Growing Anger
The revelation that David was a shadow dragon changed Albus's attitude towards him dramatically. Albus appeared keen to make amends for his previous mistrust and spent a lot of time with David during his convalescence. David was not too pleased with the increased contact they had, but thought it better in the long run to endure them and keep Albus happy. They discussed the missing shadow dragons and theories for their abductions as well as their current whereabouts. The location of the missing locket containing a horcrux was also a debated, but so far Albus had been unsuccessful at tracking down Mundungus Fletcher although he had just about proved that Fletcher had 'borrowed' it.
"You're Brian," stated David after Albus had beaten him at chess with a complex seven pronged attack. "David said he had only taught that strategy to one other person. He held it in reserve for if all else failed."
"I haven't been called Brian since David's death," said Albus. "He was the last of my friends who used the name."
"But if you're Brian that means… It changes everything. I am unsure what to do for the best. Perhaps…" David regarded Albus thoughtfully. "Do you believe Harry Potter was innocent?" he asked at length, watching the headmaster closely.
"Yes," said Albus sadly. "After you revealed the continued existence of the Dursley family I re-examined the evidence against him and came to the conclusion that he was innocent. I believe he was framed by Voldemort, but the plot was extremely complex. Somehow Harry was poisoned against me. The day I captured him he truly wanted to kill me. I knew he was in full control of his actions so I was blinded to the idea that he might have been manipulated into them. I have set the ground work in motion for a posthumous retrial."
David kept his intense gaze on the old man. "Do you believe that Harry is dead?"
"I have access to a genealogical tapestry which included the Potters. It records Harry's death and the end of the line. I also checked his corpse and witnessed his burial. I have no doubts on the subject. Harry died in Azkaban after his friends betrayed him; after I failed him."
"One last thing, this is extremely important; have you ever t… s… ug. It appears I can't ask that question. Do you mind calling it a night? I need to think."
Albus had been trying to find out why David was so against him and so uncomfortable in his presence ever since he had first met the wizard. He had very acute hearing for someone his age and had heard David insist that Remus not leave him alone with Albus. He decided that his unveiling as Brian was a good thing and that giving David the space he requested was in their best interests, particularly since he seemed unable at present to talk about whatever it was that troubled him. The same problem had occurred when he had first tried to get David to discuss what Albus had done to offend him. He was obviously under some kind of oath or spell which prevented him from disclosing certain information. Unfortunately there was not much Albus could do about it other than observe David and try to discover from his actions what he wanted to say but was unable to do so.
As soon as Albus had left David firecalled his father. Since he was still confined to his rooms he could not track his father down and needed Severus to visit him instead. "Albus swore the zia oath, not as a zia, but he still swore it," he said as soon as Severus arrived. "If it was still active…" David was unable to complete the sentence, but the implication was clear to Severus.
"Is it possible that it isn't?" he asked immediately.
"The oath is normally sworn to the sovereign. When there is a change of monarch it is renewed with the new one. I do not know if that is a courtesy or whether the oath lapses after the death. Albus is not a zia, he swore the oath to my grandfather and it hasn't been renewed since his death."
"And David Dragon died in 1989."
"Precisely, but if the oath was still in effect in 1995 then my whole concept of events has been manipulated to ensure that whatever happened I would refuse to work with Albus again."
"Proving it either way would be difficult," said Severus doubtfully. "I still think we would be better off confronting Albus and asking him to submit to veritaserum. If he is guilty we could then denounce him. I am still unhappy that you are willing to keep the students at risk." In truth he did not think they were at risk, but he did want to convince David to give Albus a change to tell his side of the story. When they had first discussed it Severus had ordered David to tell Albus, but he had not been obeyed. Severus had puzzled over why his parental bond did not force David to follow his orders, particularly when after their bonding Remus was able to impose his will. The recent revelation that the Weasleys had adopted David had explained things but it had also brought the reality of his own betrayal home to him sharply. The Weasleys had stood by his son despite the whole Wizarding World turning against him, while his own father had aided what he knew was a conspiracy against him.
"I explained that they are not at risk," said David impatiently. "I also explained that we need Albus as a symbol against Voldemort. You agreed with my reasoning."
"Yes I did, but I never liked it. Back to the point in hand, I think we will have to try to break down the structure of the unbreakable vow to see how the participants effect it. It is often sighted as a truism that nothing can be made which cannot be unmade. The unbreakable vow is only called that because it is so complex that nobody has been able to unravel it to the extent of finding out how to break it."
"Research it is then," said David. "Where's Hermione when you need her!"
David returned to work the following Monday. He remarked to Remus that it was probably Remus's turn for some time off, having had to cover all the classes for three weeks in a row, and perhaps he should go and visit his fiancé for a while. The rest of the staff were surprised that Remus did not take him up on the offer. With the moon coming up David took over most of the classes anyway. He was giving the seventh years a practical lesson on blocking unfriendly spells when working with a partner as opposed to a duel situation when something caught his eye. David had allowed the students to choose their partners and Ron and Hermione had paired off. Ron had been on the receiving end of a tripping hex that he had not been able to block because it had been skimmed across the floor at him rather than at chest height. David was about to turn to praise Mr Thomas for his ingenuity when he noticed Hermione grab Ron by the sleeve of his robe to keep him from falling. Ron's sleeve rode up and as soon as he got his balance he hurriedly pulled it down again to fall to the base of his fingers. Something about his manner in doing so attracted David's attention. Ron was embarrassed by the show of skin; ergo there was something he thought had been revealed that he did not want seen.
David gave no indication of his conclusion but simply finished turning to Mr Thomas and awarded him some points for his novel approach to the spell work. As the lesson continued David puzzled over the occurrence. Now that he came to think about the sleeves of Ron's robes always covered his palms. He had dismissed the detail as unimportant since the concept that Ron wore second hand robes that did not fit him was old news. David had initially suspected that Ron was self-harming, but such scars could easily be healed or concealed under a glamour. The implication that there was something wrong with his lower arm or hand which could not be healed or concealed was worrying. David's curiosity was roused and he reasoned that since he had cause to suspect Ron of self-harming he had the right to investigate further. It was always possible that he could be of some help anyway since he had been able to heal his own stubborn curse scar. He asked Ron to stay behind at the end of the lesson.
"Umbridge is going to pay!" David roared at Remus later that evening. "I'm ready to rip her entrails out with my bear hands."
"While I agree with the sentiment," said Remus mildly, "may I ask what brought this sudden vehemence on?"
"What she did to you was appalling, degrading and unforgivable, but I tempered my anger with the notion that she truly believed that you were not human and she would not have behaved like that to someone who was. The prime fault was chauvinism rather than a delight in causing suffering. But I was wrong. She's foul."
"Dare I ask what she did?"
"It turns out that Ron did not believe that I was guilty and thought I had been silenced for proclaiming Voldemort had returned. When she taught here, Umbridge made it her mission to ensure that the students supported the Ministry's version of events. Ron can't keep his mouth shut at the best of times and he refused to back down. She gave him a lot of detentions and used a blood quill on him. He had the words 'Harry Potter is a lunatic' engraved on the back of his hand. He's been lengthening his sleeves to cover the scars ever since."
"The number of hours required to cause that long lasting a mark doesn't bear thinking about," said Remus in horror. "I was aware that she had left Hogwarts under a cloud having been accused of intending to abuse a student. The accusations were dropped and nothing was ever admitted to publicly and it was reported that she left to resume her more pressing duties at the Ministry. That she could use a blood quill for that length of time under Albus's nose…"
"I didn't even know such a ghastly device existed. The person who invented it must have been twisted. Apparently she threatened Arthur's job if Ron ever revealed what happened. I healed the scars for him which is the only reason he agreed to explain. He said there were other victims but they would have similar incentives for keeping quiet. I don't understand it; at least one of them must have visited the hospital wing since then and Poppy should have noticed. As a quidditch player I bet Ron has been in there several times."
"Talk to her, she may have known but the students may have begged her to keep quiet. Hogwarts while Umbridge was here was extremely dangerous. It is possible that Poppy felt keeping their confidences was the best option in the long run. She might be able to point you in the direction of the relevant pupils to heal them."
That night Remus awakened with a start at half past three in the morning. The bond told him that David was in a distraught state. Realising that even if he wanted to be selfish the bond would not enable him to get back to sleep, he pulled on his dressing gown and walked to David's door. Luckily he knew the password so it was easy for him to get in without disturbing anyone else. It would not do for anyone to wonder why he was visiting is colleague at this time of night.
He found that David was obviously in the grip of a nightmare, but no scar had appeared on his forehead allowing Remus to hope that it was not Voldemort induced. Nor was David screaming this time so hopefully the cruciatus curse had also been avoided. Remus was receiving strong emotions through the bond, but they did not include fear and there was no sense of danger either. Remus perched on the edge of the bed called out for David to wake up.
As he opened his eyes David looked warily at Remus, obviously slightly confused that he was there, but then recognition crossed his face. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I thought… blocked the bond… shouldn't…"
"It's quite alright," Remus assured him. "I'd rather you didn't occlude me anyway, I did not know you were doing that. What if you'd had another vision?"
"Sorry."
"Want to talk about your nightmare? It'll help."
"It's my Wilfred's Choice – what could have happened. It's like I know – know what I changed, but I don't know all the time, just in my dreams."
"So something that would have happened was upsetting?"
"Yeah. The blood quill." said David wrapping his arms around his chest and speaking very fast. "It would have been used on me not Ron. In my dream I was living through the detentions I would have had, just like he did, but my hand was engraved with the words, 'I must not tell lies.' I spent hours writing those words in my own blood in the DADA office." He giggled hysterically, "The funny part was that the walls were covered in pieces of china with moving kittens on them. Really bright colours, kinda different to how we have it now." He giggled again. "Like Lockhart had mated with a streeler."
David showed no sign of calming down so Remus got up to find a calming potion. He remembered David giving one to Sirius so with luck he would have one handy. As he hunted Remus made a note to try to find out how Umbridge had arranged her office. If there hadn't been kittens he would be able to reassure David on future occasions that his dreams were part of his imagination, and not his Wilfred's Choice telling him how things might have been.
After Remus had coaxed David, who did not seem to think anything was wrong, to take the potion they chatted about other things for a bit as David calmed down. It being December it did not take long for Remus to feel the cold and start shivering slightly, but he did not want to leave before David was recovered enough to get back to sleep. Either because the potion was suppressing David's normal reaction, or because he craved companionship after reliving the ordeal he had almost lived, David invited Remus to join him under the covers to keep warm.
Remus had no compunctions about taking advantage of the situation, since it was a golden opportunity for pressing forward in David's lessons in affection. He hoped that having shared a bed with him without Remus taking sexual advantage David would feel able to repeat the experience in the future. Remus's long term goal in his re-education plans for David was to have David initiate a sexual relationship with him. He could not do that himself; David would have to be the judge of when he was ready for such a step. Remus had hopes of getting him ready in time for the wedding night, but if he had to wait longer he would. As it was Remus took advantage of David falling asleep to stay the rest of the night. Since David could apparate another person through Hogwarts at will he had no worries about being caught coming out of his colleague's quarters in the morning.
When he woke up David had a better idea, he had a talk to Lady Hogwarts and she obliged them by moving the staff quarters around and allowing David to create a connecting door, which he blended in to the wall so that it would not be obvious to anyone who did not know it was there. Remus took this as a sign that David intended to share a bed with him every night, and was disappointed when this turned out not to be the case. David simply wanted to make it easier for them to spend time with each other unobserved. Remus had to settle for ensuring David knew he was welcome in his bond-mates bed and waited impatiently for an excuse to sleep with him again.
The full moon was soon upon them and afterwards it was not long before term ended. In honour of the season, and with vivid memories on David's part of having to work extra hard in potions at this time of year while other teachers gave their students more leeway, the two DADA teachers took a break from more serious matters to plan festive 'lessons' for the last day of term. David was particularly pleased with the booby trapped Christmas tree he set up for the students to practice detecting and counteracting hexes with.