Disclaimer: Don't own it, but would love to. Do participate and appreciate and hope it goes on forever more.
Buckets of Thank Yous: As always, I cannot say this was a lone effort. Without the input and comments from the BeST this would not be a rounded or finished tale. Having a good beta is vitally important to completing any work and I have the BeST three in the business. Zarathustra46 has her own published work on FFNet and I suggest you go have a really good read. Nathaniel_hp runs Challenges and writes Ron/Remus perfectly, Google him, it's well worth it. The Wicked Bunjhiny doesn't write but that purple pen of hers is a killer and her grasp of punctuation leaves me stunned. (She is so damned good at it!) Thanks again, Guys.
Author's Note: Just a quick thanks to all those people who have written a review. THANK YOU!!!! I love reviews, they keep this monkey happy and productive. I try to answer them all personally as I think that, if a person can be bothered to review then it is only polite that the author respond. So, excuse spelling in advance. As mentioned in an earlier Note, all spelling and punctuation is raw, not edited and I am horrible at it. LOL. For those of you who have sent me guesses about what has happened to Brian... I'm not going to tell you!!!!! Enjoy this instalment, won't you?
Regards
Les
oo0oo
Brian had been feeling out of sorts so the invitation to tea at Malfoy Manor was a welcome distraction. The last time he had seen the manor, there had been dead Aurors and Death Eaters scattered all over the lawns, holes blasted in the southern wall and most of the windows had been exploded out. Today, as the Portkey brought him through the wards, he had time to study the serene symmetry of the buildings and the smooth green expanses of emerald grass. The wards were old ones and gave reluctantly to the signature of the Portkey, just enough to funnel Brian's descent into a receiving room.
The room was octagonal with a high, domed ceiling and woven tapestries on the walls. Benches padded in velvet were arranged below the tapestries and only one door let out. Placing the now defunct Portkey on the table, Brian turned to study the tapestries and settle his stomach when the door opened and Lady Malfoy strode in, hand held out in welcome.
"So good of you to come," she greeted and smiled graciously as Brian bent and kissed her hand. "I trust you had no difficulty using the Portkey? My husband maintains fairly tight security still."
"The manor's wards are very old and well tuned," Brian agreed as he took her arm and allowed her to guide him into the main body of the manor toward the Conservatory.
"I thought we would have a look at the place I would like you to consider for your sculpture and then we can have a spot of tea and discuss it."
The tour of the conservatory and the walled garden where Lady Malfoy wanted the piece to feature did not take long. Soon they were ensconced in the conservatory overlooking the site with tea and sandwiches before them for their refreshment.
"Of course I saw the piece you did for the auction. My mother-in-law is one of the leading organisers and I help catalogue the auction items as they come in. Then Catarina and Lizella began to sing your praises. You made quite an impression on little Lizella, I do assure you," she laughed merrily. "And she never takes off the necklace you gave her, Catarina tells me."
"She is a delightful child," Brian replied, with an equally fond smile.
"Humm, shame about having to have Elphius Jorensecle for a father but still, Catarina is civilising him. I heard how they treated you, most distasteful; very bad manners. I remember my grandmother telling me how when the present lord's grandfather bought or bribed Aurelia Potter for his wife, it was like giving caviar to swine. Poor girl, she never did well and then there were the rumours that her own son killed her in some mad ritual he devised… Of course, that was before they changed their name. Anglicised it, or so they say but really, made a hash of it, if you ask me," she rattled on happily.
"What did they change their name from and to?" Brian asked fascinated yet slightly appalled.
"Oh, they were originally Joren Se La Celestias, some sort of French or Spanish name which they thought they would Anglicise - but not very fortuitously - about the time of Grindelwald's rise. Just in case, you know?"
"How do you know all this?" Brian asked in amazement, as the woman gaily rattled on.
"It's social history, not your Goblin and Centaur wars drama obviously, but the little accounts and personal histories played out in many of the great families. That sort of thing has always fascinated me, along with genealogies and family gossip." She laughed more openly this time, no longer a polite gesture but genuine amusement. "When bored and your main hobby is gossip, talking to the family ghosts becomes a habit. Putting it all together is much more fun than a mystery novel by that Muggle fellow…"
"Sherlock Holmes? You should write them down and make a novel out of it yourself; would keep the world spinning, some of them in their graves," Brian teased, making the woman go off into fits of giggles. He watched her merriments and smiled appreciatively, as the formal was engulfed by the abandon and beauty of her laughter glowing in her face. No wonder Malfoy had chosen what seemed to be at first glance a rather ordinarily pretty woman; her character lent her an ethereal glow when she laughed. It gave him an idea for her sculpture while her gossip history sparked a very different idea, not so pleasant but equally captivating.
oo0oo
Closing the last of the books in his personal library, Brian glared at the wall and huffed. The information he wanted was not there! Huffing again, he stormed out of the library and crawled out of his trunk, glaring as his robes caught on the latch. Bloody lack of stamina, it was making him get fat, even a short walk around the block took more energy than he had to spare these days. Perhaps he should go see a doctor and get a tonic or something, or maybe Nash had something in that rat's nest of potions he called a shop.
Thoroughly out of sorts, he stormed into his kitchen, tapped the pot for tea and promptly dropped the kettle, scalding his ankle and foot in the process. Biting back tears and howling in pain, he cursed up a storm and drenched himself in cold water. Without conscious thought he spun on the spot and landed in a heap in the Apothecary where Nash's head came up and his wand dropped into his hand in automatic defence at the noise. Both he and Mandy raced around the bench to the small huddle of blue robes and denim on the floor. Bending to hook his hands under armpits, Nash pulled him up and sat him on the counter in one smooth movement.
"Foot, burned it," Brian gasped as Mandy carefully eased the wet trainer off and winced at the blisters already rising.
"Oh good Merlin! Only you could… Pass me the orange jar, Mandy, and the small blue vial, if you please. Thank you. Here, drink this one," he uncorked the vial and held it out imperiously. As soon as it was downed, he began smoothing the contents of the jar, a thick chartreuse paste, onto the blisters and reddened flesh, easing the jeans up until all the areas of redness had been coated. "Anywhere else?"
"Don't think so," Brian murmured sleepily, his head nodding even as they watched.
"Is he always that sleepy?" Mandy asked in astonishment as the smaller man literally slumped forward against Nash's shoulder and began to snore slightly.
"Only since the accident up the hill at the Manor. Something odd happened there and put him in hospital for a week. I don't think he is fully recovered from it even yet."
"But that was nearly three months ago, surely…"
"Obviously not. And he will not take it easy, just keeps going at the same old pace until he collapses like this."
"Take him home, I'll mind the shop," Mandy told him fondly since he looked so worried.
Nodding his thanks and immediately assigning her a bonus for her constant kindness and understanding, he apparated Brian and himself home.
Brian slept for an hour and a half before he woke up and looked sheepish as Nash put a tray of tea on the bedside table and helped him to sit up. There was a twisted blue bottle on the tea tray that Brian eyed slightly apprehensively until Nash smirked and poured him a small spoonful. "Three times a day, if you please," he commented.
"What is it?"
"Just a vitamin tonic against this magical exhaustion you seem to be unable to shake. You are going to have to take it easy for a week or two as you are not recovering as fast as you should."
"Yes, I know. I've decided just to do a bit of research for a few weeks, nothing heavy, just some family history on a few families and to plan out the sculpture Lady Malfoy wants me to do for her. No carving, yet, just the planning," he promised, accepting tea and sipping gratefully. "Sorry to drag you away from work again, you must get sick of me."
Nash studied the down-turned head and smiled gently, as he leaned forward and kissed the top of the rather messy blond hair. "Nah, keeps me on my toes, Love," he said tenderly, giving his partner a careful hug. "Drink your tea."
oo0oo
Gringotts had not changed a bit as he entered and offered his vault key to the goblin on duty. It studied the small golden curlicue, then imperiously snapped its fingers. Riding the rollercoaster almost made him vomit for some reason, the goblin waiting patiently until he managed to climb out of the cart under his own steam. The Potter vaults were rarely disturbed; the place full of family artefacts, books, jewellery and magical objects. Surveying the wild tangle, Brian sighed and dropped his glamour as he began to shuffle his way between piles of stuff toward the books stacked all over the side wall space. In front of them all, on its own carefully crafted stand, was the Books Of Family: the Potter History Books. Settling himself down in front of the lectern, he selected the book holding the Family Tree. Studying the shiny black leather, he tapped the cover of the large book with his wand.
"Show me Aurelia Potter," he said and sat back as the covers slapped open, the pages flicking to show a sketch of a regal looking woman. The words were written in some archaic form of English but the dates were wrong. "Next one," he muttered and more pages turned. This time the language was almost readable but again the dates were wrong. The third shot was better but this woman had married a Garstandic and left the country to live in Scandinavia of all places. However, her niece had married a Lord Elphius Dolgren Joren Se La Celestias. "Bingo," Brian breathed. "Point me this Aurelia Potter," he intoned and another large book positioned itself on the lectern, its pages ruffling in a non-existent breeze to the correct page. Settling down to read, he began to learn about the woman who had married straight out of Beauxbatons and gone to live at her husband's manor taking a dowry of…
Brian shook his head and sighed as he closed his book. There was no other mention of her or her offspring; the book didn't mention any of the cadet lines once they were out of the family purview. Oh well, he wondered how he was going to get a look at the Jorensecle Family Tree.
He was still pondering as he left Gringotts and suddenly realised he really, really needed a bowl of Florentine Fortescue's Butterscotch Crackle ice cream. The craving hit him like a bludger to the head and he dashed across the road, pulling out a chair at one of the outdoor tables and seating himself in mouth-watering anticipation. Each mouthful was as blissful as he had anticipated, cold, creamy and laced with crackling pieces of butterscotch whose flavour exploded in his mouth. He closed his eyes to experience it even more deeply when someone giggled and he blinked out of his sugar haze to see Lizella Jorensecle and her mother standing watching him. Catarina Jorensecle stood behind her daughter, a titter hidden behind her hand as she nodded hello.
Brian rose hastily and bowed. "Sorry, I was…"
"Really enjoying your treat, I think," Catarina said merrily. "I'm pleased to see you looking so… awake," she murmured as the Ward Smith offered her and her daughter a seat, ordering tea for the mother and ice cream for the daughter.
"Humm, I am recovering somewhat," he replied, once the child was ice-cream occupied. "The freed magic hit me hard, harder than it should have but I think I know why now. You see, I believe the magic was from a Potter who married into your line, Aurelia Potter. I have Potters in my family tree so the magic gravitated toward me as the nearest Potter."
"Oh, oh dear. Aurelia, you say? That was Elph's great-grandmother. She outlived her husband by quite a few years; as her son and she did not agree on many things, the battles in the house were monumental. She -- she died very suddenly after a family gathering and was buried in the family plot alongside her husband. There was rather an 'Of-This-We-Do-No-Speak' agreement over her demise so I can't really tell you more than that," she said thoughtfully. "When did you say the blood wards were erected? I wonder if she died because of that working?"
"It would fit," Brian murmured, equally in thought. "If they took so much of her magic that her body could no longer sustain life, then the magic would be a force to be reckoned with even after all this time."
"No wonder it made you so ill. I am sorry," Catarina apologised unnecessarily.
"It's not your fault," Brian hastened to assure her and set the conversation onto more pleasant paths.
oo0oo
The owl was a stranger, banging self-importantly on the window on a Saturday morning. Still half asleep, Nash let it in and it flew over to strut arrogantly up to Brian as he dosed on one elbow over tea and toast. Shaking a leg, the owl insisted he immediately relieve it of its burden. As soon as the scroll was released, it launched, knocking over the milk jug, and making Nash duck hastily as it skimmed out the window and vanished into the morning sky.
"Well! That was one rude owl," the tall wizard remarked as he made his way back to the table and slumped down in his chair again.
"Ministry owl, sent me a scroll. Wonder what they want now?" Brian murmured between yawning and cleaning up the milk.
Nash frowned and banished the puddle, wondering why his lover always seemed to go for the Muggle manual solutions when he was half asleep. "Are you going to read it?" he asked, checking the creamy parchment for any dangerous spells.
"Oh, I suppose so. Let me wake up first," Brian grumbled, again settling into the semi-torpor of a lazy Saturday morning when there was nothing on the agenda besides a stroll into Kilbridie to pick up some groceries and a few potions ingredients that Nash wanted.
Nash rolled his eyes and poked the scroll with the end of his wand, jumping guiltily as the beribboned and seal appended document unfurled and one corner splatted into Brian's toast, spreading…
"What do you have on that toast?" Nash asked in mild distaste.
"Honey and vegemite, and parchment evidently," Brian snipped, spinning the paper around so he could read it. "Oh, nothing exciting; just an invitation to a meeting at the Ministry on Monday at ten. Boring! They usually want me to check some Ministry Officer's home to make sure his precious VW I wards are still limping along as inefficiently as ever."
"Ouch. You are in a fine mood today, aren't you?" Nash teased gently, pouring more tea and passing it over. "If you would rather, I can always get the groceries delivered."
Brian heaved a sigh. "No, I'm just out of sorts. I think I'll make Beef Wellington for dinner tonight, I really feel like cooking and I want some red meat."
Nash grinned and nodded. Brian was a brilliant cook when he was in the mood.
oo0oo
Brian arrived at the Ministry and took the telephone box to the main foyer. After some discussion with Nash, he had decided to wear Muggle clothes, if only to annoy the establishment. Camouflage combat pants and a black tee-shirt with 'Iron Maiden' emblazoned on the front were topped by a calf-length oilskin coat and finished with black combat boots. With his hair loose around his face, he strode through the crowd of witches and wizards, ignoring them for the most part until he found the room his meeting was supposed to be held in.
The Under Minister for Muggle Interactions and the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts were already waiting for him along with two men and two women wearing what amounted to the uniform of Ward Smiths, grey robes and white rope belts with various coloured tips. Brian rolled his eyes and sighed as he surveyed the earnest and slightly horrified group until his eyes fell on the Misuse Head.
"Arthur!" he nodded respectfully as he flopped carefully into the only empty seat at the table.
"Brian, nice to see you again. How are you? Er, this is Under Minister Gladius McDougal, of the Muggle Interactions Department." The man nodded and dismissively waved Arthur away which made Brian's eyes narrow as he surveyed the bulky man distastefully.
"Master Ward Smith er, Wardsmith, Muggles have managed to damage the wards around a barrow site in the Fens where we have been monitoring a build-up of negative magical energy for the last three weeks. A team from our Warding Department assessed the situation and decided to offer you the honour of supervising the team charged with the restructure of the wards."
"The honour, humm? What you actually mean is you don't have anyone with both the knowledge and raw power to make sure it all stays in place if anything more forceful than what you are contending with now starts to stir," Brian sniped disgustedly and rose as if to leave.
"It's a series of Barrows strung out along a ley line," Arthur said apologetically, making Brian sit back down and frown.
"A series? Oh, nice, just what the doctor ordered. Bloody hell, why weren't the Muggle repellent charms in order?" he demanded of the warding team representatives who squirmed.
"They're archaeologists, Sir," the older of the two women offered apologetically.
"It just keeps getting better, doesn't it? I assume they acquired something they shouldn't, by your presence, Arthur."
"Yes, unfortunately, they managed to get hold of a map that some idiot charmed to show all the hidden places in England, pinpointing magical artefacts and hidden treasure."
"Just England, not the whole British Isles?"
There was a collective shudder around the table. "Just England, but that includes Diagon Alley, Wolvestown and Kilbridie; but nothing of Scotland, Wales or Ireland, north or south."
"Well, thank goodness for small mercies! So, they have broken the wards on one barrow in a series of barrows laid along a ley line but nothing has yet escaped… you don't think?" Brian summed up heavily.
"Oh, there have been a couple of things that got out but we have been able to keep them from leaving the immediate area as the outer wards have not been completely breached. Unfortunately, the Muggles are still digging and have churned up the inner wards to the point of semi-rousing the Dark Magic contained in the Barrows. So far it is only a couple of wraiths but Egglington says he detected a Wight beginning to stir."
Brian swore softly. "Okay, what sort of warding are we talking about and what do we need?"
"Now hold on, Mr Wardsmith, the only reason we invited you here today is because someone further up the ladder got cold feet and insisted you poke, er, oversee our preparations. As far as I and my Minister are concerned, you are merely here as an observer."
"Really, then you will understand when I say pull your head in, you over inflated yes-man! This is Warding business! Right, you guys, show me what you've got!"
Arthur bit his lip to stop his laughter as his most troublesome rival in the Ministry sat back flabbergasted and the four Warding department members leaned forward with an almost audible sigh of relief. Patricia Culverton pulled out a shrunken wallet of maps and diagrams to show the Master Ward Smith who listened with both ears to her concerns and did not dismiss her speculations and conclusions as fantasy and scaremongering at all.
"So, to recap," Brian said after a long and involved discussion. "You have a string of nine barrows laid out on a ley line; each heavily warded with both inner and outer wards, then a set of wards encircling all the barrows as a sort of last ditch defence. The Muggles have been digging on the third from the southern end and have breached the shielding ring or wards. They have dismantled the outer ward and are approaching the inner wards around the actual burial chamber. Wraiths are already free and there is probably a Wight in the burial chamber. Have I got the whole picture?"
"Yes sir, except, they have taken one of the ward stones for the outer ward away for 'analysis', the southern one, and have actually broken the eastern stone in half by accident," Kluther Trotter said apologetically. "We think breaking the eastern stone was the first of the disasters which allowed the ward to falter, then fail."
"Bloody hell! It just gets better! Any idea of what was on the warding stones?"
"Oh, yes sir, that part's easy; we have pictures from Johnny, er, Warder Egglington, our field agent with the Archaeologist team," Patricia assured him, hurriedly dropping the photographs onto the table. "We have measurements and positional sightings for the missing stones, too."
Sighing deeply, Brian scrubbed his hair. "Right, we'll have to work quickly and accurately. One team on each of the warding stones, procure virgin basalt and get the carving done as quickly as you can. No magic, don't forget! As soon as they are ready, get them transported to the site and placed, under concealment charms, understood? This sort of ritual will need to be accomplished at the dead of the moon which gives us exactly sixty hours to consecrate ourselves, get the herbs assembled, and finish the job. Arthur, can you get a team ready to clean up the site and replace the Muggle repellent charms? Good man. I would suggest you, Under Minister, get a survey team together and get to checking all the wards and bindings and make sure they are still firmly in place or we are going to have a lot more accidents and releases if we aren't careful. And find out who our happy map maker is and gag him somehow. Got it? Next time it might be Hogwarts suffering an influx of bloody… Archaeologists!"
Ignoring the spluttered protests from the under Minister, Brian swept out leaving a smirking and reenergised team of warders behind him.
oo0oo
Johnny Egglington was a short, round man with boundless enthusiasm who all but skipped over to the new arrivals, shaking hands, exclaiming and commenting excitedly as they checked the site and began to unpack the tools they had brought along. Patricia Culverton took her place at the South ward as the oldest and most experienced of the Warders. Susan Pinzance, the least experienced, was posted to the West ward. Trotter and Monagrew had tossed a coin for their positions as they were both very experienced. Kluther Trotter ended up at the broken East and Moratius Monagrew took North, the Initiator's position.
Brian positioned himself between East and South, not the best position but the place closest to the most vulnerable point in the disabled circle. Each person brought out their brass braziers and carefully placed sticks of ash, yew and oak in neat pyramids in the bowls. Dry peatmoss was stuffed in as kindling and mineral oil-soaked bundles of dried sage were added at intervals to ensure the blaze. Cups of pure spring water from the Lake of the Lady stood to the left of the braziers and bowls of purified earth from Glastonbury stood to the right. By ten to midnight everything was ready, Johnny Egglington standing ready to act as gofer and do whatever the others wanted him to do during the service. Officially, he was called Senior Apprentice for the duration of the ceremony, even if he had finished his apprenticeship many years before.
As distant bells chimed midnight, the Warders raised their wands and began the chant, drawing on the four elements of Earth, a handful taken from the bowl and sprinkled around the edge of the brazier. Water, taken from the cup, was sprinkled over the brazier; then wands were used to invoke Fire, setting the sticks of woods alight and Wind, blown gently on the sparks to make them blaze. Invoking the four Elements, the Warders began the chant to revitalise the wards and reconsecrate the new stones in their new positions.
Everything was going very smoothly, the new stones in place and consecrated; the rebuilding of the outer ward about to begin as the clocks rang in five thirty, the sunrise immanent. Moratius Monagrew had begun the Chant to the Northern Warding when suddenly the earth rolled and exploded outward. Susan Pinzance screamed as something ill defined reached from the earth and raked at her through the smoke. She stumbled backwards, blood gushing from the gash in her stomach. A flailing hand overturned the brazier in her haste to escape the manifestation of the Wight. Johnny was running, his wand drawn to take her place as the wards bulged and flickered, the inner wards beginning to crack and buckle under the pressure of the determined Wight trying to free itself.
Brian did not think but flung his hands up, his everyday wand in his right hand, his old yew and phoenix wand materialised in his left hand. Striding forward to the edge of the disintegrating inner ward, he began feeding his own magic into it, calling on the Elements and gathering extra power from the ley line he had very deliberately straddled. He could feel the power of Earth and Water rising through his legs, the Wind beginning to wrap around him as Fire slammed down from the newly risen sun and vibrated between the two wands he held aloft for that very purpose.
What rose from the ground was amphomous, Dark, red and tinged blackness; blacker than the darkest night in winter. Icy cold breath tried to steal Brian's warm life but he was protected and defended by the four Elements he had drawn to him. Bending and turning, Brian wove the four Elements into a net of pure natural power and spread it wide over the inner grave mound, catching the Wight and holding it in place. A flick of his wands sent Earth to spike the Northern ward. Water flew out and doused the Southern edge. Fire slammed into the Eastern ward and Air spun free to anchor the western edge.
Divest of Elements but still holding the ley line, Brian spread the Elements, making an impenetrable circle around the edge of the net he had created, sealing it to the earth and under, pulling it downward until it completely englobed the Wight. A change in the rhythm and speed of the incantation drew the edges tight and sealed the globe, entombing the Wight once again, forcing it back into harmless sleep. Staggering and completely drained, Brian knew he was about to collapse and managed to grab some of the ley line power, wrapping the natural magic around him as he willed himself home!
oo0oo
