Chapter 4
Halfway through lunch, they arrived. Everyone seated in the room blinked in shock. Standing behind Remus were five redheads. Severus started to laugh.
"He did it then?"
Remus laughed and nodded. "He did, first night there too. I hope you're ready for school Draco. You're going to have to last for two weeks."
Draco shocked everyone by smiling. "It will be worth it, Remus. Speaking of the devil, where is he?"
A flash of green light drew everyone's attention to the now re-filled doorway. Standing just inside stood Harry, head bowed to ask a blessing. Straightening up, he walked to Severus, bowed and then hugged the older man.
"Hey Nonos. You have no idea how good it is to be back."
Severus smiled as Tobias made his way to Narcissa, bowed and kissed her hand before kneeling and hiding his face on her lap as she gently ran fingers through his hair.
"Missed you, Nona," he whispered.
"I missed you too, Tobias."
Everyone stared as his shoulders started to shake. Remus smiled sadly, watching him.
After a while, he spoke. "It hurts Nona. It hurts that I can't show them who I am. I can't handle all this inside me. Why can't they all accept me the way I am – for who I am? I need to be released – I need to burn."
In the silence that followed, Lucius stood and moved to his wife's side. Looking at his Lord for permission, he pointed his wand at the boy and murmured something. The Weasleys gasped as Harry Potter disappeared to be replaced by someone else. They watched in shock as he threw himself into Lucius' arms and hugged him tight.
"Thank you Anadochos"
"You're welcome, Tobias."
Remus smiled. "Good to see you back to normal, Neogennito. I think you've shocked a few people though."
Tobias' laughter echoed around the room. He turned to look at Draco, his eyes widening slightly. "Drakontas! Dressing to impress, or dressed to kill?" Striding over to him, he clasped the other boy's upper arm in a sign of friendship. Pulling him into a hug he whispered, "You look good, Drakontas." Letting him go, he bowed deeply to his father.
"Pateros. Thank you for allowing this visit. If I had to stay with that family any longer than that, they would have woken up as ghosts. They decided that since I was at the twin's shop, so should Granger and Weaselby. We only just managed to get away from them for today by saying that we needed to go to Gringotts – somewhere I can most definitely assure you that they will not go, since it annoys the goblins when people aren't there to take out money." He grinned the grin of a pure predator.
"I present to you Messer's Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and Miss Ginevra Weasley." As each of their names was called, they bowed or curtseyed to the man seated before them. "Friends, this is my adopted father, Tom Morvolo Riddle. I am no longer Harry James Potter. On September the first, I am legally going to be Tobias Regulas Riddle. I shall be going under the name of Black while I still attend Hogwarts or until Dumbledore, Granger and Weaselby are destroyed – whichever comes first."
Tobias looked at his father. "Please forgive me father, I need to go burn something." At his father's nod, Tobias bowed to all in the room individually then was engulfed in a hot red flame, vanishing.
As the Weasleys were urged to their seats, the questions they had started to fly.
Two hours later, Voldemort knocked on his son's bedroom door. Not getting an answer, he opened the door to see Tobias seated cross-legged on the ground in front of a makeshift alter. He sat on the desk chair present to watch as his son was meditating. Just as he was thinking of interrupting him, Tobias burst into flame and slowly opened his eyes.
"Pateros!"
Voldemort stood as Tobias got up off the floor and walked to him, stretching the aches out of his muscles. Hugging him, Tobias squeezed gently.
"Are you hungry, gios?"
"A little, Pateras. Are we holding the ceremony tonight?"
Tom chuckled. "Yes Gios. There is going to be a difference, however. These five are not going to be obtaining my mark – they will bare yours, and you will be the one marking them. Do you know what your mark is going to be?"
Tobias nodded just as a house-elf appeared with a roast meat sandwich. Taking a bite of it, Tobias moaned in appreciation as the sweet, yet rich, taste of venison touched his tongue. His eyes closed in bliss, he didn't see Remus walk into the room – but he did smell the blood-rich nutrient potion the werewolf carried. He growled deeply in his throat in anticipation. As soon as it was set down beside him, he grabbed the goblet and downed it, forgetting his partially consumed sandwich. Remus laughed as Tobias growled at the house-elf's attempt to remove the goblet from his grasp.
"Are you sure that he isn't a werewolf?" a slightly bemused Voldemort asked.
Remus shook his head, still laughing. "N-no Sir. He has been that … starved, I guess you could say, that his animagus form has partially merged with his mind. At least that is what Sev and I have guessed at."
Tobias' laughter drew the men's attention back to him. "L-ly-lykos," he gasped through his laughter. "That is so … so funny!" He continued laughing, getting it out of his system.
"What is so funny, Gios?" Voldemort asked, slightly curious.
"Yes, Neogennito. What is so funny?"
Tobias laughed softly. "I don't have an animagus form, Lykos."
The silence that met that statement seemed to last forever as time seemed to stand still.
"Cub!" Remus struggled to prevent himself from growling at his godson. "Explain. Now!"
Tobias sighed. "Can it wait til after the marking, Lykos? I don't want to have to explain it several times over. I also think Pateros wished to talk to me about something before supper."
Remus nodded, bowed and left with the goblet, which had been licked clean. Voldemort watched his son stretch again and noticed the wild, animalistic grace and strength he seemed to exude.
"Gios. We need to talk about something."
Tobias sat on the floor, legs crossed. "Yes Pateras?"
"Now that you are my son, we need to start looking for a partner for you. After we find one suitable for you, we will need to start with the negotiations for a betrothal contract. I'm sorry son, but … are you more inclined towards males or females?"
Tobias thought for a bit. "Honestly Pateras, I have no preference. I enjoy being with males more, but I can function well enough for a female too, so I will stand by your decision. May I ask one thing to be non-negotiable?" Voldemort nodded, puzzled at what this requirement was. "Can it not be someone related to me by blood?"
Voldemort laughed loudly. "Of course, Gios. I guess that means that it will be none of the Weasley children then?" Tobias shuddered as his father laughed; delighted with the joke he'd just played on his son.
Remus walked into the large room holding the newly marked youngsters. To his – and everyone else's – surprise, all the sixth year Slytherins also chose to be marked by his godson. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of silence from a previously noisy room. Looking around, he quickly put the goblet he was holding on the table next to Tobias.
Everyone in the room watched in fascination as the liquid disappeared down the boy's throat. Laughter followed when Remus tried to remove the goblet from his hand before it had been licked clean. When he managed to remove it, he spoke.
"Cub. It has been requested that in a quarter mark of the candle for you and young Mister Malfoy to join us in the family room. That is also when everyone else – bare the Weasleys – will be returning to their homes with their families. The Weasleys are welcome to spend the weekend with us. Please enjoy the time you have left. A house-elf will be here to show you the way when your time is up.
"Mr Lupin?" Pansy asked. "Why did you bring Tobias' potion and not a house-elf?"
Remus, the Weasleys and Draco laughed as Tobias darkened slightly.
"Well, Miss Parkinson, it's like this. My cub here is rather territorial and with what happened with a house-elf forced him to eat, I'm afraid the house-elves believe they will be – how was it put? Oh yes, 'Made into leather and sold to the highest bidding fat and sweating muggle so that he can use them to protect his testicles from being damaged the next time he decided to go to that gay club and while he's at it make them into a nice penis and arse crack warmer just for the fun of it'. And if that didn't work, then he'd order them to make themselves willing conspirators of S.P.E.W – some house-elf organization that Granger girl created."
Remus smiled at the shocked and admiring glances Tobias was getting from those around him, Draco and the twins laughter still rolling around them. Remus then left the youngsters to their chaos.
Tobias listened to the adults talk around him. Before they had entered the room, he had indicated to all the Weasleys and Draco that he wished to speak to them after this. They had all nodded their understanding and agreement.
It wasn't long before Severus broached the subject they were there to discuss.
"Ok, Tobias. What is all this animalistic behaviour about? You haven't been bitten, have you?"
Tobias shook his head and closed his eyes. "It started when I started being punished for doing magic. I always believed that no one came to my cupboard because they didn't care. Well, that was partially true." He looked up at Severus. "What you witnessed when you found me? There is a reason he never had the chance to do that before this summer. My magic kept anyone who wished to harm me away from where I was the most vulnerable. The longer the protective magic was around me, the closer it bonded with me - not as my own magic, but as a magical entity, it developed into a guardian for me. This guardian was always a carnivorous animal, but was never the same animal two days running. Sometimes it would be a wolf, then a big cat, reptile, bird or fish. I've had serpents – including basilisks – Dragons, gryphons, hippogriffs."
He gave a tiny half-smile. "I've even had a large black dog and various were-creatures. In fact, I think the only creature I haven't yet had as a guardian is a lion. "When I suppress my need to do magic, or when I don't use magic for a long time, I start to act like any one of the guardians."
He gave a short bark of laughter. "The summer I made Vernon's sister into a helium balloon was when I let the Dragon out to play – Rage and Protection, the rules of all Dragons." He gave a half-smirk in Draco's direction, causing the blonde youth to blush slightly. "There has been many times in my past that I was punished for 'acting more like a freak than usual'." He shook his head, thinking.
"This is interesting, Tobias," Narcissa said, truly finding it fascinating. "But what has this to do with you not being an animagus? Everyone in this room who doesn't have red hair saw you go wolf a week ago."
Tobias almost smiled at her. "It's due to what I went through earlier this summer. My guardians originally came to me because I was restricting my own magic by living in fear of what would happen to me if I didn't. This summer found me with my magic bound against my will and by people who I trusted to do the right thing by me. My guardians were still there, but as they originated from my core magic, the bands bound them as well. Once the bands had been removed and my magic flared, my guardians also had to release some of their bound magic, therefore binding them to me tighter still. Now, if I am ever in that position again, then the guardians will be able to protect me, and if they can't do anything due to their power base being locked up, they can force my body to change into their shape."
"That day last week I was beyond furious. Thanatos tried his hardest to calm me down, but when that didn't work; the wolf guardian in me took charge and calmed me down with a hunt." Remus laughed. What better way to calm down an enraged wolf then for it to hunt? Tobias continued, sending Remus a look saying that he understood what he was laughing at. "Today's guardian thinks I'm a sweet kit, even if I do grumble about her mothering me."
"What is your guardian today, 'Bi?" Draco asked softly. Almost instantly a raven Black Panther with blue/white eyes was giving Draco a cat's smile, then she was gone, leaving behind a sleepily smiling Tobias.
Tobias looked around the room, his eyes lighting up when he spotted the back of the lounge chair. Those in the room watched silently as he stretched and made himself comfortable along the back of the chair in his sights and then fall asleep. All in the room felt a stab of affection for the dark-haired youth – a strange occurrence in men who had sworn to kill the youth so many years before.
The next day found Tobias in a very bad mood. He had to go back with the Weasleys. While this in itself was not enough to put him in a bad mood, it was that he had to return to The Burrow, where he was sure that both Ron and Hermione would be waiting to ambush him on Dumbledore's orders.
Draco jokingly suggested letting one of them piss him off and then let his guardian of the day to deal with the two of them. No one laughed for long when Tobias pointed out that today's guardian was not only a reptile, but also the king of the serpents itself. Since then, everyone made sure not to give Tobias too much grief. After all, nobody wanted to come face-to-face with a basilisk with Tobias' temper.
Ginny watched with sadness in her heart as she watched how her friend and Lord were being treated by the youngest of her elder brothers. The list of things he could do were down to four. Eat, sleep, breath and go to the bathroom.
It was during the second day that an idea hit her. All day this idea plagued her until she stopped and thought about it. If it worked, then Tobias would be able to do more than watch Ron and Hermione slobber all over each other. If it didn't, she would be in a world of trouble. Would she do it, or wouldn't she? Her answer was given to her the next morning.
Waking up, she noticed the faint sounds of an argument coming from down stairs. The scene in the sitting room was enough to make her choke with anger – 'Harry', as Tobias was still playing, was being alternately lectured and yelled at for getting up at three in the morning to go to the loo without waking either Ron or Hermione before doing so.
"For Merlin's sake, Ronald Weasley!" Tobias exploded. "Do you really think I need you to hold my hand when I go and have a piss? Do you really need to know how many times I get up in the night to make water? And do you think I need help shaking it off, because I can tell you right now that I am perfectly able to pull myself without supervision! If I didn't know any better, I'd believe that you work for Rita Skeeter. I'm not allowed to do anything, not even housework. I'm not allowed to send an owl to anyone without either of you reading or writing it. AND YOU WON'T EVEN LET ME BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS ANYONE ELSE WITHOUT YOU TWO BEING STUCK TO MY FREAKING ARSE! SO WILL YOU JUST PISS OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE FOR FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!"
"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with us Harry." For being the smartest witch in the year, Hermione didn't notice the winces that appeared on Ginny, the twins and Bill's faces, nor the look of pure contempt on Tobias'. "What could you possibly have to talk to Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie or Bill about? There is nothing you could want to talk about without us in here with you."
The marked Weasleys jaws dropped, not being able to believe their ears. How dare she!
"I can discuss business with the twins, Hermione. I am the third owner of WWW, after all and I need to have an interest in what is happening in the shop. We need to discuss a lot of things for it – any new products, what is good for business, what is bad for business, what age group they are aiming for and what age group is actually buying the stuff, if we want to sell shares, if so how many. You know, all the statistics, facts and figures that go with running a business."
"Charlie is a good bloke to talk to about animals. He's almost a walking encyclopaedia on Dragons and Romania. I'm not talking about the things you can get from a book either, Hermione. I'm talking about the experience you get only by talking to someone who is passionate about that topic and can make shovelling Dragon shit for sixteen hours a day sound like heaven. Someone who is so enamoured that they can talk for days on end about the subject."
"Bill is by far the easiest Weasley to talk to, and I know I can go to him about anything that I am unsure of – just like I would be able to do with an older brother. I can take any problems, or rituals I discover to him and ask him about them and not be terrified out of my wits if I don't understand him the first time – particularly anything to do with Wizarding customs."
"As for Ginny …"
Once Ginny heard her name come up, she grabbed her chance and jumped into his sentence, her hands on her hips and scowling at her brother. "As if you don't know what him and I want to do together without you two in the room. It has been you, Ron, who has been trying to push us together since your forth year, isn't it? How do you think we would get to be in a relationship like that if we don't know anything about the other?" She turned her scowl onto Hermione. "I expected my brother to be this stupid, but you Hermione? If I were you, then I'd stop fucking him every night since it seems his stupidity is spread that way."
She grabbed hold of Tobias' hand and pulled him into the kitchen behind her, knowing that both her parents would have heard that last little bit about Hermione and Ron and secretly celebrated it.
The four marked Weasley males sank into their chairs at the kitchen table as the inferno that was Molly Weasley ignited in the sitting room and aimed all her flames at her youngest son and his girlfriend. For a while, no one said anything. Tobias then swallowed the last bite of his breakfast, cleared his throat, drank the rest of his pumpkin juice and looked at Ginny.
"How utterly Slytherin of you Ginevra. There is hope for the Weasley clan yet."
Ginny beamed, happy with the results so far.
The first of September found a concerned bunch of Slytherins waiting on Platform 9 ¾. An anxious Narcissa waited nearby. Thirty minutes before the train was due to depart a red tide seemed to appear out of nowhere. Draco heaved an internal sigh of relief at the spot of black he spotted amongst them.
Two of the Weasleys split off from the rest and approached the group of Slytherins.
"'Bi apologises for not having owling anyone for the last week," one of the twins murmured, making it look all the world like they were handing out testers. "The old fart has had Ron and Hermione stick that close to him that you'd think they'd been magically stuck to his arse. He wasn't even allowed to talk to any of us."
"That was until Ginny stepped in. She got them to leave him alone long enough to spend three hours a day without them so he could talk to us. It was brilliant!"
"How'd she do that?" Millicent asked
"She made them think that she was courting him."
This bought a bout of laughter from all those surrounding them.
"She could almost be in Slytherin, that one," Pansy gasped.
The twins grinned at her. "All us marked one's could have been – but who would have suspected to look for Slytherins in Gryffindor?" This bought another round of laughter.
"Back to what we were saying. Bi has to still act as if he's Harry, so even though he wants to be with his marked ones, it might be better if only Draco, Crabbe and Goyle search him out, as you normally do. He also requests that whatever happens tonight, just go with it and act like you'd normally do. You'd better get on the train now. We'll see you on either the first Hogsmead weekend, or when you visit your parents for the holidays – whichever comes first." Then they were gone.
The students all climbed onto the train, talking softly about what the twins had just told them.
Tobias almost growled in irritation. He couldn't wait for the Sorting to be over with so he could wash his hands of his so-called friends. He was dreaming of the looks of outrage on their faces when Lucius walks into the room, when the door to his compartment opened. Before anyone else noticed that the door was open, Tobias mouthed, "Help me."
"I'm going to the bathroom. NO! I don't need nor want company." He stormed out of the compartment.
Before the Gryffindors inside it managed to collect themselves, Vincent and Gregory blocked the open doorway. Draco, meanwhile, had followed Tobias to an empty compartment.
Once the door had been closed, locked and set with a hex for any who tried opening it, Tobias collapsed into the seat behind him and rubbed his head. "Where they always that much of a nightmare?" he asked from within his hands. Draco only smirked and handed over a headache potion, which Tobias downed without question.
Tobias noticed the look of surprise on Draco's face and smirked. "Even poison would be preferable to spending any more time with them two."
Draco nodded and pat Tobias' shoulder in understanding before he left. Tobias sighed and relaxed, letting the potion do its work before he left to return to his belongings.
The Slytherins saw firsthand the treatment their friend and Lord was getting from Ron and Hermione when the Hogwarts Express reached Hogsmeade. They hadn't let anyone speak to him, nor him to anyone and they herded him between them on the way to the carriages. Before they managed to force him into one of them, Tobias managed a quick look around and locked eyes with the small group of sixth year Slytherins. He smirked before grinning maliciously. The answered with smirks of their own.
It was time for the games to begin!
Names
Nonos – Godfather
Nona – Godmother
Anadochos – Godfather
Neogennito – Cub
Drakontas – Dragon
Pateros – Father
Gios – Son
Lykos – Wolf
