The Vow and its Consequences

Chapter 37

Lucius exited the Floo network, landing with a smooth step into his home, splendour and gleaming marble that he couldn't help but admire each day was the first thing he saw. As he wandered up the grand staircase, he couldn't help but muse, he was very proud of his home, he had been brought up to believe he was the best, that he would serve the Dark Lord like his father, return the old ways - as if it was something special. It might have been back then, important even, but the world had evolved passed needing it, something that the Dark Lord and his father weren't able to understand. It had taken a long time for him to realize the truth, but he thought himself too set in his ways. That and he feared what would happen should he confess how he truly felt. Not that he was light, or god forbid care about Muggles or Muggle born he had the people he cared about, but other than that the world could go screw itself. He was technically a dark wizard and he was proud of that, there were some actions he wasn't proud of though.

Stepping into the library, the room that his son and his tutor were using as a makeshift classroom for his lessons. There was no better place to be educated than in a library, surrounded by all the books you'd ever need. "Narcissa," Lucius said, smiling a warm smile just for her, "Sirius Black has invited you to Prince Hall, he would like to see you. Personally I think he just wants someone familiar, one that he can say he's had more than one kind word with."

"I must say I am surprised, I didn't think he would be willing to speak to me, we didn't exactly end on the best of terms." Narcissa admitted as she put Draco's books in the drawer.

"He doesn't seem to hold any animosity." Lucius replied smoothly, stepping further in, Draco wasn't there. "Where is Draco?" he asked, usually Narcissa barely let him out of her sight these days.

"He's picking up a few things he'd like to take to meet Harry," Narcissa said suppressing her worry, what if Harry wasn't able to handle a child his own age after what his despicable cousin had done to him? Despite the fact she had warned Draco repeatedly, her son would still be hurt if Harry reacted badly.

"Harry is going to be just fine," Lucius said softly, able to read her like a book, nobody else could he alone knew her best. "Draco understands Harry might not be comfortable at first. He's come along way, he's more used to people now." just as long as Severus stayed in the room he hoped that Harry would be fine with company his own age.

"I hope so," Narcissa said standing up straight, "It's going to be the first time I've seen him since he left," excitement replacing her worries. She wondered how much he had changed, physically at any rate. She had kept up on how he was coping with things mentally, and seemed to be doing a lot better in a stable environment and someone in his life who put him first - but that would happen to any child under the circumstances. "I should get changed." she wasn't suitably attired for company.

Lucius chuckled, "We are going to be amongst family, Narcissa, at a barbeque of all things,"

"A barbeque?" Narcissa looked bemused, such a thing wasn't a dignified pureblood thing to do, so they did as they always do, keep it between immediate families and claim how 'Muggle' it was. Two faced lies, deceit and useless talk was just the way things were done, not many truths were told, they tended to keep their thoughts and heart closed to all. Draco would definitely like it, oh she so hoped the boys got on well together.

"Indeed, you look remarkable in all you wear, and you look fantastic just as you are, now let's see what is keeping Draco," Lucius added, turning around shaking his head, he knew already what was happening - Draco was trying to fit the entire contents of his room into one little bag. Together both he and Narcissa made their way up to their son's room, ready to leave as soon as possible.

"Draco? Are you ready to leave now?" Narcissa asked, stepping into his room, gazing at her son in adoration, he was a perfect blend to them both, more Lucius of course but the genes were always stronger in the male purebloods than the females. Seeing her son nod, she looked around the room, and was surprised to see his toys neatly packed in their usual space. He didn't seem to have put anything in his bag, but she couldn't be sure of that. Draco had a lot of toys, at the very least he had perhaps just put a few toys in.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Draco said, forgetting his manners as he grasped a hold of his parent's hands, urging them towards the stairs. He was so excited to meet Harry, he knew he had to be gentle and quiet though, so he didn't scare him. He was remembering all the rules his mum had said to him, he really wanted to be friends with his Uncle/godfather's son.

"Calm down," Narcissa scolded him half heartedly.

"It would work better if you weren't smiling," Lucius drawled into his wife's ear.

Narcissa muffled her amusement, keeping a tight grip of Draco's hand as she led him down the stairs. It was a constant fear for her, that Draco would get hurt on the stairs, it was marble, and you could break bones falling on them. She'd put spells on the staircase as soon as Draco began crawling, just to be on the safe side, but like all things magic could fade in potency.

"Remember, keep a tight hold of your mother," Lucius said as they arrived back at the entrance, standing right next to the fireplace.

"I know father," Draco said, his tone solemn.

"Go ahead, I'll meet you there," Lucius said, grasping a handful of Floo powder and once his wife and son was in the fireplace, he pressed it into her hand and stepped away, nodding at Narcissa. She threw the powder in and the green flames burst around them, carting them away to their intended destination which Narcissa had shouted 'Prince Hall'.

Giving them a few minutes, to get out of the grate, absently grasping another handful of powder, he stepped in too. Once he felt enough time had passed, he threw the power in yelling out his destination. The lurching of his stomach was the first indication that he was travelling, the sensation abruptly stopped once he'd gotten to Prince Hall. Stepping out of the flames, he noticed that Harry wasn't in the room.

"Did it not go well?" Lucius enquired, but he then noticed that neither Remus nor Minerva was there - it was quite possible that they were still teaching him. He did have a lot to catch up on before he was same level as Draco and all other children the same age as him.

"He will be through in a moment," Severus stated calmly from behind Lucius causing the blonde to tense for a moment.

"Ah," he said in understanding.

"I don't see why everyone's so tense, he'll be happy to have a friend," Sirius said, he definitely had been.

"All his experience with children ended up with him being beaten, Black." Severus hissed quietly, just in case Harry was out in the hall - that and he didn't want Draco hearing - he already knew too much and it was wrong to heap it upon a child, such knowledge shouldn't be known.

"Hello, Narcissa, thank you for helping Harry when you did," Sirius said gratefully, knowing that without them calling their private healer…things could have turned out drastically different.

"He's family, of course I helped him," Narcissa brushed it off. Harry's grandmother had been a Black, admittedly she had been disowned of course, but that was normal in the Black family - act out of turn and you were left to fend for yourself. There was only one exception she would make, that was the Weasley's - she'd never help them despite the fact Arthur Weasley was a Black, through his mothers side also.

Sirius just nodded, conceding the point. They were always told family came first, which was a load of crock, act out and you were disowned, look at what happened to his cousin Andromeda. She had married for love, instead of marrying to further the 'pureblood' name. He hadn't seen her in years, not just because of Azkaban; he hadn't had much to do with any of his family not even his own brother. Which was quickly becoming his biggest regret, he had turned from the dark, chosen instead to do what was right not easy. He wished he had been there for him, if he had he might still be alive.

"Letter for Sirius Black," Flippy said, "But the letter is glowing Master Severus,"

Severus smirked viciously; this was going to be amusing. "Bring it to me,"

"Glowing?" Lucius asked, arching an eyebrow at Severus in silent query.

"It's my magic preventing the tracking charm from working accurately, no doubt it was Dumbledore he will find himself wondering what is going on when he winds up in the wilderness in Ireland." Severus told them vindictively.

"How do you know it's Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, "It could be the Ministry."

Severus just stared drolly at the wizard wondering if he had honestly asked such a question. The Ministry wouldn't dare try such a stunt, not against a free wizard and a pureblood to boot. They would be sued to hell and back, wizarding homes were Unplottable and kept secret for a reason. To expose them, well lets just say the Ministry would take a good few years to recover with the amount he'd most likely be awarded.

"Why Ireland?" Narcissa's lips twitched imagining the look on the old fool's face when he realized he'd been outwitted.

Harry ran into the room, his eyes automatically seeking out his fathers, after being away from him for so long. They lit up when he noticed where he was and barrelled head long into him, hugging him close.

"Did you have fun?" Severus enquired, staring down at the five year old.

Harry nodded eagerly; he loved learning now that he could.

Narcissa gazed at the child, he had changed a lot since she last saw him, but it wasn't hard to do he had been so thin and sick. So close to dying, he also had a glow around him now - probably due to his magical restriction being broken. Thank Merlin for the goblins; she dreaded to think what could have happened otherwise. It wasn't just some changes, his looks had changed too, her eyes widened when she realized, of course, the adoption potion - he looked a little like Severus. She saw that Draco was looking down at him just as curious.

"We are having lunch outside, and we have some guests, I'd like you to meet Draco, my godson," Severus said kneeling down speaking solely to Harry now, "He will not hurt you, he wants to be your friend."

"Okay," Harry said shyly, slightly worried but he trusted his dad - nobody would hurt him here.

"The letter, Sir," Flippy said, reappearing with it, handing it over to his Master.

"Thank you, Flippy;" Severus replied accepting it, "We are ready to go outside is lunch ready?"

"Yes Sir," Flippy said nodding eagerly before leaving.

"Finite Incantatem!" Severus muttered under his breath, and the glow around the letter abruptly stopped. "Check it for further tampering, I wouldn't be surprised if he did something else to it." passing it over to Black, half tempted to see Dumbledore's face for himself but he would be taken care of soon. Everyone else here meant more to him than Dumbledore, well with the obvious exception of Black and Lupin but nobody could blame him for that.

"Thanks," Sirius said, glancing at the letter and ripping it open, just to see who it was by, and of course Severus was right - it was Dumbledore. He didn't even want to see what he had to say, not right now, slipping it into his robes with a grimace.

"Let's go," Severus said as everyone piled out of the living room and kitchen to get to the backdoor and out into the large back garden that Prince Hall had to offer.

"Look! A tree house!" Draco said, excitedly, "Do you want to come Harry? Please say yes!" excitement was swirling in Draco's blue eyes as he gave Harry a puppy dog look.

Harry glanced warily at Draco, he was small and thin like him, not at all like Dudley, and he was very hyper, glancing up at his dad who nodded encouragingly. "Can I have my dragon?" it was a source of great comfort to Harry who was being introduced to so many new things that something solid and familiar - just like his dad was what he needed.

"Accio, Harry's Dragon!" Severus chanted, wand out aimed at the manor. Waiting patiently for the dragon to appear, he didn't use his House-elves for every single little thing - he'd gone his whole life fetching things himself or with magic, using a House-elf in his eyes was just laziness they had enough to do without catering to his every whim. Less than a minute later it floated to his outstretched hand; grasping it he placed it in Harry's hand. "Have fun, and remember no magic."

"I have that dragon too; my daddy gave it to me." Draco exclaimed as he and Harry began to scramble towards the tree house.

"He gave me one too," Harry said quietly, gripping it tightly, scared that he might take it away from him.

"I brought mine with me, see," Draco said grasping it out of his bag and showing it off, (it was the same colour as well) seeing that Harry was very unsure. He wasn't used to friends like that, but he really wanted to be his friend so he tried his hardest to be nice and quiet like his mum suggested.

Harry smiled slightly, he wasn't loud and seemed nice, maybe his dad was right and he wouldn't hurt him.

"Are you coming up?" Draco asked as he began to step up the ladder.

"Yes," Harry said looking up himself, waiting until Draco was further up before stepping up himself. Once he was in the tree house, he looked down just to make sure his dad was still there. He was sitting on a chair with food and surrounded by friends of his own. Turning back around he sat down on the floor - finding a few toys he'd left in the tree house still there.

"Do you know how to play exploding snap?" Draco asked eagerly as he pulled out a large collection of cards.

Harry nodded, pointing towards his own set slightly hidden under the covers that were strewn beside his toys.

"Let's play!" Draco said, scrambling forward and beginning to divide them out between them. Smiling slightly smug, he just knew they were going to be best of friends.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Lucius mused, staring at the tree listening to the small explosions and giggling.

"He deserves this," Minerva said, it was honestly mesmerising to hear Harry laughing with such carefree abandon after all that had happened to him.

"He does," Severus agreed, perhaps he should invite Draco around quite often so Harry got used to children his own age. "Perhaps a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"Are you kidding? Draco would scare Harry with his demands!" Narcissa admitted, he was quite spoiled. That and the way they were in public would scare Harry right off them. "It would be nice to let them have an ice cream through." out in the sun not just in manors or gardens even, they didn't do it often enough.

"What does Dumbledore want?" Lucius demanded of Sirius unable to keep silent any longer or keep his curiosity at bay.

"I don't know, I didn't read it," Sirius admitted, removing it from his cloak pocket, "I think we can all agree on the most probable reason." opening it up he began to read, Narcissa who was sitting next to him, began to read it despite how rude it was, but Sirius didn't mind. He just continued to get redder in the face each sentence he read; he wanted to kill the old fool. "He's trying to use your apparent disappearance to try and lure me to Hogwarts…is he just thick?" Sirius was staring at Remus as he spoke. Everyone that knew him would know the first thing he would do was go for Remus - well that and Harry (if he wasn't supposedly thought dead but missing).

"You left with me, one of the first things he did would be to get Lupin, which we of course had already done, so he will have thought you didn't have the time to go to Remus." Minerva replied, her tone thoughtful. "He's using your friend against you, he knows you will do anything, especially considering he's the only one left." they didn't consider Pettigrew a friend obviously, and James was gone all they had now was each other.

"He's desperate to get to Harry, to prove he's alive to lessen the charges he's facing, no doubt he will have an answer for everything else that happened." Lucius guessed, "Using your desperation and Lupin to track him down, he could have potentially found him in less than a month."

"He wouldn't use Moony!" Sirius gaped, paling at the thought of Moony anywhere near his godson. Merlin he loved Remus, but he would never trust him as a wolf near Harry! It would be an easy meal; he'd be ripped to shreds.

"He would have." Severus replied bitterly, "Fortunately for all concerned he wouldn't be able to find the manor, it's protected against creatures."

"So I have to leave for the full moon?" Remus asked resigned. He was curious about what Dumbledore had actually written. He would need to ask Sirius to let him read it later.

"No, you already know where it is, you are already inside, the dungeons are free for your use, they'll be completely locked off - I won't take the chance of anything happening." Severus replied. "I don't want him having the same nightmares as I did for years." not after promising him he was safe. By the time he was done it would be impossible to penetrate them, he would be stuck down there until it was over. The outer door was steel reinforced, as well as a variety of spells to ensure their safety.

"Why not have Harry come for a sleepover?" Narcissa suggested.

"I think that's too soon, while he trusts us, I don't think he'd be able to last the night without Severus," Lucius said adamantly, "Watch Harry, he will look back just to make sure he's there in the next few minutes, he's been doing that since they went up there twenty minutes ago."

"Oh," Narcissa said, seeing it for herself, the poor child was still scared. "Then perhaps you can come yourself Severus?"

"For a sleepover?" Severus asked dryly. His tone giving his answer the thought was utterly ridiculous, but that's because he'd never slept over anywhere, well unless you counted Hogwarts. "I think perhaps we should allow Harry to get used to being here before having any kind of sleepover."

"Shall we call them down to eat or send some food up?" Lucius suggested, they were getting on well, he was very pleased.

"Perhaps they should decide," Severus mused thoughtfully, "Harry! Draco!" Severus called, he didn't bark it, he'd rather Harry didn't think he was in trouble. Yet as soon as his name was called, Harry was climbing down the ladder, and running over as if the devil himself was on his tail.

"Is it time for food?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Are you hungry?" Severus asked, shrewdly.

Harry nodded, "Yes dad,"

"Why did you not say something? I've always told you to come to me when you are hungry," Severus pointed out feeling bad that Harry looked stricken but he wanted it to sink in.

"Sorry, I'll try better," Harry said quietly, quite frankly looking sorry for himself.

Severus pressed his hand under Harry's chin, making him look at him, "I don't want to see you hungry, little one, I want you to know you can come to me whenever and wherever to get something to eat. So you turn into a big strong boy, do you hear?"

"Yes, daddy," Harry said, grinning sheepishly now.

"Good, do you want to eat in the tree house or down here?" Severus enquired; the others all remained quiet knowing better than to interrupt Severus when he was dealing with Harry since obviously he knew the child best and how to deal with everything that occurred.

"Can we go back after?" Harry asked he'd been having so much fun.

"Of course," Severus said solemnly, "Sit down then boys and eat."

"I'll get it," Narcissa said immediately standing up, plating a selection of food for the boys as everyone else dug in too. Lucius was holding two and filling them up, one for himself and of course for his wife.

There we go I'm so sorry its been so long but the story is almost over :( I know I'm going to miss it - so will they succeed against Dumbledore or forever have to move carefully to keep Harry safe and out his reach? R&R