A/N: I've finally finished this chapter. Sorry I haven't gotten it out sooner but a lot of stuff has happened recently that has kept me from my computer and from writing period. I hope you all enjoy this and I always love hearing your thoughts and opinions.
Disclaimer: All of Harry Potter's original character and what not are property of J.K. Rowling and I am not making any profit off of this story. Any original characters are my property and please ask my permission if you want to use them.
Chapter 4: Explanations and Devious Plots
Dear Harry,
I hope this message finds you well. It has come to my attention that you are being beaten in your muggle home. I hope I'm not being too blunt with this subject but this letter is purely out of concern and curiosity. Let me explain. A few nights ago, I had a vision of you being badly beaten by the monstrosity you call a cousin. I am hoping that my vision was indeed just a dream that I took too seriously. If it isn't however, I hate to admit that I am truly concerned for your well being. Though I know you cannot use magic outside of Hogwarts the least you can do is threaten this beast. If not that, why haven't you told your friends about this? I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help you in such a grievous situation. By now you're probably very curious as to my identity. All I can tell you is that I am in no way connected to the Dark Lord and his minions. I have written you this message in hopes of settling my concerns of your well being. Respond in any way, even it is just to tell me to bugger off and mind my own business.
P.S. My raven will be able to take the letter back. Just tie it to her leg; she'll know where to go.
Sincerely,
B
Harry had re-read the letter so many times he had lost count. The author seemed to grudgingly admit concern about his safety, which though a tad strange, was appreciated on Harry's side. He had not told Ron and Hermione about Dudley's abuse because he didn't want to bother them with his problems when they had finally found peace with each other. Besides, Harry had been abused his whole life by his Uncle Vernon, so being beaten by Dudley was nothing new to him. 'B' as they referred to themselves wanted to know why Harry never fought back. Just like his cuts, the abuse was a way for Harry to forget. He freely let himself take this kind of punishment so his over-drive mind would stop and allow him to get some peace. Was that too much to ask for? A little fucking peace and quiet once in a while? He sighed and shut his eyes, trying to decide whether to lie to the author of the letter, when his mind was flooded with images of the night in the Department on Mysteries. Images of his godfather...of ...Sirius...falling endlessly into the veil. The sudden emptiness that Harry felt at that moment increased ten-fold. His breaths came in shallow gasps as the mental image replayed endlessly. Pushing himself off of the floor, he scrambled for his school trunk, opened it and frantically searched for one of his fathers' daggers.
Warm hands brushed the cool metal and the images that plagued Harry seemed to dissipate somewhat. He pulled the dagger from the trunk and leaned up against the trunk, making cuts in his left forearm and focused on the feeling of the blade cutting through his flesh. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and the images faded slowly back into his sub-conscious. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, with this time only the darkness of his eyelids to greet him. Slowly he opened his eyes to stare down at the gashes in his left arm and to the blood the dripped relentlessly from them. Once again he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, right hand gripping his fathers' dagger tighter, he let the memories of the night he received them flood his conscious.
Flashback, Halloween 4th year
A 14-year-old Harry Potter walked nimbly to Professor Dumbledores' office. After the troubles with the Goblet Of Fire, he was certain he had been summoned because of the Tri-Wizard tournament. Dumbledore was always worried about his safety and always thought of his best interests so being called down after the feast didn't worry him. When he arrivedthe entrance to Dumbledore's office, he was let in using the current password 'blood lollipops' and walked down to the headmasters' office. The door opened to reveal a beaming Remus Lupin. " Harry, how've you been?"
Harry smiled genuinely in return. " The term's been fine so far. Though this whole mess with the Goblet has been tiring."
"Yes, yes. It's quite a predicament but I'm sure you'll pull through. You always do." Remus replied lightly.
By that time they had both settled themselves into two comfortable, overstuffed chairs that faced the Headmasters' desk. Dumbledore smiled at the two and cleared his throat. "Would anyone like a lemon drop?" After both Harry and Lupin politely declined the tart sweet, Dumbledore pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a smaller version of a muggle briefcase. " Harry, since you are now involved in things beyond my control, I feel it is the right time to give you the final heirloom of the Potter family. You see before your father died he told Remus of something that had been passed down for generations in the Potter family from father to son." Waving his wand over the case, Dumbledore drew down the magical shield surrounding it and opened it. Gently, he pulled out three silver daggers. The shortest one was the length of a muggle pencil (handle included), and the handle was in the shape of a dragon with black onyx eyes. The next one was a few inches longer and its handle resembled a griffin. The longest of the three was about a foot and a half lone; the handle was intricately designed with an ivy plant wrapped around a torch with a green flame that glowed at the end of it.
"You see Harry, these are the Acerbus daggers. They were used in combat during the last Great War. Many people believe that their creator, Charlus Potter, destroyed them but in fact he secretly passed them throughout the male descendents of the Potter bloodline. Before your father died he mentioned to Sirius in complete confidentiality that the daggers were rumored to be enchanted but he had never figured out their secret." Dumbledore smiled politely down at the shocked boy as he finished.
Harry eyes glazed over as he tried to comprehend all that was going on. The very last Potter heirloom was even greater than his father's invisibility cloak. He wondered briefly about the so-called secrets that these gifts contained. Logic reared its ugly head.
" But sir, why are you giving them to me now. Wouldn't I receive them when I am of age?"
Remus and Dumbledore laughed at this point. " Not quite Harry." Remus took over. " You see Sirius was directly instructed to make sure that if anything happened to James or Lily, that you were given these on your 14th Halloween. Neither Dumbledore nor I know why, but James was quite insistent about this fact. I do remember if I'm correct that in James' fourth year he was given a leave of absence on Halloween and the days before and after it. When he came back he was the same old James, though looking a little bit more haggard than usual." Remus then smiled nostalgically at the memory.
"Well then, Harry if you just lightly touch each of the daggers, you should feel them connecting to your magical essence. What we do know about them is when they connect to your essence; you will be able to summon them from anywhere, without the need of the Accio charm. Harry nodded slightly and reached his hand towards the shortest of the magical weapons. Instantly when he touched the handle of the dagger, he felt as if someone switched on a switch in his head. The dagger now felt like an extension of his body and he could see a medium purple aura radiating from it. Reaching his hand towards the second dagger, Harry felt another flip of a switch and now saw a cyan aura radiating off of it. When Harry touched the third dagger, the click of the switch felt stronger, somehow, and he was able to see a deep, midnight blue aura radiating from the dagger. Harry let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding " Wicked…"
End Flashback
A small trace of a smile graced Harry's features as he remembered his naivety back then. Back in a world where everything was ok, when….Sirius was still alive. Harry grimaced at mention of his godfather in his sub-conscious. His mind really was going to get him killed one day, by his own hands or not. Back to the matter at hand, after going through his usual routine of cleaning and healing spells Harry traded his dagger for a self-inking quill and a piece of parchment.
Dear B,
Thank you for your concern. I doubt you are of age yet and you are probably one of my classmates since you did not reveal your whole name. I am going to tell you my circumstances. Why? Maybe I've finally cracked and need some time at St. Mungo's. If I have make sure they give me a nice suite with a window and extra padding on the walls.
Anyway, yes my cousin does in fact beat me. He does this because he has been taught to naturally hate me because I'm a "freak". Therefore after a nice romp out with his drunken idiot friends, he decides to come home and beat me. I don't fight back because I deserve the punishment. I've done a horrible thing and deserve every beating I get. My "friends" haven't mailed me since the term let out. They are probably too busy with each other to bother writing me. Or they've simply decided I'm not worth their time. Either way I am not going to tell them anytime soon. You are now officially the only person to know about this except Dudley and myself. You have every right to be concerned about my well being but do NOT do anything. As I said before, I fully deserve these beatings. Since you 'saw' this happening I'm guessing that you have some Seer blood in you. Better do some researching.
Sincerely,
HJP
Draco read the response from Potter over repeatedly. So he had been right it hadn't been just a regular dream. He had 'seen' Potter being abused by his oafish cousin. Worse yet, he seemed to think that he had deserved it. No one deserved this type of punishment. But the response also stated that he wasn't supposed to do anything about it. That probably meant not to get adults or fellow classmates involved. He sighed heavily. This wasn't what he had expected, not by a long shot. He hadn't expected this dream to actually be true or that the Not-So-Golden-Boy would reply.
A loud 'pop' interpreted his thinking and Draco looked over to the other side of the room. "Mrs. Malfoy wishes to see you in the foyer Mister Malfoy." A small trembling house-elf stated. Her huge blue eyes staring fearfully at Draco.
Mask in place, Draco glanced disdainfully at her. "Tell her I'll be down in a minute." He stated in that cold tone that made even his closest 'friends' shiver.
"Y-yes Mister Malfoy." The house-elf stuttered and she disappeared with another loud 'pop'.
Glancing down at the letter, Draco placed it in the lowest of his desk drawers, which had several locking charms in place so only he had access to it. Silently, after checking his appearance in his full body mirror, he made his way downstairs to the foyer. His mother was sitting in one of the three chairs that were placed in a triangular formation. She was sitting in her usual chair and a man sat in the chair that was usually reserved for his father, his face covered in shadows. " You wanted to see me, Mother" Draco stated casual Malfoy tones. " Yes, son. I want you to meet a new friend of the family." Narcissa motioned to the man sitting in his father's chair. The man suddenly sat forward, his face pulled out of the shadows showed he looked astonishingly like Sirius Black. "Draco, I would like you to meet Emery Black. He will be staying with us for quite some time."
Draco grabbed a hold of the man's hand and shook it politely. " Ah yes, Draconius Malfoy, always a pleasure to meet someone of your high status." Feeling highly confused, Draco could not find any words to reply with. He merely nodded his head lightly and took his place in the chair next to his mother. " You see, Draco, Emery is my cousin and the identical twin of Sirius Black. He will be the key to Harry Potters' downfall." Narcissa then launched into a full-blown explanation of her plan to eliminate ' that disgusting Potter boy' and how the Dark Lord was going to move soon to extract his father from Azkaban. With every word, Draco felt his heart sink a little lower.
Remember to review . Bye until next chapter.
