Disclaimer: HP and Co. belong to J.K Rowling, not myself.

A/N: Huge thanks to my brand new beta Black Rose of Twilight! Also, sorry for the long wait guys, RL has been kicking my butt. Either way I hope you enjoy the chapter =]

R/R!

Chapter 20: Pranks and Plots

Orion yawned and fisted his eyes as he slowly forced himself to walk down the hallway of Marauder Manor. It was three weeks into summer vacation and he had spent the last two nights at his godfather's house. Sirius had been begging Orion to come visit for a while now, he had a room all set up for the young teen and he had wanted him to come over and decorate it and now they finally had.

"You have paint on your nose." Remus' dry voice sounded from somewhere in front of him and Orion's eyes popped open and he glanced sheepishly at his uncle.

"Sirius wanted to decorate the muggle way." Orion said by way of explanation.

"Of course he did," Remus said with an exasperated sigh, "What would you like for breakfast?" he asked suddenly. The pair had made their way into the kitchen where a house elf was already bustling about making tea and what not.

"Waffles?" Orion asked curiously, he was still getting used to be asked what he wanted to eat.

"Waffles it is." Remus beamed and nodded at the elf who immediately began preparing the food.

Soon the smell of waffles was wafting through the house and Remus and Orion were hungrily eating when a tired, paint covered Sirius stumbled into the kitchen.

Remus rolled his eyes, Sirius was even more paint covered then Orion was and Remus just knew the paint was probably all over the house as well.

"Coffee's on the counter." Remus gestured, receiving a grunt as Sirius busied himself with a mug.

"Is he always like that?" Orion asked curiously.

"Yes, completely useless until he's had his first cup." Remus explained while Sirius slumped at the table.

"Weird." Orion muttered before he returned to his own food. The table lapsed into silence, though the occasional loud slurp interrupted the group.

-Blood-

Orion and Draco walked slowly through Diagon Alley, both boys were planning on meeting up with their friends, or in Draco's case, his boyfriend, but they had arrived a bit early and were now wandering the alley.

"So you got your room all done at Sirius' Manor?" Draco asked his younger brother curiously. Orion had spent the last few days with the remaining Marauders and had been delivered back to Malfoy Manor earlier that day with pain still on his face and in his hair. Their mother had been appalled but Orion didn't really mind, he had had a lot of fun with Sirius and Remus.

"Yup, it looks pretty cool." Orion admitted shyly. "You have to come see it. Sirius and Remus said they want you to have a room at their place as well." he added. Draco looked shocked for a moment before nodding.

"That would be nice." he said as the two rounded the corner. He was quite pleased with how much Remus and Sirius tried to include him in things, it was nice.

"Woah!" Orion's soft voice catching Draco's attention and drawing him from his musings.

"What?" the taller blond asked looking at his brother.

"Look at that." Orion gestured and Draco turned, eyes widening as he took in the sight before him. A riot of purple and orange met his eyes. A giant man, looking remarkably like a Weasley, was sitting on the front of the building, his massive arm waving slightly in the air.

"What is that?" Draco hissed, looking scandalized.

"They did it!" Orion breathed, a bright grin breaking out on his face. "They actually did it!" Rushing forward, he headed towards the closed door of the store and began to knock gently.

"Orion, it's closed." Draco said walking up behind his brother just as the door was opened and two familiar heads popped out.

"Oh." Draco muttered. Now he knew why the entire placed screamed 'Weasley' at him.

"C'mon Draco, Fred and George are going to show us around." And with that Orion disappeared inside the building. Rolling his eyes Draco followed, he had to admit he was a tad bit curious about the Weasley twins owning a business.

"Hello Orion..."

"...Draco..."

"...Welcome to..."

"...Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" the twins said with a flourish as the gestured proudly behind themselves. The entire place was packed with boxes and shelves, some were squeaking or shaking and some even emitted smoke.

"I'm so proud of you guys!" Orion cried as he launched himself at the twins and the three shared a tight hug.

"Joke shop huh?" Draco mused as he looked around, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised, the twins did have a head for this sort of thing.

"You sound impressed." George, or was it Fred? said as he broke the hug and glanced at the other blond.

"I have to admit I am. This is a viable business, and you already have a strong client base from your days at Hogwarts." Draco admitted. He was, after all, his Father's son and he could see how potentially successful this place could be.

"That's a high praise coming from a Malfoy." one of the red heads said with a smirk.

"Hey," Orion cried playfully, "I'm a Malfoy now too, George."

"That you are," George said with a smirk, "but I've known you for years and you have never had a head for business. That gift must have skipped you," he teased playfully.

"Invested in this place, didn't I?" Orion shot back with a grin.

"You had no idea what you were investing in. If you can even call it an investment." Fred joined in the banter.

"Invested?" Draco asked curiously.

"I gave the twins the tri-wizard winnings." Orion explained, "I didn't want them and I knew that this is what they would do with them."

"Ah. So you're a silent investor then?" Draco asked.

"No." Orion said just as the twins answered 'yes'. Raising an eyebrow, Draco looked over the three curiously.

"No?" He asked Orion.

"No. I gave them the money, I don't expect anything from it." his little brother explained, his cheeks tinged pink.

"He's an investor." Fred said softly, "He might not like it, but he's listed as one and he'll get a share of the profits in his Gringotts account each month."

"Good." Draco pinned Orion with a glare, "You never know when you'll need extra money Orion. You can use the money you make from this and invest in other things if you want or save it up and use it to buy a house or something." He added. "Dad'll go over it all with you, he'll be proud." He said with the trademark Malfoy smirk.

After a few more minutes of chatter, Draco and Orion had to leave to meet with their friends but they promised to return soon.

"Come for the opening in one week." George called as they left.

"We will." Orion responded with a grin, he wouldn't miss it for the world. Besides he knew Sirius and Remus would want to come as well. He wasn't sure if Lucius or Narcissa would be interested however.

-Blood-

"He hasn't dealt with this at all. He's just avoided me." Tom said as he sipped his fire whiskey and stared into the empty fire grate. It was summer and far too nice to actually have a fire, the action was just habit. Lucius sighed and sipped his wine as he regarded his friend.

"I know," He stated, "I don't know what to do." The blond man admitted. "He'll come around though, everyone says that Orion has a remarkable capacity for forgiveness. He always has." Lucius said, pinching the bridge of his nose as if to stave of a headache.

"I hope so. I always knew this could happen," Tom admitted, "It's just we'd been getting along so well, he was trusting me and I relaxed my guard." Both men lapsed into a comfortable if slightly sad silence.

"Have you two been in here drinking all day?" Narcissa's strident voice sounded from behind the two men.

"What a marvelous example you're setting for our children, Lucius! Not even evening and you're already drunk!" she said, her blonde eyebrow raised in a fantastic imitation of the man.

"And you!" She turned her attention to the Dark Lord, smirking slightly as he cringed. "If you want to gain back our son's trust and affection, wallowing and drinking is not the way to do it." Turning with a huff, she left the room but not before using a summoning charm on the wine. She might be bold but she wasn't bold enough to take the Dark Lord's current drink of choice.

"Narcissa!" Lucius' plaintive call followed his wife from the room.

"She does have a point." the blond man finally conceded, but not before summoning an elf to bring him more wine. He swirled the glass, contemplating the liquid for a moment. "Sitting here drinking is not going to fix the situation between you and Orion. You need to talk to him, be honest with him."

"I know." Tom said, tossing his drink back and setting the tumbler down on the table. "I'm going to go find Sirius and Remus. Maybe Sirius can offer some advice."

"Ask Remus as well, he's quite the clever man and he's had to talk about his own issue with others before." Tom nodded his agreement and left the room, heading straight for the large, main fireplace which allowed him access to Marauders Manor.

"Are you still drinking?" Narcissa had reappeared behind Lucius startling the man and causing him to spit out a mouthful of the red liquid. "Really Lucius you may have a problem."

"Damn it! Narcissa, I work hard and I will allow myself to have a glass of wine when I so desire." he said, though with red stained lips and a bit of spittle he wasn't nearly as intimidating as he had hoped. Laughing his wife left the room, though not before once again summoning his wine. She spent a lot of time home, alone, and she did need some way to amuse herself.

"Black insanity…" Lucius muttered to himself, leaving the small mess for a house elf to deal with while he went to freshen up.

-Blood-

"How did you manage to get paint in the library, Sirius?" Remus demanded as he and one of the house elves tried to get rid of the stains.

"Huh?" was the unintelligent response as Sirius wandered in nibbling on muggle crisps.

"No!" Remus shouted, hand shooting out to stop Sirius. "You've already gotten paint everywhere, I don't think I can handle the crumbs. Get out!"

"Bloody hell Remus." Sirius darted out of the library leaving a fine line of crumbs as he went. "You're insane!" He yelled back into the room, ducking as a curse came flying out at him.

"If I am it's because of you!" the enraged werewolf yelled before he sent another curse at the laughing animagus.

"Alright! Alright!" Sirius cried, "I'll leave your precious library alone. Sheesh Moony you need to lighten up."

Shaking his head Sirius headed down the hallway towards the kitchen, though he did pause and poke his head into Orion's room. Grinning at the sight, he continued on his way, a small skip in his step.

Just as he entered the kitchen, the large fire place flared to life and Tom stepped out of the green flames.

"Hello love." Sirius greeted brightly, his grey eyes twinkling as he took in the sight of his lover.

"Hello." Tom responded as he pulled Sirius flush against him and kissed the man gently. Sirius practically melted against Tom, his nearly empty crisps bag falling to the floor as he was caught up in the kiss.

As the pair broke apart, Tom noted, with no small amount of smugness, that Sirius was panting slightly.

"What're you doing here?" Sirius asked, still slightly breathless.

"I just wanted to come visit you." Tom responded softly.

"Uh huh," Sirius arched an eyebrow, "And the other reason?" he asked, though his tone was still playful.

"I may need some help with Orion…" Tom admitted softly as he began to make himself a cup of tea. It never ceased to amuse Sirius how domestic Tom could be. Not that anyone knew that of course, but as the Dark Lord's lover he was privy to a lot of things.

"Oh?" Sirius asked curiously as he picked up the bag of crisps ignoring the small pile of crumbs he left as he went to join Tom. "Help how?"

"Well you know what happened."

"With the whole 'Lord Voldemort' thing?" Sirius asked for clarification sake.

"Yes. Well since then, Orion has been completely avoiding me. He hasn't spoken to me or even stood in the same room as me since then," Tom said with a soft sigh. "He won't even look at me Sirius. I've been trying to speak to him but he won't even acknowledge me."

"Ah," the dog animagus said, "You know he needs time Tom, time to process what he saw and to reconcile the image he has of you with the one he has of Voldemort. He'll come around."

"That's what everyone keeps saying." Tom said, knuckles white as he gripped his mug tightly. "But I've never been patient Sirius. He's my nephew, my godson, just like he is yours, and it's killing me that he won't talk to me. That he may be scared of me."

"I know," Sirius said softly, "I'll speak to him, maybe we can figure something out. You have to be upfront with him though Tom, we all do. He's a lot tougher then we give him credit for. He won't appreciate being coddled."

Tom nodded in understanding as he sipped his tea, his mind racing as he tried to think of how he would speak to Orion, how he would explain.

"Will you help me?" he asked Sirius curiously.

"Of course I will." Sirius said, "But the boys are in Diagon Alley right now so there's no point in worrying about this at that moment."

"Will they be okay in Diagon Alley alone?" Tom asked, head rearing up slightly. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of his boys, because yes they were also his, wandering Diagon alone.

"I'm sure they will be. Besides we all know how protective Draco is of Orion and I'm sure it goes both ways. Besides they're meeting up with their friends and even I wouldn't be deranged enough to cross a group of fifth, soon to be sixth year Slytherins." Sirius said with a chuckle.

"That would be smart love, never underestimate a Slytherin." Tom said with a smirk.

"I'm learning that." Sirius said as he made himself a cup of tea with Tom's left over water. The two sat in comfortable silence until it was broken by an angry sounding Remus who was standing in the kitchen looking at the mess Sirius had made.

"Problem Moony?" Sirius asked curiously, completely unaware of why his friend was upset.

"Argh!" The annoyed werewolf tossed his hands in the air and stomped out of the room muttering under his breath about idiots, dogs, and messes.

-Blood-

"You're ridiculous!" Orion grumbled in Draco's general direction as he flopped, bonelessly, into a chair. He and Draco had retuned from their day in Diagon Alley and Orion was completely exhausted. He hadn't realized that a day of hanging out with friends meant a day of shopping in Draco's mind. He had spent his day with Pansy, Draco, Blaise, and Theo going from shop to shop watching the Slytherins burn through Galleons as if they grew on trees. Theo hadn't been as interested as the others. He and Orion had spent most of the day teasing Draco and the others, giving them a hard time. Of course Orion had still spent most of the day carrying things for his brother and being forced to try on endless outfits.

"You're dramatic," Draco responded with a grin, "And I didn't hear you complaining when we were in the Quidditch store."

"That was the first stop we made Draco! I didn't start complaining until the fourth store when I realized it would be an all day event. No one needs that much stuff!" Orion responded with a huff, arms crossed across his chest.

"Malfoys do." An amused voice sounded from behind the boys. Turning, a grin grew on Draco's face as he saw Severus standing there, his trademark smirk in place.

"Not all Malfoys." Orion muttered stubbornly.

"Uncle Sev!" Draco jumped up and embraced the man before suddenly dropping his arms and flushing slightly.

"Getting too old to hug your godfather Draco?" Severus teased as he ruffled Orion's hair playfully, he didn't dare do that with Draco but Orion wasn't nearly as fanatical about his hair as his older brother was.

"Hello Uncle Sev." Orion greeted, smiling slightly at the man. "What brings you here? We weren't told you were coming." He added. Usually Narcissa and Lucius let them know if someone was coming to visit.

"It's a sort of spur of the moment thing. I'm going on an expedition next week to collect some more rare potions ingredients and I wanted to see you two, and your parents, before I left." The dour man explained.

"Ah." Draco said before calling a house elf and asking it where his parents were.

"They're outside, in the garden, should we go see them?" Draco asked the others.

"I suppose." Orion said with a grumbled as he hauled himself out of his comfortable chair. Severus just laughed and the three made their way outside to the Malfoy parents.

-Blood-

Orion sniffled softly and rubbed at his eyes. His cheeks were damp from his tears and his heart was thudding in his chest from his nightmare. During the day he could deal with everything, could put on a happy face and deal, but at night, when he was alone, the nightmares came.

It was always the same thing, first it started out in his cupboard, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, then blood and beatings, then Vernon would be replaced by Voldemort, his red eyes and cruel laugh. grave stones decorating the landscape. It terrified the boy, he hated seeing those things and often he would wake up with a silent scream on his lips. Years of living with the Dursleys had taught him that noise was dangerous.

A soft hand on his shoulder startled him and he whirled around a soft yelp escaping him as he saw his Uncle Tom standing there.

"W-what are you doing in here?" Orion finally managed to gasp, his heart still thudding in his chest.

"I-" Tom cut off, a soft sigh escaping him. "I didn't mean to scare you." he said softly. "You remember how a few weeks ago you told me that you could feel my emotions? When I was happy or angry?"

"Yea" Orion whispered, hands twisting in his sheets. He remembered that day, it was half the reason he was having nightmares.

"Well after you told me that, I began to look into it a bit more and realized that I can also feel your emotions, like when you're sad or scared. Tonight I felt that you were scared and I was compelled to come check on you." Tom admitted. "I know we haven't been close lately Orion but I still care for you. Still love you. At least as much as I am capable of loving."

"Well why didn't you think of that when you were doing that stuff? In that room? When you were behaving like him?" Orion demanded, anger now coming to the forefront as his fear subsided.

"I-I'm so sorry Orion." Tom said, the boy was right, he had screwed up. "I shouldn't have allowed that to happen here. Not with you. I never wanted you to see that again Orion. Not after the Graveyard." Orion was shocked to see how sad his Uncle was, how broken the man looked. This was the Dark Lord! He wasn't supposed to look that way!

"I think maybe I needed to see it." Orion admitted softly. "It was so easy to pretend you were just Uncle Tom, that Lord Voldemort was just someone else, something I didn't have to deal with." Orion said softly. Tom sighed and looked down at the young boy in the bed, he looked so vulnerable yet he was so strong. Sirius had been right, Orion was a lot stronger then most gave him credit for.

"I am sorry Orion. For everything I've ever done to you. I can't promise that Lord Voldemort won't be here. I still need that disguise, that ruse, but I can promise that you will never be subject to him again."

Orion looked at his Uncle evenly for a moment before he nodded his head.

"I don't know what to do," the young teen confessed, "I can't just forget everything that happened. Nor do I want to give up the relationship I have with you as my Uncle Tom."

"I don't want to lose that relationship with you either Orion. I suppose we will just have to take this one day at a time." The man said rubbing the back of his head in a very human gesture.

"Don't hide things from me anymore. That's what scared me the most." Orion admitted. It had taken him by surprise to see Voldemort, to see Tom as Voldemort. Everyone had done so much to shelter him from everything that they weren't letting him move forward.

"I won't." Tom promised. "Are you going to be okay to go back to sleep?" Tom asked suddenly remembering the whole reason he had even come into the room.

"I guess…" Orion said though he highly doubted he'd go back to sleep, not with the nightmare fresh in his mind. Tom regarded his youngest nephew for a moment before smiling.

"Come with me, let's go have some hot chocolate and then you can try going back to sleep" Tom said as he rose, slightly stiff, and waited patiently for Orion to scramble from his bed.

"Hot chocolate?" The raised eyebrow reminded Tom sharply of Lucius and he found himself quite amused. He couldn't wait to show that little memory to his friend.

"I find sometimes it helps me sleep, helps sooth me." Tom admitted.

"You sound like Uncle Moony," Orion said with a small yawn, "He thinks chocolate cures everything"

Tom chuckled, spending as much time with Remus as he had been he knew that the man did like his chocolate. Once in the kitchen, Tom had an elf each make them a mug of the rich brew and the pair settled down, only the sound of slurping breaking the silence.

After a little while Tom realized that Orion had grown more and more tired as he tried to keep himself awake. After a moment's hesitation, the Dark Lord carefully scooped his still to-light nephew into his arms. A bit of stiffening indicated Orion's discomfort but soon the young teen was asleep and Tom was tucking him back into bed. As the Dark Lord left the room, leaving the door cracked open slightly as he trekked back down the hall to his own room where Sirius was sprawled out deliciously on the bed. He grinned, a feral sort of smile covering his features. He knew that he and Orion still had a long way to go but now he knew things would get better and Tom was nothing if not patient.

-Blood-

Orion woke slowly, he had slept far better then he had expected after Tom had put him to bed. A light flush filled his cheeks as he thought about that, it was rather embarrassing to the soon-to-be fifteen year old that his Uncle had carried him to bed and tucked him in, but he couldn't deny that he had slept well. Yawning, he stumbled out of his bed and wandered into the washroom that he shared with Draco. His brother was not a morning person, so Orion was able to take his time showering and getting ready for the day. Once he was clean and feeling a bit more together, he wandered off to join his parents for breakfast.

Rounding the corner to the terrace, Orion was pleasantly surprised to see Remus and Severus already seated with his parents.

"Morning." Remus greeted, shifting his chair slightly so Orion could join them. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yea, I did." Orion responded with a grin as he helped himself to a scone, his mother preparing some tea for him. He grinned shyly at that, it still surprised him to see that Narcissa knew his favourite tea and how to prepare it.

"Good. Sirius and I were wondering if you wanted to finish your room today? Then we can show everyone later tonight." Remus asked curiously.

"Sure, if we don't have plans?" The second part of the statement was directed at his parents.

"No, no we haven't planned anything. Besides I think we're all curious to see what you and Sirius have created." Lucius said with a small smile.

A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter =]
I know some of you are going to think Orion forgave Tom way to fast, believe me, he didn't. He was sleepy and sort of out of it and let things go. However, he is the 'son' of a Marauder, and godson of another, plus he also has Remus and the twins. So trust me, Tom will not get off easily!

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