The Casting Stone

by Thing1

4/10: And in then end....

6. The Casting Stone 6

The Casting Stone 6

I hope we all had a lovely week! I'm getting this out early (!) so that I am undisturbed fretting over it at the Raiders vs. Ravens game tomorrow. I have no idea where we got tickets, but we do, and we're off! Know that if you read this after Sunday, and the Raiders have fallen (sob) I will be curled in a fetal position weeping quietly, but diligently working on the next chapter.

Draco's POV for this chapter – he and Remus are the centre of this story, so it's time to get some of his thoughts. Draco figures out the spell that opens the next clue, with some help from a rather testy Sirius, and sees the strange young muggle Remus and Sirius met the other day on the beach. He also collects some odd house pets…or house pests, depending on your point of view.

A/N: There are passages in here loosely translated from the 'Um Duat', an ancient Egyptian text detailing how a soul is to move through the Underworld during the 12 hours of the night. Obscure would be too precise a word to describe the nightmarish images of these writings. What I have included are non-literal representations of some of these writings – the literal translations tend to bring headaches. This is not meant as an interpretation of exactly what is up with these amazing books, but simply as a myth that pertains to this plotline. Anyone with a real yen for this should read Budges' "Book of the Dead" translations to see what the prayers are really intended for. They are meant to be magical incantations – but mummification and the eternity of the soul are not part of this tale.

***

Draco got up quietly just as the sun was starting to show over the trees outside of his window. He dressed quickly and, carrying his shoes, padded down the stairs and out through the front door. He sat on the top of the steps leading down off the veranda into the small walled garden and put his shoes on, leaning down to lace them tightly. Draco looked around, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of any of the birds now starting to call softly. Greece had turned out to be nothing like what Draco had expected. For whatever reason, he had pictured it dry, hot and quiet. It had been somewhat like that on the mainland, but here on the islands it was more vibrant, colourful, and noisy than he could have imagined. This place simply crawls with odd things; England seems dreadfully mundane and dank in comparison.

Draco stood up and walked quietly to the garden gate, taking one last quick glance at the house before he slipped out and started to jog down the steep path that lead to the road. He hadn't slept much, worried about Remus, who had looked awful when he and Black had come back the day before, and when the sun finally appeared he decided that a run would be his best bet for trying to calm down. Black had told Draco and Liz what had happened, and it rather unnerved him. He decided to just concentrate on thinking about nothing but putting one foot carefully in front of the other. Once on the road, he turned in the direction that lead away from the town to their north, and set off at a brisk steady pace.

Draco did jog with a quiet mind for about 20 minutes, before he reached the point where the road emerged from the groves of trees and opened up along the cliffs just over the white-sanded beaches along the south side of the island. Draco slowly came to a halt and walked up to the edge of the cliff, enchanted at the sight of the almost unreal warm blue colour of the ocean. The only times in his life he had seen ocean waters before was the Atlantic, or the English Channel, and they were black and looked cold and endlessly deep. He suddenly remembered when he was about seven years old, and he had asked his mother, who stood next to him on the Dover cliffs while they waited for father to come and collect them for some nefarious event, why people always said the ocean was blue when it was so obviously black. Narcissa had just given a cold smile and didn't bother to look at him as she said in haughty tones that Draco was old enough to understand that most people were idiots.

Damn it…. Unfortunately recalling that event was all it took for Draco's thoughts to once again cloud over with his usual ruminations. Same living nightmare…same questions, and same minute chance in hell of ever coming up with any satisfactory resolutions.

Draco sat down heavily on the dirt and, grabbing a handful of gravel and starting to fling the small pebbles as far as he could out over the water, thought back again over the turn his life had taken seven months ago. He watched the small pebbles fly out and seem to vanish into the air as they fell. Well, I know what that feels like.

***

After Draco's graduation from Hogwarts, Lucius had taken him immediately to get his apparating license. Draco was vaguely terrified that he was not going to pass on the first attempt; not because he couldn't do it, since Remus had already taught him how a while ago for his own protection, but because he was now just terrified to be anywhere near his father and had no idea what was going to happen to him now that he was no longer 'safely' at school. He had even gone to Dumbledore the week before, wanting to ask him if there was anything he could think of that would keep Draco out of that house after he was passed. But he had let his pride get the better of him, and had instead had a rather short and, to Draco's mind, stupid conversation about sweets. He had left the office, noticing that Dumbledore watched him closely with his customary smile, and figuring that he probably knew exactly what Draco really wanted, and that Draco hadn't been able to get it out. That just made him angrier.

Draco did manage to pass the test on his first try, however, and as soon as they left the Ministry Lucius had taken him to some horribly dark and decrepit looking old castle. It was night where they went, so Draco assumed they were on the Continent, not England. This suspicion was confirmed when a very tall, thin, sour looking wizard spoke to his father in brusque Germanic tones. They were led into the castle; Draco kept his head down and walked behind his father so that Lucius couldn't see his face. Draco thought of Potter, by now safely with Remus and Sirius bloody Black at the Lupins. While Draco was being dragged down into some pitch black corridor leading god knows where to do god knows what with some Death Eaters, Potter was sitting in Remus' garden surrounded by nothing but happiness and support. Draco fumed at the total injustice of it all, but blamed himself. Remus and Katie had told Draco that he could, if he chose, come there too. Stunned by the invitation, and scared by the implications, Draco had refused. He knew that if he did that, he would have to openly declare his intentions, and that Lucius would come after Remus and Katie, no matter what. Besides, then he could not finish what he had started, and he was not going to quit. At least Remus had understood, after first assuming Draco had refused simply because he and Black had gotten into another screaming match earlier that day. But Draco told him that he was all right, and that he needed his father to keep escalating his trust in him. As they finally reached the bottom of the staircase they had been descending for what seemed like ages, Draco realised just who they had come to see. There, in a huge underground room, stood Voldemort.

Even growing up as he did, Draco had never felt such an intensely evil and deadly aura from anyone. He knew his father was an evil man, but even that sensation paled in comparison to this figure. Lucius bowed low, indicating to Draco to do the same. Draco quickly bowed, not out of respect, but so he could stop looking at the man for even a few moments. He rose when his father put a hand on his shoulder, and led him forward.

"Draco. At last."

Voldemort's voice was unreal; it had a resonance to it that actually made Draco shudder slightly, but he held his chin up and gave Voldemort his most cold and contemptuous stare.

"Welcome. We have been waiting for you; and it is fortunate that now you will be part of our greatest hour. Come closer."

Draco stepped forward and stood about three feet from the dark wizard. There was an odd buzzing in his head, but he still kept an even gaze.

"Show me your arm, Draco."

Draco rolled up his left sleeve. He thought about Potter and Black, so that he could keep his thoughts dark and still. Voldemort waved at someone to his left, and a small wizard stepped up out of the shadows. It was Peter Pettigrew.

"Yes, Master?"

"Draco, soon all will be as it should be, and you, like your father, will have your share of what will be ours. Wormtail, welcome Draco to his rightful place."

Pettigrew stepped up next to Draco, and raised his silver hand. Then he reached forward and grasped Draco's forearm. Draco clenched his teeth and blinked quickly to stop from crying out as the grip turned from one of ice to one of fire. Something was burning his flesh; he felt a wave of dark power such as never before rise though him and suddenly Pettigrew was thrown backwards away from him. Voldemort laughed.

"Excellent."

Draco looked down at his arm, and the fresh Dark Mark now glowing on his pale flesh. "Thank you, my Lord," he said quietly, then rolled his sleeve down and moved to stand back with his father. Draco was disgusted to see that his father was looking at him with more pride than he had ever seen on the man's face. He didn't listen as Voldemort and his father discussed news of everything that was going on; he stood there, feeling more angry and empty than he had ever felt before, and lost.

***

Draco stared into the depths of the water below the cliff, knowing it had all worked out. But Draco still felt as lost as he had that night. He walked around in a daze for weeks afterwards, wondering if maybe he hadn't been hexed somehow. And Draco was never alone after that night. He became paranoid that maybe someone had figured out what he had been up to, and refused to contact any of the League. He sent Remus exactly two notes when he had learned some things that were too important to keep. But in the end, he had fled the house that last night, determined to tell the League exactly what was about to happen and desperate for everything to be resolved, one way or another. He could still hear his father's surprised call as he saw Draco running past his study to get to the front door; the last thing he ever heard his father say.

"Draco? Where are you going? Come here this instant…."

He had gone to the Lupins to raise the alarm. Draco couldn't remember actually saying anything as Remus opened the door, holding Malcolm in his arms. Draco remembered Malcolm saying hello to him, but little else other than the expression on Remus' face once he got a good look at Draco. There was no mistaking what was about to happen. The beginning of the end; but what really did end that night? What conclusion did we really get?

Draco stood up and turned to run back to the house. He still to this day had no idea exactly how his father had died that night; he had been with Weasley, Granger, and Cecelia Carrington elsewhere. Cecelia, his fellow Slytherin, had gone immediately to the League after they graduated. She was the only one who spoke to him, although Weasley had looked sadly at Draco with what seemed true sorrow when Remus had told Draco softly that his father was dead afterwards, and Granger, much to his astonishment, had embraced him quietly. Draco never asked Remus what had happened. I just don't care. And I don't want to know if it was Remus that did it. I prefer to think it was Black. The details are unimportant.

He was just about to start running again when he suddenly felt someone was near him. He shuddered with a very dark feeling, and quickly looked up to see, sitting on a rock across the way, a young man. He had a wild and unkempt look about him, and he was slowly rocking back and forth as he grasped his knees with his hands. That must be the same chap the Professor and Black ran into yesterday. Now he's nearer the house. The man was clearly a muggle, but he was different somehow. He seemed not to have seen Draco, or at least he paid him no mind. Draco slowly walked up the road, keeping his eyes on the strange fellow, and wondering why he made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, if he was just a muggle. Harmless, wouldn't he have to be?

Draco chanted a deflecting spell to himself, hoping that it would be enough to hide him from the man as he walked for the cover of the treesNot N

. But just before he vanished completely, the young man's head came up and he looked directly at Draco with a rather feral smile, and waved. Then he jumped up and disappeared behind the rock he had been on without a single sound. Suspicious, Draco stood there for a few moments, waiting to see if the man would come out and try to speak with him. But the thickness in the air slowly cleared and Draco knew that the man had gone off in the other direction. Right. I need to talk to Liz about this, she'll understand.

Draco ran back to the house and, checking again to see that he was not followed, went into the walled garden. Only after he shut the gate did he relax slightly, but he quickly went to the house to see if Liz was up yet. He was startled and practically fell over when he nearly trod upon a little griffin sitting on the steps.

The little griffins from the mainland were curled to one side of the top steps, their eyes closed and looking for all the world like a pair of red cats basking in the sun. Shaking his head, Draco bent down to get a closer look at them. Their red feathers were so short and tightly packed they looked like a pelt. He was also surprised to see they had delicate tiny blue feathers making circular patterns on their faces around their beaks and eyes, something he had not seen on griffins before. He sat down on the top step across from them and watched them sleep, momentarily forgetting about the muggle.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there before he heard the other door at the far end of the veranda open, and he glanced back to see Liz walking up to him in her bare feet with a cup of coffee. She squatted down and handed Draco the cup and gave him a wry smile, shaking her head at the griffins.

"Well, they seem to have tracked us down. Must have bonded to one of us. They're rather clever, aren't they?"

Draco shook his head. "Actually I was thinking they were rather…."

"Sweet?" she teased him lightly.

Draco gave her a sour look. "Quite. They must be very young to be so little. Hagrid had griffins the size of ponies. They were not 'sweet' at all."

"I don't doubt it. Yes, these are probably only a year or so old. They won't really start to grow until they're five or so. Just a griffin thing."

Draco looked at her but made no further comment. He still wasn't sure what to make of Liz, even after knowing her for several years. She was extraordinarily relaxed and self-assured, a little stand-offish, but good natured. Draco wondered what she could possibly see in the sullen and snappish Black, but they were clearly very attached to each other. Black's got the better part of that, it would seem. And Liz was so good at Dark Arts, but had not a single shred of darkness to her. She was very easy to read, and she was, simply, as she seemed with no hidden agendas or secrets, though one could rarely tell what she was actually thinking about. Much like any other Ravenclaw.

Draco much preferred Katie, who was disturbingly intelligent and sharply quick-witted, but also very kind. Katie was also one of the few people Draco had ever met in his life who just seemed to take him as he was, and talked to him as an equal. That had startled him at first, until he realised that as far as Katie was concerned, if Remus liked and trusted Draco that made him fine in her book and welcome in her house. Even if Potter and Black made their dislike of him evident. Draco had once commented on that, after he had retreated into the kitchen to put some distance between himself and Black after a rather bitter exchange. But Katie had simply said in a light but unmistakably firm tone that they were guests in her and Remus' home too. Draco had assumed she was telling him off, but when he looked up to apologise to her, the expression on her face made it clear she was upset with them not him. I'm glad she'll be here soon; and certainly it'll be better for Professor Lupin, who misses her terribly even if he won't say it out loud.

Suddenly one of the little griffins opened one vibrant yellow eye and looked at them. Draco was oddly captivated, and he reached out a tentative hand to stroke the little head. The griffin leapt up and Draco pulled back, feeling guilty for disturbing it. But the griffin just moved forward and crawled into Draco's lap, where it promptly closed its eyes and went back to sleep, laying its head and neck out along his arm.

"Well, now we know who they came after. Looks like you might be here a while; shall I bring your breakfast out to you?"

Draco looked at Liz, not sure what to do. Liz put one hand over her mouth, leaning her elbow on one knee and trying not to laugh out loud, but her eyes were very amused. Draco carefully stood up, intending to put the griffin down on the chair behind him, but the little animal dug his claws in and simply moved to drape itself along his shoulders. At this point the other griffin woke up and quickly hopped over and took a flying leap towards Draco, giving him no option but to catch it or be clawed by its sharp talons. Bloody things! Now what?

"Liz, do something. I have no intention of going through the rest of my life with these little creatures lying all over me."

"Oh, don't worry. They only do these things when they're little. They'll go off and leave you to nest and build their own brood eventually."

"Would you be so kind as to clarify 'eventually'?"

"Didn't you take Care of Magical Creatures, Draco?"

Draco was in no mood to be teased by anyone, let alone Liz.

"Indeed. And it was singularly useless, as I always said, and can now prove to be true."

Liz gave him an even look. "Draco, you're stuck with them. Probably for about two or three years. So think of some names and don't be so upset. They are actually very useful animals. We'll get you a book on the subject when we go to town."

She turned on her heel and went back inside, leaving a furious Draco standing on the porch with his newly acquired pets.

***

Liz did at least coax the griffins off of him with some breakfast, but they followed him around all morning, much to Black's delight. Draco finally grabbed his work and went to sit at the far end of the garden to read, Black calling out name suggestions after him.

"How about Bloody and Hell, based on your earlier comments?"

The griffins promptly stretched out one on either side of him and fell asleep again. Draco gave them a vaguely disgusted look, but went back to his studies on Egyptian magic. Taking his cues from how Remus had deduced to come here to Paros looking for their next clue, Draco had collected a large stack of books on Egyptian mythology, since this was all clearly leading in that direction. He felt even more determined after Black had said that the submerged temple where they had collected the map from had Egyptian and Greek spells in it. But Draco was reasonably frustrated with the mythology he had read so far. Exactly how many names can there be for any one of these bloody people?

He wrote out a list of Greek and Egyptian wizards and compared them, noting what culture called each individual and how they changed subtly between the two histories. They had followed the story of Demeter, Persephone and Hades this far. Isis was the Egyptian equivalent to Demeter. He wasn't sure if Persephone had an Egyptian equivalent, but Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he had little in common with Hades. However, Osiris was the husband of Isis, so he must have a role in all of this, Draco decided.

He turned his attention to what he knew best. Set was the dark lord of Egyptian myth, and there were any number of spells Draco was familiar with that he knew were accountable to Set, and most of them had to do with hiding things, or obscuring them. We're trying to find a hidden island; Hades is a darker figure to the Greeks than Osiris is to the Egyptians, so why not Set?

Draco opened a copy of the 'Am Duat', intending to look through the spells to see what jumped out at him. The long text describing in detail how to travel through the underworld safely was incredible obscure and rather cumbersome to read. The spells were an interesting mix of light and dark magic.

Light which passes through stone and is favoured by the guardians of dreams, the shining custodians dressed in translucent robes, given to the encouragement of every form. Descending, swooping in flight with circles of winds and leaves of summer. Such figures approach every point and drop scented flowers and aid their rise through uprushing air.

The calf which bleats cries out in pain and the knife cuts deep. The forelimb separates, is torn from its side, is carried by the white-robed priests towards the table of offerings and the implements for the Opening of the Mouth.

But in the Nile, in the casket, Osiris was to die. Buoyed up by warm water lapping, the breath becoming hard: Osiris constrained.

The god screamed.

Hands moving frantically, where no chink or fissure ran, hands reaching forward where he might stretch out: Osiris in the coffin, never more to embrace bright day!

The air between wings, twisting in vortices brings the dust from a thousand pairs of feet marching -- and the sand from faraway winds where no word is ever heard and where the land grows in ridges and tumbles toward red-brown plains. The moving and flickering lights from the horizon illuminate fields and houses, the movements of animals and reflections from ploughshares. And in corners of fields and storehouses, by boundary stones where corn accumulates, Isis searches for her lord, stolen by the dark heart of Set.

And the stones do not speak; knowing things. Can the heart know strength to see itself, and be judged righteous?

Draco lay back and rubbed his eyes. This muggle translation must be wrong. This means nothing! Draco decided he had to ask Black for clarification, and it galled him. At least he can read the original text and tell me if the translation is acceptable.

Draco walked back up to the house where Sirius was seated at the large table he and Remus had moved onto the back patio when they arrived. It was not lost on Draco that Black preferred being outside most of the time. I suppose he has a good reason. A much as Draco disliked Sirius, he still felt sorry that Sirius had spent 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he did not commit. Sirius still struggled with the after effects and nightmares of the place.

Draco came to stand next to Black, and silently waited to be acknowledged. He had no idea if this would be one of the days Sirius would be speaking to him or not; there was no way of telling, even if Black had been teasing him about the griffins earlier. After about a minute, Black put down his quill and looked up at Draco with a blank expression.

"Could you help me with something? Or are you busy?"

"What do you need?"

Draco placed the large book he carried in front of Sirius, careful not to touch the damp ink on the map or any of the small spells Sirius had set up on the table to use in his work.

"Can you read this passage for me? The translation seems too obscure."

Sirius stood up to lean over the book and get a better look. "The Um Duat; What is in the Duat. Most of this is very obscure, actually. And very dark." Draco didn't miss the small glance Black gave him before turning his attention back to the book. Yes, screw you too, Black. This is for your own damn good.

Sirius was mumbling to himself now, running a finger along the hieroglyphic text.

Draco waited while Sirius read, wondering when Professor Lupin would wake up. Liz assured Draco that he would be fine, but that he needed his rest. Draco was never sure what to make of Professor Lupin's 'condition'; he understood from his studies that werewolves were much stronger than other wizards, and healed well, which made them very hard to actually kill. But Professor Lupin seemed to respond badly to any curse. Katie once told him that this was actually appropriate; Remus responded to things very differently from other men. So while he would indeed be ill, he would without a question recover. Let him sleep it off.

Sirius finally looked back at Draco. "The translation is actually rather good, all things considered. I hadn't been thinking about Set; good catch."

Draco just nodded and reached to pick up the book.

"Draco, why are you here?"

Draco was very surprised at this. He looked at Black, who watched him closely. Draco suddenly felt a wave of fury. Is he questioning my motives? After everything? "I'm here to help find Pettigrew."

"Why?"

Draco gave him a deadly look.

"I don't really care what finding Pettigrew will mean to you, if that's what you're asking. I'm here for Professor Lupin, and you bloody know it. You matter to him, not me."

Sirius snarled at him.

"And why do you bother to care what matters to Remus?"

"Because Professor Lupin is the only person I can think of in my entire life that bothered to really give me a chance to be myself, you ungrateful bastard."

"And just who are you then, Malfoy?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

Sirius sat back down at that and took up his quill again.

"Well, Draco, maybe you and I have more in common than we ever imagined. I have no idea who I am either."

Draco turned on his heel and stormed into the house, slamming the screen door behind him. The only thing we will ever have in common, Black, is that we are both very angry men. He went into the kitchen where he found Liz putting together a large salad for lunch. She gave Draco a smile, but her face was unusually guarded. She had, no doubt, heard every word of the exchange between himself and Black.

"Liz. I thought it was Professor Lupin's turn to cook."

"It is, but I thought under the circumstances I'd just do this for us."

"He's still not up?"

"Don't look so upset, Draco, Remus is fine. I took him some tea earlier and he's wide awake. He's probably taking a shower right now and we'll see him in a few minutes."

Draco nodded and went to get a bottle of ale, looking to soothe his nerves. "Liz, do you want something?"

"Um, actually an ale would be good, thank you."

Draco poured it for her and placed it on the table between them, saying nothing. Finally Liz looked up at him.

"Draco, you have as much right to happiness as any of us, you know."

What? "Excuse me?"

"What you said to Sirius. You're here, I think, because you believe it will make Remus happy to end this, and you feel indebted to him. Remus doesn't think you owe him anything, and he worries that you are so unhappy."

Draco shook his head and moved to leave. I'm not discussing anything about what I do or don't feel with you. "Liz, happiness is the absence of physical pain, so I'm quite happy, thank you."

"That's not quite the whole story, Draco."

"It is as far as I'm concerned."

***

Remus came downstairs for lunch, looking much better than he had the previous afternoon, but still rather pale despite the sunburn he'd picked up. Draco brought him a cup of tea, but Remus said he'd much rather have a glass of the ale Draco was drinking, so he went back to the kitchen.

"Thank you," said Remus in a hoarse voice when Draco gave him the beer.

"Are you alright, Sir?"

Remus nodded. "Yes. Let's have lunch and then a look at our new map, shall we?"

After lunch they all spread out another large piece of parchment, and Remus closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, a fog seemed to come from his wand and spread over the paper in front of him. Draco watched as the paper seemed to come to life and shimmer as an impression of the map Remus and Black had found began to burn into the surface. Draco had heard of such spells, but this was the first time he really got to see one. When Liz had cast this spell back at Nafplion it was too fast to see.

This image was much more detailed than the other one they had collected in the temple with the sphinxes. Draco constantly had to shoo the griffins off of it as they played while the group worked on determining exactly what it might be. Draco was unamused when Remus laughed at him, even with a kind smile.

"So it's you they're after, is it?"

"More of my amazing luck, it would seem."

They finally decided that this was a true star map, representing the sky directly above them. The incantations on this map were Egyptian. Draco couldn't read the hieroglyphs, but he did recognize one cartouche that was listed again and again. Set. I knew it.

"These are dark spells, are they not?"

Liz nodded. "It is a powerful concealment spell we're talking about if it has hidden an island for thousands of years. But dark magic doesn't always mean dark purpose, Draco."

Liz had taken Sirius with her down to the beach after that, saying she needed to get something. They returned about a half an hour later with a collection of small black pebbles.

"Obsidian."

"Best for conducting the spells," said Draco quietly.

Liz and Remus took the map outside and laid it out on the back lawn. They all then proceeded to lay the stones out on the map, one stone for each mark. Then Liz turned to Draco. "You and I will need to do this together. We need Sirius to read the incantation itself, and you and I are best suited for holding the dark magic we need. Acceptable?"

"Of course."

They carefully prepared a spell circle around themselves and Remus busied himself with guarding charms while Sirius made sure he had the translation right for the spell. Liz explained to Draco exactly what they were doing.

"Draco, this map is different than the other one. The spell here is an incantation that will in fact interact with us to tell us what to do next. To be honest, I'm a little worried that we might not pull this off."

"Why on earth not?"

"Because of the language. You know how exact you need to be with these things; incorrect pronunciations or inflections can crash a spell, and it might come back on us. Remus is going to stand away while we do this, as he can best help us if something goes wrong. I know you are familiar with the sensations that this is going to cause. Will that be alright?"

"I believe I already agreed to this."

"Yes, Draco, but I want you to understand what is going to happen. We are opening a gateway. Have you done that before?"

Draco shook his head.

"I thought not. And I have no idea who will answer us, or what will answer us. I almost feel like insisting we wait for two more days on this until Katie gets here, but Sirius and Remus think that we need to try to see what will happen. I don't think we're going to get it right on the first try."

"Well we shall certainly ascertain if that is the case shortly."

By nightfall, they were ready. They waited until the moonrise before going back outside and igniting the guardian fires Remus had set at each compass point around the circle. Draco had locked the griffins, which started crying as soon as he shut the door, in his room with a large plate of food. Remus had said that wasn't necessary as the griffins would know better than to get in the way, but Draco pointedly ignored him.

Remus stood outside the circle at the North, ironically the direction of the Moon, but also of wisdom and protection, while Draco, Liz and Sirius moved inside. Sirius stood at the West, the direction of the dead and of visions, while Draco, as the youngest, stood East, the dawn and balance, and Liz stood South, the Sun and justice. Draco and Liz concentrated on the spell map, raised their wands, and waited for Sirius to start reading.

Sirius slowly and clearly read the spell out loud. Draco had no idea what the words were, but he was soon caught up in the odd melodic sound of the language, and the rhythm of the spell. He started to feel a cold heaviness in his arms and legs as the spell began to take effect and move through him. It is dark magic.

Draco's eyes glazed over and the light of the fires around him became nothing but yellow orbs at the corner of his vision, and Sirius' voice seemed to drift away and grow faint. Draco became very aware that there was another presence with them, seeming to seep out of the ground at their feet. He resisted the urge to look down, and just concentrated on Black's voice as an anchor. He wished he could see Remus, but he was too well hidden behind the fires.

Draco felt the presence around them grow stronger and stronger. He was aware that he could suddenly smell something like damp and musty earth; rather like rotting leaves or a newly turned garden. For some reason he thought he saw, for an instant, the face of their old gardener from the manor, the one who had snuck him candy when his mother wasn't looking and who had died the year he left for Hogwarts. He could barely hear Black anymore, and strained in the cold silence to just make out his voice. Suddenly his vision seemed to clear, and he could make out the spell map on the ground. The small rocks they had carefully placed on it were starting to rise into the air, hovering at various heights away from the ground. Then they started to slowly move as one seeming to orbit in a lazy circle above the ground.

Clouds seemed to appear among the stones, swirling and churning. Liz was right; we've called something here to speak with us. He could no longer hear anything at all and his arm started to shake with exhaustion, and ache from the force of the magic moving through him. He gritted his teeth, though, and stood his ground. Don't let them down, Draco.

The clouds seemed to grow more opaque, and a figure seemed to start to take form; a tall, thin human shape. Draco watched it, waiting for it to speak. But he was totally unprepared for what happened next.

Suddenly the figure turned, and stepped up to him. It was his father.

"Where did you go, boy? Where was it? Was it you who truly betrayed us all?"

Draco fell backwards with a start, desperately trying to move away from the spectre in front of him. That broke the spell, and there was a great rush of sound as he suddenly was able to hear again. He was stung as the pebbles in the circle exploded outwards as the connection was destroyed. The ghost image vanished and Draco turned and fell to his knees, dropping his wand and gasping for air, clutching at his chest as he tried to rid himself of the disgusting feeling of the darkness teeming through him.

He was startled to suddenly realise that Black had come over and was kneeling next to him.

"Draco! Draco, are you alright? What was it? Why did it turn on you?"

"I…it was my father. That's impossible…."

To Draco's astonishment, Sirius put an arm over his shoulders and helped him quietly to stand, saying softly that everything was all right and he needed to relax. Draco tried to pull away from him but Sirius held on with a startling determination.

"Just breathe, Draco."

Draco took deep breaths and looked up to see that Remus and Liz had also come over, and had very concerned expressions on their faces.

"Draco," said Liz, "I'm so sorry. It came after you because you were the youngest and, it assumed, the weakest. We weren't ready for it and it was able to get to you. Please forgive us."

Draco just stood there and shook his head, not sure of what to say.

"He says it was Lucius," he heard Black say to Remus, who moved closer to take Draco's other arm.

"Draco, come into the house. You've had a very bad fright and you need to lie down."

Draco finally felt strong enough to pull away, and was grateful that Remus and Black let him go. He pulled himself up and gave a small grim smile. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You would think I know better than to be startled by a shadow. My apologies. Shall we try again?"

"Not tonight," said Liz. "and not until Katie gets here. We need all the help we can get. I knew we should have waited…."

"Liz, we learned something valuable from this event, so it was not in vain. We shall wait until Mrs. Lupin arrives if you insist, but I assure you I am quite alright."

Sirius finally frowned at him again. "Well, Draco, maybe you are, but I've had a bad night. Moony, come and talk to me about something." Sirius and Remus walked into the house together, leaning close and speaking in hushed tones. Draco sighed and looked at Liz, who still stood next to him, hands on hips and watching him closely.

"Liz, really; I am sorry that…."

Liz silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Draco, there's nothing to be sorry about. That was a very malevolent and powerful spirit. It was just your bad luck that he went after your subconscious."

"So it wasn't…."

"It wasn't your father, but something about him is bothering you. Draco, it's like this. If it had gone after Remus, it would have probably said something about killing Katie and the children. If Sirius, then Harry would probably be the issue. Do you understand? It attacks your fears, hoping to distract you so you won't force it to reveal its secrets."

"Well, I seem to have been an excellent target."

Liz shook her head. "Draco, if you think for a moment that Remus wouldn't have been utterly distracted over a threat to Katie, Malcolm or Roarke then you haven't been paying attention. That would have been more than even that man could withstand, I think, if he weren't ready for it."

Draco started to walk in the direction of the house. "Interesting. You say that for anyone else it would have preyed upon those they love. For me, it attacked my fear."

Liz again smiled quietly. "No, Draco. It did the same thing to you. In your own way, you did love your father and you still feel some guilt over…."

"Causing his death. I can assure you that is not the case. I felt nothing but relief that such an evil man was destroyed."

"Draco, don't. Nobody is any one thing. We need both sides. All of us carry both, something I came to understand myself many years ago when I was your age. As long as you realise that, then you remain in control, if you chose to. No one is entirely good, and on one is entirely evil."

"I seem to recall that you did know my father."

"Draco, I think your father loved you very much in his own way. He displayed a decidedly blind eye to you on several occasions that I personally witnessed. That was not a foolish blind eye; that was the blind eye of a parent who loves their child. You should see Remus when Malcolm gets worked up."

"Liz, my father would have just as soon killed me as looked at me if he thought he should."

"Draco, don't be…."

Draco stopped on the foot of the stairs and turned to look at her fully. "Miss Harker," he said very coldly, "I would ask you to refrain from speaking on a subject you know nothing about."

He turned back to the house and opened the door with a quick wave of his hand, stepping forward to leave. But he stopped in the doorway and turned back with a dark look.

"You see that there? No wand necessary. You know what that means. Professor Lupin and I each bear our own dark marks of distinction it would seem."