girl. The girl's ghost became known as Moaning Myrtle."
"I remember her, I think, first floor girl's lav." Greyson mused.
"Where were the professors during this? Who was the new DADA professor? Why didn't they do something?" Rumour demanded.
"The DADA professor in our second year was Gilderoy Lockhart, the most useless wanker ever, the only charm he could use well was an obliviate spell. Thanks to Hermione, Ron and I figured out it was a basilisk and we went to tell him, he was the DADA professor, after all, but the prat was packing, he was getting ready to run away. We took him at wand-point and forced him to go with us, he grabbed Ron's damaged wand and tried to obliviate us, but it backfired and got him instead, it also caved part of roof of a tunnel, splitting us up, Ron and Lockhart on one side and me on the other. I went ahead and entered the Chamber. I dealt with what we thought was a possessed book that Imperius-ed a student, who released the basilisk again. I fought the basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor and killed her, but one of her fangs pierced my arm, poisoning me, Fawkes, the Headmaster's Phoenix, came and saved me, he cried on the wound, his tears healing it. That was pretty much it for the year, nothing else exciting happened."
"And third year?" Rumour asked.
"A prisoner from Azkaban. Admittedly he was wrongfully sent there, but no one knew that until later. Throw in a time-turner, a hippogriff, a few dementors and the only decent DADA teacher we ever had and you've got the makings of a fun year." The ghost grinned sacastically.
"Oh Merlin." Greyson groaned, not liking the direction this was going.
"Fourth year, Dumbledore brought back the Tri-Wizard Tournament. A Death-Eater impersonating a professor using a Polyjuice potion, someone convincing the Goblet of Fire that I was over 17, a broom chase with a Hungarian Horntail Dragon, a swim in the Black Lake to retrieve a student, a maze with multiple magical creatures and a portkey. At the other end of the portkey was Moldysnort, one of his helpers trapped me and used my blood in a potion to give him back a body. Oh and toss in Moldysnort killing a student and Ron playing turn-coat."
"Kid…" Rumour groaned.
"Not finished yet. Fifth year, I dealt with the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore's personal little army. Being roped into teaching DADA because the Minister of Magic assigned his secretary to Hogwarts and she wasn't interested in teaching, it was mostly just in the hope of discrediting Dumbledore and I, when we said Moldysnort was back."
"And what unusual things or creatures did you encounter that year?" Greyson growled.
"Centaurs, a mentally retarded giant,the Weasley twins practical jokes and a Blood Quill."
"And sixth year?"
"Sixth year, Dumbledore moved Snape from potions to DADA and convinced Slughorn to come back. That was the year that Dumbledore was stupid, he put on a Horcruxe-cursed ring, Snape managed to slow the curse but he couldn't stop it, it was killing the Headmaster. So, Dumbledore used this to get his pet Death-Eater back into the Dark Lord's favour, by having the pet kill Dumbledore. It was one of the most horrid things I've ever had to watch, but later I learned that it was all part of Dumbledore's not-so-brilliant plan."
"This just keeps getting worse and worse." Rumour muttered.
"Oh, yes. Seventh year, well seventh year we didn't go to school. We went hunting. We found out the reason that no one has been able to kill Moldysnort. He made Horcruxes. We-"
"Horcruxe-s? Plural? As in more than one?" Rumour gasped.
"Seven."
"Seven!"
Greyson collapsed back into the chair he was sitting in.
"Seven. We'd already destroyed one, well I had anyway, Riddle's diary. The cursed ring that Dumbledore put on, was also one, not sure how they killed it, though. The next one we found was a Slytherin Family locket. Then we were told about Helga Hufflepuff's cup, it was in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts, we broke in and stole it, escaping by freeing a dragon and riding it out. That's why I was laughing about the goblins giving us permission to apparate in and out of Gringotts. Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem, we found the same day as the battle at Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione and I destroyed that one while Neville Longbottom took the head off the last one, Moldysnort's pet snake Nagini."
"Oh, boy. Why do feel like that's not the end?" Greyson moaned.
"Of course it's not. There was a big battle in the grounds of Hogwarts. Moldysnort and his army against me and mine, all the students that I'd taught DADA to and the professors. Oh and the school itself, did you know that all the statues and suits of armour were actually part of the Hogwarts' defence system?"
"They're what?" Greyson squawked.
"Part of the defence system. Shock to us students, too. Anyway… while the rest of the school were fighting Moldysnort's Death-Eaters, Ron, Hermione and I went looking for the evil-doer himself. We found him… just as he set Nagini on Dumbledore's pet Death-Eater, we crouched behind a wall as she bit him. Time after time. When Moldysnort left, we approached, Snape was dying, Nagini was poisonous, of course. He asked me to take his memories and go to the Headmaster's office, he knew that I knew there was a pensieve there and he wanted me to watch his memories."
"Merlin." Rumour whimpered.
"Ron and Hermione took the diadem and went to the Chamber of Secrets to get a Basilisk fang to kill the Horcruxe, while I went to the Headmaster's office, I used the pensieve and watched a dead man's memories, I learned a hell of a lot, too. Dumbledore had set me up from the start. He left me with people he knew hated magic and anything to do with magic. Deliberately, I might add. Just so that when I was introduced to the wizarding world, I would look to him and my two best friends. Best friends that were bought with money from my parents' vault. I'll give Ron and Hermione this, though, when they figured out it wasn't all just fun and games, when their lives were on the line, they fought well. Ron had a few bouts of cowardice, but he came through in the end. Hermione? Well, Hermione was loyal, when she was bought, she stayed bought."
"I'm glad I control your vaults, now, Harry." Greyson whispered.
"Me, too, uncle."
"Uncle?" Rumour looked between the Ghost and Greyson.
"I'll get there." Ghost-Harry said. "Between the two of them Ron and Hermione kept me isolated from the other students, at least until Hermione had the brilliant idea of me teaching DADA, that's when things changed. I made friends with other people and began to get frustrated with the two of them, particularly Ron. But back to my story… After watching the memories, I knew Dumbledore had set me up to die… I was a Horcruxe, after all."
"You were a what!?" Rumour shrieked.
"A Horcruxe. Where did you think this was going? A happy ending? Don't be silly."
"Sorry." The man winced.
"Yeah… So I took off for the Forbidden Forest, knowing that after Neville killed Nagini, I was the only Horcruxe left. Moldysnort fired off another Killing Curse at me… and this one worked. I died. I found myself in a big white space that, the more I looked, the more it looked like King's Cross Station. Dumbledore was there and we spoke for a bit. He offered me a choice, I could go on… stay dead or I could go back, the Horcruxe was removed from me and the others were destroyed. Moldysnort was mortal again. All I had to do was kill him."
"ALL!?" Came from both men.
"All… sounds simple right? But Dumbledore left and before I could make that decision, I heard another voice behind me. 'About bloody time, I thought he'd never leave.' The voice said. When I turned around… I saw Merlin… and Death."
"WHAT!?" Rumour gasped.
"Look, this is hard enough to get out… could we stop with the interruptions, please?"
The two men looked a little shamefaced and Greyson apologised.
"Sorry, Harry."
"It's alright, just… let me finish, I'm almost there." Neither man said anything but Greyson nodded and waved for Ghost-Harry to continue. "Merlin and Death approached and they told me that the options that Dumbledore gave me weren't the only options available. Like every other time, he'd told me the truth, but only a small part of it, just enough to get me to do what he wanted me to. This time there were six options, not just Dumbledore's two. One. Go on, go to heaven or wherever my family were and rest in peace. Two. Go back as a ghost, I would be bound to Hogwarts and her lands for eternity. Three. Go back to just seconds after Moldysnort killed me and do my danmedest to end his life. No guarantees though, that I'll live through it. Four. Go back to my first day at Hogwarts. Better but… I'd still be under Dumbledore's control and would likely be no better trained when it came to the big stuff. Five. Go back to when Moldysnort made me into a Horcruxe and live my life over again. Six. The same as option five, but with gifts, allowances from the pair of them. This seemed like the best option. Until… I was told the conditions."
Neither Greyson or Rumour spoke but they both leant forward and the question was written on their faces.
"The conditions were… complicated. They told me that Aunt Petunia isn't blood-related at all. But that Greyson, here, is. That Greyson is a Member of the Unnamed and what the Unnamed were, or at least what they were in Merlin's time. They knew that Dumbledore cast a sleeping charm on baby-me, so they gave me that time to talk to Greyson or whoever, but when baby-me begins to wake, I'll be absorbed, combined, merged, whatever… into baby-me. Within a week there'll be no baby-me or teenage-me, it'll just be me, our minds will merge completely."
"And the conditions?" Greyson asked.
"I don't do it alone. Both Merlin and Death choose another person to join me. This wasn't my choice and it almost made me decide against this option, until Death said that if I didn't take them, he would be. Both of them died after the Battle. The hope is that Greyson will teach us enough that we will live past 17 this time."
"You will." Rumour declared. "I'll make sure of it."
"Thanks."
"Nothing simple with you." Greyson declared.
Ghost-Harry grinned.
"It gets better… the first person is… Neville. He was in Gryffindor House with me, I trained him in my DADA classes. If we had both lived, he would have been a close friend. But the other? No. I could never have called him a friend. A frenemy? Yes, easily. But not a friend, no. With Draco, I always knew where I stood. He hated me, I thought. But… he was constant. Yes, he was a Slytherin, but he was constant, you could always rely on Draco to oppose me."
"Why would Merlin or Death choose him, then?"
"Because both he and Neville died after the Battle, not during it, I don't know when but it was after the Battle, maybe years, maybe hours, I don't know. Neville risked his life for me, he took on Nagini, just because I asked him to. And Draco? I risked my life for him. We had just found the diadem and Draco and his minions were chasing us, one of the minions sent off a FiendFyre curse and suddenly we were all running for our lives. That minion was killed by his own curse and Draco and the other minion were trapped, I couldn't leave someone… anyone… to die like that and went back for him."
"What? Why would you do that?" Rumour asked.
"Dumbledore charmed him with a Hero Complex." Greyson answered.
"Hero Complex? Oh, gods above." Rumour groaned.
"Yeah." The other man sighed. "And the Blood Adoption didn't remove it or the loyalty to Hogwarts charm."
"Bloody hell." Rumour whimpered.
"So you chose option six, didn't you?" Greyson asked Harry, already resigned.
"Of course. The whole idea of me being sent back was to save lives. If the first lives I save are Neville and Draco? I'm fine with that."
"So where are they? Are they being sent back… ah… how are they being sent back?"
"Like me, their consciousness is all that is being sent back, so we're all about the same age. I think Draco is a couple of months older? His birthday is June… sometime? I think?"
"And how are we supposed to locate these boys? I mean, what do we tell their families?" Rumour asked.
"Gets complicated there, too. All three of us will be absorbed back into our younger selves at the same time, when baby-me wakes from the Sleeping Charm Dumbledore placed. I think it's probably a good idea to have the three of us all in the same place when that happens. Neville is a Longbottom and I suspect Dumbledore might have put Bindings on him, too, but I'm not certain. Draco? Well, Draco is a Malfoy. He-"
"A Malfoy? You want us to trust a Malfoy? Lucius is Volde… Moldysnort's man. He can't be trusted. He-" Greyson cut in
"No he's not." Ghost-Harry said.
"What?"
"He's not. Lucius walks away from Moldysnort, turns his back and just walks away, for the sake of his family." Ghost-Harry added.
"Didn't you say something earlier about removing Darkmarks?" Greyson asked.
"Revoking them, yes. That I'm certain of, there's only two people that really didn't want to follow Moldysnort. There might be others, but these two, I want them free of Moldysnort before baby-me wakes."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"Merlin showed me. It's very simple, but it has to be done in parseltognue." Ghost-Harry warned.
"Well, we're screwed then. Your Moldysnort is the only parseltongue we know of." Rumour sighed.
"Of course he's not. Anyone born into the Peverell Family stands a good chance of being a parseltongue, my grandfather, Fleamont Potter was and so am I."
"How's that going to help us today, you're a ghost. You want this done before the babies wake, but how?" Rumour wanted to know.
"According to Merlin, I kind of merge with Greyson. Not really merge, but… you know how ghosts float through things? I float through Greyson but stop when my head, heart and hand are in the same place as his. I can say the spell, kind of through his mouth, with my hand kind of touching his wand. BUT it can only be done as Greyson says the Latin version… at the same time. There's no other spell that a ghost can do. Only this one."
"So we call the Malfoys and the Longbottoms here and tell them all this and you revoke the Darkmark?" Rumour wanted to clarify.
"The Malfoys, the Longbottoms and Severus Snape."
"Severus Snape? Who's he, then?" Rumour asked.
"He's the one Dumbledore uses to gain Moldysnort's confidence, Dumbledore's pet Death-Eater. He was my mother's best friend. Mum and dad left letters for him. You can use that as an excuse to get him here."
"And according to Harry's Inheritance Test, the one done after the Adoption, he's also one of Harry's Godfathers. The other being Sirius Black."
"Black? He's to be taken to Azkaban, he's the one responsible for betraying the Potters and for killing 12 muggles." Rumour told Greyson.
"Nope, he didn't do either. Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper for the Potters, Sirius was chasing him and he knew he wasn't gonna get away, so he blew a gas main and cut off a finger, before shifting into his unregistered Animagus form. If Sirius really had betrayed my parents and told Moldysnort where to find them, then the vow he took as a godparent would have killed him. Remember? Lady Magic doesn't like people going back on their word."
Rumour stood and began pacing.
"Alright, let worry about that later, we're on a deadline for dealing with the Malfoys, the Longbottoms and Snape. Let's say we get them here, how long have we got left before baby-Harry wakes?"
"Roughly six hours, Rumour."
"Good. That's a decent amount of time to work with. Whisper, you go to the Malfoys and the Longbottoms and tell them that the Master of the Unnamed requires their presence, tell them it's to do with their children. How do we find Severus Snape?"
"He's from Spinner's End. That's all I know."
"Oh, that Snape. I know of him, good man with potions." Greyson said.
"So you bring them all here, we explain all this to them, revoke Malfoy and Snape's Darkmarks and we get a plan together for hunting these Horcruxes. Whisper, you get going, Harry and I will work on the rest."
Greyson looked from Rumour to baby-Harry and back.
"I'll keep him safe, Greyson." Rumour used Greyson's name to show how serious he was.
"Please do." Greyson nodded to Ghost-Harry and at the fireplace he threw a handful of floo-powder into the flames. "Office of the Unnamed." With that he was gone.
"Right, Harry. Tell me more about these Horcruxes, where to find them and how to destroy them."
Greyson emerged from the floo-flames in a bland and nondescript office. He quickly rummaged through a drawer of Rumour's desk until he found a Vestigium-Quill, speaking the activation spell, he then asked for the current address of Lucius Malfoy, Alice and Frank Longbottom and Severus Snape. He waited for the few seconds it took the quill to write the addresses and he was snatching up the paper.
In Wiltshire, Greyson looked at the imposing front doors of Malfoy Manor before lifting a fist and pounding on the timber door. Very quickly the door was opened by an elf.
"Tell Lucius Malfoy the Unnamed have heard of a threat against his child. I need to speak with him." Greyson wasted no time in saying.
"Please be waiting in drawing room. Dipsy be telling Master Lucius." The elf showed Greyson to a luxurious but personality-free room.
It took less than two minutes for Lucius Malfoy to enter the room.
"Captain of the Unnamed, how may I help you?" He said.
"You cannot, Lord Malfoy, but we may be able to help you. Two of our Members have heard of a plan to mark certain children with death, today. We are told there are less than six hours before this will happen. Master Rumour has sent me to retrieve those children and their families and take them to a safe-house for the remainder of the day. Your child and one other are the only ones on my list, but they are not the only children targeted."
Lucius stood taller and frowned.
"Someone means to harm my son? Is it because of You-Know-Who?"
"We are uncertain of exactly what is to happen, but we know it is valid, Malfoy. You have enemies, but it is not in direct retaliation."
"How can you be certain?"
"The other child on my list to retrieve is Neville Longbottom, the son of Frank and Alice Longbottom. As far as You-Know-Who is concerned, you family and his are renowned for being on opposite sides."
"That is true. The Longbottom child is also a target? But why? What do we have in common?" The blonde man frowned.
"Nothing, as far as we can work out. Malfoy, time is running out. Please, just come with me and we'll see your wife and child are safe."
"Yes, Captain, I will fetch my wife and son, immediately. Please excuse me." Lucius bowed and left the room.
He returned with a tall, striking woman with two-toned hair, he was also carrying a sleeping blonde boy, of similar age to Harrison, in his arms.
"We are ready, Captain." Malfoy said.
Greyson stepped forward and offered his hands, slowly Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy reached out and grasped them. With no effort and no stomach churning twist, the three adults and the baby were in the hallway of Greyson's home.
"This way please."
Greyson lead them into his living room.
A little over an hour later, Lucius Malfoy stared in shock at his bare arm. The story he'd heard was fantastical and he hadn't believed a word of it, until now. Now… he believed with all his heart.
Greyson left Lucius to stare at his arm while he went to fetch the Longbottom family. He apparated to a small gravel road outside Ilkley, in Yorkshire and walked up the path of a quaint little cottage and knocked loudly on the door. It was opened dark haired young woman, who gasped when she saw his robes.
"Member of the Unnamed, what can I do for you?" Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"It is what I can do for you, Madame Longbottom. Rumour has it that three children are to be marked by death, today and your son is one of them."
"Bloody Death-Eaters." She snarled.
"No, not Death-Eaters, not today."
"What? How can you be sure?"
"One of the children is the son of Lucius Malfoy."
A curly headed man peered over the woman's shoulder as an older woman's voice was heard from inside, demanding to know what was happening.
"You must come with me, we have less than 5 hours before this happens. Let us take you to a safe house where we can protect you and your child."
"Of course, Captain." The man encouraged his wife out the door and closed it behind him, the voice from inside still making demands.
Greyson held out his hands and the couple clasped them. They appeared in the hallway of Greyson's home without the gut-twisting yank they expected from apparating.
"This way please." He lead them into the living room and waited quietly while Ghost-Harry and Rumour explained what was going on.
An hour and a half later, Frank Longbottom was shaking hands with Lucius and agreeing that they would work together to find, and destroy, the Horcruxes and that the two families would remain at Greyson's home until after the consciousness' of the three boys were united with their younger bodies. They would also see that the three boys saw each other a few of times a week. Once the remerging was complete, Ghost-Harry wanted everyone to go to Gringotts and be Inheritance Tested again, he wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to place Bindings and Charms on the other two boys.
Spinner's End was a depressing street, Greyson decided. But that wouldn't change why he was here. The last house on the street was his destination, he raised a hand and thumped on the door.
The young man who opened the door had tired black hair and from the condition of his face it was clear he'd been crying.
"Severus Snape?" Greyson asked.
"Yes." The young man took no notice of Greyson's robes.
"I have been sent by the Master of the Unnamed. He has received word that are those to be marked by death today, I have been sent to retrieve you. Take my hand."
It was not a request and a reluctant Snape placed his hand in that of the Unnamed. Darkness swam around him a when light replaced it, the two stood in a hallway.
"This way." Greyson lead the confused young man into his living room.
Snape was startled to see both Lucius Malfoy and Frank Longbottom in the same room and both seemed almost comfortable with that.
"Harry? You want to enlighten Severus why he's here?" Greyson asked.
"Certainly. Thank you for coming, Snape."
To the surprise of Severus it wasn't either man who spoke, but when Severus turned in the direction of the voice, all he saw was a ghost.
"A ghost? I'm here because of a ghost?" Severus wasn't quite sure they were being serious and today wasn't a good day.
"Yes." He was told by Greyson, Longbottom and Malfoy.
"You need to listen to him, Severus." Malfoy urged.
Snape looked at the blonde man and sighed.
"Very well." He face Ghost-Harry. "Continue."
One hour later he looked at Harry in shock.
"Lily and James wanted me to raise you… I mean Harry? Both of them named me?" He asked.
"Yes. They both trusted that you would all you could for a child. Neither of them knew that you had been Marked by Moldysnort. But that doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters, if I wish to live, then I must obey my Lord Volde-"
"Nope." Harry cut in. "Mr Malfoy, show him your arm, please."
Lucius stood and pulled first one then the other sleeve up, clear to his shoulders, both arms were pristine, not a blemish on them.
"But… How? The DarkMark?"
Harry floated closer to Severus and explained what Merlin had told him about revoking the Darkmarks. When Greyson stepped forward and into the space where Ghost-Harry floated, Severus wondered briefly if he'd lost his mind. Watching as the Dark Lord's Mark faded from his skin was fantastical and not something he ever imagined could happen.
Severus watched the ghost as he floated over to the three sleeping infants.
"What's our next move?" The still pale man asked.
"Harry and Rumour wrote up a list of the Horcruxes and where they were found, there's notes on the dates they were destroyed and the method used. Merlin suggested that each item be destroyed either on the same date as Harry remembers or in the same Luna cycle."
"Seems like a wise suggestion." Malfoy commented.
"Snape, we would like to include you in our discussions in the future. How hard do you think it would be to keep this from Dumbledore?"
"Not hard at all. Dumbledore may be reasonably proficient in Legilimency, but I have my Mastery in both Legilimency and Occlumency. He will get nothing from my mind that I don't want him to have."
"Good. Severus? Will you train me… baby-me… when I-we get older. Gods that's confusing."
"It is from here, too. But yes, when… the children are older, but before they go to Hogwarts, I will teach them."
"How much longer, before they… merge?" Alice Longbottom asked as she held her sleeping son.
"In the next half hour, we estimate." Greyson replied.
"So soon?" Narcissa whispered.
"Yes. I suggest that we put the three children together in one room and step back. It's likely that Neville will not be pleased to be near the senior Malfoys and who knows what Draco will think of seeing Snape. I have no idea if Merlin or Death told them anything or if they will be completely unaware of what's happened. I do know that our communication skills are going to take a significant jump, Merlin said we're going to find it difficult to hide that jump unless we make a feature of it. He suggested that we meet regularly and pass off our new language skills as a result of that. Plus that would give you adults a chance to let off steam about your not-so-young children." Ghost-Harry informed the parents.
"That sounds like a good idea." Frank Longbottom agreed.
"Oh."
"What? What?" Greyson asked.
"I can feel the pull. It's not hard yet, but it's there. Put the children together and stay back, I don't know how this is going to happen." Ghost-Harry said.
Narcissa and Alice picked up their boys while Greyson carried baby-Harry, he took them across the hall to a second living room that was almost empty. He put baby-Harry on the plush rug on the floor, a few feet from each of the other infants and retreated from the room, Narcissa and Alice at his heels.
"Keep and ear out. If Draco and Neville remember, there's a good chance of one of them screaming bloody murder." Ghost-Harry warned, as he floated past them and took up a position near the door.
As the minutes progressed, Ghost-Harry felt the pull get stronger, but it didn't yet force him any closer. Suddenly both baby-Neville and baby-Draco began to twitch in their sleep. Draco's eyes snapped open and he looked around the room wildly, finally his gaze fell on Ghost-Harry and he screamed.
"Podder! Whad t'e he' did 'ou do?"