Chapter 36
Albus Dumbledore was not in a good mood. The past three weeks had been good. Harry (and he is Harry damn it, not whatever it is the brat was calling himself this week) and Severus weren't talking and he hadn't needed to do anything to cause it. Then, at breakfast this morning, the bastard of a child had to go and ruin it all by hugging the man! Now the two of them were closer than before. To make matters even worse, he had received a letter from the Ministry stating that he was to expect the officials who were going to be investigating him in the following three days. Every name on the list was against him becoming the Headmaster of the school for some reason or another and all wold jump at the chance to evict him from his rightful place. He growled in irritation: The day had started off in such a wonderful way as well.
***
Hermione curled up on the over-stuffed armchair in the Gryffindor common room with a book, stubbornly ignoring the rushing memories and urging to report them. She may have been branded by this mark, but it would be a cold day in Hell before she gave into it. Slowly she got deeper and deeper into the book she was reading. Half an hour later a high pitched scream woke everyone in Gryffindor tower. Everyone hurried to the common room to find Hermione bawling her eyes out while staring at the book in her hands.
"What is going on here?" Minerva barked. She was not happy about getting woken at 1:30 in the morning by her student's shenanigans.
"We don't know," Seamus answered. "We were woken by a scream and came out here to find her like this."
Minerva sighed. "Right: everyone back to bed. I'll sort this out. No use for all of us to be tired later on in the day." She turned to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention. "What Happened, Miss Granger?"
Hermione raised tear-heavy eyes to her Head of House. "I can't read it, Professor," she sobbed. "I can see the words on the page but when I touch the book, the writing vanishes."
Minerva shook her head. "There's more to it than that. Tell me."
Hermione broke down and told her the entire story – from reading the paper that morning so long ago, the urge to report everything Dumbledore had ordered her to do to the memories that battered her every minute of the day.
Minerva frowned at the normally intelligent girl. "It seems your Master wishes for you to report on Albus to get him out of the school."
Hermione paled. "M-Master?"
"Yes girl, Master," Minerva snapped. "The ownership brand is just that – a mark of possession. In layman's terms, it means you are less than a slave to the person whose magic is in that mark. You are a possession, nothing more. You are fighting against your Master's orders, so he – or she – is punishing you by allowing you to see written words but removing your knowledge of them when you wish to read them. You will find that you will be able to read again when you have done what they wish."
"I refuse," Hermione spat, wrenching herself from the older lady's grip. "I am not a possession – I am a human being. I have rights!" she raged.
Minerva smiled sadly at the girl. "But it was you yourself that allowed this to happen," she said, shocking the girl into silence. "The thing about the brand you have is that it does not take hold unless your magic accepts it as punishment for what you did wrong. You already know that your punishment for your part in what happened to Harry that led him to become Tobias is death. Your magic accepted the brand in the hopes that it will not be a long, slow, painful death."
"I don't understand," Hermione scowled.
"Tobias made an oath to destroy everyone involved in his treatment. This oath will force each person to feel everything each of their victims had to feel due to their part of the plan. Your magic made a deal with someone else's to protect you from the worst of it. Think of that before fighting even more against it. Also be thankful that all your Master wants you to do is report on the Headmaster – they could just as easily turn you into the school tramp and no one could do anything about it."
Minerva stood and exited the room, not caring that the two largest gossips in the school were staring at Hermione in shock. Nor did she care that the information would be around the school within three hours of the start of breakfast.
'Severus said it best,' she thought as she headed for her own bed once again. 'She bought this entirely onto herself.'
***
Luna was in her specially designed room within the Room of Requirement, humming softly while getting the room read for her plans for the next evening, humming a popular children's song in a slow and eerie fashion, a large insane grin on her face and silver eyes following things only she could see. Life was perfect. Her Alpha and his unborn cub were doing well, she had Alpha's permission to court a potential mate and she had another session with a red-headed annoyance. Yes, life was very, very good.
***
By the time breakfast arrived, word that The Hermione Granger had an ownership bond and was marked for death had made its way through the house of Lions and everyone was itching to spread it around – especially the part of who had issued the mark for death upon her.
Ginny giggled softly and walked over to the Ravenclaw Table to chat to Luna before the two of them met up with the rest of The Pack for a trip into Hogsmeade. She noticed immediately that her blond-haired sister was in one of her moods. Smiling she placed a hand on the other girl's arm to interrupt her thoughts.
"Did you her?" she asked softly yet excitedly. "The brand was revealed last night by McGonagall!" She giggled in her excitement. "So was the fact that Tobias took a death oath out on her."
Luna gapped at Ginny. "Are you serious? How much backlash do we need to prepare for?"
"That's the beauty of it," Ginny beamed "When 'Bi was Harry, he, Ron and Hermione were really close and there was an unspoken threat going around that if you messed with one, you messed with all three. Everyone is wondering what Hermione could have done to make Tobias turn on her like that because they were so close."
Luna beamed at the girl and grabbed her hand, pulling her from the bench. "Come on! We have to tell 'Bi the good news!"
The two girls reached the Slytherin Table just as the owl post arrived. Luckily for both girls, neither one had anything, but Tobias received his usual delivery of newspaper, bank reports and correspondence from family, friends and the Ministry. Between him and Draco, the entire section of the Slytherin Table was full. Without hesitation, all Pack members grabbed a small armful and disappeared through the doors of the Great Hall to deliver it to their individual studies.
Everyone in the Hall either laughed or awed when Draco removed the bundle of papers from Tobias and ordered him to sit and finish eating before taking his double load from the Hall.
"Post came, I assume," Neville said cheerfully as he took a seat and helped himself to a full hot breakfast.
"Yes," Tobias pouted. "Draco's being mean. He told me to keep eating and took my stuff from me."
"That wasn't him being mean Alpha," Ginny stated. "That was him taking care of his mate and cub. Remember, you have to eat enough nutrients for both you and the pup."
"And he also believed that our Potions Professor would need you. He receive three letters this morning and looks ready to throw up," Luna piped in.
Tobias rose as he looked over at the man in question then hurried over to the man, gently removing the letters from his hands. "Today is about Hogsmeade, Sev," he crooned, much to Minerva and Filious' amusement. "I'll give these to Luna and get her to put them on my desk and when we get back, we'll go to my study and you can read your correspondence and mark whatever nastily delicious homework assignments you have set while I go through my own mail and then continue with the stuff in those boxes."
Severus sent a level look at the teen, who grinned as he hand the letters to Luna, who skipped out of the room happily.
"I promise I will only work until you finish reading the letters the stop for half an hour then start again when you start your first reply then stop and repeat. This way I can get my work done, my Pack can get their homework done and we can still socialize."
Severus nodded. "So when are we leaving?"
"After Tobias finishes eating what was brought up from the kitchen for him," Draco stated dryly.
"Technically I have finished it. You were the one who ordered another serve without asking me if I could eat more," Tobias stated stubbornly.
Severus laughed softly. "How about we compromise: We leave now for Hogsmeade and we stop in Madam Puddifoots," he wrinkled his nose in disgust, "To have a snack before lunch. Or," he added hopefully, "We can ask the elf who serves Tobias for a large basket of food for us all to munch on during the day."
"Do you mind an extra mouth or two?" Minerva asked. "It would be lovely to go to the village and not need to supervise."
"We would be delighted, Professor McGonagall," Draco half-bowed.
"Then let's be off!" Tobias cheered, shooing everyone from the room amidst much laughter.
***
The residents of Hogsmeade smiled as they watched the large group walk through the street. Every now and then a few members of the group would split off and enter a store before re-joining the group and splitting the purchases between them all. As the day progressed, they witnessed them sitting together around a large feast and eating in a comfortable silence many would have argued against teenagers of any age possessing.
At the end of the long day, many of them recalled the young Malfoy heir carrying two lots of goodies while one of the larger boys carried a dozing dark-haired teen bridal style back to the castle. It surely was a day to remember.
***
It took an hour and forty five minutes for Tobias' nap to end and to prevent himself from running into the study with the sole purpose of finding and destroying all three letters, Severus sat in front of the portrait of the four founders and immersed himself in their stories and teachings By the time Tobias stumbled out of the bedroom wearing a green shirt that belonged to Draco, a pair of black trousers of his fathers and a silvery-black robe Severus identified as belonging to Sirus, Severus was calm enough to sit and read through his mail.
Settling in, he reached for the shortest letter, which was from Tom. He slowly read the three inch letter through three times before putting pen to paper and, for the second time in his life, he wrote a brutally honest answer in reply to the Dark Lord's missive. Checking the time, he turned to the letter that stank of old money.
Opening it, he repeated the process he had done for Tom's letter and set the reply aside to post with the other two.
"Come on 'Bi," he said as he stretched out his fingers to get rid of the cramp, "Time to head upstairs and eat."
Tobias nodded his agreement and placed the folder he was going through neatly on his desk before rubbing his face tiredly. "I haven't even finished the first folder of the first box yet," he mumbled. "Just how much stuff has Dumbledore cancelled, forbidden or denied?"
"A lot, Tobias," Severus answered. "More than anyone can tell you. Those files are only for those that are concerning Filch. Each of us Professors have our own files and folders. Some are more numerous than Filch's."
Tobias groaned. "The seventeen I have from Filch only cover the past year!" He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Well, I was the one who wanted to do this so I am going to see it through! What I need is a good solid period of time with no interruptions – but that is impossible. Let's go Sev; I need a good night's sleep."
Severus nodded and followed the teen to the Great Hall.
"How is he?" Filious asked as he sat and started to fill his plate.
"Pissed off at the amount of work Albus has left for him to clean up," he answered, covering a yawn, "And tired."
"You look a little tired yourself, Severus," Pomona said, sitting in the seat usually reserved for Minerva. "Minerva is having a meal out tonight. She had a meeting at St Mungo's. Something about an elderly gentleman using a complex transfiguration spell on his daughter-in-law and getting it wrong. Now the poor thing is stuck in a tri-way transfiguration of human head, snake body and ox legs, tail and horns."
Severus and Filious winced. "What was he thinking? Why did they call Minerva?"
"Not even he knew what he was thinking when he did it," Sprout answered with a shrug. "As to why they asked for Minerva … well …" she cleared her throat nervously. "Turns out that the old fool not only mispronounced the spell, he combined two spells – one for human transfiguration and the other for non-living transfiguration The healers are unsure as to what can be done."
"So they called in the only registered Transfiguration Master in the UK to help," Severus finished for her with a nod of understanding. "I get the same treatment when the problem they can't solve is potions related. My suggestion is to notify her classes that she is unavailable and give them an assignment to complete on the topic she was teaching."
"I'll do that Severus, Thank you. I'll go see her after I finish here. You'd best get a decent night's sleep – it's going to be a long few days. WE got word that the investigators will be here in only a few short days."
Severus nodded and gave up on his meal as he yawned once more. He slowly made his way to his rooms, stopping to talk to a few Slytherins to inform everyone he was to be left alone until tomorrow. With a smile and nod to The Pack, he left the Hall. The letter from Remus could wait for the following day – his bed was calling for him.
***
Luna hummed softly as she flittered from shadow to shadow on her way to the Ravenclaw dormitory. She still had no friends in Ravenclaw, but it didn't bother her at all now. She had The Pack and that's all that mattered. She had tonight all planned out. First, she would write a letter to her potential mate with a git of some importance to her – she had chosen one of the first things she had made as a young girl. They were cuff-links in the shape of the crescent moon with a tear angling precariously from the bottom point. Both tear and moon had a dull redness to them, giving them the look of being blood-stained.
She had also made a necklace, earrings and two watches in the same pattern. If her chosen mate agreed to her courting request, then he would be obtaining the masculine watch as well. If not, then the cufflinks would return to her.
After that, she was going to return to the Room of Requirement and double-check that her work place was still the way she wished for it to be for her …. Guest … She smirked at the thought. Yes, he was a guest – an unwilling guest, but a guest none the less.
Third she would talk to Neville about helping her again. Hmm, maybe she should actually ask that first … Nah, she could do it alone if she had to: she just thought that Neville would like to participate this time. She was sure that he would, he had, after all, wanted to kill the red-headed prat after almost hitting Alpha with that spell. She grinned lazily and skipped the rest of the way to her common room.
***
Ron Weasley woke up with a start as his naked back hit cold stone. He sleepily tried to bring his hands to his face to rub the sleepiness away so he could find his pyjama top, only to discover he couldn't move them. Wide awake with fear, he screamed as he found himself tied naked and spread-eagled to the bottom of a bridge. Below him was a sheer drop between two jagged cliff faces upon which he could see many varieties of insects and arachnids and at the bottom, he could see a thing shimmering line of water with large areas of dullness nestled in it that he assumed to be rocks.
Trembling with fear, Ron started to struggle, screaming for help, not noticing that the ropes were being pulled tighter until he couldn't move at all.
"No matter how much you scream, no one will hear you," Luna's mystifying voice came from around the room. Neville struggled to hold hi his laughter as he stopped pulling on the ropes, satisfied that they would hold.
Ron froze as the voice spoke. No matter how much he wished it, that voice haunted his nightmares. The one dream he had that contained the owner of that voice stood out in his mind. He replayed it every time he closed his eyes. He still felt the phantom pains those knives of hers had caused. He opened his mouth to scream once more, but fear had frozen his voice. He moaned piteously as a cold hand formed of mist touched his cheek.
"So you do remember me!" the disembodied voice said tinged with happiness, "How wondrously delightful! I'm afraid to say it, but you won't be seeing my beautiful knives today. I've had to put them away so I can sharpen them; so instead, I invited a friend along to play with us. He doesn't say much, but he has an amazing voice. I'm sure that the two of you will get along just marvellously."
Neville smirked and held out his hand like he was going to shake someone's hand and laughed when Ron startled as another misty hand appeared before him.
"Sorry about that," he said, grinning as the spells on the room changed his voice to be slighter higher pitched than normal. "I forgot that you were tied up at this point in time."
Ron shuddered at the sight of another, unknown, mist hand and whimpered at the sound of the unknown voice, his mind running through all the horrible things this stranger could do to him.
"Since we cannot play with my knives, we've decided to give you a concert," the misty voice returned. Oh, I'm sure you will love it!" she half squealed, which freaked Ron out more than anything.
"London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady."
To Ron's horror, the bridge he was tied to started to crumble. Slowly at first then in larger quantities and in faster time as the verse was repeated another two more times. Soon, he was screaming as he fell into the ravine, hitting the jagged sides hard enough to bruise. He gulped deeply when the stranger's strong tenor took over the song.
"Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay.
Build it up with wood and clay,
My Fair Lady."
Ron sighed in relief as the pieces of bridge spun slowly around him and each other as they came together as though someone had cast a reparo spell on the pieces. He grimaced slightly as the stone he had at his back turned to rough wood and dug into his flesh. He relaxed slightly as her heard the verse sung once more, but his blood froze when instead of going for a third time, the eerie soprano took over once more.
"Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away.
Wood and clay will wash away,
My Fair Lady."
The bottom of Ron's stomach dropped as clay-muddied water dripped down and around his body. He screamed once again as the clay's grasp on the wood loosened and he – along with many large planks of wood - started to fall once more. He gasped for breath in relief when the tenor cut in before the soprano could repeat the verse.
"Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar.
Build it up with Bricks and mortar,
My Fair Lady."
Once again, Ron relaxed as his decent stopped and the prickly wood and tacky clay were transformed into strong brick and mortar. Nothing, he was sure, could happen now. He was safe.
"Bricks and Mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay.
Bricks and Mortar will not stay,
My Fair Lady."
Ron whimpered when sections of brick started to tumble out of their places in the bridge and into the water that, while closer, was still far below him. "MUUUUUMMMMMMY! He yelled as the bridge section he was attached to fell. He screamed as he saw the spiders' web full of newly hatched spiderlings speed towards him., no longer paying attention the he how many times a verse was repeated and by who. He almost fainted in relief when the now familiar voice of salvation started to sing.
"Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, Iron and steel.
Build it up with Iron and steel,
My Fair Lady."
By the time the bridge was solid once more, Ron was almost sobbing in relief – or he was until the building materials changed to said iron and steel. He let out a high-pitched screech before starting to hyperventilate due to the red-hot burning that occurred when placing icy-cold metal onto heated flesh. The soprano voice rang through the area once again, this time with a smug undertone to it.
"Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My Fair Lady."
Ron screamed louder still as the metal bridge stared to bend and warp into odd shapes. He choked on his own breathe when the bending metal started to wrap itself cage-like around him. With a loud snap, the last piece of un-warped metal snapped, sending the ensnared boy tumbling into the web and spider infested depths.
"Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold.
Build it up with silver and god,
My Fair Lady."
Ron was ashamed to admit that he was screaming like a baby. Not only did he have spiders all over him, but he was bruised and battered and absolutely terrified. He was convinced that the voices were out to kill him. "Stop!" he wept. "Please stop, I can't take much more."
"Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away.
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My Fair Lady."
Ron stared to scream the second the feminine voice started to sing, ignoring his pleas for mercy and ghostly hands reacted out and starred pulling various quantities of gold and silver from the structure above him. He squeezed his eyes tight as he felt everything slowly start to inch down the ravine. The river was so close he could see the bottom from his vantage point.
"Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night.
Set a man to watch all night,
My Fair Lady"
Ron sobbed in terror as a pair of intense eyes appeared out of the mist and most of the hands disappeared, only to quickly reappear to snatch small pieces of the precious materials before vanishing once again. The bridge was still slowly inching towards the bottom of the ravine.
"Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep.
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair lady."
Ron didn't notice the eyes shutting or the return of the hands. His mind was so taken by fear of what would happen to him next that he didn't even register that he was now sliding after towards the river.
"Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night.
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair lady."
Ron's mind snapped to attention as he felt warm smoke rising around him as he felt himself rise into the upper reaches of the ravine. He opened his eyes to see a mist man smoking a mist pipe with the smoke from the pipe pushing him and the remnants of the bridge up towards where he started. He wriggled slightly, noting excitedly that the ropes around him were looser.
"London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My … Fair … Lay … Dee."
Ron screamed as he and the remaining bits of the gold and silver bridge plummeted down towards jagged rocks. Just before he hit the ground, Ron closed his eyes tight.
THUMP!
Ron jolted upright, heart racing, sweat poring off him and his mouth open in a high-pitched scream.
"You alright, Ron?" Seamus asked, poking his head out of the bathroom just as Neville opened the curtains around his bed, blinking sleepily.
"What happened?" he yawned, his voice husky from his time with Luna and Ron in the Room of Requirement. Thankfully for him Seamus thought it was because he'd just woken up.
"Have a big night, huh Nev?" he asked slyly, wriggling his eyebrows. "Care to tell us who she is?"
Neville laughed half-heartedly. "Don't I wish it were with a girl. Truth is I was trying to get ahead on the charms and potions homework. I gave the both of them up as bad jobs at about one, then had trouble getting to sleep due to dreams of drowning in barrels of armadillo bile and horned toad sperm."
Neville, Dean and Seamus shuddered at the thought while Ron just frowned.
Where were you studying?" he asked, looking at Neville suspiciously.
"In the common room," Neville replied coldly. "Ginny was with me until about nine, Colin was with my until ten and you, Seamus and Dean left at twelve. Do you want me to prove it?"
Ron flushed slightly at the frowns he was getting off Seamus and Dean. He decided that the other two boys were right, Neville couldn't have been involved in anything concerning him, he was just a blundering idiot after all.
Neville smirked once he had his back to the room. Last night was FUN!
***
Luna leaned back and looked at the ceiling. She was in the Great Hall writing down everything noteworthy she had done in a letter for her Father. As usual she used the code that her parents had made between them for times of unrest, and so her letter was full of Nargals, Crumple-horned Snorkacs, Glitterpuffs and other creatures they had invented to represent the people in their lives. She was now almost finished the ten inch letter and had re-read it twice, trying to remember what she had left out.
"Let's see," she murmured under her breath, tapping the quill on her lips. "There was the NEWTs … covered that, and the Pack reunion … covered that as well. I've also covered the meeting I had with Bi afterwards and my letter and gift to my chosen mate. He won't receive it until this morning's post so I won't know his answer for another day or two …"
She sighed and blinked slowly. "I've also covered the trial and Blaise marking Granger and how she has lost the ability to read any text because of her failure to report her memories of the Headmaster's plans. I've even told him about my two nights playing with Ronald. I know there is something I'm forgetting …"
Three minutes later, she was shaken from her thoughts when two multi-coloured owls dropped a package and letter before Tobias. She smiled as she remembered the last thing she wanted to say and she started to write it down. She had just signed and sealed her letter when Tobias finished reading the letter and started to open the package
"Do you think Fred and George will mind if I borrowed one of their owls?" Luna asked Ginny as she slid into the seat beside the red-head. "Daddy said in his last letter that Heron is grounded for a few months. She was showing signs of clutching again."
Ginny smiled. "I'm positive they would be thrilled that you thought of them in your time of need," she giggled softly.
Luna laughed. "I'll just write a quick note to them saying that I've borrowed one of them."
"What is it?" Blaise asked, looking at the odd box contraption on the table. It had a strap attached to the base, on which another, smaller box sat. The smaller box had a handle on one side. It looked old and flimsy.
"It's a music box," Luna chimed in with a soft smile. "Mummy used to have several of them for me when I was younger. They were the only thing that put me to sleep when I was fussy."
"How do you use it?" Theo asked, intrigued.
"Here," Luna stood and moved to the older teen. "The strap goes around your neck, like this," she put the machine into the right position, "and you turn the handle at the pace you want the music to play. I'd suggest a slow pace at first and speed up until it sounds right."
She returned to her seat and gave her letter to Labrys with instructions to give it to her Father. Theodore's curiosity got the better of him as Luna got to the end of her note to the twins. As soon as he found the speed he liked, Luna, Ginny, Tobias, Greg and Vincent started to sing along to it.
Luna noted Neville coming through the door alone and winked at him as he made his way over to them.
"Ron will be here soon," Neville murmured to her, a strange gleam in his eye. "Hey Theo, do you think I can try? I promise not to break it," he teased making everyone who heard him laugh.
"Sure, do you know how to use it?"
"Yeah, Gran had a couple of them at home. I used to sneak in and play with them when I was younger. One day they disappeared and I never found out where they went," Neville said with a half-sad smile.
Luna rapped the under-side of the table with her fingers when Ron, Dean and Seamus entered the room. Neville smirked at her and turned the handle a bit slower than Theo had done. Almost instantly, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Greg, Vincent and Tobias started to softly sing along with it, slowly getting a little louder with each verse, ignoring the slowly spreading silence of the hall.
On the other side of the room, something was niggling at Ron's brain. It wasn't until he stopped shovelling food into the black hole he called a mouth that he registered the music. He froze in place because even though the voices were different, the song was very familiar.
When the words sank into his brain, he gave a blood-curdling scream and ran from the Hall as though the hounds of Hell were after him. All noise stopped as everyone blinked at the sudden exit he had taken.
"What was that about?" Tobias asked, confused.
"I have no idea," Neville replied, only just managing to keep his laughter hidden from everyone else.
Luna just shrugged with everyone else as she wrote the last two words on her note to the twins before sealing and sending it.
Mischief Managed.
Names:
Labrys – symmetrical Grecian double-headed axe