THE LAST PRINCE (T; MYSTERY/ ROMANCE; SS/ HP)

Summary: see Chapter 20

Disclaimer: See Part I: Prologue

Warnings: See Part I: Prologue.

Legend: "Dialogue/ Speech" 'Thoughts' Flashback Notes

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A/N: Enjoy this update! To anyone inquiring about the M-rated/ NC-17 version of this story, fret not. It will be posted on my Tumblr account soon. I'm just tying up loose ends with a couple of my other stories. Once that is done, I can focus on TLP2. Thank you for your patience. –C.

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The Last Prince II

The Pact and a Prophecy

By: C.M. Oliver

© 2013

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CHAPTER 32: Chaos

It was the longest Monday of Severus' life as of yet. It was only half-past eight. He had just informed Minerva and Remus of what had occurred in the last six hours. Amelia Bones has yet to give him an update. Lucius was away doing Merlin knows what to gather contacts. Gareth was seeking assistance with his brethren. Severus never felt more useless in his entire life.

'Think, Severus! Where could Harry be?'

His mind came up blank.

'Darn it! Use what you know of Harry… Lord Peverell… the Pact… the Prophecy… Wait –that's it! The Fiama! Maybe they can help!'

Now, that unearthed only one teeny, tiny problem.

'Where the heck am I going to find them?'

Severus rushed to his office and took out a piece of parchment. He wrote down the Prophecy, which he surprisingly knew by heart, and began to dissect it. The man's thoughts were interrupted with a silver mare Patronus. Amelia Bones'.

"LORD PRINCE. YOU ARE EXPRESSLY NEEDED AT THE MINISTRY. WE HAVE ANOTHER EMERGENCY COINCIDING WITH THE DISAPPEARANCE OF –"

Before the mare could even finish, Severus was already on the floo, on the way to the Ministry of Magic. When Severus arrived at the Ministry Atrium, it was pure bedlam. Scarlet-clad Senior Aurors were headed towards all directions: Paper airplanes filled the airspace, often times colliding with each other even. Every three seconds or so, a fireplace would turn emerald, spewing forth a harassed-looking Ministry employee. The Potions master used his tall stature and long legs to his advantage to wade through oncoming hordes of people, paper and the occasional goblin or house elf. Five minutes later, he reached the office of the DMLE Head.

"Madame Bones, what in the world is happening outside?" he asked as he entered the room. Amelia Bones looked up from the stack of memos she was charming into paper airplanes.

"Oh, Lord Prince, thank goodness! We are on CODE RED –"

"Code Red? Did something happen to Lord Peverell?" The blonde shook her head. "No, but we have a breach of Azkaban. Two prisoners from Maximum Security have escaped earlier tonight. It further cemented the doubt in my mind about all this being a mere coincidence." She hesitated. "I have informed Minister Shacklebolt. He issued a nation-wide manhunt."

Severus felt his heart stop. "Who –who were the escapees?"

'Merlin.'

"Our A/Ts believe an outside third-party helped them. A man –they think Polyjuice, but I personally reckon otherwise. Our wards should have detected any potions –"

Severus felt his knees go weak.

'No. This can't be.'

"Lord Prince? Severus?" Amelia was waving her hand in front of him. Severus woke up from his stupor.

"Yes? What is it?"

The DMLE Head looked confused. "You blanked out there for a while. I was asking if you could contact Lucius Malfoy for me, He has yet to return my Patronus and he wasn't at Malfoy Manor when I flooed…"

'Is it really…? No, but –'

"Severus?"

"Huh –what?"

The blonde witch frowned at her former Order colleague with worry. "Are you okay? Is there something else bothering you?"

Severus closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. His onyx eyes then met her sapphire ones.

"There –is something you need to know."

About thirty minutes or so later, Amelia Bones was rendered completely speechless. "Oh my –Severus –is it really? Is he really?" The man nodded grimly. Amelia paled even further. "And –and the man in the papers, Corvus Prince, you've encountered him?"

"Yes. I am not sure if her knows of either Tristan's real identity or the Prophecy. But her and whoever he works for certainly know of the Pact and what it entails. Anyone marrying into the Peverell House would wield great political and financial influence. Anyone who would want to take over the Wizarding World would have the path rolled out for them if they managed to do this." Amelia looked uncomfortable.

"But –but another Dark Lord? So soon?"

"Lucius and Gareth are in agreement with me that it is in our best interest that this does not become public knowledge. At least not until our enemy unveils his true identity." Severus sighed. "We miscalculated though. If –if Tristan is –"

The DMLE Head reached out and lay a comforting hand on the man's left shoulder. "We all know how Harry is, Severus. He is resilient, if anything. We still aren't sure if he's been taken. Let us not loose hope." She smiled. "And worry not. I swear on my magic that I will keep his secret safe. I will aid him in this fight as you. He will not be alone this time. He will have us as he gets through this new Prophecy."

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Tristan's hearing was the first to return the next time he awoke from his slumber. He heard voices, about three feet away from where he was.

"Well, I do not know what this is, if not sheer dumb luck," an amused voice said.

'That voice! It sounds familiar…'

The next thing that came to the young lord was his sense of space. He seemed to be lying on a soft surface… a mattress, perhaps? He was magically restrained. Bound to… bedposts?

"Well, we just planned on doing the distraction you ordered us to do, Mr. Port… but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. The High Lord, unarmed, unguarded in Diagon Alley!" A nervous voice admitted.

'Oh shit.' Tristan's coherent logic came rushing back full force. 'These are the ones responsible for the disturbance at Diagon Alley…'

"I know that magical signature, Mr. Port. He is under a wizard-glamour, but that's him!" The nervous voice offered. Tristan felt a wave of magic course through him. He felt his features shifting. A chorus of gasps rang throughout the room.

"It's him! It's the High Lord!" A girlish squeak said.

"Oho! Well done, Port! Now the time has come to exact our revenge!" A quivering snarl… an old man? Tristan tried to calm his heartbeat as he felt, rather than heard, footsteps approaching him.

'My incognito glamour must've melted away… Oh Merlin. I just hope that no one here other than me knows Goblin Magic or I'd be dead! What was I thinking? Severus will kill me… if I don't die here and now, that is…'

The young Lord felt multiple pairs of eyes on him. He quickly calculated the odds.

'There are five of them… three of these magical signatures are familiar. If I try to make an escape, I can probably stun at least the two weakest before they notice… and that is if these thugs haven't found the hidden wand in my left pant leg… Darn, if only my wandless magic isn't too flippant… I should have paid attention to my surroundings more when I went out…' Tristan almost flinched when a gentle hand brushed the hair from his face.

"Such a pity he has to die. I can imagine my estranged cousin and I dueling to death for this beauty."

'Cousin! That means –'

"Oh Corvus," the old voice said. "Once we are done, you can have the Seat that rightfully belongs to you. I'm sure the Grandmaster will allow you the High Lordship as he will give me back my position as Minister."

It took an incredible amount of restraint on Tristan's part not to open his eyes.

"And me, Cornelius? Will I get my Severus?" the girly voice whined.

"There, there, Dolores… you will have him…"

Tristan bit his tongue. Hard, really hard.

"The Grandmaster only wishes us, his most faithful, the best. We shall get what we want." Cornelius said smugly.

"What does the Grandmaster get then?" Dolores asked. "I'm not sure I know his plans –"

"Harry Potter, of course!" Fudge smirked. "Once everything is in chaos, that brat would not be able to resist it and haul his arse back from whatever hole he is hiding in to play hero again. But this time, no Dumbledore will protect him, no prophecy… the Grandmaster will have his own shot to finally finish the Boy-Who-Lived! Of course, he will –he has power than even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could only dream about!"

'Shit.' The logical part of Tristan's mind cursed while the emotional part of it just screamed 'to hell with it!' as he felt his magic escape the restraint placed on him. It all happened too fast. Bright white light exploded from the young man's core and enveloped the entire room, Five pairs of shocked eyes froze as the supposedly unconscious and magically bound wizard effortlessly dissolved the bindings detaining him in a shower of golden sparks. When the blinding light finally subsided completely, Tristan Peverell was calmly standing before them with a glare that could put Severus Snape's to shame.

'So much for trying to escape unnoticed…'

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Lucius Malfoy surreptitiously re-cast the warming charm on his expensive cashmere travelling cloak. He had been standing, hidden in the shadows in that nondescript corner of downtown London. Muggle London was perfect for covert operations like these for the simple fact that no wizard would be caught dead hobnobbing with the hordes of them in one go.

The street was busy, but Lucius' disguised brown eyes were unmoving; not idle, but it appeared to those who did not know any better that the black-haired man was simply staring off into space.

His contact said ten sharp. Lucius glanced at the nearby clock tower. It was ten on the dot. Suddenly, a presence materialized at five o'clock. Lucius made no move to face him/her.

"Mr. Malfoy?" A shaky masculine voice asked. Lucius grimaced. An amateur. NO magical signature. A squib, most likely.

"No names. What have you learned?" An audible gulp was heard.

"Three things. They have captured what they thought was the Falcon, two ex-Aurors did it. They were also the ones responsible for Diagon Alley. The tracer bounced back. Wherever their hideout is, it has been charmed to be Unplottable."

Lucius frowned. This was not good, not good at all. "What else?"

"The target is working for the man they call the Grandmaster –"

"Who is he?"

"Nobody knows, it seems." The contact sighed. "Rumor has it that not even the target has seen this person." Lucius nodded. "Very well. And the third thing you found out?"

"The Crow and the Toad are confirmed to be on it too. Whatever they are planning it seems to involve three people. Three –codenames –keep on coming up."

The disguised aristocrat raised an impeccable eyebrow. He then sighed resignedly. "And those are?"

"Falcon, Royal and Volvo."

'Tristan Peverell, Severus Snape and Harry Potter,' Lucius' mind supplied. He nodded with an air of finality. The meeting has ended. He felt the presence behind him leave. Lucius waited another three minutes before slipping into the darkness of Muggle London, unseen.

'Not three people, just two.'

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The conference room on level 5 served as the Head Quarters for both taskforce Blue Falcon and the on-going manhunt operations for Fudge and Umbridge. What was once a deserted space was now run over by an army of makeshift desks buried under tons of disorganized piles of paperwork. In the middle of it all, sat Senior Auror Gawain Robards, Head of Alpha Squad –the most elite ever assembled. Robards was a veteran of both wars with Voldemort, but never has he seen such frenzy. Of course the High Lord was missing; of course the two fugitives they were now hunting could possibly want the enigmatic nobleman harmed or most likely, dead… but something else was amiss. His boss was on pins and needles after speaking with Lord Prince. Now, Amelia Bones, the epitome of grace under pressure, was running around like a headless chicken, after meeting with Lord Malfoy.

They all knew something he didn't about Code Blue Falcon.

Robards knew better than to question his superiors… but he hoped that whatever it was that those three knew, they would soon share with him. Anything to make sense of this utter madness.

"Sir! Chief Robards, sir!"

Robards' musings were interrupted by a panting Junior Auror. "What is it, Walters?"

"Sir! We swept Diagon Alley for a second time like you ordered, sir! O'Malley found this –" A partially-charred piece of fancy cardstock was carefully laid on Robards' hands. "We think this confirms Madame Bones' theory, sir." Robards brought the parchment for closer inspection. There were writings on it.

"Get a Patronus to Madame Bones. Ask Lord Prince to come with her as well. Now!"

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Severus,

There are things that I am not very good at. Words are one of them. But you get the idea, right? Beautiful blooms such as these take time and effort to grow. Magic that we wield can only go so far. Sometimes that which is constant and prevalent, we take for granted… something as mundane as love.

Know that I am always yours.

H-

The rest of the signature was burnt off.

Severus did not know whether to cry in overflowing emotions or frustration. HE crushed the parchment in his hand. "The –lunatic! What was he THINKING?" The Potions Master's voice made everyone present in Madame Bones' office flinch: Amelia, Lucius, Robards, Gareth and Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had just returned from visiting his US counterpart. The British Minister of Magic had just been fully appraised of the situation by S/A Robards.

"Lord Prince, judging by your reaction, that is indeed Lord Peverell's handwriting?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes." Severus nodded stiffly.

"But the signature begins with an 'H' though," Robards mused. "Did he sign that note as 'High Lord of Wizengamot' or 'HLP'?"

Two wizards, one witch and a goblin exchanged looks.

"As all missives from him are," Gareth offered, and half of the room breathed a sigh of relief. The four who already knew of the truth had decided beforehand that secrecy was now paramount –especially after learning about Lucius' contact's findings. There could be a mole within the Ministry itself that was helping this 'Grandmaster'. The less people that know, the better. Tristan Peverell could not be in anyway connected with Harry Potter or they would all be doomed before they know it.

"It only serves to corroborate the reconnaissance information I had secured from my source," said Lucius. "The man that was abducted could certainly be the High Lord. For one, he was there when the attack occurred. Two, he's missing –"

"The attack also yielded two dead. Two New Zealand natives that were subsequently used to disguise the escapees of Azkaban prison were confirmed." Amelia put in. "And based on what I have gathered from Lord Malfoy's story, that man, Corvus Prince, could have been most likely the one to help Fudge and Umbridge escape."

Kingsley sighed. "We have a missing High Lord, two fugitives, a wanted accessory to a crime, a bombing –what else did I miss?"

"You mentioned that there were also two ex-Aurors involved." Robards said. "And that they are all working for a certain Grandmaster –who the heck is this Grandmaster?"

"The million-galleon question," Amelia murmured. Everyone turned silent until Severus stood up. Lucius noticed the look on his friend's eyes.

"Severus?"

The onyx-eyed man fixed his friend a glare. "If you think I am going to sit here and strategize while Ha –Tristan is out there missing, then you are sorely mistaken!"

"But Lord Prince, you cannot go out unescorted." Kingsley told him. "You are as much as a target if this group we are dealing with is out indeed to overthrow the current government –"

"You are forgetting who I was, Minister," Severus snarled, "if you think that I cannot handle myself."

"Do you even know how or where to begin?" asked Lucius. Severus met his friend's silvery gaze. "Yes, you do. And no, I do not. Not now." After a beat, Severus walked out of the room, his teaching robes billowing behind him. Everyone else left was stumped. Even Lucius.

"What did he mean by that?" asked a confused-looking Minister.

"Lord Malfoy?" Robards looked at the blonde man. Lucius eventually noticed the eyes on him. Only Gareth seemed to have fully understood what Severus' words had meant. The goblin's face was less crumpled –that was almost as good as a smile. Lucius knew that he could trust Gareth explicitly, even Amelia to an extent, but Severus wouldn't have used a coded response if he meant for the information to be shared to those in the room. Lord Malfoy schooled his features back into a look of polite unawareness.

"I –have no idea."

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-END OF CHAPTER 32-

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***TLP-VERSE NOTES:

CHARACTER NAMES:

The names 'Nile' and 'Euphrates' are names of rivers, for those who do not know. So is 'Tigris' for Euphrates' falcon. 'Tristan' and 'Isolde' (his falcon) were tragic lovers. I just thought it would be cool to give matching names. 'Corvus' means either 'crow' or 'raven', depending on whom you ask. And 'Artie Kester' (the writer who apparently hates Severus and Harry based on his articles) is an anagram of 'Rita Skeeter'. No relation though. Rita is dead in this verse. All goblin names are made up just for fun –same with the House Elves.

HARRY AND SEVERUS' PHYSICAL INTIMACY:

NO. They have not gone all the way. I'm still undecided if I want to increase the rating to an 'M' on this site. Even so, I will not go all-out graphic on you guys. The NC-17 version will be posted elsewhere, most probably on my Tumblr account. Take note though, there will be no D/s relations nor will there be an exclusive top/bottom even if Harry is more powerful or Severus is more experienced. I always like to see the boys in an equal partnership. Picture a seesaw. There will be times when Harry will 'dominate', likewise with Severus. And these do not pertain only to sexual relations. As you can very well notice, the two switch roles every now and then.

MPREG?

Will it push through? Remember Sev's completed potion? We'll see if it works. Warning though, this will be tackled on the third part of the trilogy… still a long way to go…

SUPER HARRY:

Not exactly. Okay, maybe a little. But it was backed-up with reason. He had FOUR years in the Lair! That 's more than enough reason to better oneself in my opinion. And Sev's still better than Harry in Potions or Dueling as claimed by Tristan himself when they first met (Ch.4).

THE LAIR:

I got the idea from Dragon Ball Z –only there, 24 hours is equivalent to one year. My version of the training room only gives a month, much more manageable. And yes, it is goblin-constructed. Is it not obvious how much I love them?

GOBLIN MAGIC:

Normal wizards cannot perform nor undo Goblin Magic. But when is Harry ever normal? Four years with a good tutor/teacher like Gareth helps too. Harry's 'Tristan Peverell' glamour could only be undone by himself or a goblin. Good thing the whole Goblin Nation is on his side (or are they?) so no simple 'Finite' can melt his gorgeous Lordship face.

AZKABAN WARDS:

Yes, the guards lack competency, but the wards do not. No, they don't screen owls, but it should have detected Polyjuiced escapees. So no, Fudge, Umbridge and their escort did not use potions and/or glamour. Darker, more sinister magic is in play, courtesy of course, of the mysterious Grandmaster.

THE GRANDMASTER:

Any ideas on who this person could be as of yet? I'd like to know your thoughts.

CORVUS PRINCE:

Corvus is not in any way immune to Veritaserum. His identity is real. He is called Corvus Port in the muggle world because that was the name his Father Cadmus took up when he was thrown there for being a squib.

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End A/N: Amelia Bones is now on all four secrets! Up Next: Chapter 33: Back – Severus and Lucius dabble again with the Dark Arts to try and find Harry. An angry Lord Peverell confronts his captors. Will we finally see this Grandmaster? – Don't miss it! By the way, you can also check me and my stuff out at:

FACEBOOK: C.M. Oliver is Eastwoodgirl

FFNet: C.M. Oliver is Eastwoodgirl

Twitter: C.M. Oliver (a.t.) heyitschesca (#cmoliverfanfiction)

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Until next time! Love, C.