A/N: Well now I don't think there will be any complaints about length on this one... although it is the product of a horde of plot-hamsters attacking me! Oh the horror of the plot-hamsters! (For those not in the know I have plot Ferrets instead of bunnies becuase they are cute but vicious, they are the main story idea. But with them come the inevitable and unavoidable infestation of plot hamsters! Also known as subplots...) So here we go!
Chapter 9
Meanwhile…
Lucius Malfoy walked down one of the many wide hallways of Malfoy Manor with a small blonde haired bundle held against his chest.
A year it had taken him to get the clearance needed to access the Hidden Continent – and the trail left by little Harry Potter. A year to get in and another of searching only to come back… well, not really empty handed.
The blonde child in his arms whimpered and Lucius laid his face against the top of the boys head, shushing him gently.
In searching for The-Boy-Who-Lived, he had found another treasure – one better than the focus of his search, depending on how you looked at it. In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, one of the oldest and most prestigious of the Hidden Villages he'd found a starved, badly beaten and literally half-dead blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks.
A Jinchurikki.
His Jinchurikki.
If his Shinobi cousins didn't want to be burdened with caring for such a being, then he would gladly do so.
By Merlin, he hadn't even hidden the fact that he was taking the boy! He supposed the gate guards may have thought he was merely carrying his own son, both being blonde and the child's faced tucked as it had been against Lucius' neck.
But still.
It had taken him a full day to leave the anti-apparition wards that all the old villages had and no one had come to snatch the boy back. Even the slowest Genin would have been able to catch up with him in under an hour.
They might as well have tied a red bow on the boy.
"Father?"
Lucius smiled indulgently at the sleep tousled form of his only son, now seven and half years old, peeking out of his room, "Draco, why aren't you in bed? It's very late."
"I had Dobby come wake me when you got home."
Lucius grimaced at the mention of that particular house elf, the thing was mentally deficient, but his son loved it.
"Who's that father?"
"This is a new playmate for you, but he's been badly hurt. Since you're awake now you can use the floo in the family guest room to summon Severus, tell him to bring his black back, hmmm?"
His son's face lit with the widest smile he'd seen in a long time, "Yes Sir!"
"So what do you think Severus?"
"Well, he'll live. His nose and right arm is broken; he's also got a fractured leg and three cracked ribs. What concerns me most are the obvious signs of prolonged malnutrition. It has done some severe damage; his recovery is going to be long and painful. I don't believe he's ever had a proper meal in his life. If he weren't a Shinobi he'd never be able to live a normal, healthy life. His chakra has managed to confine the damage to his skeleton. He will never be tall and the breaks are going to take much longer to heal than they would've if he'd been healthy. We won't be able to administer Skele-grow either – ever. If you plan to keep him –,"
Lucius nodded his assent.
" – you may consider getting him an alert badge of some sort; a bracelet or a necklace to warn about the Skele-grow in case he gets hurt outside your supervision. Depending on the dose, the reaction he would have could kill him."
Draco had seated himself on the edge of the bed beside Severus' patient, quietly studying the boy and listening to the prognosis. At this last statement his eyes went wide, "Why would it kill him? I've taken that potion a couple of times and nothing bad ever happened to me."
Severus considered his godson before looking to Lucius for approval. After another nod from his friend the Potion Master explained.
"It is always a risky proposition to give a Shinobi Wizarding potions. They are our cousins, yes, but their magic or chakra as they call it is still slightly different than our own magical core and so their bodies and chakra react differently to the ingredients. In this young man's case the problem is made worse because of the damage already done to his bones because he's never been able to eat right. His bones are very, very weak. If someone were to give him the Skele-grow potion it is very likely that it would try to force him to grow an all new skeleton."
"But –,"
Severus held up a hand, "I know some Wizards have had to have an all new skeleton grown, but our boy here is Shinobi. In a Wizard, the potion would dissolve the old skeleton while at the same time growing a new one. We know from tests done long ago that a Shinobi's chakra will not allow Wizarding magic, including potions, to remove anything from a body – be it a splinter, a bad liver, or a bone."
"So it wouldn't work."
Severus smiled at the child, still amazed by how willing Draco was to follow a conversation. He was interested in everything and very seldom got bored when learning something new.
"Oh it would work Draco, just not the way it should. He would grow an all new skeleton – right next to the old one. That's why it would kill him."
Draco looked down at the unconscious blonde with horror and Severus felt fear tickle his belly. He hadn't meant to scare him! It was important information – Lucius had agreed! Damnit! He better not have just traumatized his Godson!
The boy looked to his father, the horrified expression replaced with a quizzical one.
"Could we have the alert necklace charmed with a Bertha's Baby Blocker spell? We could tune it to the potion. That way he couldn't take it accidentally and someone couldn't give it to him if he's unconscious – like now."
Severus knew his gob smacked expression matched Lucius' but it didn't stop his bark of laughter.
Bertha's Baby Blocker spell was used by Wizarding parents to keep their children from placing bothersome objects their mouths – usually things like marbles and knuts. It only prevented whatever it was set to block from entering the mouth. So if for instance, it was set to block marbles, it would stop the marbles but not food, drink, or even other miscellaneous objects, like rocks.
Using the spell to block out a potentially deadly potion was a brilliant idea and actually sparked some nefarious ideas in his head….
"An excellent idea Draco! How you got to be so smart with two dunderheads like us for your role models, I'll never know."
Lucius scowled at him and Severus just smirked right back.
"I got it from mum!"
"Of course you did Luv," the woman purred from the doorway behind Severus.
He turned to greet her and in doing so allowed the woman's eyes to fall upon the small body on the bed.
Before he could say anything Narcissa stepped into the room, "What have you two gone and done now?"
All of the bedrooms in the family wing of the manor were actually small suites with their own bathrooms and a small sitting room cum study area.
Lucius had guided them into the sitting room of this suite and Narcissa was impatiently waiting for an explanation from her husband. She loved Lucius, she truly did, but for all his vaunted Slytherin cunning he had a nasty streak of Gryffindor impulsiveness that more often than not caused them nothing but grief.
Just look at that whole Death Eater business! She'd nearly lost him to that bit of foolishness and Draco was the one suffering from the stain left by it. The child had no friends and the few children whose parents would allow their children to associate with them were of the lowest sort. Oh they were rich and supposedly pure bloods, but they had no class and even less intelligence. Only that Zabini boy was worth anything and Draco only got to see him for a month or so every summer!
And now this.
"Now Luv, it's not what you're thinking…"
"Don't presume to tell me what I'm thinking Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. You were supposed to be looking for Harry Potter. You were supposed to find him and take him under your wing so we could educate him on his responsibilities to the Potter name. He is going to be a Lord and you said we didn't need another ignorant muggle-loving fool on the Lord's council. I agreed with all these things but none of them tell me exactly why there is a child in that bed who is clearly not HARRY JAMES POTTER!"
Severus almost chuckled at the look of slack jawed amazement on his friends face – almost. Narcissa rarely objected to anything Lucius wanted and when she did it was always with a dignified and calm suggestion of another course of action. To see her actually angry and yelling… well he wasn't about to have that anger aimed at him.
The dark haired main had sat himself in a wing chair near the empty fireplace and allowed Draco the rare treat of curling up in his lap to sleepily watch the unfolding drama.
"Will the boy really be alright Sev," the snow-white blonde whispered against his ear.
"Yes Draco."
"Do you think Mum will let us keep him?"
Severus smiled, "It might take some persuasion."
"You and Father are good at that!"
"Yes we are – I think the boy will get to stay. Would you like that?"
"Very much."
"Well why don't you head off to bed and I'll see what I can do, alright?"
Draco pressed a kiss to the man's jaw, "Night Sev!"
"Goodnight Dragon."
Draco scampered out of the room, unnoticed by his seething mother and ineffectually blubbering father.
Severus took pity on the man and with a deep fortifying breath drew Narcissa's attention his way. The woman got riled up so rarely that Lucius just couldn't cope with it when she did tear into him.
"Narcissa, Luv, Lucius rescued the poor boy – he likely would have died in that alleyway if your husband hadn't stumbled across him. Can you imagine, a Jinchurikki nearly beaten to death by his own village – and starved on top of that!"
Severus shook his head, eyes wide in feigned horror.
It was Narcissa's turn to look shocked as she slowly lowered herself to the edge of the couch.
"Perhaps you had better explain."
An hour later Lady Malfoy's temper had been mollified and both blondes had taken themselves off to bed.
Plans had been made but nothing set into motion just yet – they had to be sure of all the details and to do that they needed to speak to the boy. One mistake and they could all end up in Azkaban – kidnapping the child of an allied nation was no small offense, especially given the Malfoy's unsavory past.
Severus would spend this last month before school started here at the Manor; as much as he could anyway. Preparing for the nine month long torture session that was his job as a Professor at a school for young Witches and Wizards was not an easy thing.
This boy needed care and while Severus wasn't a licensed Medi-Wizard, he was a Master of Potions, one of barely a handful in the world, and he was an acknowledged expert in the subject of torture and its affects on the Wizarding body and mind – not the most prestigious of titles but it did tend to help people keep their opinions of him to themselves. It would also help in this particular case as he had no doubt this child had been tortured.
Oh, he doubted it was anything as overt as his former employer had enjoyed, but neglect and starvation were torture nonetheless – never mind the beatings.
This event would not go unnoticed and Severus was now caught up in the middle of it. Lucius had set the hands of fate into motion when he'd rescued this boy, and they would merely have to wait and see where they would all end up.
