Chapter 26- Wait, Draco

We have much to discuss, Sirius Black.

He knew every line, could mouth along to the cryptic sentences like he had said them himself. Usually he would stand just behind Sirius, Remus, and Tonks, pretending he had actually been there as well, and let the scene play out. Occasionally he would step closer to the two druids and inspect them more intimately, burning their image into his brain, every detail Sirius's memory allowed.

Severus had dipped his head into the pensieve every free chance he got since Sirius sent him his memory of this unusual meeting with the druids. And the only thing Snape had learned and knew with absolute certainty was that Druids… well, they were really fucking strange.

Severus entered the memory again, this time taking a seat at the small dining table that took up much of the hut. There were two druids standing against the back wall of the tiny house. They never gave names, but being able to distinguish between the two was incredibly easy.

On the left was an older man, hair graying at the temples. He wore a long, brown burlap sack-like gown that stopped just before the ankles, and he stood barefoot on the wood floor. He had dark brown eyes and his face held no expression. Severus didn't really like looking at that man much, finding the experience to be unsettling. Thankfully he didn't really need to, as the man never spoke or even moved an inch the entire time Sirius and the others were in the room. Sometimes Severus considered the fact that he might have been an illusion cast by the other Druid, that the older man never existed at all. He entertained that thought a lot.

The other Druid was young, Severus hazarding to guess around Tonk's age. His hair draped down to his shoulders in a messy chestnut brown color. His eyes were a subtle light blue and his lips naturally turned up at the corners creating tiny dimples on his cheeks. He wore a similar gown to the older man, but in a dark gray color that was cinched at the waist with a make-shift belt.

Sirius, Remus, and Tonks entered the hut and stood confidently in front of the two druids. Severus knew the conversation that followed by heart.

Sirius: "We do have much to discuss. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us."

Druid: "Beautiful isn't it?"

Sirius: "Uh… yes, of course. You couldn't have picked a better place to settle down. And the werewolves are good people. I'm glad you have been helping them."

Druid: "I am."

Sirius: "Right… Was that you agreeing with me?"

Druid: "This is how I must speak to you. Sorry for the strangeness of it."

Remus: "That is quite alright. We just thank you for your time."

Sirius: "Yes, we have much to ask you."

Druid: "Is it?"

Tonks: "I'm sorry but do you speak English? Ow— What? Sirius, that question didn't make any sense."

Druid: "Druids can do much. You can ask your questions now."

Sirius: "Thank you… We really just want to ask you about Tom Riddle, where he's been—"

Druid: "Is that really what you want to ask?"

Remus: "Pardon?"

Tonks: (under breath) "His English is fine. He's just weird."

Sirius: "Do you not want us asking about Voldemort?"

Druid: "Yes, of course."

Sirius: "Yes you do want us asking about Voldemort or yes you don't?"

Druid: "Yes."

Remus: "To which?"

[A long pause.]

Tonks: "I'm sorry if I offended you, sir, but if you could be more clear with your answers, we would greatly appreciate it."

Druid: "Close."

Sirius: (gaping at the the druid) " Um… are you purposefully being cryptic?"

Remus: "Perhaps we can start small. What is your name?"

Druid: "I'm sorry. So many questions."

Sirius: "We apologize as well."

Remus: "Yes, we can take this slower if you would like."

Druid: "I understand. You are forgiven."

[Another long pause as Sirius, Remus, and Tonks had a silent conversation amongst themselves, trying to decide the next best course of action.]

Druid: "I cannot ask the questions for you."

Sirius: "We know. We are just deciding what to inquire about first."

Tonks: "We have speculated quite a bit as to where Tom Riddle has been hiding all these years since his supposed demise. Do you know the answer?"

Druid: "No… It has been infiltrated by your enemy."

Sirius: "What has?"

Druid: "Then you already know the answers you seek."

Sirius: "We don't know what you're even talking about."

Druid: "Maybe. We do not know all."

Remus: "Well that is certainly true. Right now, we know very, very little. That is why we came to you."

Druid: "Yes."

Sirius: "Can you please give us a straight answer?"

Druid: "If you let the stars guide you."

Sirius: "The stars? I know the stars, mate—"

Druid: "As do I."

Sirius: "Well good for you! I know the stars, but I don't know how they guide me!"

Druid: "That is up to you. But this is the last time it will make sense."

Tonks: "None of this makes sense."

Druid: "And what good would that do?"

Sirius: "What are you talking about? Are you even talking to us?!"

Druid: "You are different. You understand… You know that she said more after you left."

Sirius: "I—

Remus: "Sirius, stop. Just… stop."

Sirius: "He's supposed to be helping us Moony… I just wish he was helping us."

Druid: "You never listened to the end."

Tonks: "The end of what?"

[Another long bout of silence.]

Tonks: "He's not answering anything. It's like he's not even here. The end of what, Mister Anonymous Druid Man?"

Druid: "Love."

Sirius: (sighing) "This is frustrating."

Remus: "Just try to memorize as much as you can. We'll go over it later."

Druid: "You knew that already."

Sirius: "I'm fairly certain I know absolutely nothing right now."

Druid: "There is someone at the door."

[Three heads whipped around, but there is no one there.]

Sirius: "Right."

Druid: "I have already told you the truth. You just refuse to believe me… or yourself."

Tonks: "You have told us nothing."

Sirius: "He's told us less than nothing, actually."

Druid: "He knocks, young wizard. You must go. Goodbye."

And that's how the memory ends. Apparently, after the Druid's abrupt farewell, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks found themselves suddenly back outside and no matter how hard they tried, they were not allowed reentry into the Druid's house.

Sirius and Remus visited the werewolf community every day for another week, but they never saw the Druids again.

Severus shook his head to clear it after being forced out of the penceive. He took a deep breath before re-entering Sirius's memory once more. This time he thought he would check out the rest of the hut.

It was small, sure, and incredibly bare, but perhaps there was something Sirius saw here that would help the confusing conversation happening behind him make any kind of sense. When Sirius and company entered the hut and began talking, Severus stopped by the tiny round window carved into the wood and stared at the forest beyond. It was kind of beautiful.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Severus blinked and turned away from the window and back toward the young Druid. "What— " Severus shook his head and chuckled darkly as Sirius began answering the question himself. Severus stopped listening as he had heard these words numerous times before and returned his attention to the window. "I must be going mad," he muttered aloud. "For a second I thought he was talking to me."

"I am."

Severus stopped laughing and twisted around. "What?"

"This is how I must speak to you. Sorry for the strangeness of it."

Severus knew the words, had heard them fifty times. Remus's half of the conversation was muted as Snape pondered the Druid's statement. "He can't be talking to me, right," he asked aloud. "That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"Stop it," Severus shouted suddenly. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Stop this, Severus," he told himself. "You knew what he was going to say and that's the only reason this conversation makes any sense right now. He can't actually communicate with you through Sirius's memory."

"Druids can do much. You can ask your questions now."

Severus snorted, finding the coincidence that his lines fit the Druid's narrative humorous now. "Fine, what's two plus two?"

"Is that really what you want to ask?"

The wizard's smile faltered. "I forgot you said that. I mean if this is real, if you're talking to me, then I don't actually want to ask, 'What is two plus two'. I obviously already know the answer to that question. I don't need your help with basic maths," Severus joked.

"Yes, of course."

"Of course…" Severus paused. He considered the situation for a second and then decided, Fuck it. Why the hell not indulge my delusions? "Are you actually speaking with me?"

"Yes."

He could feel his heart racing, even though this whole situation was ridiculous to even consider. He spouted off the first question that came to his mind. "Where is Voldemort?"

"Close."

Snape could feel the blood run cold in his veins. He felt sick. "How close?" When the druid didn't answer right away, Severus almost cried, realizing how absurd he sounded even too his own ears. "Ah come on, mate, talk to me. Is Voldemort still in Hogsmeade? Has he always been in Hogsmeade?"

"I'm sorry. So many questions."

Suddenly, this wasn't really a joke anymore. Severus stopped talking for a long while. "No I'm sorry," he finally said. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you. It's just…" He snorted. "This is surreal."

"I understand. You are forgiven."

Severus's eyes lit up and he smiled. "I think you actually are talking to me. This is mad. So… should I ask one of my questions again? Or is there something else I should be asking of you instead?"

"I cannot ask the questions for you."

"Right…" Severus paused for a second. His heart thumped loudly in his chest. "Is Hogwarts safe?"

"No. It has been infiltrated by your enemy."

"Quirrell, right?"

"Then you already know the answers you seek."

Severus huffed. "So coming to you was pointless then? Great."

"Maybe. We do not know all."

"Do you know if we will succeed?"

"Yes."

Severus gulped and then took a deep breath. "Do we?"

"If you let the stars guide you."

Severus nodded, understanding. "Destiny… Merlin, I hate destiny."

"As do I."

Severus glanced up and witnessed it for the first time. Soft blue eyes shifted away from Sirius for a split second and seemed to stare right at Severus. It was only for a brief moment, but Snape had officially ruled out that this conversation was simply a strange coincidence. This was actually happening. This was real.

Severus sighed. "I won't be watching this memory again, will I?"

"That is up to you. But this is the last time it will make sense."

"Yeah… Unless I say everything exactly the same as before."

"And what good would that do?"

He snorted. "Good point. Listen… why did you decide go about it this way? Why have this strange conversation with me instead of in person with Sirius?"

"You are different. You understand… You know that she said more after you left."

There was a long silence. Somehow, now that Severus realized the Druid was actually speaking to him all along, he understood what 'You know that she said more after you left,' meant. He hated thinking about it, hated thinking about that day he overheard Sybil's haunting words during her Hogwarts interview with Albus. He tried so hard to push that incident from his mind, regretting the events that proceeded that moment more than anything else he'd ever done in his entire life. But it had always eaten away at him, even to this day, that Lucius pulled him away before he could hear the whole prophecy. He dreaded thinking there was more.

Severus could feel his eyes start to water, his vision going blurry. "She didn't have more to say," he stated adamantly.

"You never listened to the end."

A tear slipped from his bottom eyelid and ran down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away. "Voldemort fulfilled the prophesy that night," Snape argued. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…'" At this point, Severus was a mess of tears. It had been ages since he cried and it was nice actually to hear Tonks yelling in the background as he did so. It was oddly soothing. "That was it. There was no more than that. He didn't know that Lily would place a sacrificing charm on herself, that this would make Harry immune to the killing curse that night. That was the power the Dark Lord knew not! It was—"

"Love."

Snape stopped crying and stared up at the young Druid again. It made sense. "Love is the power Voldemort knows not?"

"You knew that already."

Severus let a tiny smile settle on his lips, a salty tear sneaking through the gap and reaching his tastebuds. "There doesn't need to be more to the prophesy," Severus asserted. "That could have been the end. Right?"

"There is someone at the door."

Snape blinked. "What, no. You have to tell me I'm right. There wasn't more to the prophesy. Tell me there wasn't."

"I have already told you the truth. You just refuse to believe me… or yourself."

"No wait." Severus knew he was nearing the end of the memory. "Wait!"

"He knocks, young wizard. You must go. Goodbye."

Suddenly the memory shifted and disappeared and he was back in his chambers at Hogwarts, a tapping coming from the front door. He sat quietly for a long moment, letting all that he had just learned recede to the back of his mind, letting his cool facade take over just for a moment. He had kept the notion that there was more to the prophesy at bay for over a decade. He could continue doing that for a little while longer while he stabbed his unwelcome visitor in the neck with Gryffindor's dagger.

He quickly locked the pensieve back up in his secret chest, which also contained the aforementioned dagger (which he managed to snatch from the trophy room without suspicion immediately after returning to the castle after the Christmas holiday; he was instructed to keep it on him until they had a viable way to destroy Horcruxes… not that he thought the dagger was a horcrux in the slightest) and other expensive things that would be suspicious for Severus Snape to own, since he was not supposed to be, in fact, friends with Lord Sirius Black, before heading to the door. He paused and glanced at himself in his entryway's mirror, surprised to see nary a tear stain in sight. His face was dry, meaning his earlier breakdown had only occurred in Sirius's memory. Perhaps that's where everything should stay.

On the other side of the door was a very cranky Filch. Snape narrowed his eyes at the man and folded his arms across his chest unconsciously mimicking his Godson. "What?"

"The headmaster has asked to see you," the caretaker grumbled.

Severus eased up on the hostility. "And he couldn't come himself," Sev asked rhetorically. "Fine." Severus stepped out of his chambers and slammed the door behind him. He didn't say goodbye to Filch as he strutted past and headed in the direction of Dumbledore's office muttering muggle obscenities under his breath.

Most of the kids were already on the train about to head home for the holiday, so the hallways were bare as Snape turned down another corridor and stopped in front of the gargoyle. Severus stared it down, frowning deeper with each second that passed.

"Chocolate frog," Severus tried. Nothing.

Flinging his hands in the air, he decided to just wait it out. Eventually Dumbledore would realize he had never given Severus the new password to his office. He actually hoped the man would forget. He decided to wait thirty minutes and then head back to his chambers to start packing.

At minute six, the gargoyle moved, and the circular staircase unraveled from the ceiling. Snape sighed, before trudging up the stairs and knocking on the office's front door.

"Come in." Severus pushed open the door and found a frantic Albus Dumbledore throwing items into a trunk beside Fawkes's empty perch. "Ah Severus. So sorry about that. I don't know where my mind has gone."

Sev raised an eyebrow, but decided to keep his comments to himself. He was more curious about why the man seemed to be packing up most of his office.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Twinkly blue eyes glanced up from a broken sneakoscope that looked to be causing the old wizard some trouble since he kept putting it in his trunk and then pulling it back out again only to return it to the trunk once more. "Yes. Unfortunately I can't expound beyond that, headmaster secrets and all, but I will be out of the country for the next five days."

Severus blinked. This information was sitting heavy in his belly and he could feel himself growing tense. He wasn't sure why yet. "Right… is this why you asked me up?"

"Yes, well—" Albus stopped his packing and sat on the edge of his desk to speak directly to Severus. "I thought you should know of my sudden absence."

Severus licked lips that had suddenly gone dry. "As always, what you choose to divulge and what you choose to keep secret from me continues to confuse me. Your absence from the castle will not affect me in the slightest, Albus, for I am once again spending my holiday far from here, just as I have spent all my holidays since I started teaching at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore tilted his head in a most condescending way and Severus clenched his teeth and tightened the hold on his wand. "I have never begrudged you for leaving Hogwarts during the holidays, nor have I ever asked you to stay even when we have been understaffed. This was the deal we struck when you began teaching here. And I will not tell you to stay now, even if that only leaves McGonagall and Quirrell to look after the twelve students who are remaining at school this week. I just thought you should know. You may go, Severus. I'll see you after the holidays."

Severus nodded his head once as a reply and exited the office before Dumbledore could pull him into another conversation. It wasn't until he was nearly back to his chambers that he comprehended what Dumbledore was saying.

Quirrell would practically be alone in the castle for five days. Enough time, Severus presumed, to steal the stone without impediment.

Snape yanked open his door with more force than was necessary, almost ripping it from it's hinges. He then slammed the door behind him and flung himself at the bookshelves, wrenching heavy potions textbooks from the shelves and flinging them at the opposite wall in frustration.

No.

I'm not staying here.

I'm not.

…

I am.

Severus dropped to the floor and reopened his secret trunk, rifling through his expensive belongings until he found the compact mirror he was looking for. Flipping it open, he called out Sirius's name. Then he waited.

After a long minute, Snape's reflection in the mirror finally shifted and was replaced by a face Severus knew better than his own. Sirius's expression was full of worry.

"Severus, what's wrong? You never use the mirror."

Snape sighed in relief. Perhaps it was simply the fact that Sirius's face came through the mirror with such stark clarity that it was almost like the man was in the room with him. Maybe it was seeing the familiar surroundings of their house in Essex in the background. Or it could be that Severus had been hearing the same words from the man for over two weeks when he visited the pensieve and Sirius was finally saying something different. Whatever the reason for why he felt such relief in that moment, he was glad for it, for it lifted the heaviness that had settled against his ribcage slightly. He no longer felt like he was suffocating.

"Sirius, Albus is leaving the castle and that will leave Quirrell alone at Hogwarts, and I know it's him because I'm certain that's what the druid meant when he mentioned it being infiltrated by the enemy. There will be no one here except McGonagall and she won't know to keep an eye on Quirrell, and she'll be too busy watching the dozen children who aren't returning home for the holiday anyway. We can't let him get that stone, because I'm not ready for him to come back. I mean, I don't really think I ever will be, but he can't come back right now. He can't—"

"Severus, breathe!"

Snape stifled his words abruptly and did as he was told. Breathe in… one… two… three… breathe out. Just like Remus had taught Sirius at the beginning of the school year when he was having panic attacks.

"Okay… I want you look at me." Sev returned his gaze to the mirror and the silver eyes that glared at Severus through it. "You are coming home tonight."

"But—"

"No. No buts Severus. Fuck the stone!" Severus blinked, taken aback by the severity in Sirius's tone. "Fuck Quirrell! And fuck Dumbledore! We all know that old coot has a plan, and if he wanted you to be part of it, he should have just told you. He didn't though, right? He didn't come out and tell you to keep an eye on Quirrell while he was gone, right?"

Severus shook his head. "No, but—"

"Well then you are not doing that. Let Albus deal with the consequences of his actions for a bit. For Merlin's sake, let him set his traps and let Quirrell step into them. I don't care anymore! You. Are. Coming. Home. Tonight. Full stop."

"Syr—"

"I swear to the Gods, Sev, if my whole family is not under the same roof tonight for dinner, I will go mad. You'll have to drop me off at the nuthouse, Severus. Is that what you want? Because I really don't think you want an unhinged Sirius Black on your hands," he threatened, his voice coming out crystal clear through the mirror and echoing around Severus's chambers. "I'll have you know that I am one of the wealthiest, most influential wizards in the country, and I have kept my eccentricities tame in comparison to what they could truly be. You should count yourself lucky. Now, I have been looking forward to this holiday week and I expect everyone to be there… well except Tonks, Charlie, and Bill, but they will be here on Monday."

Severus opened his mouth—

"And no Sev, that does not mean you can wait until Monday to come home! Tonks, Charlie, and Bill have to travel from Romania the muggle way, because otherwise their bottled dragon fire, which they were finally able to finish siphoning last night, might combust during apparition. We're not even letting them fly, in case the altitude effects the volatile substance." Sirius paused for a moment, catching his breath after the heated statement. Piercing gray eyes focused on Severus again. "You, however, are coming home tonight so the boys can tell us all about what they learned at school, while we eat whatever delicious meal Corey was so bloody excited to start this morning! And then you promised Rosie that you would officially introduce her to Draco and Harry tomorrow! Or did you forget?!"

Severus winced. "I didn't— I didn't forget, per se."

Sirius sighed. "This week is not about Voldemort. For once this year can we just have a week, just one week, where we don't talk about that prick… unless it's with delight as we watch pieces of his soul get destroyed when the three musketeers return with a possible solution to the whole horcrux problem on Monday?"

Severus nodded automatically and he didn't have time to regret the instinctive action. The little mirror was taken up by Sirius's relieved toothy grin and Snape couldn't find it in himself to take back his nod of agreement. And he really did want to go home. Suddenly staying at the school to watch Quirrell sounded about as appealing as torture.

Sev sighed. "So should I bring the dagger with me?" He grabbed the dragon-bone blade from his trunk and flipped it around with practiced ease. The dagger had sort of grown on him.

"Yeah, bring it."

Severus brought the dagger to his side. "Do you really think it's a horcrux?"

"Do you?"

He looked down at the blade that seemed to fit so perfectly in his hand. There was nothing really sinister about, not like how he felt whenever he was near the locket or the ring. "No, not really."

"Okay, so we won't destroy it."

Severus smirked. "So do you still want me to bring it then?"

Sirius smiled, that shit-eating grin that Severus had realized very early on spelled trouble. "Absolutely."

"Why?"

"Because I want it."

He couldn't stifle his chuckle quick enough. "Is this the start of those eccentricities you mentioned earlier?"

Sirius shrugged, smiling giddily.

Severus held the blade up again and stared at it fondly. "Actually, uh—" Severus cleared his throat and avoided eye contact with the compact mirror as he muttered, "If we aren't going to destroy it… can I keep it?"

"Sure Sev, just don't get caught with it," Sirius replied easily. "Listen, I got to go. The boys should be arriving soon. I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah, right. Okay… um, bye."

"Bye."

Severus stared at his reflection for a long time until it's confused grin had him snapping the mirror closed with an audible click so we wouldn't have to look at himself any longer. He put the mirror and the dagger back in the trunk. He would work on making a scabbard for the dagger this week so he could slip it under his pant leg and carry it around with him.

He set to work packing, telling himself to stop worrying so much about Dumbledore and Quirrell, things that weren't really in his power to control.

He'd just have to wait.

He'd have to wait for something to happen that he could actually do something about.

"Three weeks. Hundreds of burns acquired. Twelve different dragons. Four near-death experiences. Three times we were almost caught and sent to Azkaban… if Azkaban is even where we would go after being caught in Romania. Perhaps the Romanian prison system is even worse than ours… Anyway— Despite all that, despite every day for three weeks feeling like I was about to have a heart attack because of the stress, I would brave it all again. If this bloody works, I would do all of it, every single second, right over again. In a heart beat."

Tonks listened to Bill's little speech, nodding along to every word. To some it may have seemed to be an exaggeration, but she had been there. Everything Bill said was horribly accurate.

With all the nonsense that happened with the bloody druids, Tonks was not about to leave Romania without contributing in some way to the "destroy Voldemort" cause. And she certainly wasn't leaving her Weasley boys to fight dragons alone… even though that had been the plan from the start. Too many people living with Charlie for three weeks on a dangerous Dragon reserve was suspicious. And she should have returned to Britain for the Wizengamot summit at the beginning of the month.

But she was not going home without them.

Thankfully Sirius agreed with her, probably relieved that someone was staying behind to watch out for Charlie and Bill while he and Remus had to return to the island. She was humbled that Sirius considered her powerful enough to be there to watch the boys when he couldn't.

The whole ordeal had been grueling, and as Bill stated in his speech, stressful as all Hell. When Tonks joined the two redheads, they had barely bottled enough dragon fire to kill an ant, let alone a metal locket forged almost a millennium ago that contained the soul of a very powerful wizard. The reason for this lack of dragon fire was that one of them, usually Bill, was always keeping watch while the other, usually Charlie, riled up the dragon of the day and siphoned as much of it's flames into a glass vessel as he could. As soon as Tonks arrived, everything became a lot easier. Now, while one kept watch, the other two could face the dragon together. The system was still incredibly flawed and all three suffered from terrible burns every night, but at the end of the three weeks, they had three full bottles of dragon fire and none of them went to prison.

Then began the harrowing journey on foot and by train as they traveled across Europe praying to the Gods, and anyone else who would listen, that the volatile substance in their trunks remained in tact and didn't blow a hole in their train car.

But they made it. And now they were here, standing in an empty pasture just outside Black Manor ready to test their hard-earned treasure on Slytherin's locket.

Bill placed one of the bottles of dragon fire beside the horcrux on a floating piece of plywood. The flames swirled dangerously in the glass container as Bill stepped away and joined the circle of bodies. Everyone could feel the temperature drop instantly. The locket almost seemed to shiver, like it desperately wanted to move far, far away, but couldn't because it was an inanimate object. Tonks glanced away from the horcrux to see Bill smiling hesitantly, as if this display by the horcurx was a good sign, but he was still worried that by showing hope that this was going to work would mean that it wouldn't.

"Everybody ready?"

Tonks returned her focus to the matter at hand after watching everyone else do the same. Bill was to her immediate left followed by Grayson Greengrass, Naomi Greengrass, Rosmerta Ogden, Steven Prince, Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones, Alice Longbottom, Frank Longbottom, Sirius Black, and closing out the circle was Charlie Weasley on Tonks's immediate right.

Tonks held out her wand like the practiced Auror that she no longer was. Her task was to create a circular barrier, a modified protego spell she learned during auror training, around the plank of wood as soon as Bill cast a confrigo at the bottled dragon fire that would let the flames spill out. Grayson, Rosie, Remus, Alice, and Sirius were all doing the same, hopefully creating enough of a shield to keep the fire that erupted contained. Naomi, Steven, Amelia, Frank, and Charlie were meant to create a barrier of water to douse any flames that seeped through their barricade. They had practiced their shellwork two dozen times the day before until everyone was comfortable enough to try it on the real thing.

And now it was time.

"On my mark," Bill announced.

Tonks shifted her feet and tilted her wand slightly. The words to her spell were on the tip of her tongue.

"Get set… Confrigo!"

Before Bill's spell even hit the target, Tonks had incanted her protego spell, making sure the sphere was complete and without fault.

The sound that followed a millisecond later had Tonks physically startling, though her wand remained steady, as did the spheres surrounding the horcrux. She didn't even see the glass bottle shatter. One second it was there, the next it wasn't. The boom was incredible, but it didn't come close to the scream that followed soon after. It was a wail, a terrible screech that seeped into her bones and made her whole body tense up in pain. She could feel her legs tremble beneath her, but she held strong. That barrier would remain until it was safe to let it go.

She watched through the bubble of water and the filmy walls of their protection barrier, her mouth agape, as the dragon fire erupted again and again, tumultuously pounding against the barricades that blocked it's escape. Black smoke with a mind of it's own struck the barrier with high-pitched wails, as if under the cruciatus. She gripped her wand so hard, she thought she might snap it in two, but just when she felt her strength waning, the flames vanished and the screaming stopped.

She dropped her wand and her arm fell from where it had been suspended in midair becoming a dead weight by her side. There was a splash of water as the others dropped their barricade as well and a light mist settled around the circle or wizards.

Tonks legs still wobbled, but she refused to collapse and it seemed everyone else was refusing to do so as well. Her breathing was heavy and quick, but with every second, she was regaining her strength, her identity, herself. The screams still echoed in her eardrums, but they were slowly fading as well, until finally they were nothing more than a dull memory that would probably end up haunting her dreams.

Surprisingly, Grayson was the first to move. His steps were calculated as he crossed the now damp meadow to search for the locket in the grass. Tonks watched with baited breath as the man stooped down, grabbed a charred piece of metal from the ashes that had once been a floating plank of wood and held it up for everyone to see.

His eyes were bright as he stared at every single person in turn, the first being his wife and the last being Bill. All eyes were on Grayson Greengrass. The world had stopped turning for a moment. All noise had ceased. Everyone felt numb as they waited.

"It worked."

Tonks burst into tears then. She was happy. She was terrified. She was ecstatic. She was exhausted.

She had no idea what anyone else was doing, but it didn't matter. This was an experience that they shared, twelve of them forever bonded because of this one moment. Arms encircled her from behind and she leaned into the embrace, so familiar she was with it ever since that day in her flat after her parents' funeral. She could hear Bill mumbling something into her hair, but couldn't make out the words. Every emotion seemed to bubble inside of her at once, until all she felt was overwhelmed. It was too much, but also, just right.

"Do you think he felt it," she whispered to Bill a few hours later, after everyone left to their own homes to celebrate or run around or bathe or take care of their children or sleep for a decade. She, Bill, Sirius, and Charlie were the only ones still at the manor. They'd hardly moved an inch since Grayson handed Sirius the melted locket and left with a grin so wide it hurt to look at. They couldn't really. Not yet.

Sirius fiddled with the locket in his hands. She knew he wanted to go home to Harry and Draco, where Remus had gone an hour back to make sure everything was alright. But something kept him at the Manor with his cousin and the two Weasleys. Whatever that something was, Tonks didn't know. But she could guess.

Sirius had always been good at keeping secrets when it involved bad news. This— actually destroying the bloody artifact that had eluded Sirius for so long until now— wasn't bad news. And he probably desperately wanted to celebrate with his children, but knew it would raise a lot of questions he was in no mood to answer.

"I doubt it," Bill answered and Tonks had to take a second to remember what she asked. "I wish he felt it… but I also don't. We can't let him know we're destroying his horcruxes one by one… especially since we don't have them all yet."

"I guess that's the next step for you then, Bill," Sirius announced. "After we destroy that ring tomorrow, we have to find the others."

Tonks could feel Bill nodding his agreement into her shoulder. "I'll help," she mumbled quietly.

Bill smiled into her neck and whispered, "Okay."

Sirius chuckled, whether from the exchange or the annoyed look on Charlie's face, Tonks didn't know. He rose from his spot on the grass with a groan, the bones in his spine cracking back into place. "Merlin, I'm old."

Charlie hopped up after him and clapped his boyfriend on the shoulder. "Oh really? Should I be getting you a cane?"

Sirius's gray eyes twinkled with delight for a moment, before they suddenly narrowed, his grin replaced by a scowl. "And be like Malfoy? Yeah, I don't think so. See," he proclaimed in annoyance, "this is why I don't have all those wealthy wizard eccentricities. Malfoy ruined them all for me."

Charlie laughed and wrapped an arm around the older wizard's waist, giving a quick kiss to his cheek. "Well come on then, old man. I'll be your cane."

Sirius visibly brightened. "I like the sound of that. Take me home."

Charlie looked down at Tonks and Bill. "See you tomorrow?

Tonks nodded, settling into Bill's arms even further as they waved their goodbyes and Sirius, with the help of Charlie, trudged their way back to the Manor to floo home.

She really liked this. She really liked Bill. She told him as much. "I really like you."

Bill's arms tightened around her stomach. "Good. And I really like you too Nymy. I don't take just anyone home to meet the family, you know."

Tonks snorted. "I've already met your family."

"Not as mine."

"Yours, huh?"

"Yeah… mine. And I am yours."

Tonks knew it was fast. They'd only been dating for three weeks and most of that time was spent flying after dragons. But Tonks and Bill had been circling each other for months. And if Tonks was honest with herself, she was Bill's the day he held her while she cried and ate terrible casserole with her and listened earnestly as she explained how she had been feeling since her parents' death.

And if Tonks was really, really honest with herself, she was Bill's the summer before year four when she visited Charlie, the day she gave up and let him call her Nymy.

Tonks sighed. "Okay, but this whole thing with your parents on Friday… it's not about us, alright?"

"What do you mean?"

Tonks twisted around in Bill's arms until she was facing him. "Look, we can talk to them and make sure they know how brilliant you are. And how brilliant I am," she added, smirking. Bill nodded, and rubbed the goosebumps from her arms since a chill had settled over the meadow now that the sun was going down. "But… Bill, we need them to know how brilliant Sirius is."

Bill remained silent for a long while, so she continued, hating the quiet.

"Your parents already like me. I have no idea why, but we both know your Mum wanted me with Charlie from day one." Bill's face twitched and a tiny frown settled on his lips. "Oh don't give me that look," Tonks admonished, physically pushing the corners of his mouth up with her thumbs. "He's bloody gay, and I've always been yours William Weasley. Now listen, you numpty, because this is important."

Bill grinned of his own free will and he snagged Tonks's hands away from his face and held them in his lap between them. "I'm listening."

Tonks smiled shyly, not a common expression for her, but she found herself flustered more frequently these days. "Good," she stated firmly once she found her voice again. "Because Sirius loves your brother… a lot. In a nauseating, makes me want to sick all over him kind of way."

"Yeah," Bill agreed. "Charlie too."

"Exactly," Tonks exclaimed. "I want them to be happy, Bill."

"So what's the plan?"

Tonks grinned. She felt butterflies in her stomach, the goose pimples on her flesh no longer having anything to do with the cold. He rubbed her palms with the pads of his thumbs as he waited for her answer. Now, all she really wanted to do, though, was go home and snog him senseless. Thankfully she was staying the night with him, so that was exactly what she would be doing.

"The plan is we get your parents to like Sirius."

"And how do we do that," Bill asked.

Tonks grinned. It was the scheming kind of grin that was synonymous with being a Black. Sirius smiled like that. Draco smiled like that. It was a family trait.

"We make sure they see Sirius's best quality, that he isn't just a very wealthy, extremely privileged, and surprisingly powerful wizard who is pulling their son along."

Bill leant forward, understanding Tonks enough to play along to this little game she started by asking, "And what pray tell, my dearest Nymy, is Sirius's best quality?"

Tonks leaned in as well until all she could see were cloudy blue eyes, bright and incredible in their sincerity.

"He's a great father."

Her answer came out much softer than she expected. Perhaps that was because the statement rang true, not only for how he was with Draco and Harry, but how Sirius Black was with her, as well.

Sirius loved his family with a fierce protection that one only noticed when they got to know him.

So Arthur and Molly Weasley were about to get to know the real Sirius Black, or her name wasn't Nymy Tonks.

Bill wasn't one to be the center of attention. When he talked, people listened, but no one would make Bill the main character of their story. It's not that he wasn't special enough, or funny enough, or good-looking enough. He was all of those things.

But he would simply prefer watching everyone else go about there days in their own unique ways than have them stop their lives to pay attention to him.

So when everyone gathered at the house in Essex Friday morning to get ready for their own adventures that day, Bill sat in the corner of the staircase and merely watched them all with a stupid grin on his face.

"Bill, what about this?"

Bill glanced up the staircase where Tonks was wearing a simple yellow sundress, making the purple of her hair and the green of her eyes stand out. "You look lovely."

"That's what you said the last three times I asked."

Bill shrugged. "I thought this day wasn't about us Nymy."

Tonks frowned, her left eye twitching. "Fine, this dress'll do then," she huffed, making her way down the stairs and stopping at Bill's side. "Have you seen Sirius yet?"

Bill chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the back of Tonks's bare legs and rubbed her thighs. "He's come down the staircase on five separate occasions, each time in a different outfit."

Tonks giggled and leaned down to cup Bill's face in her hands. "And did he look lovely?"

Bill pulled on her legs until her knees buckled and she fell forward, all her weight resting on Bill's shoulders. He tilted his head up and kissed her sweetly on the lips. When he pulled back he smiled playfully up at her. "I think the blue shirt suited him well. He should put that one back on."

Tonks laughed heartily, swiftly kissed him on the cheek, and swooped back upstairs, presumedly to find Sirius and force him to put the blue shirt back on. Bill knew what looked good. He also knew what his Mum would like. A bright blue shirt that matched Charlie's eyes… Bill couldn't think of a more subtle way to get Sirius on his Mum's good side.

His dad probably would have liked the red paisley number Sirius had worn on his fourth trip down to the kitchens. It was horrid and Bill was genuinely surprised Sirius Black would even own something like that.

Charlie strutted into the foyer from the living room, pulling on his tie. "Why do we always have to wear these bloody things?"

Bill beckoned him closer and when his brother took a seat on the step next to him, he pulled out his wand. "I'm going to teach you a spell and it's something you can never let anyone know about, okay?"

"Why not," Charlie asked, though he looked eager to learn something new.

Bill smirked. "Because it ruins the affect if people know why I always look so cool and comfortable. But you're my little brother, and I forgot to get you something for Christmas, so…"

Charlie's face brightened considerably. "Wait— are you telling me you know a spell that actually makes you cool?"

"Something like that, yeah." Charlie snorted and Bill grinned at him. "Ready?"

"Oh I was born ready," Charlie promised.

Bill chuckled. "Alright— and remember, you can never tell anyone about this charm, got it? I developed it myself so only I get to share it with people."

Charlie nodded. "Fair."

"Okay," Bill continued, holding up his wand and aiming it at Charlie's tie. It was weird to point his wand away from himself, but he didn't have to alter the wand motion too much as he incanted, "Mollitbricae decorum." He watched as the tie unknotted itself only to retie itself a moment later, but Bill could tell it worked when Charlie's eyes widened exponentially.

"Merlin's left tit, Bill!" Charlie's hands went to his tie as if to feel if it was still there. "What did you do?"

"I softened it… a lot."

"Wow, it— it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing anything," Charlie marveled. "That's amazing. Wait— do you do that for all of your clothes?"

Bill smiled smugly. "Yup. I pretty much always feel like I'm in the nude."

His brother gaped at him. "What?! That's… actually I don't think I would like that very much."

"It takes some getting used to," Bill assured him. "But it means I can wear really uncomfortable clothes that look good and still feel relaxed and casual."

Charlie sighed. "You are something else, you know that Bill?"

Bill shrugged just as Rosmerta, Steven, and Remus came in from outside.

"I don't want to go."

Steven rolled his eyes. "Rosie, we're going. We said we were going, so we're going."

"Oh— are we going? Because I'm not sure if you said it enough times already," Rosmerta mocked in annoyance.

Severus huffed in exasperation. "You were the one who said yes to the invite!"

"I didn't know what I was saying yes to, Steven!"

"He's our friend," Snape argued.

"Well he isn't mine. Grayson is— annoying!"

Bill raised his eyebrows at the declaration but didn't want to intervene in the argument. Charlie had already snuck upstairs and Remus was desperately trying to slink away into the kitchen without being noticed.

"Rosie come on," Severus urged, grabbing her hands in his. "I know you were in Ravenclaw with him and he was bloody irritating, but he's a different person now… Aren't we all?"

The witch's face softened and Bill wanted to give Snape a gold star. That was the perfect thing to say. "Fine," Rosmerta relented, her face giving way to a playful smile. "He did seem different the other day. That's why I said yes."

Steven grinned too, and Bill marveled at how difficult it was to see his old potions' professor through that expression. He had to hand it to Severus Snape. He could act.

"Good, so can we go?"

Rosie snorted. "We're going for dinner, Steven. I'm not spending all day at the Greengrasses, for Merlin's sake. We'll just hang out with Remus for a little while until then," she stated primly before turning on her heel and following after Lupin into the kitchens.

Snape remained where he stood for a long time, taking long, deep breaths. After a moment he looked at Bill who nodded at him in commiseration. Snape nodded back before heading into the kitchens after his girlfriend.

There was a chuckle behind him and he glanced up the staircase to find Harry Potter, dressed nicely in a pair of black slacks and a crisp light green dress shirt, seated a few steps above him.

"Hey," Bill greeted.

"Hi," Harry replied, perching his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his knuckles.

Bill twisted around to face the eleven-year-old fully. "I bet this is strange, to have all these people in your house."

Harry shrugged. "I actually kind of like it. It's why Draco and I used to spend most of the summer at the Hogsmeade house. I'm glad more people know about this place. It's quite a lot of fun."

Bill tilted his head in consideration to Harry's answer. "Well I understand that. I have six siblings so I get wanting a full house." Harry grinned. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how are you doing… with, you know, Sirius having Charlie and Steven having Rosmerta and Tonks having me?"

"Well, I'm fine with everyone except you."

Bill scoffed. "Ouch. That hurts, mate."

Harry giggled. "No seriously though, I… I'm glad everybody's happy. I've sort of been waiting for this, you know. It's not like I had any illusions that everybody in my family was going to be single forever. Even Remus. I doubt it will take him long. What weirds me out though is how everyone in my family seems to love redheads."

Bill blinked. "Huh. That is…"

Harry laughed. "Yeah. Even my Mum was a redhead. Are we all just destined to end up with gingers?."

He watched as Harry shifted nervously in his seat. Bill narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Isn't your friend Susan a redhead?"

Harry blushed a deep scarlet. "Shut up," Harry muttered into his fist and Bill laughed. "How do you even know about Susan?"

"As part of my job for Sirius, I sometimes have to speak with her Aunt," Bill answered. It was the truth, and Bill was glad he didn't have to lie in this instance.

Harry nodded in understanding. "Oh."

Bill and Harry sat in silence for a bit. Although he was having fun watching Harry squirm, he decided to throw the lad a bone. "Where's Draco?"

"He can't decide if he should where gray or blue," Harry explained, rolling his eyes at his absent brother. "Git."

"He should wear the blue," Bill stated plainly, already picturing the father and son looking dapper as they greeted Bill's parents.

Harry furrowed his brow in confusion, but he did stand up and take a step back up the stairs. "Okay, I'll tell him."

Bill grinned at the young wizard in gratitude as Harry retreated to find Draco. Bill was good at this. Tonks would be happy.

"We're eating outside Bill. Can you set the table, please?"

Bill headed out to the back deck with a stack of fourteen plates floating behind him.

So far things hadn't gone well. And that's all thanks to the presence of Aunt Muriel.

Bill had planned for everything. Ever since Tonks made her feelings known Wednesday evening, he had come up with every possible scenario in his head for how this reintroduction of Sirius Black as Charlie's boyfriend could go wrong. He planned for ill-timed mentions of the Order. He planned for long awkward silences. He planned for wardrobe malfunctions. He planned for if Harry or Draco were ill. He planned for dragon-talk, quidditch team rivalries, disagreements about Dumbledore, and old school prejudices regarding Slytherins.

But he hadn't planned for his great-great Aunt Muriel to show up unannounced bearing fruitcake that absolutely no one wanted to eat.

And the first thing she said when she arrived was, "Oh my, that is a stark-white head of hair. Like Abraxas Malfoy, that is."

Bill wasn't prone to violence, but in that moment, he wanted to strangle his Aunt to death with his bare hands, to watching the life in her eyes fade out until she was nothing but a wrinkly old corpse.

Because another thing he had not planned for, was for someone to bring up the Malfoys.

But now that Muriel had mentioned that family, that was all his mum and dad would see when they looked at Draco. They'd see Lucius Malfoy, which was a ridiculous notion. Clearly the boy was Sirius's. They walked the same, they talked the same, they had the same eyes and the same grin. They were even dressed similarly thanks to the brilliant mind that was William Arthur Weasley.

But Malfoy-hate ran deep in their family. The way the Malfoys had lorded their wealth and privilege and blood-status over the rest of the wizarding world for generations, sickened Bill's parents beyond measure.

Bill had watched openmouthed as Arthur's eyes turned cold and Molly's smile began to strain at the corners. It happened in milliseconds. One moment everything was fine, the next was like a nuclear bomb had gone off.

Sirius had stiffened and threw an arm around his son's shoulder as if to keep him from harm. It was horrible.

Bill had planned, damnit! He was good at this. It was what made him such an excellent curse-breaker. He worked every possible solution and mapped out all the problems that could arise before he even began at unraveling the curse in front of him. And with two sentences his Aunt Muriel had stepped between him and the cursed object only to have it's blast radius triple in size and wipe out everything in its path.

It was actually the twins who suggested they all go outside to play. It didn't ease any of the sudden tension in the room, but Ron and Ginny were already dragging Harry through the living room and out the back door while Charlie tried easing Sirius, whose hold on his son had tightened into a death-grip, to follow after them.

Fred and George stayed just long enough to throw wary glances Bill's way, but he waved them off, so they pulled Percy outside with them. Tonks glared at Muriel until she too headed outside to comfort Sirius, Charlie, and Draco. That was okay. Bill had this. He was going to salvage this day if that was the last thing he ever did.

So when he stepped out onto the porch an hour later, he was pleased to find a viable solution to his problems.

Sirius and Charlie were picking teams for an impromptu footie match. Somewhere along the way, they had conjured a picture perfect black and white hexagonal football and two seven-meter-wide nets sat on opposite sides of the garden. Apparently the ten of them had been practicing the muggle sport for the last hour, as most of them were sweaty in their nice Easter clothes.

"Okay, I pick first," Charlie announced. "And I choose Draco."

Sirius scowled. "Then I pick Ginny."

"Fair," Charlie allowed. Bill could only gape as everyone seemed to nod in understanding at their choices. He simply had to assume that Draco and Ginny were the best at the sport. Perhaps they were. "Fred and George."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Sirius interrupted before the twins could make there way to Charlie's side. "You can't pick two."

"I'm not splitting up Fred and George, Sirius," Charlie reasoned. Sirius huffed, but conceded. "Besides now you can pick two."

"Harry and Ron then."

"Still fair."

"Alright, pick your last one. I'm good either way. Honestly, I'm surprised, but all of you are pretty decent at football," Sirius complimented. "This will be a good game."

Bill set down the last plate and rushed inside. It would be a good game. And his parents had to see it.

Thinking on his feet, Bill called into the kitchen. "Mum, I'm not sure I set the table correctly! Are we sitting two people at each end?! Or three?"

"Two, I think," his Mum called back.

Bill smirked at himself in the hallway mirror. "I don't know, Mum! Maybe you should come look at it! I'm not sure it looks right!"

Bill waited one beat… two.

Molly came out through the shutter doors to the kitchen huffing in exasperation. "Merlin's sake, sweetie, I think I can trust your judgment on this…"

But like he knew she would, Bill's mum headed to the back porch to check on the table herself. Bill joined her a few seconds later, but her attention wasn't focused on the table. Nope.

Bill strode closer to stand beside his Mum, careful not to bump her and sway her thoughts away from the game. He simply watched the match with her.

Ginny was making her way down the "field". She passed the ball to Harry, who snuck it past Draco and passed it back to Ginny, who kicked the football toward the goal, only for one of the twins to block her shot and kick it out of bounds. Ron was the one who threw it in, tossing the football in Tonks's direction who was quick to take control of the ball, with her fancy footwork. She passed it back to Ginny again, but Draco swooped in and snatched it away from her.

There were a lot of cheers coming from the two keepers, Charlie and Sirius, as the two teams continued to run up and down the field trying for a shot at the goal.

"You can't just leave me alone with your aunt, Moll… what's this?"

"Shush Arthur, Ginny's got a shot on goal," Molly explained, quickly picking up the terminology from Sirius's running commentary.

"This is that muggle sport, right," Arthur asked Bill in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah, it's called football," Bill answered. "Wait— this is it, the goal's wide open— GO GINNY!"

Molly was cheering as well as Ginny flung her leg back and forward again in a smooth motion, connecting with the black and white ball and allowing it to sail into the net easily. From the opposite side of the "field", you could hear Sirius screaming his head off as he ran toward his teammates and helped scoop Ginny into the air and onto his shoulders, running around the garden in a frenzy.

"GOOOOAAAAALLLLLL! GOOAAALLL! GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!" Sirius's shouts could probably be heard in the next town over and soon everyone on his team was shouting the one word phrase, and then those on the opposite team were shouting it, because they wanted to celebrate too. Bill, Molly, and Arthur were shouting as well, and Bill knew they looked like utter imbeciles, but he didn't care. He couldn't stop smiling

Because they were smiling.

Ginny was grinning like she had won the world cup single-handedly, and she waved at her parents who were clapping and giving thumbs up from the porch.

"Oh— the rolls," Molly gasped.

"I'll get them," Bill offered swiftly. He ran into the house before his Mum could object.

He swung into the kitchens on a high and flung his wand at the oven doors and pulled out the hot tray, setting it on the bare stovetop. He whistled while he worked, grabbing an empty platter form the cupboards and filling it with the warm bread rolls. He then placed a stasis charm on the platter and turned to head back outside, only to find his Aunt Muriel staring at him from her perch on the barstool behind the countertop.

"He really does look like Abraxas."

Bill's smile fell, but he was determined to keep his optimism. "It doesn't matter who he looks like," Bill stated resolutely. "His father is Sirius Black."

Aunt Muriel smiled, that horrible ugly gossipy grin that always set Bill's teeth on edge.

"Yes… but who's his mother?"

"She was an American. She went to Ilvermorny," Bill answered, having found out this information from Tonks and Charlie while they were in Romania… Although Charlie didn't seem all that confident in his answers when Bill asked about it.

"I suppose, we'll find out in time if that's true," Muriel continued cryptically. "I'm certain all we'll have to do is wait."

A/N- Three chapters left for book one. I really hope you like them.

Also, I made a Harry Potter fanvid. You can find it on my youtube channel or on my ao3 account. It's set to Goner by Twenty One Pilots, and might serve as a prologue to a future fanfiction I might be posting on here. I just thought I'd let you know about it.

Fancasts:
The Young Druid- Sebastian Stan (I might be going through an I-love-all-things-Marvel phase which is actually more like an I-love-Bucky-Barnes phase. I found out Sebastian Stan was born in Romania and that was it for me. It's like he was meant to play the anonymous young Druid we will probably never hear from again. Haha.)