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Questions:

Eliza is the girl who gets with Maurice in one of the possible futures right?
Correct, well spotted

Scorpius had his answer from Michael though he didn't find it particularly comforting, he supposed a part of him had been hoping Michael would object so he'd have some grounds to stand on for not wanting to kill Jack, he also wasn't entirely convinced Michael was okay with it but it was hard to tell anything with him lately. So reluctantly, Scorpius had Lamb take him back to tell Rojer actually he would like his help with that, Rojer said he'd need to do a bit more research and get back to him in a few weeks. It was a good thing he didn't put it off actually as the encroaching full moon turned out to be a rough one for Lamb, he seemed wiped days after starting the Wolfsbane so not much up for apparating around the place.

It was a good thing then that Varanian was around again to take him to the base as they tried to work out the housing situation, also tried to get Scorpius to apparate with no success, he was getting desperate enough to consider asking Hogan about his apparation method. It was a little concerning how Scorpius had to remind Varanian to bathe or change his clothes, he seemed only to eat if Scorpius physically handed him the food and even then he would just pick at it instead of actually emptying the plate, but at least he was there.

Hermione had them go for another Ministry meeting where he learned Neville Longbottom was now acting as Harry's Deputy Head Auror, he wasn't his usual self though and only spoke once the entre time and it was to confirm Abby (he was unaware of Heather being a part of Gray or her time with the Shadows) was alright. It wasn't a particularly productive meeting, Alaric claimed he had a plan to capture the Shadow Master though he wouldn't say what it was but it required actually finding her, so far by the time any of them got word of an attack she was long gone with a wasteland in her wake. Much like Maurice, the Ministry had also been trying to figure out a pattern for the attacks and came to the same conclusion about it being unpredictable. Varanian begrudgingly brought up his idea for a kind of Sal-specific Trace which Alaric seemed keen for, promising to arrange for the survivors from that office to give him as much materials as he needed. It was as they cleared out of the meeting that Harry Potter approached them, clearing his throat loudly and Varanian tensed.

"Varanian, I wondered if I could have a quick, private word with you?"

"No," Varanian answered immediately before Scorpius could start to move away to give them privacy, his expression one of stark disinterest. Harry looked taken aback by this, it clearly had not been the response he'd been expecting and Scorpius was with him on this, "You can say it in front of Scorpius or not at all, I have other things to do."

"Well I just um…" Harry trailed off awkwardly, his bespectacled emerald eyes shifting to Scorpius as if debating whether it was alright to say it in his presence and Scorpius wondered whether he should make an excuse to move away or if Varanian was really that uncomfortable being alone with Harry that it'd make him worse. He finally seemed to decide it was as he looked sharply back to Varanian, he took a breath, "I wanted to apologize to you, for torturing you. I was… overzealous in my attempts to arrest you and I crossed some lines I shouldn't have crossed, there's nothing I can say except that I screwed up and I'm sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me or that there's anything I can do to make it up to you but I hope that you'll be willing to work with me and that our future interactions may be more amicable."

At this, Harry offered out his hand to Varanian. Varanian eyed Harry's hand like he suspected touching it might light him on fire, his icy multicolored gaze shifted between Harry's remorseful face and the hand. Finally, Varanian's arm jerked robotically forwards and with reluctance shook Harry's hand, Harry looked incredibly relieved by this even if Varanian took his hand back quite quickly, his expression was unchanged but then he was so dour lately it was harder than usual to get a read on him.

"That was unexpected," Scorpius pointed out after they'd left and Varanian had apparated them back to Hogan's, the metamorphmagi gave a derisive snort.

"I suspect the minister put him up to it," Varanian scoffed, "Not that it really matters, we still need to work together regardless if we're to stop the Shadows and I won't live long enough to worry about it much after that."

That was something else concerning that he'd noticed Varanian had started to do, often bringing up the fact he wouldn't live very long or would die soon and Scorpius didn't quite know what to do about it. At least the warning system gave him something to focus on and it required interacting with other people, Rutherford also had experience with this kind of magic after his Hogwarts warning system so the pair of them had meetings with the ministry personnel about it since Scorpius had no clue. He was left more to work deal with the base renovations which also wasn't something he did alone, surprisingly the muggle Gray members actually came in use as the Embrys had had jobs dealing with property while Cade and his witch girlfriend had been in the process of renovating the house they'd bought together so they had experience, Ron also seemed very happy to be useful as the Weasleys had done a lot of the work on the Burrow giving him a magical perspective.

As the full moon drew closer, Scorpius also found himself dealing with that. They had eight werewolves in Gray across the three locations and ideally would be kept together but the situation wasn't ideal, Hogan and Tabitha felt Marigold not only wasn't in a good enough condition to be moved but that he would need care during the transformation as would Lamb (as he was going to try ease the pain the transformation had on his frayed nerves) possibly Sebastian and Lysel too. There was definitely not enough space at the already overcrowded Embrys for eight werewolves though, in the end they just had to leave them separate and it was an excuse to move more people into the new base. Myriam and Lysel would stay at Hogan's with Tabitha in case he needed help, Prosper and Hugo could stay at the base unsupervised as they were healthy then the rest would be at the Embry's with Hogan, he would've preferred Michael to go to the base but Michael threw a tantrum at this since his family was there so Scorpius allowed him to stay. For once Scorpius would actually be able to be an animagus around him, which was the reason he'd initially learned in the first place since he'd accidentally been volunteered into staying at the Embry's.

"But what if something goes wrong?" Sebastian had been saying to Antonius, his pallid face filled with terror and his eyes teary, "What if the Wolfsbane doesn't work? Since I turned poor Marigold maybe the wolf part of me will be stronger and have a taste for human blood and humans always smell so strongly, I could turn or kill Hogan and then Marigold will die too since he can't help him and then we could attack all the injured people inside. I don't want anyone else to be hurt or killed because of me."

"That's not how lycanthropy works," Cassia snapped immediately, her words as cold as her eyes lately, "Didn't you pay any attention to my father's classes?"

"Don't worry," Antonius said to his friend much more soothingly, patting the smaller boy's shoulders gently, "Scorpius is an animagus so you won't be able to harm him even if something went wrong and he'll be able to deal with any problems, he'll stay with you the whole time."

"Really?" Sebastian wondered, looking suddenly to Scorpius with eyes full of hope like a begging puppy.

Yes!

"Really," Scorpius confirmed, forcing a smile quickly, "It's Antonius' birthday tomorrow so I'll have to come here anyway, might as well stay the night."

"Thank you so much, Scorpius, that makes me feel so much better."

"I can stay with you too if you want," Wyatt volunteered quickly.

"You most certainly cannot, you need bed rest," Hogan snapped at him from a few beds away where he was checking on Lawson though had evidently still been listening, Wyatt sunk back into his pillows pouting.

Scorpius was ultimately quite glad that he ended up being roped into staying, in the evening he and Hogan carried Marigold out into the backyard on a transfigured stretcher while the other three werewolves wandered out shakily in blankets and by Antonius' dog who seemed quite interested in why everyone was congregating in the garden. All four of the werewolves bodies were wracked by the violent, painful transformations and Scorpius transformed himself while Hogan just stood back to wait impatiently tapping his foot and fidgeting in his lime green Healer robes then rushed straight over to Marigold when the great white wolf started wheezing, Lamb also lay close by mewling in pain but he'd have to wait his turn.

Sebastian and Michael both sniffed the air and recoiled from Scorpius then seemed to recover and stretched their legs a bit in the small garden, they all had to deal with an exceptionally excited dog who wanted to play with the four fully transformed werewolves- Hogan had to keep pushing her away as he tried to work on Marigold. Sebastian placated her for a while before curling up in a ball besides Scorpius and falling asleep, Michael on the other hand was pacing frantically and snapped his great jaws viscously at the dog the one time she attempted to engage with him. His gleaming golden eye kept gliding over Hogan tending to the other werewolves, his tongue kept darting over his razor sharp teeth as he licked his lips hungrily, his low growls often drowning out Hogan's muttered spells. Wolfsbane or not, Scorpius was sure he kept thinking about attacking Hogan, he only ever seemed to calm down and relax if Hogan went inside for anything. Nothing happened but Scorpius remained vigilant anyway and was still glad he was there, he wasn't sure if Hogan noticed or if it was by coincidence but he did thankfully give Michael a wide berth, focusing on Marigold and Lamb, one time checking on Sebastian.

Scorpius was relieved when the morning came and they could help the sickly werewolves back inside, Marigold and Lamb still needing help. Of course the day was not over yet as he still had to get through Antonius' birthday, the now twelve-year-old was sporting a necklace of a bronze griffin that had apparently been given to him by Andreas and had been promised to be allowed to try one crutch. Despite his determination, one seemed to be much more of a struggle than two. It seemed much trickier to get a handle on and tired him out quickly, he looked incredibly disappointed in himself when Hogan told him he should stick with the two for now.

"You got to give it time," Scorpius tried to offer encouragingly, Antonius just nodded blankly as he fingered the necklace, "You'll get the hang of it, no one gets everything first try."

Antonius didn't seem convinced and not for the first time Scorpius wished he was better at comforting people, like Michael used to be before he became just angry and mean all the time. In fact, he blew up again just a few days back from that. Abby had apparently visited her fiancé finally and broken up with him, she didn't say why but Scorpius suspected maybe she'd waited too long and Sequoia had been unimpressed with how low a priority he was to her. However, she came back with a strange request for him.

"Do you think it would be possible for Sequoia's younger sister to join Gray?"

"What?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, not sure if it was some kind of bizarre joke but her expression was serious, and sad, "Why?"

Poor Abby, she looks like she needs a hug

"Because she asked me if she could, what was I supposed to say? I know it's not very likely but I said I would ask so I am," Abby explained gloomily, beyond her he noticed Hogan- who was observing Antonius' single crutch attempts- tilt his head to one side interestedly, "You can just say no if she can't and I'll let her know."

"I mean, I don't anything about her," Scorpius admitted, resisting the urge to give Abby a hug, "I know Sequoia has a bunch of sisters, which one is this? Is she even of age?"

"She's of age, she's only the year below us. A Slytherin, good grades and helped out with the evacuation. Eliza is her name."

"Well I'll have to ask Varanian and see what he says," Scorpius offered and she nodded, muttering thanks and walking away while Hogan turned to him angrily.

"Oh so she's allowed to just invite whoever into Gray?!" Hogan snapped at him, stomping his feet like a child and throwing up his arms in a gesture of frustration, "Why is she allowed to invite people to join Gray?! How come everyone else is just allowed to randomly invite whoever they want into Gray except me!"

"She can ask, it's still up to Varanian to say yes!" Scorpius insisted and Hogan still gave a grunt of frustration, his eyes staring lasers into him.

"And he'll probably say yes, he does what you ask him!"

"Why do you care anyway? Who do you want to join Gray?" Scorpius asked of him instead which seemed to nip his anger in the bud, instead Hogan folded his arms.

"Dawn."

"What?!" Michael spluttered, almost dropping the tray of potions he'd been carrying over, "You can't invite her!"

"Why not?" Hogan countered, throwing his razor sharp glare to Michael instead, "She's doesn't want to risk going to the shelters but I think she might be more receptive to Gray since we're not underground and the Shadow attacks aren't slowing down."

"That's her own problem!" Michael snapped, putting down the potion tray, "She's a muggle, she's not even any use to Gray!"

"She's pregnant with your baby, we have plenty of muggles and kids related to Gray members allowed in, why should Dawn be any different?!"

"Why do you even care?!" Michael screamed at him, loud enough to make Koray and Marigold stir.

"Because she's my patient!"

"Okay look, I'll ask Varanian about Dawn as well, alright?" Scorpius interjected, Hogan looked pleased but Michael flipped.

"What the hell, Scorpius?!" Michael yelled at him, slamming down the potion tray and definitely waking up Koray and Marigold this time, "You can't do that!"

"Come on, Michael," Albus spoke up calmly, "At least they'll be safe and even if you don't want anything to do with the baby, surely you want your child and the mum to be safe?"

"No I don't! I don't want them here! Why do you assume I care about things just because they're related to me?! I don't care if this fetus dies and I don't care if Jack dies! Fathers are worthless, they don't mean anything."

"Say that again and I'll have Convaris tear your tongue from your throat," Cassia growled threateningly and the pet vulture perched on her shoulder gave a caw.

"Fine! Just gang up on me, why don't you!" Michael snapped a final time before stalking off in a rage.

Scorpius did find himself on Hogan's side with this, he didn't see a problem letting the muggle mother in to keep the baby safe. The attacks were still happening and it was getting harder not easier to detect them, with more places burned to the ground and more people fleeing to the shelters there was less people around to even report them, Harry had started sending Aurors periodically to check on the major cities but so far no luck. Scorpius was increasingly worried for his own family but so far they hadn't tried to contact him or gone to one of the shelters, he could only hope Hogan would have an easier time convincing Dawn if Varanian agreed, which he did quite readily.

"Why not?" Varanian had shrugged disinterestedly when he'd asked him about Eliza and Dawn, "The more able-bodied fighters we have the better with how many non-combatants we have and Annie… I think she would've wanted her nephew's baby to be safe."

And so they had a surprise new member of Gray, Abby retrieved Eliza and brought the severe-looking girl to the base. She didn't seem particularly friendly but she succeeded at all the challenges John set her to gauge her skill level, she was very… efficient? And keen to work, Scorpius supposed that was the important thing and there was plenty of time for her to settle in later. Things unfortunately didn't go nearly as smoothly with Dawn.

"She said she'd have to think about it," Hogan grumbled as he returned with no pregnant woman, "I get the impression she's not so keen on Michael being here, I don't suppose there's any chance we can kick him out?"

As July wore on the base really started to take shape, there was enough space for more people to move in and a lot of the injured were recovering enough to be moved, Byron was back on his feet, Antonius was starting to get used to one crutch, Koray and Marigold were conscious more often, Lawson could move around a bit, Wyatt and Albus were much more mobile, they thought everyone should be able to be moved into the base by the end of the summer. Latimer and Oathan were the only one whose condition wasn't improving, Hogan said it was because of his history with Dragon Pox his lungs and immune system were bad while Oathan's injury was just incredibly severe and Hogan's magic was the only thing keeping him alive right now.

He was very worried about his friend but at least the others were doing better, in fact Albus was well enough that he was going to see his dad and the rest of his family at the Burrow. He'd asked Scorpius to invite Molly to the family reunion as well, which was a bit awkward as she had still been giving him a wide berth after their argument weeks ago and Scorpius hadn't tried to push it. Surprisingly the perfect opportunity presented itself that evening after dinner back at Hogan's, it was his turn to wash up but Molly followed him out.

"Can I help?" Molly asked as she deposited more dishes into the full sink.

"Um… sure," Scorpius agreed as he turned on the water and got out his wand, he could easily do it himself but he didn't really want to refuse her.

"Forgot this glass," Leebin offered as he also came out into the kitchen, Molly quickly looked away while Leebin added the glass to the sink and left. In fact, he thought she seemed to be avoiding Leebin.

"Did he do something to offend you?" Scorpius wondered, lazily flicking his wand and the dishes started washing themselves.

"What?" Molly questioned, glancing sideways at him.

"Leebin. Did he do something to upset you?"

"No," she said quickly, averting her eyes and he could've sworn he caught her blushing before she added, "I just… I had this weird dream about him and I haven't managed to get it out my head yet."

"Oh. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't talk about my dreams with you, Scor," Molly told him with a sigh, waving her own wand and the kitchen towel started drying the washed dishes.

"You can talk to me about anything," Scorpius insisted and she looked at him with an unreadable expression, he wondered if she knew he was keeping things from her. He wouldn't mind telling her about his own strange dreams about being paralyzed though obviously he couldn't tell her about Calderon who continued to be a voice in his mind, "I'm giving you space because it's what you wanted not because I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"I know," Molly said, looking away again, "I appreciate it."

Scorpius paused to give her time to continue but she fell silent, he sighed and turned his attention back to the dishes. He wished things weren't so awkward between them, he missed when they were close and they didn't hide things from each other like this. At least she was alive though. He flicked his wand again at the dishes so that the dried dishes flew back to their place in the cupboard, making a neat little factory line. He decided he may as well bring up what he needed to ask her for Albus, now was as good a time as any though with how reclusive she was he suspected it'd be a no.

"Albus wanted to know if you'd join them in family reunion at the Burrow," Scorpius brought up and felt Molly's sky blue eyes slide across to him again, "He's well enough to go home so he and Lily will be seeing their dad and rest of the family, Hugo and his parents will be going to. Do you want to join them? They're going tomorrow."

"Hmm…" Molly mused, her expression thoughtful though she fell silent again, only the sliding ceramic of the dishes could be heard. She thought about it for so long that the dishes were almost done and Scorpius was about to ask her again when she finally spoke, looking suddenly nervous, "Okay, I'll go with him."

"Crucio!" Cyrus half-heartedly attempted to cast on the slave he was supposed to be practicing on, it didn't work.

For once he wasn't alone though, around him he heard the rest of the class also struggling to make it work. There were many lone cries of pain, some even screamed a few times in a row but it still petered out fairly quickly, it was a lot easier to inflict the curse then it was to maintain it the way they were supposed to. It had to be a difficult spell if Cyrus wasn't the only one having trouble with it, he was glad because it made his failure less noticeable. It wasn't really like he wanted to succeed anyway, he just didn't want to be tortured for failing. He raised his wand to try again-

"Akram," Master Ludwig growled from behind him and Cyrus jumped fearfully, "You're supposed to be torturing this slave."

"I'm trying," Cyrus pointed out, flailing his outstretched wand as if to prove it.

"Then try."

"Crucio!" Cyrus attempted again. Nothing.

"Another failure, you're full of those."

"Everyone else is having trouble too," Cyrus pointed out, desperately trying to deflect attention from himself lest Master Ludwig decide he needed cruciating as punishment.

"At least everyone else has managed to cast the spell successfully at least once even if they can't hold it, you haven't even managed that," Master Ludwig spat, Cyrus could hear the sneer in his cold voice, "Pathetic. You're the worst student I have ever taught-"

He was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Master Ludwig snapped, clearly annoyed at the interpretation as Cyrus heard the door creak open then Master Ludwig's voice brightened considerably, "Ah Davin! One of my best students, come over here!"

Cyrus' own spirits lifted at his friend's arrival, even if he thought Davin was still a bit cross with him for what he'd said to Sly a few weeks ago, at least it had led to Sly finally leaving them alone. He heard the door creak then click back closed, overlaid by Davin's encroaching footsteps as he crossed the room to them. Delicate, careful footsteps, Davin was very light on his feet.

"My brother sent me to retrieve Akram," Davin explained in his soft voice when he was close enough to converse with Master Ludwig, speaking both unprovoked and without the quiver of fear most had when addressing Master Ludwig, "It is time for him to serve as a translator in the conquest of the Middle East."

"Ah yes, of course," Master Ludwig said and Cyrus heard him clap his hands together, "But first, why don't you give us a demonstration of the Cruciatus Curse? As you can tell, the class is struggling."

"As you wish," Davin agreed and Cyrus heard the lazy swish of his wand, "Crucio."

The effect was instantaneous, there was a thud from where Cyrus' practice slave had been standing while agonized screams permeated his ears. He could only wince in extreme discomfort while the other attempts at torture ceased as the rest of the class presumably stopped to watch, he could hear the man's body writhing as his howls of agony ripped the air. After a few minutes he started trying to cry for mercy between screams, beg for it to stop in a voice that sounded painfully elderly. Cyrus had suffered through this curse himself too many times now to not empathize, he looked in Davin's direction expecting him to drop the curse at these pleas but he didn't.

"Look at the technique, class," Master Ludwig spoke loudly to be heard over the man's screams, sounding entirely unperturbed by the person in agony in front of him. Cyrus had to clench his fist and bite his tongue to stop himself from speaking out, that never went well, "Look at the way he holds his wand, firm, unyielding, arm out straight- this is how you use the Cruciatus Curse. Its effectiveness comes from the ability to maintain it, people are not going to be incensed to provide you the information the Soul Eaters require if you can't enforce your threats, the key to torture is putting them in so much pain that they'll tell you anything you want in order to make it stop. Almost everyone would resist a second of pain while almost everyone would struggle to resist after an hour of this, it needs to be unbearable not brief. And also as you can see, Davin is only a year above you all! So none of this thinking you're too young crap, if you can't manage this spell then you're obviously not trying hard enough, you're not dedicated enough to the Soul Eaters. Excuses will not be tolerated, I want better results by the end of this lesson or I'll be forced to assume you all need a personal reminder of how the Cruciatus Curse feels in order to cast it. Dismissed! Thank you, Davin."

The screaming ceased abruptly as Davin finally released the old man from the spell, who instead started sobbing quietly into the floor, probably still shaking. Around him the cries of 'crucio' returned as the rest of the class went back to trying to torture the other slaves. Cyrus hated it.

"May I take my leave with Akram now?" Davin asked politely as if nothing abhorrent had just happened, "Lieutenant Stephan Hunter does not like to be kept waiting."

"Yes of course, you may take the boy now," Master Ludwig said quickly, "Akram… do better next time."

Cyrus chose to say nothing and simply followed Davin's retreating footsteps, his friend held the door open for him. He still didn't risk speaking until they were safely on their way through the Tower, their footsteps echoing in the empty hallways as everyone else was still in classes.

"I already gathered-"

"How do you do that?" Cyrus couldn't help but ask over Davin's attempt to speak.

"Do what?" Davin questioned, a hint of confusion in the words.

"Torture that poor old man!" Cyrus blurted out as if it was obvious, because it was.

"I don't know, I just… did?" Davin answered, still sounding confused, "It's just one of the spells they teach us to use."

"But you were hurting that person, torturing him, how- Didn't it bother you?"

"It's not like I had a choice, I had to do it."

"Well you didn't have to do it so well," Cyrus muttered unhappily to himself, not sure if he'd ever be capable of doing that.

"At least you won't have to worry about any of it for a while," Davin pointed out in a more optimistic tone, "You actually get to leave."

"Yeah," Cyrus sighed heavily, his mood only sinking further, "I get to help them conquer and enslave millions of innocent people instead."

"This would be happening with or without your help, at least with you translating more people are able to surrender and live instead of being killed."

"I know," Cyrus sighed again, somehow this never made him feel much better, "I wish you were coming with me, I'm going to be so alone."

"Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it," Davin admitted, sounding disappointed himself now, "Even if I could speak Arabic I don't think it'd matter, Stephan doesn't want me to miss out on training when he thinks I'm close to being able to take the Test."

"How long will I even be gone?" Cyrus asked to change the subject, not really wanting to think about Davin doing the potentially fatal Test.

"Stephan estimates a few months if it goes well, a few weeks if it doesn't."

"That's so long."

"Hey, look on the bright side," Davin offered, his tone lighter as he tried to cheer him up, "Maybe your mom will have a better chance of rescuing you there."

"Maybe," Cyrus muttered, not liking the idea of being saved without his friend. Assuming it was even possible, he'd tried to stop them but Sly's doubts had slithered into his mind. He bet Sly would have no trouble with the Cruciatus Curse.

Davin's footsteps stopped and he heard him opening a door, conversing voices- one of whom he recognized as Rocio, who would also be serving as a translator except in South America with her brother- graced his ears and he obediently walked towards it, he heard the creak of the door as Davin closed it behind them.

"Well it doesn't matter, they're here now," a male voice was saying as they entered, presumably Stephan though Cyrus didn't know the man well enough to recognize his voice yet, he heard Rocio huff unhappily, "That's all, Davin, you can go back to class now."

"Good luck, Cyrus," Davin said in his soft, kind voice and Cyrus felt the sudden warmth of his friend's hand on his shoulder, he felt his heart wrench miserably as it truly dawned on him that this was the last time he'd get to speak to him for potentially months. He'd be completely alone in the Shadows, he had to bite his quivering lip, "Stay strong, I'll see you soon enough."

"Bye Davin, take care," was all Cyrus could manage himself and all too quickly the warmth left his shoulder and Davin's footsteps retreated the way they'd came, the door opening and closing again behind him.

"Come Cyrus, give me your hand," Stephan commanded and Cyrus stepped towards the voice, offering a nervous hand and feeling it grabbed roughly. Stephan's hand was as cold and hard as his voice, Cyrus felt as though he'd been seized by a vice, "Let us not waste time. Rocio, wait here."

"Like I can do anything else," he heard Rocio mutter bitterly.

Without warning Cyrus felt as if his stomach had dropped out, an icy feeling scraped over ever sliver of his skin like he was bare then his feet were on the ground again. He still shivered from the uncomfortable feeling of Specter travel, despite the fact he was immediately aware of being in a much warmer climate than wherever the Training Tower was. Stephan released his hand and Cyrus heard a sharp knocking in front of him, a few seconds later the door opened.

"Lieutenant Stephan," a male voice greeted with a strict politeness, there was something about the voice that caught Cyrus' ear but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Tell James I'm here with his translator," Stephan ordered but didn't seem to wait for his compliance as he grabbed Cyrus' hand again and pulled him forward through the door while footsteps scampered away across carpet, when Stephan spoke again he seemed to be speaking to him this time which drowned out the muffled conversation from the next room, "This is the apartment where you'll be staying… not that it matters I guess since you can't see."

"Ah Stephan, you're early," a different male voice offered as footsteps followed back into the room, this man's voice was higher pitched than both Stephan and the guy who'd opened the door. It was also very distinctly British, Cyrus was reminded unpleasantly of Sly.

"I'm on time, James," Stephan told him, sounding very sure of himself, "And I expect you to be, we have a lot to go over with the conquest starting tomorrow."

"I remember," James insisted, his pleasant tone clearly knocked, "So this is Roman's son?"

"Cyrus Akram," Stephan introduced him and Cyrus felt himself pushed forwards closer to James, he suspected James was studying him though he was too busy feeling insulted at being known as 'Roman's son,' "Here are his things, just some changes of clothes."

"Yannis can take them," James said dismissively and Cyrus heard the exchange of a bag, Yannis?

"Well I'll leave you to get acquainted while I get back to my sister, see you soon."

"Bye," James offered as Cyrus heard Stephan's footsteps retreating, the close of the door. He heard James shift, "You don't have much resemblance to Roman, do you?"

"I wouldn't know," Cyrus said irritably, having never met the loser and being unable to tell if they looked alike anyway.

"Right, well anyway I don't know how much you were told but I'm James, General James Sirius Potter," James introduced himself, sounding quite proud though Cyrus was hung up on something else, "You may address me as Master or General-"

"Potter?" Cyrus repeated in surprise, "As in Harry Potter?"

"Yes," James confirmed stiffly, "I'm his firstborn son."

"But how? You're a lowlife Shadow and he's a hero-"

Cyrus barely had time to register the sound of James lunging before he felt a fist slam into his face, forceful enough and surprising enough to send him sprawling to the ground. Not for long as he felt his left arm seized, he cried out in pain as James twisted it painfully to yank him back up.

"I'm a hero," James' voice snarled into Cyrus' ear, so close he could feel James' hot, angry breath on his cheek and smell his earthy aftershave as he held him in this painful position, his arm felt ready to snap if James twisted it any further, "Not my father, do you understand? I'm a hero, I'm a General, I'm the one who's making the world a better place. I'm a better person and a greater wizard than my father could ever be, he's just a misguided old fool who wouldn't recognize brilliance if I was staring him in the face! Do you understand?!"

"Yes!" Cyrus tried to speak through the pain, whimpering as James twisted his arm a fraction further.

"Yes what?! What did I tell you to call me?!"

"Yes, Master James?!"

"That's much better," James assured him, his tone quiet and dark. Cyrus expected him to release his arm but James only twisted it more, the pressure was agonizing and Cyrus felt a tear or two dribble down his face, "But let's make sure you remember your manners from now on."

With this, James wrenched his arm a final time and Cyrus heard snap even over the sound of his own cry as the pain suddenly surged to a singular point on his left arm, he was sure it was broken. James released him and Cyrus slumped onto the carpet, almost crying out again at the resurgence of pain in his arm when it bounced off ground.

"Who's a hero now?" James sneered.

"You are," Cyrus croaked fearfully and did cry out in pain again as James stamped down hard on his injured arm, "I said you're the hero!"

"Didn't we just have a conversation about what to call me?"

"You're the hero, Master James!" Cyrus corrected and James removed his boot from his arm, Cyrus cradled the aching limb close to his body protectively.

"That's right," James snapped, not sounding very impressed or pleased and Cyrus yelped out in pain again as something that felt boot-like collided with his eye as if James had just kicked him, "I guess blind people are so stupid they need things beaten into them to remember…"

"Master James," the door-opener's voice – Yannis? - said in alarm while Cyrus' heart started to pound fearfully, "Remember, you need him intact for the conquest."

"Don't interrupt me, Yannis! He'll still be intact after a beating."

"He's a child, Master James," Yannis implored, though he didn't sound like he was appealing to James' humanity, "Much weaker than those you're used to beating, more fragile."

"So?"

"So I don't think he'd be intact if you beat him, Master James, you're just so strong."

"I am pretty strong," James conceded in agreement.

"The strongest," Yannis insisted though Cyrus didn't think he sounded very sincere, surely this couldn't work? "I mean you have already broken his arm, Master James, if you hurt him any worse then he'll need healing immediately and that's just so inconvenient for you."

"Hmm," James mused thoughtfully before Cyrus felt another kick to his skull, his head rang painfully, "Let that be a warning to you! I expect to be addressed with the respect I deserve, fail to do so and next time I won't be so merciful whether it's convenient for me or not! Is that understood?!"

"Yes, Master James," Cyrus whimpered fearfully into the carpet.

"Good," James growled and Cyrus heard his footsteps move away, he still didn't dare move lest it accidentally set off James again. His heart was still racing when to his surprise he heard what sounded like… kissing? Then the sound of a punch, "For fuck's sake, Yannis! Why are you so bad at this?! Ugh."

"I'm sorry, Master James," Yannis apologized, not even attempting to sound remotely apologetic, "You know slaves are very bad at things."

Another punch.

"Well learn!" James snapped and gave a huff of annoyance, "I should go to the meeting with Stephan anyway. Deal with the kid while I'm gone, I don't want him getting in my way except for when I actually need his stupid translation."

"Yes, Master James."

He heard James' footsteps again, the sound of the front door opening and closing. There was a pause, he then heard Yannis let out a long, relieved breath. Finally he heard footsteps approaching again, softer than James' boots thumping on the carpet, Yannis was much lighter on his feet. And not wearing boots, sandals?

"Let me help you up," Yannis offered gently.

Cyrus felt hands helping him carefully to his feet, which he was grateful for because it was a bit difficult with one hand and everything felt like it was spinning around him. Yannis guided him in the opposite direction to the front door, their footsteps changed from muffled thuds on carpet to clapping loudly on tile as they presumably went from one room to another, probably into a bathroom or kitchen. Kitchen, Cyrus mentally confirmed when they stopped and he heard the scrape of a chair dragging across the tile, Yannis seated him on it.

"Can I see your arm?" Yannis asked.

Cyrus hesitantly offered the broken limb he'd been holding protectively to his chest, not entirely sure what Yannis could do, if he was a slave then he was a muggle so he couldn't heal him. Yannis took his arm as delicately as if it were made of glass and gently started pulling back his sleeve to presumably get a better look, Cyrus jolted in pain as just the thin fabric grazing the hurt part sent a fresh shockwave of agony spiraling out from the wound.

"Sorry," Yannis apologized, trying to be more careful rolling back the sleeve. There was a pause, "Okay. Just try to hold it still, I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay," Cyrus mumbled, trying to find his voice again and still his frantic heart. Yannis probably thought he was being very rude not saying anything when he seemed to be trying to help him, his arm was still hurting a lot though and his head pounding, he was finding it difficult to blink where James had kicked his eye. The arm pain was so bad it completely override the stinging of the blood quill cuts laced around his body, he missed thinking that was the worst pain you could experience.

He heard Yannis' footsteps leaving back through the apartment, listening to him clattering about in another room. The only sound besides that was Cyrus' own ragged breathing, it seemed like they were alone. Yannis returned a minute later, depositing some things on what sounded like a table beside them. He then heard him uncorking a vial.

"Here, it'll help with the pain," Yannis offered as he put the vial into Cyrus' good hand, Cyrus started to take a gulp from it, "Just a little though, I don't have a lot so it must be used sparingly."

Cyrus tempered the amount he drank from the vial, surprised to find it tasted like normal pain-relief potion, while he heard Yannis wringing out a cloth. He handed it back to Yannis, already feeling the potion kicking in like a soft wave sweeping though him and washing away the pain.

"Now hold this to your eye, it will help with the swelling," Yannis continued, replacing the vial with a potion-soaked rag that Cyrus obediently pressed against his eye, it felt like ice on his skin but the discomfort he should be feeling couldn't get past the pain-relief wave to bother him.

"These feel just like magical potions," Cyrus pointed out, impressed at how similar muggle potions were.

"They are magical potions," Yannis corrected him, sponging more anti-swelling solution onto Cyrus' broken arm as he spoke. Cyrus blinked his uncovered eye in surprise.

"But… aren't you a muggle?" Cyrus wondered in confusion, "How do you have magical potions? How do you even know anything about them?"

"Being a muggle means that I can't do magic not that I can't know anything about magic, we can learn things that we are told."

"Oh right, sorry," Cyrus apologized guiltily.

"A Healer gave these to me and explained about them, Siberius, you should hopefully meet him tomorrow and he'll fix up your arm. In the meantime, these potions should help," Yannis explained, his tone very resigned and having heard him talk more Cyrus definitely detected the familiar accent, "With any luck you won't need to use them again, you haven't hit puberty yet so as long as you don't provoke him he will probably leave you alone. I know it's hard with how quick to anger he is, it's not really your fault so just try your best. Call him by his title, probably try avoid speaking unless he speaks to you first, he likes agreement and compliments because he thinks he is always right and very great."

"Okay. Can I stop holding this here?" Cyrus asked when he noticed Yannis stopped applying the anti-swelling solution to his arm.

"Yes, let me see," Yannis said and Cyrus obediently lowered the rag, "Does your face feel numb at all?"

"No… though it stopped hurting because of the pain relief potion."

"Can you move your eye?"

"Um… well yeah," Cyrus confirmed and proved it by moving his eyeballs, "I can't see anything though, I'm blind."

"I know, I'm just making sure James didn't break the eye socket," Yannis told him and reached out to take back the potion-soaked rag. As he did so, Cyrus' fingers brushed against Yannis' arm and he gasped in shock.

"You have blood quill scars too?!"

"What? No, I don't."

"But I can feel words!" Cyrus insisted as he tried to read the letters on Yannis' arm with his fingers, Yannis' sleeve getting in the way a little but it was loose and easily pushed aside, "P-R… O-P, prop... E-R… proper… T-Y. Property… of… J-A-M… Jam? E-S… Jam-es… oh…"

"James did that, not a blood quill," Yannis told him quietly, shifting his arm and pulling his sleeve out of the way so Cyrus could read it easier.

"'Property of James Sirius Potter,'" Cyrus finished recounting aloud, registering for the first time how jagged and deep the scars were compared to a blood quill's and feeling a little ill as he moved his hand away, not before noticing other scars that didn't seem to resemble letters, "I didn't know the Soul Eaters marked slaves like that."

"The Soul Eaters don't, James does," Yannis informed him then spoke again before Cyrus could dwell on what a sick person James must be, he'd even glimpsed other scars with his fingers, "I didn't know you could read, do you have some vision then?"

"No, absolutely none, I don't even have light and shadow perception," Cyrus said as Yannis placed strips of dry cloth on Cyrus' lap and laid the broken arm on it, "I have to read with my fingers, blind people have this language called Braille that's a bunch of raised dots that are letters we can feel, I grew up with it and it's really cool. In the Training Tower they made me learn the 'real' alphabet but I still can't see so I can only read engraved things, and it's still much harder than Braille, I miss being able to read... What are you doing?"

"Making a splint," Yannis explained to Cyrus' confusion as the slave had started putting wooden sticks against his arm, "It'll help keep it in place until it can be healed, when a bone is broken you want to keep it as still as possible so the bones stay where they're supposed to be."

"Oh right, I didn't know that. You're very smart, Yannis- It is Yannis, right?"

"Yes, that's my name."

"You know a lot about this stuff."

"Didn't have much choice but to learn living with James," Yannis admitted quietly and Cyrus felt a fresh wave of horror as it dawned on him what he meant by that, James really did seem awful, maybe even worse than Master Ludwig. There was a few moments silence while Yannis started tying the pieces of wood- the splints, Cyrus had learned a new word today- to his broken arm, seeming very focused on what he was doing before Cyrus spoke again timidly.

"Thank you, you know, for all this."

"It's nothing," Yannis dismissed it immediately but Cyrus didn't think it was nothing, after all Yannis could've just not helped him.

"Yannis is a Greek name, right?" Cyrus said even though he already knew the answer.

"Right."

"Are you Greek?" Cyrus asked, switching from English to Greek and felt Yannis startle in shock as the question disrupted his meticulous bandaging.

"W- Yes," Yannis confirmed, also switching to Greek and Cyrus couldn't stop the smile that scuttled across his face, "You speak Greek?"

"Of course I do, I am Greek!" Cyrus told him excitedly, much more than happy to be able to converse in his native tongue after far too long stuck in English. He knew he had recognized Yannis' accent! "Or at least I was born in Greece and grew up there, my mom studied Ancient Magical Artifacts at the Greek Ministry for Magic, Ancient Greece was always her favorite era of history and her dream job even though she was Arabic, from Egypt. She made sure I knew her native tongue and… my father's English even though he left before I was born, but also obviously Greek since we lived there, that's my native tongue. What about you?"

"I- Well my dad is Greek but my mom is Canadian," Yannis said after a moment of hesitation, seemingly taken off-guard by the whole thing, "He travels a lot for work and met her on a business trip to Canada, she moved to Greece to be with him and became an English teacher. She made sure my sister and I could speak both, especially since we visited my grandparents in Canada a lot… she put a lot of value in languages."

"I think our moms would get along," Cyrus laughed while Yannis returned to the bandaging, reminded of what his mom say if he complained about having to practice Arabic or English and her general enthusiasm, "My mom loved languages, knew a bunch of them, for work and for travel and even fun, she thinks they're easy! For her they probably are because she's really smart, my mom is, loves puzzles and riddles and all that."

"She sounds cool," Yannis offered politely, "I'm going to do a sling now for your arm, okay?"

"Okay," Cyrus agreed disinterestedly, still excited to be communicating in Greek again, "My mom is really cool- she even managed to get away, you know? When the Shadows came, we lived in Athens so we were the first ones hit-"

"Really? You lived in Athens?" Yannis interjected in a tone of surprise and Cyrus nodded, "Me too."

"Whoa," Cyrus commented, feeling a newfound kinship with him as a fellow Athenian. He wondered if they'd ever been to any of the same places or landmarks, he wasn't sure whether muggles had access to all the same places, he'd have to ask him about it later. It also didn't escape his notice that meant they'd been prisoners for the same amount of time, too long an amount of time. His heart ached to go back to that simpler, less painful time, "What happened to your family?"

"I don't know," Yannis admitted as he busied himself fiddling with some kind of towel that he rested Cyrus' splinted arm on, "I was at my friend's house when the attack happened so I never got to go home, they separated us all by age and gender and skills. I haven't seen my mom or sister, I don't know if that's because of how we were split up or because they didn't survive the attack… My sister would be about your age right now, you know, if she's still alive. And then my dad, well he was out of the country on a business trip when it happened, with any luck he avoided slavery entirely and is still alive somewhere but I have no way of knowing."

"I'm sorry," Cyrus offered with sincerity, being able to relate all too well. There was a moment of silence and his voice was quiet when he spoke again, "My- My mom is going to come and rescue me, you know? We got separated when she escaped with a magical artifact- that's why they put me in the Training Tower in the first place, instead of with the other magical kids- so she's out there and she'll come back for me, I don't think anyone really believes me- I don't think even Davin does- but I know she will. I know my mom, Yannis, I know her. She would never abandon me like my dad did, she'd never give up trying to get back to me, never, and she wouldn't stop fighting until her dying breath…"

"Well I'm sure you know your mom better than they do," Yannis stated as he pulled up the towel-cloth-thing as if he was testing the height for how long the sling needed to be, "Breaking back into Soul Eater territory is easier said than done, no matter how badly she'd want to."

"Exactly!" Cyrus blurted out, glad to find someone else talking sense, "The Soul Eaters are really powerful and who even knows where the Training Tower is? Just because she hasn't saved me yet doesn't mean that she gave up or doesn't love me or that she died. I'm sure she's still trying."

"I'm sure she is."

"Do you think your dad is trying to rescue you and your mom and your sister too?"

"I doubt it, he's a muggle after all so it's not like he could do anything."

"Muggles can still do things," Cyrus pointed out, thinking how surprised he was with Yannis' healing knowledge. However Yannis didn't justify this with a verbal response, instead giving a derisive snort. Cyrus supposed being enslaved by James for so long might make him feel like muggles were useless, "How did you end up with James anyway?"

Cyrus almost regretted asking as he noticed Yannis start in shock, the sling tying momentarily interrupted as if he was taken off-guard by the question. Or maybe he just didn't want to talk about James. Cyrus opened his mouth to tell him he didn't have to talk about it if he didn't want to but Yannis had already started answering.

"Well… they valued bilinguals but as I was only thirteen they assigned myself and other young bilinguals to teaching muggle children English, the least important learners. That wasn't so bad," Yannis told him, slowly going back to tying the sling, "But after several months Stephan came looking for a house slave for James… he talked to all the English-speaking teenage boys then selected me, I don't know why. He was the one who brought me here and told me what was expected of me, I've been serving James ever since."

"Was he always so mean?"

"He got worse over time but he was never exactly nice in the first place."

"Well maybe your dad will find my mom and she will help him to rescue you? I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind, she would hate slavery. Maybe we will get rescued together."

"Maybe," Yannis said, not sounding like he believed it as he started tying the sling to the other side of it around Cyrus' neck, "There, how's that?"

"I think it's good?" Cyrus guessed, moving his arm slightly in the sling as he wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to be like.

"Good," Yannis stated, sounding pleased, "Now about some kalamaki for your dinner? I'll see if I can remember how to make my grandmother's sauce, of course we can't have meat because of the Soul Eaters but you might still like a little taste of home."

"I'd love some kalamaki," Cyrus grinned, feeling his eyes misting up a little as his mouth watered from the memories of Athens. The smells of delicious Greek cuisine, the bustle of Greek conversations around him, the warmth of the Greek sun on his skin, not being in pain his mom… he hadn't realized he'd started crying until he felt the warmth of Yannis' hand on his shoulder, his voice was confused.

"What's wrong?"

"I- I'm sorry, I just…" Cyrus stammered, wiping hastily as treacherous teary eyes with his uninjured arm, he sniffed and tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat, "J- Just speaking Greek again and talking to you about G- Greece… I guess I- I just missed home more than I usually l- let myself… n- normally I just… I c- can't think about it too much… y- you know?"

"I know," Yannis confirmed quietly and there was a second's hesitation before Cyrus felt Yannis' arms circle around him comfortingly, making him feel safe just like how he did when his mom would hug him. Cyrus clung to him as tightly as he could with his one good arm and buried his head in Yannis' chest, trying and failing to stem the flow of homesick tears, "It'll be alright, Cyrus."

And for once, at least for that moment, Cyrus could actually believe it.