The Vow and its Consequences

Chapter 32

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY EVERYONE THAT CELEBRATES IT! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL DAY!

Another One Bites The Dust

"How's Harry doing?" asked Lucius as they began walking from Little Hangleton where they had Apparated to the Gaunt Shack. Which was quite a bit downhill, when compared to the Riddle Mansion it looked even worse than ramshackle, there was just not a word to describe it. He had been telling Draco about Harry, making sure his son didn't get jealous of the shared attention, but it seemed Draco was excited to have a friend. Even if he would be scared at first, since he doubted Harry had ever had a friend in his life. Draco had promised to be nice, that he would share his toys and make Harry 'all better' such a child thing to say. Fortunately Draco would never be able to truly understand what Harry went through, if anyone had hurt his son the way Harry had been…there would have been nothing left of them to find. If they'd thought he was a Death Eaters before…by the time he was finished they would have though the devil himself had descended upon them. If anyone dared harm Harry again, the same rules applied, the child had wormed his way into his heart. Anyone that knew him would know just how impossible that was. He had very few people he genuinely cared about, the list was very short, Narcissa, his son, Severus and of course Harry now. He took his duties as Godfather very seriously; Harry would come first, just like his son.

"He's still extremely leery of strangers, but he didn't show it so much today, I think he's beginning to learn to trust that I can keep him safe." said Severus, his tone thoughtful.

"We aren't strangers," Remus couldn't help but point out.

"You are to him," stated both Lucius and Severus together.

"Is there a good way to approach him?" asked Remus softly, cursing inwardly when he nearly tripped up due to a hole in the grass that seemed to eat his foot. Wincing in pain, his bones already felt tender was it was he looked around making sure there were no more surprises waiting on him.

"Not that we've learnt, but remain still as possible, spend quite time with him and don't expect too much." replied Lucius honestly. "He is only just getting used to me."

"You thought bribing him would work," smirked Severus, chuckling wickedly.

"I did not," replied Lucius in mock upset, "He needs toys and gifts, it will show him that we care, and at some point it will penetrate Harry's mind that he's safe and cherished. You didn't see where he slept Sev, and what he had. Some old clothes, broken crayons actually broken everything. Hidden away so his relatives didn't find them, and no doubt take them away. If there is a child in this world that deserves a bit of spoiling from their godfather its him." it was just different seeing it in a pensive, so much more different. It was missing the feelings; the misery magic had imbued into the walls - Harry's misery.

"Godfather?" muttered Remus, eyes wide, he didn't know why he was surprised really. Despite the fact there was six years between them, they were good friends. Of course Lucius as far as he knew, hadn't given Severus the time of day at Hogwarts, other than his Head Boy duties. Then again no seventeen year old would want to be over friendly with a first year, they were barely paid attention. Although he didn't know if it was true, since he of course, didn't know what went on in Slytherin common room.

"He was the one that ensured Harry received the best treatment possible, so yes, it's the kind of godfather I would like for my son. He also has political pull and clout which would mean if anything happened to me I will know Harry is completely safe. Never again will Dumbledore have the chance to mess with Harry's life." Severus told him harshly, his possessiveness showing through.

"I meant nothing by it," lied Remus, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. He felt like defending Sirius, on the other hand it was true; Lucius Malfoy was one of the most influential wizards in the magical world at the moment. He could outmanoeuvre Dumbledore and come out the winner, if there was someone he wanted on his side, it would be him. His only problem was he knew the wizard was a Death Eater, and would go crawling back if Voldemort came back. A niggling feeling bothered him…would Severus do the same thing? NO they were both trying to prevent his return, denying and defying Voldemort every time they destroyed a piece of his soul…he would just have to trust him. He would be a part of Harry's life always, and if he wanted to have a part as well as Sirius they'd just have to swallow their pride and go along for the ride.

Lucius and Severus shared a look, they could sense Lupin wasn't being entirely truthful about 'not meaning anything by it' and if it continued much longer they wouldn't allow him near Harry. They couldn't risk Lupin going to Dumbledore out of distrust; just because he couldn't break the vow it didn't mean there wasn't ways to betray someone within the bounds of the vow. Nodding grimy, Severus let Lucius know he would keep an eye on the situation.

"Is it even safe to go in there?" asked Remus, gazing at the unsafe structure, "Did you notice all the snakes? Someone obviously had a fascination with them."

"Slytherin descendants," said Lucius, opening the gate, approaching the ramshackle building, if it could be called a building. Crossing over the wards that prevented Muggles from coming nearby, thankfully whoever built Hogwarts was much better than this since they were feeble at best. A stubborn Muggle might actually have a chance of walking through them; they were so weak and fragmented. He was right though; there were snake carvings, drawings, ornaments, knockers all decorated with them. A long time ago they may have been considered awe-inspiring but not anymore, they were black, disgusting and filthy. Worn down by age and the weather, why they bothered keeping such a filthy place standing he didn't know. The Gaunt family were dead; they should demolish it and build something better, grander in its place. Perhaps it was time for the wizarding society to have its own social services and orphanages, although he didn't like the term 'orphanage' not all children that ended up in care were actually orphans. Children's home sounded much more appealing, perhaps it was time he put forth a suggestion to the Wizengamot. It wouldn't be hard to make it sound as though he was doing it for selfish or perhaps selfless reasons. Narcissa hadn't been able to have another child, and she desperately wanted a little girl, with their own community they would be able to adopt a magical child.

"Lucius?" stated Severus standing in the open doorway, giving his friend a deep penetrating look, it wasn't often he became so lost in thought.

"My apologies," replied Lucius smoothly, stepping into the house, avoiding his friends probing look.

"What are you up to Lucius?" asked Severus, cautiously; normally such a look was never good for anyone involved.

Lucius smirked as he answered the Potions Master, "Nothing that concerns you, Severus, do not worry."

Severus merely made a disgruntled sound before his face became serious; they were in a property owned by Slytherins, quite literally not just a house at Hogwarts. They would need to be on their guard here, both of them had their wands out, Lupin however seemed perfectly content to walk around without caution. Much to their surprise, as they felt around the rooms, casting spells to detect anything they didn't find a single spell.

"Either there's something here that he doesn't want anyone becoming suspicious about to put unnecessary wards on the…shack," said Severus, settling on the one thing that could really describe the property. "Or we have been unlucky this time around." he doubted that was true, but doubt or not it was a possibility.

"There's something here, something dark and dangerous," Remus said, they hadn't been unlucky at all. If anything those two wizards would know best of all, at the end of the day they had been Death Eaters, close to Voldemort. Close enough to make a good guess on what he would and could do. "I can sense it."

"That's the problem, I expected more they're Slytherins after all." said Severus, cautious and suspicious.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Aurors took everything out when they arrested both Gaunts, it's my understanding that the Dark Lord's mother had long ago abandoned them for better pastures." commented Lucius.

"True," conceded Severus, "Evidently they have missed something…"

"Or it was put there afterwards." finished Lucius.

Remus just watched them feeling extremely odd, seeing Lucius Malfoy so open and acting…well friendly wasn't something he thought he'd ever see. Not that he'd been around many Wizards or Witches come to that, he'd been secluded, depressed and hurting even four years on since it happened. He'd been barely able to get through their funeral, and avoided the pity that everyone displayed as much as possible. It had been better that way; Remus' wolf had been quite vicious which meant his temper wasn't exactly controllable. Now he was having to pay for his cowardice, the memories were too much for him…how could he face each day knowing what Harry had been through and that he could have stopped it? All he would have had to do was see him, he would have sensed the blood, would have taken him straight to the ministry to tell them. Even if it did mean revealing his fury little problem, he wouldn't have cared a sod other than keeping Harry safe.

"There's also the option that the thing is in the Ministry archives where it would be stored with all other 'dark arts' right?" suggested Remus.

"Possible but not probable." mused Severus.

"He was sixteen I think when he first came here, killed his grandparents and father, or rather Riddle Mansion first then cursed his Uncle into believing he had done it." said Lucius, "I would like to think he started off with the diary, and that's been destroyed already. So he would have had to be older but this is all speculation, everything thing."

"How do you know he cursed his Uncle?" asked Remus, interestedly.

"Auror reports, when he was brought in he was groggy, confused but confessing to killing the Riddles. If the wizard hadn't already previously had a run in with the Riddles they would have looked deeper into the confusion but they didn't." replied Lucius coolly.

"If they had, Voldemort would have been stopped a long time ago," snapped Remus bitterly. He didn't like the Ministry, how could he after all they wanted him and his kind placed on a registry as if they weren't human.

"I doubt it, I don't know if you've noticed but he doesn't care much for the law even with the entire law enforcement after him." Lucius said dryly, finding Lupin's statement amusing. As if he would have ever been found, he'd have just gone underground and then come out as the Dark Lord. "Do you think it was different when he was younger? If anything he was more dangerous."

Remus had no reply to that.

Seeing as the conversation had run dry, they began to search each room, it was a painstakingly slow process, especially since they didn't want to miss anything. That and they had to wade through disgusting rusty what could only be pots, pans cauldrons and cutlery. Mouldy remains of food piled high with mould so much that the food was unrecognizable. They didn't dare touch the fridge, it was truly disgusting.

"I thought you said he had two kids?" asked Remus as they went back into the hallway. There were only two rooms, if you could call them rooms, even his little flat was better than this place - everywhere was, actually.

"He did," replied Lucius, his lip curled in repugnance this place wasn't fit to remain standing.

"Not everyone can afford decent properties with significant room," stated Severus sharply, he understood what it was like to live in poverty. His clothes had been second hand, but he at least had a stable roof over his head, a clean house and food to eat. It didn't look like the Gaunts had, who knows how many generations of Gaunts had lived in poverty? In his opinion though, they shouldn't have had children, if you couldn't pay your way for them, then it should never be considered. Look at the Weasley's, it was a disgrace. They couldn't afford two children never mind the seven they had, Arthur Weasley had been irresponsible allowing it. Lucius and Lupin would never understand it, they came from pureblood lines, and admittedly the Malfoy's had more money than Lupin.

"I know," said Remus, backing down realizing he'd hit a nerve. He knew all too well, his father and spent the entire Lupin fortune trying to come up with a 'cure' for his Lycanthrope, that and moving constantly to avoid suspicion. He had only realized when his mother died just how much of it he used, there had only been enough for him to get a secluded flat in the Muggle world and necessities he'd need to live at least marginally comfortable. He didn't have the resources to build it back up by taking on investments, every Galleon, Sickle or Knut he made went on food, warmth and clothes.

"We were obviously wrong," said Lucius, changing the subject, he knew how agitated Severus got when people got nasty with those that couldn't help their living situations…living in poverty. He made sure never to do it within his hearing ranges; the spells he used to get back at him were truly humiliating and annoying. "I was so sure we would find something here, but maybe it was just too obvious."

"Too obvious is the best place to put it, nobody would be expecting it." said Severus, forgetting earlier as he focused on the Horcruxes. They could only see thanks to the light from their wands, the area was completely blacked out. Even if it had been nearer light, none would have gotten in due to the trees surrounding the shack at all angles, making it impossible even in daylight.

"Accio Horcrux," chanted Lucius, unsurprised when nothing came at him, he could hope though.

"Check under the floorboards," said Severus suddenly, causing amber and silver eyes to gaze at him in confused curiosity.

"It is what I done as a child, anything I didn't want my father finding…I would put under a loose floorboard in my room…in an orphanage I would imagine the same applies…perhaps it stayed with him. He may have perhaps thought nobody would think to look under, if I'm wrong at least we checked all angles." Severus stated calmly, as if he hadn't just revealed a piece of his past - which Severus never did. Lucius knew a lot, but Lupin…had never heard anything of the sort so Lucius was surprised to hear him talk about it with the Marauder there. Lucius gave Lupin an icy glare, warning him if he said anything, it would be the last thing he did. He wasn't about to let them hurt Severus, never again.

Once again they split up; Remus refused to take the kitchen so began to remove the floorboards one at a time in the bedroom. The smell in here was rancid, it was worse than that it…there wasn't a name for it in all honesty. With the full moon just gone, his nose was doubly sensitive. The kitchen was the worst, and as far as he was concerned the others could do it.

Remus was half way through his floorboards on the second bedroom when he heard Severus speak. "Found it." he stated in his normal calm composed voice. He couldn't have got up quick enough, returned the boards to their normal position, infinity glad he hadn't seen any sign of…rodents.

"That's a first, I would be extremely cautious," warned Lucius, seeing the box that looked very out of place in this shack. Now that the floorboard was up he could feel the darkness emanating from it, no doubt Severus was feeling it worse. Sev had a curious infinity for sensing dark magic, much easier and better than him.

Severus nodded from where he was kneeling, not liking the fact he was vulnerable in front of two wizards kneeling on the floor. Quickly casting a spell to detect anything over the box and found it was clean, picking it up he gratefully stood up. Carefully he opened the box, and found inside the most abhorrent ring he'd ever seen in his life.

"There's something familiar about that design." said Remus thoughtfully, peering into the box the light gleaming off the murky looking stone.

"It should be its Grindelwald's sign." stated Lucius sharply.

Remus nodded remembering it now, thankfully the war with Grindelwald had been mostly abroad. Although the same couldn't be said for Voldemort, which was a pity, but even he wasn't callous enough to wish what happened here to somewhere else.

Severus would have loved nothing more than to just go home and deal with it there, instead of this place - it was falling apart and dangerous. He wasn't about to let anything like this in his home where Harry was sleeping, the dark magic he could feel wasn't the Horcrux - it was a curse and a quick spell confirmed it. The fact a tile from the roof chose that moment to fall but a few feet from him prompted him to actually leave the shack; the others followed him, confused when Severus picked up a stone - which wasn't in short supply here right now.

"Nice," commented Lucius smoothly, as he inspected the table transfigured from the stone. Which the box was placed upon. It reminded him of his work desk in the manor, tastefully done, and then again was there anything Severus didn't do that wasn't perfect? He was practically a prodigy, fantastic Potions Master, awesome and scary dueller, spell crafter/inventor yes his abilities did seem endless. It didn't stop him from making stupid mistakes like the rest of them, and becoming a Death Eater. Although there were many Death Eaters out there that didn't regret it, even after becoming fathers. He had often wondered what would have become of Bellatrix if she'd had a child, could it have changed her for the better. Who knew? There really wasn't any point to Ifs and buts. Narcissa had loved her sister, whether she was completely crazy or not, and he had to endure the endless conversation of what ifs and buts as well…she was obviously rubbing off on him.

"Well he made sure that any fool who found this wouldn't have survived long after putting it on." stated Severus, realizing exactly what spell the Dark Lord had put on it after inspecting it.

"What spell?" asked Lucius curiously.

"One that will kill you painfully and swiftly." said Severus, before he began to mutter the counter curse, aware that Lucius would know what it was upon hearing him. When he heard a muted gasp he knew the wizard had figured it out, there is no counter curse once the spell takes hold, you could stop it for a while or as he liked to call it 'put a stopper in death' but it only delayed the inevitable.

"Wha-" started Remus but he was quickly silenced by the look of steel in Lucius' eyes. Simply said to shut the fucking hell up or he would kill him.

Remus pursed his lips, he didn't recognize the spell or the counter, and considering he'd read a lot he was undeniably curious about why they acted so…tensely he settled on, not able to think of another word that could be used.

"It is done," said Severus, "So shall we do the world a favour and get rid of this eyesore and the ring?" he asked Lucius smirking deviously.

"Why, Severus, it's the best suggestion anyone offered this monstrosity." drawled Lucius, his silver eyes glimmering dangerously.

"What was the spell?" asked Remus, the Ravenclaw in him an answer.

"One that's illegal, highly illegal at that, the Ministry has banned all books on the subject." said Lucius, all of his books were in the family vault, at least the ones deemed 'illegal' by the Ministry of magic. After all he threw parties and such, it would just take one person to see one of the books and he would be getting raided for 'dangerous artefacts' he valued his freedom too much to be stupid about it. "I highly doubt you'd recognize the name even if we told you."

"Fiendfyre!" muttered Severus, watching as the box as well as ring was consumed in the fiery spell.

The screaming started up, alerting them to the fact that yet another Horcrux had bit the dust.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" chanted Lucius once the ring stopped screeching, propelling it into the shack, which quite quickly began to catch on flames as well. There was absolutely nothing worthy of value in there, to even be concerned about. They all did take a step back when the side of the house abruptly crumbled, and with it the roof which obviously had no support left whatsoever.

Severus' wand rose automatically shielding them both of the smoke and any debris that could potentially fly their way. The smoke and ash disappeared with another wave of his wand before they began to put the fire out by starving it of oxygen. They had found over the years that it worked better than trying to put the flames out with water, since fire spread so much more rapidly than water could land.

"It looks worse now," said Remus offhandedly.

"It always looks worse before it gets better," replied Severus, rolling his eyes and everything disappeared leaving just a foundation and very, very burnt grass that would grow again at some point.

"I have the perfect thing in mind," said Lucius smugly, double middle finger to the Dark Lord so to speak.

"I knew you were up to something, what are you going to do?" Severus said in amusement.

"You'll find out, sooner or later." commented Lucius, he didn't give up his plans until they come to completion. That way nobody could say he failed at anything, and Malfoy's didn't like to fail or lose when it mattered. A few exceptions were made, but not many.

"Will it piss off Dumbledore?" asked Remus vindictively.

"Actually…I have no idea," mused Lucius, "But he's distracted enough at the moment, he will be brought to trial soon I'm told. For pretty much the same reason as the woman from social services was, neglect, child endangerment, negligence of magical information, attempted murder, tampering with the magic of a minor, kidnap as he had no legal hold over Harry."

"Attempted Murder?" screeched Remus, his face red as he panted in fury.

"He left Harry outside in the freezing cold November after midnight on a doorstep without a word to anyone in the house. He also left a letter about the magical world, what happened to Lily and James Potter. You do understand in the wrong hands the entire magical world could have been revealed? He left it in a basket along with Harry, and that was it unless he woke up crying he was there until the Muggles woke up." his words were cold, unattached, but his eyes showed vengeance was in store.

"Remind me to send a bottle of the finest whiskey from Prince Cellar to your lawyer, Lucius." said Severus deeply amused and impressed. It looked as if he was going above and beyond the call of duty, trying to get everything on Dumbledore that he could.

"That's the only ones I've been told about, he's trying to see if there are more, and believe me he will find it." said Lucius wryly. "Heading back? I promised Draco I would read him 'the Dragon' series again,"

Severus snorted, "He should be able to read them himself now, the amount of times he'd had those books read to him."

"I know, the years have gone by so fast, Severus, you better watch you will feel it too." said Lucius, a bittersweet smile on his face. He so wanted to give Narcissa the little girl she longed for, the thought of a child that looked like him and Narcissa…if he thought he'd be protective of Draco well he would imagine it would be ten times worse for any girl he had. The Malfoy's didn't seem to have girls, there hadn't been one in five generations, and that female had been a squib, she had remained on the family estate, hardly anyone knew about her existence. She had married into a noble Muggle family, very rich, a lifestyle she'd been used to. As far as he knew she hadn't had any children, but he didn't know the whole story, it got distorted as it passed down the family.

"Lucius I told you what to do, if you do it, it will work." said Severus softly.

"Narcissa is too proud for that, Severus, plus she or I for that matter have never been in the Muggle world long…never mind for them to butcher us." said Lucius shuddering.

"They aren't butchers, they just don't have the ability to heal wounds like we do," said Severus rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Remus had to suppress his merriment at their conversation, it was so very refreshing…being able to have a proper adult conversation. Even after Hogwarts James and Sirius hadn't been interested in growing up, Sirius though seemed to have sobered, but four years of Azkaban would do that to anyone. He was still whining though, and he hoped with the calming draughts Severus suggested and had given him to take, would do the rest in helping him grow.

"Let's go." said Lucius, not wanting to discuss it further. He didn't want his wife to feel the heartache that she couldn't carry a child to term, while some Muggle out there could. It would be the ultimate humiliation and he couldn't bear that for her. He would quite frankly prefer to adopt a Muggle child than put his wife through heartache, and it said a lot about how much he loved her.

Three loud pops were heard, that sounded like backfiring cars but nobody was there, not even vermin or birds dared to venture here.

"I take it from the smell of you that you succeeded?" smiled Minerva, as the three men appeared before her.

"Did Harry wake up?" asked Severus, as always his care was first and foremost on his mind, its what made him the perfect father for Harry.

"No, all has been quiet," answered Minerva still smiling.

"That's another one gone, I think that's the last of the places I can think of," said Lucius, "Nothing else worthy of note is jumping out in all the information we have on the Dark Lord."

"I still think its worth investigating at Hogwarts, it will take years maybe but definitely worth looking into." said Severus.

"I have already begun the process, there have been a few items brought to my attention but no Horcruxes yet." stated Minerva. "Although the Grey Lady did seem particularly agitated when I asked for her aid it's very peculiar she's always a quiet well spoken ghost."

"Perhaps you should speak to her again, be frank with her, she might know something." persuaded Severus, trusting Minerva's instincts.

"If we do that, we risk Dumbledore finding out." said Minerva.

"He won't be a problem as of tomorrow; you will be called in to be temporary Headmistress until after trial permanent afterwards. He shouldn't be able to weasel himself out of it, Merlin help us if he does." admitted Lucius.

"Then tomorrow I'll speak to her again," agreed Minerva, "I shall return to Hogwarts tonight or very early tomorrow morning."

"You just want to be there to see him arrested," snorted Severus in sardonic amusement.

"I do," Minerva, said haughtily her eyes narrowed, if she had been in her Animagus form, her claws would have been out fully.

"Is there anything I can do that will help take him down?" asked Remus.

"Unless you want him to get also arrested for letting a werewolf attend school where you could have mauled hundreds of students…not really." said Severus, raising his hands at Remus' oncoming objections. "I am only saying you could have."

"I really don't want anyone knowing," Remus told him bitterly, he hated his condition.

"Then no," said Severus calmly.

"There is more than enough to see him in Azkaban," said Lucius, "It's his popularity and connections that concern me, but with it being Harry Potter I am sure that even his connections wouldn't want to even go near for fear of them being implicated as well. We all know when Harry is older, he will have a lot of influence, more than I and Dumbledore could even dream off."

Severus grimaced at the thought of all the sheep that would flock around, but he would raise Harry properly (hopefully) and he would know to make his own mind up. He wouldn't allow anyone, not even himself to influence Harry. Although any time he wanted advice, Severus would gladly give it. He planned to raise Harry to be an independent young man, and he prayed he succeeded, failure wasn't an option. He would do what Dumbledore had been so scared Harry would turn out to be, uncontrollable, un-mouldable, and unmovable, magically powerful and quite frankly…a force to be reckoned with.

"It's a scary thought isn't it? That the wee one sleeping up there will have enough political clout to do anything he wants." said Minerva.

"It is," said Severus.

"Yeah," replied Remus.

"Raise them right and they will take the world by storm, a storm we probably need to bring us into a new age." Lucius said, "Now if you'll excuse me…I must get home to my son, who has demanded I read to him tonight…"

A scream had them all jumping out their seats, Severus bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time to get to Harry.

There we go, I'm sorry its taken so long to update this but I'm afraid the Muse has been in short supply, I just couldn't find it in me to want to update it - and if I had forced myself it wouldn't be like this chapter here :) have a great Thanksgiving guys! hope you all had wonderful days...then again in most areas of America It will be dinner time right now when im posting...yet very late for myself lol but at least its still thanksgiving day over there for you its now black Friday for us...(our second one by the way) many many people are already waiting for the shops to open or for the sales to start - scary stuff! R&R