David rubbed his shoulder as he flamed back into Cross Manor with Fitz.
He had just gotten done with a meeting with the real estate agent Mel had organised for him and the Ageing Potion he had taken to appear older than his current age was wearing off and causing a few muscle spasms as he reverted back from a thirty-year-old to a teenager.
"Master, you have a letter from Miss Granger," Mel said, appearing behind him and taking his coat to hang in their coat cupboard.
"Thank you, Mel," David replied, taking the unopened letter from her and breaking the seal immediately.
He read it over quickly while moving towards the Kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.
She was writing to confirm the date of her arrival, for she planned of returning form her current trip with her parents sometime around the ritual date with the Greengrass'.
Deciding it would be easier if he just dealt with the curse before Hermione was staying with him, for if she came before, he would either have to leave her alone at Cross Manor or take her with him to the ritual.
While both were acceptable, David decided to just postpone her arrival a couple of days and quickly penned a reply on the back of her letter, letting her know that the best day to come would be after the seventh of July.
After penning his reply, he asked Mel to send it off while he returned to the training room to get back to practising with his new wand until the afternoon, for he had another vial of Thieves Downfall to purchase and he had a strong feeling this vial would be the last the Goblin would be willing to sell.
If his plan for the potion failed, which he planned on using to help screen the people he would be inviting into his lands, David would have to use a far more dangerous method of screening individuals.
Thieves Downfall would simply remove any disguise, spell or potion that would alter a person's mind of appearance as they passed through it and it would be a massive boon to his security to do so. Without it, he would have to use Protego Diabolica.
Protego Diabolica took the usual Shield Charm and turned it into a ring of black fire that would incinerate any the caster considered an enemy while leaving those he or she considered friend unharmed.
While it could be used as a somewhat effective screening measure, it was fraught with issues.
One would be, did David consider an imperious'd person an 'enemy'?
The answer to that was a resounding no, and even if he did, any allies he would have would most likely revolt if he started burning people to ash for simply being under the effect of the Unforgivable.
He still had plans on using the Protego Diabolica spell to discover infiltrators and the like, but it would be a very heavily altered version of the dangerous spell.
Unfortunately, David's skill with the spell was non-existent so far and going by the rate at which he was mastering his new wand, it would need to be practised during his stay at Hogwarts rather than during the holidays.
As such, uncovering the secrets to Thieves' Downfall was paramount for the future safety and security of Cross Manor.
The Goblin just glared as he counted out the Galleons infuriatingly slowly, very unhappy with this particular transaction.
But David had paid an insane number of Galleons for it and the Goblin just couldn't say no, his greed getting the better of him.
"Are we done?" David asked with a sigh as the Goblin finally finished his counting of the small mountain of Galleons on his table.
"No," he grunted as the Goblin started to count them. Again.
David took a deep breath to calm himself and gave the rude little Goblin a nod in acceptance.
Looking at the Goblin count out the Galleons all over again, David had to wonder just how that table was capable of holding such a large weight.
"You can go," the Goblin finally said, it was like sweet music to David's ears as he bowed humorously, "Why thank you, sir," David said with obvious sarcasm.
As soon as he left the shop in Nocturn Alley, David heard a soft musical tone. He realised what it was immediately and whispered into his coat, "Fitz, get us out of here, now."
As he ordered Fitz to flame them away, David had already drawn his new wand in hand, to counter any spell used before Fitz could take him to safety.
The last time he was here, David had wanted to engage his attackers, but it had resulted in a death and he didn't want to be witness to another one that he could simply avoid by leaving, and leaving quickly
Thankfully, whoever was meaning him harm was unable to accomplish their task, for Fitz reacted swiftly and took them both to the safety of home.
The speed of Fitz's flaming caused David to stumble slightly, knocking over a chair as he appeared in the kitchen.
"Master?!" Mel shouted as she knew Fitz was an excellent Apparater and had never in her knowledge caused David to stumble while bringing him home.
"It's all right Mel," David said as he patted himself down, "I just had Fitz get us out of there quickly."
"Are you sure?" she questioned, giving him a worried look.
"Quite," David said as he pointed his wand at his chest and cast a few spells in quick succession to check for tracking charms and the like.
Mel just looked at him unbelievingly and David just smiled at her as the spells came back negative for any curse or tracker.
Not that many spells would even work on David, for he made sure to wear his Basilisk hide lined clothing whenever he ventured outside of his home.
He would also have to make sure he always wore it at Hogwarts from now as well, for he was quite lax with it at times and there was an increased danger at Hogwarts with the return of the Dark Lord.
David spent the next week devoted to mastering his wand for the matter with the properties he purchased was finally dealt with, leaving a large chunk of his vault empty.
Mel was back at work with Thieves' Downfall and had too deep of an understanding of it for David to just come in and assist at this stage of its recreation.
He certainly felt more comfortable with the wand, having regained most of his finesse with the new instrument, though it wasn't completely under his control just yet.
Truthfully speaking, using his Acacia wand would be safer if he were in a battle of some sort, but David needed to master the wand for he could really feel the intense power in it, just wanting to be brought forth.
The wand now worked perfectly fine if he used it for the various mundane spells he used throughout the day, barely putting up a fuss, but anything that was advanced was a little trickier.
The wand upped the difficulty of any of the spells that required greater skill to perform, leaving David wary of using spells such as the Patronus Charm or practising with Fiendfyre and many other advanced pieces of spell work.
But the very act of using those spells made the next time he cast the spell a little bit easier. So, he did just that, casting and re-casting spells that should have been far beyond his capabilities deep into the night.
But time was short, and David had a dinner to attend and once the clock struck midnight a centuries-old Malediction to remove from an entire bloodline.
"David, come in," Penelope said with a smile as she greeted him at the door warmly.
"Thank you for inviting me, Mrs Greengrass," David replied with a smile, stepping into the threshold of the mansion.
"May I take your coat, sir?" a House Elf asked as David entered the home.
"Certainly," David replied as he carefully took it off, folding it in half and handing it to the short little Elf.
"Come this way David, the girls are still upstairs, and Cyrus is due back any minute now," she explained as he directed David to their living room.
He took a seat on the couch and sat a little awkwardly as Penelope sat beside him looking at him intently, a smile on her face.
"I just wanted to tell you, David, just how grateful we all are," she said, taking his hands in her own and squeezing them tight.
"It's my pleasure, Mrs Greengrass. Truly," David replied, but before he could speak any further, he was interrupted by Daphne.
"David? Mother?" she said in inquiry, not knowing where they were but having heard them speak.
"We're in here dear," Penelope shouted, getting her daughters attention.
She quickly entered the room wearing a casual cocktail dress that was peach coloured and embroidered with black lace.
They exchanged greetings, but before any further conversation could take place an energetic Astoria rushed into the room, giving David a back-breaking hug.
"Hey Astoria," David said, returning her hug.
"I'm so glad you're here, David!" Astoria said half of it muffled by her speaking into his chest.
"Astoria let David go, he can barely breathe," Daphne said in an annoyed huff.
David ruffled her hair slightly as she let go and said, "I'm glad to be here Astoria."
Before any real conversation could start, they were interrupted yet again by the arrival of Cyrus Greengrass, who had a big smile on his face as he appeared from the entrance, "David! Apologies for not being here to greet you. Just some last-minute errands, I hope you understand."
David shook his hand in greeting, "No apology needed Cyrus."
"Masters, Mistress', refreshments are served in the dining room," a House Elf said, appearing behind all of them in a quiet pop.
"Let's chat over some appetisers, come," Cyrus said, beckoning the entire family and David towards their dining room that was filled with small finger foods to get the night started.
Dinner was defiantly a happy affair, with everyone in a jovial mood as they ate, gossiped and drank through the night, any talk of the events of the Final Task were not mentioned by anyone.
The drinking was mainly from Cryus and Penelope, but they allowed David and Daphne a glass or two of wine, much to Astoria's chagrin.
As the clock neared midnight, dessert was served and the alcohol was neutralised by a small potion they had prepared for everyone, to keep clear heads as the ritual was performed.
Things started to quiet down as they quiet, yet comfortable silence overcame the five of them as they waited for the appropriate time.
The conversation was benign, but Astoria was clearly quite nervous and being comforted by Daphne, squeezing her hand tight.
Eventually the grandfather clock they had in the hall chimed the arrival of midnight, something they had arranged specifically for this night to notify them of the time.
"Well… shall we?" Cyrus said eventually, breaking the now tense silence at the arrival of the seventh of July.
David was the first to rise, and nodded, followed by Astoria and Daphne to rose together and finally Penelope, who was tearing up already.
"It's best to do it outside, under the moonlight," David said, which Cyrus nodded at and guided them to their enormously lavish garden.
Cyrus pulled out a small ornate dagger from his pocket and handed it to David, "It's Goblin Steel… it should work perfectly."
David nodded, "Yeah, it should be fine, Cyrus… best if everyone but Astoria steps back for this. We don't know what lifting such an old and powerful curse will result in. Maybe some barriers set up around us?"
David would have done the spells himself, but this was Cyrus and Penelope's home so he asked them to do so in his stead.
"Of course. Will you help me dear?" he asked, turning to his wife.
She nodded and drew her wand and together they spoke, "Protego Maxima," casting a powerful shield around David and Astoria.
David turned to Astoria and asked, "Ready?"
She was quiet for a moment, but spoke eventually, "Can I have a minute? Sorry."
"Take your time," David said, unsheathing the dagger and placing the sheath in his trousers' pocket.
David looked at Astoria intently, she had her eyes closed and was controlling her breathing by taking deep breaths.
She silently nodded, opening her eyes and David nodded back, "Wands out, just in case."
The ritual called for David's blood to flow freely and willingly, so that meant he needed to slit an artery to best achieve that, with the most obvious being the Ulnar and Radial arteries in his wrist.
Steeling himself for the pain to come, David spoke out loud, placing the dagger on his left wrist, not allowing himself to flinch at the touch of the cold metal, "I, David of the House Cross."
As he spoke those words, the wind picked up, the sky cleared and the very moon itself seemed to shine with more intensity than before.
"Hereby, willingly draw my own blood," David said loudly, dragging the dagger across this wrist horizontally, flinching slightly as the blood immediately started to flow.
He dropped his wrist to his side, allowing the blood to cover his hand, "To release Astoria Greengrass and her blood forevermore from the curse of Malediction."
His arm started twitching as he continued the short ritual, almost burning.
David stepped forward towards Astoria, who was doing her best to not hyperventilate. Seeing that, David pointed a finger at her forehead and left a short vertical line of blood and finished the ritual, "I release you."
After David spoke those final worse, magic coalesced around them, shimmering in its colourless aura, leaving a heavy atmosphere around all.
A scream filled the air, but it wasn't from David or Astoria or even her family, it seemed to come from inside Astoria herself and that was soon confirmed as a pale grey shade of what was most likely the curse manifest, erupted from her and rushed into the air, dissipating in its continued, strangled scream.
Astoria crumpled to the floor soon after, her parent's released the spell they were using to shield David and her and rushed forward to check on their daughter.
David wobbled slightly from the drain of it all but wasn't nearly as bad off as Astoria.
Not to say she was in a bad situation, just the effect of removing a curse that had been around for four centuries from inside her body was taxing, to say the least.
"I'm alright," she mumbled, waking up from her fainting spell.
It was Daphne who came towards David first, wand in hand and looking at his wound on his left arm.
"Let me help you, David," she said, holding out her own hand to cradle his as she repaired the cut.
David nodded, not at his best and perfectly happy to allow her to heal him, for he knew she was a perfectly capable witch and from the conversations they'd had, practised healing magic in the hopes that she could do at least something for Astoria.
She placed her wand on his skin near the deep cut and muttered under her breath as the skin started knitting itself back, leaving a faint red line where he had cut himself.
"Are you alright?" she asked, and David nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks for that, don't think I could have trusted myself to do that just right now," she said with a smile.
"David? Are you okay?" he heard from behind Daphne.
They both turned to look and saw Astoria standing between her parents, supported by both of them,
"I'm fine. What about you?" he asked, happy to see her up.
"Your wrist! Mum help him!" Astoria said suddenly, seeing his now healed, but still bloodied arm.
"It's fine, Daphne took care of it," David explained.
"Oh…" She said, awkward quiet taking hold as Cyrus and Penelope fussed over Astoria.
"We should get inside," Daphne said, gaining everyone's attention, "It's a little chilly and David and Astoria should sit down."
"Of course, you're right Daphne. Let's head inside kids," Penelope said, dragging them all into the comfort of their home.
After many thanks and lots of hugging, Penelope offered David a place to stay for the night, which was echoed by the rest of the family, but David politely refused, just wanting to go home and be in the comfort of his own bed.
After a few quiet words with Cryus, who promised to help David anyway he could regarding his Malediction, saying all he had to do was ask, David called upon Mel and popped back home to Cross Manor.
"How did it go, Master?" Mel asked as she followed him to his room.
"It went well. The Greengrass' plan on visiting St Mungo's in the morning to confirm the curse has been lifted. But they expect no issues," David explained.
Mel nodded and kept quiet as David continued onwards, but she noticed his left-hand twitch in pain and questioned him, "Master… your arm. What is wrong?"
"Oh," David said with a chuckle, "It's still a little tender Mel, could bring up an ointment? I already had a Blood-Replenishing Potion though, you only need to bring the healing ointment for the scar," he explained.
Mel nodded and disappeared quickly, rushing to relieve David of the aftereffects of the ritual.