Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry it took me a while to get this one uploaded. I've been a bit busy lately. I promise updates will be coming much more frequently from now on. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story and remember to leave a review.

Four

Lucius stared in wonder at the girl before him. Harry couldn't really blame him. After all, no matter what he'd thought, Harry knew that he hadn't actually expected that to work. Hermione was staring at her uncle, tears filling her eyes. Lucius stared at her, his eyes quite wide. When he walked over to meet her, she threw her arms around his middle and began to sob in earnest.

"It's all right. You're going to be fine." Lucius said, rubbing the girl's back gently.

"These are happy tears." Hermione proclaimed, smiling.

"Happy tears?"

She nodded. "The muggles that raised me...they're never very nice to me. I'm...they're scared of me. They always have been."

Lucius smiled. "You don't have to worry about that anymore."

He straightened his back and turned to Harry and Draco. "I will write you a letter before I come to visit next. It'll probably be Friday, however, because I'll be busy. Come, Lyra...Hermione. We're going to the Ministry of Magic."

"Lyra? Is...is that what my birth parents named me?"

Lucius nodded. "Lyra Talitha Lestrange."

"Then that's what I want to be called from now on." she turned to the Weasley's, "I'll meet you in the common room when I return."

"We'll be there."

Lyra followed Lucius out of the infirmary, her back very straight. When she was gone, the three Weasley's stepped to the side of Harry's bed. Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed, ready to be out of the infirmary. As he was pulling his shirt back on, he heard Madam Pomfrey's sharp intake of breath.

"You shouldn't be up yet!" she said, pushing him back onto the bed.

"I'm fine Madam Pomfrey. Nothing hurts and I'm not staying in this bed all day. I'll go mad." Harry answered, standing again.

She huffed. "I'll cast a diagnostic charm on you. If nothing is truly wrong, I'll let you leave."

Harry let her do it, knowing that his magic would already have healed his body. It always did. That was how he'd known that he was more powerful than Jamie. Sure enough, when she lowered her wand, Madam Pomfrey shooed him towards the door.

"All right then. You're free to go."

"Let's go down to the Black Lake." Harry said, noticing that he and Draco were being followed by Ron and his twin brothers.

Together, the rather unlikely group walked down to the Black Lake. They took seats in a secluded corner of the shore and Harry turned to look at the Weasley brothers. He wondered why they'd followed him. Harry had always thought the Weasley's were a very Light family and it was obvious that Harry wasn't. At least Harry thought it was. He certainly wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was Dark.

"You're wondering why we followed you." said one of the twins.

Harry nodded. "Yes, I am. You're not exactly the type I'd figure would be interested in friendships with Dark Wizards."

Ron smiled. "You're wrong. We were sorted into Gryffindor because we're brave, but we've never been Light wizards."

The other twin - Fred? Or was it George? - spoke as well. "We're not the only Dark Weasley's, either. There are three, possibly four, others."

"Interesting. Which ones?"

"Ginny, she's the youngest and the only girl. She was a bit of a surprise but she came to us before we left this year. She said she was certain she wasn't a Light Witch and she was terrified that we'd disown her." Ron said, sharing a look with the twins.

"The other is the second oldest, Charlie. He works in Romania, with Dragons, and he's been Dark for as long as we can remember. The only reason mum and dad haven't disowned him yet is because it would look bad and dad doesn't want the Weasley reputation sullied any further." George Weasley said.

Fred picked up where his twin had left off. "Bill is the oldest and we only discovered that he was Dark last summer. He overheard us talking to Ron about our magic and he revealed to us that he was Dark as well."

"And we have reason to believe that Percy might be Dark as well. We never would have believed it but Fred found a book of Dark magic in his bedroom last summer and Percy's been acting weird lately."

Harry nodded, thinking about that. "That makes sense. What are you suggesting?" he asked, realizing that the Weasley's had a point to what they were saying.

The twins spoke together this time. "You're going to need people in Gryffindor, people close to the Light. We can be those people. Hermione - sorry Lyra - won't be a very good candidate because Gryffindor is likely to ostracize her after her real name is discovered. We won't suffer that treatment. If anyone asks why we talk to you, we'll just say it's to keep tabs on what you're doing."

Draco looked at Harry. "They have a point, Harry. We DO need people in Gryffindor. And the Light trusts the Weasley family."

Harry couldn't hide his grin. "You're in." he said quietly.

"What are you planning this year?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at him. How had Ron known that he was planning something? It was true that he'd been planning something for months but he didn't really think that anyone really knew what he was planning.

"How did you know I was planning anything?" Harry asked.

"Jamie was going on an on about it earlier. How he knew you were planning something this year because he'd caught you looking things up in Potter Library."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, he wasn't wrong. But that means I'm going to have to be even more careful than before." he said.

Draco looked at him. "What is it you're planning? Is there any way we can help?"

Harry cast a silent privacy charm around them before speaking. "There's something called the Sorcerer's Stone hidden in the castle at this very moment. It has the power to bring back He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I'm going to steal it and present it to Him."

The Weasley Twins' eyes were wide. "You know where he is?"

Harry nodded. "Of course I do. He's in the castle, disguised at the moment. I've...okay, if this gets out to anyone else I will not hesitate to kill you."

Draco and the Weasley's looked at him in shock. Draco was the first to recover. "We're not going to tell anyone your secrets, Harry."

"You'd better not. Anyways, I've been secretly in contact with him for over a year now via his familiar, Nagini. Nagini sends messages back and forth between us. He originally sent her to kill both Jamie and I but I managed to send her back with a message. He was intrigued and asked to meet. Let me tell you, getting away from the Potters in Diagon Alley to meet with Him was incredibly hard. But I managed it and we spoke. He can actually manage a corporeal form when he tries but in that instance he possessed a willing follower and met me in Knockturn Alley. We talked for an hour and he bought my school books. He was originally going to steal the Stone alone but I told him I wanted to help him and he agreed."

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "If you're so intent on helping Him, why don't you call him by what his Death Eaters call him? Wouldn't that be respectful?"

Harry gave a smile. "There are two reasons. The first being that Dumbledore put a spell on me. If I call him what the Death Eaters call him, the Light Side will know. And, while I've made it obvious that I'm Dark, they don't need to know that I'm allied with Him. If they find out too soon, they could stop me. The second reason is that I'm not a Death Eater and never will be. He and I are partners. He told me that I remind him of himself and that it would be a waste if he made me just another follower. He's told me to simply call him Lord Slytherin."

Draco's eyes went wide. "He hasn't made anyone a partner in years. Harry, this is huge."

Harry shrugged. "It'll only be big if I succeed."

The Weasley's stared at Harry, their mouths open. "You're going to bring Him back? But...isn't that a little dangerous?" Ron asked.

Draco shook his head. "Not for anyone who knows what's good for them. He doesn't want to eradicate muggleborns or kill all half-bloods. All he wants is to bring muggleborns into our world sooner, to help them get acquainted with magic better and to help people understand that Dark Magic is just magic."

"It's more than just, that, though." Harry said softly, his gaze turning to the water in front of them.

"What else is there?" Fred Weasley asked.

"He wants to teach Dark Magic in schools, to educate people on the proper way to perform and use it. Right now, people think that Dark Magic is simply evil magic. He wants people to know that it isn't evil at all. Like all magic, Dark Magic is based on intent. If you intend to do harm, you'll do harm. Being Dark has been considered evil since Dumbledore saw fit to create terror. Lord Slytherin did quite a bit of digging and discovered quite a bit about Dumbledore. Needless to say, the man isn't the saint he appears to be."

Draco looked interested. "How so?"

"You remember Grindelwald, correct?"

Ron Weasley nodded. "Everyone knows about him. Dumbledore defeated him and was hailed as a hero."

Harry smirked. "Dumbledore did no such thing. He and Grindelwald were lovers in reality. They plotted the demise of all muggleborns and how they'd rise up as leaders over the Muggle and Magical worlds. In short, they had major world domination goals. Their plans were cut short when they got into a spat. No one is really sure what they started fighting over but it quickly became a duel of epic proportions. He and Grindelwald fought in the Dumbledore's living room at Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore's younger sister, Ariana, was killed during the fight. Lord Slytherin speculates that it was Dumbledore himself who killed her. After that night, Grindelwald set about achieving his goals on his own. Dumbledore had it in his head that only he could stop Grindelwald but he couldn't bring himself to actually kill the man so he staged an epic - and very public - duel where he brought Grindelwald to the very brink of death. When he was on the edge of death, Dumbledore made it look like he had died and then took Grindelwald to Nurmengard where he's been locked up all this time. He's under magical suppression cuffs and he's heavily guarded at all times but Lord Slytherin has been able to meet with him several times and they've got something big planned. Lord Slytherin plans to break him out of prison this summer."

The twins looked thoughtful. "But their goals are so different."

"Not really. Grindelwald now realizes that muggleborns are quite useful to our society. His goals are much in line with Lord Slytherin's. His only requirement is that Dumbledore be left for him. Come this summer, Dumbledore will be terrified."

Draco smirked. "I can't speak for the Weasley's but I'm totally willing to help you."

The Weasley's looked at each other. "We're in too." they said in unison.

Harry looked at them. Three people he'd never guessed he would be friends with, brought together by a common goal. Smiling at them, he began to lay out his plan.

"It's simple, really. Lord Slytherin is currently pretending to possess Professor Quirell. He's not really possessing him, though. Quirell is totally willing to do whatever he needs to in order to help Lord Slytherin regain his powers. Lord Slytherin himself is hiding in a special room of the castle called the Room of Requirement. Dumbledore, the senile old man that he is, is hiding the Stone in a room on the Third Floor. I'm going to get past the protections he's placed on it and steal the stone. I'll hand it over to Lord Slytherin and he'll leave the castle, killing Professor Quirell."

"He's going to kill Professor Quirell?" Ron asked, looking shocked.

Harry nodded. "He doesn't really have a choice. If he leaves Quirell alive, the Ministry will use any means necessary to interrogate him."

Draco looked at the Weasley's. "A lot of the time, when Lord Slytherin kills his followers it's to protect them. Once the Ministry gets a hold of them, it's never very good. Look at what happened to the Lestrange family. My aunt had to fake being a mad woman who'd fallen in love with Lord Slytherin in order to avoid being interrogated by the Ministry. And they only managed to do it because the Lestrange family is so skilled at Occlumency that their minds can't be penetrated by Legilimancy. They still got thrown in Azkaban but at least they weren't subjected to the mind torture that the Aurors put Dark Wizards through."

Ron nodded. "That makes sense, I guess. Does Quirell know he's going to be killed?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he's been told to get his affairs in order. His wife and daughter are going to be cared for by Lord Slytherin himself for the rest of their lives and they know that he's doing something very good for the Dark Order. Without his sacrifice, we may never regain our status in the world."

Draco nodded. "Father has always said that Lord Slytherin rewards his most faithful followers. It's one of the reasons our family has always supported the man. Lord Slytherin - while he does, in fact, have servants - considers his Inner Circle his friends. Father, along with the Lestrange family, and Severus Snape are in the Inner Circle."

"Isn't Snape a half-blood, though?"

Harry shook his head. "No. He was adopted by a muggle man named Tobias Snape but his true father was Gideon Farce, an American pureblood of both noble and ancient status. In private, Severus actually goes by the name Severus Prince but Dumbledore is under the impression that he's a half-blood so Severus has kept the name Snape in use."

"How do you know all that?"

Harry grimaced. "Lily Potter kept a journal detailing her school years. In her fifth year, she was dating Severus. They...hang on a moment."

Harry waved his wand, casting a stronger privacy ward. When he was finished, he spoke again. What he was about to tell them would explain many things about his birth mother, things that no one outside of his friends had any right knowing.

"She and Severus grew up together. They were best friends all through school. In fifth year, though, Lily did something terrible. She became pregnant with Severus' child. Thinking - erroneously - that the Wizarding World would look down on her if she gave birth to the child of a Dark Wizard, Lily went to a muggle clinic and had an abortion. She then - stupidly - told Severus what she'd done. Severus cast her out, calling her a filthy mudblood bitch in front of James Potter and his friends."

The Weasley's were pale. Draco, who had already heard the tale, just looked disgusted. In the Wizarding World, to abort a child was nothing short of murder. Wizarding folks were proud of their children. They took pride in each new life they created. The fact that Lily Evans - now Potter - had aborted a magical child spoke volumes about her character. She was looked upon as little more than a jumped up mudblood in most pureblood circles these days.

"How on earth could she have done that, though? Certainly she knew that all magical blood is valued?" Ron asked, looking green.

Harry shrugged. "In her journal, she complained that she couldn't have had the baby because it would close too many doors for her. Careers she wanted to look into would be completely closed if she were to have had that baby. In reality, it was quite the opposite. Because she cut the life of that baby short, most magical careers were automatically shut to her. That's why she's a stay-at-home-mother. None of the careers she was so ambitious to start were open to her. Dumbledore offered her a position at Hogwarts teaching Charms but, when Flitwick heard who was getting his job, he conveniently decided that retiring wasn't such a great idea after all. Lily has been a stay at home mother ever since. And she blames Severus for it. In her eyes, if he hadn't gotten her up the duff she wouldn't have been forced to take such drastic action."

"I don't have anything against muggleborns, you know. But it's muggleborns like her that have earned the name 'mudblood.' Disgusting bitch." Draco said, curling his upper lip in distaste.

Harry nodded. "She's disgusting all right. But she's got James Potter wrapped around her pinky finger. It's disgusting the way he does whatever she wants him to. When I was around, she'd make him deal with me so she didn't have to. Whenever I needed to be punished, it was James that did it. She's also got Dumbledore's ear. I can't count the times she's told him to do something and he actually did it. He wouldn't agree, however, to deny me entry at Hogwarts, though. Which is why James and Lily were trying to send me to Germany in secret."

The Weasley twins' eyes were wide. "They weren't going to let you come to Hogwarts?"

Harry shook his head. "I had to sneak on board the train in order to be able to come to Hogwarts. If they'd realized what I'd done, they would have removed me immediately and James would have given me a damn good beating."

Draco's eyes were suddenly furious. "He...beat you?"

Harry flinched without really meaning to. He didn't really want to tell them but he knew that, if he didn't, they'd find out eventually and Harry would rather tell it himself than have them find out through other means. "Yeah. When I'd done something he really didn't like, he'd use his wand. When I was four, I found out I could talk to snakes. Lily caught me talking to a garden snake and told James about it. James killed the snake before dragging me inside. I spent three hours that night being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse."

Draco looked ill. The Weasley's looked as though they'd very much like to avenge him. No one spoke for a few tense moments.

"Shouldn't that have killed you?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "It probably would have except for the fact that James didn't keep the curse up for three hours. He'd curse me for twenty minutes and stop for twenty minutes. He did that all night long. It kept me alive...but barely. Afterwards, he locked me in a cupboard sized room in the basement of Potter Manor for three weeks."

"I get the feeling that it wasn't the worst thing he did to you." Draco said, looking at Harry.

Harry nodded. "It wasn't. He did worse things as I got older. Sometimes, Lily watched him. She always seemed to take great joy in the fact that I was being cursed."

The Weasley brothers shuddered. "How could anyone treat their own child like that? Our parents aren't exactly the greatest but they'd never curse us." The twins said.

Ron shrugged, looking at them. "If mum thought she could get away with it she probably would."

Harry had trouble believing this. Molly Weasley had always been considered to be the 'ultimate mother.' Most people considered her to be a sweet woman who loved every one of her children equally. When he voiced this, the Weasley brothers shook their heads vehemently. It was Fred Weasley who spoke.

"That's an act she puts on around people. At home, she's quite different. Constantly yelling at us and insulting us. George and I have known that we want to own our own joke shop since we were in our first year. Mum has it in her head that, by insulting us and destroying the products we make, she can stop us doing that. I think Ron's right. If she could get away with using a curse or two for punishment, she more than likely would."

Draco nodded. "Father used to be friends with Arthur Weasley when they were in school. He said that Arthur was a generally good bloke up until he started dating Molly Prewitt. It was after he started dating her that he started to turn towards the Light."

Before anyone could reply, Harry caught sight of Jamie Potter sauntering towards them. He dropped the privacy wards so that the prat wouldn't be able to accuse them of anything. Draco came to sit on his right hand side while the Weasley brothers chose to move behind him. It was obvious, however, that the Weasley brothers were not seeking protection but were preparing to defend Harry if need be. They all had their hands on their wands and were staring at Jamie Potter with an expression of utter dislike.