Last week I did not own Harry Potter. To my dismay this has not changed. Yet.

When Vulpine woke up, he kept his eyes closed while he tried to work out his situation. Firstly, he was tied to a chair. Not a comfortable chair, either. How had he got here? Oh, right. The cat. That bloody cat…Vulpine debated the merits of turning the damn animal into a pair of gloves for a few minutes, half listening to the voices around him. One young. Female. Hermi- Granger.

"How did you know something was happening, Sir?" she asked. Vulpine could hear the hero- worship in her voice, and it disgusted him.

"Oh, that was easy Miss Granger. I set up a monitoring Charm in the Common Room once you told me that Mister Potter might have followed you back." Dumbledore said, with false modesty. Vulpine felt a surge of hatred for the old man, but successfully repressed the homicidal urges. Deciding that he was hardly likely to get anything of use from the conversation, he opened his eyes and elected to start with a quip.

"You know, I had a dream like this once." He drawled. A pause, then- "But Dumbledore and Snape weren't in it, and Hermione was wearing more leather and lace. Or should that be less?"

To his intense amusement Granger flushed, and her lips thinned. Vulpine allowed the corners of his mouth to drift up into a smirk. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Bright side, silver lining. Or not, as a pair of twinkling eyes came into his eye line. Vulpine actually twitched in anger, his normal calm façade starting to crack.

"Dumbledore. Get away from me." He said, his voice shot through with rage. The old man had the gall to smile, and twinkle his eyes more. Vulpine conjured up a mental image of Snape cursing Dumbledore off the Astronomy Tower in an attempt to soothe his rage.

"Why my boy, I am disappointed." Dumbledore sighed. Vulpine fought another pulse of homicidal intentions. If the old man continued like this there would be a lot of murder committed. Vulpine knew he was probably broadcasting his thoughts, but he honestly didn't care anymore. Granger, said the fraction of his mind not submerged in rage. Granger is the weak link.

"I'm disappointed, old man. I would have at least thought that Granger would have the guts to change things, not follow your word like a lapdog. After all, look at the future that got us before." Vulpine said, oddly proud that his voice wasn't a guttural growl of rage. It wasn't steady, no, but it was close to it. Hermione scowled, her own anger suddenly flaring.

"You dare to blame what you did on Dumbledore? All he ever did-"

"All he ever did was fail!" Vulpine barked. He was sick of this hero worship, sick of the perception that Dumbledore was infallible and that he was the great failure of the Light, and he finally had a chance to bring Granger to task.

"All your precious Headmaster ever managed was-"

Vulpine was cut off by a Silencing spell cast by the third person in the room, Snape. The assassin couldn't believe that Hermione had told Snape, of all people. The Potions Master sneered at Vulpine, causing the Animagus to give a mental scream of rage and frustration. Actually, he expected that if he wasn't silenced, he wouldn't be able to speak coherently anymore.

"I don't see why we need Veritaserum." Snape said, sneering. "I'll just look into the brat's mind myself. Legilimens!"

"No!" yelled Granger. Too late. Snape had entered Vulpine's mind, brushing through the admittedly poor Occlumency defences. But Vulpine didn't rely on Occlumency. Instead he responded with a memory of Snape's death in the original timeline, forcing it into the Potion Master's mind with a brutal satisfaction. A garbled noise of horror came from Snape as he reeled back, wrenching himself from Vulpine's mind. Snape looked as though he was about to be sick, and Vulpine couldn't blame him- the Animagus had really indulged his sadism when it came to Snape's death. He was still mildly perturbed by it himself. Happily, the shock had broken the Silencing spell, and Vulpine could speak again.

"When you gaze into the Abyss, beware that the Abyss does not gaze back into you." He croaked. Probably a misquote, but good enough. Hermione glared at him, picking up the Veritaserum phial, and Vulpine clamped his jaw shut. Unfortunately Hermione was still a witch, and she forced open his mouth with some spell he didn't recognise- damn her reading. The Veritaserum trickled down his throat, and Vulpine felt a sense of disconnect, the horrible sensation that he was no longer in control of his body. He had some control, but not enough…the best he would be able to do was tell only part of the truth.

"Why are you here?" Hermione demanded, distressed. Vulpine would have smiled if the Veritaserum allowed it. An easy one.

"I wish to exist." He drawled, deliberately laconic. There were other reasons, but he didn't have to tell them all. Hermione looked angry, but he had told her almost the same thing in the future…ex-future? Vulpine wasn't sure.

"How did you get back here?" Dumbledore asked, nudging Hermione aside. Oh. An idiot question.

"Time portal."

Ask a stupid question…Dumbledore sighed in a grandfatherly manner that somehow resurrected a good portion of Vulpines anger.

"How did you reach the portal? The full story, please.

Vulpine sighed inwardly. Not that this was a bad thing…the more time he could waste the better.

"Ginny Weasley never recovered from her experience in her First Year. Tom Riddle…the Horcrux was not gentle in assuming control and damaged her mind in the process. She was almost as susceptible to mental commands and compulsions as her idiot brother. I had her bring me basic wand materials, used the wand to escape when the attack started. Killed a few Death Eaters, persuaded Lovegood to let me through the portal."

Of course, that gave away his ability to influence people wandlessly with Legilimency, but Vulpine still had plenty of aces up his sleeve. Next question…they seemed undecided on it. Vulpine detachedly wondered what they would do. Maybe Obliviate him? He hoped Granger hadn't given away all she knew, or Dumbles might well Obliviate her too. Speaking of which…

"You should know, Dumbledore, that if you try to Obliviate me I will get my memories back eventually. And when that happens I will hunt you down. I will butcher you, and I will sell your organs on the black market." Vulpine said, the expressionless tone forced by Veritaserum lending his words a flat edge of threat. Dumbledore actually looked taken aback, and Granger looked angry again.

"How can you say things like that, Vulpine? The Headmaster never did anything but help you!"

Vulpine let out a brief, humourless bark of laughter, his amusement and anger strong enough to briefly shine through the Veritaserum.

"Help me? You really are blind, Granger. He left me on a doorstep in November when I wasn't even a toddler! He never checked up on me! He abandoned me to a family who hated magic, and he knew! My life has been in danger every year I have attended this school, and ultimately he left a barely trained sixteen year old to defeat the greatest Dark Lord in living memory with nothing more than pointless memories and cryptic clues! He is as much to blame for what I am as you or I are, Granger!" Vulpine spat. Hermione blanched, and Snape, apparently recovered, looked at her.

"What does he mean you are to blame for who he is?"

Enough of a question for Vulpine to answer.

"She didn't tell you? Obviously not. Did she forget to mention that when the Weasel left in a fit of pique over me not having infallible knowledge that Dumbledore should have told me, SHE WENT WITH HIM! She abandoned me, took her bag that had all the food, all the clothes, all our items! I was left with a locket Horcrux, my wand and an empty tent! I lived off rats for weeks while I tried to do something, and do you know something? I succeeded. I learned the Fiendfyre spell to destroy Horcruxes, I hunted down all but the snake and I realised that I was a Horcrux. And then, when I knew that I should sacrifice myself for the 'Greater Good', I looked back and realised that I had no reason to die for anyone. No obligations. And I walked away, because I realised that the only living person I could count on was myself. No one is shaped by themselves alone, Granger. I am the edifice of all your failures, the result of the actions of many people who never gave a thought to who I was other than their 'Saviour'. Blame me all you like, but do not think yourself innocent."

Vulpine felt a surge of terrible joy at the look Granger now wore. Finally, he had the chance to call her out on what she had done. Even Snape seemed humbled. Dumbledore, the old bastard, was actually smiling, and Vulpine wanted to wipe the smug look of his face more than anything.

"It is tragic, my boy, that you have succumbed to the lure of the Dark side." Dumbledore said gravely. A mental image of Darth Vader flashed in Vulpines mind, and he fought the urge to giggle insanely. He'd been insane once, and it hadn't been very pleasant.

"You call everything you disapprove of Dark, Dumbledore. I don't care about your opinion. If you had dealt with Tom Riddle yourself this would all be over."

Dumbledore tried to look wise.

"Ah, but my boy, there is a-"

"I know about the Prophecy! And it wasn't given until practically the end of the war! What were you doing for all the years when the Prophecy hadn't been given and Voldemort was rampaging around? You're as big a failure as anyone. Believe me, if I had the choice I wouldn't be back here again." Vulpine snarled, realising that the Veritaserum was wearing off. That last sentence had almost been a lie…the chance to save Sirius was almost too good to pass up. Hermione glared at him, again.

"How can you say that? The future was-"

"Practically a paradise for me." Vulpine interrupted her. "I thrive in chaos, and that's what it was. The only thing holding the Government together was your Resistance, did you know that? While you were around they couldn't fully give in to backstabbing and anarchy. Once you were gone I would have given them a few months, maximum, before the Ministry collapsed. Especially with Malfoy on the warpath. What I did to Draco really seemed to break him."

"You're a monster." Hermione said softly. Vulpine cocked an eyebrow inquisitively, but Hermione was still talking.

"Snape…Draco…Ron…Kingsley…Hestia…Daphne…Ernie…all of them…dead, because of you!"

Vulpine paused. Daphne? Who the hell was that? He vaguely remembered a Daphne Greengrass in Slytherin, but didn't recall doing anything to her.

"Daphne?" he said, honestly confused. Hermione drew closer, angry.

"You killed her in Diagon Alley!" she snapped. Vulpine thought, then laughed.

"Oh. Now I remember. She was the one too slow to avoid that flaying spell, wasn't she? I didn't even know who she was until now…"

Hermione lunged forwards, grabbing Vulpine by the throat. Vulpine felt her wand jabbing into his jaw, and his lips twisted into a grin, unbidden.

"Are you going to do it?" he whispered, his voice laden with malice. "Going to kill me? After all, you put down plenty of Death Eaters and Aurors. What's one more life on your conscience, hmm?"

Granger always was susceptible to attacks like that. She was too nice, too kind. Vulpine had his suspicions that she should really be sent to a psychiatrist, but nobody listened to him. After all, he was just the fallen Saviour. Hermione's grip slackened, and Vulpine started talking again, his tone forced to be reasonable. The Veritaserum had worn off, but nobody seemed to have noticed.

"I would do it, you know. None of us are perfect. I'm a murderer. Voldemort is a sadist with daddy issues. You are far too trusting of authority. Snape can't get over his bitterness that Lily ultimately chose the better man. Dumbledore feels too much guilt over who he was to do anything, but is too much of a control freak to properly leave things to others. I wouldn't think less of you if you cast a killing spell."

Hermione twitched, and Vulpine met her eyes, emerald green burning into brown.

"One spell is all it takes…Romulus Vulpine will no longer exist. You can consider that a good thing. Voldemort won't be able to rise with my blood. You can be the heroine, Granger."

Vulpine knew she wouldn't do it. He was certain that she wouldn't do it. Mostly certain. Sixty percent. And if she did…well, always have an ace up your sleeve. Delving into Dark Magic had advantages, and Vulpine had a plan. Always have an escape plan. Or in this case, a plan to cheat death. Vulpine gazed into Hermione's eyes, wondering, wondering…and Granger abruptly pulled away. Vulpine smiled coldly. Success. It was amazing how much an apparent readiness to die unnerved people.

"So," Vulpine said, smiling still. "We've established that Obliviating me is a bad idea, and you won't kill me. Whatever will you do?"

He wondered how they would respond. Dumbledore probably still thought he could manipulate Vulpine to the old man's advantage. That would be amusing to go through, especially if the old man tried to 'redeem' him. Much as Vulpine had expected, Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"If I release you from your bonds, what will you do?" he asked delicately. Vulpine smiled.

"Oh, I won't do anything. I hardly have anywhere to go."

If only his Animagus form could fly. He'd be out the window and gone in an instant. But no. Dumbledore was going to offer him something. Vulpine had gotten over his earlier impulses towards murder, but he was still angry at the old man who feared the darkness too much to properly fight it. Or…Vulpine was conflicted over Dumbledore. Was the old man truly manipulating things, or was he simply not as great as his legend suggested? Vulpine had always leaned towards the former, but maybe Dumbledore was simply naïve still.

"Why, Dumbledore? Are you planning to let me go?" asked Vulpine, his eyes gleaming. He could see the conflict on the Headmaster's face, and wondered what…oh. Of course. Dumbledore thought that Vulpine was the only one able to bring down Voldemort, but the old man was struggling against the part of his conscience that told him not to trust the time traveller. Vulpine spoke again.

"You can trust me, you know. I'm not even interested in killing people anymore."

Most people, anyway.

"I might not be the white and shining knight you'd want, but once Voldemort is gone and I've left to live a life of obscurity does that really matter?"

Dumbledore looked torn. Snape was inscrutable, and Hermione's expression was blank. Vulpine suspected that she was struggling to reconcile her mental image of the monster she thought he was with the innocent she remembered. Not that Vulpine hadn't helped her…after all, Neville would never have been rescued and Greyback would have had Hermione for lunch if not for Vulpine.

"A life of obscurity?" Snape said coldly, questioning. Vulpine looked at him, shrugged as best he could.

"Maybe not obscurity, but I'd leave behind the name of Potter. Maybe wand crafting would be worthwhile? After all, it's been a while since Ollivander had any real competition."

Admittedly that was a lie, but not a complete one. After all, if Vulpine was going to help Sirius resurrect the Black 'family business' he would need a nice, respectable front. And Vulpine did enjoy wand crafting.

"How do we know that you won't turn on us?" Snape demanded. Vulpine rolled his eyes.

"I have no reason to. I got my satisfaction of killing you in the original timeline, I certainly want to get rid of Voldemort and I have no intention of taking his place."

Snape glanced pointedly at Hermione, who nodded slowly. Vulpine smiled, watching Dumbledore's face harden as he made a decision.

"Before I let you go, I have some conditions. Enforced by an Unbreakable Vow." The Headmaster said. Vulpine let his smile become crooked.

"No deal." He replied promptly, not even waiting for the conditions. Dumbledore looked at him.

"Be reasonable, my boy."

"I am being reasonable. I won't kill anyone unless I have to and I'll help you deal with Voldemort. Isn't that enough?"

"No. How do we know we can trust you?" Snape demanded. Vulpine tried to look innocent, but he rather thought the feral grin he was wearing ruined the look.

"Oh, you don't. That's what makes the game fun."

The three of them stared at Vulpine with ill-disguised mistrust, until Dumbledore sighed.

"Very well then." He said tiredly. The Headmaster waved his wand, and the ropes that had bound Vulpine fell away, allowing the Animagus to stand and rub his sore wrists.

"Finally. Now…since you were so kind to let me go, I'll give you something in return. Voldemort did indeed create a number of Horcruxes, as you might have suspected, Headmaster."

Dumbledore maintained a grim expression, and Vulpine gave him an amused look.

"Granger didn't tell you about them? So she did keep some secrets. Well, so you know I don't trust you, so I'm not going to tell you where all the Horcruxes are."

Dumbledore, in contrast to the angry looks of Hermione and Snape, looked quite calm, as though Vulpine was being reasonable. Then again, the old man was a politician. Vulpine kept talking.

"However, in return for my wand and freedom I will tell you about two of them. One is a Diadem, kept in the Room of Hidden Things…I'm sure Hermione can tell you about the Room. And a second is a Cup, the Cup of Hufflepuff more accurately, currently hidden in the Gringotts Vault of Bellatrix Lestrange. Now, am I free to go?"

This was Vulpine's trump card. Hermione didn't know all the Horcruxes, or where they were, but Vulpine did, and so they would have to work with him. Unless they tried Veritaserum again, but he wouldn't be caught off guard so easily again. Wordlessly Dumbledore handed Vulpine his wand of phoenix and holly and the smirking Animagus strolled from the office.

Hermione could barely believe it. They had had Vulpine, and they had just let him go! Was Dumbledore insane? He must be, to-

Hermione cut off that traitorous thought and turned to Dumbledore and Snape, realising that looking thirteen was damaging her in their eyes. For a bitter moment she envied the presence Vulpine had managed, the aura that had made age inconsequential as he stood…sat, before them.

"How can you trust him?" she demanded. Snape gave her a look of utter disgust.

"We don't, Granger. But surely even you can see the use of having him around? Besides, he is the one mentioned in the Prophecy as the only one who can bring down the Dark Lord, much as I doubt he has any abilities."

Hermione could see why Vulpine disliked Snape- the man seemed blind to obvious facts. Luckily, Dumbledore intervened.

"He is skilled in Legilimency, Severus. You saw that."

Snape huffed, as though he intended to dispute that, but then receded into quiet. Dumbledore turned his gaze onto Hermione.

"Miss Granger, Harry spoke about Horcruxes, and you told me about them as well. Do you know what they are?"

Hermione scowled and looked down.

"No." she eventually admitted. "I know some of them…the Diary from Second year, the snake Nagini, the Gaunt Family Ring, Slytherins Locket and I learned that the Diadem of Ravenclaw was one, but I didn't know where it was. There are more as well, but I don't know what they are. Vulpine probably does."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"Mister Potter admitted he was one, and yet he killed Voldemort and did not die himself, if his story and yours are correct, so he must have a way to deal with it. You named five, and Harry mentioned the Cup of Hufflepuff, that is six. Harry himself is seven, but we don't know how many Voldemort made…and Mister Potter did not tell us where the others are."

It was annoying Hermione how Dumbledore kept calling Vulpine 'Harry' or 'Mister Potter'. Harry had been her friend. Vulpine was the murderer who had abandoned everyone who had believed in him. However, Dumbledore was right. Hermione didn't know how to remove the Horcrux from Vulpine, she didn't know where the Gaunt Ring was, though she knew that Dumbledore had found it originally, so he could do it again. But the Prophecy meant they needed Vulpine alive. She needed time to think.

"If you'll excuse me, sir." She said quietly. Dumbledore nodded, apparently caught in thought, and Hermione quickly walked down the stairs, thoughts churning at a rapid pace. She was so caught up in thinking that she didn't notice the figure that fell into step just behind her, but she was brought rapidly out of her musing by the soft, amused voice.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Hermione spun, her wand flashing out and raising, but Vulpine caught her wrist in a steely grip, holding her arm so that her wand couldn't point at him. His own wand hovered unwaveringly, a few inches in front of her left eyeball.

"Temper, temper."

Vulpine's voice held the silky edge she remembered.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. If I wanted you dead I'd have done it in the Common Room, and I can hardly hold a grudge against you for telling Dumbledore about me and causing him to put up those wards."

Vulpine stepped back, pulling her wand from her hand as she stood numbly. He spun her wand in his fingers, looking thoughtful.

"Hmm. Not as well balanced as the one I made you…less suited to you as well, perhaps." He said quietly. Hermione gritted her teeth, refusing to admit that he was right. She didn't even want to acknowledge the wand he had made her, half a year after killing Voldemort. It was a difficult thought that the wand had responded better than the one from Ollivander…Vulpine had genuine talent. And he was talking again.

"I think I might be able to hold a grudge against you, however, for being so damn uninspired. I mean, you go back in time, and the first thing you do is run to Dumbledore? The man who managed to foul everything up the first time?"

Vulpine's voice was still low and steady, and his wand was even steadier. Hermione, despite herself, was impressed by the mental discipline he must be exerting, given his obvious anger

"Not that I want him to fail," Vulpine continued, "Though the possibility is amusing. Particularly with the Cup. I admit, I was rather glad that the goblins never found out it was me who carried out that break-in."

That had been him? The Goblins had claimed the thief had died in the attempt and that nothing had been stolen. Looking at the smirk Vulpine was wearing, however, Hermione wasn't inclined to doubt him.

"Back on topic…what possessed you to tell Snape? For that matter, what possessed Dumbledore to tell Snape, seeing as even you aren't obtuse enough to trust a Death Eater just because he's a teacher."

"Snape isn't a Death Eater! He's loyal to Dumbledore!" Hermione proclaimed, raising her voice. Vulpine gave her a level, amused look.

"Yes, shout that out, Granger. I'm sure anybody reporting to Voldemort would be interested to hear it." He drawled, and Hermione flushed red, then went white. Vulpine grinned more widely.

"Calm down dear, privacy wards are up. I take care, you know. And as for Snape not being a Death Eater…he has the Dark Mark, doesn't he? I'm quite sure that makes him a confirmed Death Eater."

"You smug…you know what I mean! Snape isn't loyal to Voldemort, no matter what you believe! I know you think that"

"I know that Snape wasn't loyal to Voldemort, and I know why." Vulpine interrupted, and Hermione stopped short.

"What?" she said, her tone flat with surprise. Vulpine smiled.

"I know Snape's loyalties, and why they exist. I probed his mind quite…thoroughly when I caught up to him."

Hermione stared at Vulpine, sickened again.

"You knew. You knew, and you still killed him? What the hell were you thinking if you knew he wasn't a loyal Death Eater?!"

Vulpine continued to smile, green eyes shining with mirth.

"I didn't kill him because I thought he was a Death Eater, Hermione. I killed him because I couldn't stand him, and for all he had done through his life that deserved death."

"What reasons? He saved your life repeatedly!"

Vulpine rolled his eyes.

"If you can't see why I might possibly want to kill the man for the six years of tormenting and constant sniping and the awful, nigh-on torture of Occlumency lessons then I won't bother arguing. But really, it doesn't matter. I mean, I haven't actually killed anyone right now. That's all in the past. Uh, ex-future. Oh, except Quirrell of course."

Hermione just stared at him in disbelief. How could he talk so casually? It was ludicrous! Vulpine glanced at her, eyes amused.

"You might want to be careful. You're broadcasting your thoughts…I guess it just goes to show you should be careful when you, ah, let down your Occlumency barriers."

Hermione wasn't sure how but, somehow, he managed to make the final phrase sound perverse, and Hermione flushed, resisting the urge to slap him. Vulpine grinned wider, and she remembered what he had said about her thoughts. Ah, hell, he'd been able to hear that.

"Do you make a habit of reading minds?" she snapped. To her surprise Vulpine backed away from her, apparently considering.

"No." he said eventually. "Most people are too trusting, and it sickens me. Besides, the thoughts of most people are so very…boring. Limited. Inferior."

Hermione shuddered at the impersonal tone.

"Inferior? You sound like a Death Eater, talking about the superiority of magic." She accused, hoping to throw him off guard. Vulpine cocked an eyebrow and gave her a brief, dazzling grin

"Hardly. I despise people individually, not on the basis of their blood or magical status. Although I am aware that you're unlikely to accept that, given that you seem to be having issues in seeing anything not black and white. Oh, this will be fun, this little game of ours."

"Game?" Hermione questioned, coldly, ignoring the slight against her for the moment. Vulpine smiled and nodded.

"Indeed. Before it was a game of cat and mouse as to if you would discover who I was. Now it's more like chess, or maybe poker…who will manage to change time to their will? Me, you, Dumbledore? And then there's the issue of trust…I don't trust Dumbledore or Snape. You don't trust me or, hopefully, Snape. Snape doesn't trust you or me. And Dumbledore, well, who knows?"

Vulpine ended with a gleam in his emerald eyes. He suddenly tossed Hermione her wand back, and she was so surprised that she caught it out of the air, revealing that her reflexes had mostly carried over to the present. Vulpine grinned.

"It's been a nice little chat, Hermione. I'll see you around." He said, before shrinking into his Animagus form and running off before Hermione could even think of cursing him. Alone in the corridor, Hermione indulged in a stream of invective that was both imaginative and complex, realising that, once again, Vulpine had got the drop on her. Even more than that, she would have to act like nothing had changed, or risk tipping off Ron that something was wrong. The redhead could be dense, but he wasn't that unperceptive. Scowling, Hermione set off for the Gryffindor Common Room, the back of her mind working on something Vulpine had said- or rather, not said. He had said he couldn't trust Dumbledore or Snape, implying that he could trust her…a conundrum to her logical mind.

Vulpine was surprised to notice that he was no longer murderously angry as he entered the Chamber of Secrets. He was still annoyed that his secret had been outed so soon- bloody cat- but it wasn't a crippling blow. The idiots had wasted their time with Veritaserum, and they didn't know about all of Voldemort's Horcruxes and Sirius knowing. That was an advantage. Unfortunately, he had revealed his Animagus form, although that wasn't so bad. One of the best things about being an Arctic fox Animagus, Vulpine decided, was that his fur colour acted in the same way as a normal Arctic fox: he changed colour over seasons. At the moment he was white, but he would turn red as it went into late Spring and Summer. Handy camouflage. Vulpine slumped on a clear and relatively clean patch of stone in the Chamber and started to think aloud.

"I need to get an advantage." He mused quietly. "The Horcruxes might be a good idea…Dumbledore found the Ring on his own the first time, but if I get to it this time I can hide it myself. That would keep me useful…and the Stone is in the ring…don't want Dumbledore to get it into his old head to own all three of the Hallows."

The Hallows. The nigh-mythical Deathly Hallows, supposed items of Death itself. Vulpine had learned about them through leeching Voldemort's mind, and had been mildly interested by it. He had been massively amused to learn that Voldemort had ignored the Resurrection Stone being part of the Gaunt Ring, the Dark Lord only lusting after the Elder Wand. The Deathstick. The Wand of Destiny, currently in the possession of one Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore. Vulpine smirked.

"I'll have to try and get that wand off the old man. Then…well. I'll just do what I did last time…the Wand won't be found in the ocean. Wonder why the old man didn't just do that. Probably a sign that he isn't as squeaky clean as he likes to pretend. I'll hide the Stone, keep the Cloak, lob the Wand. Cheating Death…just bad form."

A dark chuckle from the lone Animagus.

"Not English at all. Die with dignity and all that. Of course, not that I can say anything, given my own research…a good thing I can bluff. That time portal seems to have forged my soul back together…a pity."

Vulpine himself was no stranger to the darker sides of magic. The difference was that he wasn't a megalomaniac like Voldemort. The soul was an odd thing…one or two Horcruxes happened to remain stable and have little to no noticeable effect. Vulpine was aware of the high likelihood of his own death, and to avoid that eventuality he had managed to work the ritual without kicking puppies or killing children- though some small part of him had protested that he had been doing it wrong at that point- but unfortunately the time travel had reverted him to mortality. Not that Horcruxes actually conferred immortality.

"Maybe in this time I can actually use Horcruxes as they were intended. After all, I don't want to die of old age and be left a semi sentient shard trapped in a ring." Vulpine commented to himself as he stood and stretched. The Whole point of Horcruxes was to prevent death by magic or physical force, after all. Old age was as inevitable as taxes. Vulpine took a moment to chuckle at his own joke, pacing towards the table he had transfigured as a work bench. The whole idea of Horcruxes was to use them to save you until near old age death, at which point the ancient warlords would reabsorb the soul shard and go out with a certain dignity. Other than that, a retainer or follower would be bound to destroy the remaining items to free their Master. Damn that Dark Wizard who had thought to combine the Horcrux ritual with a murder fuelled ritual to grant extended lifespan. Pity about the side effects Vulpine thought with a snicker, remembering the degeneration of Voldemort's body.

"It's a pity that Hermione's using that wand Ollivander made. It doesn't really suit her." He mused, as he carefully pulled on a pair of gloves he had appropriated from Snape's Potions class and picked up the carefully carved Laburnum wood wand. The wood had been carved into a wand shape already, twelve inches long, but it wasn't varnished and so was still faintly poisonous to the touch. The wood stick was also hollow, waiting for the core. Vulpine intended to make the core with the Basilisk bone, wrapped tightly in the Acromantula silk, and then insert the core. Once that was done he would insert the end cap and plug of Laburnum, and then varnish the whole thing, binding it together with a series of spells. The wand would probably take two more sessions to craft, including this one, this one for the core and the next for the final crafting. The wand he was making for Sirius would take longer, since he had never made it before and he wouldn't have the instinctive knowledge of what suited him.

"Maybe I should make a wand for Granger as well. I wonder if she would appreciate it? And perhaps Neville would like one…I suppose that would be a way to get people knowing that I can craft wands and help Neville at the same time. Hmm…I'm contemplating downright benevolent acts. Gratuitous benevolence, in fact. Ick."

Vulpine wondered if it was a bad sign that he was talking to himself, but decided that, all things considered, a few more signs of insanity from him were just a drop in the ocean. He had to laugh at that snide remark, even if it was directed at himself and he was the only one who would hear it. He paused briefly as he deftly bound the Acromantula silk around the yellowing bar of bone.

"I think I'm going mad. Ah well…given what I'm going through, I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier. And Padfoot will probably be pleased to have company in insanity."

Those reassuring words said, Vulpine went back to wandcrafting, fingers moving easily as he hummed the tune to a song whose name he couldn't remember.