Disclaimer- ::Mordred shots out at you:: Good boy.

Ok the plot thickens in this chapter. More action will come in the next chapter and hopefully the bad guys will make an appearance there. Please review. Also check out my new story "The Perfect Night" if you like the Severus/Hermione ship.

---Also this story takes place during the middle of August, so no students are currently in Hogwarts.

Abstulo Chapter 7

By Tol Morwen

The carriage ride to Hogwarts was painfully slow Harry and Draco thought. In fact, Draco didn't even remember it being this slow when he was a student. He was just going to yell at the Thestrals to go faster when a sudden revelation hit him. He had remembered seeing Hagrid whisper something to the creatures but at the time he didn't care. But now he knew. 'He had told them to be deliberately slow," Draco thought. 'But why?'

He was going to tell Harry about his idea, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw his son eagerly looking out of the window. And then he knew why they were going so slow. 'Sev wants to impress Aurelius into submission.' And then he almost laughed out loud. 'Strange that a man old enough to be my father wants to amaze a six year old boy,' Draco thought. But it wasn't such a stupid idea. Snape wanted to make a good, lasting impression on a potentially powerful wizard.

"Are they sick?" Harry asked annoyed at the pace they were making. He pointed to the creatures pulling the carriage and complained, "They were never that slow! Trust me; the coma did not mess me up!" Here Draco bit his tongue to try and smother a sarcastic reply aimed at Harry but Harry knew what he wanted to do. "Shut up!" He kicked Draco's left shin hard, but not enough to leave a bruise. Draco retaliated and soon the two began kicking each other as a game.

Aurelius rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the window. It was 7 o' clock PM and dark now. Everything was cast in shadow and obscured but he looked around anyway. But soon his eyes were fixed on a certain spot in a bush. Almost immediately a pair of large eyes emerged. Mordred squeaked and went inside his owner's t-shirt but Aurelius kept still just staring at the eyes. "What's that?" he asked his father, eyes never leaving the other pair as if afraid they would disappear. But soon the pair of eyes in the bush faded away.

The smacks from the kicking game died down and both looked out of the window. "What's what?" Harry asked with a big grin on his face. His eyes roamed over the scene but could find nothing. Draco merely shook his head as if to say he saw nothing unusual too.

Draco told Aurelius, "It's probably because you're tired. Or maybe one of the creatures came to have a look. It's not everyday a lone carriage makes its way to Hogwarts."

Aurelius' ears perked up. "Creatures?"

Draco opened his mouth to reply but Harry covered his mouth with his hands and replied. "Oh yeah!" His grin became more playful. "There's all type of scary creatures out there Aurelius. Werewolves and centaurs and... octipines." Draco looked at Harry in disbelief.

"Oc- octipines?" Aurelius struggled with the name as he held Mordred through his shirt.

"Oh yes. They have eight large arms like an octopus but they live in deep, dark woods like these. And every week, they come out at night to eat really bad boys and girls. They love how they taste so you better be good y'know." Aurelius nodded but Draco glared at Harry. "Right Draco?"

Draco sighed in annoyance but soon smiled a smile that Harry thought looked quite good on him. "Yes Aurelius. Just... listen to Harry. He knows what's best." He looked happy on the outside but inside he was wondering if he would get struck by lightning for lying.

Being inside Hogwarts was uplifting, both men thought in their minds. Almost everything had stayed the same. The rooms and hallway's looks had stayed almost the same way, ghosts still roamed the halls from time to time, and the Wizards portraits still made a fuss whenever someone walked by. But when Draco and Harry came by, they made an even bigger fuss. They either called out their names or started a conversation with them. But with Aurelius, they always asked who he was. "You look so familiar!" one portrait remarked. "But I just can't seem to place you anywhere." Aurelius just stayed quiet as he held his ferret and let the portraits ramble on.

Only one portrait appeared to recognize him, and that was of Circe. "You're the little baby that was here before weren't you?" she asked the child as she completely ignored Harry and Draco. She was dressed in a long, dark, flowing robe and some of her long black hair was braided. She continued to stir her bubbling cauldron slowly and waited for his answer. Aurelius looked at his father and Harry but found that they wouldn't help.

Aurelius cleared his throat and croaked out, "Yes. I suppose so."

Circe let out a delicate laugh and stopped stirring in favor of gazing the uncomfortable child. Her black eyes bore into his own, and he flinched. She laughed again and said, "Yes, you're him. I remember you even if the others don't. I always remember the insignificant details. Small and loud you were; always crying. You always disrupted my potion making but one look from me always made you silent. That's the one thing I remembered most about you..." She trailed off as she thought of the past.

Draco however took this time to grab his son and Harry. "It was nice having this conversation," he said dryly and began to walk them over a few yards to the headmaster's office. They stood in front of the gargoyles waiting for something. "What are we waiting for?" Aurelius asked when nothing happened.

Draco remained silent but Harry said, "I'm trying to remember the password Hermione used awhile ago." Draco looked amused.

"That was only yesterday, right?"

"Shut up! She was whispering it so I couldn't hear it!" Harry said to defend himself. But a chuckling emerged from behind and all three of them looked behind to see a smiling Dumbledore.

"I believe the password is "Gone with the Wind," Dumbledore chuckled out. Harry went over to hug his former headmaster but stopped suddenly when the realization hit in.

"Gone with the Wind?" Draco and Harry asked in perfect unison. Behind them, the gargoyles shifted and moved out of the way to reveal a spiraling staircase. Aurelius stared in amazement at the sight of everything.

Albus nodded. "Apparently Hermione adores that book," he told them, but his attention on them did not last. His gaze soon went to Aurelius who stared back at him. "And this is the little baby who I held in my arms so many years ago." The child tilted his head uncertainly and Albus could see the questions forming already. "Yes I did hold you when you were younger. Much like Harry was when he was that age."

"He's your... other grandfather, Aurelius," Draco added.

Albus nodded in agreement. "Very sorry that I wasn't there for you for years now, but that's going to change soon!" he said cheerfully. "Would you like a lemon drop?" Albus reached into his pockets and pulled out a handful of lemon drops. Eyes wide with the sight of candy, he shifted Mordred to one arm and grabbed a piece of candy. He rapidly unwrapped the candy, and soon stuffed it into his mouth unceremoniously.

"It's good!" the child told the older man. Dumbledore didn't answer, but the twinkling in his eyes grew brighter. Before long, footsteps were heard and Hermione appeared near the top of the stairs, relieved at the sight of all of them safe.

"You're late!" she accused Draco who blushed slightly. "I expected you at least ten minutes ago and..." she trailed off when she saw Aurelius. She practically ran down the stairs to reach him. She bended down to face him and after a moment of looking, she hugged him tightly, taking care not to hurt Mordred. "I haven't seen you for at least three years!" she yelled out. "And you've grown up so much!" After seeing the confused look on the kid's face, she said, "I'm your godmother Hermione." She saw no recognition in the little boy's face and she grew a little angry. She released the stunned little boy and went over to Draco. They looked at each other for a moment and then she slapped him roughly on his arm.

"OW!" Draco yelled as everyone but him and Hermione chuckled. "Why is everyone hitting me?"

"Serves you right for not telling him about me!" Hermione countered. "I'm his godmother for heaven's sake! He should know about me!"

"Herm!" Severus yelled from above. "Are they there yet?"

"Yes!" she shouted back. "We'll come up now!" She grabbed Draco and Harry and pulled them towards the stairs. Dumbledore and Aurelius followed side by side. But when they reached the bottom of the stairs, Aurelius took up running. He squeezed between his father and Harry and took up running again. Once on top, he stopped and waited for the others.

Hermione released her two friends and walked past Aurelius who quickly followed her. She marched to the headmaster's door and opened it quickly, disregarding any dramatic effect. They found Severus sitting on the headmaster's chair with McGonagall near him. Slowly he stood up and strolled towards the others. He greeted them all politely and asked them to sit down. But when he saw the ferret, he scowled, instantly reminded of Draco being turned into one when he was still a student. "Get that thing out!" he snarled as he pointed a hand at Mordred. The child holding him however just held him tighter and stuck his tongue out at Severus. Snape snarled again.

"How about I show him the Great Hall," Minerva suggested, hoping to prevent an argument. Snape looked at Aurelius and when he saw that he was not going to budge, he agreed. Minerva took the child and walked away with hum, but not before whispering, "It'll be better this way," to Snape.

When the door was closed, Severus turned to the others. "Why have I been hearing about Voldemort, yet again?"

"Because we have nothing better to do," Harry said dryly. "What do you think? He's obviously trying to come back." Severus turned and glared at him. But instead of cringing, Harry glared back.

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione chastised. "This isn't about any of you! It's about Draco and Aurelius!" Both men grew quiet and she turned to Draco. "You told me that he's been having nightmares about his former life, right?"

Draco nodded. "Apparently he's been having them for weeks and I didn't even notice until yesterday," he said, the pain still bitter. "And I think he saw someone die in them." Dumbledore looked troubled at this. "Earlier today he saw the Thestrals when he shouldn't have."

"Perhaps it's because Voldemort's soul could be channeling him," suggested Hermione. "You-know-wh... I mean Voldemort killed dozens of people and witnessed the deaths of even more. He'd have no problem doing it."

"I don't think so Herm," Snape rebutted. "It's not very likely. But it is possible for him to see them if he witnessed the death of another in his dreams and remembers it. It's already implanted in his subconscious."

"But the thing is there is proof in what Hermione says," Draco countered. Everyone looked at Draco shocked. "It's true," he finally answered after a moment of silence. He took the key out and unlocked the box he was holding. After it was opened, he slowly took the diamond out and showed it to everyone. But immediately afterwards, everyone began to question what that diamond had to with Voldemort.

Draco held up his hand to try and silence everyone. When everyone grew quiet he continued, "This has... the "soul" of Voldemort." Almost immediately clamors erupted. People stood up from their seat and began to yell and shout at him. But Albus remained quiet, thinking about everything.

"I thought Voldemort would die after you gave up your magic?" Albus asked as he reviewed the terms Set had placed about six years ago.

Draco shook his head. "Set tried to kill him but he wasn't able to. Instead he just put all of his memories into this diamond and changed him into a baby. I can't say I don't like this method better."

"Do you think the diamond's strength is weakening? Maybe that's why Aurelius is dreaming of Voldemort," Hermione suggested.

"It's likely. A diamond is the strongest of all gems but Voldemort's soul could be so powerful and evil that it's weakening it," Severus proposed.

"It could be, but there's something I need to ask you, Sev. Did you go to the station to talk to me?" Draco asked.

"No," Snape answered puzzled. "I was with Herm all of today." Hermione nodded her head to confirm what he said.

"Then a Polyjuice copy of you came to me. Probably a Deatheater then," Draco replied.

"How did you know?" Harry asked. "I didn't see him."

"He came after you went through the barrier," he replied offhand. "He wanted to talk about the Deatheaters getting desperate and willing to do anything. Possibly a warning for me then not to interfere with their plans. I became suspicious when he actually smiled at me. He didn't smirk or anything; he just smiled for Heaven's sake." Harry hid his grin behind his hand and tried hard not to burst out laughing. "Also, it felt weird to hear him call Hermione by her original name and not "Herm." That made me even more suspicious. The thing that convinced me though that it wasn't you was when I called him "Snape" and he didn't respond with a "Call me Sev, Draco" or anything like that."

"Then they know about Aurelius," Albus added. Draco nodded.

"They want Voldemort back and they're willing to use Aurelius."

"But he's safe here," replied Hermione. "The wards-"

"May be broken," completed Draco. "They're very powerful yes, but they're not always foolproof. Still I feel better with my son here than out there."

He stood up from his chair and yelled out, "Let's just destroy it! Let's just get rid of him once and for all!" He was angry. After being out of his coma, he was tricked into thinking that Voldemort was truly gone and that he could finally live out the rest of his life in peace. His breathing was loud and his heart was beating furiously.

Draco merely shook his head and calmly reasoned out, "We can't. It won't destroy Voldemort. It'll just bring him out into Aurelius. Do you really want that?" Harry shook his head and muttered out no. "Then what we need to do is to find..." he trailed off when a loud plop came and the diamond in Draco's hand disappeared.

"What happened?" Harry asked worried. "What did you do?"

The blonde man just shook his head. "The wards..." he whispered. But then a thought occurred. "Aurelius!" he yelled out before leaving for the Great Hall with everyone following behind. He ran towards the hall panicking with every step of the way. Finally, when he reached there, he clutched his heart when he saw Minerva lying prone on the ground with Aurelius nowhere nearby. He ran towards her and felt her wrist for a heartbeat. Draco breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a dim pulse. Minerva began to regain consciousness and she croaked out in pain, "Death Eaters came and I couldn't... I'm sorry."

Draco just shook his head and said, "It's no one's fault. Just rest." She promptly passed out again leaving everyone, but most of all Harry and Draco, to worry about the kidnapped boy.

TBC

The scene with the... octipines was there to provide a little Harry and Aurelius moment. It's also there so all three of them could bond like a real family. Besides, hasn't anyone ever told you that an imaginary creature would hurt you if you didn't behave?