Lucy and Dracy

Thomas was at his wits' end, sometimes.

Students could be so annoying. It made him glad he'd given his wand to Morgan, otherwise he might have lost his patience, and just started AK-ing people.

So, he put on a smiley mask and taught. And then, when a student suddenly didn't behave like a dunderhead anymore, or got a problem on his own, then he remembered why he'd picked up teaching.

It wasn't because it was such a fun job. It was the satisfaction of his students getting things, of them learning.

It was the glances of sheer adoration some shot him at times, it was the mind games against the pranksters and those unwilling to learn. It was the knowledge of shaping people's future in a good way.

It was so much better than being a Dark Lord. Direct torture was so unrefined. It was so much more fun to explain, be patient, and then set a test that was just a tad too hard for those who didn't bother to learn.

It were power games where one had to be benevolent and patient, yet at the same time make sure one wasn't seen as weak under anycircumstances.

It was a fine balance.

A balance that was much more fun than just destroying things all the time.

Morgan had decided that, strangely enough, most people wouldn't notice her, even if she was clearly too young to be attending Hogwarts.

So far, nobody had noticed her. Well, her pranks had been noticed with a ka-boom, but she, herself hadn't been.

Unfortunately, her luck was about to end.

She ran around a corner at full speed, into a grown-up.

A grown-up who wasn't her Dad, unluckily.

It was Ginny Weasley.

Another person was with her.

He looked an awful lot like...

"Uncle Lucy?"

"P-pardon?"

"You look an awful lot like Uncle Lucy."

"My name is Draco Malfoy. I have no idea who this 'Uncle Lucy' is", the man drawled.

He even sounded like Uncle Lucy.

She remembered Uncle Lucy had had a son, named...

"So you're Uncle Lucy's son. That means your Cousin Dracy."

"DRACY?" He shrieked.

"Yes, Cousin Dracy. That's your name."

Ginny had to bite back the urge to laugh. That girl... she had a healthy sense of humour.

Then, her brain started working, and she noted the girl's features, and that she was much too young for Hogwarts. And how did she know Lucius Malfoy anyway?

She looked like... she looked like Tom Riddle, a little, at least.

And she knew Malfoy.

"How do you know Dracy's Dad?", she asked.

"Not you too, Ginny."

"He was one of Grampa's friends."

Grandpa... her Grandpa...

"Was your Grandpa born Tom Riddle, by any chance?"

The girl smiled at her radiantly.

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"Ginny? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, I sort of knew your Grandpa. Met him once."

"He can't have been too nice then. He said he lost his sanity and only found it recently."

That's what had triggered Voldemort's disappearance. He'd decided that being a Dark Lord was bloody insane.

She had to agree that there was a point there.

"No, he wasn't very nice. But, say, how come you're here?"

Not very nice. Yeah, possess her and making her unleash the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets was definitely not very nice, and that wasn't an understatement at all.

"I'm here with my Dad."

She looked into the girl's eyes.

"Hello? Can you hear me?", "Dracy" asked.

Harry's eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Morgan."

With that, the girl ran for it.

And suddenly, the story made sense.

Dark Ritual... Harry joining the Dark Lord... everything made sense. He'd protected his child.

Morgan Potter.

And instead of jealousy rising, she found herself liking the girl.

"Did you understand anything she said?", Draco asked.

"Yes. I did."

Rabastan was talking to Lucius Malfoy.

"We've got to find our Lord, that Potter surely knows something!"

Lucius Malfoy leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"I can't help you."

"Why?"

"Because you have nothing more than vague guesses. You don't know whether H... Potter knows anything."

It was a lie, of course. But he knew that if he tried to attack Potter, he'd get hell from both Morgan and the Dark Lord, and that wasn't a situation he would enjoy.

"What? Who else can know anything?"

"And besides, even if he does know something, you don't know whether he is not just complying with our Lord's wishes. I am not fool enough to dare risk disturbing the Dark Lord's plans... No, I can't help you."

It was true. He was pretty sure Harry had done what the Dark Lord wanted of him.

"You're just afraid for your precious son."

"That too, Rabastan, that too. But I still don't fancy getting in our Lord's way, which is the most likely outcome in this, so... goodbye!"

He managed to throw Rabastan out.

"You know something, don't you, Lucius?"

Cissy.

"Yes, I do. And it would be very good for them if I'm not right."

"It was something Bella knew too."

"Yes... look, Potter was in the know as well. It was how he was forced to join us."

"You can't tell me, can you?"

He couldn't. Not because he didn't trust his wife, but because if that girl ever found out he'd breathed a word of her existence, she might just eradicate both of them. She might forgive him, but he didn't know for sure, and he wasn't about to risk Cissy's life.

"It's not my secret to tell, and if the Dark Lord, Potter or... well, someone else ever found out I've told, I'm not sure we'd survive. They might forgive, but as long as I don't know, I won't risk our lives."

"That serious?"

"Most Death Eaters who got an inkling of this information were killed immediately afterwards, and I'm pretty much the only one apart from Potter who can leak it, so if it gets out, I might be a dead man."

"I see... I'm curious, who died?"

"Flint. Avery, one of the Selwyns, and a few others. Nott was lucky, he just lost his memory. Most of them were doomed anyway, but then, they were used so that curses could be practised upon them and the secret could still be safe."

"If there are any hints that you can tell, will you?"

"I promise you I will."