Beta: JGNelson (friend)
Original release date: 1/1/2019
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other canon universe, in addition to any references to things in the real world that currently exist. AU.
Author note: I apparently forgot to mention that the heavy object that hit Harry (in chapter 68) was the dragon's tail throwing him into the stadium wall. My mistake.
Chapter Sixty Nine – Encroaching Darkness, Abandonment, Rejoice
"And now it's time for the fourth and final Triwizard Tournament task!" announces Ludo Bagman excitedly, voice reverberating throughout the arena.
Waiting for the students and staff to quiet down, Ludo continues, "Each of the four champions will proceed into the maze one at a time in five minute increments and will face a variety of daunting tasks until someone reaches the Triwizard Tournament Cup and be declared the winner. Each champion will be armed only with their wands and no swords, Mr. Potter. If you become unable to continue and need to withdraw, you can send up red sparks in which someone will come assist you. Or, you can use your PRT to be returned to the arena seating, but that means instant disqualification from the task. The order of which champions will be released into the maze will be determined by their point standings and the first to go is Mr. Harry Potter with one hundred and thirty points! The second to start is Mr. Viktor Krum with one hundred and twenty two points, followed by Miss Fleur Delacour with one hundred and ten points, and finally Mr. Draco Malfoy with one hundred and eight points."
Waiting as the crowd quiets down again, Ludo announces, "And using Marauders Emporium equipment, we will have BOTH aerial and ground view cameras maintained remotely by their experienced camera crew made up of Messrs Fred and George Weasley, and their sister Ginny Weasley *camera cuts to the control room to quickly show all three individuals*. All across the arena are enormous Omni Vision screens showing a variety of camera views for everyone's enjoyment. Before we start, we have invited and brought the families of every champion here to watch from a front row view to see their child compete *Omni Vision views show a panoramic view of the parents and guardians of the four champions, Lucius missing*. Now, let's begin the task!"
Hearing the cannon boom as it fires, Harry jogs into the maze where the hedge behind him seals, cutting off the sound of cheers, leaving just quiet. "I didn't figure I'd be allowed to bring my cloak with my sword just like I wasn't able to in previous tasks, but thanks for reminding me that I can still do a bit of fist fighting if I lose my wand."
Jogging deeper into the maze, Harry stops at a four way intersection and lays his wand flat on his right hand and mutters, "Point Me" watching as it spins right round like a record and then comes to a complete stop pointing directly ahead of him.
"If my sense of direction is decent, I think I started a far bit eastward, and need to head towards the middle of the maze, so if directly ahead is north by this spell Hermione taught me, then I should take the left path to go towards the center. But…what if it is a dead end? Oh well, I'll worry about it later" remarks Harry to himself before taking the left pathway.
Turning a corner, Harry hears a vicious screech and throws out his arms to help stop him as a wave of acid flies by, a few ounces splashing onto his shirt melting away the fabric. "Not that way!" exclaims Harry before back tracking and running down a different pathway. Several pathways later, Harry stops and pants as the effort finally catches up to him. "I don't know exactly what that was, but I DEFINITELY don't want to try to face it again. Spitting acid is definitely something I won't be able to withstand it for long."
Following the only pathway available, Harry jogs deeper into the maze.
"Tch, Potter got a head start, and now I've got to catch up and surpass him" Draco states looking around the hedges surrounding him. Following down the path and then taking a left fork, Draco arrives at a dead end, grumbles, and then back tracks.
Running through the maze, Draco runs into another dead end and growls uncharacteristically before shouting, "REDUCTO!" repeatedly at the offending hedge which briefly shows a pathway before regenerating itself, closing off the pathway. Glaring at the offending hedge, Draco snarls quietly to himself before changing directions and moving down a different pathway.
As Harry jogs down a pathway, a semi-translucent wall blocks his path, causing him to come to a complete stop. "Reducto!" shouts Harry pointing his wand at the wall. Seeing the spell go right through the wall, Harry slowly reaches out with his left hand to touch the wall and gets stopped. "So spells go right through the wall without any issue, but physical things such as my hand will not make it" muses Harry to himself barely audible.
"To cross this threshold, you must solve a riddle. Both forwards and backwards I am the same, what am I?" comes a deep voice out of thin air.
"Both forwards and backwards I am the same…can I get an example?" inquiries Harry aloud.
"Eight four zero four eight" states the deep voice before saying nothing more.
Pausing, Harry makes the numbers using his wand in the air before chiming, "A palindrome is what you are."
Wordlessly the wall disappears allowing access going forward which Harry gladly takes before eventually taking a right fork. Hearing a blood-curling distant scream, Harry pauses mid jog and stares off roughly towards where the Blast-ended skrewt had been. "I hope they're alright" mutters Harry before continuing forward.
Making his way deeper into the maze Harry slows down as a fog drifts aimlessly, growing ever stronger. Slowing down to a slow walk, Harry pauses before saying, "If I knew of a spell to blow this fog away, I'd use it. Shame I didn't think of learning one simple spell. Listening intently, Harry feels a tingling sensation go from the top of his spine downwards. Pivoting on his feet, Harry holds his wand out in a fighting stance, wary of any attacks. "I have a feeling that-PROTEGO!" shouts Harry as a spell bounces off of his shield.
Unable to see anything, Harry closes his eyes and listens for any trace of whomever attacked him. As the seconds tick by, Harry pivots to his left and throws up a shield before firing back with, "Expelliarmus!"
"I…I must kill you, Harry Potter" comes a strained male voice out of the fog.
Brows furrowing while still keeping his eyes closed, Harry listens for any more spells while racking his mind for whom might be casting the spells.
"Krum, is that you?" calls out Harry coming to a stop. Hearing nothing but silence, Harry shouts while spinning on a single foot, "Stupefy!"
"Uhf" comes a male voice from a few meters away.
Conjuring ropes, Harry darts forward to apprehend the attacker. Arriving over the prone Viktor Krum clutching his chest, Harry quickly takes Krum's wand and binds both his hands and feet. "Krum, what's going on?" inquiries Harry keeping a few feet back as to keep any wands out of Krum's bound arms reach.
"I must kill Harry Potter…" comes a rasped voice from Krum, eyes milky white.
Face contorting into a snarl, Harry mutters, "He's been put under the Imperius Spell, but whom would do such a thing? Either Draco or Fleur, and my guess is Draco but that is still unlikely."
Turning back to Krum still quietly growling, Harry says wistfully, "I'm sorry, but I can't have you running around trying to hurt anyone" before pressing the smooth metal band on Krum's left wrist with his name on it for a few seconds causing Krum to disappear from in front of Harry.
"What is this? Viktor Krum has been returned to the arena seating, and he is bound by rope? So now we're down to three champions, Harry Potter, Fleur Delacour, and Draco Malfoy!" announces Ludo enthusiastically.
/*in the makeshift Hospital Wing in the arena stadium*/
*Gasp* "This student has been put under the Imperius Curse!" exclaims Madam Pomfrey before dispatching a folded pieces of parchment towards the arena. A few minutes later Amelia and Sirius appear in the room. "Madam Pomfrey, you say that Mr. Viktor Krum is under the Imperius Curse?" inquiries Amelia waddling over to Viktor, taking a few pictures of the milkiness of his eyes with her WorkFlow before putting it back in a robe pocket.
"Director Black, what were you doing?" inquiries Madam Pomfrey somewhat suspiciously.
"Documenting Mr. Krum's eyes as proof that he is under the Imperius Curse, before we release it. Don't worry, the pictures are stored on a DMLE controlled server and no physical copies will be made unless needed for a case. This is troubling, but tending to the students is paramount" Amelia states with a serious tone.
"I will have Sirius take a look through all available video footage to see if we can find the culprit before the end of the tournament. Now, if you don't need anything more, I shall visit the bathroom before returning to watch Harry in the fourth task" states Amelia before exiting the room.
Seconds after the door closes, Madam Pomfrey says quietly, "She's due any day now, isn't she?"
Nodding his head, Sirius speaks, "Yes she is. I've told her that she needs to let Kingsley handle things, but she refused to miss Harry perform in the fourth task. I married her for her brains and for her personality, and her being stubborn is part of that. It's very endearing honestly. Can't wait to see what our child is like, haha!"
"I look forward to seeing your child in a little over a decade then" Madam Pomfrey remarks exasperatedly.
"Well, I need to go find out our culprit so we can apprehend them" states Sirius before exiting the room as well.
A few minutes later, Sirius unlocks the control room, walks in, and locks the door behind him. "You all continue to do what you all have been doing, I've got to review all of our footage for outside interference with Viktor Krum."
Brows furrowing, Ginny remarks, "Outside interference?"
"Spell casting on him before or during the task" replies Sirius intentionally ambiguous.
"Perhaps we can use the cameras at ground level to watch for any interference. Anything in particular that we are looking for?" inquiries Ginny curiously.
Pausing to think, Sirius remarks, "I'd like to check for anyone getting close to them, and their eyes or stance suddenly changing as if being affected by a spell."
"Are we starting from the start of the task or somewhere in the middle?" inquiries Ginny pulling up video footage of Viktor Krum.
"Let's begin before any of them entered into the maze" states Sirius turning to one of the dozen Omni Plays showing real time video footage in a 2x2 grid and searching for video feeds.
Several minutes later, Ginny speaks up, "I found where Viktor starts."
Getting up from his chair and looking over Ginny's shoulder, Sirius says, "Play the video."
Starting the replay, Sirius barks, "Stop!" as the camera zooms in on Viktor's face, eyes clearly not milky. "Here, let's do this" remarks Sirius intently taking control of the Omni Play, fingers flying across the screen.
"Sir, what are you doing?" inquiries Fred turning around briefly from his two displays.
"I'm copying the video footage that Ginny has found to a new location, so it's simply just what we're looking for but separated so only what we need is being captured in the new file. This allows us to provide only the video that we'd need for any form of investigation so the DMLE does not have to watch through several streams to try to find something, although they are welcome in this case, if they so choose."
A minute or so later, Sirius steps away from the Omni Play and says, "Good work, Ginny. Please continue helping me find more proof of whom has attacked Mr. Krum", before returning to his Omni Play.
Somewhere deep in the maze, Harry pauses as he performs the Four-Point spell once more, noting the pathway heading directly west from his position. "Other than the beginning, I haven't run into any obstacles. Either I'm lucky enough to miss most of the obstacles or I'm about to reach something terrifying" Harry remarks to himself quietly before spotting a golden four sided rectangle floating in the air with circles on each side panel.
"And of course one of the ground based cameras is here. Good thing that they don't have a way to listen in to my mutterings" adds Harry before pressing on.
"No microphone, eh? Yeah, well you're wrong son" remarks Sirius with a smirk before continuing with searching old footage covering the external walls of the maze with a handful of professors walking around the outside of the maze.
Jogging through maze with a low hanging fog, Harry misses the glint of gold and his world suddenly turns upside down. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breathes, Harry slowly moves his right leg away from the ground that been turned into the ceiling which he currently hangs from, and suddenly the world rights itself. Taking a few more steps away from the epicenter, Harry closes his eyes and takes a few more deep breathes to calm his stomach once more. "That was unnerving, despite having being upside down on a broom before. I suppose just not expecting it vs expecting it is the difference" states Harry a bit nauseas, before continuing forward.
Several minutes later, Harry turns a corner and in the distances sees a glint of gold. "I hope that this isn't another spell to make the world topsy-turvy" remarks Harry with a bit of a groan before continuing forward.
Nearing the golden object, it snaps into clear view as if no longer being viewed through an out of focus pair of binoculars, "The cup" remarks Harry quietly.
Jogging towards the cup, Harry hears a chilling set of words call out, "POTTER, STOP!"
Looking behind him, Harry's stomach drops as the sight of Draco, robes torn from his right shoulder to his left hip, melted steel plate barely protecting Draco with two puncture holes in the lower abdomen of the plate.
"Potter, I WILL—huff huff—get the cup—huff huff—" states Draco starting to wheeze, leaning on a nearby hedge.
"But I'm closer, and you look like you need some medical attention" retorts Harry.
Gritting his teeth together, Draco answers, "I refuse to lose to you, Potter."
"Let's take the cup together" suggests Harry support Draco with his left arm and shoulder.
Pausing to think, Draco grumbles Draco as they both take hold of the Triwizard Tournament cup together, "Fine then. I suppose it could be worse."
Feeling a pull right behind their navel, the two champions get transported and land on their stomachs, the cup a distance away. Groaning, Harry unsteadily gets to his feet, wand out before helping Draco to his feet. "Where are we?" inquiries Draco, still leaning on Harry's left shoulder.
"I'm not certain, but I don't have a good feeling about anything here" answers Harry quietly as both he and Draco look around the headstones surrounding them in the obvious graveyard.
"Perhaps it's a final test after getting the cup?" Draco offers grasping at straws.
Shaking his head gently, Harry replies, "I don't feel so. Otherwise I believe that we'd be in the maze still. I think that the cup is a portkey or something. We should get back—" before a red light hits Harry in the back and he freezes.
Feeling rough hands on his arms, Harry feels himself get dragged to a roughly hewn piece of stone and bound to it, still unable to move.
/*back at Hogwarts*/
"Where are they?" murmurs Remus to himself as the Omni Vision screens had shown both Harry and Draco grabbing the cup before disappearing
"I'm not certain, but we'll soon find out" mutters Sirius pushing a few buttons on a screen, before the view on all screens shift from the maze to a view of the graveyard from Harry's chest.
/*back in the graveyard*/
Breathing heavy through his mouth that was left ungagged, Harry watches as a hooded figure labors heavily to move an enormous human sized stone cauldron to a meter or so away from Harry, some liquid sloshing around before stopping. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Harry spots Draco prone on the ground hiding behind a tombstone, eyes wide with fear.
Either unaware of Draco or simply not caring, the hooded figure tends to the bottom of the cauldron, setting up kindling underneath before setting it alight. Watching the liquid quickly heat up and bubble, Harry continues to watch as fiery red sparks jump from the surface all around, lighting up the surrounding area.
"It is time…" comes a quiet hissing voice from a pile of robes on the ground near the cauldron.
Feeling ice grow in the pit of his stomach, Harry shakes his head as the hooded figure drops the contents of the robes into the cauldron, hearing a soft and quiet thud as something solid hits the bottom.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" (1) states the hooded figure, chanting into the air.
Beneath his feet, Harry watches as the ground splits and a thin trail of white powder flows from the ground and into the cauldron, turning the water a dark blue. Pausing, the hooded figure trembles before withdrawing a long and silvery dagger from a robe pocket before chanting obviously unnerved, "Flesh – of the servant – w-willingly given – you will – revive – your master" (2) before quickly swinging the dagger upwards, severing the hand at the wrist with the hand falling into the cauldron.
Hearing the soul splitting scream, Harry closes his eyes, grits his teeth, and forces the nausea back down. Far away in the stadium arena seating amongst those watching their Omni Play or Omni Vision, many retch at the sight of blood streaming down from wrist. Freezing at the stream, the blood drains from Sirius's face before he whispers, "If that is what I think it is…we're all in trouble."
Before he knew it, Harry stares into the wild eyes of "Peter Pettigrew?!"
"B-blood of the enemy…forcibly taken…you will…resurrect your foe" (3) continues Peter as he wields the knife with one hand and draws blood from the forearm of Harry and catches it in a glass vial. Pouring the blood into the cauldron, Wormtail drops to his knees and begins to quietly cradle his stump of an arm as the cauldron begins to change colors, growing quickly in intensity before dimming almost as quickly. Seconds tick by as thick white steam billows out, obscuring Harry's vision.
In the control room, Sirius slams his right fist on a table, blood dripping slowly onto the table. Snarling quietly, Sirius quickly mends his hand before cleaning up the blood and growls, "Be prepared for something heinous to come out of the cauldron."
As the steam clears, a tall and skeletal man stands in front of him, eyes of deep scarlet, and nose mimicking the best of snakes. "Robe me now" demands the cold and higher pitched male voice.
"Voldemort" snarls Harry straining at his restraints.
"CRUCIO!" shouts the newly minted leader of the Death Eaters.
Shrieking in pain, Harry pants as the curse is lifted. "Young Harry Potter, I am LORD Voldemort, surely you would learned some form of etiquette by now? Or has surviving these last thirteen years made you complacent?"
"Forgive me, LORD Voldemort. Complacent I have not become, as I would be willing to show you" growls Harry.
Robes sweeping out behind him, Voldemort moves to the huddled up position, lifts the sleeve of Wormtail's left arm, and presses a spidery finger to something, causing Wormtail to scream out in agony once more.
"I fully intend on seeing what you have been doing these past thirteen years, shortly" remarks Voldemort looking down at the huddled mass sitting at his feet.
"Master…please…my hand" moans Peter.
Gracefully withdrawing his wand, Voldemort lazily waves it in the air, a trail of molten silver flowing freely from the tip of the wand before forming a fist that then floats and connects with Peter's wrist.
"Oh master, it is so beautiful. T-thank you" coos Peter getting up from his position on the ground, admiring the silvery hand as he clenches and unclenches it.
Seconds later several white hooded figures arrive in a circle around Voldemort, gaps apparent between the congregation. Walking over to a masked Death Eater, Voldemort places his hand in front of the mask and lifts his hand, the mask disappearing. "Lucius, how good it is to see you after all this time. Despite you not even attempting to search me out these last thirteen years" speaks Voldemort dangerously.
Falling to his knees, Lucius speaks apologetically, "My lord, if I had even an inkling of a sign, I'd have come instantly."
"And yet my most faithful of servants sought me out and to this day has been assisting myself and helped procure Harry Potter" remarks Voldemort admonishing Lucius.
Walking in the circle, Voldemort stops at a masked individual before a cracking sound causes everyone to stop and look around.
"Lucius…is that not your son over there?" drawls Voldemort looking past Harry to Draco crawling on the ground between headstones towards the portkey just a few feet away.
Looking to where Voldemort points, Lucius narrows his eyes before answering firmly, "I have no son, only a wife."
Sitting in the arena stands, large viewing screens posted around the edges, Narcissa Malfoy goes rigid and cold as the face of her husband in full Death Eater attire surrounding Voldemort says the chilling words declaring Draco as no longer member of the family. Feeling numb, Narcissa sits quietly before a masculine voice whispers in her right ear, "Narcissa, you more than likely will no longer be safe at your home. I'm here for you and Draco."
Turning to the source of the voice, Narcissa replies with tears silently running down her face, "Thank you…cousin. I may need a place to stay, well guarded from Lucius. And…and-"
"Don't worry about it, let's watch over our children and when they come back, we'll welcome them and then take care of things. How about that?" replies Sirius in a caring tone of voice.
"Do it!" shouts Harry still restrained as Draco lunges forward towards the cup and disappears as several red flashes of light arrive a second too late.
Arriving back at Hogwarts, Draco puffs as he is helped up and disappears into the stadium with Madam Pomfrey by his side, mother runs to catch up. The rest of the crowd watch quietly as the camera picks up both video and audio from Harry's view.
Turning around to face Harry with anger in his eyes, Voldemort vanishes the ropes holding Harry hostage before stating firmly, "We duel now, Mr. Potter."
Gathering his wand from the ground where it had fallen, Harry looks back at Voldemort who then instructs firmly, "We mustn't forget the proper dueling etiquette, Harry. What is next?"
"We bow to each other" answers Harry clearly, still eyeing Voldemort with apprehension.
"Correct, now let us bow to each other" says Voldemort dangerously.
Going against the feeling of warning in his gut, Harry bows while looking up as much as he can towards Voldemort.
"Good, good. Now we begin" instructs Voldemort before starting off with the killing curse.
Trading a stupefy for the killing curse, Harry switches to attempting disarming as the killing curses keep coming one after another. Green and red flashes of light erupting from the duelers, Harry glances around as the Death Eaters converge and create a loose circle around Voldemort and Harry.
At Hogwarts, the crowd waits on baited breath as the duel continues without a clear victor in sight. "This…this is intense" Amelia murmurs, clenching both of her fists that rest on her lap.
As the spells continue flying, one goes stray, striking a large tombstone explodes reducing visibility, Harry ducks behind a tombstone before shouting, "Go suck a lemon Volde" before activating his PRT.
Peppering the area with killing spells and finding no sign of Harry dead or alive, Voldemort howls in fury being thwarted once more in his goal of killing Harry. Arriving in the arena stadium seating, Harry dusts himself off as students stand up and look at him.
"Harry, good job dueling with Voldemort" comes Lee's voice from the speakers as Daphne makes it to Harry enveloping him in a hug.
Brows furrowing, Harry asks confused, "How did you all know about it?"
"It is your necklace that I gave you, Sirius and Remus thought something might happen to kill you and provided me with the necklace to give to you so we all saw the graveyard that you and Draco were sent to, the duel, the resurrection of Voldemort" states Daphne honestly.
Pulling Daphne closer, Harry says, "Well I thank you and my family for such foresight. It makes it easier to explain that Voldemort is back."
"Harry, I will need you to come with me to provide a statement for the DMLE" states Amelia as she, Sirius, and Remus appear.
"I'll cooperate as long as Daphne comes too" states Harry firmly.
"That was never a problem, but come with me then" states Amelia, face revealing nothing.
Walking into the stadium walk area away from the arena and along the pathways for students to enter, exit, and for teams to access their locker rooms, Amelia leads the procession to a door and leads them inside. Seeing Dumbledore sitting down in a cushy armchair across from a intricately rope tied up Alastor Moody.
"Why is Professor Moody here and tied up?" inquiries Daphne taking a seat in a purple armchair conjured by Dumbledore.
"We shall see in time. Now, you faced Voldemort in a graveyard after touching the Triwizard Tournament cup, correct?" begins Amelia seriously.
"I like it when she gets so serious" quips Sirius to Remus with a smirk.
"You…don't go there" Remus whispers back giving Sirius a look before returning his attention to Amelia.
Snickering, Sirius also resumes paying attention to the proceeding.
"Correct" answers Harry.
"When you determined that you were unable to return to the portkey but Mr. Malfoy was, you decided that he should be given a chance to live and had him take the portkey, is that correct?"
"Correct."
"And the person who assisted Voldemort return to a physical form was Peter Pettigrew, the individual who betrayed your parents to Voldemort, you swear?" inquiries Amelia firmly.
"Yes it was, based on the photos that Sirius and Remus have shown me of their time at Hogwarts" answers Harry.
"When we recapture Pettigrew, he will stand for more charges for the resurrection of Voldemort" states Amelia firmly, closing the book in which she was taking notes.
"Now I think we haven't much longer until the potion wears off, isn't that right Headmaster?" remarks Amelia turning her attention to Dumbledore.
"Precisely. Although let me preface this with that the professor you had was not the professor that you thought you had" remarks Dumbledore.
"He was a polyjuiced individual, wasn't he?" remarks Harry flatly.
"An astute observation Mr. Potter" awards Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes.
"And the individual masquerading as Professor Moody is more than likely the Death Eater that Voldemort was bragging about being his most loyal follower, who more than likely charmed the cup to be a portkey, which also probably put the Imperius Curse on Viktor Krum" adds Harry lacking energy.
"We can confirm it shortly—" begins Amelia as Professor Moody morphs into a younger gentleman.
"And our proof has been confirmed, now I shall be taking our suspect in for questioning" states Amelia getting out of her chair as Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, and both Longbottoms enter into the room in official ministry attire before escorting them out.
"I suppose we should probably see to Narcissa and Draco" offers Sirius before taking lead out of the room.
Leaving the room, the four make their way to makeshift Hospital Wing and enter. Looking at Narcissa sitting quietly beside Draco as Madam Pomfrey finishes her work.
"Now Mr. Malfoy you need to take it easy for a day or two and you'll be fine" states Madam Pomfrey before returning to her makeshift desk deeper into the room.
"Narcissa, would you like to go see the flat that we can offer you?" asks Sirius curiously.
"I think so. Today has been…nothing less than an enormous shock" remarks Narcissa paler than usual, fanning herself.
Entering through the wards to the magical village created by The Marauders Emporium, Narcissa and Draco stop and gasp as four buildings, three of them two floors tall and a third with three floors come into view.
"Welcome to…Zenith, our wizarding village that we have constructed here. To be granted access, you must have an acceptable authentication device such as a PRT and be granted access with said device. Just holding a device that is registered to go through the wards will not grant you entry, so Death Eaters should be unable to locate and get in. In addition to that, each flat/housing unit has its own Fidelius Charm that has been tied in with other spells and tied to your PRT. So while you can see flats currently, once you sign an agreement form for living in one, the spells will activate and no longer will anyone that you do not divulge the secret to be able to see the flat" states Remus coming from behind the two Malfoys.
"So even Lucius won't be able to get in here?" asks Narcissa quietly.
"Correct, he won't be able to get to you or Draco here. You are safe now, but what about He-Who—" begins Narcissa.
"Narcissa, it'll be fine. Just take of you and Draco and worry not about those whom you will not be able to ever control" Sirius says trying to assuage Narcissa fears.
Eyes widening in realization, Narcissa uncharacteristically moans, "I don't have any money to take care of Draco, buy new robes, food, everything! What will I do…?"
Putting a hand on Narcissa's shoulder, Sirius says in a calming voice, "Narcissa, we are family. I will help you be able to take care of your family. We can grow food and bring food deliveries. I won't let you starve. We can employ you to help us with various things so you can purchase the necessities of life. You may not live a life of luxury like you did before, but we will help you live a life that you can live comfortably."
Exhaling and taking a few deep breaths, Narcissa puts a smile on her face before speaking, "Thank you, Sirius. I know we haven't been on good terms, but I do appreciate it."
"Think nothing of it. But we do have items that some purebloods think are beneath them, so you may have to overcome that if it bothers you. Do you have an Omni Connect?" inquiries Sirius as he, Remus, Amelia, and Narcissa take seats in the administrative building.
"I-I do not. Does it matter?" inquiries as Narcissa looks down at the piece of parchment passed to her.
"I will provide one for your personal keep so you can use your PRT to be transported instantly through the wards to your home. Be warned, if you set up for someone not approved through the wards to use your Omni Connect to transport to, they will get stopped outside of the village. This is a security precaution" states Sirius.
"What do you mean? I'm confused cousin."
"By setting your Omni Connect up and linking your PRT to it, you can use your PRT as a reusable portkey back to your flat from anywhere" simplifies Remus giving Sirius a look.
"Oh! That's useful. I thank you all so much. I think…that this whole change will be very hard on Draco. Losing his father, losing the wealth that marrying that…that…horrible individual brought. Infatuation can lead one to be misguided, and I was for so long. Think that purebloods are better, ha! I can't remember when much was so life changing before you two went into business together, creating such useful products. And to think you've built an entire village for people to live in with standard warding spells, access control, it's just…thrilling!" admits Narcissa with a smile on her face, mascara still running down her face.
"Do you need a few minutes to collect yourself or clean up your makeup before you rendezvous with Draco to determine what you two have and would need for your flat? Or are you ready to do this now?" inquiries Sirius.
Sniffling, Narcissa says, "A few minutes if you don't mind please."
"Certainly, we'll be outside whenever you're ready" remarks Sirius with a smile on his face.
A few minutes later Narcissa and heavily pregnant Amelia exit the admin building and make their way to where Remus, Sirius, Harry, Daphne, and Draco stand outside of diagonally across from the admin building.
"Are you ready?" inquiries Sirius quietly to Narcissa who nods before saying quietly, "Yes."
"Then you two may enter the building first" remarks Sirius, and Narcissa and Draco lead the way into their new flat.
Looking around the fairly spacious and empty common area, Narcissa does a double take before walking over to the granite countertops and running her hand over the cool and smooth surface. Eyes soaking everything in from the hardwood floors to the white colored walls to the black countertops. "T-this is the flat?" inquiries Narcissa confused.
"Yes, and this is just the first floor, there is still a storage area in the basement/underground, and a second floor where the bedrooms with attached bathrooms are located" remarks Sirius with a smile.
Staying silent, Draco leads the way to the second floor where the hall way leads to a dead end with two doors about a meter away from the stairwell.
"There are two bedrooms of equal size on either side of the hallway, you two can choose whichever one you want to live in and then we can see about decorating—" begins Sirius before a shrill shriek from Amelia followed by her saying, "I think it's time for me" before hurrying down the stairs.
Cleaning up the water on the floor, Remus remarks, "I think it's time for the baby, Sirius. Let's leave the Malfoy's to their new housing and to settle in before we work on decorations with them. Besides which, I don't think Amelia would take too kindly if you were not there when the baby is born."
Making their way out of the flat, Sirius, Remus, and Harry leave Draco and his mother standing in the hallway between the two doorways. "Draco…this might not be what you were expecting, but this is what we've got-" begins Narcissa before Draco interrupts, "This isn't ANYTHING that I wanted! Fame, fortune, and all I've got is whatever I've got at stinking Hogwarts!"
"DRACO! YOUR FATHER IS A DEATH EATER, AND HE HAS DECLARED THAT YOU ARE NOT ANY CHILD OF HIS! YOU WILL deal with what we've got or so help me. I haven't been much of a parental figure, but I WILL change that starting here and now! The Black family has provided us with a nice flat with the ability for me to work to save to help raise you! You WILL be grateful for what you have, as it is all that you've got left. No house elf, no father, just you and I" states Narcissa raising her voice.
"It's just not fair!"
"Life's not fair. But we'll get through it together you and I" says Narcissa before grabbing Draco in a hug.
Not used to hugs, Draco pats his mothers back a few times before the break apart. "Now, we should probably take stock in what we've got so we can gather all that we need when we go to Diagon Alley."
"Understood, mother" says Draco before heading into his room and closing the door behind him.
/*a little while later at St Mungoes*/
"Good job dear" states Sirius in support he looks down at the baby boy with black hair in his hands.
"Considering I did the work, thanks" replies Amelia with as much sarcasm as she can muster, holding a brunette baby girl.
"So what do you plan on calling them?" asks Remus curiously.
"Perhaps Regulus for the boy? Otherwise I have no love for my family. I'd also like to say giving him the name of James might be a bit much for Harry. Amelia, do you have any ideas?" admits Sirius.
"I'd like to call the girl, Gomeisa. Perhaps Orion for the boy, if we go based on the naming convention of your family with constellations" smirks Amelia wearily.
"That settles it then, Amelia has chosen!" exclaims Sirius with a smile on his face.
Author note: Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter finds you all well, this the beginning of 2019. Writing of this chapter began before chapters 67 and 68 had even been released, as I wanted to bring in 2019 on a massive chapter so I can start building my base of what happens next in the series. This is where my plans for Draco have culminated in. Originally before Draco became the fourth champion, I was going to have Cedric get hit by a rare dark curse that was going to result in him getting most of his limbs amputated and then have St. Mungoes use the medical textbooks provided by Sirius and Remus (from the muggle world) to help craft and spell work prosthetics for Cedric to be able to have some form of movement. Then teachergirl mentioned Draco as another champion for a change, and then I decided to have him get disowned instead of dying or getting limbs amputated. The palindrome example was the mileage of my car when I arrived at work one day. And to the milky eyes, I discovered after I wrote the section that it was the movie only form, which saddens me as it isn't part of the books. I suppose that is what makes it AU then. (1), (2), (3) direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The mastercore document (that holds the entire series including commentary) is at: drive{}google{}com/open?id=1s7i86eiOUCbDB1mXiaOx29jOX0CJi4i0