Four Fathers
Ch 8: War Talk
Once they had all settled in and picked at each other for a while, the talk turned towards the war that Tom was waging against Dumbledore.
"I disagree with the man about letting all the muggles know about magic. They fear what they don't understand and he doesn't seem to realize that. I am trying to find a way to be able to record any of the children that have magic and to have them educated about the wizarding ways but not taking them from their parents. However I am at a standstill as to how to do that."
"Isn't there something that records the magic of any child as soon as they are born in the ministry," asked Shadow.
Tom turned towards Lucius. "Actually there is. It is kept hidden and no one in the ministry knows where it is so it is probably kept with the Unspeakables. From there it goes to location as to which school receives the name and then having the letters sent. The schools have no control until the child turns eleven, but every child is recorded magically in the book."
"Is there any way to duplicate it," Darkness asked.
"Not that I know of." He nodded.
"I'm also worried about the pureblood persona that Dumbledore labels us as. If there are just purebloods then there will be incest and disfiguration. We need new blood to keep the magic going, or at the least magic users. At the rate we are going, magic will cease to exist at all in 50 years or so."
"A world without magic," Draco mumbled. "It's hard to grasp that concept. Especially when you've always had it and took it for granted." Blaise nodded in agreement as well as his mother.
"And it will still be in your lifetime that it ceases to exist. You are safe from it but anyone born after the next twenty years may never get magic if we continue to go on as we have. Dumbledore is using a sorcerer's stone to keep himself alive longer but in the end it will not matter for we will still live on through the centuries."
"So why fight him now? Why not just let him die originally, that way he won't die a martyr's death?" asked Midnight.
"If we wait now, using the sorcerer's stone will give him another 50 to 100 years that we don't have if we wish to preserve magic. And yet everyone is blinded by the kind old grandfather and have forgotten the cold ruthless killer of Grindlewald. If we wait we lose our way of life, or maybe not ours but wizards. We are vampire but they do not realize what is happening. Someone must fight for them."
"Why you, why your family, why put them in danger," Midnight asked. He couldn't fathom the idea of putting Shadow or Darkness in danger just to preserve another's way of life that wasn't their own.
"Then who will? I don't like putting them in danger; that is why they are not even linked to me. My child is not even my own in their world but yet mine by blood and birth. I am his sire and yet must not let this be found out." Draco climbed out of Blaise's arms and hugged his father. For a sire to not be able to claim their child was a very big deal to a vampire. They were very family oriented creatures. The most dominant took care of the family and provided for them. He hugged Draco and then sent him back to his Dom. Blaise wrapped his arms around him snugly and did not let go. He looked to see Darkness and Midnight do the same to Shadow, and as Severus pulled James into his lap.
"You're stronger than I am. I can't even fathom the idea of doing such a thing. To me it just isn't an option. I couldn't do it. Not if I knew it would put them in danger."
"But if the world you would force him to grow in was dying, wouldn't you try to make the world live again so that he could be happy." Midnight looked to be contemplating the idea, but still couldn't grasp it fully. It wasn't an option. He shook his head. "I don't know how to answer you."
"If it would put him in more danger would you try to fight for what you believed in?"
"Yes."
"It is the same concept." He shook his head.
Darkness pulled Midnight against him. "Stop thinking. Let it come to you." He nodded and dropped it.
"What is a sorcerer's stone? I have heard of a philosopher's stone but never a sorcerer's?" Tom turned to Shadow. "It is basically the same thing, just by another name. It turns things to gold or makes the drinker of it 'immortal'. At best it just prolongs fifty to a hundred years before it is useless. He's deathly afraid of vampires and 'dark' creatures though so that's not an option for him, though it would be funny to make him into a 'creature' and then let him face all the rules that he has imposed over the years for dark creatures. That's something I want to change. I want everyone to be equal, but I highly doubt that will ever be possible. Every species wants to be the top. I can't make everybody happy and the only one's I care about are the very ones that are sitting in this room. You to are family to me even if you do not know me. You are all the one's I care about, and about making happy. I would not trade any of your happiness for theirs." They all smiled.
"It's late and I know five students that must be returned to school before the Headmaster comes looking for either me or one of them. As well Potions is their first class. Shadow groaned. He didn't want to leave.
"Why do we even have to go to school anyway?"
"Even though you may not go to school to have to find a job afterwards it is good to be socialized with other people. If you can fool children into believing you are mortal then you should have no problems fooling most adults. Children are crueler then adults when it comes to things they do not like. It is good to have something to do during the day as well as to help you control your magic so that it does not overcome you." Shadow nodded.
He stood still holding the sleeping children and groaned as his back popped. Midnight took Kai and the two went to put them to bed. Five minutes later they came back after having insured them that they were safe and that they would come back. He told them that their punishment would be to eat every meal for a week. They weren't happy but of course agreed. He relayed the message to Remus who nodded and would make sure it was followed out. Shadow knew that Remus was the one that kept things in control when Severus wasn't home.
Severus opened the floo and Darkness was the first one through. He was followed by Shadow whom he caught and then Midnight that came barreling out. They moved out of the way and Draco came out followed by Blaise. "He said to go on to bed. The wards should fall if you touch them. He'll come through in just a bit." Shadow froze. "No," he whispered. He touched the wards and disabled Midnight's and went tearing through the hallways well past curfew.
"Rip, tear, kill. Kill, time to kill."
Shadow raced through the halls. He called for Elbereth and Lorien to find him. He knew it was a snake. A very large one. He just needed to find it. It couldn't kill innocents. He wouldn't let it. Darkness and Midnight tore after him and Draco after them asking Blaise to get Severus. He did so in a hurry and hated having to wait for him to come through. As soon as he was through, he took off, following the bond that would lead him to his Sub always, unless purposely blocked.
"Shadow, enough," bellowed Darkness. Shadow stopped but then shook his head. He had to have control right now. His Dom could be mad at him later. Right now he needed to find this snake. Darkness cursed. Draco was surprised Shadow had managed to break through that. He was just now gaining control of himself and it wasn't even his Dom. "Sorry." He nodded. They kept running and eventually they saw his two serpents catch up and wrap themselves around his waist and around his neck. They were guiding him somewhere and he was following their lead trusting them to get him there. At a wall Shadow stopped short and let out a string of curses before sliding down and whispering no, no, over and over.
Darkness touched his shoulder lightly and he jerked around his eyes wild. Darkness pulled him into his arms and forcefully held him before biting him and draining a bit of his blood calming him. "Speak." "Big snake. It wants to kill. I was close, so close." Severus and Blaise came around the corner and sighed when they found them. Suddenly his eyes focused and he turned and pulled Elbereth to his arm. "Can you follow it? Try to talk it into not killing. Anything? But please, be careful. I don't want either of you hurt." The two serpents nodded and went to do as asked. They would try to help all they could.
"What happened," asked Severus?
Shadow sighed and lowered his head. Midnight tilted it back up. "There's no such priest that can pray me to heaven." Midnight sighed. "Whatever happens is not your fault. Now tell us what you saw or heard."
"There is a very large snake loose in this school. I don't know what type or where it is but it is hungry and it wants to kill. I have to find it." It was Severus that answered. "You will do no such thing. You will all go to bed and I will see what I can do to straighten this out." Shadow went to protest but Severus let out his aura that said he was the most dominant of his family and Shadow cowed back and nodded. "In the future I would rather not have to do that. It is not the way to correct a child or get them to see that things can be done a better way." He nodded. Severus followed them back to the Slytherin dorm and checked for everything he could think of then warded his dorms for safety. Nothing would get to his snakes, especially not a snake.
Severus did everything he could think of but he could not find this snake. He knew his son would not joke about something like this and that he was also certain that it was a snake and considering he spoke with them it would make sense for him to be able to understand it. There was nothing else he could do though. Disgusted with himself he went to bed and prayed that nothing happened and that Shadow's serpents were able to find this other one.
In the morning Potions came and went, as did DADA and COMC. It wasn't until lunch was almost over that the headmaster was quickly called from the Great Hall. Midnight could feel the headmaster's anger from wherever he was but when the man came back besides knowing that he was angry the headmaster was calm and collected. He asked everyone to go to their dormitories and told them that they would be safe. He sent the Heads of Houses with them. He needed them out of the way for the moment.
Shadow was panicking. He could feel the death hovering in the school. He need out or to do… something. He needed to find that snake. Darkness seemed to have caught that thought though for he grabbed onto his waist and physically pulled him with the rest of the Slytherin's. Severus led them all and checked everywhere they went. He wasn't going to let anything happen to these children that trusted him to protect them. When he reached the dorms he did so again before declaring it safe and then locking them all inside. He let them ask their questions and he did the best he could to answer them. After there were no more he sent them to their rooms to do homework. Severus led them to the Slytherin Conference Room and then made the chairs into three couches.
Midnight had Shadow wrapped firmly in his arms using his strength to keep him there and letting Darkness keep the hold on Shadow's state of mind. "I know you can all feel it and so this is the best place for you to be for now. I will do what I can to find out what's going on. I would suggest you all get some sleep. He moved to Shadow and pulled his chin up making him look him in the eye. "You cannot blame yourself for this. You did what you could as did I to try to stop it. Death is inevitable. You cannot stop it. The most you can do is prolong it. Now don't worry about it. Let me handle it. It is not something you need to be worrying about. Any of you." They all nodded and he dimmed the lights. "They will expect you to be in here Draconis." "I know. I am ready to try to help them if they need it." Severus nodded and took his leave. Darkness turned to him. "Prince of Slytherin and all that rot. It passed down from my father. What's funny is that most think it is from Papa and not Father." "It would logically make since though considering that if it wasn't your Papa that it would be Shade's father."
It was Blaise that asked the next question. "What do you call each of them, considering you do have four fathers after all?"
"Shade's father or Sev. Kuro's father or Siri. Mid's father or Rem. And we call Jam our mother. We haven't asked what they want us to call them so it just makes it easier to keep up with and as well not to give away that we are all technically from the same."
"How many names do you each have?" They laughed.
"Shadow is Kage or Shade, as well as Lightning. Though he does also hold Serpent," replied Darkness.
"Darkness is Kuro for black and Kurohyou or Panther in English terms, hence the use of Kuro usually. There's also Sai," replied Shadow. "Midnight is Mid or Rei or Wolf, considering what he is. He goes by Crescent as well. "
"Blaise is Raven simply," replied Draco.
"Easy to remember. Draconis is Draco or Dragon. I also call him Thunder."
"Spells out son at the end. Interesting."
"Ha ha! It does. I've never paid attention." They shrugged.
"Your fathers?"
"Papa is Lucius or Luc or Eagle. Father is Tom, though we sometimes call him Riddle Me This. He's also Phoenix, though ironic since Dumbles has one."
"What do you call our fathers?"
"James is Jam or Prongs. He was also called Peta, which means submissive father. Sirius is Siri or Grim. Actually they've called him Snuffles as well. He was called Pata, which is dominant father. Remus is called Rem or Remmy, as well as Moony. He was Papa. Severus is Sev or Shadow Bat. He was called Father." (A.N. Don't remember whose story I got Peta or Pata from so if you do mind my using them please let me know. I just couldn't come up with anything else to call them off the top of my head.)
"We call Dumbledore, Dumbles, Bumblebee, and Nutters. You have anything?"
"Senile, old coot, back stabbing bastard, manipulator. It goes on for a while."
The body of a Ravenclaw student was found with large bites taken out of her and talk of closing the school could be heard. There were Auror's all over the place and they were having to make sure their scent and everything was covered so that they were not caught by all the gadgets that were around school. After two weeks and no more attacks the investigation was closed and the girl was buried. Her friends mourned and even Shadow did so knowing that he may well could have saved her life. The headmaster was angry about the killing but not about the girl herself dying. It was disgusting.
For some odd reason all Shadow could think of was monkshood, wolfsbane, and aconite. He knew they were all the same but they had absolutely nothing to do with the current problem he was having and yet he was repeating the three words over and over in his head. He screamed in frustration, thankfully he was on the Quidditch pitch. Two new words were added to his list. Philosopher and Sorcerer. He got those. That was what he was trying to think about so what was with the potions ingredients.
'Shade will you please stop screaming. I can't concentrate in here.'
'Are you in Potions by any chance?'
'Yes I am. And your shouting isn't helping me get this done any faster.'
'Well if you were only able to think of three words that had nothing to do what you were thinking about originally you'd go crazy to.'
'Sorry. Do you want me to close the bond a bit?'
'No! I'll manage.'
'Alright.' Darkness started focusing outward on what he was supposed to be doing.
He got it. That was what the headmaster had meant when he had said to stay away from the third floor corridor. How could he have been so stupid. It had taken him this long to figure it out. And he still had to find the snake and have a nice long chat with it. If he had to he would kill it but he really didn't want to have to have to. He sent Darkness his thoughts and received and affirmative from him and that he was telling Sev. Halloween was starting to come along and Shadow was determined to figure out how to keep the headmaster away from his monthly trips to the sorcerer's stone. He couldn't use it more than that or it would become useless faster. They had been at the school for a month already. It was a miracle for them to stay in one place so long. They were also getting a bit antsy. They were used to moving and didn't know how much more they could take of being caged. They were used to roaming at night not being stuck inside a castle. The summer would be pure heaven for them.
He made sure to keep his plans of getting the stone, safe from Darkness or he'd be kept under lock and key and he liked his freedom thank you very much. From across the way Draco and Blaise appeared carrying three brooms between the two of them. "It's not as good as using your wings but it'll do. Care to fly with us?" He nodded. Why not? He had nothing better to do.