AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone, these next few days (January 14th, 2011 to January 21st, 2011) are my freshman year semester exams! Since it's my first year in high school, I'm still getting used to the exams and the schedules. If this doesn't make it up until after exam week, you'll know why. Thanks for the reviews! You guys are amazing!
And on to Chapter 10! Your lovely authoress, Em =)
Disclaimer: *whines* I'm a FRESMAN! Do you think I own Harry Potter?
Chapter 10: A Father's Musings
He stared at his son's sleeping face.
He watched the teen's chest rise and fall as the boy fell into a restorative sleep. Harrison had lost control in his study, and he had no idea why. He had been so determined to get answers out of his son that he had failed to notice the shift in the teen's power levels. He remembered when he had noticed the levels were shifting rapidly, overcoming his son's control. While he hadn't shown it, he had panicked.
Rise and fall, jump, no…swim, don't leave me! PLEASE! They'll kill me! Help!
Those words ran through his head as he saw his son sway. He hadn't known, at the time, whose thoughts those were. But he knew now. His son had been unconsciously projecting stray thoughts, most likely from previous missions. On the thought of the missions, he scowled. He would've never let his son out of his sight if he had suspected the teen's dealings with the Hunters. They had people he would kill to get to. Masters of every kind, experts, mages, engineers, both non-magicals and magicals worked together to resolve any kind of problem. They might be a peaceful organization when discussing problems, but they were a powerful underground underneath the front.
Powerful organization, he snorted at the thought, that was an understatement of the largest sort.
He looked over at the sleeping teen with a jolt. He didn't want his son working for them, for their underground operations were dangerous. Their spies and assassins were always dealing with people like crime bosses, wannabe dark lords, terrorists… (You get the point), and he didn't want to risk his child in a situation like that. He didn't take his eyes of his son, he couldn't. Not his baby boy…
Flashback
He stared around the nursery.
It was on the fourth floor, directly linked to his rooms for his easy access. Bellatrix had a nursery for the other two on the third floor.
He looked around the sky blue room, in search of a certain someone, and his eyes softened when they met excited emerald green.
"Daddy!" a childish voice chirped. The bright green eyes widened as he walked closer, and the small babe held up his little arms, asking to be held. He chuckled at his one year old son, and picked him up, holding him close.
"How's my little boy this evening?" he asked the babe softly, smiling when the boy giggled and buried his face in his chest.
"Gwood Daddy!" the boy chirped, and he smiled. If his followers could see him now, they'd probably faint. They thought he was cold hearted and cruel, hell, he thought he was cold hearted and cruel…but he never expected his son to show him another side of himself. He remembered his son's first word. The boy had shouted "Wed" and pointed to his eyes before giggling. He had been so shocked that he hadn't noticed his son poking him. When he finally noticed, he stopped his son, and asked him 'what's red, son', and the boy had replied, much to his shock, 'Daddy's e-eywes awe wed!' before giggling.
He chuckled softly at the memory, sitting down in a rocking chair, bouncing his son on his lap.
He was still in the same place, an hour later, after his son had fallen asleep. He was studying his son sadly. He knew he had to leave soon; the ritual that would strip him of his body could only be completed on certain days, and it was necessary for his immortality. He would miss his son, oh yes; he would miss his little one. He placed his son in the small crib, staring at the babe sadly as he stood in the doorframe.
"Sweet dreams, my baby boy…"
End Flashback
The ritual had malfunctioned slightly. It had messed everything up. He had been meant to come back after a few weeks, but instead, he waited almost thirteen years before he returned to his body. Thirteen years since he had seen his baby boy.
It had certainly given him a shock when he had seen his son sneaking off the grounds. The boy had grown so much, looked so much like him. He recalled the giggling green-eyed babe he used to bounce on his lap, the babe that almost never cried when he was around, and compared him to the boy he had seen crossing the grounds that morning. The emotionless, jaded jade-eyed teen, who looked indifferent to the world…to him, what had happened to his son?
He ran his hand through his son's raven locks, smiling when the teen leaned into the familiar touch. He missed their interactions, even if his son had been just a baby when he had left; he missed the little bundle of energy that kept everyone happy no matter their state of mind. He recalled what had been written in the back of the photo album:
Shadow: Harrison (Harry) Black-Riddle
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 31st of July, 1980
Years of Hunter Service: 1984-…
It had infuriated him. Ten years…and he could've lost his son at any point, any time. But he didn't, he reassured himself, gently stroking his son's cheek, proof his son was still alive, still here, still with me, he's safe here.
Gently, he lifted his son off his bed, frowning. He's much too thin, and as light as a feather. I need to get some food into him; he didn't even eat much for breakfast the day I confronted him. He walked through the doors leading to his rooms, carefully locking them and activating the protective wards, before moving to the one across the hall, and opening it slightly, slipping into it.
The room had an earthly tone, with beige, forest green and maroon walls. The furniture was made of mahogany wood, and was polished so it shined. The bed had silky burgundy bedding with silver accents on the same colored hangings. There was a nightstand next to the beautiful bed, and a wardrobe against the left wall, parallel to the bed, but closer to the door. There were four doors in the room. One was the one he had walked through. The second was next to the nightstand, it led to the bathroom. The third was a study that could be remodeled to the user's liking; it was next to the wardrobe. The fourth door was located on the right side of the room, next to a bookshelf that had been filled with fairy tales and children's books. The last door was connected to his rooms.
As he laid his son down gently on the large four-poster bed, he pondered on how the room used to look like. The baby blue nursery, with toys and books and an old rocking chair, was no more. The rocking chair had been moved to his study, and the old toys had been put away in a closet. The books, though, were on the shelf near the fourth door. He moved towards the main doors, warding it with all kinds of magiks, parselmagic included. A minute later, he decided to ward it against shadow travel. Only those keyed into the wards could enter or exit. At the moment, only he was keyed into it both ways, while his son was only able to enter it. It was a way of keeping his son safe, and preventing the teen's escape if he tried. He warded the door leading to his room; a bright silver streak appeared horizontally on the polished mahogany door, singling it out.
Satisfied, he walked back to his son and conjured an arm chair to sit in as he waited for the raven-haired teen to wake.
SHADOW
He had been waiting for hours now.
It had been early morning when he had collected his son from the Potters; it had been almost noon when his son's magic levels returned to a somewhat normal state. It had been mid-afternoon when he decided to move his son to the teen's new room. It was now almost 9 o'clock at night, and the teen had yet to stir. He began to ponder the thought that he had lost his mind.
Sometime between them moving to the new room, to now, he had begun to pull the fairy tales and children stories off of the shelves and read them to his sleeping son. He had just finished reading the tale of the three brothers, when he heard a soft chiming ring come from his son. He looked at the teen, and saw that the teen's jeans pocket was vibrating, causing the boy to stir. He reached over, and carefully extracted the ringing device.
It was a BlackBerry. A modern cell-phone*, that had been charmed to run off of magic. He didn't know that his son had one. He looked at the Caller ID, and it read: DUNCAN MCKNIGHT.
A wicked grin slipped onto his face as he hit the 'accept' button put the phone to his ear.
"Kid, you live to make my life hell! What the hell did you think you were doing? I thought I told you to take it easy after that last encounter with the torture specialist, not to go after him AGAIN! Do you have any idea what would happen to me when Tabitha got a hold of me! She holds me responsible for you! How in the nine levels of hell did you piss them off so badly that they had ten freaking mages send cruciatus curses at you AT THE SAME F***ING TIME! And how the hell am I supposed to explain this to Tabby? Huh? She's going to freaking murder me, you little brat! TEN frigging crucio's at once; do you have any idea how badly you were shaking when you got back. Tabitha is still yelling at me, like, she's just across the hall…well, and what do you have to say for yourself, Shadow?"
By this time, he was furious, but he managed to keep his anger at bay to speak to the man on the other end of the phone.
"Unfortunately, Mr. McKnight, my son has nothing to say right now, as he is asleep. On the other hand, I have much to say, Mr. McKnight, but I won't say anything right now; I don't want Harrison to wake up, now do I?" he drawled into the BlackBerry.
"Shit." He heard the man whisper on the other end of the line, and could practically see Duncan McKnight paling at the realization of who he had just spoken to. The call cut off as the young man hung up, but it wasn't a problem in his eyes. He just had more to ask his son when the teen woke up.
"Father?" came the sleepy murmur, and he looked down, and found himself staring into sleep-dazed emerald green eyes.
SHADOW
Hundreds of miles away, a pretty dirty-blonde haired young woman turned her ice blue eyes onto her pale blue-eyed brown haired companion.
"He knows, doesn't he." She asked him. The man turned away, looking up at the starry skies.
"He knows." replied Declan McKnight, "He knows."
DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE WITH THE CHAPTER!
Hey everyone, happy belated New Year, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please read and review! You guys are amazing!
Chapter completed on: Saturday, January 15, 2011