Parts (46-51)


II

Chapter 12

Resurfacing Shadows


Part 1: Sickness


"Come to me, Scorpius, things would be better for you if you did."

Scorpius' holidays had gone sour very fast, the more presents he opened the more anxious his parents got, asking him for more details on what had happened while he'd been gone. In truth he hadn't been paying a lot of attention to the details of Varanian's story while his parents started to notice inconsistencies and pressed for better answers when he gave as vague as possible or claimed not to remember.

Eventually they insisted on taking him to St Mungo's to get him checked out, against his protests. He had to endure the humiliation of being examined by people who weren't as courteous as the Hogwarts head healer - Scorpius really needed to learn his name - had been. They'd eventually knocked him out to examine because he refused and fought against it so much - how could be not? They'd found nothing obviously and he'd been let go. He was furious with his family though, so livid with anger it made his wrist burn. He regretted saying anything to upset Varanian, maybe then Varanian would have thought of a more cohesive explanation or maybe Scorpius could have just convinced him that he was better off staying with Varanian.

The mood he was in, he'd be happy if he never saw his parents again. He'd stormed off to his room and refused to come out for Christmas dinner or for anything despite his parents pleas and insistence it was for his own good, Yip had brought him food eventually that Scorpius had forced himself to eat, he'd managed not to snap at his house-elf friend despite wanting nothing more than to lash out at somebody but it was far from Yip's fault and he managed to keep his anger in check. He was still angry though, how could his parents do that to him? He felt like the whole world was against him, muggles wanted to hurt me, magical people were just as bad as them, Shadows were after him and now his own family wanted him to suffer. Then again, what should he have expected after all his parents had lied to him about the muggles being taken care of already.

He wished Varanian would contact him to take him away already and then he remembered that Varanian had the ring so Scorpius was stuck without even means to speak to him, he still had so many things he wanted to talk to him about while they had the advantage of face-to-face contact but no. He had no way of contacting Varanian. He wasn't even allowed out of the house, on Boxing Day he'd tried to take another walk to see if he could leave a message in the trees or something only to be told it was too dangerous and he had to stay in his room. They refused to budge on the matter and he retreated angrily back to his room, accidentally setting a mantlepiece on fire as he went in his rage. They were determined to sabotage him, he was still hurt and angry his parents would do that to him and stayed in his room again, with Yip bringing him food again. He vowed to just stay in his room until he was going back to Hogwarts or until his anger subsided. His anger didn't subside.

His parents and even his grandmother tried to convince him to come out but he refused, only leaving when he needed the bathroom, Yip brought him meals still. Two days after that his parents came with a peace offering, saying he could go for a walk if they were with him. It was the complete opposite of a peace offering to him though, he couldn't try contact Varanian with them with him and it only reminded him of the muggles, he'd been allowed out of the room to go to the bathroom and sometimes for exercise but always he was escorted by one of his captors. That's what his situation reminded him off, his own parents were making him feel like a prisoner again. He cried himself to sleep that night. If he had of had his ring to contact Varanian then he was seriously considering running away but he couldn't so he had nowhere to go.

Spending your days cooped up angry and worried weren't healthy though, he actually felt ill. He was anxious about his wrist and he really needed to talk to Varanian about it for some peace of mind or answers or some way to get rid of it but he couldn't. He'd been sleep-walking again too, twice he'd woken to find himself on the floor again. He was really worried but Varanian was the only person he could talk to about it but Varanian wasn't there, his new-found ally seemed to have forsaken him. Scorpius was so miserable, he really just wanted to get back to Hogwarts already. Or for Varanian to contact him again. Or both.


Skye Ashain was doing the dishes, she'd never particularly enjoyed household chores in the past, in truth she had utterly despised them and had felt extremely blessed to marry a man who didn't mind doing the majority, even before he became a stay-at-home husband. But now she found it almost relaxing, it was a very normal, very non-magical thing to do and she valued that ever since finding out about the magical world. She had always been a pragmatic person, even as a child she hadn't had much belief in things like that, valuing logic greatly and liking to know how things worked, to the point that she'd made her brother cry one year as she pointed out the impossibilities of Santa to her parent and demanded a reasonable explanation.

It made it difficult to cope with the realization that most of the illogical things she had never believed in were real, along with a whole host of things she'd never even heard of. Some days she still found it difficult believe that only two years ago she'd been happy and they'd been trying for another baby, life hadn't been a hundred percent perfect - when was life ever a hundred perfect? - but things were good and she'd been happy, until the day Cassia made her birthday cake dance. In truth it did explain some things she'd always found odd but mostly she still wished Atticus and the kids weren't sick with magic or they'd been cured already or even that she'd just never found out, ignorance was bliss, but then she felt even more stupid for having been lied to for nearly a decade. Magic was a shock and it hurt even more that he'd lied. He hadn't thought to tell her before he married her or before they had children who'd more than likely inherit his condition.

"Want some help with those?" Atticus offered from the doorway nearly making her jump, he was helpful like that but she didn't want his help. Not when he'd use magic to do it at least, she didn't want him using magic but she didn't want him to know that. Of course if he could read her mind then she'd be screwed but Atticus couldn't read minds as mind reading was called Legillimancy and could only be done by a Legillimens which he wasn't, Skye really wished she didn't know that.

"No, its alright I got it," Skye told him and he gave her the same slightly confused look he'd been giving her every time she shot down his help, "I told you, Atty, it helps me think."

"Since when?"

"Since I started doing it. Weren't you running the kids their bath anyway?"

"They just wanted to see the end of the movie first, its nearly over so I thought I'd see if you needed any help."

"Well I'm good."

"Then I guess I'll get back to it," Atticus muttered unhappily as he retreated from the kitchen to leave her to the dishes.

Skye sighed sadly and went back to the dishes, she knew it wasn't his fault, Atticus hadn't chosen to be born with the magical condition and had cruelly been kept in isolation from the real world for his whole childhood so he didn't know any better. He'd been brainwashed into thinking it was normal to be sick as well as being damaged by the magical disease itself, she knew it was true and she was right, why else would an otherwise smart, rational, logical person be so completely blind to the truth?

If magic was so good then why did they hide away like fugitives? What gave them the right to keep something so completely life-altering as the existence a secret? What gave them the right to erase people's memories without even the victim's consent or knowledge? What gave them the right to deny people knowledge that they were in danger from those Shadow people of the Death Eating people from twenty years ago? If magic was so amazing then why didn't they use it to actually help the world? How many people died from things magic could save? There were so many questions she had like that but none of the answers she'd been given were satisfactory, they were just excuses to justify their actions to themselves.

And Atticus was just as taken in as the rest of them, he couldn't see how blatantly obviously wrong it was and how utterly dangerous magic was. Every time she saw him he seemed to have more scars or injuries caused by magic, he'd nearly been torn in half by magic less than a year ago and he didn't have a problem with that?! He'd barely survived and barely recovered but still thought magic was alright. Bit by bit magic was killing him, only one of the days he wouldn't be so lucky and it would kill him, eventually it would kill their children too. Unless she could save them, cure them of their disease. The three of them would be safe then and things could go back to how they were before, when they were happy and normal and not in danger.

Skye finished the dishes and walked back through to the other room, the tree dwarfed the tiny room but it was nice and cosy. She could hear the tap running upstairs from Atticus getting the bath ready, she assumed he was up there anyway as the children were the only ones in the room watching the television, Mickey's Christmas Carol. It really was near the end, the credits started rolling just after she sat down on the couch beside her son, Antonius or Tony for shot, and she recalled sadly how she used to think it was amusing how Atticus believed you were supposed to actually read the credits at the end of things. Now she knew why it just seemed stupid.

"Mummy, you missed all the end when Scrooge," Tony complained looking horrified.

"Its alright, I've seen it before," Skye told him truthfully and he seemed appeased by this.

"It was wrong," Cassia announced firmly folding her arms and leaning back in the armchair, "ghosts can't do all those things, we metted them at Hogwarts and they can't show you thing like that."

"Its make-belief, its not supposed to be real."

"You should come to Hogwarts with us next time, Mummy, you can meeted the ghosts too. Esept for the Bloody Baron they are quite nice really, so are the portraits and the other growed ups."

"No, Cassia," Skye said firmly and the little girl scrunched her face up into a scowl.

"When are we getting cured?" Tony asked before Cassia could complain, he'd stopped thinking magic was so amazing after the fiasco with the... Quidditch? although he'd been less intrigued by it than his sister, Cassia remained as enthusiastic as ever though.

"Soon, they're getting closer and as soon as they have a cure they'll tell us."

"Okay. I hope its soon before Daddy dies."

"Don't be silly, Daddy can't die," Cassia decided seriously.

"Yes he can, my friend Barney's granny died."

"Well Daddy's better than Barney's granny and he can't die."

"No one's better than anyone," Skye interjected but Cassia didn't look the slightest bit swayed in her belief.

"Daddy is and he can't die. And I know that is a secret that we're not allowed to tell Daddy but those peoples are wrong and you can't get cureded of magic acause its not something that needs medsin to make it better, its a parts of us and those people are liars."

"Cassia, liars is a bad word. We've talked about this."

"I know," Cassia grumbled and flopped back into the chair, Skye opened her mouth to scold her but closed it as Atticus came back down the stairs and Cassia bolted to him happily. Skye hoped they'd be cured soon, then her family would be safe and happy and she wouldn't have to lie anymore.


Vern had been trying to spend as much time alone in his room as much as possible since Christmas, even though his brother and sister had apologized through gritted teeth and he had gotten presents in the end, his dad and Grandma Petunia had seemed to make an effort to be nice to him but he preferred to be alone. Less chance of disrupting the peace, at least he had the perfect excuse with his plenty of extra presents that his dad had insisted on getting for him to make up for what happened at Christmas.

It made it seem even stranger when out of the blue his mum woke him up early on the morning the day before he was set to go back to Hogwarts, insisting he get dressed and come with her. It was almost as early as when Orous woke up, the dawn was only just breaking the sky and no one else was awake. They didn't have breakfast, his mum just got him into the car and started driving. Vern had no idea where they were going, where could they possibly be going so early?

They stopped outside some kind of dilapidated shop, there was no signs to indicate what it was or what they sold, did or were even open. Vern thought it was odd, what kind of shop opened up at that hour? Presumably the same one that didn't think windows gray from the several sheets of dust or dirt and cobwebs were appealing, as they passed through the door he noticed the wood was rotted. Inside wasn't much better, the paint was peeling off the walls and the original color was unrecognizable, there was a wooden shop counter with the biggest spiderweb across the front that he'd ever seen. There were wooden shelves behind the counter, barren except for the occasional glass jar, some empty, some with balls of light inside them. The only other thing in the room were three spindly chairs lined up against the wall, his mum sat down on one and smoothed out her dress nervously. There was nothing else there but a rotting door leading to - presumably - the back room. If he didn't know any better, Vern would have thought the place was abandoned.

"Mum, why are we here?" Vern asked anxiously, watching the giant cobweb as a fly flew into the trap and started buzzing as it tried to escape.

"Its about your illness, now just sit down," his mum told him with a smile that only thinly veiled her concern as she gestured for him to take one of the chairs either side of her. Reluctantly he did so, hearing the fly's buzzing getting more frantic the more it realized it was trapped.

"But I'm not sick," Vern said quietly and looked back to the web, the fly was struggling desperately and a gnarly brown spider had appeared on the edge, calmly inching towards the fly.

"Yes you are but its alright, this lady's going to make you all better then everything will be okay."

"But Mum-"

"Then everything will be okay," his mum repeated firmly with a note of finality in her voice.

It did nothing to put his mind at ease, Vern had an increasingly bad feeling that something was wrong. He had no idea what his mum was talking about, he wasn't sick, not unless she knew something he didn't. His eyes drifted back to the fly, the spider had reached it now and was cocooning it, around and around with tendrils of silk that may as well have been chains to the terrified fly. Vern was starting to feel like he could really emphasize with the fly's situation, he could feel his heart thumping fearfully.

"If I'm sick why not just take me to a doctor," Vern wondered in an even quieter voice as he watched the fly being twirled around and around as the spider trapped it, the buzzing was fainter.

"They can't help you but this person can," his mum explained as the spider stopped spinning the poor fly, Vern was so focused on it, he saw it was going for the kill, going to bite-

"Mrs Millicent Dursley?" a voice questioned and Vern yelped in shock as he jumped, managing to fall off his chair and whack his head against the wall. He was rubbing his head as he looked up at the speaker, the woman looked about thirty-ish - give or take a few years - with ocean colored eyes and shortish light brown hair with a slight wave to it. She gave him a very cold smile, Vern was sure he'd never met her but there was something familiar, "and you must be young Vern. My name is Alexis, come with me now."

"Go on, its alright," his mum confirmed, casting him an uneasy smile as she helped him to his feet and followed Alexis into the backroom.

The backroom didn't look much better than the front, there were dusty wooden cabinets and some shelves with the same glass jars as the other room, some also featuring the strange lights. There was another chair in the corner identical to the ones in the other room that his mum sat down on, Vern was motioned to sit in the chair in the middle of the room. It was a strange looking chair, like one you had to sit on when you went to the dentists, only it looked very old and the leather was a beaten brown rather than clinical looking. Vern swallowed shakily as he lay down on it, wondering not for the first time why he was there. The room seemed extremely dark all of a sudden, he wished he was home.

"Close your eyes now, Vern," Alexis commanded him shortly, "and we'll have you all better."

"What are you going to do to me?" Vern asked so quietly his voice was barely audible even to his own ears as he squeezed his eyes shut tight, he really didn't like whatever was happening and every fiber of his body screamed at him that something was very wrong, his heart was thundering in his ears and he felt very much like the fly at that moment in time.

And then he felt it, like a cold wind had just blown not just against him but through him. It was like icy water was seeping through his skin and filling him up inside so that everything beneath his skin felt frozen, it was so cold it almost physically hurt. His eyes snapped open and he started unblinkingly at the cracked ceiling, so much so it reminded him of dried up earth.

"Not this one," a voice said and it took Vern a minute to realize that it was his own, is own mouth was moving against his will and twisting the words so his voice sounded slightly wrong to his ears, "he's related to the Potters and friends with some important people, he may be more useful in the long run alive."

"Honestly, Brutus, why do you even bother giving me tasks if you just turn around and stop me at the last minute?" Alexis complained sounding irritated, "none of that should matter, he's a mudblood and he has no right to our magic, it will serve the master better to collect it for future use whenever you actually figure out how to wake the master up."

"What are you talking about?! I thought you were making him normal again?! Who is Brutus?! What did you do to him!?" his mum's voice wondered fearfully, he heard a slight strum of a spell being casted followed by a thud.

"Don't you know its rude to interrupt?"

"Look, you answer to me and I'm telling you not this boy," Vern heard his voice speak again but was helpless to stop it or control it, his body wasn't listening to him when he tried to move.

"Does Rabastan agree with you? He doesn't get soft whenever kids are involved like you do."

"Oh shut up and do as your told. And Rabastan does agree."

"Fine. What do you expect me to do about his muggle mother then because she knows and she's expecting him to be magic free?"

"Wake her, make up some excuse or screw with her memory. I'll take care of it later."


Albus was impatiently waiting, leaning against the doorway waiting to get to leave for Hogwarts already, watching Lily change her mind once more on what stuffed toy she should bring to say goodbye. His mum was rolling her eyes in unison with Albus before he felt an elbow to the shoulder and was knocked back into the corridor.

"Oh sorry, I didn't see you there," James sneered giving an identical angry glare to the one Carver was giving from behind James' shoulder. Albus had had enough.

"What is your problem?!" Albus demanded irritably, "you've done nothing hound me all through the holidays and I've done absolutely nothing! I'm friends with Scorpius, get over it already!"

"Its not about that and you know it."

"What then?!"

"You know what," Carver scoffed and James nodded in agreement.

"No, I really don't."

"Don't play dumb," James snapped, "you know what your friend, Maurice Rivers did to us."

"Sadistic little freak," Carver added with a nod.

"Firstly I'm not friends with Maurice, secondly I still have no idea what you're talking about," Albus pointed out to which James looked confused.

"Nobody told you? The Malfoy, the albino, Hagrid's kid and Dragon-breath all know about it."

"Know about what?!"

"So much for friends, eh? They don't even register you worth being told things to."

"Sorry Al, we assumed you knew," James offered and smirked suddenly, "in that case, want to help us get back at Maurice? And to steal back the map he took."

"I don't know... he's eleven, what could he really have done to you?" Albus pointed out hesitantly, not truly sure he wanted to be apart of one of James' schemes, "and what map are you talking about?"

"Okay let me tell you, little brother, and when I'm done you will realize what shifty little sods you're friends with."


Scorpius was glad when the holidays were finally over, he also didn't know whether to be mad or concerned about Varanian not having contacted him since Christmas. Either way, there was nothing he could do about it although he was still going to go ahead and use Cassia and her grandfather's vultures to send him a letter the first chance he got. He had his stuff packed up and ready to go before he awoke, in fact he had it ready two days before. He came downstairs ready to go, dressed in his Hogwarts robes under his leather jacket - he thought this also made him stand out less in a muggle crowd but still spared him from having to change on the train - but his parents wanted him to have breakfast. He refused until they threatened him with no Hogwarts.

That didn't mean he had to make polite conversation with them though, he kept his responses as short as possible as they attempted to engage him, he didn't see why they bothered anyway when obviously they hated him. They hadn't even apologized. He reluctantly gave his grandmother a hug before leaving though, he wasn't sure how much she'd agreed with his parents forcing him to go to St Mungo's s but he wasn't going to give his parents one. Both of them were taking him to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"You can't stay mad at us forever, Scorpius, we were just trying to make sure were alright," his father said with a sigh just after they got through the barrier. Scorpius resisted the urge to point out that he was alright before they dragged him to the hospital and said nothing to risk being disallowed from returning to Hogwarts as he just started getting his stuff silently into the train.

"There's an issue with your owl, come with me," one of the Porters told him suddenly in a voice that sounded familiar although he didn't recognize the young man, Scorpius scowled and glanced over to see Free was being carried off to the part of the luggage carriage reserved for animals.

"Varanian?" Scorpius guessed so quietly it barely classed for a whisper, the Porter nodded and gestured for Scorpius to come with him further away from his parents and the other families, he spoke louder for his parents to hear, "I'm just going to see what's up with Free, wait here, he's probably spooked by all the people so more people won't help."

His parents didn't look particularly happy but were satisfied with the explanation, they still watched him from afar but as long as he was out of earshot he supposed it didn't matter. Varanian tried to look busy rearranging the same three cages and Scorpius attempted to look like he cared.

"Took you long enough," Scorpius found himself snapping before he could think better of it.

"I've been busy," Varanian said equally snappishly as he shot him a dark look, his piercing eyes bleeding through whatever they looked like, "there's only one of me, Scorpius, I'm damn near exhausted chasing Shadows. Do you think its easy finding out all the things I've found out? I have to juggle so many things all the time, the list of things to do and things to think about and worry about is never-ending. I'm doing the best I can so back the hell off."

"Sorry," Scorpius muttered after a moment in perfect unison with Varanian who also looked like he regretted his words as he sighed, "guess we both woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I wish I could've actually gotten to go to bed last night," Varanian pointed out as he pushed an object into Scorpius' hand, it felt like a ring and he slipped it back onto his finger in front of his Thestral ring, "there's the ring back, its a voice activated Portkey now, in case the Shadows you need to get out of a dangerous situation very fast like what happened at your last Quidditch match. Just grab it with your other hand and say 'go' to activate it, it won't take you to the protected location because that's too too risky but its takes you to that area, you should be able to get there in mere minutes. If you do that again and say 'back' then it'll take you back to where you transported from."

"Its really a Portkey?"

"I did test it. Considering I'm already a wanted fugitive breaking a few laws with Portkeys are the least of concerns right now, it should keep you safe though and that's what's important."

"Could I use it so we see each other in person and stay in touch about things that happen?"

"I thought of that but no, Hogwarts will know when a Portkey is activated within its grounds and you're too young for Hogsmeade. There is something I want you to try do for me though."

"What?"

"Find out who amongst the Hogwarts staff is a Shadow."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Scorpius wondered in a scowl to which Varanian grunted.

"Use your initiative, do you want to help or not?"

"Okay, I'll do my best. What am I supposed to do about my wrist though? What Linden said about being bound to the Shadow Master and Specters feeding off my pain and Orous' twin and all that?" Scorpius asked worriedly in a lower voice.

"I don't know how it works or how to break it," Varanian answered unhelpfully and he must have seem the disappointment in Scorpius' eyes because he elaborated, "but I'm trying to find about it. I think maybe your wrist hurts when they're feeding off your pain, try not to be in pain physically or mentally. And work on your patronus, I think it hurts differently because its the magic that repels them, which is also why the... strangeness about the injury lessened, it could be a sign its weakening the connection or stopping them feeding off you or I don't know. You probably feel so drained from the effort of going against the dark magic engraved into your skin. Try get on friendly terms with Orous again, he probably knows something or find out who his twin is because they probably know something too, of course they may not even be at Hogwarts but keep an eye out for that scar. And be careful, this connection probably has unknown side effects."

"Like what?"

"Like it could explain why it hurt me so much to try read your mind, why you go willingly towards people trying to take you, the Shadow Master might be using his influence to screw with your mind and protect it from outside influence at the same time, he may be trying to get to you mentally somehow. It may even be why you and Orous are so powerful so young and naturally gifted at spellwork, if its not one of the reasons he wanted you both bound to him then it could be his influence rubbing off on you or his power bleeding through. As I've said, I don't know how it works exactly, I don't know that much about the Specters either."

"Are you done here yet?" his father asked and Scorpius nearly jumped as the elder Malfoy came over to them, Varanian nodded immediately and Scorpius tried not feel slightly amused that his father didn't recognize Varanian as the man from Christmas.

"Yeah, bird should be okay now. Just check on it when you get back to Hogwarts, make sure its alright. Take care."

Varanian moved off to go back to wherever he spent his days or to help with baggage to douse suspicion while Scorpius was led back to his mother, his father asking about his owl that Scorpius shrugged off with more short responses that made his parents sigh. They wouldn't say much in public though, Malfoys always kept up appearances in public.

"I'm going to go get on the train already, get some good seats," Scorpius announced, it was nearly time for the train to leave and his parents couldn't argue.

"Alright," his mother agreed and went to hug him goodbye, Scorpius yanked himself away before she could though and ignored the hurt in her eyes as he headed towards the train.

"Bye."


Part 2: Returning to Routine


The train journey back was uneventful, Scorpius got a compartment with Albus, Abby and Rose - although she did leave for a bit to sit with her boyfriend - comparing Christmas holidays. Abby had had a good break, the usually quieter girl probably spoke the most out of all them as she talked about her father's new prosthetic, the Leaky Cauldron and their living space above finally finished and decorated properly, what her sister had told had her about the Triwizard Tournament, the Yule Ball - which she had managed to attend where Corin had taught her to dance. In comparison their own Christmases seemed rather dull, Rose had stayed with her muggle Granger grandparents for the most part - except Christmas Day itself - which was alright except for not seeing much of her busy parents - Scorpius was extremely disappointed they didn't have a motorcycle though. Albus had also barely seen his father much to his disappointment - he hadn't even come to see Albus and James off, with James' friend there and Rose staying with the Grangers he had felt rather lonely.

Scorpius vaguely brushed his Christmas off as unhappy and uneventful, he couldn't tell them about saving Lysander and Varanian after all. They did mention Lysander though, they'd heard about him being saved and were overjoyed although they were still worried about Lorcan, knowing Lysander was alright gave them hope that Lorcan was alive and would be found soon too. Scorpius hoped so too, he knew Varanian would try his best. They hadn't seen Lysander yet though, his parents hadn't wanted him overwhelmed by visitors. Talking to them did put Scorpius more at ease though, it was a break from being lost inside his worried mind and he really hadn't realized how much he missed talking to them.

Things looked up even more when they got off the train and he found himself being hugged my Molly, her hair smelled like cherries again and the blissful scent made his mindful of problems melt and pour out of his ears. He couldn't help but smile, she opted to sit with them in the carriage rather than with Nick - who'd she sat with on the train - which for some reason seemed to bother Abby. She went silent for the whole journey and seemed almost to be trying to look anywhere but at Molly, it was odd, usually she didn't mind Molly. Scorpius tried not to think about it as he talked to Molly, she hadn't had a good Christmas either with it being the first one without her mother, her father was more critical than usual a well as busy with work at the Ministry while her squib sister kept avoiding her. She was in good spirits about being back in Hogwarts though. They all were.

Scorpius noticed that there actually seemed to be less Aurors around which was a relief, he was in a much better mood than he had been that morning as he entered the Great Hall. He was glad to his friend that he could almost have hugged Michael when he saw him already there sitting at the Gryffindor table, he felt a familiar jab of guilt when he saw the jagged scar and ruined eye he'd caused his friend but Michael smiled as he waved for them to sit down. Maurice and Corin were already sitting with him, Maurice looked very drained and had his head resting on his hand, not seeming very interested in conversation which Scorpius supposed would make Rose happy. Scorpius was surprised however when Rose smirked and prodded Maurice to get his attention, he cast the redhead a glare before finally putting a hand to his translator necklace.

"What?" Maurice demanded, irritably breaking through his normal neutral expression.

"Did you hear about Lysander Scamander being rescued?" Rose asked him with a sweet smile.

"Obviously, I read the papers. What about it?"

"What did your daddy say about it? Was he upset that one of the children he kidnapped got away? Its only a matter of time before they get Lorcan too and throw Roman Rivers into a deep dark hole where he belongs."

"Firstly, my father had nothing to do with those abductions and secondly, whose 'they'? Your idiot father and the bumbling band of the rest of the sorry excuse of the Auror department? Lysander Scamander was saved by forces unknown while Aurors were too busy throwing innocent old ladies out of windows," Maurice countered and Rose's eyes blazed with anger but she seemed to make an effort to reign it in.

"So its just a coincidence that they went missing two weeks before their tenth birthday? Two weeks before Roman's tenth birthday his parents were killed."

"Grasping at empty air, much?"

"No!" Rose snapped, "he's involved, everyone knows it and he's going down."

"My father's a good man, he would never do anything like that," Maurice stated defensively which earned him strange looks from Corin and Michael.

"Whether he's involved or not, Roman is not a good person, Maurice, you have to realize this," Corin pointed out quietly and Maurice narrowed his eyes at his closest friend darkly.

"You're just jealous that my father's a better man than yours."

"Don't you insult Hagrid!" Albus snapped, joining what Scorpius realized was quickly escalating into an argument.

"I wasn't, I was just saying my father's better. Wait so what? Its okay for everyone to insult my father and tell malicious lies but if I defend him and I'm a bad person?"

"You and your father are both bad people."

"Okay everyone calm down right now," Michael intervened firmly in a no-nonsense tone, eying them with his mismatched eyes, "honestly, you've been back five minutes and you're already trying to tear each other to shreds, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Stop it right now, if you haven't got anything nice to say then just don't say anything at all. Its innocent until proven guilty, back off and calm down all four of you before I have to knock your heads together, don't you think that I won't if I need to knock some sense into you."

"Yes mother," Albus grumbled before smiling as he clapped the muggle-born on the back, "I missed you, Michael."

"Make up your mind! Is it Michael or mother?" Michael wondered with a smile as Albus laughed, the tension seemed successfully diffused at least, "so how was your Christmases?"

They started talking about their holidays once more, Scorpius had already heard it except for Maurice and Corin, Maurice went back to not paying attention to them and Corin was mostly talking about how fantastic Beauxbatons was again. He let his eyes drift over to the Hufflepuff instead, Orous and Vern were there, Orous was looking as depressed as ever as Vern tried to engage him in conversation as usual. He looked to the staff table of potential Shadow suspects, they were looking surprisingly solemn except for Rivers who seemed to be boring Professors Ashain and Hagrid once more which was typical. Scorpius smiled inwardly despite everything, the familiarity was comforting and he thought he finally understood what people meant when they talked about Hogwarts as a second home. Hogwarts felt more like a home in that moment that his actual home did, even though he was in the wrong house still. Not everyone there was against him, he had friends and adults he could trust. He smiled.


The New Year dawned and with it Brutus' twenty-fifth birthday, it was bittersweet to remember how his bitch mudblood mother had brutally abandoned him like he was nothing but his father had taken him in despite his young age and his own parents' disapproval. He was glad for the date, it reminded him why he had joined the Death Eaters in the first place, to save his father's life. His grandfather would say that money was the most important thing but Brutus had plenty of that, there were only few people he cared about and they were infinitely more valuable, protecting them was more important than anything else. He was doing the right thing being a Death Eater, no matter what the cost it was worth it to protect his family.

Brutus didn't hear from the Death Eaters most of the month actually, he thought Rodolphus was probably mad at him for losing it with Selwyn or blaming him for what happened or something. Not that he minded, it gave him time to work on trying to help his father get over his fears. Gradually he seemed to be winning the battle, convincing his father to eat food that he didn't hunt and getting him to sleep if Brutus 'kept watch over the mansion in case of attack' which was an improvement. He thought that Atticus and himself spending time with the man probably feel safer, neither of them were off in danger and his father seemed noticeably more panicky when Atticus went back to work again. There was nothing Brutus could do for that, Atticus was stubborn.

Brutus did get back to work for the Death Eaters though, some executions with Achan and some guard duty with the twins, he hardened his heart for the executions and softened it for the twins. He felt part responsible for not just for their protection but their well-being in general, thanks to him and Rabastan they had more free reign in their new location as they were allowed to go bathe whenever they wanted, allowed to take books to read - to improve their literacy - or the paper, they still had mattresses to sleep on with blankets and pillows along with now a couch to sit on instead of the floor, gotten new clothes - their current ones had gotten too small - and they both still insisted on not eating meat. It wasn't the perfect living situation for them but gradual improvement was better than them sleeping on concrete ground in filthy rags.

He'd also started trying to teach Sal to use simple spells with a wand again, using a wand he'd taken from one of his victims because he wasn't risking his own. He still found he had success, admittedly it took Sal longer to grasp it but when she succeeded it was with much more power than you'd expect from even an experienced witch or wizard using the spell. When she succeeded he also tended to have to switch wands because the one she used retained damage like his one had with the wand-lighting charm, he couldn't very well have wands stolen from people he killed repaired without arousing suspicion. He couldn't do that with Tommy though, he didn't have the authority to send away his Dementor guards even if he wanted to risk trying to channel Tommy's impressive yet terrifying power into something more useful. Mostly with Tommy, he just tried to talk to the boy to keep his spirits up, he still loved hearing about Brutus' time at Hogwarts or things with his family.

The twins also asked about his own family, his parents, also the Tonkses - for their blood traitor aunt - and the Malfoys as Narcissa had managed to escape the Auror's wrath by claiming to have left before the battle began and her son backed her up. Brutus hated when they did ask, Lucius and Narcissa made it very obviously clear they didn't like them or even consider themselves related, Draco and the Tonkses didn't even know they existed and their parents lack of visitation spoke volumes - although he was told Bellatrix visited them to make sure they were settled. It wasn't particularly fun being the bearer of bad news, he couldn't force their family to treat them better or care about them though. Maybe they'd have had a chance if they were Rodolphus' children of being accepted but their father was Lord freakin' Voldemort, the Dark Lord barely even looked human anymore so it was natural to assume his progeny weren't either.

Time marched on, winter soon turned to spring and Brutus realized it had been over a year since he'd been recruited by the Death Eaters. Brutus felt more at ease in his routine, you had to adapt but not completely, he was still very aware of Atticus' side in the war and still worried over the Shadows of Dementors. He was afraid to ask if Sal had had any luck requisitioning control from Tommy, in truth he didn't really want to know but either way he still felt the cold from the house the twins were kept.

Brutus came to take his duty to guard them one day in May, Tommy was being 'trained' by Rodolphus leaving him only Sal who was looking through the collection of books in the library room. Sal was taking advantage of her freedoms, she bathed often enough so that her hair was no longer constantly in need of a wash and had been allowed grow it longer so now it was in rolling black waves that cascaded to her shoulders. The new clothes she had been given were still black and still male clothes which were identical to Tommy's new clothes - only his bad been ripped open at the forearm to show his Dark Mark scar - but it was no longer difficult to tell the difference between the two, adolescence had started shaping her into a woman. Tommy had grown taller but not to his full adult height - unless he was destined to be a short man - but hadn't changed aside from that, in fact he barely look thirteen let alone nearly fifteen.

"You know its fascinating these books," Sal announced drawing Brutus' attention back to her, "history especially, I think because its so boring at Hogwarts taught by that ghost Binns you've mentioned that people stop looking into it so much, they don't realize the wealth of knowledge and power lost through time."

"You could be right there," Brutus agreed thinking about all the magical artifacts in existence.

"I know I am. And even better thanks to Tommy and I screwing up our memories, I can remember every word I read, I can use the memory to my advantage. You see, Father's going to lose this war because... well there's just too many flaws in his plans and will have nothing left but us, then he'll have to pay attention to me and he'll see that I have good ideas, plausible, rational ideas and a solid plan to conquer the world. He's smart and he'll recognize it as good and recognize that I'm good too, Mother will realize she was wrong to underestimate me all this time, they'll finally love me," Sal explained and Brutus felt his heart cringe for her, somehow he couldn't imagine Voldemort doing that, "you don't think that'll happen though, do you?"

"Honestly? No. I don't think its likely and if Voldemort does lose then he'll probably die not live to fight another battle."

"That's why I have a contingency plan," Sal pointed out with a smirk as he cocked her head to one side, "strike out on my own and take the world for myself, my parents can't say that's not impressive. The world's a terrible place, I could do a much better job with it and get the respect I deserve in the process. How's that for living up to my potential?"

"You say it like world domination is easy."

"Its not easy, Brutus, I'm not stupid. But with enough planning and thought, if I can get the Shadows of Dementors under my control - and I'm gaining progress with that - then I know I can do it. I'll need good followers behind me though, Rabastan's already on board but I want you. Do you want to join me?"

"Join you?" Brutus repeated dubiously while Sal picked up the book and headed towards the door to go back down to the basement, "don't get me wrong, I don't think lowly of you but... well..."

"Its alright, I understand your doubts. I'm fourteen for another month and still in captivity with abnormal magic, this must goal seem slightly unreachable at the moment. In time you'll see though."


Calderon drew their attention with another frustratingly high-pitched whistle that bothered a few ears, Scorpius didn't mind though, he didn't see or hear enough of Calderon these days. It was effective though, the scraps from the meal were being magically sent back to the kitchens for the house-elves and everyone just about ready for bed, every eye in the hall turned to him at the whistle though.

"Welcome back everyone," Calderon offered cheerfully as he stood but his expression was serious, he flicked his wrist and an image of Professor Trelawny hovered in the air, "as you may or may not know depending on whether you read the papers, one of the Hogwarts staff died over the Christmas break, our Divination professor, Sybill Trelawny, who was with the school for longer than I've been alive and fought for the school in the Battle of Hogwarts. Her death has been ruled an accident, the Aurors decided she really did just trip over her robes after working herself up into a state. It is very tragic and very sad, she will be missed by those who knew her. All Divination classes are currently suspended to give you time to mourn and for us to find someone else to teach the class - its not easy recruiting over the holidays - so in the meantime you get free periods. And that is all, you are free to go. Take care and sleep well and I bid you goodnight."

Calderon being Calderon, naturally bowed as they started shuffling out of the hall. Scorpius was stunned, he hadn't known a professor had died and found himself regretting not reading the papers in his isolation to keep up with the current events. He asked Michael about it as they headed back to their dormitory, Michael pretty much just confirmed what Calderon had said, she had fallen to her death and the Aurors thought it was an accident but apparently they'd been slated in the paper for 'killing' her. Scorpius didn't think it was an accident though, a Shadow Auror had probably killed her because she saw or heard something she shouldn't of. Sadly he ruled her out as the Shadow staff member and silently wished her a pleasant afterlife as he clambered into his bed, still finding himself feeling oddly safe despite knowing murderers walked the halls and slipped into sleep.


Part 3: Life Goes On


Brutus would have liked to been able to guard the twins on their fifteenth birthday so he could wish them a happy birthday, maybe sneak in some chocolate for them to try or something because it wasn't like they would get any presents or normal birthday cheer. But as luck would have it - or possibly just Rodolphus not liking how he'd protected Tommy on their birthday the previous year - he wasn't on guard duty that day but assigned to another assassination with Achan.

It started off like normal, they burst in on the target - some mudblood woman - and Achan started torturing her for fun while Brutus watched in disgust, secretly hoping Achan would stop and kill her himself for once so Brutus wouldn't have to step in. He was feeling more sympathetic that day since it was the twins' birthday, Tommy would really hate that he was just standing by and letting her be tortured. Brutus stepped in sooner than usual, flicking his wrist and firing the jet of green to end her life.

He heard a childlike gasp that froze his heart, glancing in the direction of the sound he saw a little boy hiding behind the couch watching with tear filled eyes. He hadn't been told the target had a child, if they did then Brutus made sure they only attacked when the kid(s) weren't home and it worked pretty well thus far. The boy knew he'd been spotted and tried to run, Achan noticed him too and drew him magically back to them with a cruel smirk on his face that made Brutus wonder why he was friends with him.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Achan said to the poor terrified child who only looked about six, Brutus felt his heart twist even further as he was reminded of Atticus, "what are you doing here, kid?"

"Being babysitted," the boy answered in a tiny voice as tears leaked from his eyes.

"Well ain't that a shame, why don't we send you down to see your babysitter now after I teach you what happens to naughty boys who socialize with mudbloods."

Achan raised his wand and Brutus didn't hesitate to reach out and grab his friend's wrist, yanking it back so forcefully Achan cried out in pain. Brutus hadn't meant to hurt him, he hadn't been entirely control of his snaking arm but he couldn't just watch an innocent little child suffer. Achan looked at him wide-eyed in shock while the boy looked at him wide-eyed in fear.

"I'm not going to let you torture a child," Brutus told him quietly and Achan knew better to provoke him when he spoke quietly.

"We have to kill him though, he can identify us," Achan pointed out but Brutus didn't lax his grip, he glanced at the scared boy and made a decision he knew he would live to to regret.

"I'm not letting you kill him either. We erase his memories and leave or just leave."

"Fine we'll erase his memories but they'll probably undo it, you realize that right?" Achan grumbled in defeat and Brutus finally let go of his wrist, Achan rubbing it furiously.


Scorpius found he didn't have a lot of time to worry about figuring out who the Shadow member of staff was as even after the first day, he found himself buried in homework, apparently everyone was starting to prepare them for the exams that naturally weren't until June. He, Abby, Albus and Michael were in the library as soon as lessons ended - Rose was with Copper and his friends - trying to get through the pile of work. He did try look for strange behavior in the teachers and even the librarian, Grant was as passive aggressive to him and Michael as usual but now he knew why it wasn't proof he was a Shadow, Florian and the librarian was still cool, Vipera still seemed calm and had Albus drooling and the only different thing about Professor Longbottom was the prosthetic arm he was now sporting. Nothing that screamed they were evil and working with the Shadows.

"Hey," Molly greeted them and slipped into a spare seat at their table, Scorpius jolted in shock but couldn't not return her smile, "so... I was talking to Marigold."

"Who the hell is Marigold?" Albus wondered in confusion.

"The Hogwarts Head Healer," Michael answered for him and Albus snorted with amusement.

"Marigold."

"He's not that bad, he just... complains kind of a lot, wasn't happy that I stayed because it meant he had too because there needs to be a healer around with any students but I think his heart's in the right place. Y'know he's only forty?"

"Yeah I don't care about that, his name's Marigold," Albus repeated with a snicker.

"You are really immature sometimes," Abby pointed out with a shake of her head.

"Well anyway, I was talking to him," Molly continued getting back on track and Scorpius realized Michael seemed to be the target of her conversation, "and he says you should be fine to fly again if you want to so... do you want to or do you want more time?"

"I only have one working eye, don't you think I'd be more of a hindrance than a help?" Michael said quietly.

"No I don't. You have talent and that doesn't just go away with losing one eye, getting a prosthetic will make up for it anyway and in the meantime you can still adapt."

"But I can't be good."

"Well we won't know until you start coming back to practice, will we?"

"Yeah and you can use my Cloudcutter as much as you want," Albus added sounding almost desperate for Michael to accept rather than only reluctantly doing it as he had been before, Michael shot him an oddly cold look at this though.

"I don't think I have time for practice anyway," Michael pointed out, "with all this work and I'm having extra sessions with Vipera to improve my Potions because she doesn't want my Dyslexia to hold me back."

"What?!"

"When do you have these sessions?" Molly asked, both of them opting to ignore Albus' oddly high-pitched exclaim of surprise.

"Sunday afternoons," Michael informed her and Molly's smile returned.

"Alright, I can work around that. No Sunday afternoons. Schedule should be up tomorrow, don't forget to check those notice boards. You too Scor, Hufflepuff are a very defensive team and we need to practice playing against that. See you both then. Good day to the rest of you."

"I still didn't say yes," Michael protested but Molly was walking away, he wore a worried expression.

"Well I think you should have said something, now it seems like she's expecting you," Abby pointed out and Michael sighed resignedly.

"Screw that," Albus interrupted in his normal voice, "what do you mean you're having sessions with Vipera?!"

"I'm pretty sure you heard me," Michael told him with a shrug, "Vipera thinks she can help me improve because she thinks my Dyslexia is holding me back but hasn't the time in class to help me alone so she's giving me extra sessions on Sunday afternoons."

"And you're only mentioning this now?"

"You have only been back one day. Its not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? You know that I'm in love with her," Albus whined miserably, "you can't steal her from me."

"Al, I'm not 'stealing' her from you, she's helping me improve my Potions grade and that's all."

"That's how it starts but all those hours alone and you'll start dating."

"You're worse than Jack," Michael complained throwing up his arms, "I'm twelve and she's like thirty-eight and my teacher, she's a nice person but I have absolutely zero interest in dating her and I like someone else anyway. And she has absolutely zero interest in dating me or even you because for starters we're far too young and she likes someone else too."

"Really? Who does she like?"

"Someone whose an adult and not you. Try liking someone closer to your own age."

"Wait, who do you like then?" Abby wondered while Albus looked disappointed, Michael's face went red immediately as he looked down attempting to make his tangled mass of wild hair cover it up.

"No one."

"Its Vipera, isn't it?" Albus questioned immediately, "dammit I knew it."

"Its not Vipera!"

"But it is someone," Scorpius prodded, he had been wondering about it for awhile.

"Someone whose not Vipera."

"Then who?" Abby wondered.

"I'm not saying," Michael said firmly with a note of finality, "so stop asking."


Brutus was still feeling shaken by the nameless boy when he got home, he wished he could forget the terror in the boy's eyes, wished he could erase it from his own memory too. That was probably the same look Atticus had given the Death Eaters who killed his mother, the same way the twins had looked at him when they first realized he was a Death Eater, like he was a monster. It stung because he knew it was true. He hated it. He hated who he was. Whatever the reasons he justified to himself, it was still true. He wanted to drink himself into oblivion and forget altogether but he wanted something else even more so he forced himself to stay sober as he waited.

Instead he found his father and hugged him tight, reminding himself why it was worth it. A part of him wanted to cry and mourn his lost soul, confess his crimes to his father so Aurelius could tell him it was alright. But he didn't. It was his burden to bear and he couldn't put that on his father. He was strong, he could take it, he'd chosen his path and he knew he would have to walk it.

"I love you, Dad," was what he said instead.

"I love you too, Bruti," his father affirmed.

It took longer for Atticus to come home but eventually his brother did return, looking tired as he usually did whenever Brutus saw him, those Aurors would work him to death yet. Brutus blocked him from heading to his room to sleep though, Atticus just looked at him in surprise.

"Something up?" Atticus wondered and Brutus sighed.

"What? Can't spare five minutes for your brother?" Brutus complained.

"I'm just tired and busy fighting a war. Don't take it personally," Atticus pointed out and Brutus resisted the urge to sigh as he pulled his younger brother into a hug instead.

"I love you, Atty."

"I know... I love you too," Atticus offered awkwardly hugging him back, "are you drunk?"

"No. I just want you to know that I love you because even though I don't say it a lot I do, family is important to me, its the most important thing. You do know that right? No matter what happens, remember that, Atty, and don't let anyone ever tell you it wasn't true, okay?"

"Okay... Brutus, are you alright?"

"I'm proud of you too, you know that right? I don't like you being an Auror because I don't like you being in danger, not because I think in any way less of you. You defied our grandparents in becoming an Auror and that's something to be proud of, you got through the training and you risk your life everyday to do what you think is right to help other people because you're a good person and a talented wizard and that's something something to be proud of. You're the bravest man I know, Atty."

"Seriously, Brutus, are you alright?" Atticus wondered worriedly as he pulled away, not surprisingly Brutus supposed, he hadn't said anything like that since Atticus' suicide attempt and neither had Atticus. He didn't know how long it would take for them unlock the boy's memories but he had no doubt they would since they would know he had had his memory erased when they found him, his deformed appearance would make him easy to identify and then he'd either have to run to the Death Eaters for protection as he went into hiding. Assuming he could get safely away without being killed or taken to Azkaban by Aurors. Brutus forced a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just need a drink now," Brutus brushed it off as he started to walk away.

"Wait!" Atticus called after him, Brutus glanced back in surprise at his nervous looking brother, "do you... do you want some company?"

"Weren't you going to get some sleep?"

"Yes well it can wait, I can spare more than five minutes for my brother."


Scorpius still found himself swamped at the end of the first fortnight and actually felt guilty for not being able to more for Varanian, he had been keeping an eye on people as best he could but no one was acting really suspicious, Professor Koray seemed down but Scorpius knew he'd been quite close to Professor Trelawny so did that count as suspicious? How was he supposed to use his intuition to figure out who was a Shadow? If anything his instinct wanted to rule out most of them just because he liked them, he even wanted to rule out Rivers - despite disliking him - because he didn't think he was capable of being a Shadow let alone that they'd actually let him be in charge of people.

Of all the staff employed by the school he could at least rule out some for logical reasons, Professor McGonagall because she wasn't there, Professor Hagrid and Binns for not being human, Professor Trelawny because she was dead, Calderon because if they were in control of the school their problems would be solved also Calderon had done more to fight the Shadows than anyone and it was very obviously not him. Then there was also Professors Ashain and Longbottom because they'd both nearly been killed in Shadow attacks so he thought it was extremely unlikely they were Shadows but wasn't sure that was a good enough reason. He also didn't think Rivers was capable of being a secret Shadow leader, didn't think it was two of the five healers because they were only part time, didn't think it was Professor Koray or the librarian because he'd known them from the previous year and he didn't think they were bad. That left only the new people, he didn't think it was Florian because he was too nice and Eben didn't seem bright enough. It was strange for Vipera to be Shadow if she was helping Michael but then she could have an ulterior motive, he still didn't like Grant but that didn't make him guilty and he didn't know the others who taught electives. How did Varanian figure these things out?

Aside from that things weren't so bad, the Aurors numbers did seem to have decreased which was a relief. Abby and Albus seemed to be preferring his and Michael's company to Rose's Ravenclaws a lot more so he had the majority of his friends back, he hadn't gotten to speak to Orous yet though. Quidditch practices started again with Michael in attendance, he still wasn't using Albus' Cloudcutter but he still had the talent for pushing their limits. His aim had gotten worse though, Molly was trying to work on that but his skills were salvageable. Michael had no comment on it and seemed tenser at practices, taking it more seriously like Latimer, than he had been before but at least he was back, Scorpius thought once he got used to it again that he would relax more.

It wasn't until the Friday of the second week that Scorpius realized how behind everyone else he was on Patronuses though, he'd been so focused on his that he hadn't paid attention to the others in the class but that class he did - he thought he might as well since he'd felt as drained as usual after casting the silver wisps of light the first week and wouldn't be in the mood for paying attention - and saw they were doing well. The silver wisps were now more like silver windows in size and lasted much longer, in fact if they were just a tad bigger he thought they would actually pass for incorporeal Patronuses or maybe they did already. Abby and the Slytherin who always forgot to put his hand up were both particularly good at it, Albus was average with most of class, Rose, Nott and Scorpius were probably the worst except Michael who never produced anything at all. He tried telling himself it was because of his wrist but it still bothered him, he wasn't used to failing or being the worst at something and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He had a Quidditch practice with just after the class and while he didn't want to be too drained for it and let Molly down, he also wanted to do better at his Patronus. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he was seeing Molly soon so he thought about her as he said the spell. Thinking about the time she'd held his hand leading him to the Quidditch pitch, her beautiful sky blue eyes on him and a smile lighting up her face, his scar felt like it was gnawing down on his wrist but he pushed it aside in favor of the memory-turned fantasy as he imagined what it must feel like to kiss her if holding her hand was that good, he brushed that strand of hair out from in front of her face and they leaned in for a kiss-

"Well done, Scor," Professor Ashain's voice made him snap open his eyes, his wisp of silver was more like a wave and he felt his face burning with humiliation that his fantasy had caused it as he let it go and lowered his arm, suddenly feeling like lowering his head on the desk with it to sleep, "don't be embarrassed, its good to make progress, I think you're finally catching up."

"Thanks," Scorpius managed to mumble out still not happy, Molly would think it was extremely creepy if she knew that fantasizing about holding her hand and kissing her improved his Patronus conjuring.


"You know," Atticus began in slurred speech as he eyed the glasses the bartender was refilling, Brutus had lost track how many they'd had a long time ago, "the problems with being rich is we get used to the finer stuff so all this regular stuff tastes like absolute crap."

"Thanks," the bartender muttered sarcastically while Brutus laughed, he could agree with that.

"You're welcome!" Atticus told him obliviously and leaned back in his stool so much so that he would have lost his balance and fell if Brutus hadn't grabbed him and pulled him back, "and you're welcome too, Brutus!"

"I thinks that you mean thank you," Brutus pointed out as they downed the refilled shot glasses of Firewhisky.

"I said you're welcome."

"No I meant... nevermind, I forget what we were talking about. Hey get us some more of this crap, keepbar."

"I think you means barkeep."

"I just ordered more drinks, weren't you listening? Wait were you listening because I was serious about getting more."

"No I meant... nevermind, I forget," Atticus shrugged it off as the barkeeper refilled their glasses again, Atticus eyed it oddly, "d'y'think we've had much of this? I have to tomorrow work."

"I think you're gonna pretty hanging over," Brutus laughed again, "might as well make the most of it, should get you laid and just take the day offs."

"No, I'll just drink my crap," Atticus shook his head and raised his glass at the barkeeper, "you're welcome!"

"C'mon, just 'cause the last girl you asked out laughed at you when you were a kid is no reason to give up on girls for the rest of your life."

"She didn't just laugh at me, she mocked me and all her friends laughed at me. That was harsh."

"So she was a bitch, no reason to give up."

"I haven't gives up," Atticus protested as he downed his glass again, "fill it up, keepbarer!"

"You have, you're a quitter," Brutus told him as he downed his glass and shoved at barkeeper to refill as well which he did.

"Brutus, I'm sorta seeing someone is why not 'acause I'm a quitter," Atticus explained and Brutus blinked in shock as Atticus raised his glass again, "you're welcome! Wait, why am I saying you're welcome again? Should I be it thank you? My mouth isn't listening to my brain."

"You're seeing someone? For how long?"

"Like..." Atticus said and counted his fingers, "months."

"Months isn't a number."

"Well I tried to count my fingers but there's so many fingers I can't keep track," Atticus laughed as he gulped down his drink, "how drink have I had to much?"

"Who are you seeing?"

"I can't tell you, that's why I didn't tell you. Wait did I tell you?"

"C'mon tell me unless she's not real. Not real people don't count."

"She's real but she doesn't want anyone to know so I can't tells you," Atticus explained and Brutus frustratedly handed him his full glass and pushed Atticus' empty one at the barkeeper to be refilled, "you're welcome! Or thank you please, whatever."

"So tell me, I won't tell anyone," Brutus promised as Atticus down the glass and Brutus immediately handed him the refilled one that Atticus also drank, "please, Atty."

"Sorry but no, told Syn I wouldn't."

"So her name's Syn?"

"How... D'you read my mind?!" Atticus burst out in amazement before scowling while Brutus pushed the glasses over to be refilled, "sins when were you a legill... legilliminuses... legimillamus... my mouth is till ignoring me."

"Yes so you might as well tell me what her full now or I'll just read it."

"Syntyche Emeralda Cistro."

"Wait, isn't that your bosses' name?"

"No, Gawain Robards is my boss, she's is just like my sub-supervisor boss or something. Wait, so I guess she is my boss in a way, I never know where I stand with her."

"Well that's interesting," Brutus mused as the barkeeper pushed the refilled glasses at them.

"You're welcome!" Atticus called and downed his one, "I think I got it figures out how this works, eventually if burns off your taste buds 'acause its so so bad. Gonna going keep see if that happens. S'good to drink, I don't remember the last time I got breaked from fighting Death Eaters."

"Yeah," Brutus nodded and went to take his glass but Atticus had already taken it and was downing it.

"Can't wait till this war is over and every last Death Eater is dead."

"Little harsh, Atty?"

"No. They tortured my mother and me then killed her when I was just a little kid, I've seen more than you and I know Eater Deaths aren't human, they're like Demented-tormentors, they just spawn from the scum of the Earth. I hate them all. And I won't quit being an Auror till they're all death. Its unforgivable."

"Hey refill these," Brutus snapped at the bartender but Atticus cringed.

"I think I'm gonna be up throwed."

"Restroom's that way," the barkeeper stated as he jerked his thumb to the left, Atticus inclined his head in gratitude as he staggered off, Brutus was starting to feel that giving Atticus his last few shots might not have been the best idea he'd ever had.

"Hey Brutus," a woman greeted him, taking Atticus' seat and he shivered violently as he opened his mouth to snap at her before he noticed that her eyes were black. Pitch black eyes, from the whites of her eyes through the iris to the pupil, it was all an indistinguishable mass of darkness that almost seemed to glow with shadowy darkness, "the eyes have it, eh? Its me, Sal, I'm just possessing this random woman."

"You're... what?!" Brutus wondered in shock and the woman smirked.

"Using the Shadows, or Specters as I was thinking of calling them as you didn't like Shadows. Its not so difficult to figure out how to control them even when they're bound to Tommy when he's distracted by his torture and not paying attention to them or me, I'm testing our power and checking on you at the same time."

"You shouldn't be doing that, Sal, go back."

"I'm lying in my bed right now."

"You know what I mean Sal!" Brutus hissed before trying to lower his voice because he was wary of the bartender nearby serving someone else, "go back before someone finds out and you get in trouble, completely black eyes isn't exactly subtle."

"Fine," Sal agreed moodily, "since its you. And I think Tommy's being returned now anyway."

He saw the woman's head jerk back, a shadow shot away from her as she fell onto the floor. She looked confused for a moment before angrily getting to her feet and launching a verbal assault on the barkeeper for having 'improper' stools. Brutus downed both refilled glasses, he wanted to be drunk enough to not worrying about Shadows possessing people. Atticus returned just as the bartender had refilled their glasses, each taking one before they grinned drunkenly despite having nothing to smile about and clinked them together.

"You're welcome!" the Ashain half-brothers said in unison as they downed the bitter liquid.


Scorpius found himself even more exhausted than he had been the other times he'd succeeded at the silver wisps, if Michael hadn't been talking to him while they were heading back to the dormitory that he might have just fell asleep on the floor, stone had never looked so appealing as a comfortable pillow. He threw himself onto the bed still fully clothed and without closing the drapes, in fact he was pretty sure Michael was mid-sentence about whatever he'd been talking about when Scorpius hit the pillow and was gone. The next time he opened his eyes it was Saturday afternoon, Michael had also kindly closed his drapes and gotten him into the blankets. He might have fallen back asleep if his friends hadn't been worried about him so he settled for getting up and just going to bed early, he still woke up late on Sunday thought although not as late as Saturday.

Scorpius was feeling more normal by Monday though or maybe it was just because he didn't have a choice but to get up early, he'd still rather have been sleeping but he wasn't fighting to keep his eyes open at least. He still didn't say much as they made it to breakfast in a imperfect mood, Charms was definitely not the best class for a Monday morning. He got another letter from his parents, he wished they'd stop sending them when he didn't want to talk to them, wasn't the extremely short one word answers a hint? He shook his head at them as the bell for the first class sounded, before everyone could start shuffling out though, Calderon gave his high-pitched whistle.

"All second years stay behind for a few moments!" Calderon called to the hall, there was confused muttering as the non-second year students started filing out while Scorpius and the others sat back down to be out of the way, Calderon waited until the others were all gone - or probably more likely so the noise of the footfall wouldn't interrupt him - before explaining himself, "don't look so worried, you're not in trouble. As you probably know, this is the year you choose your electives for the next three years. There's five in total but you don't have to take all five, you have to take a minimum of two but can take more if you desire, I will work out the schedule to fit everything so have no fear.

"The subjects you can choose from are Care of Magical Creatures, Arithimancy, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies and Divination. You probably have no idea what half of those mean which is why you will have an hour taster session for each of them to give you a better understanding of what you're signing up for although you don't have to choose until Easter. Every Saturday for the next five fortnights come to the Great Hall at midday for an hour taster session, this week its Care of Magical Creatures. Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended and of course, also those who attend will of course be given extra time allowances on homework assignments for that week due to losing an hour of your free time so don't worry about that. Got it? Good. Have a nice day."


Part 4: Tasters


Everyone in second year was excited for the taster sessions, Scorpius was extremely doubtful that anyone would miss them. He was looking forward to it, it would give him a chance to see the staff he didn't know and he was as curious as everyone else about what the electives were like, it would be nice to get a glimpse instead of choosing blindly at Easter. Saturday couldn't have come soon enough and Scorpius, Albus, Abby, Michael and Rose headed off to the Great Hall eagerly.

"This is exciting, I can't wait to see what Hagrid's lessons are like," Rose was saying with a skip in her step, "Mum said to tell her everything about it because they didn't have taster sessions at school."

"That's because its Calderon's idea," Michael pointed out as they rounded the bend and Scorpius saw one of the Aurors was talking to Orous who was starting to cry, "he's noticed students kind of pick without knowing the subjects then regret their choices later on and wish they'd picked something else when they found out more about them."

"Hey!" Scorpius snapped darkly drawing his wand and stalking over to them, "you're supposed to be protecting students not making them cry, back off!"

"Its okay, he wasn't doing anything to me," Orous told him quietly wiping his crimson eyes and the Auror nodded in agreement but his expression was dark and stoic, "I was already upset. I was just leaving."

"Aren't you Aurors supposed to stay in pairs?" Michael added and the look the Auror gave him was murderous.

"Because mu-muggle-borns know everything about how the magic system works," the Auror growled.

"He's right though," Albus spoke up, "my father's Head Auror so I do know what I'm talking about."

"My partner's on a bathroom break, alright?! Why are you giving me the third degree for seeing what was wrong with the crying child?" the Auror shook his head and walked off, muttering under his breath about 'stupid kids.'

"Geez, Scor, was drawing your wand really necessary?"

"Can't take any chances after they killed Professor Trelawny," Scorpius said defensively as he put his wand away.

"He wasn't one of the ones with Trelawny when she died though, I saw them, they're both not on Hogwarts protection duty now anyway," Michael pointed out before turning to Orous, "are you alright?"

"Yes..." Orous whispered before glancing at Scorpius with a neutral expression before staring back to his feet, "can I talk to you alone for just a minute, though?"

"Sure," Scorpius agreed hesitantly, it was the first time they'd spoken to Orous since realizing he was the voice. He waved his friends on to go on without him, Orous waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.

"I'm sorry I screamed all those things at you," Orous apologized sadly, "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

"Its okay, I don't blame you for being angry with me. I'm angry with me," Scorpius said finding his voice coming out equally quietly as the guilt blanketed him once more, "I really am sorry, I'd give anything to take it back."

"You were just eleven, its not your responsibility to help anyone. Its hypocritical of me to be mad at you for not helping me when I've done nothing to help anyone either, I don't know how I could but still. I want us to get along again, I miss hanging out with Michael, Vern and you when we would do our homework in the library together."

"I want us to get along again too," Scorpius agreed with a weak smile that Orous didn't return but he did nod, he didn't think he'd ever seen Orous smile, "I have to go to the taster session but I'll catch up with you later. Try and find Vern, Maurice or Corin so the Aurors can't get you alone, they're not safe to be around."

"They wouldn't kill me, Scorpius, they're not that kind," Orous said sadly as he continued away and Scorpius worriedly continued on to the Great Hall, at least they were on speaking terms again so he could try help Orous with his issues.

Scorpius arrived at the Great Hall - thankfully - before Professor Hagrid had gotten there, Rose had gone off to stand with Copper and the Ravenclaws but the rest of his friends were still together as he joined them. They were still standing close enough to each other for Scorpius to catch the look of disgust Copper shot Michael, it made Scorpius' wrist burn and he was seriously tempted to draw his wand on the stuck-up Ravenclaw before Professor Hagrid arrived and the room went quiet as the half-giant cleared his throat.

"Well hullo there!" Professor Hagrid greeted them brightly, "fer those o' yeh who don' know me, I'm Professor Rubeus Hagrid an' I teach Care of Magical Creatures here at Hogwarts. What the class is abou' is pretty much in the name, if yeh take this class yeh'll be studying magical creatures, learnin' abou' them and their life cycles, lore about them and how they're used or wha' parts o' them have magical properties, yeh'll also be learnin' how to manage, feed and care for them. Yeh'll learn abou' a variety o' creatures, from little things like Flobberworms to majestic beasts like Unicorns to more dangerous like Salamanders and plenty o' things in between. The class takes place outdoors - unless the weather is really bad - because its a really practical hands on class... And that's pretty much all I wanted to say so let's get on outside now, c'mon everyone!"

Professor Hagrid gestured with his hand for them to follow as he headed outside, most people talking excitedly amongst themselves although Scorpius heard Copper complaining about having to go outside. The professor led them to the lawn just outside the Forbidden Forest, Scorpius' heart leaped when he saw a Thestral was emerging and heading towards a metal bucket that Professor Hagrid grabbed up quickly before turning back to them with a grin on his face, the Thestral didn't seem to share the professor's delight and continued to eye the bucket.

"For this taster, I'm showin' you Thestrals. Because o' wha' happened at the memorial, more o' yeh than ever can see these beauties so whether or not yeh take the class I though' it would be good to introduce yeh to them since they pull the carriages. Firstly is there anyone who can't see them?" Professor Hagrid began and only a handful of people raised their hands, Copper was one of them although none of his friends did, "for those o' yeh who can't see, Thestrals are huge winged horses with skeletal black bodies and leathery wings, they've white eyes. The mos' unusual thing abou' them though is tha' they can only be seen by those who've seen death.

"This gives them a bi' of a dark reputation and some mistakenly believe they're unlucky or a bad omen but tha' is not the case, seriously misunderstood creatures Thestrals. They're dead clever and useful, I'm proud to say here at Hogwarts we have the largest herd o' domesticated Thestrals in the UK. This here is Tenebrus, the firs' Thestral born here in the Forest. And the nosiest," Professor Hagrid added as Tenebrus nudged the bucket, he reached into it to pull out a scrap of raw bloody meat that he dangled in front of the Thestral, Tenebrus made a shrill sound before taking the meat and gulping it down eagerly, "they're carnivores, Thestrals, and attracted to the smell o' blood. They're not really dangerous though, won't attack or bite yeh unless provoked and see yeh as a threat but yeh can say tha' fer just about any creature. Anyone volunteer to feed Tenebrus?"

"I will!" Scorpius said in unison as his hand shot up into the air eagerly.

"Well done, Scorpius, c'mon here then," Professor Hagrid agreed with a grin as Scorpius moved over to him and Tenebrus, he placed the bucket down at his feet and picked out another piece of meat that he handed to Scorpius, "now yeh saw what I did before, jus' offer it out to him and wait for him to take it, okay?"

"Okay," Scorpius nodded in understanding and held out the slippery slab of meat for the Tenebrus who made the same shrill sound before gently taking it, it contrasted greatly with the greedy way he gulped it down, Scorpius smiled, "why does he make that sound when he takes it?"

"Oh, he's jus' thankin' yeh for the food. Jus' keep at it or he'll eat the whole bucke' o' stuff while I'm distracted, yeh're doing great," Professor Hagrid said still smiling as he turned back to the class while Scorpius picked up another piece to carry on feeding the Thestral, "and I hope the rest o' yeh are payin' attention as yeh'll have a chance to feed the rest o' the herd in a minute if yeh want, if yeh don't yeh can jus' watch. So as I was sayin' they only attack if provoked, loyal creatures they are to each other and their owners. Some o' the older ones like here Tenebrus here actually fought in the Battle o' Hogwarts for us - that scar on his left flank is from defendin' this school - and they're actually trained to defend students if anyone where t' attack yeh in the carriages.

"They're dead clever as I said, can distinguish friend from foe. They can fly and can be ridden as they fly, they're fast and got a fantastic sense o' direction and can get to where their rider wants, they can also learn to obey some basic commands from the rider. Like this," Professor Hagrid stopped speaking and a second later Scorpius felt himself lifted into their and deposited onto Tenebrus' back, the Thestral grunted but didn't fight it while Scorpius just looked at the professor in shock, "well yeh did volunteer and I think he likes yeh, they don't usually thank strangers. Now go on, walk around a bit."

At this, Professor Hagrid grabbed another piece of meat and threw it an impressive distance to the right. Tenebrus gave an incredibly shrill shriek and eagerly started to run towards it, Scorpius was nearly thrown in surprise and grabbed the Thestral's mane desperately to stop himself falling.

"Slow down!" Scorpius yelped and the beat immediately slowed to a less life-threatening pace, Scorpius' heartbeat relaxed with it as Tenebrus reached the piece of meat, stopping to grab it and toss it up in the air to gobble it down, "let's head back."

Scorpius wasn't sure if it was actually understanding his words or instinctively knew what he wanted like owls but either way, Tenebrus turned around and started walking back to the professor and the rest of class who watched with looks of amazement or awe, some looked more more nervous and Copper just looked confused. Professor Hagrid seemed to have been speaking more about Thestrals but paused to clap his hands and congratulate Scorpius before throwing another scrap of meat.

This time Tenebrus started towards it at the pace that Scorpius had preferred although he sensed it would rather go faster, the third time Professor Hagrid threw the meat he urged Tenebrus to go faster and just held on tight. It was actually rather fun when you were actually prepared, he let Tenebrus go faster and faster each time until one time he smirked and dared the Thestral to fly to grab the meat in mid-air. Tenebrus shot into the sky immediately and snapped the meat up before it had time to fall back to the ground, Scorpius laughed with delight and took Tenebrus across the lake and over the edge of the forest, finally letting Tenebrus circle a few times around the class before bringing him back down to earth when he noticed other Thestrals emerging from the forest. Tenebrus went over to them and nuzzled one of them affectionately, Professor Hagrid went to get more meat from the inside of his hut and instructed the others to feed the herd. Scorpius was still found himself plastered with a smile, he knew which class he would definitely be choosing for next year.

Scorpius was still in a good mood from the Thestral flight, Thestrals were awesome and flying was awesome so combined it was fantastic. In general things actually seemed to be looking up, less Aurors, Michael back on the team, Abby and Albus spending time with them again, Orous talking to him again and even Molly was spending more time with him outside of practice rather than with Nick, rumor had it they had fallen out over Nick dancing with other girls or something at the Yule Ball. Scorpius was afraid to ask and he wondered if he was a bad person for wishing it was true and they'd break up, at least a part of him hoped that. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, Nick or no Nick the odds of her ever dating him were right down there with Albus' odds of dating Vipera or Michael revealing his mystery crush.

He still didn't know who was a Shadow member of staff though but he thought the other taster sessions would help determined that, not knowing them put them high on his list of potential suspects. Except Divination, they hadn't got a replacement yet and even if they did he or she wouldn't be the Shadow person he was looking for, they could still be a Shadow though he supposed but not the one he was after in that moment. After the excitement of the Care of Magical Creatures taster lesson, he was disappointed to learn the next one was Arithmancy with Rivers. Albus and Rose had actually considered not attending, disliking him from the Christmas he'd spent with them and the way he'd treated Lucy. Scorpius didn't like him either but that didn't mean the subject was bad. Plus Rivers was still a suspect, even if Scorpius didn't think it was likely.

The Arithmancy taster was at the end of the first week of February and Scorpius arrived with his friends feeling much less enthusiastic, instead of being empty this time the hall was filled with chairs so they sat at the closest ones to the entrance which was at the very back. Albus had just slouched back lazily when Rivers entered, spotting them immediately as he scowled.

"What are you doing sitting at the back?" Rivers wondered shaking his head and pulling Albus to his feet, "come now, you and Rosie are practically family and you shouldn't be sitting at the back, family need to support each other and I need support. Calderon's making me sacrifice an entire hour of my life to do this stupid thing and making me mark all my own homeworks and he won't make me a Head of any house or give me a pay raise, its like he deliberately has a vendetta against me when I've been nothing but kind to the crazed lunatic but he's determined to make my life a living hell. And you too Scorpius, you can sit at the front too because I know how much you admire me and you girl because your father is a teacher. Come now, the faster you walk the faster this is over."

"You... just... what?!" Albus demanded frustratedly but Rivers was already heading towards were the staff table was usually located.

"Just go with it or he'll make us stay here longer," Scorpius pointed out as the five of them trudged up the room where the seats on the front row were actually already taken.

"Go on, shoo," Rivers said to the closest four - who happened to be Copper and his friends - and actually made dismissive sweeping movements with his hands, "more important people than you have to sit here."

"But I was here first," Copper whined looking stunned while his friends moved to obey.

"Well I'm the teacher and I say go, sit somewhere else," Rivers told him firmly shooing him again.

"Just go with it, there's no reasoning with him, he's nuts," Rose whispered to her boyfriend who scowled as he moved away with his friends, actually freeing up six spaces that they took while Rivers shot Michael an exasperated look.

"I didn't mean you! The things I have to put up with," Rivers moaned throwing his hands up in the air as he moved over to where the staff table usually was but now it instead held two chalkboards, finally turning to address the hall, "my name is Aubrey Abidos Rivers, a pure-blood and I teach Arithmancy. Arithmancy comes from two Greek words, 'arithmos' meaning numbers and 'manteia' meaning divination because Arithmancy is the study of divination through numbers. Unlike Divination, Arithmancy is based of numbers and logic and fact rather than... well let's be honest, lunatic dreams. There are too basic methods we use, the Agrippan method and the Chaldean method which I will outline briefly for you now..."

Scorpius was both bored and confused, Arithmancy - or maybe just Rivers' explanation - was very difficult to follow, his lecture wasn't droning like Binns or Eben but still managed to suck your mind out with a jumble of nonsensical number babble. Scorpius eventually just fell asleep, he was tired from the Patronus lesson the previous day. He only woke up when a more interesting voice than Rivers shattered his slumber.

"Well done, Aubrey, you actually managed to make Arithmancy sound less interesting than History of Magic," a woman's voice said and Scorpius woke with a confused start, realizing that Albus was sleeping on his shoulder he angrily jabbed his friend awake who mumbled something intelligible in confusion as he looked around but Scorpius' attention was already drawn to the woman coming over to them with a self-satisfied smirk on her face, "if I don't get Divination professor maybe I can just take your job before you bore another year of kids into oblivion."

Rivers just gaped at the woman for a moment, she was maybe slightly shorter than average height with long black hair curled in coils streaming out from beneath the red bandana she wore. She was rather delicate looking and using a thin long stick as a strange cane but a glance at her eyes answered why. She had none, there was just empty sockets. It was slightly disturbing but she was pretty aside from that maybe Calderon's age, she wore a long brightly colored dress despite being clearly blind.

"Elina?" Rivers got out when he'd recovered from the shock enough to speak, "what are you doing here?"

"An interview for Divination professor," the woman - most likely Elina - stated, "I just got distracted when I heard you butchering the subject I taught you."

"What are you talking about? My lecture was flawless."

"Flawlessly boring."

"Well it wasn't aimed at you anyway," Rivers complained sounding flustered.

"Was it aimed at the sleeping children?"

"They're not sleeping," Rivers insisted and Scorpius glanced at his friends, Abby and Michael were also watching the exchange with interest as was Albus although sleepily, Rose was asleep with her head resting on Michael's shoulder, Abby nudged her awake and she looked around sleepily, "I'm sure that has nothing to do with my lecture, she's just exhausted from having to be awake so early on the weekend."

"Keep telling yourself that, Aub," Elina commented with a sly smile as she started heading back towards the exit, "now if you'll excuse me I have an interview."

"If he hires her then I'll know Calderon is deliberately trying to make my life miserable," Rivers said to no one in particular, looking upset as he stalked off into the door leading to the side room off the great hall.

"I hope Calderon hires her," Albus added with a grin, "then I'll know he's trying to make my life awesome."

"What was that all about?" Rose wondered sleepily.

"You mean the lecture on Arithmancy or the exchange with Elina?" Michael asked her as she rubbed her eyes.

"Both."

"To both, I have no idea."


"I'm really drunk," Atticus slurred almost intelligibly for the fifth of sixth time as they stumbled up the stairs back at the Ashain mansion, "did know you did that? I've tomorrow work to."

"I can barely not even understand what you're saying," Brutus pointed out also having trouble understanding himself, "maybe you're as dumbed as me now."

"You're not stupid, you're jus really lazy. If y'could actually be bothered then you'd be great, thas all, if you just put mind to your something then you're jus as smart as any of us."

"Y'know y'always keep saying that."

"Well I'm right and I'm really too drunk," Atticus laughed and staggered into the wall that Brutus pulled him back from, "and so're you!"

"G'night Atty," Brutus called as he headed down the other corridor to his room.

"G'night!"

Brutus tried three different doors and a window before finally finding his room, he cursed it for being so big as he had to trek across what felt like an awful long walk. He was in good spirits though even though he'd been drinking particularly bad spirits, his mind was too mushed to even remember why he'd wanted to get drunk in the first place. He stripped to his underwear, dumping his clothes onto the floor for tomorrow's problem and threw himself into his bed, asleep before his head even touched the pillow...

"Brutus, wake up!" his father's voice snapped him back to reality, "Aurors are coming for you!"


Scorpius supposed he could at least say that Arithmancy was over and done with, he still didn't think Rivers was capable of leading Shadow members though. The next class was finally with one of the teachers he didn't know for Study of Ancient Runes, like Rivers the room was set up with chairs but this time Scorpius deliberately sat near the front because he wanted to see the guy. Especially considering what he taught, considering the Shadows had used Blood Runes before and he taught the language.

The man who strode into the room wasn't the one that Scorpius had been expecting, the Study of Ancient Runes had made him think the teacher would probably be old but he only looked in his thirties but his skin looked pale as parchment. Scorpius recognized him vaguely from the staff table but he'd thought it was one of the healers not a teacher, he had long wavy light brown hair that looked faded but gave him an almost wild appearance, his eyes were a forest green, he had dirt under his fingernails but a smile on his face. His robes seemed to combine the aspects of his face as they were a faded forest green, he made Scorpius think oddly of a faded photograph.

"Hello, so you're the second years eh? Pleasure to meet you, the name's Orrin Lambert Kresmir. That's Kresmir with a 'k' not a 'c' and no 'h' even though its pronounced 'cresh'-mir. Weird I know but I didn't come up with the name, was just born with it," Kresmir introduced himself brightly and rather quickly, like he was trying to cram as many words as possible into a minute, "and I teach Study of Ancient Runes which is maybe slightly explanatory in the name, honestly I think they should call it Runology which makes it sound at least slightly less boring and at least slightly more mysterious, studying doesn't exactly make it sound fun. Which in truth it may not be to you, personally I find learning languages absolutely fascinating but for some people it just makes you want to smack your head against the wall until the words come pouring of your ear holes. However maybe fun doesn't matter to you, some careers this is an important thing to know or at least a useful thing to know."

Scorpius tried and failed not to find it interesting as Kresmir spoke about the different uses of runic in both the past and present, he also started talking very briefly about the history of Runic - there were actually three different runic alphabets and they were only the best known - before moving onto the runes themselves, taking out his wand and causing them to appear one by one as he went through them quickly.

"With any luck, you'll at least be able to recognize Runic when you see it and not confuse it with Chinese or Arabic or something random regardless whether you take this class or not which I think in itself is rather a useful skill, the last thing you really want is to be searching for a translation to the wrong language as you pour through the textbooks," Kresmir pointed out after he got through the last rune and flicked his wand again, this time a number of them appeared, "and that's my name in Runic. If anyone wants to introduce themselves then I'll show them their name in Runic, any takers?"

People started calling out their names which Kresmir dutifully translated in Runic, in fact people just started calling out random words or phrases they wanted to see translated. Scorpius thought it was actually a rather clever exercise, the more you saw the runes the more you got used to them, Scorpius at least started to notice the same ones cropping up for the same letters. He hoped Kresmir wasn't the Shadow because he actually wanted to take the subject, it was useful to know and Kresmir made it seem even more interesting.

They headed out of the taster session when Kresmir dismissed them, Scorpius leaving with his friends to head off to the library as they still had homework to do, even with time allowances it still needed to be done after all. Scorpius would have liked to talk about it but they had an agreement to just hold opinions on classes until they'd had all taster sessions and were choosing their electives. It would be a busy few weeks even with homework allowances, the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match was the next Saturday, the next taster session the following week, the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match the week after followed by the final session the week after that.

"Hey guys over here!" Vern called them over happily as they entered the library, he and Orous were already at a table with spare seats that he gestured for them to sit at while being shushed by the librarian, he blushed and dropped his voice, "got a really hard essay for History of Magic if you feel up to helping, its hard to keep track of all these goblins names."

"Its History of Magic, it doesn't matter," Albus pointed out giving his cousin a dark look, "typical Dursley, leeching off others instead of just doing the damn work yourself."

"I'm not leeching," Vern protested looking upset.

"Are too and its not allowed, its practically cheating."

"No its not, since when?"

"Vern Dursley?" a voice questioned and the first year jumped as Grant and Professor Ashain came over to him, Vern looked on the verge of tears.

"I-I-I didn't know it was cheating, its not cheating in my other school."

"Whatever your talking about, its not about that," Professor Ashain pointed out gently, "you just need to go and see Acting Headmaster Calderon right now."

"Why? What-What did I do?!" Vern babbled anxiously but the professors didn't look angry, if anything they looked sympathetic.

"Its not something you did, you just need to go and see him right now... its really important."

"Come on I'll take you," Grant offered, "you're not in trouble."

"O-Okay," Vern agreed nervously as he got up to follow Grant away.

"Can you pack up his stuff, Mr Knox?" Professor Ashain said to Orous gesturing to the books and papers sprawled across the table that Vern had been working with.

"Is he getting expelled?" Albus wondered sounding just a bit too hopeful for Scorpius' liking.

"No, nothing like that. He's just probably not going to feel much like studying when he gets back."

"Why? What's going on?" Scorpius asked curiously and worriedly, all eyes on Professor Ashain with interest.

"Its not really my place to say... but you're going to find out anyway," Professor Ashain began slowly before sighing sadly, "Mr and Mrs Dursley were killed last night."


Part 5: Quiet


"You can't be serious," Albus scoffed in shock but the professor looked perfectly serious, "the Dursleys were killed?"

"Who killed them?" Orous asked quietly.

"Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf Death Eater turned Shadow, is believed to be responsible," Professor Ashain told them and Orous nodded sadly while Michael shivered.

"Poor Vern. And what a horrible way to go," Michael pointed out also quietly, "werewolves are absolutely terrifying."

Everyone was in a glum mood after that news, even Albus who never had a positive thing to say about the Dursleys, he didn't say a word. They just sat around solemnly in the library after Professor Ashain left, half-heartedly trying to get through their homework with varying degrees of productivity. They left a seat for Vern but he didn't return, Corin and Maurice did show up after awhile though, sitting down obliviously.

"Who died?" Maurice quipped seemly noticing the mood.

"Vern's parents," Albus answered shooting a dark look at the deaf boy, Corin's eyes bulged in shock while Maurice's expression remained neutral although he did tilt his head to one side thoughtfully, "Greyback killed them last night."

"Probably targeted for being related to your father, a way to kick him while he's down without having to put the effort into attacking people actually capable of fighting back since he's already being slandered the scandal surrounding the Aurors involvement in Trelawny's death."

"Oh shut up."

"Why else would they put Greyback on it? He's known for his brutality, probably tore those helpless muggles to shreds. Makes a more effective point than a simple quick blast with the killing curse."

"Shut up, Maurice! Could you be anymore callous?"

"Werewolves are scary," Michael reaffirmed, "Jack let me see a scary movie with them when I was really little, scared me so much I didn't sleep right for a month. Being attacked by a werewolf, someone I care about being killed by werewolf, being turned into a werewolf, being killed by a werewolf and someone I care about being turned into a werewolf were some of my top fears."

"Why Albus, you almost seem bothered," Maurice continued as if Michael hadn't spoken, "which is odd considering you constantly insult Vern's family and treat him like dirt."

"Doesn't mean I wanted them to die!" Albus shrieked looking hurt, "now I feel terrible."

"Well if you weren't such a jerk in the first place then there'd be no need to feel terrible."

"I'm not a jerk, you are."

"No one's a jerk, let's just talk about someone else," Michael intervened trying to keep the peace, "anyone?"

"The Shadows are going to kill everyone eventually and take over the world," Orous offered quietly.

"They will with that defeatist attitude," Maurice scoffed.

"Have you no compassion?!" Rose snapped glaring at him.

"Doesn't it bother you that your friend's parents died?" Abby asked tiredly

"I feel bad for Vern but I'm not surprised they died, there is a war going on and if you read the papers you would realize more people die every week, only a matter of time before it was someone we knew. And its only a matter of time before its someone else we know, until the Shadow Master's dead it won't stop. Mark my words."


"Not so loud," Brutus whined in a whisper while he clutched his head, his father's voice made the pain his head flare unhelpfully, "I have a headache."

"You have a hangover now get up!" his father snapped loudly again and Brutus was pelted by a ball of cloth when he tried to sit up and face his father, he blinked at it in surprise while his father looked on the verge of tears, "its robes, get dressed and get a move on! I was scouting and I spotted them, they were talking about arresting you so hurry before they get you. I don't want to see you locked up or killed resisting them so just hurry, leave before they get here. I'll try buy you some time but you have to move, Brutus, please."

"Okay," Brutus nodded and immediately regretted it, his heart was pounding but the sleep was shot out of his head by the very real fear in his father's voice.

They exchanged one last anxious look as his father paused in the doorway, their identical eyes met before Aurelius left and Brutus could only hope it wouldn't be the last time he saw him. He scrambled to get dressed, pulling on whatever he could find and snatching up his wand. He nearly left but stopped himself, combing through his pockets until he found the photograph he'd been keeping with him since becoming a Death Eater, the one of himself with his father and Atticus. He pocketed it, there was no way he was leaving it.

He snuck out of his room and started to creep down a corridor, unsure whether the fact the place was a massive maze would be more of an advantage or disadvantage. He stopped when he heard his brother's voice, yelling so loudly it made the pain flare in his head again.

"That's a lie!" Atticus shrieked from somewhere downstairs, "my brother is not a Death Eater! Your sources are wrong, Brutus would never do that!"

"Its the truth!" a woman's voice yelled in reply, Brutus had to hold his head again against the throbbing pain, "we lifted the memory charms off that boy, your brother's appearance is somewhat identifiable. The boy saw him kill that woman in cold blood."

"I know my own brother, he wouldn't join those horrible people! You're got it wrong, he's a good person at heart," Atticus protested so forcefully it made Brutus' heart twist up painfully, his brother's misplaced faith in him was depressing, he wished so badly it was true, "he wouldn't hurt innocent people, dammit he's not a Death Eater!"

"Well if he's innocent then he has nothing to fear. Search the house."

Brutus took that as his cue to leave and launched himself away, his brother's fiercely protective lie of last sentence echoing in his mind as he meandered his way through the halls to the secret passageway to get out of the mansion without anyone seeing. The sun bled and the clouds cried, casting an inky red glow as he fled, running across the grounds as fast as his legs would carry him.

There was a wall running all along the perimeter of the Ashain grounds, most people would believe - mistakenly - that the only way past it was the huge gates. However there was also two segments you could pass through much like the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, you just had to know where they were. And Brutus did. His father wouldn't have told them, his grandparents wouldn't have on principle of not giving up Ashain secrets so unless Atticus did he should be in the clear. He slid easily through the closest one he'd ran to, almost breathing a sigh of relief before he recognized a wand being pointed right at him. A wand held in his brother's steady hand.

Brutus almost started to raise his wand but he couldn't bring himself to aim it as his little brother, Atticus was looking unusually disheveled as if he too had just gotten out of bed - well it was early-ish in the morning. Before Brutus could say anything, Atticus flicked his wand and if Brutus had of had time to guess he was being disarmed then he would have been wrong. His sleeve shot up revealing the Dark Mark on his skin. The flash of hurt in his eyes and look of absolute betrayal in his face was enough to make Brutus wish a vortex would just appear and swallow him up, wherever it took him and whatever it did, he didn't care.

"Atty, I-"

"Just don't," Atticus interrupted, it was only a whisper but he might as well have screamed it.

Despite his throbbing head, Brutus thought he would have preferred anger to pain. Atticus lowered his wand but Brutus didn't see it, the brothers hung their heads in unison in opposite directions. Brutus knew he should speak, defend his actions, say he had joined to protect their father and he stayed mostly to protect his family but he couldn't bring himself to risk Atticus tearing his flimsy justifications to shreds. Atticus didn't want to hear it anyway, Brutus could practically feel him trying to digest the information. He always knew Atticus would take it badly. The sound of people in the distance arguing reminded them that just because they were in a nightmare, they were still in reality.

"Are you going to turn me in?" Brutus asked so quietly it was barely audible.

"I'm an Auror, its my job to turn in Death Eaters," Atticus told him equally quietly and Brutus started to nod resignedly before his hangover stopped him, terror flooding him as he thought of Azkaban, "but you're also my brother."

Brutus' head shot back up to look at Atticus in surprise but he hardly dared to hope, Atticus hadn't looked up but he also hadn't pointed his wand at him again, the rain hid whether he was crying or not. The voices seemed to be getting closer before finally Atticus shook his head and sighed.

"Just go," Atticus croaked, "go before I change my mind."

Brutus cast one more sad glance at his brother before disapparating away.


The gloom hung over them like a dark cloud for the rest of the week, Albus seemed more withdrawn than usual and Michael was spending more time with Vern. Scorpius would have liked to have done something to help but he didn't see how, no magic could revive the dead and short of that he had no idea how to make Vern feel any better, he wasn't especially close to Vern but he still cared. He still felt upset about his grandfather's death when he stopped to think about it and it would have to be worse for Vern being orphaned.

It wasn't until Friday that an idea occurred to him to help Vern, focusing on avenging his grandfather's death helped him feel better so maybe that could help Vern. He decided to ask Varanian about it, his friends were used to him wanting to go to bed early on Fridays so it gave him the perfect opportunity to be alone. He lay back on his bed in the empty dormitory and withdrew his wand to press against the golden ring, he'd swapped its position with the Thestral ring so it felt more secure where they safely stayed.

"Varanian?" Scorpius questioned aloud and had to wait a few minutes before he felt the ring heating up in reply, the words forming for him to read.

Did you find out?

"Not yet, its hard," Scorpius pointed out and waited a second for the ring to relay his message before blanking again, "how do I do it?"

Search their stuff

"Okay," Scorpius agreed, he could work with that later but it wasn't his main reason for contact, "hear about the Dursleys?"

Greyback victims

"Do you know anything?"

Wife knew too much

"Not because of Potter?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

No

"What did she know?"

Something about experiments

"What experiments?"

I don't know yet

"Sounds bad," Scorpius pointed out worriedly, "what about Greyback?"

What about him?

"Can you stop him?"

His location is unknown

"Okay," Scorpius muttered as he nodded in understanding even though Varanian couldn't see him nod, "any luck with Lorcan?"

Location still unknown

Scorpius sighed miserably and put down his wand, so much for giving Vern any kind of justice or revenge or for saving Lorcan. At least not at that moment in time. His eyes closed weakly, still feeling drained from the Patronus lessons and wondering how Lorcan was doing. It felt like just a second later he was opening his eyes in panic, coated in a film of sweat that glued his clothes to him. He was shaking.

He still felt tired but he did not want to go back to sleep, he hated those weird dreams and for a second considered 'ringing' Varanian again but decided against it, explaining about it would be awkward with having to use short sentences and he'd rather talk about it in person, it was less than two months to the Easter holidays anyway and he'd see him then.

He got up to go stretch his legs, it was still afternoon and the dormitory was still empty. He walked through the halls and kept feeling irritated and on edge when he saw the Aurors, he started to head outside instead despite the cool temperature. It was nearly deserted outside, save for the two Aurors guarding the entrance and a boy sitting under a tree by the lake, his pure white hair gave away his identity even from a distance and Scorpius walked on over to Orous. The albino was leaning against the tree gazing into the lake.

"Hey," Scorpius greeted him feeling oddly nervous, he hadn't talked to him alone since Orous had agreed to hang out again, Orous glanced at him when he spoke.

"Hey," Orous muttered as quietly as ever before turning back to the water.

"Can I sit with you?" Scorpius asked and Orous shrugged, Scorpius decided to take it as a yes and sat down beside Orous. Trying to think of something to say as he looked at the lake, it was reflecting the setting sun so perfectly it looked almost like there was a second sun in the lake, "beautiful isn't it?"

"Only until the shadows destroy it. They destroy everything."

"Not really, the light always comes back to banish the shadows."

"Only if you're the sun," Orous pointed out quietly and Scorpius fell silent again for a minute.

"What did you mean before? When you said about them taking the magic out of your soul and putting it back but it not being the same?"

"Its hard to describe but things feel... different. I feel disconnected from the world, like I'm not really a part of it anymore, not really here, not really alive. You know dreams when you're sort of there and aware of what's happening but not really taking part? Its sort of like that, closest thing you'd understand. It feels wrong," Orous explained with tears bubbling in his eyes, "everything I see seems a shade darker, everything I hear seems a touch further away, everything feels distant, even feeling hungry or thirty or emotions feel different, like I know I feel them but its so far away it doesn't feel like it effects me. Its hard to remember things sometimes from before they ruined my soul too but everything since, all the bad memories are crystal clear. And I'm cold. I'm always cold."

"Is there anything that helps?" Scorpius asked quietly feeling his heart twist guiltily again for not helping Orous.

"Touch. Holding onto to something solid is the only time I feel almost normal, the first time my Dad hugged me after I thought I was actually okay again until he pulled away. I like being at home, we have two dogs and petting them helps but you can't bring dogs to Hogwarts."

"You could talk to Calderon about it."

"I wouldn't want them here anyway, they're safer at home."

"What... What family do you have?" Scorpius questioned cautiously, thinking about Orous' alleged twin.

"My biological dad left when I was a baby because he didn't want an albino freak for a son, a few years later my mum married my dad. My dad was an only child and my grandparents passed away years ago, my mum was an only child and on her side my grandfather is or was a Death Eater in the Second Wizarding War who was imprisoned in Azkaban and my grandmother walked out on her when she was young. I don't know about my biological dad or his family, I don't even know his name. My mum left when I got back from being a prisoner so its just me and my dad. He's a good person, he's a firefighter you know?"

"Do you have no brothers or sisters?"

"No."

Scorpius nodded in understanding and went quiet again, watching the sun set with the silent Orous. A part of him wanted to ask more, ask what he knew if anything from his ordeal but he couldn't bring himself to prod those painful memories, especially not when Orous still was teetering on the verge of tears. Instead he hesitantly put a comforting hand on the albino's shoulder, Orous' crimson eyes darted to him immediately.

"It'll be okay," Scorpius lied, "things will get better, it won't be like this forever. I promise."


Brutus had not been enjoying the past few months, things had managed to go from alright to awful. He'd been forced to take refuge with the Death Eaters along with Achan, being given stupid bunks to sleep in and given crap to eat and drink, the clothes were all cheap, itchy and ill-fitting. He hated it. He'd never slept in a single bed once in his life, never had to wear anything that cost less than the latest model broomstick and never had to go for an extended period of time on foul-tasting food, he'd been ill for days as his stomach adapted. He tried to wear the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd fled his home unless they were being washed but still had trouble sleeping. And that wasn't even the least of his problems.

The world had quite literally gone to hell, Dumbledore had been killed by that treacherous Snape - Death Eater or not, he'd liked Dumbledore and hadn't wanted him to die - and they had taken over the Ministry. The war was waging full scale, prosecuting mudbloods for 'stealing' magic - Brutus wasn't sure whether to be furious or relieved that his bitch mother hadn't been caught - and in general the Wizarding World was just in crisis. He decided he really didn't like war and really didn't want to be a part of it, the Ashains had been right all along to just think it was best to hide away in the bubble of safety at the mansion and stay out of things. Of course Atticus was still at risk, Brutus didn't know where he was but he knew he was still on the wrong side of the war.

Regardless of how it came about, Brutus had to root for the Death Eaters. He didn't see how it was possible to have a future otherwise, he'd be thrown in Azkaban if they lost and if the Death Eaters won then Atticus would have to see sense. He'd let Brutus go which Brutus took to be a sign that maybe he wasn't so badly brainwashed by his mother that he could see sense, Brutus thought if he just gave him some time to accept it then he could talk him into joining them, family mattered and it was better for their family if the Death Eaters won. The Ashain's were pure-bloods after all. Except Brutus but he really tried to forget that. It would also be better for the twins if Death Eaters won, if they lost then there was no way the Ministry would let children of Voldemort live - except maybe in Azkaban which he considered just as bad - especially considering Tommy's power and lack of control. Brutus sighed to himself, he just wished it would be over soon.

"What's up, Brutus?" Achan questioned and Brutus shivered, his voice sounded strange and Brutus rolled over in his bunk to see his friend only to be met by pitch black eyes again.

"Sal, what are you doing?!" Brutus demanded frustratedly, jolting up and looking around but thankfully it was empty that early in the evening, Brutus just preferred to be alone as he didn't get along well with the other Death Eaters aside from Achan.

"What? I have to practice my control of possessing people," Sal pointed out with an odd expression.

"No you don't. Those Shadows-"

"Specters."

"Those Specters then are bad news and its really not safe for you to be playing with soul-sucking shadows."

"Come now, Brutus, I know what I'm doing."

"No you don't, your whole reason for doing this is because you don't know and are learning how!"

"I know enough and Tommy's still the Shadow Master, they can't claim a soul with him in control," Sal said with a smirk, "these are perfect and I need control for my plans."

"How do these play into your plans?" Brutus wondered worriedly with a hint of morbid curiosity.

"No one's aware these things exist, let alone how to fight them so imagine how helpless people will be when I use them in my plans? Imagine an army of these at my command, eyes to spy, a way of transportation, a way to force people to do what I want, a way to kill. They scare you, they'll scare everyone else."

"I have no doubt they would but I stand by them being bad news. The cons outweigh the pros."

"The only con is that you don't like them because they make you shiver."

"They take souls, that is dangerous. And you're possessing my friend right now!"

"It's not hurting him, he won't even remember this because they can erase memories of those they possess to make them forget they've been possessed. Rather useful."

"Still," Brutus protested, "and why are you possessing my friend and talking to me anyway?"

"You've been down lately, I wanted to make sure you were alright," Sal told him and sounded so genuinely concerned it surprised him, he still didn't like it though and he really didn't like running into people possessed by Sal.

"I'll be fine, Sal, just please stop doing that," Brutus grumbled and Sal pouted before the Shadow or Specter left Achan.

"What am I doing here again?" Achan wondered blinking a few times with his real eyes.

"If you don't remember maybe you need to lay off the booze," Brutus pointed out rolling back over to the other side and fighting to fall into an uneasy sleep once more while Achan walked away cursing his memory. He couldn't wait for the Death Eaters to win, then Sal could drop her world domination plans and maybe they'd both have some peace of mind for once.


Part 6: Albus Likes Vipera


The Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match actually ended in a victory for Ravenclaw, Scorpius had been cheering for Ravenclaw out of continuing loyalty to Professor Ashain even though he disliked Copper and his Ravenclaw friends but was still surprised when they won as Slytherin had been the favorites. The Slytherin team seemed off their game though, usually Kyle was keen eyed and calm but he kept casting fearful looks at the pitch as did some of the other players which gave the Ravenclaw Seeker ample opportunity to best him. Scorpius also wasn't sure what was up with Nick but he just played terribly, his head was not in the game at all and Ravenclaw absolutely flattened the Slytherin team.

At least the pitch didn't turn into water and ice and try to drown anyone that time, it also seemed to cheer Vern up a bit and he smiled for the first time all week. Scorpius and Michael chose to sit with Vern, Corin and Orous, he was surprised when Albus and Abby also chose to sit with them rather than with Rose and the Ravenclaws and Albus didn't complain once about Vern although he didn't like that Slytherin lost for some reason. Maurice also attended the game, his neutral expression gave nothing away and he didn't cheer for any team but Scorpius thought he alone might actually have been disappointed that nothing went wrong.

Scorpius actually found it was just him, Albus and Michael in the Library the next day together though, Rose was with Copper and the Ravenclaws while Abby was spending some time with her dad to celebrate her sister winning the second task of the Triwizard Tournament that week. When Michael left for his session with Vipera it left just him and Albus, Albus sighed wistfully.

"What do you think she sees in him?" Albus asked thoughtfully.

"Who, Vipera?" Scorpius wondered in puzzlement to which Albus nodded, "a student in need of some extra help to compensate for his Dyslexia."

"Oh come on, like they're really studying right now. They're obviously having a make-out session."

"No, they're obviously not. Haven't we been over this?"

"This time its different, she's upset about her house losing the Quidditch match so she's going to lean on Michael for support."

"To cope with a school team Quidditch loss?" Scorpius said shaking his head, "I think you might actually need help."

"It matters to some people," Albus complained moodily, "I was thinking about writing her a love poem."

"Well that's a bad id-"

"I wondered if you could tell me which you like best," Albus interrupted and pushed a piece of parchment to him.

"You were supposed to be working on Grant's Charms assignment!"

"If you were in love then you would understand how hard it is to focus when your woman is in the arms of another man."

"Michael's twelve."

"Just read them!" Albus snapped and Scorpius sighed again as he glanced at the page.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You're so beautiful
And I love you

Roses are red
Violets are pretty
You are amazing
So I wrote you this ditty

Your hair is so fine
Your eyes just shine
You're really divine
Have the grace of a feline
So please be mine
I'll love you for all time

"So what do you think?" Albus asked hopefully, "be completely honest. I was trying to put my spin on a classic for the first two but the last one is original."

"Honestly, I still think you need help," Scorpius pointed out and Albus irritably snatched the paper back.

"Well its not aimed at you now, is it?" Albus grumbled, "and you know you criticize me when really you should be paying attention, at least I am actually doing something to win her over. Maybe if you tried writing Molly poetry then she'd be interested in you."

"Molly wouldn't be interested in poetry."

"Dude, its a fact that there's five things all girls love: poetry, flowers, sweets, perfume and jewelry. My mum wouldn't let me use my allowance on sweets, perfume or jewelry for a teacher and when I tried to pick flowers Neville told me they were poisonous so I'm writing poetry. I have to do something to compete with Michael but I can't bring back the dead and I tried reading about healing but its just... yuck so I'm trying my hand at poetry. You should do the same, Nick and Molly are having issues so its the perfect time for you to get in there."

"Since when did you become an expert on relationships?"

"Since I'm thirteen and older than you, plus I've been getting along better with James lately and he told me," Albus stated as if it were obvious, "I was thinking of going with the more original one, I was going to go with one of the others on Valentine's Day but with everything going on I completely forgot about that so I figure everyone uses Valentine's Day so I'll make my own Valentine's Day with my own poem and it'll cheer her up. Originality can be my hook compared to Michael's... altrusticness."

"Do you mean altruism?"

"Whatever its called."

"This is only going to end badly, Al, please don't give Vipera a poem," Scorpius pleaded with him before something occurred to him as Albus opened his mouth to protest, "okay how about this, we get out your dad's cloak and go check on Vipera. If I'm right and they're just working then you don't need to compete against Michael and don't need to send the poem and I'm wrong then you can send the poem and I can die of shock."

"You're on!" Albus agreed brightly and they packed up their stuff to go get the invisibility cloak

It still covered both of them easily and they started to head down to the dungeons, occasionally having to avoid oblivious people. Scorpius nearly asked Albus if he remembered the time they went down to the Hospital Wing but was afraid of Albus actually not remembering considering he didn't have his memories completely intact. As they walked it dawned on him that the cloak was the perfect way to go through the teachers things - without being caught - to see if there was anything to hint they were the one working with the Shadows but his plan immediately was bludgeoned down, the staff's offices had their private quarters attached - where they would most likely keep any damning information - but all had passwords decided solely by the staff themselves. He supposed he could stand around invisible in the offices waiting for the staff member to say the password but that could potentially take awhile and standing in a small space with a teacher seemed to tempting fate to get caught, invisible or not. Eventually they'd probably hear breathing.

They made it to Vipera's classroom, the door was already ajar so they simply pushed it open just far enough to see Scorpius proved right. Michael and Vipera were sitting together at the closest table with a cauldron bubbling between them and a row in ingredients they were talking about, Scorpius cast Albus a triumphant look but Albus didn't look displeased.

"Okay you were right," Albus admitted in a whisper, "for now anyway."

"So let's go," Scorpius whispered back when Albus didn't move.

"Just a minute, she's so perfect."

"From this angle we can only see the back of her neck."

"And its such a beautiful back of neck," Albus pointed out dreamily to which Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Did the door just open wider?" Michael questioned observantly.

They backed away in panic as Vipera looked over, she scowled and headed across to the door and they backed away right into the wall opposite. Vipera opened the door wide and looked out, eying the corridor up and down in both directions.

"Probably just those Aurors, they're always bothering me," Vipera said finally as she retreated back into the classroom and closed the door behind her.

They both breathed a sigh of relief and started to head back in silence, Scorpius felt alarm bells ringing in his head since she'd mentioned the Aurors. Always 'bothering' her probably meant secretly conversing with her over Shadow plans, she just jumped to the top of his suspect list.

"You don't think she's in danger, do you?" Albus asked worriedly once they were back in the dormitory, "I mean what if you're right about the Aurors being bad news? I mean if some of them killed Trelawny then what if Vipera's next?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Scorpius dismissed it, she was just covering her tracks by making it sound like she didn't want the Aurors around to throw suspicion off herself. Albus didn't look convinced but Scorpius didn't care, he just needed more solid proof and he could tell Varanian he'd finally done something useful.

With Monday came the first of March and Calderon announced that Elina Olga-Vasille was the new Divination teacher, even if they'd forgotten the name it was the same woman who'd upset Rivers after the Arithmancy taster. Rivers looked positively miserable as the school applauded in welcome to the woman, unlike Professor Trelawny she was actually sitting at the staff table.

"About time," Albus grumbled, "I was beginning to think they were just cancelling the subject."

"Well its complicated," Michael pointed out,"because Calderon's only Acting Headmaster his choice has to be approved by Headmistress McGonagall back in France, who also wanted to read through all the applicants and then because of the fears of security the Ministry also have to approve the choice after extensive background checks and interviews with mind reading people. That's why it took so long."

"Don't get me wrong, I've heard nothing good about Divination but the look on Rivers' face is completely worth it."

"Divination isn't that bad," Dom stated and Scorpius jumped, he hadn't realized she was sitting near enough to be in on their conversation, "Aurelius says its just an extremely difficult branch of magic to master and people expect it to be specific but the future isn't set in stone, there's different possible futures overlapping that make it hard to see so you have to try to interpret what you can which isn't necessarily easy but people don't take that into account. Understanding what you see is the most difficult part, its easy to get it wrong and people are very unforgiving if you do make an error and assume you're a fraud or a liar. Even if you get it right, it may not come to pass as the future is subject to change because you always have a choice. Arithmancy is also about the future but instead of seeing the future its more about predicting the most likely course of events instead of seeing it. A truly good practitioner of Divination is probably at least versed and possibly capable of carrying out both methods."

"Well no one cares what Aurelius thinks, my parents say Divination is a useless waste of time," Rose offered dismissively.

As it turned out it didn't actually matter that Elina had been hired as the next taster session on Saturday was Muggle Studies not Divination, Scorpius didn't find himself looking forward to that much either. Scorpius also started to regret going to the Potions classroom to check on Michael and Vipera as Albus remained convinced that her life was in danger and wanted to check on her at random moments because he had a 'feeling' she was in danger, Scorpius could hardly tell him that it was much more likely people were in danger from her and he had a crush on a Shadow. Instead he just went along with it so Albus wouldn't be alone, Vipera was probably starting to get suspicious that two of her best pupils kept running into her at random times to ask obvious questions.

The Muggle Studies taster session also had a hall full of chairs for them to sit at although the staff table was there with a scattering of muggle devices, Michael had almost not gone as he thought it was rather unnecessary considering he came from a muggle family but Rose had insisted he go or else she wouldn't bother going to the Divination one. It was the only time Scorpius had ever seen Michael looked bored by the prospect of something magical related. The Muggle Studies professor didn't seem to do much to make the class look interesting, he was a balding middle-aged man.

"My name is Bogdan Oring and I'm the professor of Muggle Studies here at Hogwarts," the professor introduced himself in a surprisingly lively tone although he had a way of pronouncing words that seemed to make sure every letter was said, he literally pronounced 'I'm' as 'I''M', "its the study of how muggles live without magic."

Oring went on to start talking about muggles and Scorpius found himself zoning out, even if not for the odd way he spoke, Scorpius already knew most of the things Oring was talking about. He only perked up briefly when Oring mentioned muggle transportation including motorcycles, Scorpius liked motorcycles. He drifted into fantasies of riding one with Molly, she'd have to hold him close and they'd speed along happily, while Oring demonstrated the items on the table - most of them anyway, he could only talk about the electrical ones since they didn't really work inside Hogwarts - that muggles used.

"I never thought I'd be bored in a magic school," Michael said to himself with a sigh, "I already know how a light switch works. Seeing everyday things talked about like alien objects is actually something of a downer. No wonder people were prejudiced against us in the past, its like we're an exhibit at a zoo."

"I think you mean them because you're a wizard and also hush, you're not supposed to talk about it yet," Scorpius pointed out in a whisper and Michael sighed again, "I already know this stuff too, just do what I'm doing and day dream about having a date with your crush."

Michael blushed at this and glanced at the back of Rose's head before staring at the ground, Scorpius also glanced at her and his other friends, they actually looked interested. He also noticed in his sweep of the area that oddly enough, one of the Aurors guarding the hall was glaring at Oring. Was Oring maybe also a Shadow and had done something to make the Shadow Aurors mad or did they just not like him preaching about muggles in a positive light? Scorpius shook his head and went back to not paying attention for the rest of the session, it felt like forever before Oring came to a close.

"And that's all we have time for today, if you want to know more about muggles than you will just have to take my class. I look forward to seeing some of you then. You may go but if there is any questions you have about the class or just something you want to know about muggles then I'll stay to answer them," Oring told them and Michael eagerly went to leave but Scorpius had a question and his hand shot up, Michael rolled his mismatched eyes and sat back down. It took awhile for Oring to get to him.

"I had a question about how the muggle legal system works, if a wizard commits a crime against muggles then they're tried and sent to..." Scorpius had to stop himself from saying Azkaban, "wizard prison but what happens if a muggle commits a crime against a wizard? Do they not get punished?"

"Yes if the muggle is aware of the magical world then they are tried by the Ministry and put in international wizard prison specifically for muggles who commit crimes against wizard then released as and when their sentence is up. If the muggle is unaware of the magical world then they may or may not be prosecuted depending the severity of the crime, when their sentence is up they have their memories of magic erased and just alter it to seem like it was a muggle only involved but this can be more trouble than its worth sometimes."

Scorpius felt confused and angered at Oring's answer, if they had a special prison for muggles who did things to wizards then why hadn't Linden and Joel been locked up there? Why had they still been free to hold Orous and the Scamander twins prisoner? Had they just had a day long sentence or something? Was it just not deemed a severe enough crime to be bothered? That had to be it, Orous had mentioned a grandfather he never met being a Death Eater, the Ministry just didn't care about crimes against the grandchildren of Death Eaters. That was probably why they didn't even care they were gone but launched a whole campaign to find the Scamander twins. How could the Ministry claim prejudice against muggle-borns or werewolves or most recently squibs was wrong when they were so blatantly prejudiced against those simply related to Death Eaters? It made him furious, it just proved that magical people were just as bad as muggles, people were just horrible regardless of their blood status. Everyone was bad. They were all against him. The world was a terrible place, Shadows or no Shadows.

Scorpius remained in a bad mood all week, he'd never been in such a bad mood with so many Quidditch practices as they geared up for the match against Hufflepuff on Saturday. Even his friends picked up on his foul mood but he couldn't tell them why, they'd just defend the stupid Ministry. Michael as usual was the one who tried to reach out to him and cheer him up, he wondered why Michael actually bothered as they came back from Quidditch practice on Friday and Scorpius threw himself down onto his bed. He'd barely cast a speck as his silver piece of Patronus shield so he was actually not as exhausted as he usually felt.

"C'mon what's wrong? Usually you love Quidditch practice," Michael pointed out, Scorpius just grunted in reply, he didn't feel like talking, "alright Mr talkative, want to see something cool?"

"No," Scorpius answered irritably, "I'd rather just be alone."

"It won't take long."

Scorpius rolled his eyes in frustration and got back up to go with Michael, his irritation dimmed when he noticed Michael occasionally rubbing his head like he did when he got a headache. Michael never complained but Scorpius had noticed it the past few months, he kept hoping it was the last time his friend would be in pain but apparently not. Guiltily he followed him on the Seventh Floor and was on the verge of apologizing when Michael turned around and walked back down the corridor then back up it again, Scorpius just watched in surprise and wondered if Michael's headache was impairing his sanity when Michael stopped and grinned.

"Come on," Michael told him as he walked over to a door opposite from the ugly tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, Scorpius just stared at it in shock.

"That door wasn't there before," Scorpius pointed out as Michael opened it and gestured for him to come, "where did it come from?"

"Magic," Michael shrugged as Scorpius followed him inside, "welcome to The Room That Doesn't Exist."

Scorpius looked around in surprise at the room that clearly did exist, it wasn't overly large or particularly small, there were some armchairs and a couch like the ones in the Gryffindor Common Room around a small fire. There were some bookshelves lining the walls and some tapestries.

"What is this place?" Scorpius wondered in shock.

"I just told you. You just walk around outside a few times and think about it then the room appears, however you imagine to be it will. I used the common room for inspiration here but it can be whatever, its pretty cool. This is where I hang out when I want to be alone, sometimes it doesn't work especially late but mostly its available. I don't think many people or any know about it or you guys wouldn't mock me for it."

"Well I definitely owe you an apology. I'm really sorry I didn't believe you about the room."


Unfortunately for Brutus the war did not end quickly, they were still at war by the time winter came. Sal at least seemed in a good mood, he took that to mean whatever she was trying to do with the Shadows/Specters was going well. He didn't ask though, he didn't want to know about those things. He understood her logic on how they could be useful but it seemed far more trouble than it was worth, he wouldn't want to be near anything that dangerous that could take his soul.

Brutus' mood plummeted with the temperature as winter arrived with December, it marked six months since he'd been forced to flee his home, six months since he'd last seen his family. And it was Christmas, it wasn't his favorite holiday but it was a reminder of family. At least he had Achan with him, he wasn't completely alone with his friend. He was on guard duty Christmas Eve, Rodolphus had been uncharacteristically kind enough to not torture either of the twins so Brutus had them both. Tommy's spirits seemed on par with his own but he made an effort to be more cheerful which was difficult with the Dementors but he still tried, telling them the stories about Hogwarts that they enjoyed.

His shift ended in the evening though and he clambered back up the steps to leave, only to find himself being waved into the kitchen by Rodolphus who was sitting with Lucius Malfoy. Lucius eyed him with a familiar look of disgust while Rodolphus was flipping through some pages with his feet up on the table.

"What?" Brutus growled, he didn't like either man.


Scorpius was impressed by the room although he felt like a jerk for not believing Michael from before, he silently vowed to never not believe Michael about something again. It was amazing though, Scorpius left and re-entered the room several times just to see how it changed with a different purpose or interior in mind. He could see why Michael liked it, it was your own perfect sanctuary whatever you desired and according to Michael other people couldn't get in if you specifically willed it so and no one could get in anyway if they didn't know the room's current purpose.

Scorpius was effectively cheered up, they only left when Aurors passed by and shooed them while they were outside trying to rearrange it into a room with stairs. It was probably a good thing actually as it was late, the practice had been after dinner because Hufflepuff had booked it in the earlier afternoon. Surprisingly though they ran into Albus heading back to Gryffindor Tower too looking upset.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked worriedly as they continued heading back together.

"Well I went to go check on Vipera before I headed back to the dormitory, you know how I do because soul mates instinctively know when something is wrong and she was fine but when I left I heard yelling and looked back and she was arguing with Aurors, I went back to see what was wrong and they left. They looked murderous though," Albus explained anxiously, "she was alright, its not like they dueled or anything but I'm just scared they'll come back for her later."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Scorpius pointed out dismissively, they'd probably been arguing about something Shadow-like.

Maybe the Aurors wanted to try something else at the match? The more time passed the more desperate they got after all, Vipera maybe was having trouble keeping them in line. That made sense. Scorpius thought about as he got ready for bed but Albus would not let the Aurors wanting to kill Vipera thing go, every time Scorpius closed his eyes to try to sleep Albus would again vocalize going to check on her.

"Look Al, I have a Quidditch game tomorrow, please stop worrying about Vipera," Scorpius pleaded desperately, half wishing he could be a heavier sleeper like Reuben and Angelo, "she'll be fine, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

"Don't talk about the Quidditch game!" Michael shrieked sounding panicked and Scorpius blinked, he hadn't realized Michael was still awake, he'd assumed all the tossing and turning was solely from Albus.

"Why?" Scorpius and Albus wondered in unison.

"I'm nervous okay?!" Michael told them sounding like he was crying or about to cry, "the entire school's gonna watch me fail because I'm a worthless loser failure, I'm no good and I can't do it, I can't do anything right, I've barely slept all week and I can't sleep and I think I'm actually going to be sick!"

"I'm sure-"

Scorpius was forced to end his sentence at the sound of someone leaping from bed and running for the door, Scorpius went to follow and realized Albus was too. Reuben and Angelo were still blissfully lost in sleep land as they followed Michael out into the Second Year's bathroom, Scorpius could hear him retching but wasn't sure which cubicle he was in. Scorpius exchanged a look of guilt with Albus, had they really been so obsessed with their own issues they hadn't noticed Michael was so worked up about the match or was Michael just exceptionally skilled at hiding it? Michael came out on unsteady legs, his face streaked with tears as he went over to clean himself up at one of the sinks.

"You'll do great, you're really good," Scorpius offered comfortingly, "trust me."

"Yeah don't be nervous, just try your best," Albus added gently, "is there anything we can do to help?"

"It w-would be nice to get some fresh air t-to clear my head," Michael said shakily after a few moments of silence.

"Sure we can do that, I'll get the cloak."

They retreated back to the dormitory to throw on some clothes and shoes quickly before they headed down, tossing the cloak over themselves as they headed out. Michael was still trembling as they went down all the flights of stairs, Scorpius was trying to think of the best thing to say to comfort him but was afraid of alerting the Aurors. Then again there didn't seem to be a lot of Aurors around, their numbers had cut down since Christmas and it was logical there was less on at night. They probably still guarded the main entrances though, Scorpius was just working on deciding which side entrance would be best for them to get out of when Michael spoke.

"Want to check on Vipera while we're passing the dungeons?" Michael offered quietly.

"Are you sure?" Albus wondered sounding somewhere between hopeful and nervous.

"It'll put your mind at ease. And we're still going outside right?"

"Sure," Scorpius agreed as they detoured into the dungeons, they were extremely creepy at night.

The trio pressed on though, rounding the bend with the Potions classroom on it, her office and by extension sleeping quarters would be in there. He hoped seeing things not out of place would put Albus' mind at ease because there was no way they'd be able to guess her password. The classroom door was already ajar so they just had to reach out to push it further open, it creaked loudly but then the noise didn't matter.

Vipera was lying sprawled on the floor unmoving in front of her desk, her hand outstretched but just falling short of her wand, her eyes were closed and Scorpius wasn't sure if she was breathing. Albus gasped in panic while Michael threw off the cloak and ran to her, falling to his knees and pushing his fingers to her neck. Scorpius and Albus followed over where he noticed a tear in her black dress around her stomach near the side, crimson was gushing from the wound.

"She's alive but she needs help. Albus get Marigold the healer now, Scorpius grab that cloak off the back of the door so I have something to try and stop the bleeding with," Michael told them looking up at them with his mismatched eyes, no longer sounding shaky but sure, Albus and Scorpius remained frozen for a minute though, Albus looked about to cry, "NOW!"

Michael's command shocked them to life and Albus bolted as if his life depended on it, or rather Vipera's life while Scorpius went to grab the cloak to give to Michael who was ripping the tear in the fabric wider. He took out his wand and sliced the cloak up, giving him a more manageable size of cloth to press into the wound. Scorpius just watched silently listening to his beating heart, he had really been wrong about Vipera.

"She keeps some samples of potions in the storeroom, get the one that's bright orange," Michael commanded and Scorpius didn't hesitate that time to get into the storeroom.

Maybe he should have. He spotted the bright orange potion easily and grabbed it, tossing it back to Michael to save time who immediately went back to pouring over the wound. It was then that Scorpius noticed the Auror hiding in the storeroom, he opened his mouth to cry out a warning but the Auror had already aimed his wand at him while he'd been distracted and Scorpius was hit by a spell before he could get the warning out.

The spell actually gave him a relaxing warm feeling but his body was ignoring his desire to speak or move, before abruptly he started walking out of the storeroom past Michael - who was pouring the potion onto Vipera's wound - to pick up the discarded invisibility cloak before starting to walk back. Scorpius tried to fight it and he could feel his body twitching as he tried to obey, his wrist was burning and he managed to bring himself to a stop beside Michael who looked at him in confusion.

The Auror must have realized he was losing control because he burst from the store cupboard with another jet of light already aiming for Scorpius, Scorpius was thrown immediately through the air and slammed violently against the wall. His head smacked painfully against the stone with a crack and he fell weakly against the ground, his vision starting to go dark but he still made out Michael jumping up and placing himself protectively between the Auror and Vipera. Then things went dark.

Scorpius was dragged back from unconsciousness by screaming, Michael was screaming... he had to help his friend. He forced his eyes open, seeing Michael writhing on the ground from what had to be the torture curse. The Auror jabbed his wand closer to Michael with a cruel smirk, Michael scream intensified as his body arched back before the Auror let it go and Michael slumped back breathing heavily and shaking.

"Dumb mudblood," the Auror spat raising his wand again, "Avada-"

"NO!" Scorpius shrieked desperately and reached out desperately with his arm, he noticed the fire circling his wrist just as it burst through his palm and struck the Auror.

The Auror screamed in agony as his body caught fire, staggering back and collapsing onto the ground as he thrashed violently against the flames. Michael scrambled to grab his wand and aimed it at the Auror with his arm trembling as he cast the body-bind curse to still the Auror followed by the spell to put out the flames, Scorpius wouldn't have given him that luxury but everything was already blacking out again.


"The Dark Lord wishes for his children to take part in some action," Lucius stated coldly but he didn't look quite the same, Azkaban seemed to have taken its toll, "they're coming with us to torture and kill a couple of blood traitors or mudbloods or muggles."

"There's eight of us going," Rodolphus picked up from where Lucius left off, "the twins and three Death Eaters for each of them, Lucius, myself and my brother, you, Selwyn and Loren along with three Dementors to keep Tommy's power in check. Your shoddy healing skills are actually the best we have so you'll be responsible for keeping the targets alive during torture."

"Fine," Brutus grumbled unhappily.

"That's not all, you've had issues in the past when children are involved."

"I don't like children getting hurt. What's your point?"

"We're intending to go after a couple as in a married couple, quite a few of them have children. You need to be okay with that."

"I'll be okay with it if you don't hurt the children."

"Well I can't promise that, its good to make scum watch their spawn suffer and they too need to be eliminated."

"Well then get someone else to go whose not me or pick people with no children."

"How about we make an compromising arrangement?" Lucius offered looking between them, "if Rodolphus agrees to not torture any children and Brutus agrees to not do anything to stop him from killing them, killing them only with the killing curse because its quick, painless but effective. Could you both agree to that?"

"I suppose," Rodolphus agreed reluctantly.

"I don't know," Brutus pointed out while Rodolphus smirked.

"Well then you won't come and they'll suffer an incredibly painful death, testing methods to be used against your family since your baby brother is a blood traitor fighting for the wrong side, even your father dated a mudblood to get you so that could be construed as treachery."

"Fine," Brutus snapped feeling miserable.

"Will you abide by it or do we need to make an unbreakable vow?"

"I can if you can... When are we going?"

"As soon as we've chosen someone from the list, top contenders at the moment are Claudius Vipera and his mudblood wife, Yvonne Carlyle and her muggle husband, Philip Varanian and his mudblood wi-"

"Pip Varanian is on that list? Stupid smart bastard," Brutus burst out in shock before he could stop himself.

"You know that guy?"

"We went to school together, always hated each other."

"Great then its settled," Rodolphus said with a malicious grin as he tossed aside the papers, Brutus suddenly had a very bad feeling he'd done something wrong, "ready the troops and grab the twins, we attack the Varanians tonight."