Power of the Prince Lineage

SeverusxLily & Children

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Power of the Prince Lineage

Chapter 14: Tom Riddle's Diary and Hufflepuff's Cup

Lucius looked up from the documents he was going over in his office when there was a knock on the door. After allowing the person inside he saw it was his wife. Smiling at her he said, "Hello Narcissa. Is there something I can do for you?"

Narcissa walked behind Lucius' desk to stand behind him where he was seated, placing her hands on his shoulders and began to gently massage them. As her husband relaxed under her touch she said, "Well, I would like it if you would come eat with me. It's about dinner time and I'd like to spend it with my husband."

"Oh?"

"Yes, and I also have some news to share."

"Good or bad?"

"Good."

The blond man chuckled and stood up, turning to give the blond woman a sweet kiss on her cheek before taking her arm and leaving his office. As they walked down the corridor leading to the main part of the manor, they were stopped by one of their House Elves saying, "Master, Mistress, Master Sevvy Snape is waiting in the foyer."

Nodding Lucius thanked the House Elf, clearing his throat to keep from chuckling at the elf's pronunciation of Severus' name. It was too funny and he wouldn't dare tell his best friend that knowing it would embarrass him. Narcissa showed no sign of restraint and giggled before composing herself as they entered the foyer where Severus was waiting.

"Severus, good to see you," Lucius greeted, Narcissa nodding in greeting to the younger wizard. "Care to join us for dinner? We were just headed there now."

"Actually I need to speak with you about something important Lucius, and it can't wait," Severus said, not sugarcoating his visit like he didn't sugarcoat much of anything.

Lucius, hearing the tone in his friend's voice that spoke of no funny business, nodded and beckoned him to follow him and his wife. Walking into one of his many parlors, he sat down and asked, "What is the matter, Severus?"

Severus sat down across from the couple and answered, "I don't know if you know this or not Lucius, but the Dark Lord is close to returning."

Narcissa gasped and her grip on her husband's hand tightened. Lucius' own grey eyes widened before he schooled his expression, his gaze hardening as he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Eileen has Seen it. And now she's seeing Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes? Plural? And all from the Dark Lord?"

The dark man nodded and said, "Yes, he's seemed to create six of them. Eileen can see locations of at least three of them thus far, and Muirrean is helping her to try and get one. However I know you have one of them as well. A book, or diary I believe. You did receive one from the Dark Lord years ago, am I correct?"

Nodding Lucius replied, "Yes, he did give me a diary to keep safe without letting me know why. I can remember feeling the amount of Dark magic coming off of it when he handed it to me. I remember I couldn't wait to get rid of it when I got home. I'm not sure what I did with it, though."

"Eileen mentioned it looked like it was surrounded by a bunch of books, in a library."

At this Narcissa nodded and said, "I hid it there, on a high shelf so neither Draco, Lucius, or myself would be able to grab hold of it."

Surprised Lucius asked, "You did."

"Yes, because the moment you got home with it, you went to lie down because you were overwhelmed by the Dark magic coming from it. You handed it to me and told me to do something with it, so long as it was out of your sight. You fainted after that and stayed unconscious for two days. I put it in the library and honestly forgot about it until now."

Severus stood up and said, "I'm going to go get it so I can destroy it. If and when the Dark Lord returns, it would be best to be able to stop him without these objects existing and extending his life."

Lucius nodded and stood as well saying, "I'm coming with you to destroy it. I imagine since it is made of Dark magic, it would take Dark magic to destroy it. But we have to make sure we use the right spell, or curse."

Narcissa followed the two wizards out of the parlor and towards the Malfoy library saying, "Fiendfyre could work. It destroys any and everything. I see no reason why it shouldn't be able to destroy a Horcrux."

"Brilliant, my love." Lucius gave Narcissa a sweet kiss on her cheek, the blonde witch smiling.

Before long they entered the library and looked at the massive amounts of shelves and the books lining them. Narcissa walks over to one of the shelves and takes out a wand, pointing it up and saying, "Accio Horcrux."

A book on the shelf underneath the top one wiggled out and floated down to Narcissa, landing in her hand. Hearing the whispers and feeling the Dark magic coming from it, she shuddered and handed it to Severus before saying, "Here it is. Please, take it and get rid of it for good."

Severus nodded and said, "Thank you, Narcissa. We'll return soon." Turning to Lucius he asked, "Where should we go?"

Lucius thought for a moment before answering, "I know just the place. Come along, Severus."

The two wizards left the library and Malfoy Manor altogether, Lucius grabbing Severus' robes and Disapparating away. Seconds later their feet landed on solid ground, to which Severus looked around for a bit before asking his friend where they were. Lucius looked at his surroundings for a moment before answering, "This is my great-grandparents' old vacation house on an island hidden from Muggle eyes. The place has been abandoned for years and I wouldn't dare bring Narcissa and Draco here; it has too many awful memories and I'll be happy to see it finally crumble."

"So you're going to destroy it when we destroy the Horcrux?" Severus asked.

"Of course not," Lucius denied. "We're here to destroy Tom Riddle's diary. However if the Fiendfyre gets out of control and burns the house, I'll just call that a bonus."

Severus rolled his eyes before taking the diary and tossing it onto the ground a few feet in front of them. Black and grey eyes met before they nodded at each other and turned back to the diary. Holding his wand out Severus pointed it at the Horcrux and said, "Fiendfyre."

Rolls of hot flames erupted from the tip of the wand and engulfed the diary. A horrible screech filled the air, black smoke filling the air from where it arose from the Horcrux. The smoke rolled and rumbled before taking shape, soon turning into the shape of Lily. And in her voice it spoke saying, "Look at you, you pathetic excuse of a man. Do you really think that I love you? You can't, nor will you ever be the true love of my life, James Potter. You wish you could have been him and have me, but you couldn't be him and you pushed me right into his arms. Everything everyone ever said about you is true. You're just a filthy Death Eater and the children are ashamed to call you their father, just like I'm ashamed to call you my husband. You will never be able to make us happy. Never, so why bother continuing to try?"

"Don't listen to it, Severus!" Lucius called, seeing that the Horcrux was eating on the man's insecurities and feeding them right back to him. Seeing that his friend's Fiendfyre was weakening, he moved a bit away from the dark man and pointed his own wand at the burning diary yelling, "Fiendfyre!"

Once Lucius' Fiendfyre joined Severus', the Horcrux roared loudly and the smoke that had formed Lily disappeared. Blinking Severus saw Lucius had joined in to destroy the diary and strengthened his own Fiendfyre. Before long the Horcrux stopped fighting and eventually died, allowing Lucius and Severus to cancel their Fiendfyres. As the fire died away and the smoke cleared, the diary lay burnt completely in a pile of ashes. Lucius then waved his wand and caused the ashes to fly away on a gust of wind and into the ocean. Turning to his friend he looked at him to see if he was alright.

"Severus?" he called cautiously. Grey eyes widened when he took notice that the slightly younger wizard was shaking. Realizing that he was thinking about what the Horcrux had said to him, he placed his hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Severus, none of what that thing said is true. Lily loves you, she's always loved you. She's proud to have you as her husband and she's proud that you're the father to her children. And your children love you unconditionally. Even with them knowing about your former Death Eater status, they love you and they aren't ashamed. You have to believe that; don't let your insecurities get the better of you."

Severus nodded slowly before saying, "I want to go home now, Lucius."

The blond wizard nodded and took hold of the dark man's arm before Disapparating, landing just outside the wards of Prince Manor. Letting go of his friend he said, "Remember what I said, Severus."

He watched the younger wizard nod slowly before entering the wards and disappearing from his sight. With a sigh Lucius returned back to Malfoy Manor, knowing Narcissa was waiting to hear about what happened.

Lily looked up from where she was grading papers in her office the moment the door opened. She smiled seeing her husband and was about to greet him and let him know how things had gone with Harry, but it fell instantly fell when she saw his distraught expression. Watching him shed his robes and deposit them on the armchair in her office she asked, "Sev, what's wrong?"

Severus said nothing, just walked over to his wife and around to where she was seated at her desk. When she turned in her seat to face him, he dropped down to his knees and laid his head in her lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. Surprised by this Lily placed her hand on his head and said, "Sev?"

There was a moment of silence before a choked sob was heard, causing alarm to rise inside of the red haired witch. Taking her husband's face into her hands she lifted it to make him look at her, her green eyes widening as she saw the tears standing in his black ones. Feeling anxious Lily said, "Severus, please. Tell me, what is the matter? What has upset you? Tell me so I can help you!"

"Lily," Severus said sounding so distraught. "You do really love me, don't you?"

Confused by the question Lily answered, "Of course I do. I've loved you since we were children. It took a while for me to find my way back to you, but I love you Severus. I love you more than I could ever understand. What would make you doubt that?"

Severus said nothing, just buried his face in Lily's midsection and held to her tightly as he cried. Lily, though she didn't understand what was causing her husband to react this way and question her love for him, just held him comfortingly and whispered words of love and comfort to him. She supposed it didn't matter at the moment, for she just needed to make Severus know that he was loved by her and always would be.

"Oh Sev," she said softly as she laid her head over onto his, rocking him slowly as she felt her heart constrict in pain at hearing her husband cry. Her husband was strong and not a lot could break him. But she knew she was his weakness and whatever had used her against him had nearly broken him.

"Do you think you understand what to do now?" Muirrean asked Eileen.

Eileen nodded and answered, "Yes, I think I get it now. The only thing I'm worried about it Apparating there and back. I've never Apparated on my own. I'm not sure I really understand the concept."

Muirrean waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about that. Just know that as long as the vision stands you will get there perfectly. The only time you should come back is when the vision ends. So you only have a limited amount of time. But as long as you concentrate your mind and your magic, you should be alright. Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath the First Year nodded and held her wand tightly saying, "Ready."

"You can do this, Eibhlin, I know you can."

Eileen nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating while also clearing her mind. Before she knew it the vision of the Horcruxes appeared behind her eyelids. Once she glimpsed the cup in the vault she concentrated and focused all of her magic on that particular vision. She just knew that no matter what, she somehow needed to get that cup.

A large gust of wind filled the parlor, wrapping around Eileen and causing her hair to blow with it. Slowly she was lifted off of the ground as the wind grew stronger and stronger. Muirrean held tightly to her bench as her portrait was swayed by the howling wind. Looking at her great-granddaughter she thought, You can do this!

Eileen could feel herself getting closer into her vision, more of the surroundings of the vault coming into view. A sharp pain went through her head and through her eyes, causing Eileen to gasp and open her eyes wide.

Muirrean's hazel eyes widened at seeing that Eileen's usual black eyes were glowing bright white. The glow from her eyes got brighter and brighter until it seemed Eileen's entire being was engulfed with the light, and then suddenly it went out. Once it had gone out, Eileen was nowhere in sight and the wind had died. Smiling Muirrean said to herself, "She did it."

When Eileen opened her eyes she saw she was standing inside of a Gringotts vault. She looked around at all of the galleons, gold, silver, and jewels that were inside of the vault. Whosever vault this was, it had to belong to a rather prestigious family. There were even family crests everywhere. Feeling herself become a bit dizzy, she knew her time was limited for Muirrean had told her that dizziness or lightheadedness was a sign of her vision waning. But as long as she was still Seeing it, she could still be there.

Holding her wand out she waved it and said, "Accio Horcrux cup."

A golden cup flew to her and landed in her hands. As soon as the cup was in her hands, she felt another pain shoot through her eyes and she grabbed her head before suddenly feeling herself being snatched back, landing on her back rather harshly. Opening her eyes she saw she was back in the parlor at Prince Manor where her great-grandmother's portrait hung. Sitting up she shook her head and looked up at the portrait to see both of her great-grandparents.

Roderick looked at his great-granddaughter concerned and asked, "Eibhlin, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so," Eileen answered. Looking over she saw where the cup was lying and picked it up. Holding it up with a proud grin she exclaimed, "I got it! I got the cup!"

Muirrean smiled proudly down at the dark haired girl and said, "I knew you could."

"As did I," Roderick said just as proud. With a serious tone and expression he said, "Now it just needs to be destroyed."

Eileen nodded and stood up before looking at the cup closely, taking notice of the badger engraved into it. Frowning she looked up at the portrait and asked, "Did Helga Hufflepuff have something of significance to her when she was alive?"

Confused by the question Roderick answered, "I'm sure she had many things of significance to her. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think this is her cup. It's even got her badger on it."

Roderick's eyes widened before he hissed, "That sick bastard! He had the nerve to taint the Founders' items with such Dark magic!"

"Roderick," Muirrean said soothingly, laying a hand on his shoulder. Seeing that her husband was in the process of calming down she turned to Eileen and said, "Take it to Severus, Eibhlin. I'm sure he will be delighted to learn that you retrieved the Horcrux."

Eileen nodded and ran out of the parlor, the twelve year old on her way to her parents' bedroom. She quickly hurried up the stairs to show her father that she had succeeded in getting Hufflepuff's Cup. However as she passed by her mother's office, she heard her mother and father's voices inside. Knocking on the door she opened it and hurried inside.

"Daddy, look! I got it! I got Hufflepuff's Cup! Now we can…daddy?" Eileen looked at her father, taking in his upset expression and how he seemed to be taking in comfort from her mother. Concerned she asked, "Daddy, are you alright?"

Severus wiped his face free of his tears and sniffed before answering, "I'm alright, Eileen."

His daughter didn't look convinced and frowned at him before looking at her mother. Lily shook her head at her daughter, silently telling her to drop it for now. Nodding back at her Eileen walked over to her father and handed him the cup. Severus looked at it before looking back at his youngest with a look of wonder on his face.

"You really did it," he said in awe. Placing a hand on her head he smiled and said, "I'm proud of you."

Eileen blushed at the praise and smiled brightly, throwing herself into her father's embrace, hugging him tightly. Severus hugged her just as close, taking in the love and comfort that she was giving him and he was returning to her. In his mind he could still hear what the Horcrux had told him lingering, but even he knew that wasn't true in this moment. Eileen would never understand just how much joy she and her brothers brought him, whether that was individually or altogether. And the words Lily had just spoken to him rang through his mind.

"Sev, you are loved. You are loved by me and by our children. There is no one more deserving of love than you, and you have it. And I'm so happy and lucky to say that you belong to us."

No, he was the lucky one.