Unexpected Ally

by WeasleyGirl12333

How do you think the Second Wizarding War would have gone if a group of people, who were thought to be dead, came out of the woodwork to aid the light in defeating Voldemort? Pretty interesting. Unexpected powers and strengths, and A LOT of battle and blood shed. Two people turn up at Malfoy Manor one night, and begin their journey of righting 300 years worth of wrongs done.

13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry that last chapter took so long, I was unsure of how to move forward after such a busy chapter. I was struggling for inspiration.

I'm hoping you enjoy this chapter! It's a heart to heart chapter (Not one for mushy, feelings sharing, lovey stuff); so, I would appreciate hearing what you think of this chapter! PLEASE R&R!

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The next few days went by slowly as the six of them milled around the house, trying to find small tasks to do to keep themselves busy. The first task that Asta and Brynjar assigned to themselves was severing that wretched fucking portrait off the wall!

"Filthy Mudblood loving traitors in the house of my Father!" The portrait of Walburga screamed as Asta and Brynjar stood before her, (it?).

"Oh, fuck off you miserable cunt!" Brynjar growled as he ripped the curtains closed, muffling Walburga's shouts. "It looks like a permanent sticking charm is what is holding the bitch to the wall." Brynjar grunted as he pulled with all his strength on the portrait, trying to remove it from the wall.

"We've undone permanent sticking charms before." Asta replied, transfixed on the wall around the covered portrait, that was still screaming vulgarities.

"Yes." Brynjar agreed as he let go of the portrait to look at his girlfriend with an amused look. "But I don't think Harry Potter would like his wall blown out, considering the miserable bitch didn't think to charm the wall so that it can never be knocked down." Brynjar added with a laugh as the curtains flew open, revealing Walburga giving the two of them an evil smile confirming his theory.

"You're a fucking asshole." Asta spat at the Cheshire cat of a witch annoyedly, before drawing back and punching the painting. Startling the subject, causing her to knock her chair over backwards and fall out of view momentarily, before popping back up and continuing to scream profanities at them. "Mnahhh, piss off!" Asta snapped before gesturing for Brynjar to close the curtains on the wretched painting as she made her way toward the kitchen.

She saw Malfoy sitting at the table, flipping through the paper while sipping on his tea and paying her no mind as she pulled up a chair at the opposite end of the table, cradling her bruising hand as she waited for Brynjar to help her tend to her. A minute later Brynjar came strutting into the kitchen with a shit-eating grin on his face as he looked at his girlfriend, sitting there clutching her hand. 'Oh how the tables have turned', he thought to himself as he settled down next to her.

"What happened champ?" Brynjar teased as he reached down and unzipped her pouch, before summoning the pain potion and shot glass, earning him a light tap from her foot on his shin. "Oh no, I'm going to soak this up as much as I can." He added as he poured a shot of pain potion, handing it to Asta, who downed it and flipped the shot glass upside down on the table.

"How much pain potion do we have left? We must almost be empty by now." Asta inquired as she watched Brynjar reset her hand, before summoning the bottle of skelegrow from her pouch as well and refilling the shot glass. She downed the shot of skelegrow and flipped the shot glass upside down once more, as Brynjar summoned the bandages from her pouch and wrapped her hand to keep everything in place to heal.

"We have a little less than half a bottle of pain potion and skelegrow left. We probably should brew more while we have some down time on our hands." Brynjar prattled distractedly as he tried to tuck the end of the bandage away without undoing all the work he just did. "We should also…. Try…. Damnit…. To get an estimate…. HA!" Brynjar exclaimed, finally tucking the bandage away without disrupting the bones he had just reset. "…Of how long they intend to use this place for shelter, because if it's for a significant amount of time I suggest we brew a batch of Polyjuice potion as well. You know, in case we get caught." Brynjar concluded, looking as though he doubted they would really need the last potion, however it is always best to be prepared.

"You made me spill my tea all over myself with your little shout there!" Malfoy growled as he scoured the kitchen for a dish rag, seeing as his wand had been ruthlessly taken from him by the man-handling heathens at the other end of the table. Finally finding one he began to wipe the tea off his shirt, knowing there was no point in trying, the tea was going to leave a stain. He looked down the table at the big guy and the small raven-haired witch and snapped, "Seeing as I am without a wand, would you mind, you know, taking care of this? Seeing as this little rag will not be enough to clean all this." Gesturing to the wet spot that was ever growing on the table where his tea had spilt.

Asta rolled her eyes at his petty bitching, and waved her hand towards the wet spot on the table, instantly drying it and the newspaper.

"Happy now, Princess?" Asta asked with an attitude as she stared him down with such intensity, he stumbled back into his chair and pulled the paper up to block her eyes from his face. Brynjar smirked at her as she continued to stare him down, knowing Malfoy could feel her eyes through the paper.

"Come on, Evil Eye." Brynjar laughed as he shoved Asta's shoulder playfully, bringing her attention back to him with a smile. "Let's go find out how long they plan to be staying here." Brynjar added as he rose from his seat, gesturing for her to lead the way.

"Alright." Asta replied as she rose from her chair and made her way up the few steps out of the kitchen, and down the hall where they passed Walburga's portrait quietly. Grateful that the curtains didn't fling open, and the ruddy bitch didn't start screaming again.

They both climbed the stairs in moderate silence, except for a few times when Brynjar would swat at Asta's bum and she would turn around with a grin on her face, yet attempt to scold him. When they made it to the landing they called out down the hall for the trio, hoping one of the three of them would hear and poke their head out, and as expected Harry popped his head out.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked, his eyebrows knitted together in honest concern as he made his way toward Asta and Brynjar.

The poor man looked exhausted, so much so Asta was tempted to offer him a shot of her dreamless sleep potion, even though she knew he would refuse.

"I don't know, you look dreadful Harry." Asta said softly, tilting her head to inspect him a little more, but making NO move to touch him what so ever. "I mean, I know the weight of the world literally is on your shoulders; but that aside completely, are you feeling alright? Do you need a potion? Because Brynjar and I brought various potions with us for all kinds of issues and ailments." Asta offered sincerely, obviously very worried about his health, which is very unlike her.

Harry rubbed his face in his hands out of exhaustion. He, Ron and Hermione have been up all night trying to figure out how to track down the real locket, and who the hell R.A.B is and if he or she is still alive, and where they can find him or her. But they keep hitting dead ends, every path they venture down, every time they think they finally find the answer and the trail goes cold.

"I'm fine. Just tired is all." Harry replies shortly, wishing more than anything he had a cup of coffee right now. "Was there something you guys needed? I really don't mean to be rude, but-" Harry began, but Brynjar cut him off.

"Shit, we're sorry mate!" Brynjar apologized, putting his hands out in front of himself in a surrendering manner. "Two things;" Brynjar began, earning a questioning look from Asta, "first, how long do you three plan on using this house as shelter while you are doing whatever it is you are doing? I only ask because Asta and I want to replenish a few potions, and some of them take a good while to brew. And Second, would you be alright if I had my buddy Cuyler come over here to try and work his magic on that annoying fucking portrait downstairs? I know that there's a permanent sticking charm used on it, I also found out she charmed the wall so that it cannot be knocked down in an effort to rid the house of her portrait. However, Cuyler may be able to undo the charm. But I wanted to ask you first because it is after all, your house and it would not be appropriate for me to just invite my friend over, especially given the state of the world we are living in now. I know it's not high priority to remove it, but hearing the fucking thing say those things is really grating on our nerves, and I can only imagine it is doing the same to you three as well."

Asta hadn't considered that Cuyler may know a way to undo the charm used on the portrait. Mainly because the charm is called permanent for a reason, and because Harry Potter had Hermione Granger. If she hasn't been able to find a way to undo the charm that doesn't involve blasting the damn wall to smithereens, it's highly unlikely that Cuyler will. Though, part of her believes Brynjar is suggesting this so Cuyler can possibly see Hermione one more time before shit goes sideways. That sneaky, sneaky devil.

Harry seemed to really focus on Brynjar's words, the part occupying most of his thoughts was getting rid of that painting. That offer was extremely tempting. He heard a creak behind him and spun around to see Ron and Hermione slowly making their way towards the three of them. Hermione looked curious as to what was going on, whereas Ron looked both angry and confused.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?" Hermione asked earnestly, giving Asta and Brynjar and implying look as she spoke. Breathing a sigh of relief as both Asta and Brynjar smirked and nodded their heads.

"We will be here for the duration of what Ron, Hermione and I have set out to do, provided that it is within reason to stay here." Harry began to reply finally, looking from Brynjar to Asta, leaving Hermione and Ron to look between the three of them thoroughly confused. "As for your friend, I don't mind if he comes to try his luck. He's the bloke that was Hermione's date to Bill's wedding right?" Harry asked, looking from Brynjar to Asta then to Hermione, whose face suddenly perked up, making Asta and Brynjar smirk.

"What? Cuyler is coming here?" Hermione asked nervously as she brushed her shirt down and started fussing with her hair. "When?"

"What?" Ron said angrily, his cheeks and ears turning red as he looked from Harry to Brynjar, whose face went stone cold from Ron's attitude, making Ron shrink back slightly.

"Cuyler is coming here to try and sever Sirius' mother's portrait from the wall so I can get rid of it." Harry said with a somber smile at the thought of chasing Ginny around the house after the war, and not having to hear that miserable old bitch screaming profanities at him and his girlfriend. "I know it's not top priority but-"

Harry was shaken from his happy thoughts by Ron who scoffed behind him and folded his arms, clearly annoyed that the man that earned Hermione's affection was going to be here. Before Harry could say anything to him however, Hermione rounded on him, with Brynjar following a good distance behind her, unbeknownst to her.

"Listen here Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione began shouting, wagging her finger in his now pale as a Malfoy face.

Malfoy looked up from his paper hearing Hermione yelling at Weaslebee, and he couldn't help but feel all giddy. "I do not want to miss this." Malfoy said to himself as he let the paper fall to the table and stealthily, yet quickly made his way up the stairs to watch the show.

"You know I love you, but you had your chance, in fact you had multiple chances to ask me out! But you never did, and when Viktor showed interest in me you got angry with me because I said yes!" Hermione shouted, breathing like a winded rhinoceros while giving Ron a look daring him to contradict her.

Brynjar still a good distance behind her in case Ron decided to snap and get violent with the small witch, not that any of them thought he would, but you could never be too careful.

"You have no right, rhyme or reason to get angry or jealous of the fact that I enjoy spending time with Cuyler! You have not been, nor ever will be my boyfriend Ronald! I waited for you to notice me, and to ask me out for three GOD DAMN YEARS and I went unnoticed! But now all of a sudden I am good enough to earn your attention as more than a friend?" Hermione shrieked as tears of anger, sadness and heartache welled up in her eyes from years of being bottled up. Ron's face was as scarlet as the Gryffindor banner, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. If his body wasn't paralyzed by fear I'm sure he would have stormed back to the room he's staying in and never come back out. "I no longer have romantic feelings for you Ron, they have long since passed. No matter how much resentment you carry towards me after you walk away from this argument today, because I know you well enough to know you will, I will always care for you and love you as a friend. If ever you should need anything, despite how you feel right now, you know I will always be there for you. We have been through too much together for me not to love and care for you OR Harry. I just do not love you in a romantic way, not anymore. I need you to come to terms with that and accept it, and be happy for me when I find someone I'm happy with like I will for you." Hermione pleads in a soft delicate voice Malfoy doesn't ever recall hearing before as he watched her in awe as she talks to Weaselbee, who looks like he wishes he could become part of the floor.

Hermione moved closer to Ron, smiling slightly hoping he doesn't stay mad at her for too long for what she has said. But it needed to be said, he was being absolutely barmy, and she wasn't even his girlfriend!

"Even if you decide that Lavander makes you happy." Hermione says with a chuckle as she playfully shoves Ron, who laughs lightly before rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Just like that all the tension is lifted from the room, and everyone relaxes.

Brynjar backs up a towards Asta who looks up at him with raised eyebrows before nodding her head towards the stairs and walking towards them. Brynjar nods his head and makes his way towards Harry, who is smiling as he watches his two best friends talk quietly with each other.

"Hey, Harry." Brynjar called as quietly as possible, so as to not disturb the happy, personal moment Hermione and Ron were having.

Harry spun to face the larger man with a smirk on his face at the sight of his friends finally talking about the tense topic they skirted around all summer. "Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Would you care if I brought him over today, or would you rather I wait a couple-" Brynjar was cut off by the sound of Walburga screaming profanities at the person who walked past her portrait to loudly, which apparently was Asta, who could be heard yelling back at the portrait.

"The filth that is living in my house! Blood traitors! A disgrace to their ancestors! A disg-RAHHHHHHH" Walburga screeched before Asta's foot connected with her portrait startling her off her chair once more.

"*kick* Shut! *kick* Your! *kick* Stupid! *kick* Old! *kick* Idiotic! *kick* Outdated! *kick* Fugly! *kick* Fucking! *kick* Cunt! *kick* Ass! *kick* Gob!*kick* You! *kick* Old! *kick* Fucking! *kick* Hag!" *kick-kick-kick*

Every time Asta shouted at Walburga's portrait she followed each word with a kick, startling the painting each time.

Malfoy watched as Asta unleashed a tamed fury on the painting on his mother's aunt with amusement. He couldn't help but feel a wave of happiness at watching the bitter old woman, whom he always heard was feared, cower even though it was in painting form, it was still worth it.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Harry was looking at Brynjar with wide eyes from what he just heard below them. Just as he was about to tell Brynjar to go fetch his friend, Walburga started up again, and Asta let out a snarl while Malfoy surprisingly tried to talk her down.

"Filth! Kicking my portrait! With boots as dirty as your blood!" Walburga cackled, knowing there was nothing Asta could do to here portrait.

Asta let out an inhumanly snarl and charged the portrait, practically foaming at the mouth, as Malfoy ran up behind her at his own risk. Trying keep her from causing herself damage from trying to destroy a portrait.

Harry started to run down the stairs to keep Asta from blowing the house up, Brynjar went a little ways down the stairs until there was no wall blocking his view, and then he jumped to the floor below. He was a little surprised to see Malfoy attempting to hold back Asta from going dragon-shit crazy on the portrait. Normally he wants to be as far away from her as possible when she is in a homicidal rage like this.

"You inbred squib!" Asta spat at the portrait with pure malice and hate in her voice. "I am a descendent of the Akeldama bloodline! My blood is ten times purer than yours you fucking waste of paint!" Asta added venomously, as kicked the horrid painting once more, while Walburga's portrait mimicked the actions of a fish at Asta's revelation.

Harry and Malfoy each took hold of one of Asta's arms, while Brynjar took hold of her legs, and together they carried her into the kitchen and lowered her into on the chairs around the kitchen table. Ron and Hermione had been quickly but quietly following the group of them.

"Hermione!" Malfoy called from where he stood in the Kitchen still holding one of Asta's arms down firmly, while Brynjar and Harry were trying to calm her her down. "You and Weasley come in here quickly please and close the door behind you." Malfoy semi-ordered, semi-asked, earning him shocked looks from Ron and Harry, but mostly Ron. Malfoy didn't understand why they were looking at him like that, they already had this discussion about how he can be nice.

Hermione ushered Ron through the door quickly and shut the door behind her with a snap, and drew her wand in case Asta tried to force her way through the door to continue her fight with a portrait. Even as Hermione was thinking it she couldn't help but roll her eyes at how ridiculous it sounded.

"Alright guys, I think you can let her go now." Brynjar says cautiously as he braces his hands on either side of her and waits for her to sit up. He watches as Malfoy releases his hold on Asta's arm first, then Harry lets go and they both back up slowly.

Asta slowly sits up, her head pounding from screaming at that wretched painting. She is almost sitting completely upright when she catches Brynjar's hard stare, and looks down at her lap knowing exactly what he is going to say.

"You need. To keep. Your anger. In check." Brynjar ground out, forcing her to look him in the eye. "It's just a painting. No soul. No brain. It's nothing." He added as he let go of her chin, letting her decide whether she wanted to drop her gaze or maintain eye contact. Shocked that she decided to maintain eye contact with him while he was scolding her, when she usually looked away. "If you, or myself, lose control like this over nonsense like that piece of rubbish," Brynjar gestured his head toward the hallway, "they could change their mind about letting us accompany them, and make us leave." Brynjar added, widening his eyes for effect, hoping his point was getting across to her.

Before she could reply however, Harry stepped in, to both of their surprise.

"Look, I'll admit, you attacking that stupid painting was pointless." Harry began with an unreadable expression on his face as he looked between the two Viking's. "However, what you said while attacking the painting was proof to me that you are absolutely mental, but in a good way. I won't be asking you two to leave any time soon." Harry added with a small smile as he looked between the two Vikings, who both seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So you're not worried, or upset at how easily provoked she is?" Brynjar asked unable to control his smile of relief. "I mean, I'm easily provoked as well, but you're not going to tell us to leave?" He added, smile still not faltering from his lips.

"I'm sure Harry does not wish to encourage any FUTURE outbursts like that, but none of us are really that worried, I'm sure." Hermione said in a motherlike manner, looking at Harry the way Mrs Weasley and Professor McGonagall have done for years, giving him a warning slap upside the back of his head. At which point Malfoy burst out laughing, clutching his sides, earning him one too.

Before she had even realized who it was it was too late, her hand had already connected with his spoiled blonde head. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous looks with each other before looking at Malfoy, who was gingerly rubbing the back of his head, and readied themselves for the worst.

"At least you didn't punch me in the face this time." Malfoy said with a grin, not even a sneer, a true grin before leaning back against the counter to watch the rest of the encounter. He reveled in every bit of the shock and awe from the Golden Trio at his behavior.

"Right…. Ummm… I mean, I don't want you two going berserk on the wrong people and at the wrong times. So, you will need to keep your temper in check the best that you can." Harry said half-heartedly, as he kept looking from Malfoy to the two Vikings that were currently the topic of conversation. "I mean, Ron, Hermione and I can all vouch for Asta in that, that portrait is a right terror. I don't think even Hermione can even really be mad at her for trying to fight the bloody thing." Harry added, looking at Hermione who was blushing while trying to hide her smile behind her hand, making everyone in the room laugh.

"Alright, alright!" Hermione shouted playfully after a moment or two of everyone starring at her. "Maybe I was a little happy that she was putting the painting of the wretched old bat in her place, so what? I think we all know by now that I don't always follow the rules!" Hermione said loudly as she crossed one arm across her chest, to use as support for her other arm she was using to shield her face from view.

"We will both do better to keep our tempers in check, we promise." Brynjar said sweetly looking between the three of them. "And if we can't, we will just spar with each other to get the anger out. That way no one, or nothing will get hurt or damaged that's not supposed to." Brynjar added with a smirk towards Asta who brightened up at the mention of sparring.

Neither of them have sparred in ages! At least it felt like ages.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other for a moment, considering what Brynjar said, not able to decide if his proposed solution was any better than the alternative. Finally after a few moments of silence, Harry nodded his head in consent, before turning his attention to his blindingly blonde haired enemy, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Malfoy looked behind him as though expecting to find someone standing behind him, but there was no one behind him. Malfoy quirked an eyebrow questioningly at Harry before nodding his head consentingly, gesturing for Harry to lead the way.

Harry opened the door slightly, turning to look back at Asta who was talking to Hermione and Ron about Hogwarts, as she waved her hand dismissively towards the cupboards and stove as food began to prepare itself. Brynjar came up behind Harry and tapped him on the shoulder, but before he got to ask his question, Harry spoke.

"Go get your friend, I do not want to have to hold your friend down again." Harry said kindly, with a blank expression on his face as he looked at the larger man who was smirking at him.

"Will do." Brynjar said as he bowed slightly towards Harry before disapparating, leaving Harry and Malfoy alone in the Hallway.

Harry looked at Malfoy briefly then gestured for him to follow him into a room just a little ways up on the right. Harry opened the door and walked in, with Malfoy following slowly behind him. Once Malfoy was in the room with him, Harry went over and shut the door, then conjured two chairs for them to sit on. He gestured for Malfoy to sit first, only to sigh when Malfoy looked at the chair skeptically with an eyebrow quirked.

Harry pushed his glasses down slightly, before pinching the bridge of his nose in slight frustration. He then walked over to Malfoys chair and sat down, then got up and went to sit down in his own chair, before gesturing for Malfoy to sit in his chair once again. Still slightly hesitant, Malfoy moved closer to the chair and tapped it lightly with his foot as a test before sitting down.

"Honestly Malfoy, if I wanted to hurt you or kill you I would have done it already. But for once in my life, your death is not a goal I am trying to achieve, so relax." Harry said annoyedly as he pulled his glasses off and ran his hands over his face.

"Like you and Weasley said about me being nice, it's hard to believe given our history you see." Malfoy drawled, sneering at Harry like they were back at Hogwarts throwing insults at each other across the hall. "So, what did you want Potter? I have quite a busy schedule of doing nothing to do today." Malfoy said flatly before throwing his head back and groaning, "How the bloody hell did I go from the top of the world to rock bottom?"

Harry smirked at Malfoy's displeasure, it took him back to all the times Malfoy got caught being a prick to the three of them by Professor McGonagall. He always loved seeing Malfoy get put in his place. He always needed and ego check every now and then, what with his parents always filling his head with this nonsense that he was perfect in every way.

"You really want me to explain it to you Malfoy?" Harry said with a smirk, unable to contain his happiness from Malfoy's misery.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry, not really needing anyone to point out how he got in this situation. He knew bloody well how he got in this situation, not that he had any fucking control, or say over it. It was his fucking useless fathers fault that all this happened to him and his mother, and he will maintain that story until his untimely death inevitably comes around.

"No. Not really, Potter." Malfoy growled, glaring daggers at Harry who could not stop smirking at him, which was pissing him off. "What did you want to talk to me about Potter?" Malfoy ground out pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration.

Harry waved his wand once more around the room, placing a silencing charm around the room. He watched Malfoy's face drain of what little color he had left in amusement. 'Oh this is going to be fun.' Harry thought to himself.

"Back in the Kitchen… When we were holding Asta down, you called Hermione by her first name…" Harry paused for a moment, arms folded across his chest as he attempted to read Malfoy's body language, quickly detecting a flicker of fear. "You never call her by her first name, nor me or Ron. In fact, you called Hermione by her first name and Ron by his last." Harry stopped and looked at Malfoy who stared back at him with confusion written all over his face.

Malfoy couldn't believe he had slipped up like that, and so soon none the less! He knew the longer he sat here in silence the more Harry was going to suspect him of having feelings for Hermione, and he didn't want to put her through that with everything else she is doing, whatever it is the three of them are doing.

"So?" Malfoy replied with a dismissive eyeroll, throwing his back against the back of the chair.

"So why would you call her by her first name and Ron and I by our last names?" Harry countered with a hint of a smirk. "Hermione is still part of the same 'Golden Trio' you've hated since first year. She is still the same know-it-all muggleborn witch who has bested you in every class since first year." Harry paused for a breath to check for a reaction from Malfoy, but there was none, so he continued. "She is still the same wonderful, smart, funny, kind hearted, loyal brave girl from first year that you have always referred to as 'Granger' or… otherwise. So, you can see why the sudden use of her first name by you confuses and startles me, yes?" Harry finished his, in Malfoy's opinion, aggravating, monologue red in the face and breathing heavy.

For some reason, a reason Malfoy may never find the answer to, he couldn't resist this perfect opportunity to agitated the "Golden Boy" some more. Without even giving his brain time to actually think, the corners of his mouth curled up in his trademark smirk and he said, "Why so tense Potter?" As quickly as the words left his mouth, Harry was out of his chair and had Malfoy by the front of his shirt. Malfoy groaned and let his head roll back on his shoulders, "What? Did one of the Weasley twins stick a permanent 'Manhandle Me' sign on me that only I can't see or something?" Malfoy whined as he held Harry's firm gaze, noting the murderous look that seemed to be in them.

"I don't know what you're playing at Malfoy, but if you do anything to Hermione or are the cause of any pain to her, I swear to God I will kill you." Harry ground out through clenched teeth, gripping Malfoy's shirt tighter to pull him closer to his face so he would better get the message. "She is like a sister to me. She has always been there for me, like I have for her." Harry continued, relinquishing his hold on Malfoy's shirt, letting the man fall back into his chair. "I don't know how you fought the veritaserum and she believed you, she always catches people in lies, and not shitty liars like Ron and me either. I don't know what you're up to, but I'm going to have a talk with Brynjar and Asta about how best to take care of you, and send you back to Mummy and Daddy. That way you will be out of our hair, and I won't have to worry about you targeting Hermione." Harry added as he stood up and made his way towards the door, just as he was about to reach for the doorknob Malfoy called out to him.

"Potter, are you even going to let me talk?" Malfoy said sarcastically, gesturing for Harry to sit back down in his seat.

Harry's hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment before he inevitably sighed and made his way back to his seat. Once Harry sat down in his chair, he slouched down and let both his elbows rest on the armrest before lacing his fingers together and gesturing for Malfoy to get on with it.

"Alright, look, what I'm going to tell you…. You can't tell Weasel… And you definitely cannot tell Granger I told you…." Malfoy groaned and threw his head back over the back of the chair, and pinched the bridge of his nose at the thought of Hermione finding out that Harry knew about how Malfoy felt about her, she would probably go ballistic. "She didn't handle it well the first time round, I can't imagine bringing it back up would be a grand idea."

"What are you on about!?" Harry demanded, losing patience every moment he sat there with Malfoy without an explanation.

Malfoy sighed and dove right into telling Harry about what Asta can do, and how she demonstrated it at Mad-eyes house when he called her a liar. He told him how Hermione reacted when she saw a duplicate of herself standing in front of himself. He told him how when he was under veritaserum how he told Hermione that if he could never be as close with her as he wanted, he at least would like it if they could be friends.

Malfoy told Harry everything, even though it made him feel like a bloody Hufflepuff and made him want to become part of the floor, he didn't leave anything out. Now he just sat back with his head thrown back over the back of the chair, waiting for old Scar-head to fucking say something. It felt like an eternity before he did finally say something, and Malfoy was both stunned and slightly disturbed at his choice of words.

"How long?" Harry finally spoke, startling Malfoy from his staring contest with the ceiling. Malfoy couldn't help but be disturbed at his choice of words, his facial expressions must have portrayed his thoughts because Harry screwed his face up in confusion and said, "What?"

Malfoy shook himself out of his horrified trance and ran his hands over his face.

"I knew you three spent a lot of time together, but wow." Malfoy said flatly, bulging his eyes as he said the last two words. "'How long' is exactly what she asked me, it just threw me off that you both would ask that question the same way-what?" Malfoy asked incredulously as he watched Harry gesture for him to get on with it. "You're the one who pulled me in here Potter, I didn't want to have this heart to heart with you."

"All's you have to do is answer the question Malfoy, it's not as though we're friends. There's no need to draw out the conversation." Harry said exasperatedly, running his hands through his untamed hair. "I have other things I have to be doing, but Hermione is more important, seeing as you're a threat with your Mark and what have you. I need to see that she will be safe, but I also have other shit that is important to do, so… could.. you… hang on… how in the bloody…." Harry trailed off as he snatched Malfoy's now bare left forearm as stood from his chair. Harry mumbled a few spells that he knew would undo beautification charms and concealment charms, to see if that is how he was hiding the Mark, but nothing happened. The Mark didn't reappear, no matter what spell he uttered to try and lift any charm Malfoy may have asked the two Viking's to put on his arm. He didn't understand, and that pissed him off to no end. "Come with me." Harry ordered as he dropped Malfoy's arm and stormed towards the door and flung it open and made his way down the dark hall, where he could see two large bodies he knew to be Brynjar and his friend. "Can I see you in the kitchen for a moment?" Harry asked bluntly before pushing past the two Viking's and making his way into the kitchen.

Brynjar and Cuyler looked at each other in sheer confusion at Harry's anger, until Malfoy tapped Brynjar on the shoulder then tapped his own forearm to give them a little hint. Brynjar growled and rolled his eyes before telling Cuyler to continue working on the portrait, and nodding his head towards the kitchen for Malfoy to follow him.

Once they were both in the kitchen, the door slammed shut and locked behind them. All the color drained from Malfoy's face, unsure of what was going on. He didn't think that Potter would be mad that his Mark was gone, he figured he would be thrilled. Malfoy spared a glance at the two Vikings who apparently weren't nervous, he wasn't sure why he was surprised but he was. Both Brynjar and Asta heaved two heavy sighs, Asta unclasped her pouch from around her leg, Brynjar pulled his from out of his pocket, and they both laid them out of the table in front of them along with their hands, as though they were surrendering.

"Yes Harry?" Asta asked flatly, leveling him with a look of intense sincerity that Malfoy cringed at the thought of being under it, but Harry held her gaze with a look of anger.

"When you two first came to us, Malfoy had a cast on his left forearm over his Mark, now it's gone and so is his Mark, or so it seems his Mark is gone." Harry ground out angrily, looking between the two Vikings with a trying look in his eyes. "What happened to his cast? Why did you take it off? What spells, charms, or curses do you have on his Mark that make it appear as though it is gone?" Harry finished, breathing like a winded rhinoceros, his face beet red from frustration and annoyance.

Asta could tell that Harry must have thought were either; taking pity on Blondie or were crossing him and his friends by removing his cast and covering his Mark, because he attempted to remove beautification charms on Blondie and wound up removing them from himself. Everyone could now see the bags under his eyes, they were heavy and a deep purple. He had been eating at every meal, all of them, even Malfoy though he'd never admit it, had been watching him to make sure he'd been eating; but he didn't look like he had.

Ron was standing at the doorway behind Harry, to make sure their extra guest doesn't come sneaking in, and he looked just as tired as Harry did. Hermione stood at the door behind Brynjar, the door that Cuyler was right on the other side of. The whole of the "Golden Trio" looked exhausted and as far as Asta and Brynjar knew, they had spent the last five days up in a room talking. They all looked like they could use a good Sleeping Draught, but she knew they all wouldn't take it and leave themselves vulnerable. Hopefully she could convince them to take it in turns, so they could each get a good nights sleep one at a time.

Just as Brynjar was about to speak, Asta caught sight of Cuyler poking his head around the corner, using hand signals they came up with when they were younger to ask if they were alright. She didn't want to take any chances in pissing Harry off further, or making the other two angry with them so she called out to Ron.

"Ron, turn around and take Cuyler's pouch please. Don't hurt him please, he just saw that Harry was angry when he walked in here and wanted to make sure we were alright, but I wasn't taking any chances." Asta asked calmly as she watched Ron train his wand on Cuyler, while he extracted his pouch from his pocket. She heard Hermione's breath catch at the mention of her wedding date being at her, most likely, still jealous friends mercy, but just kept an eye on Ron, hoping he would be 'professional' about this.

Once Cuyler found a set next to Asta, both her and Hermione let out a breath neither knew they had been holding. Ron came next to Harry and set Cuyler's pouch on the table and slid it down the table to Cuyler, who caught it but let it rest on the table, nodding his head towards Ron in thanks. Ron returned the gesture and went to lean back against the counter, arms crossed and face blank.

"The cast was removed by Abraxus the night we worked as extra security for your brother Bill's wedding, do you remember?" Brynjar began, looking from Harry to Ron, and turning in his seat to look at Hermione. They all nodded solemnly that they remembered, and Harry gestured for Brynjar to continue. "When we left it was for a meeting because of that bloody woman, Bellatrix, Abraxus was shown almost all of our friends memories and when he saw Asta bludgeoning that woman he ordered for us to be summoned." Brynjar paused for a moment and looked at Asta who looked at him in surprise.

"Hey, they asked what happened to the cast and his Mark, they didn't ask for the gruesome depressing details, no offense." Asta added as she turned to Malfoy, whose jaw looked as though it was about to become unhinged. "My father took Blondie into his study with Brynjar's mum, for about what, an hour? Hour and a half, would you say? Anyway, when they all came back out his cast was gone and his Mark was gone. Believe me, and if you don't I'll take veritaserum or do whatever, the first thing we both did was flip our fucking lid because his cast was gone." Asta explained vehemently, before turning to Malfoy with a Cheshire grin on her face. "Care to explain how he did it Blondie, seeing as you were the one out of the seven of us currently present that was there?"

Malfoy looked around the room at all the faces staring at him; the two angry sets of eyes from Potter and Weasel, the three curious sets of eyes from the Vikings and one set of sad, sympathetic eyes from the one person who should be happy he's going through this rollercoaster of calming-hell, Granger. 'I'll never deserve her. She feels sorry for me being put on display like some sort of freak show, when it doesn't even begin to make up for what I've put her through. She's too good for you.' Malfoy thought to himself as he held her gaze for longer than he meant to before he ran his hands down over his face, as though that would make them all disappear.

"The King used Dark Magic…. Old Magic…. Magic from tomes so old I don't ever recall hearing about them or seeing them." Malfoy said flatly as he dead panned at the table in front of him. He heard a shuffle and a scrape on his left, and then everyone around him snickering. When he looked up, he saw Hermione had sat down two chairs away from him, paying rapt attention to what he was saying. He realized he had piqued her interest with ancient tomes, and that that must have been what had broken everyone's war faces. Potter and Weasley were now lowering themselves into chairs at the table, their faces less hard and serious, the three Vikings looked to Harry for permission to reclaim their personal affects; and did so hurriedly when Harry guiltily nodded yes.

Potter amazed him, he hadn't even heard the whole explanation yet but he had already lowered his guard and trusted everyone again. Potter must know something that he doesn't, and that is not acceptable, however right now Granger was looking at him like a mooncalf and he must continue with his regaling.

"When I say old, I mean ANCIENT. It almost looked like it could have been written back in the days of Merlin, it wa-" Malfoy stopped abruptly, everyone jumped but the three Vikings when Asta slammed her fist on the table looking as though she wanted to hex Malfoy into oblivion. Malfoy was about to ask her what her problem was, when she said something in a language he didn't understand, a language that made him shiver, but in a good way.

"The Book of Cursed Black Souls." Asta hissed angrily, looking at Brynjar with hurt in her eyes, before turning to Malfoy with a look of pure hate on her face. It sounded familiar to him. It sounded like Parseltongue, and apparently Weasel and Granger thought the same because they looked at Potter who looked at the raven-haired witch with wide eyes.

"What did the book look like?" Asta asked Malfoy through gritted teeth, and an evil and angry glare.

Malfoy was struggling to find the ability to speak, she had him petrified by the look she was giving him. He didn't understand what the big deal was, it was just a book! A bloody beautiful and impressively ancient book, but still a book! He wanted to answer her, to give her what she wanted to make her stop giving him that look… that look like her eyes were going to peel his flesh from his body while he was still alive, but he could find his voice. Thankfully, Brynjar sensed that he wasn't going to be able to give her answers if she didn't relax and back off of him, and asked Harry if Cuyler could take Malfoy into another room for a moment while Cuyler helped calmed Malfoy down.

Harry agreed, but only if Hermione went with them, not trusting Ron and Malfoy to be in a room together when they are supposed to be calming down.

Hermione, Malfoy and Cuyler made their way out into the Hallway and Hermione led them into the first spare room on the right and shut the door, and Malfoy groaned. This was the room that he and Harry were in not that long ago for his embarrassing interrogation. The embarrassing memories didn't linger for very long however, because Cuyler was pushing him towards a chair and telling him to relax.

"Look mate, I know she's terrifying, but you gotta relax." Cuyler said flatly, looking Malfoy dead in the eye with a straight face, and one hand on his shoulder. Malfoy could only laugh a terrified shaky laugh at the larger man's words, before running his hands through his hair nervously and dropping his elbows to his knees, letting out a shaky breath.

"She got bloody MURDEROUS over a book! A fucking book!" Malfoy exclaimed as he jumped up from his chair and started pacing, making Hermione move towards the door, her wand in hand. "I've only ever seen Hermione get vicious over a book, and she NEVER got like her!" Malfoy finally noticed Hermione blocking the door, knowing she was doing it to prevent him from "escaping" but he didn't care and he didn't like it in case that murderous wench came blasting through that door. "Ohhhhhh no, no, no! You two switch places!" Malfoy ordered, not caring that he had no rank here. "If she comes barreling in here after me I don't want you taking a section of door through the bloody breast!" Malfoy practically whimpered, fear etched across his face as he silently begged Hermione to move away from the door, while he continued to pace the floor.

Hermione almost felt suffocated by how much Malfoy cared for her safety and actually seemed to be worried that she was actually going to be hurt. He almost looked as though he was going to break down in tears, or lunge for her if she didn't move soon. She nodded her head in agreement and carefully made her way away from the door and Cuyler made his way towards Malfoy, grabbing both his shoulders with his hands, forcing him to look the larger man in the eye.

"Look, Malfoy is it?" Cuyler asked, turning to Hermione who nodded her head slightly, before turning back to face Malfoy. "You have to relax! You have to maintain that front you put up when Snakeman was living in your house. You didn't walk around like a petrified little baby did you?" Cuyler coaxed, hoping this would anger the smaller man, and it did but only a little bit.

"No..." Malfoy replied weakly, but with more bite than he previously had.

"I thought so. That book that King used to break the curses and shit that were used for your Mark, could you see what it looked like before the King actually had it in his hand?" Cuyler asked hurriedly, clearly confusing Malfoy and Hermione but ignoring their questioning looks. "Yes or no?" Cuyler demanded, shaking Malfoy slightly, causing Hermione to squeak nervously.

"N-n-no!" Malfoy finally barked, trying to remove Cuyler's hands from his shoulders. "I-it looked like… like a globe before he transfigured it... why?" Malfoy added just as Cuyler let his hands fall from Malfoy's shoulders, running them through his hair nervously before turning to face the two of them.

"That book is called, 'The Book of Cursed Black Souls'. That book has been passed down through Asta's family for generations." Cuyler began explaining, slowly releasing his hold on Malfoy to make sure he wouldn't take up pacing again. Once it was evident Malfoy was calm, Cuyler gestured for Malfoy to take his seat again so he could continue explaining what Asta's malfunction was. "She got angry back there because all the spells in that book take three wizards casting them to make them work, which means you must have read the book. Her father won't let her near that book yet, won't even let her look over his shoulder while he's reading it." Cuyler added looking at Malfoy with sad eyes that he knew were for his friend. Suddenly Malfoy understood why she was so angry, he would be too if things were reversed. "She's not really mad at you, you see, she's mad at her father. She has anger issues that she needs to work on, she knows that, but she's been hurt a lot by people she was supposed to be able to trust so now she just lashes out."

"Draco didn't even answer her question yet though, so maybe they used a different book." Hermione spoke up for the first time since they entered the room, giving Malfoy a soft gentle look before turning to Cuyler, who just shook his head.

"The fact that Malfoy here said he didn't know see the book until the King touched it proves that it is the 'Cursed Black Souls book'. It is old, dark, black magic that was put on the book when it was made so only an Akeldama can…." Cuyler trailed off, staring at the wall above Malfoy's head, his eyes narrow and his face hard. "Only an Akeldama… Dark magic…" Cuyler began mumbling to himself, making Malfoy nervous back away and sidle towards Hermione who, instead, moved towards the larger man earnestly.

"Cuyler?" Hermione asked softly, reaching a delicate hand out laying it on his arm. As soon as she did, whatever was circulating through Cuyler's mind seemed to have clicked. His eyes widened and his face paled considerably, as he whispered one word before bounding out of the room calling for Asta.

"Blood." Cuyler whispered, eyes widening as everything suddenly started to click, even though he wished this would be one time he would be wrong. He quickly whipped around on his heel and ran towards the door, leaving Hermione and Malfoy both confused behind him. "Asta! Asta!" Cuyler shouted, bareeling down the hall and into the kitchen, jumping down the two steps into the kitchen, two inches shy of whacking his nuts on the table.

"Cuyler? Cuyler! What's wrong?" Asta asked as she ran from her seat that she had taken down at the end of the table with Harry, Ron and Brnyjar; when Cuyler abruptly appeared in the kitchen with Hermione and Malfoy a beat behind him.

"What made your dad pick 'The Book of Cursed Black Souls' to remove his Mark? Do you know?" Cuyler asked hurriedly, looking at her with a panicked look in his eye.

"I was in the dining room with you guys, I have no idea what made him go for that book to get rid of his Mark." Asta said confusedly as she looked at Cuyler like he had sprouted conjoined twin, before looking past him towards Malfoy. "Blondie did he happen to explain to you why he picked that book?"

Malfoy shook his head. "No. Just said he had a feeling he knew what spell made the Mark. Said that magic's only been used in-"

"We need to go to my father….. NOW!" Asta said shakily, looking as though she was terrified.

"What kind of marriage ceremony did your father and she have?" Cuyler asked anxiously as he watched Asta rummage around in her pouch, he assumed to check and make sure she had everything she needed. His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw her eyes as she looked back up at him. He had never seen such an intense mixture of hatred and hopelessness in his life.

As soon as she heard him ask her that her throat went dry and she felt all the color drain from her face.

"Blood." She replied hoarsely as she zipped up her pouch and looked to see that Brynjar was ready to go as well. When he nodded he was ready, and she looked at Cuyler and he nodded as well they were about to make their way into the hall to take off. She knew this discovery has come over 17 years too late, she can only hope that they can correct whatever damage has been done.

Brynjar stopped at the steps to the hall, earning him a growl from his girlfriend, but he ignored her. He had to check to see if they would still be here while they were gone presenting this issue to the King, and if they planned on doing anything dangerous that they would need them for.

"I feel like we have been shitty at doing what we asked to accompany you three for, but this is important and we have to go back to the village and we may be gone for a day or two." Brynjar began looking between the three of them. "We still don't need to be told details but are you planning anything dangerous or big within the next few days that you may want or need us for? Or are you planning to move to a different safe house?" Brynjar asked sincerely, knowing he was seriously making Asta more and more angry by the millisecond.

Harry turned to look to Ron and then to Hermione, knowing they didn't have anything to planned and that they weren't planning on going to a different safe house. There really was nowhere else that was as safe as Grimmauld place, because they weren't putting anyone they loved in danger by being here. Apparently, Ron and Hermione understood the look Harry was giving them, because they nodded and Hermione disappeared up the stairs.

"We aren't going anywhere or planning anything yet, but would you allow us to go with you to your village?" Harry asked boldly, looking mainly at Asta for an answer. "The whole reason you're going back is based off of the removal of Malfoy's Mark, which by extension has to do with You-Know-Who; and that has everything to do with me. If there is something that your dad knows that can help us defeat You-Know-Who, then I would like to take the time to talk to him." Harry explained before either of the Vikings could try and argue, or give a reason why they can't go.

Asta sighed in defeat and hung her head, knowing it would probably just be better to take the trio with them. She snapped her head back up towards the hallway when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and saw Hermione making her way towards them with her beaded bag strapped across her body.

She looked up at Brynjar, who just shrugged his shoulders. 'Big help you are.' Asta thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Alright. We are leaving now, come on." Asta said firmly looking at Harry and Ron with a look that said they really didn't have a say in the matter. Both of them nodded, and made their way towards the hallway behind them.

"Cuyler, you take Blondie and go ahead of us." Brynjar ordered the brunette as he cleared a path for Malfoy to make his way up towards Cuyler. "Once you get home get all the guys and meet us at Asta's." Brynjar added, looking at Asta for her approval of his orders, and she nodded her consent.

Cuyler nodded before gesturing for Malfoy to get a move on and taking hold of his arm, then disappearing with a pop.

After the both of them were gone Asta and Brynjar turned to the trio, to see Hermione watching them expectantly, whereas Harry and Ron were staring at them with weary eyes. Asta figured she better give them the rundown of what to expect when they arrive at the village.

"Once we get to the village we are going to escort you to my room where you can carry on planning whatever it is you three are on the run doing, while we are meeting with my father." Asta began looking between the three of them hurriedly, pausing long enough to catch a breath, cutting Hermione off before she even began to speak. "I doubt it will be barely be two hours after we have arrived, that my house will be filled with my men and my fathers' trying to come up with figure out this whole mess, and these gatherings can only go one of two ways; boring or violent. So, it is best that you stay in my room unless you seriously protest once we get there and/or my father requests your presence or sides with you." Asta added, making the color drain from all three of their faces. "But we need to get going so, grab hold of Brynjar and myself now." Asta commanded as she focused on her home. Once she felt all hands on her, and she assumed Brynjar as well, she felt a squeeze on her arm and she disapparated away with Brynjar and the Golden Trio in tow.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Asta, Brynjar, Harry, Ron and Hermione landed in the middle of Asta's sitting room, startling the house elf that was quickly making her way away from the shouting and crashing noises coming from the down the hallway. When the five wizards appeared, the elf jumped to the floor and covered her ears with a screech, before looking up and seeing it was her young mistress and her friend and visitors.

"Oh! Miss Asta!" The elf squeaked, curtseying for her mistress and her company. "You gave Dagmar a fright! No worse than Master Abraxus! He's is having a right fit." Dagmar explained as she snapped her fingers, and suddenly a raucous started in the kitchen. "Would you like Dagmar to get you or your company anything Miss Asta?" Dagmar asked with kind eyes as she skillfully ignored the cursing and crashing coming from down the hall.

Asta turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione and looked at them with raised eyebrows at Dagmar's question. All three politely declined, but Dagmar must have seen through Ron's answer, as she nodded her head and boldly asked Asta where she should bring the refreshments for them when they are ready.

"They will be set up in my room. They will be putting up a few basic protective enchantments around my room while they are in there. So, when you bring the refreshments into them Dagmar, anything you hear-" Asta began, but was cut off by the little elf.

"My lips are seal Miss Asta." Dagmar stated flatly, curtseying low. "I will apparate into Miss Asta's room in five minutes with the refreshments."

Harry, Ron and Hermione watched the exchange in stunned silence, except for when they were asked if they wanted any food or drink, at the way that Asta's house elf interacted with her Master. The little elf wasn't afraid of her Master's like the house elves they were used to seeing were. Dagmar had TALKED OVER her Master, and even defied her Master by still bringing Harry, Ron and Hermione food and drink when they said 'no thank you'. The disbelief and confusion must have been evident on their faces, that is until a particularly loud crash came from the end of the hall that made them all jump, because Brynjar snorted with laughter before whispering something to Asta and taking off towards the front door.

Asta gestured for the three of them to follow her down the hall, noting that all three of them were hesitant seeing as the cursing and crashing and banging hadn't stopped on bit since they got there, but she impatiently gestured again for them to follow her which they obeyed reluctantly. They walked down the hall, passing three doors on the both sides, the second on the left being the source of the cursing and crashing, before finally stopping at the fourth door. Asta magically unlocked the door and opened it for the three of them to walk into.

"Our house elves haven't been enslaved since 1086. Obviously, Dagmar and her husband Asger aren't the same elves from way back then, but we, our ancestors from that time on, have always treated them kindly and given and made them clothes. We even give them time off for personal reasons, holidays if they want it or just to say 'fuck it! I don't want to work today'." Asta explained as she made sure she was just inside the doorway while Hermione began casting the enchantments, so she knew that they could hear her. "We offered them money for their work but they refused and made a fair argument as to why taking money would be a waste on both ends." Asta added before growling a warning at Ron as he picked up a skull off of her wardrobe to look at closer, he blushed furiously before rushing to put it back where he snatched it from.

"S-s-sorry.." Ron stuttered, being careful to not touch anything else in her room for fear of her actually attacking him.

"Look…" Asta sighed, running her hand down her face not really feeling up to storytelling at the moment. "You can use anything you need at my desk; maps, pencils, parchment, compasses, rulers anything that is there you can use. Everything in my room is charmed so that only I can open it, after Astrid's little stunt I had no choice but to do that." Asta added under her breath as she moved towards her desk, muttering a few words to lift the charm on her desk so they can get to her materials. "As you can see I have a ton of books in here that you are welcome to leaf through, if you should think they might be helpful. You can make yourselves comfortable on my bed, you can transfigure anything you want into anything comfy you desire, because believe it or not I am pretty easy going. The bathroom is out this door and down the hall two doors on the right." Asta explained as she slowly started making her way towards her bedroom door. "If you should find that you need Brynjar and I for anything, I am going to let my father know that you are here, so you can come and pull one of us from the meeting."

"What if your father wants us to take part in this meeting or gathering? You said he may request our presence." Harry began looking at Asta with a hard-unreadable face. Which was the exact opposite of his mind, the poor boy wasn't the best at occlumency. "Now that we have enchantments up how are you going to let us know he wants us to join you? Or did you not want us to be able to be called-" Harry was cut off by Dagmar, who apparated in with their food and drink.

"Dagmar is here with your refreshments Sir's and Miss." Dagmar stated proudly as she magically sent the tray to the desk, before turning to Harry, who looked confused as to why she chose to turn to him. Apparently, that thought was readable in his expression, because Dagmar looked up at Harry and said, "You is a natural born lead Sir, and Alpha as they say, whether you wants to be or not I'm afraid. We's always turn to the leader for more orders Sir." Dagmar curtseyed, before looking up at Harry once again before asking, "Will you and your friends be needing anything else Sir?"

Harry just stared at Dagmar in awe. Her actual Master is still in the room and she was looking to him for orders? She thinks he is and Alpha? She thinks he is a natural born leader? He was shaken from his internal conversation with himself, when he heard Asta give Dagmar an order before dismissing her.

"Dagmar, if at some point tonight father wants to Harry Potter and his friends to join us in the dining room, if he ever stops his temper tantrum that is," Asta added cheekily while rolling her eyes, which made the little elf giggle, "I will need you or Asger, to please apparate in here and ask them to come out and join us in the dining room. Okay?"

"Yes Miss Asta. Is that all?" Dagmar asked kindly with wide eyes.

"Yes Dagmar that is all, thank you." Asta replied, equally as kind.

The four of them watched as Dagmar curtseyed low one final time before disapparating out of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to Asta who gave them all a small smile, before stepping halfway out of her bedroom door. The sounds of cursing and crashing sounds gracing her right ear as soon as the silencing charm wasn't protecting it anymore. She could also hear the sounds of her friends in the dining room, and she could see Brynjar standing half in the dining room and half out, so he could watch for her.

"Alright." Asta sighed heavily, running her hands down her face as she thought of the stressful night and day that lay ahead of her. "I have to be going now, but remember what I said. You can pull either of us from the meeting, and if you get thirsty of hungry you can also feel free to call for Dagmar. She will be more than willing to help you. Asger is more or less my father's elf." Asta said in a bored tone rolling her eyes. "He will listen to me and he does like me, but he is more or less my father's elf. Also, the rooms on the left side of the house are my fathers. Please, out of respect for my father, do not enter any of his rooms." Asta pleaded sincerely. "We are not hiding anything, I'll do another quick bout of veritaserum to prove it if you want. But this whole upset is because someone went into one of my father's rooms, and possibly did something they shouldn't have. So please, resist the urge to get yourselves in trouble and don't go into ANY of the rooms on the left side of the hall." Asta pleaded one last time, waiting for a verbal acknowledgment from all of them.

"How did yo-" Ron began but was cut off by Harry, who could see that Asta was glancing out in the hall and cringing more and more.

"Ron, honestly who hasn't heard. We won't go anywhere you haven't already given us permission, I promise." Harry said with a barely there smirk on his face, that if Asta wasn't one to bare that same smirk herself she would have missed it.

"Thank you." Asta said giving a small smile, making her way down the hall a little ways before her father must have thrown something heavy at his study door, causing it to break in half. Asta jumped slightly at the unexpected 'explosion', and rolled her eyes as she looked down and saw the stuffed dragon head that would have hit her, had she came out of her room a minute earlier.

Just as she was about to hoist the dragon head up and carry it back in to her father and have a "talk" with him, Brynjar was quickly in front of her with the dragon head in hand and a glint of fury in his eye. She had never seen Brynjar get a look like that on his face when it came to her father, then again her father never almost did her in with a splintered door and a dragon head. She was about to reach out for him, but it was too late, he was already in the room with her father.

"Shit." Asta whispered, before calling for her house elf. "Dagmar!"

With a faint pop the little elf appeared next to Asta, "Yes, Miss Asta?"

"Go get Astrid and bring her to fathers' study. Quickly." Asta ordered, happy to hear that her elf disapparated at her command.

Asta rushed into her fathers' study to see Brynjar and her father standing toe to toe screaming at each other, the dragon head being put back in place by Asger, as the poor elf tried to put his Master's study back in order. Asta looked out in the hall and was happy to see that the guys had gathered outside the door at the sound of the commotion, in case they needed to intervene.

"You almost fucking took out your own bloody daughter and your fucking yelling at me!" Brynjar shouted at Abraxus, angry green eyes never wavering from the authoritative blue iris', their noses practically touching.

"You dare try and give me orders in my fucking house boy!" Abraxus growled before sending a mild shock at Brynjar, barely even phasing him. "If she didn't want to get hit, then she shouldn't have been standing there!"

Asta could hear a rush of feet behind her and turned around to see her friends running into the room, anger etched on their face at her father's words, but she held her hand up to stop them. They immediately stopped, but they huffed and puffed in frustration as they stood by watching the King and Brynjar's exchange.

"That's what you have to fucking say for your fucking childlike tantrum that almost cost you your ONLY-FUCKING-CHILD?" Brynjar spat venomously, as Asta wedged herself between Brynjar and her father. As soon as he felt her body against his, he pulled her tight against his side with his left arm and stepped closer to the king. "Do you even really care about her? Really love her? Or was that a lie?"

Abraxus narrowed his eyes at Brynjar, unable to believe that the young boy had had the gall to say that to him.

"How do we really know that you're treating my daughter right while you're away? Questioning my love for her and if I care for her; but how do I know you're not just like your father when you're off with my daughter?" Abraxus growled venomously, knowing even though his words had no relevance to why they were here, the older man didn't want to admit defeat.

Brynjar was seething, his skin was hot to the touch and red and blotchy from holding in his rage. He could see Abraxus standing directly in front of him, a hint of smugness playing across him features. He wanted nothing more than to beat the smugness off of his face, and continue beating him to make sure he never compared him to his shit father again! How had an argument over Abraxus almost fucking killing his daughter, lead to Abraxus accusing Brynjar of treating Asta the way his father did his mother?

Brynjar could feel Asta trying to pull his face down towards hers, and he could hear her calling his name. He knew what she was trying to do, he knew she was trying to calm him down, to make him see reason, but it just wasn't in the cards this time. Before his logical sense could stop his body, he ever so gently took Asta's hands in his own and pressed them to his lips, making a show of how gentle he is with her for her father, before putting her hands down and gently pushing her to the side.

"Fuck, Asta! Get 'im!" Balder shouted not a second after Brynjar pushed Asta to the side, Brynjar drew back and punched Abraxus square in the jaw.

There was a mad rush of feet into the Abrauxus' study as the King and Brynjar began to brawl. Balder, Cuyler and Colborn all were trying to restrain Brynjar and failing miserably; while Arvid, Gunnar and Eindride were attempting to restrain the King with a little more success. Asta was dodging flying fists from both her father and Brynjar as she attempted to rein in the more dangerous of the two. All the while getting yelled at by Balder to be fucking careful and watch the fuck out, which she met with an eye roll and a duck as another fist came flying from one direction or another.

"Brynjar, you need…" Asta began again to try calming Brynjar down, until she felt a tingle of static in the air around her which she knew normally she caused. She instantly knew what was going on and she spun on her heel and faced her father with a deadly glare. "Don't you… fucking… dare…" She ground out as she narrowed her eyes at her father, who still had his eyes locked on Brynjar. "YOU WILL FUCKING LOOK AT ME WHEN I SPEAK!" Asta shouted at her father, gaining his undivided attention. "If I feel you EVER prepare to do that to Brynjar or any of my friends again, especially after YOU fucking provoked them," Asta paused briefly, transfiguring a piece of wood from the door into a step latter so she could be at eye level with her father, "you and I will fight to the fucking death. You were completely out of line with what you said to him, and you know it. You were wrong, and you know it." Asta stopped and stared her father down. The tension in the room extremely heavy, so heavy the Greek God Prometheus wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Arvid, Eindride and Gunnar were forced to let go of Abraxus due to the fact that he was pulsing electricity so much at the fact that his daughter was ordering him around. They didn't shy away from him, however, they kept close behind him in case he made a move to lunge at her or Brynjar.

"Dagmar!" Asta shouted, still face to face with her father. A moment later Dagmar appeared with Astrid in tow, her appearance as regal as ever, that is until she saw the scene before her.

"Wha-what happened? What is going on?" Astrid asked nervously, her voice shaking as she swept her way over to where her son was barely being held back by three of his friends.

"What the bloody hell took you so long?" Asta ground out, not even trying to contain her anger. Knowing full well that they will be here for a few days at least and she will make it a point to apologize to Astrid for her attitude.

"It's not Dagmar's fault. I will explain later if it is imperative, what I want to know is what happened here?" Astrid asked weakly as she grabbed her sons face and saw the bruises and the cuts on his face.

"Astrid, can you please watch my father while I talk to Brynjar please?" Asta asked firmly but sweetly, still not breaking eye contact with her father. Sensing Astrid was about to argue, or demand an explanation, Asta continued on. "We will explain in a bit but right now tempers are high and the tension is strong. So will you please just keep my father in check while I get Brynjar to calm down?" Asta pleaded, her eyes still firmly held on her father not willing to let him think that she can be intimidated by him, just because he is her father.

There were a few moments of silence before Astrid finally agreed and took Asta's place of making sure Abraxus didn't do anything foolish. Asta could have sworn she heard whispering behind her, making her think that Balder or one other two trying to hold Brynjar back was trying to fill her in.

As Astrid took Asta's place she felt a surge of electricity and whipped back around, and ripped her father down to her level by the front of his shirt. Her normally electric blue eyes, now dark blue from anger at her father's childishness.

"We will take this to another location if you think for one moment that my previous threat was made in jest. You know you are in the wrong. You know you are behaving like a child. You know you did something stupid. Rather than admit you are wrong, you provoked him by saying something you can never take back. NONE OF THEM will be punished for what happened here today because this," Asta paused and gestured to her fathers' bloody and bruised face, "is your fault. And if I find out that they were punished you and I are going to have a problem. Now go with Astrid and get cleaned up, because we have an issue we have to try and resolve."

Everyone in the room watched the exchange in silence, waiting for chaos to happen and hell to break loose, but it never came. The King lifted his eyes from that of his daughter, to her boyfriend behind her who was still seething at the sight of him, and he nodded his head in defeat.

Asta relinquished the hold she had on her father slowly, watching him carefully as he slowly rose to his full height and turned toward Astrid. Astrid reached out and grabbed Abraxus' shirt and pulled him toward the door of his study. Asta looked over at the three guys that were holding back her father and gestured for them to follow after Astrid and her father, just in case. The three of them nodded and exited the room.

Asta turned to Asger who was still putting the study back together, despite everything that was going on around him, crazy elf.

"Asger, I'll set everything right. Please, go help Dagmar get food and drink prepared for a long meeting." Asta commanded, not leaving the King's elf room to argue with her.

"Yes Miss Asta. Asger was getting tired of fixing Masters' study. Thank you." Asger bowed before disapparating.

Asta turned to see Brynjar's chest was still heaving, and his face was still beet red. She has seen him angry before, and she has seen him murderous before; but this was a whole new level of rage that she has never seen. She doesn't know what to expect, or how to go about calming him down. What she does know, is that she doesn't want the other guys in the room while she is attempting to calm him down.

"Alright, I've never seen him this angry before… I'm going to try calming him down the normal way I do, as soon as I grab hold of his face I want the three of you to get out and shut the door." Asta paused to make eye contact with each of them to show them that she was serious and not taking no for an answer, when she saw that Balder was going to argue. "I don't want to hear it. My gut is telling me that it needs to be just me and him alone; and it's not so we can fuck to calm him down, or anything like that. I'd never do anything like that in my fathers' study, that's disgusting and disrespectful, not that he deserves any respect right now. I am going to go about calming him normally and you three are going to leave and shut the door, understand?" Asta ordered, waiting for each of them to answer her.

"What if he goes berserk and throws you across the room to go after your father?" Balder asks angrily looking at her, really not wanting to leave her alone with a severely angry Brynjar that he and two other full grown men couldn't hold back easily.

"He won't!" Asta spat angrily as she waved her hand around the room to finish up what Asger had been attempting to keep up on.

"What if he mistakes you for your father?" Colborn asked nervously, clenching his jaw at the thought.

"He won't!" Asta spat angrily again before adding, "If he does, it's a good thing I had you guys spar with me so you actually punched me so I could with withstand a punch from you, isn't it?" Eyeing her friend angrily, wishing they would just do as she instructed. They were wasting time by arguing with her and it was working her last nerve. "The more you argue with me, the more time you are wasting! Just get ready to let him go and get out of the room and shut the bloody door! Please!" Asta begged, as she saw Brynjar still struggling to get free, still beyond angry, still hurt. It hurt her to know that he was hurting, but she was too proud to let anyone else know that.

Finally, her three friends nodded that they would do as she asked and were ready when she was, when Balder spoke up one last time.

"If I hear you scream or I hear any noise indicating you're in trouble, I'm coming back in and I'm gonna make sure he goes down. I'm not saying I'm going to kill him, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to restrain or reason with him next time." Balder warned, anger and fear for her safety evident in his every word.

Asta nodded her understanding, she felt bad for being hard on her friends but she knows Brynjar, she knows how to handle him. She readied herself in front of Brynjar who was visibly struggling to not plow over Asta, while shaking his friends at the same time.

"Alright. Three. Two. One. GO!" Asta shouted as she threw herself at Brynjar, wrapping her legs around his waist, placing both hands on his face while speaking softly to him. "Brynjar. Brynjar, it's Asta. Hey, it's me!" Asta spoke softly to Brynjar, holding his face in place, so his eyes had to be in direct contact with her own. But it was as though he was in an entirely different place from her. She began to panic. She was worried she wouldn't be able to calm him down from this.

She tightened the hold her legs had on his torso and she her hands fell slightly to the sides of his neck.

"B, it's me! It's just you and me, we're the only one's here. It's ok, you can relax." Asta said softly as she looked into his eyes and inspected his eyes and face for any signs of change, but couldn't find any. Asta unwrapped her legs from around his waist, but left her hands on the side on his neck.

Brynjar's chest was still heaving, his face and neck were still red from anger, and his eyes were now cold and unrecognizable. They were still Irish green but they had a slightly darker tone to them, and his whole body radiated anger.

"Brynjar… Please, come back… You're scaring me…" Asta whispered shakily, hating to admit that she was scared to Brynjar, but not willing to leave him to his own devices. She let her hands slide down from his neck to around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug.

Not knowing how long he and Asta had been alone in Abraxus' study alone, or how long they had been like this; all he remembers is hearing her say to him is that he was scaring her. That made him fear Abraxus was right about what he said earlier and he instantly wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, making her jump slightly at the sudden change in his demeanor.

"I'm sorry." Brynjar whispered as he leaned down and pressed three consecutive kisses to the top of Asta's head. "I didn't mean to scare you, I didn't know I was doing anything to scare you. I…. I didn't…." Brynjar stopped talking and squeezed Asta tighter for a moment before releasing his hold on her, so he didn't squeeze her to death. "I didn't…." He couldn't even bring himself to ask the question.

Asta looked up at Brynjar with a fiery look in her eye, daring him to try and force himself to finish asking his question. She guided him to her fathers' desk and made him sit on the edge of it and walked in between his legs and made him look her in the eyes.

"Now you listen here Brynjar Kykrbani." Asta commanded as she forced his chin up so he was looking her in the eyes, and took his hands out of his lap and put them on her hips, like he would have had them if it were any other time. "I'm making no excuses for my father, he was being a fucking child, throwing a tantrum and such. He figured out the same thing we did, and is behaving childishly about it. He knew he was wrong and had no argument to prove otherwise and instead of admitting defeat he provoked you by saying something he knows isn't true. You know you have never done anything to me like that. You are NOTHING like your father. You are a good man. You didn't lay a hand on me, even when I wedged myself between you and my father." Asta watched as a tinge of red appeared in Brynjar's cheeks at the mention of her wedging herself between him and her father.

"Why would you wedge yourself between your father and me? It's safe to say I wasn't holding back when I was swinging at your father." Brynjar asked through clenched teeth, careful to not lose himself again, not wanting to scare Asta again.

"I'll throw myself between you and an enemy army if it means there's a chance at keeping you safe." Asta replied automatically, stunning Brynjar into silence, earning him a well-deserved kiss. "I want to know if you are alright? You were out of it for longer than we are used to, and I couldn't calm you as quick as normal, which is what frightened me."

Brynjar took a shuddery breath as he tried to calm himself enough to talk about what she knows is his biggest fear. He's a man. He doesn't want to seem weak by admitting that he's worried that he's going to turn out like his father. He didn't want to admit that he was afraid that he would eventually hurt Asta, and go out the same way his father did. But he didn't want to lie to Asta either. He made it a point to never lie to her, he didn't exactly tell her that he told the guys about their sex life, but then again she never asked. Oh, the internal struggle.

"Brynjar?" Asta called, drawing him out of his internal debate.

Brynjar broke. For the first time since he had his first nightmare that he turned out to be like his father and was beating Asta. Silent tears fell from his eyes as he leaned his head into Asta's chest and pulled her closer to him, afraid to let her go.

"It's been my biggest fear since I caught him beating her when I was fifteen." Brynjar said softly into Astas' torso, afraid to talk any louder in case anyone was listening outside the door listening. "I had nightmares for a month that I turned out to be just like him, and I would beat you mercilessly. I don't want to be like him, I don't. I didn't want to hit you in sparring either, but you made me, and that made it worse." Brynjar paused to catch his breath and squeeze her tighter, when he did he heard her sniffle. "The only thing that made the nightmares bearable, was the fact that you seemed to know I was having them and snuck in to comfort me."

Asta stroked Brynjar's head as he confessed his fear, knowing full well it wasn't an easy thing for him to do. Hell, it wasn't an easy thing for HER to do! He squeezed her one last time around her hips before releasing his vice-like hold on her and pulling his head back to look up at her. When she looked in his eyes she saw the tear tracks down his cheeks and the red rims around his eyes, and that made her want to kill her father even more.

"I'm afraid of becoming just like him down the road. My mum said he never used to be like that, that something just snapped in him or something and he changed." Brynjar began again, a fresh tear rolling down his cheek. "What happens if the same thing happens with me, Asta? I don't want to hurt you, or anyone that doesn't deserve to be hurt."

Asta pushed Brynjar back further on her fathers' desk so she could set herself on his lap. As soon as she draped her legs over the side of his, he wrapped his arms around her waist and went to lay his head on her shoulder, but she pulled her torso away and put a hand over his right peck.

"Brynjar, I know the heart that beats within your chest. Take away the fact that you are a Viking who has bloodlust and violence engraved in you, your heart is as pure as can be." Asta stated with a sweetness that Brynjar had never heard before, looking him directly in his eyes as she delivered every word with utmost sincerity. "You are a good man, and you will never be anything but that." Asta punctuated each word with a light hit from her fist to his chest, giving him a small smile each time she did so. "I won't allow you to be, I promised you, remember?" Asta reminded him with a sad smile, dropping her gaze a little when Brynjar nodded numbly at her words.

"Thank you, Love." Brynjar said softly as he pulled her into his chest tightly, taking a deep shuddering breath to try and calm himself. He bent his head down to kiss the top of Astas' head, "For everything." Brynjar added, giving her one more squeeze before gesturing for her to slide off of him. "How about we go out there and join the meeting, if it's already started, or wait for it to start if it hasn't started yet, eh?" Brynjar suggested, looking at Asta shyly. As though he'd rather confess his biggest fears in front of our enemies than go out there and face her father.

"Are you sure you'll be alright to see my father? Because Balder said the next time you go off like that he's not going to try and reason with you, and I'm not going to let my father stay conscious either. So, are you absolutely sure you are going to be fine when you see him?" Asta demanded, pulling his face down to look her in the eye, so he could see that she wasn't joking.

Brynjar closed his eyes for a moment and imagined walking into the dining room, and seeing Abraxus standing in his usual spot, with his hands propped against the back of his chair. A small wave of anger washed over him, but nothing he couldn't control. He knew for a fact that his mother would be there by now, so she would keep Abraxus in line, as would Asta. Hell, Asta would keep the whole bloody room in line.

"I'll be fine as long as I can feel your touch to keep me grounded." Brynjar said firmly, offering her a small smile as he guided her towards the door. "Are you ready?" Brynjar asked her, noting the look of shock on her face. Unable to suppress the chuckle from the look she was giving him.

"Of course, I'm ready." Asta said in mock offense as she stuck her nose in the air as she marched on ahead of him. Leading him towards the dining room, stopping a few feet away from the entrance to the dining room to turn to look at Brynjar. His body was tense and slightly sweaty, and for once he looked nervous to go to a meeting. She looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile before squeezing his hand, which brought him out of his nervous trance. He looked down at her and returned her smile and returned her squeeze, before leaning down and capturing her lips with his for a quick kiss before gesturing for her to continue on.

Asta nodded her head and squeezed his hand one last time before guiding Brynjar towards the archway of the dining room, where Brynjar specifically was greeted by the King, causing Brynjar's body to stiffen.

"Brynjar, m'boy." Abraxus greeted Brynjar in a gravelly tone from his spot behind his chair, nodding his head slightly in Brynjar's direction causing Brynjar's whole body tensed up, as did Asta's.

"Sir." Brynjar greeted in the same tone, knowing full well he was most likely crushing Asta's hand with his vice-like grip, but he couldn't help it. He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment of the King, then he turned and made his way towards the back of the room to stand next to Balder. He made a mental note to ask Asta later why she followed him walking backwards, not taking her eyes off her father.

It seems as though her father was wondering the same thing, the question was lingering in his eyes as he watched them, along with what looked like guilt?

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A/N: Ok, this was a very long chapter! And this meeting is going to be carried over into the next chapter as well! There may be a continuation of some mushy fluff in the next chapter as well, I haven't quite decided yet. I just knew I had to cut this chapter off before I let it get much longer.

I did write a section where Cuyler described what "The Book of Cursed Black Souls" looked like to Hermione and Malfoy, but I was afraid it might seem too…. Horrific, or that it might seem like too much, even for a Viking story. I asked for opinions and I got one good review from a good friend and fellow writer, IWriteToSurvive; and my lovely fiancé who told me I was twisted… -_- If anyone would like to read how I wrote that "The Book of Cursed Black Souls" was made, let me know and I will post it. However, I am going to continue to write the story as though Harry, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy were never told how the book was made.

I've already started on the next chapter! Hope to have it up within a few weeks! Have been trying to draw Asta and Brynjar to make as my Profile Picture as well…. As it turns out, I can draw many things however, people are not among them… I'm very saddened by that… *sighs*

Anyway, you don't want to hear about my blubbering, I hope to post the next chapter soon! Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! Until next time!