A/N: I know I am late. It's been a REALLLLLLLLLLY bad last two weeks for me.

Also, I would love to tell you guys about my birthday and all the incidents attached to one of the most unusual days I've ever had, but I do not wish to risk being reported for 'abuse' again someone who can't simply skip over what they don't want to read. But it has proved one of my longest running theories to be true once more. It is small-minded people that tend to ruin things for the rest of us.

Oh well.

As always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Relations as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: LESSONS

Voldemort sat in his apartments, staring ahead of him at nothing imparticular as he absently tapped his foot against the floor.

Why couldn't things ever be simple? Why did everything that came at him have to be a challenge?

'Boring life otherwise.' he reprimanded himself with a slight smile. And his life had certainly been anything but boring so far.

He leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of him. They would be leaving soon to find this wizard in the north, he and Potter. Now that was sure to be an interesting journey. What was he suppose to do to keep a teenaged boy entertained? The trip was bound to take a few days. He doubted they would be able to apparate to the location, or travel by broom. Everything he could surmise about the situation indicated the best way to move was to stay in contact with the ground. The spell had done everything to indicate that except spell it out.

Maybe he could take Figg along. The thought brought an unaccustomed smile to his face. He quickly let it go. She could handle the boy. Keep him amused and out of his hair when he didn't need him. That would be her purpose. Nothing more.

Nothing more than a distraction he seriously didn't need.

Voldemort shook his head. No. It was better to keep the numbers low.

But for now he had other problems to deal with. He stood and gave the body a good stretch before heading for the door. Black kept himself in good shape. That was a plus for him in what lay ahead. All except for that blasted limp, the body was hard, lean, strong, and young. A serious upgrade from his last one.

He sighed as he stepped into the hallway. No point in putting things off any further. No unpleasant task was ever made shorter by avoiding it.

Within a few minute he was at Dumbledore's office. He pushed open the door without knocking. Closed doors irritated him to no end. No door was closed to him at the lair and he saw no reason for the trend to end.

To no great surprise he found the old man in.

"A moment of your time." he stated, shoving the door closed behind him.

(Scene change, put in because breaks in paragraphs are eliminated for some reason in the download.)

Harry arrived in the Headmaster's office early the next morning in answer to the summons he had gotten earlier. To his surprise, seated in the office was not only Dumbledore, but Professor Lupin as well.

Harry took the seat next to Lupin, who greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Harry," Dumbledore started as soon as he was seated, "Voldemort has come to us with a most unusual, but beneficial offer."

'He's leaving.' popped into Harry's mind almost at once. But he stayed silent, continuing to stare at the Headmaster expectantly.

"Voldemort came to see me the other day," Dumbledore explained, "and made a good point in that, whereas you are very advanced in magic use for your age, you still know very little about defense."

Suddenly Harry thought he saw the reason for Professor Lupin's presence. Dumbledore was going to have Lupin tutor him in defense skills before they left. Well, that would be all right. Lupin was a good teacher, and the man could have a barn sale on patients and still have enough left over for a classroom full of students. And he had always liked his defense classes.

"Therefore he has offered to teach you." Dumbledore added, breaking into Harry's train of thought.

Harry started slightly at the words. "What?"

Dumbledore looked slightly amused at Harry's reaction. But his expression quickly returned to a pensive stare.

"I know it seems very...'out of character' for Voldemort, Harry. But despite whatever reservations we may have about the offer, nor do I think it is one we can afford to pass on."

"You want me to let Voldemort teach me defense against the dark arts?" Harry asked in disbelieve.

Well, there was certainly the last teacher he ever thought he would have for that particular subject.

"It's not an offer to be taken lightly, Harry." Dumbledore explained. "I doubt a wizard alive today knows as much about the dark arts as Voldemort. And naturally he would also know a great deal about defense against them."

"And suppose this is just an excuse for him to be able to take a few free shots at me?" Harry asked, thinking about how many really good curses Voldemort must know that he could accidentally teach Harry the wrong spell to defend against while he was loading up his wand.

"While due to the circumstances, I don't think that is very likely, Harry," Dumbledore explained, "I am certainly not looking to place you in harms way. Therefore, Professor Lupin has offered, and Voldemort has agreed, to attend these 'lessons' with you."

Harry turned a questioning look to his former teacher.

"But why can't you just teach me?" Harry asked him hopefully.

Lupin gave him a pleasant smile. "Whereas I may know a great deal about defense against the dark arts, Harry," he explained, "I assure you I am nowhere near as proficient in the subject as Voldemort. And think into the future. Voldemort seems solely focused on the moment. What if one of these spells he teaches you inadvertently turns out to be the very spell you could one day turn against him? A spell that no one else could possibly have taught you? As Dumbledore says, it really is an opportunity we can't afford to pass up."

Harry turned his attention slowly back to the Headmaster.

"And what if he's lying?" Harry asked. "What if he simply uses this as an opportunity to kill me?"

Dumbledore fixed him with a very serious stare. "I'm not going to sit here, Harry, and tell you that that is something he may not try." The old wizard said. "But so far Voldemort has held to his word. He hasn't tried to harm a single person in this castle."

"Except Orion." Harry put in quickly.

"There was never any proof Voldemort was responsible for Mr. Black's condition, Harry." Dumbledore reminded him, though it gave Harry little comfort. "And so far, in all he has told us about this other wizard, one thing seems fairly constant. This man could be a very serious threat to you should you have to face him. And should something happen to Voldemort, and he can't be there to help protect you, you will need to know how to do that for yourself. And in that, I think Voldemort's lessons could be invaluable. Past even all that, don't forget that you are the hinge-pin to Voldemort's plans at the moment. He needs you alive and unharmed to find this wizard."

"So you think I should do it?" Harry asked tentatively.

"I'm not going to make your mind up for you, Harry." Dumbledore replied. "This offer was presented to you by Voldemort. You are the only one who can accept or refuse it. My words were only meant to express the benefits to you of the offer since I was fairly certain you would only see the negative aspects of it."

Harry turned his stare to Lupin, who quickly shook his head.

"The offer was made to you, Harry. Accept or refuse. The choice is yours."

Harry turned his attention finally to the floor. Although it wasn't offering up any opinions, it gave him something to passively stare at while he thought. Dumbledore made some good points. There wasn't likely a wizard alive who knew more about the dark arts or the defense against them than Voldemort did. And the spells he could learn most other wizards probably didn't even know. And Voldemort had been more or less on his best behavior since Harry had met him. He had been...almost pleasant, it seemed, to Harry.

But what if it was all just some trap? Some elaborate ruse to allow Voldemort a few good shots at him free of charge. Voldemort could even possibly kill him and blame it on a spell Harry didn't deflect correctly.

'But wouldn't that defeat the purpose?' Harry asked himself, remembering Dumbledore's words. Voldemort needed him alive or he would never be able to find this wizard.

Sighing to himself, Harry finally turned back to Dumbledore.

"All right." He said. "I agree. But the first indication something isn't right, and I'll use Sirius' spell again. And this time I'll make sure he doesn't come back."

Dumbledore gave him a kind smile. I doubt it will come to that, Harry." He replied. "The protection spells Orion originally put in place are still there, and they will actively keep Voldemort from harming you directly. But just in case," he added, turning briefly to the man seated beside Harry, "Mr. Lupin will be overseeing your lessons."

(Scene Change.)

Early the next morning Harry found himself collected by Lupin and taken down to a room situated far from any of the normal classrooms. Voldemort was already in the room when they arrived.

Standing in the middle of the room with his back to them, Voldemort was fending off a series of small orbs that dodged and bobbed about him. Each one occasionally firing off a streak of light that Voldemort easily deflected. The orbs increased their attacks, firing off spells more rapidly. But the older wizard seemed to easily deflect each one. So easily, in fact, it seemed to Harry that half the time he wasn't even paying that much attention to what he was doing. An attack would come from behind as he was fending off one from the front. But no sooner had he dispatched the one in front of him than he would turn, his wand already out and the start of a spell already on his lips as he faced the new encounter.

And so it went time and time again as Harry watched in mute fascination. It was rare to see a wizard of Voldemort's skill displaying it so prominently or so deftly. He and Lupin watched for several more minutes as Voldemort quickly dispensed with each of the orbs before eventually turning his attention to them.

"You're on time, Potter. Very good." he declared. "I hate be kept waiting."

Harry simply stood his ground, saying nothing, waiting to see what these 'lessons' Voldemort had in mind would encompass.

He didn't have long to wait.

"Were you paying attention before?" the older wizard ask.

Harry didn't have to ask 'to what'. He simply nodded in response.

"Good." Voldemort replied with a mirthless smile. A small flick of his wand and the orbs reappeared. "Your turn."

For the next three hours Harry was put through a series of challenges against the small orbs, deflecting one spell after another. He noted that the spells were coming at him considerably slower than they had when Voldemort had faced the small orbs, something he kept in his mind so he would never underestimate the man. There was no question Voldemort was a superior wizard when it came to spells. Special circumstances aside, the man was a force to be reckoned with.

Several times during the lessons, Harry chanced a glance over to where Lupin had been standing. A drop in his attention that usually cost him a sting of pain wherever the little orbs shot managed to hit. But he noted that Voldemort was now standing next to Lupin, and they were engaged in some sort of discussion, occasionally pointing to him as he deflected a spell. But it seemed that Voldemort was the one doing most of the talking.

Like a strike out of the blue it suddenly dawned on Harry that Lupin might not be there just to watch over him. Nor that Dumbledore's choice might have been haphazard at all. Lupin was likely the most knowledgeable person in the castle after Voldemort on defending against dark magic. It was entirely likely that Dumbledore had sent Lupin there not just to watch over him, but to learn what he could from Voldemort himself. Information that Lupin could assimilate and store better than anyone else.

Distracted by the idea for a few seconds, Harry found his wandering thoughts were going to cost him dearly. A sudden flash of light brought him back to his resent situation, but too late.

The spell caught him right in the chest and knocked him back against the wall with a solid thump.

"Enough!" A voice bellowed through his aching head.

Voldemort came over and stood towering over Harry as he sat on the floor, his face showing nothing but anger at Harry's failure.

"This isn't a game, Potter!" He stated sharply. "Your reaction time hasn't improved much since we started."

"I'm tired." Harry hated the sound of the words even as he said them. It sounded pathetically like a whine even to his ears. "We've been at it for hours. And that's the first direct hit I took." He tried to defend himself a little better.

But Voldemort seemed unimpressed. "What do you want? A gold star for your efforts?" The older wizard sneered at him. "These aren't your classes, Harry. What I am trying to teach you is deadly serious. It isn't just a question of a passing grade now. When we face this wizard, the lessons I hope to teach you may well save your life. You have to understand that. Understand the gravity of the situation and of what you'll be facing."

Harry started up at the man before him. It was becoming easier and easier for him to look on that face and not see his godfather. Something that was, in fact, starting to worry him a little bit more each time it became easier.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm up against." Harry replied, fighting the subtle fear inside of him as he started up at the man towering over him, trying to keep his voice level. "After all, I've faced off with you four times now..., and won."

Harry thought for a moment he had reached Voldemort's limit of patience as the man closed the few precious feet between them and crouched down in front of him. From the corner of his vision, Harry could still see Lupin, who made no move whatsoever to intervene. But nor had the stance he had adopted since entering the room lessened one bit either. One that Harry couldn't help but compare to a wolf standing at the ready for the least sign of danger.

"So," Voldemort asked in a quieter tone, but one that had lost none of its venom, "was that your retaliation? You little 'dig' back at me? Your revenge?" The same mirthless smile came back to those lips. "So tell me, was it as sweet, and as satisfying, as you thought it would be?"

Harry held to Voldemort's stare as he thought over what the older wizard had ask. And he was a little surprised at the answer he found.

"No." He replied quietly.

Harry watched the strangest look come over the face of the man before him. An almost neutral expression that hid just a touch of regret in it.

"It never is, Harry." Voldemort replied in a low, confidential whisper.

Harry watched the man straighten back up, his gaze never once leaving him.

"We'll do it again." Voldemort stated, staring down at him. "And we'll do it until I'm satisfied you've learned something from it."

"Not today." Came a voice from the sidelines.

Voldemort and Harry both turned at once to see Lupin walking over to them.

"Is there some problem, Wer...Lupin?" Voldemort asked.

"The hit from that spell was very powerful." Lupin stated, stepping right up to the man with no trace of fear in any of his movements. "Harry needs time to recover before he takes a hit like that again or he could be seriously hurt the next time. Something I'm sure you would like to avoid." Lupin added with a slight smile.

Voldemort looked the man over once, then turned back to the teenager still sitting on the ground. "It appears your wet nurse has decided you are done for the day, Potter." He stated in a voice that could not be mistaken for anything but contempt. "We'll start again tomorrow...when you're feeling up to it."

Harry sighed quietly as he watched the man turn on his heel and all but storm out of the room. Only the appearance of a hand waving in front of his face snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Come on then." Lupin offered with a smile. "Time for your 'wet nurse' to take you to lunch."

Harry allowed Lupin to pull him to his feet.

"I can't see how anyone thinks this is going to work." Harry stated as they headed down the corridor. "He hates me."

"A feeling I'm sure you don't share?" Lupin asked.

Harry quickly decided he was better off not answering the question.

"Would you like an impartial observation, Harry?"

"All right."

"Voldemort had several opportunities back there to allow shots at you even I would have had a hard time calling foul to or not. The only time he seemed to let things get overly aggressive was when he started to get aggravated with what he felt was your 'slow learning'."

"So?" Harry ask as he hurried along Lupin's side down the corridor.

"The point is, Harry, he appears to honestly be trying to teach you. He reacts just like any teacher would with a student...on a very basic level. He wants you to learn. And when you don't, he gets frustrated. My suggestion would be that you stop worrying about what his real motive is and concentrate on what he's trying to teach you. It could prove to be very valuable."

"That's a new tune." Harry commented.

"I told you the observation was impartial." Lupin reminded him. "It isn't meant to favor one side or the other."

"It sounded to me like you were speaking fully in Voldemort's defense."

"I'm speaking in the defense of you're better judgment, Harry." Lupin replied a bit firmer, stopping as he turned to face the boy next to him. "What Voldemort is trying to teach you could save your life when nothing else can." Lupin laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not trying to be Voldemort's advocate, Harry. And I'm not trying to belittle your feelings about any of this. I'm trying to get you to lower some of your defenses that are based solely on your hatred of the man and get you to concentrate on other, more valid ones."

"Hating him isn't valid?"

"Not right now it isn't, no. Harry, none of us wants the situation we're in. But we are in it. And the only way any of us may survive what we're facing is to work together. No matter how much we may dislike the company. Now, my main purpose for being with you now is to watch and make sure Voldemort doesn't hurt you. If he tries, I'm there to stop him, all right? All you have to do is pay attention to what he's trying to teach you and learn. If it helps, remember that somewhere behind those eyes, Sirius is watching you too. Maybe he can't encourage you along, but don't give up trying to make him proud."

Harry thought about what Lupin told him, then nodded slightly. "All right." He replied.

Q&A

FAMILY RELATIONS

MasterLupin:

Concerning the short term of the story with Orion, I think I was close, the term long and slow recovery with me is similar to permanent recovery, which by the sound of it is acutlay going to be a lot worse then you have let us belive at this point. I think Snape and Analisa more Analisa are relising that there is more to Orion and Katlin then meets the eye. Are the grandparents of Orion and Katlin's children aware of what they do for a living? Why haven't we seen them in the story, you mentioned earlyer in the story that they were estatic that Sirius would settle down and adopt a child, and that they were very excited, practicaly banging down the door to meet Harry. Also it just ocured to me that Harry hasn't thought about the idea of having a family recently, it has been completly overshadowed by curent events in the story.
As for my thoughts on what will happen next I'm thinking that Harry will willingly coperate with Voldermort, and that when Orion findout what Harry agreed to (a deal with the devel) he'll be pissed, posibly more concered about Harry's well being then he is now.

Suffice to say, Dear, that the long term implications of Orion's condition have yet to be seen.

Indeed, Analisa is very perceptive about the actual situation between Katlin and Orion. But she is also smart enough to know that trying to use that information against Katlin would likely be a bad move.

OH! Background questions! I love background questions!

Keep in mind that for grandparents you only have Orion's parents. Katlin's parents are both deceased. And yes, Orion's parents are very well aware of what their little bundle of joy does for a living. They are also aware of who he is married to and what she does for a living.

You haven't actually met Orion's parents yet. But they are interesting people. The reason they haven't been in the story is because currently they aren't part of the story line. You do get to meet them, but that is in a separate story altogether. And they would be ecstatic to see their younger son married and settled down. After all, Orion is only a few years older than Sirius and he is already married and has five kids. Sirius has some big time catching up to do.

Harry indeed hasn't thought much about the fact he is now part of a family that includes grandparents, an uncle, and cousins. But he really hasn't had much time to think about it either.

There is little chance Orion won't find out about Harry's deal with Voldemort. What remains to be seen is his response to it.

FEVER

bookworm:

uhh.. just to inform you, HIs name is not Remes Lupin it is remus lupin you know like the old greeck legend... just wanted to inform you also that this stroy rocks!

I do appreciate the praise, Dear. And yes, I am well aware of the error. It has been pointed out several times. I have no idea what I was thinking about that I not only made the mistake to begin with, but kept repeating it throughout the story.

All reviews are as of 07042006.

And remember:

(In honor of the day I had on my birthday)

Some days you're the bug,

Other days you're the windshield.