(A/N: I return once more to bring you another chapter of fiction that you will hopefully enjoy. I don't have any additional warnings or anything for this chapter so on with the show!)

The North Wind Blows

Part 32

The four adult residents of the Manor waited until the boys were well and truly gone, far enough away to not overhear any conversations, Lucius called for a bottle of wine to be served. Dobby was the one who appeared to deliver the bottle and glasses as many of the House Elves refused to touch alcohol. It was shocking that Dobby, the one who had actually been on the receiving end of a drunken rage had not grown averse to the stuff.

"Thank you Dobby. There's plenty of left over dessert, please see to it that the rest of the staff is given some," Lucius said graciously and Dobby nodded, popping away silently. Lucius had taken great pains with the House Elf to eliminate the cowering and groveling that Septimus had forced on him.

Once the wine was poured each drank deeply, sighing and sinking into their chairs further as the stress of the day melted away. Narcissa summoned a mild pain potion to take in order to combat the ache in her back.

"One day I will get acclimated to brewing for such long stretches but today is apparently not that day," she said delicately and twisted slightly in her chair, eliciting loud popping and cracking noises as she worked the cricks out of her back.

"It will come sooner rather than later, I promise. But I would be glad to place some cushioning charms around your station to take the impact off of your feet," Severus said softly, his eyes focused on the glass of white wine that was clasped in his hand.

"That would be delightful. I know a few myself but never thought to cast them on anything other than my shoes," Narcissa admitted and took another sip from her glass to chase away the taste of the pain reliever that she had taken.

"Don't worry, it took me quite a long time to think of using them myself," Severus said in response.

"Do you think that you could do the same for Draco? I know that he doesn't spend nearly the time brewing that we do, but I should hope that he doesn't develop any lingering hurts from it," Narcissa asked softly, her voice a little more confident when asking for something for her son than it was when asking for something for herself.

"Of course, it's not a problem at all, for either of you," Severus assured and glanced over the table where Tom was sitting and watching them with some small interest, blue eyes always curious.

"Thank you Severus, you are very kind," Narcissa's voice was filled with relief and fatigue but her smile was strong. Severus made a small gesture of dismissal; it really wasn't a problem to put in place the same charms that he used for himself.

"We should have thought to install them when we expanded the Lab for your use, if I'm being perfectly honest," Lucius interjected and Severus gestured towards him with his wine glass, silently agreeing as he swallowed his mouthful of the beverage.

"There are many things that we haven't thought of, I am sure. But as long as they remain small things that are easily corrected, it is alright, if we forget something major, well then I don't want to know what sort of trouble we could be in," Tom said gently, obviously thinking about something far deeper than the simple comforts of brewing.

"What's on your mind?" Lucius questioned, looking somewhat distressed.

"Nothing specific as yet, perhaps it is merely old paranoia returning to haunt me. I've been busy in some circles and ignoring others, so I hope that such things are not to our detriment. I've seen to it that the last of the disgusting men who visit themselves upon Harry's copy are eliminated. But I have been largely ignoring the proceedings against Dumbledore for fear of flying into a rage and doing something about the old fool for myself," Tom said quietly, his hands wrapped around the wine glass, eyes passing over each of them as he spoke.

"Don't worry there; I've had my ear to the ground. It seems that you were right, that none of the charges are going to stick, but thanks to the Healer's code of secrecy no one knows that it was us that brought them to the fore. So Dumbledore continues to manipulate from the shadows without any consequences and no one knows that we have changed the boys out for simulacrums. The only real outcome of this case is that Dumbledore was forced to recognize Dudley's magical status, so he will be allowed to attend Hogwarts alongside Harry when the time comes for it," Lucius informed in a very matter of fact tone of voice.

"Well that is something I suppose. I hope that the Dursley family does not visit any harm upon their son for the magic that is in his blood. Are the monitoring charms up to date?" Tom asked and ran his free hand back through his freshly trimmed black hair.

"Of course, we update them weekly when we change out the spells that are busy horrifying the adults. It is to my understanding that the copy of Harry has been granted a bed in Dudley's second bedroom instead of the cupboard under the stairs. None of our spell work has been detected by the Magical Law Enforcement agents who have come and gone from the home and the integrity of the copies is impeccable," Lucius responded.

"Excellent as always Lucius, I do apologize for not accompanying you lately. I have allowed myself to become thoroughly invested in hunting down the perverts who would harm our bonded. Much to my shock, some of them have been Wizards who know exactly who it was that they were harming. I enjoyed disposing of those men with zeal. Were I so inclined I could have created several Horcruxes by now," Tom stated plainly.

"I am glad that you have weighed the risks in that department and decided against creating any," Severus admitted and reached across the table to gently squeeze Tom's free hand.

"I am as well. There are other means to grant myself immortality. I've kept myself young enough just with the few potions that Severus has invented that I am assured a long enough life to accomplish my goals," Tom said and there was a wave of relief that came into the room at such an admission. Of course they had all been worried about the older man, but as long as he remained contented with his current state of being, none of them had to be overly concerned that his former zealous madness would reclaim him.

(A/N: Well there you have it for now, I hope very much that you enjoyed this chapter, as short as it is and that you will leave me a review or a comment to let me know what you thought. As always, thanks for reading and I will see you next time!)