Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

AN:

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I will be answering your doubts and questions in the next chappie, though I might take a while in posting it. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think!


Chapter 13

Orion's eyes widened as he gazed at the congregated Necromancers, and a gasp escaped from his lips while he shivered, unwittingly taking a step towards them, feeling mesmerized. All he could see were enticing, pure white souls before him, glowing inside the Necromancers… All he could feel was an exquisite warmth all around him, coming from the souls, calling to him… He was entranced by them; they were so pure, so white, so untarnished…

Though, it didn't surprise him. Despite being dark wizards and witches, Necromancers valued the integrity of their souls above everything else. Therefore, it was obvious that they had taken care of not doing anything which could remotely affect the purity of their souls… But there was one in particular which made his eyes widen even further, and the strangeness of it also made him stop in his tracks, feeling his rational senses coming back to him, cutting through the detached haze of his mind.

It was the strangest soul he had seen thus far: glowing in immaculate whiteness but also with swirls of silver and tendrils of gold. Orion blinked, perplexed, before his all-black gaze moved upwards and locked with orange eyes. Then, the realization hit him like a bludger: the unknown Necromancer wasn't a wizard at all, at least not completely. The man had to have some magical creature blood in him - something which made the wizard's soul look so different from a mere human's soul.

He inwardly shook his head, as if clearing it from the spike of hungering desire he felt for the souls before him, and most particularly for the soul of the orange-eyed Necromancer. And swiftly, he pulled the Gaunt ring from his finger, letting out a short sigh when he felt all the coldness and detachment flow away from his mind and body, feeling relieved for being free of the Resurrection Stone's influence on him.

It was then when he became aware of all the gazes fixed on him, the Necromancers piercingly staring at him with their all-black, glowing eyes, which were the only thing he could see of them from the darkness of their hooded and shrouded faces.

They were all silently still, no one beeped a word, and Orion finally muttered, "I did it."

He instantly felt stupid for stating the obvious. But really, he had expected them to say something first. And frankly, he was too tired to give a damn anyway. He felt his exhaustion spreading into his very bones, and he regretted not being able to take a Strengthening Potion. Grindelwald had sternly warned him that he couldn't take any potions at all, since he was daily imbibing the potion which suppressed his aura of dark magic, and taking any other potion in addition to that one could end up killing him… Ah, yes, now he understood why he was feeling so exhausted. Despite the amount of magic he had used, it hadn't been enough to drain him so much. His present tiredness, which made him feel to be about to melt on the floor, had to be also caused by the darned potion he had to take.

He inwardly sighed. He knew he would start feeling the potion's secondary effects soon. It was to be expected. At least he knew that he only had to take the blasted potion for a few more months, since he would stop taking it as soon as his school year at Hogwarts ended. Merlin, he couldn't wait for that, because he also had the perspective of killing Dumbledore by then, as he had committed to do by the Unbreakable Vow he had taken. He knew Draco wouldn't be able to kill the old coot in cold blood, but he had no such scruples.

Furthermore, he was not only looking forward to dueling and matching powers with Dumbledore, but also to finally have in his hands the last Hallow he needed. He inwardly smiled tiredly. In just one or two months Draco would surely finish fixing the cabinet… Just a few more months, and the Elder wand would be his. And he would finally have all three Hallows, and then he would undergo the Vindico test-

"You did it, indeed," said a hoarse voice, with a slight hint of respect and pride.

Orion snapped his eyes up, and a faint smile tugged his lips when he saw that it was Necro Master Vresi who had spoken. Out of the three Necro Masters, he liked her the most, since she had been the one who had taken upon herself the task of teaching him how to communicate with a Dementor.

"Yes, he disposed of the High One," interjected Necro Master Kreguil, sharply side-glancing at Orion. "But we cannot use his method to rid ourselves of the rest of Dementors. How can we, when all he did was to somehow persuade the High One to go through the Gate-"

Orion nonchalantly arched an eyebrow, feeling exhausted but not to the point of losing his much needed coolness for this discussion. And he interrupted saying placidly, "I told you that I only cared about killing Cadmus in order to free my father's soul."

Though, he was inwardly relieved at having his hopes confirmed that the Necromancers hadn't heard his mind-to-mind chat with Cadmus. It was obvious from Necro Master Kreguil's words. Thus, he also knew that they were unaware of what Cadmus had made him experience – the memories of his past life as Regulus Black. That, and having been Sextus Black, was something he didn't want the Guild to know.

Merlin knew what the Guild would ask of him if they discovered it – one more oddity about him, as if his unique dark magic and being the first stable human-horcrux wasn't oddity enough. If the Guild knew about the swiftness of his reincarnation, from Regulus to himself, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be looked upon by them like a fascinating, juicy specimen of weird rebirth-pattern at play.

He pierced Necro Master Kreguil with his eyes, and said firmly, "Killing the other Dementors is your aim, and not my concern. Surely you didn't expect me to solve all your problems. Nevertheless, you can use my method, if you put effort on it." He smirked, and added nonchalantly, "In the end, it's simple. Dementors were Necromancers who yearned for something – power, a lost love, a dead brother, more knowledge, or something of the sort. What I did was to supply Cadmus with what he wanted – the reason for which he had become the first Dementor. You saw it – the soul I summoned. It was Eloise Talbot, the witch he had loved and tried repeatedly to bring back to life, and I used her to make Cadmus kill himself. There you have it: do the same with the other Dementors. Discover what they really want, and use it against them, manipulating them into entering a Gate. There's no other way, believe me, I researched it to exhaustion. So just learn about them, tempt them with something they truly want, and give it in exchange for their death."

"Yes, we'll certainly look into it," rasped out Necro Master Njord, fluidly taking a step towards Orion. "And you have made history here today, Mr. Black. You are the first to have ever killed a Dementor and resurrected a Kissed wizard. And your skills and powers are worthy to be praised. Nevertheless, your method, as unorthodox and risky as it was, only succeeded because you knew the High One well – almost personally, it seems, since you discovered who he had loved. It's peculiar since the High One was your ancestor but I wouldn't have suspected that you knew much about him, or that you had any sources of information about him." He pierced Orion with his all-black gaze, and added pointedly, "Do I assume correctly by thinking that the book, from which you read, once belonged to Cadmus Peverell?"

"Not quite," he said calmly, meeting the Necro Master's gaze just as piercingly. "It's my translation of Cadmus' journal – he had written one. It's very interesting." With a lazy flip of his wrist he wandlessly accioed the book from his school bag, and held it up, with a smirk tugging his lips. "Do you want it?"

"I will take it if it's offered so voluntarily," replied Necro Master Njord in his low, raspy voice.

"It is," said Orion smoothly, handing the book to the Necromancer, with a polite smile plastered on his face.

He lost nothing by parting from it, since when he had written that translation he hadn't discovered yet the concealed passages of Cadmus' journal. Therefore, the translation didn't include the information about the creation of the Resurrection Stone or about all the Necromantic spells and knowledge that came with it. Furthermore, with this show of goodwill, he further gained the Guild's trust and favor.

"You can also have this," he said casually, while he held up the Gaunt ring. "As you must already know, this is the Resurrection Stone, and following the terms of the magical contract we signed, I'm lending it to you – temporarily. You allowed me to use your Gate and now I'm upholding my end of the deal. You can have it, and study it, for a few months. After that, I will want it back."

"I'm glad to see that you are a wizard of your word," rasped out Necro Master Njord, while his all-black gaze intently fixed on the Gaunt ring, as if mesmerized by it and restraining his desire for it. "We will give it back when you request it of us, Mr. Black. Fear not, the Guild also keeps its word."

Orion nodded, not doubting it for a second, since he knew that the Guild would be forced to give it back to him by the terms of the magical contract he had signed with them. Then he saw that the Necro Master was wise and cautious enough to take the Hallow by its ring, taking care of not touching the Stone directly.

The moment it left his hand, he felt himself breathing more relaxedly. Yes, he highly valued the Resurrection Stone, which was his by all means since he was Cadmus' descendant –and son, if he wanted to go even deeper. Nevertheless, the Stone still made him feel uneasy, and he was glad to part from it for a while. Oh, he would need it afterwards, since he knew that he had to have the three Hallows together for the Vindico test. He didn't know much about the test, but he was certain that all the Hallows were needed, and that he would be told by the damned Spirits what to do with them once he was ready to undergo the test. In the meanwhile, he was glad to have a break from the influence of the Hallow.

"The terms of the magical contract are being fulfilled," said Necro Master Njord in his hoarse voice, after having carefully contained the Gaunt ring in a small sphere of black magic. "And there's only one more matter left to discuss."

Orion frowned, and his eyes instantly narrowed when he saw the Necro Master turning his gaze towards the unknown wizard. The orange eyes of the man swiftly turned into all-black glowing pools, the gaze locking with the Necro Master's, and Orion immediately knew that they were communicating mind-to-mind, once again.

After what seemed like a fraction of a second, the unknown man curtly nodded, and said in a smooth, tenor voice which held a faint Spanish accent, "Yes, Thor, you were right about him. I accept."

Then, the strongly-built wizard turned towards him, and Orion distinguished something about the man he hadn't seen before. Besides the scar running from a cheekbone to strong chin, the regal yet warrior-like ensemble of clothing, strapped holsters, and weapons, the strange black symbols tattoed from left temple to cheek, and the appearance of being thirty years old at most, there was something else which added more puzzling mystery to the wizard. The orange-eyed Necromancer's black hair was spiked on the front, but Orion now saw that the man's white hair was long at the back, reaching his waist and neatly tied with a small ribbon of blue silk.

And that was in true pureblood fashion. Nowadays, young pureblooded wizards didn't follow old traditional pureblooded standards on hair style, but older wizards did; like Lucius Malfoy and the Lestrange brothers-

Abruptly, Orion involuntarily shuddered, weirdly experiencing the remembrance of Regulus' memories. He now knew what it felt to have Lucius Malfoy inside of him… Merlin, the wizard had been a father-figure to him during the brief period in which Lucius had been his guardian. And now, that image was crushed. As much as he tried, he couldn't consider Lucius a father-figure any more; it clashed painfully with what he had experienced… Merlin, he could feel it still… As well as all the others…

Something in his chest painfully tightened, and he hastily and ruthlessly pushed his messy, jumbled thoughts from his mind. It was in the past, he wasn't Regulus anymore, he wouldn't think about what he had experienced, and Cadmus was dead and couldn't make it happen again!

"All in all," said the tenor voice with lingering Spanish accent, and Orion's eyes instantly snapped up and locked with orange ones, "despite numerous mistakes and brushings with Death, your performance was impressively manipulative."

Orion pierced the wizard with his eyes, frowning at him with annoyance. He was answered by a cold smirk which only served to irritate him further, rubbing him the wrong way.

"You are indeed powerful, and worthy – to be mi aprendiz."

"Your apprentice?" scoffed Orion, arching an eyebrow scathingly. "I don't even know who you are. What makes you think that I'll-"

"I'm Virgilio the Argonaut," interrupted the wizard gravely, piercing him with his stern orange gaze. "But you will address me as Master Virgil."

"Master?" spat Orion bristling, now truly angered. "I call no one 'Master'."

Muggle hell would freeze over before he did that. Not even Voldemort had succeeded in making him call him 'Master' – not with him… Him – not Regulus! Damn it – he had to stop thinking about that!

"I don't care," said Virgilio sharply, narrowing his orange eyes at him. "You WILL call me Master Virgil, out of due respect towards me. Be forewarned, Mr. Black, I take no cheek or insolence. When you find yourself ready, let the Guild know, and I'll come to get you." Then the man swiftly turned to the Necro Masters, and said curtly, "Thor, Virginia, Gratus – a pleasure, as always."

And to Orion's amazement, he saw the Necro Masters slightly bowing to the wizard in response, even though Virgil had shown no such politeness. Then, instantly, the wizard did a sequence of movements which perplexed Orion, since he had never seen something like it. It was very quick, it happened in a flash.

The man firmly clapped his palms together in front of his chest, pointing upwards, and they started glowing in a silver light... And Orion's eyes widened as he saw what the man was producing, or better said, calling forth, since a misty screen of silvery fog had suddenly appeared. He knew what it was, he had seen it before and Loki had explained it to him. It was a Locus of Time, and Virgil had just made one appear.

Then, the Necromancer's orange eyes turned into all-black pools of blackness while the man shot his palms forward, with his arms perfectly straight at either sides of him. And finally, the wizard flipped his hands over, his fingers pointing down with his palms facing outwards, and a burst of glowing Necromantic magic flew from his palms and instantly produced a wide, black disk in the silvery surface of the Locus of Time, creating what looked like a swirling black-hole. And in the blink of an eye, the wizard jumped into it. He instantly disappeared into it, and the Locus of Time and black whirlpool vanished, leaving nothing behind but silence and a gaping Orion.

"Excellent," rasped out Necro Master Njord, sounding highly satisfied. "Virgilio has agreed to take you as his apprentice, Mr. Black. Let me congratulate you for it; you'll be his first and only. And as pacted in our magical contract, we'll wait for you to decide when you want to undergo the training to become a Necromancer. Let us know, and we'll inform Virgilio. At present, I believe our dealings have concluded. "

Orion stared at him as everyone started to leave the dimly lit chamber, and he bit out heatedly, "No it hasn't! Who was that-?"

"The Guild will be glad to receive you any time you like," interrupted Necro Master Vresi in her hoarse voice, though she didn't halt her fluid steps. "Don't hesitate to contact us. Now, apprentice Loki will take you back, Mr. Black. As for the other matter, regarding Virgil, your questions will be answered by him once you commence your Necromantic training under his tutelage."

And with that, all the Necromancers swiftly left the chamber, and Orion was felt alone with Loki. Bristling with indignant anger, he spun around to face the boy, though he paused when he saw that Loki was fiercely glowering at him. It seemed that the boy was angry at him – it was the last straw.

"What's going on?" demanded Orion briskly.

Loki's glower intensified, if possible, and the boy bit out, "Do you have any idea of who that was?"

"Yes," said Orion tartly, his voice dripping with condescending sarcasm, "Virgilio."

"Fool!" hissed out Loki, piercing him with narrowed, black eyes. "He's The Argonaut!"

"Then tell me what the bloody hell is that!" snapped Orion short-tempered. "You know perfectly well that I don't have a clue about who Virgil is!"

"Yes, you know nothing about Guild-matters, do you?" said Loki snidely.

"Cut the crap, Njord," spat Orion heatedly. "I don't know what crawled up your arse and died, but whatever problem you have-"

"You are my problem," snarled Loki, taking a menacing step towards him.

"I'm your problem?" snapped Orion incensed, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "How is that?"

"What's so special about you, Black?" hissed Loki, with his glowering face inches away from Orion's. "That Dementor was your ancestor and the creator of the Resurrection Stone – big deal, that was him, not you! Why is my father and the other Necro Masters so interested in you? Why do they give you such leeway? The magical contract you signed with them - its terms- are ridiculously flexible, in your benefit! Why? Why do they want you so much, and why has The Argonaut, who has never remotely shown any interest in taking an apprentice before, selected you!"

He inched his face closer to Orion's, and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire. Orion had never seen the boy so angry before. Loki was normally a very subdued and quiet person, only scowling and snarkily snapping, and not this furious wizard before him.

"It's always you, you, you," spat Loki heatedly. "You're Headmaster Vagnarov's favorite - he always allows you to do anything you want! Even our Curse Breaking and Warding Professor shows his preference for you-"

"Komorov?" interrupted Orion disbelievingly, before he snapped with true anger, "You think that Roman Komorov, out of all people, has a soft spot for me? The man hates my guts!"

"He doesn't," bit out Loki, leveling at him a dark, incensed scowl. "Yes, he changed his way of acting around you, but he still gave you extra lessons and homework last year-"

"Think why!" interjected Orion angrily. "You believe he helped me out of the goodness of his heart? Vagnarov and Komorov knew that there was a chance that I would go into the English Department of Mysteries, that's why Komorov gave me extra lessons, because he wanted me to be prepared since he didn't want to lose a tool – that's what he and others consider me to be! And you think Vagnarov shows leniency towards me without any valid reason? I'm a tool for him as well, however well-intentioned the wizard is, because I'm-"

Abruptly, he clamped his mouth shut, his eyes slightly widening at how much he had said. Granted, he hadn't revealed anything important, but he had been close to doing it… He was simply too exhausted, he felt his mind sluggishly slow. Merlin, and he still had a lot of things to do before being able to go to sleep…

"Yes, go on, tell me," said Loki sharply, piercing him with his eyes while grasping the collar of Orion's Durmstrang uniform. "There is a reason, isn't there? And you know what it is. Tell me why you are so important, Black. Why my own father barely glances at me, yet he always observes you with interest!"

"Is that what all of this is about?" interjected Orion, feeling all his bristling anger melting away amidst waves of tiredness. He slowly rubbed his forehead, and said quietly, "Merlin's staff, Njord, what do you want me to tell you? I know why Vagnarov and Komorov seem - to you- to be lenient with me, but I truly have no idea why the Necro Masters are interested in me. In that regard, I know as much as you do: that I'm Cadmus Peverell's descendant and that they struck a bargain with me so that they could study the Resurrection Stone-"

"I know that," interrupted Loki in a harsh, steely tone of voice, "but the Necro Masters also want you to become a full-fledged Necromancer. They want you to be part of the Guild, and they bent their rules to allow you the freedom of choosing when to undergo the training. And they're even allowing you to have the chance of refusing to take the trials. Don't you see how much they have yielded for you?"

Orion frowned at him. "Yes… I suppose they have."

"Tell me why," pressed on Loki demandingly, piercing him with his eyes. "I'm not stupid, Black. I know it must be for the very same reason that Headmaster Vagnarov is always watching out for you. It is, isn't it?"

"Yes, I think so," said Orion, his frown deepening even further. "I guess it's possible that the Guild knows as well…"

He shook his head, since it was pointless to ponder about that. As a matter of fact, if Loki's unwitting suspicions were correct and the Guild did know something about the whole VA-issue, it wasn't consequential. The Guild cared nothing about what happened in the 'outer world', as they called the mortal plane. They didn't care about wars between Light and Dark, as long as the Guild remained secluded, undiscovered, and unharmed. Even if the Guild knew anything about the whole VA thing, they wouldn't care one way or the other.

"Tell me what it is."

Orion's eyes snapped up and he met Loki's dark gaze. He sighed and tiredly carded his fingers through his hair, before he said firmly, "I can't, Njord. I'm sorry that it seems to you that they are all favoring me, but it isn't like that. All of them have a reason to do so, and let me tell you that it's done in self-interest, because of the goals they have for the Dark-"

"Because you are the Dark Lord's spouse?" interrupted Loki, frowning at him. "Just because of that? It doesn't make sense. It's not important enough."

"It's not because of that," said Orion impassively, meeting the boy's scrutinizing gaze. "Nevertheless, I cannot tell you, Njord. Ask the Necro Masters for their reasons. I don't completely know theirs, and I will not tell you the others' reasons. I haven't even told those closest to me, so why would I-"

"So why would you tell me, right?" interjected Loki dryly. He released his grasp on Orion's robes, and said sharply, "Fair enough, Black. You owe me nothing – we've never been friends."

"No, we haven't," said Orion tartly.

Loki curtly nodded, and then said sharply, "Do you want to know what an Argonaut is?"

Orion stared at him with surprise, before he arched an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "You would tell me?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't," scoffed Loki. "You would find out when you started your training with him, anyway." He pierced him with his eyes, and added pointedly, "And you would owe me a favor. Deal?"

"Fine," replied Orion, almost bursting with the need to know more about the strange, orange-eyed Necromancer. "I'll owe to share some information with you, but it's my prerogative to choose what and how much to tell you. Alright?"

"Done," said Loki quickly. He straightened his shoulders, and said in a low, quiet voice, "The Guild, throughout its existence, has always had one Argonaut. They are Necromancers, part of the Guild, but much more independent than any other Necromancer and also respected as much as Necro Masters are. It's because of what they do – it's vital for the Guild, and few Necromancers have the inclination, power, or plain capacity to do it. You see, an Argonaut is a Necromancer who is always in other planes. While all the Guild's Necromancers stay here, exploring the spiritual plane to advance their knowledge about it, an Argonaut is rarely seen here, for he is always in other realms. There are countless realms beside the spiritual plane, Black, but most Necromancers aren't interested in them; they prefer to study souls, to prepare themselves for their own rebirths, and to be able to have some control over it. That's why the Guild wants to get rid of Dementors and become the guards of the Balance between the mortal and spiritual plane. They want to do a better job at it, without taking the souls of living wizards, as Dementors do."

The boy waved a hand dismissively, and continued, "But you know about that already. Let me get to the point. Necromancers stay in the Guild, studying souls and taking incursions into the spiritual plane for it. They mostly summon souls, though they summon creatures from other realms occasionally, but they never actually go into those realms – that's the Argonaut's task. He's a sort of ambassador for the Guild; always living in other realms, interacting with whatever creatures there are in those planes, and advancing and promoting the Guild's influence in those places. An Argonaut is, essentially, a traveler of non-spiritual realms. His quests vary, but His ultimate goal is to solidify Guild-realm relations."

Orion's eyes marginally widened, and he said slowly, "That's what that thing was? That swirling black-hole thing he made with a Locus of Time and his Necromantic powers? It was a portal into a realm?"

"Exactly," said Loki curtly. "It takes years to master how to create those portals, and many Necromancers don't take the trouble of learning it when there's already an Argonaut. When the Guild lacks an Argonaut, because the previous one died, then all Necromancers are tested and the most able one is chosen. Though the selected one can refuse, Virgil didn't. Actually, I heard that Virgil always wanted to become The Argonaut, and that the previous one stepped down to leave him his place, because Virgil proved to be more powerful and skilled than him. This happened four centuries ago, by the way-"

"How's that possible?" interjected Orion, frowning while deeply musing about all of it.

Loki darkly scowled at him. "Use your bloody brain, Black! It shouldn't surprise you that The Argonaut looks young even if he is old. How many times do I have to tell you that time is of no consequence - even much less in other realms! Circe knows how time passes on those planes in comparison to the mortal one."

"Right, I get the point," muttered Orion, his mind still wrapped in his pensiveness.

Loki pierced him with his eyes, and demanded crisply, "What is it?"

"Huh?" said Orion startled, before meeting his gaze. "Oh, nothing. Simply that I think that I know why they asked Virgil to come here to observe me."

"Do tell, Black," bit out Loki impatiently.

Orion shot him an irritated glare, before he said shortly, "It's because the Necro Masters know that even if I become a full-fledged Necromancer I wouldn't want to stay here, in the Guild. You weren't there when I discussed it with them, but I expressly told them that I would always go back to the mortal plane. I'm not interested in spending the rest of my life studying the workings of the spiritual plane, Njord. I'm interested in the outer world, as you call it. Therefore, they asked Virgil to come here because-"

"Because they knew The Argonaut can offer you what they cannot," interrupted Loki, with a slight frown on his ever-scowling face. "I think you are right, Black. Clearly, the spiritual plane doesn't interest you, but if what you seek is to be powerful in the outer world – as I suspect you do- then you'll gain much by knowing what there is in other realms. After all, The Argonaut can train you to become a full-fledged Necromancer but he can also teach you about creatures of other realms; how to summon them, how to gain their allegiance and use them in battle…."

He pierced Orion with his eyes, the gaze intense and demanding. "That's it, isn't it? Gaining allies for the war and to be more powerful… You want to become a Dark Lord, and the Guild knows it, and decided that they gained more than they lost by helping you become it. After all, you'll owe the Guild your undying loyalty after you become a full-fledged Necromancer. You'll be bound to protect the Guild – its existence and all its secreted knowledge... A Dark Lord protecting and furthering the Guild's goals. Yes, that would indeed make the Necro Masters interested in helping you out."

Orion stared at him in silence, though inwardly he was mildly shocked. Loki had hit the nail, full on. The young wizard had precisely said what he thought – what he had suspected. Granted, the boy should have said 'Vindico Atrum' instead of 'Dark Lord' to express exactly what he had thought, but the young wizard didn't know about the VA. And he realized immediately that he had underestimated Loki, since the boy had piece it all together with scarce bits of information.

"I'm right, aren't I?" insisted Loki, his gaze scrutinizing, holding a hint of awed and startled realization. "Circe on a broom! That's what Headmaster Vagnarov wants from you as well. Everything fits!" His eyes widened, and he gasped out, "For Merlin's staff, Black, what are you plotting – will you kill the Dark Lord? Is that what all that rubbish about the prophecy is? Is that what Vagnarov and Professor Komorov want you to do in order to further their goals for the Dark, as you put it? For you to take the Dark Lord's place and lead the Dark in the war?"

Orion stood rooted to the spot. The conversation was getting too dangerously close to the truth.

"Fuck – answer me, Black!"

"I will," said Orion calmly, deciding on the best course of action, while fleeting feeling surprised at the boy's uncharacteristic outburst, "only if my answer pays off what you told me about the Argonaut."

"Yes, yes," snapped Loki hastily, darkly scowling at him. "You'll owe me no more information if you tell me if I got it right or not."

"Good," said Orion sharply, before he pierced him with his eyes, and added quietly, "Yes, it's exactly what you said."

"Merlin's socks, Black!" interjected Loki harshly. "Are you bloody insane by going along with what they want? You – killing the Dark Lord and taking his place? Is that what you-"

Orion had had enough. He didn't want to go down that lane, and quite frankly, Loki was simply too bloody perceptive for his taste. One thing was to make Loki believe that he simply wanted to be a Dark Lord, but it was another matter entirely to discuss the issue in depth. And he knew exactly what would shut the young wizard up.

"Ow, I'm touched, Njord," he interrupted in a cooing and mocking voice. "You care about my well-being. It warms the deepest folds of my heart to know that-"

"Stuff it, Black," spat Loki heatedly, looking thunderous while his pale ears turned red. "I don't give a gnat about you. With luck, the Dark Lord will kill you, or better yet, some creature of some realm will gobble you down."

Orion smirked at him. "Yes, you would like that, wouldn't you? Tell me, besides your father's interest in me, are you also jealous that Virgil chose me as his apprentice?"

He knew he had struck deep when Loki's dark eyes flashed with fury –though he could see that it was caused by the mention of the boy's father and not about the Argonaut. Nevertheless, he inwardly sighed with relief, since making Loki angry served to divert the boy's thoughts away from him and also to put some distance between them. He didn't want understanding in Loki; he didn't want the boy to feel anything of the sort which could lead them to some type of friendship, because, quite frankly, he had other plans for Loki, and friendship wasn't involved at present.

"You can take The Argonaut's mentorship and stick it up your vain, conceited arse," hissed out Loki, irately glaring at him. "Not everyone wants to be you, Black. Furthermore, I'm not remotely interested in learning an Argonaut's ways. When I pass my trials I'll stay in the Guild to study the spiritual plane – it's what I've always wanted, instead of traipsing around the other realms!"

"Good to know," said Orion sharply. "Now, if you don't mind, let's leave. I have a resurrected father to take care of."

"I don't give a pixie's arse about your father-"

"Yes, we've established that," interrupted Orion briskly. "You don't give a damn about me, so you don't give a damn about my father. That's perfectly fine by me, but I can only get out of here with you, so stop wasting my bloody time!"

Loki fixedly stared at him, darkly glowering, but also eyeing him strangely, with a frown on his pale face. But Orion paid him no further attention and he swiftly approached his father, who was still deeply asleep, floating in mid air with the charm he had casted a while ago.


The instant he finally apparated into the master study of Black Manor, with school bag and a floating father along with him, Dobby popped before him.

"Master Orion, sir," said the house-elf, frantically bobbing its ears, "there is guest waiting in the Blue Parlor, sir. Guest has been waiting for thirty minutes, Master Orion, sir, and-"

"Oh, Merlin," interrupted Orion with a heavy sigh, while he checked his wristwatch and discovered that it was indeed half past ten in the evening.

He had left for the Guild around nine, and spent about three hours there, but of course, since time behaved differently in the Cross of Planes, only one hour and a half had passed in the outside. Nevertheless, he was thirty minutes late and he knew his 'guest' would be very, very cranky; the wizard despised unpunctuality.

"Bring him here, immediately," he said hastily, while he flicked his wand and made his father lie on a plush, comfortable couch.

Dobby popped away instantly, and he didn't have to wait long when the door slammed open and his guardian stalked inside, with a darkly irked expression on his face.

"What has happened to you?" said Snape sharply, narrowing his obsidian eyes at him, and inspecting every inch of him. "What moronic foolishness were you involved in this time? You're covered with black bruises, and you better have not made me come here to heal you again…"

Whatever vitriolic and snide rant his guardian let out, Orion only heard it distantly, because the moment he laid eyes on the wizard he was assaulted by memories which weren't his own.

He remembered being ensconced in the Slytherin common room, besides a young Severus Snape who was tutoring him in Potions… He saw himself teaching Severus a nasty curse he had learned over the summer holidays, which he had spent reading the darkest books of Grimmauld's Place library… He clearly visualized dueling with Severus, practicing their curses and feeling a frisson of smug contentment when he managed to provoke an unwilling laughter from his sour, stern friend…

Orion gasped and froze in place when he realized what was happening. He was seeing and feeling Regulus' memories regarding Snape, and Cadmus wasn't there to inflict them on him. Whatever the Dementor had done to him wasn't temporary. Cadmus had permanently changed something – unlocked something in him. And now he understood why the Dementor had quietly gone into the Gate without any further retribution; Cadmus had done this on purpose, leaving him to be slowly consumed by Regulus' memories, and certainly also by more to come from his past reincarnations… He should have known that Cadmus wouldn't calmly kill himself without taking revenge – without doing something of this magnitude to him! His mind panicky reeled with the repercussions of it - He would go insane! He would need to find some solution to this, or-

"What's the matter with you?" snapped Snape, and Orion suddenly realized that his guardian was firmly gripping his chin, scrutinizing him with narrowed eyes.

"Er, I – nothing," he said hesitantly, while his mind slowly come back to the awareness of his present circumstances. He shook his head, straightened his shoulders, and took a step back from the wizard, as he said nonchalantly, "You were saying?"

"What have you done?" demanded Snape sharply, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Your appearance, your bruises-"

Orion cut him off with a wave of his hand, while he wandlessly summoned a small mirror and inspected himself with a frown on his forehead. Ah, yes, he saw them: what appeared to be black bruises covering several places of his face and neck, not to mention his hands. He had 'bruises' in every place in which he had had physical contact with the Dementor. And even with the Zraven vampire blood in him, those burn marks would take over a week to heal themselves.

He sighed and swiftly vanished the mirror, before he pierced Snape with his eyes and mutely pointed at his father lying deep asleep on the couch.

"You're showing me the Mutt," said Snape tartly, his voice dripping with snide sarcasm. "How thrilling. I thought you had disposed of the useless lump long ago."

Orion simply rolled his eyes. He had become used to any Snapish slur against his father ages ago, and it didn't remotely bother him anymore.

"He's alive."

"And soulless," drawled Snape dryly, shooting him an unimpressed glance. "Quite fitting, since he's as useless and pathetic as he was in life." He arched an eyebrow, and sneered acerbically, "I would have thought that your beloved Dark Lord would have incinerated the mutt's body by now, instead of allowing you to cling to your father's empty carcass-"

Orion huffed with exasperation, and snapped, "He's truly alive, Severus!" He shot him a self-satisfied smirk, and added smugly, "I resurrected him, my friend." He pointed his finger at his father again, and said slowly, as if speaking to a mentally challenged wizard – for truly, his guardian deserved it at present, "I defeated the Dementor who had his soul. I took the soul from it, killed it, and then placed the soul in my father's body. My father is now ALIVE – for real."

He couldn't quite decipher what was going through his guardian's mind, but the wizard had stilled, standing rooted in place, his black eyes narrowed and his gaze scrutinizing.

"How?" finally said Snape, his voice sharp and very low. "That's impossible. Resurrection is impossible, not to mention resurrecting a Kissed wizard, Orion. What did you do? How did you-?"

"I will explain everything," interrupted Orion tiredly, "but not at present. Now, Severus, we'll do what I need your help for."

Without giving the man a second to say any more, he swiftly reached the grand mahogany desk and flicked his wand several times to unlock it's bottom drawer. Then, very carefully, he extracted the pensieve containing his father's memories and casted several ward-breaking and bloods spells.

Finally, he wandlessly called forth two armchairs besides the couch where his father was asleep, and said quietly, "My father left most of his memories in this pensieve, before he went to Hogwarts to capture Peter Pettigrew. He knew there was a chance he would fail and be captured by Aurors." He pointed at the pensieve. "Most of his life is here: most of his memories regarding me, my identity as Harry Potter, and his recollections about my mother. He won't be himself unless we put all these memories back into his mind." He side-glanced at Snape, and added, "I need your help to do it. You're a much more skilled and experienced Legilimens than I am, and if we work together it will take us no more than the rest of the night. Will you help me?"

"I will want an explanation," said Snape sharply, sternly piercing him with his eyes. "You will tell me what you did, in detail." Orion nodded, and the wizard continued with a sour expression on his face, as if he had been forced to swallow a lemon against his will, "Yes, I'll help you, insufferable brat. Only because of the oath we gave to each other." Then he abruptly smirked, and added with viciously relish, "And I'll look forward to seeing how you explain to the mutt everything you've done in his absence – most particularly your marriage to the Dark Lord. Only for that, I'm willing to see your pathetic father back into life."

Orion crisply mumbled something under his breath, shooting a brief glare at his guardian, before he plunged the tip of his wand into the silvery surface of the pensieve. Snape soon followed, doing the same, and they started drawing swirls of memories.


Checking his wristwatch as soon as he spilled out of the fireplace, Orion discovered that it was almost ten in the morning, and that Remus would soon be dropping by. Nevertheless, it instantly left his mind when he heard screams and shouts reverberating from the hall.

Worried and exhausted, he quickly made his way out of the main parlor of Black Manor, intent on finding out what the ruckus was about.

After spending the whole night working with Snape in restoring the memories back into his father's mind, he had tiredly gone to bed, and his guardian had as well since he had convinced the wizard to rest in a bedroom of the Manor. Regardless, he had barely gotten a wink of sleep. His nightly visions had been the less troubling images which had plagued his dreams, since he had also been assaulted by a messy stream of flashes of memories. They weren't only Regulus'; he had been able to discern that some were of his life as Sextus Black, but in many others he hadn't been able to discover who he had been.

They had been images accompanied by feelings and thoughts, but people didn't usually think about their appearance or their names, so he had been unable to realize who he had been in those instances. Nevertheless, he had been able to discern that he was always a dark wizard; his age varied but not his gender or the type of his magic. It didn't only add more perplexing mystery to the matter of his reincarnations, but also pain. Most of the memories were the worst and most painful of his past self…

He had been a small boy, no more than ten years old, who had cried and bellowed when a mob of muggle peasants had barged into his home and taken his mother away from him, before being tied to a pyre and burnt alive. He had been too young to cast the spell his mother had told him about – that which would have allowed him to be unharmed by the blazing flames. He hadn't known how to cast the charm, and he died, burnt alive, and Orion had never experienced such agony or such hatred – for muggles. He had been a boy who hadn't believed his mother's warnings about how muggles were dangerous; he had wanted to impress the little girl of the nearby village, he had conjured a daisy for her, and she had ran away from him, frightened and screaming… It didn't take long for a mob of muggles to tear into his home, calling his mother a 'demon' and him 'the devil's spawn', and he had died surrounded by frenzied, murdering, spitting yells of 'abomination' and 'Devil'.

That was one of the recollections which had shaken Orion the most, due to the hatred he had felt, and even for more reason that he had felt it at such a young age, and directed to muggles.

The other memory that had shaken him just as badly was one in which he had been a wizard of around eighteen or twenty years old. He hadn't been able to discern much, but he saw how he approached a gentle-looking middle aged man with long blond hair, noble bearings, and a benevolent expression on the face. Havoc seemed to be going on all around him, but his attention had been solely focused on the man. He had tightly embraced the man, while feeling blazing hatred battling with pained hurt caused by the rejection he knew the man felt for him. But he had tightly embraced the man, caressing his hair in mock affection, and whispered 'Father' just before he plunged a dagger into the man's stomach, repeatedly. From there, he could only hears frantic screams and only see blood pouring and staining his hands and robes, while the man fell to the ground, dead, and as someone pulled him away from the violent masses that rushed towards him, intent on killing him in retribution.

That memory had been followed by one of Regulus' times with Voldemort, and Orion had had enough and had jumped from his bed. Not wanting to go back to sleep, he had gone along with an impulse, and also a need, and he had flooed to Grimmauld Place.

It had been ages since he had set foot in the house, and everything had seemed strangely familiar to him. He hadn't even been able to bear seeing or talking to the portrait of his grandmother; it only made him remember that Walburga had been his mother, who had always preferred Sirius over him. Moreover, he had gone into Regulus' bedroom, and everything seemed to be just as he had left it before answering his Lord's summon and killing himself. Orion knew that it wasn't so, since he had occupied Regulus' room years ago, after finding out that he wasn't only Harry Potter but also the son of Sirius. Nevertheless, that bedroom had felt like his own, and he had instantly known where to find a picture of Regulus.

Narcissa had often told him that he looked like his father, and Remus often told him that his features were a perfect combination of Lily's and Sirius', but they had been partly wrong – he also looked like Regulus. The same silky, black hair which if kept long would have been smoothly wavy as Regulus', the same high cheekbones, patrician straight nose, and handsomely aristocratic, boyish looks. The eye color differed –emerald green instead of dark grey- and his lips were fuller, like Lily's, but the rest was very similar, and it had shaken Orion further, wondering if Voldemort saw something of Regulus when the wizard looked at him.

But those contemplations hadn't been the worst, since he had found the vial of basilisk poison –now useless due to age and since it hadn't been spelled with preservations charms- that Regulus had intended to use to destroy the locket-horcrux, and he had had a flash of a hazy recollection. He remembered going into a cave with a house-elf –not Kreacher, but an older one, Orion could distinguish as much- making the elf drink some potion, grasping the locket, leaving another one, restoring the potion, burning the rests of the dead house-elf, and going back to Grimmauld Place…

And Orion hadn't known what to make of such memory. The cave hadn't looked familiar, nor had the potion, but what had mattered the most was that he, Regulus, had intended to use basilisk potion to destroy the horcrux, and he remembered why. He remembered reading every old book about the Dark Arts in the library of Grimmauld Place, researching for a solution, and he remembered discovering that basilisk potion could be used. And it was a surprise for Orion, since he had believed that horcruxes could only be destroyed by their maker or by the use of a powerful Light artifact, such as Gryffindor's sword. But he had realized that he believed that because he had read it in Sylvester Slytherin's parsel book, and that since that time others could have discovered other means. And most importantly, he remembered reading somewhere that Gryffindor's goblin-made sword had its blade tinted with basilisk poison.

The information had sunk into his mind, but, regardless, Orion hadn't been able to stand more recollections, or to think about it, and he had finally flooed back to Black Manor.

But it seemed that he would have no rest, since at present, panicked and frantic shouts from house-elves were booming from some place, along with unintelligible, terrified screams.

Finally, Orion barged into the room, and he paused with widened eyes when he took in the scene before him. Sirius – Merlin help him for he could not think of the wizard as just his father, but also as Sirius, his older brother- was screaming, looking wild and unaware of his surroundings, with his eyes closed, backed against a wall with his arms violently flinging everywhere, while he was circled by a group of house-elves who were trying their hardest to help and subdue him.

Orion instantly whipped out his wand and casted a calming charm on his father, before he cautiously approached him. Sirius had stopped screaming and batting his arms, but still had his eyes closed, so he carefully placed a hand on his father's shoulder, and said in a quiet, soothing voice, "You're awake, Dad. Whatever you saw isn't real. Open your eyes."

Dark grey eyes slowly opened and met his gaze, but Orion didn't sigh in relief since there was a panicked and uncomprehending look in his father's eyes.

"You… Orion? You look different, I don't understand," croaked out Sirius, staring at him with wide eyes, before he frantically looked around. "Where am I? What happened? I was in… Azkaban… "

"Azkaban?" said Orion tightly, before he clutched his father's shoulder more firmly, and demanded hastily, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Sirius' eyes snapped to him, and he said hesitantly while a strange frown spread over his face, "I… er… I was with you… we found Peter! Then Remus came… and then Snivellus and Dumbledore!" He stared at Orion fixedly, his eyes widening. "And Aurors! Merlin's staff, Aurors came! But then…" His frowned deepened, and he added slowly, "Then blackness, and I remember… a cell in Azkaban – they captured me! But then something came… A Dementor… But after that…" He shook his head and shivered. "Then coldness, pain, and blackness… I don't understand…" He wildly shook his head, and demanded adamantly, "What happened pup? They released me, didn't they? Dumbledore saw Peter alive so he must have-"

"No, he didn't," interrupted Orion sharply, though he was inwardly dismayed.

Sirius didn't remember anything consequential –besides pain, coldness and blackness- about his time as a soul. His father didn't remember the two times they had spoken when the wizard had been a disembodied spirit inside the Dementor. He hadn't expected that, though he shouldn't have been surprised – nothing should surprise him since Sirius was the first to have ever been resurrected after being Kissed; they were in uncharted waters here.

"Sirius," he said quietly, before he quickly amended, "Dad. Let's sit down. There's something I must tell you."

He waved a hand at the frantically worried house-elves, and they popped away while he carefully pulled his father onto a couch.

"Listen," said Orion slowly, intently fixing Sirius with his gaze, "you weren't released from Azkaban. You were Kissed by the Dementor – you died, Dad. Dumbledore did indeed see Pettigrew alive, but-"

"What?" choked out Sirius, staring at him with unbelieving, wide eyes. "What are you talking about, pup? That I died? I'm here! And Dumbledore surely-"

A snide snort cut through, and a silky, vicious voice said, "Dumbledore surely what, Black? Saved your unworthy, pathetic hide? I think not – you bore the Dark Mark, still do, I might remind you."

Orion sighed just when Sirius jumped to his feet, and roared furiously, "Snivellus! What are you doing in my Manor? Where's my wand? I want you OUT-"

"I'm your son's guest," drawled Snape viciously, as he impassively leaned away from the threshold and smoothly strode inside the room, arching a mocking eyebrow. "And what do you want a wand for, mutt? Even with one, I could kill you in an instant, and that would put to waste your son's efforts. I recommend that you hear him out before-"

"As if I care about your recommendations, Snivellus!" spat Sirius heatedly, his voice sharp with spiteful loathing. "You cowardly, sniveling excuse for a wizard-"

"Shut it!" snapped Orion bristling, instantly getting up to his feet and shooting a glare at his father. "Don't talk to Severus like that, he has helped you and-"

"You're protecting Snivellus?" interrupted Sirius unbelievingly, staring at him with indignant anger.

Snape let out a condescending, malicious chuckle, and Orion shot him an irritated glower, before he rounded on his father, and said crisply, "I am. Severus is my friend and guardian. Now let's calm down and I'll take you someplace where I can explain everything to you-"

"Friend? GUARDIAN?" spluttered Sirius outraged, his voice rising as his gaze wildly flickered from one to the other.

"Sirius?" gasped out a quiet voice, and Orion sighed tiredly as he saw Remus standing at the threshold, staring at them with wide, amber eyes holding a hint of hope meshed with disbelief.

"Moony, my old friend!" said Sirius joyfully, as the two wizard met in a warm, crushing embrace, while Snape scoffed with scathing disgust.

Orion didn't even pay attention to the avalanche of questions that his father and Remus volleyed back and forth between them, as they tried to sort things out and failed, each one getting more perplexed than the other, while Snape seemed to be viciously amused.

It didn't take long before Sirius rounded on Snape again, but this time Orion saw that his father had somehow gotten Remus' wand in his hand. Snape had realized it as well, since the wizard was now hatefully sneering at Sirius, with wand aimed at him too, and looking quite eager for a violent duel.

Orion groaned, before he yelled angrily, "Stop it, you two! Should be ashamed of yourselves – I'm the kid here, supposedly, and-"

But his words were unheard or ignored more likely, and the wizards were already trading curses, while Remus tried to subdue them by talking reason into them – unsuccessfully, obviously.

Now furious, but forcing to remain collectedly calm, Orion shot a hand forward and instantly poured out his dark magic, which congealed into a thick wall of black ice between the wizards.

"What's this?" burst out Sirius, his glance flickering to Orion, while Snape narrowed his eyes at him, his gaze scrutinizing.

"That's me stopping you fools," said Orion coolly. "If you want to duel – fine. But it won't be here. You can't stay in this Manor anyway, father. Everyone knows about it and no one can know, for now, that you're back. You'll be staying someplace else." He pierced them with his eyes, and added sharply, "We're leaving. I'll take all of you with me and I'll explain things there. Now, I don't want a word or curse to be traded among you until we are there."

Sirius stared at him with gaping surprise, no doubt that it was due to the authoritative tone of his voice –his father would have to become used to it- while Remus nodded in quiet acceptance, his amber eyes brimming with unanswered questions but also patience. Snape, on the other hand, sneered at the other two wizards, before he pulled an expressionless mask over his features, and pierced Orion with demanding, narrowed eyes.

Nevertheless, Orion utterly ignored their unvoiced questions, and he firmly took a hold of them, pulling them into a side-along apparition. He wasn't going to risk saying anything in Black Manor. Even though the Manor was protected by ancient and powerful wards, it was public knowledge that it was his home, and he didn't put it past Dumbledore to have tried to break through the wards to spy inside. He knew the chances of it, or of the old coot succeeding in it, were slight, but he rather be cautious.

Therefore, they would be going to Potter Manor, even though Grindelwald was there. His father would have to learn about Grindelwald's presence in the Manor anyway, since Sirius would be living there. And Remus… well, Remus would finally find out that Grindelwald was alive and that he had rescued him from Nurmengard. Yes, many things would be revealed, and he needed to do it, since his father, Remus and Severus were key players for what he had planned, and it was imperative for him to find out where they stood.


He didn't answer any of their questions about why and how he had access to Potter Manor. Even with Snape piercing him with glowering narrowed eyes, Remus' amber gaze almost begging for answers, or with his father loudly demanding replies. Instead, he placidly greeted Daisy - Potter Manor's chief house-elf- and he calmly strode inside one of the parlors, elegantly perching himself on a plush armchair.

The second the others also took a seat, questions were fired, but Orion ignored them, with his gaze fixed on the door, waiting. Not even a minute passed when the door was opened and Grindelwald nonchalantly sauntered inside, crookedly smirking at him. In it, Orion detected a hint of relief and pride that he had made it back in one piece, but also a trace of dangerous mischievousness. But the wizard paused briefly when Orion smirked right back at him. Really, he had known that his mentor would immediately detect the presence of others, and that Grindelwald wouldn't pass the opportunity of making an entrance to shock his unwitting guests.

Indeed, the uproar was instantaneous. Sirius was on his feet, once again with Remus' wand in hand.

"Who – Grindelwald!" spit out Sirius with wide eyes, standing protectively in front of where Orion was seated, with a disbelieving but also uncomprehending expression on his face, while he purposely aimed his wand directly at Grindelwald. "Remus! This is… just like the textbook pictures… this is Grindelwald!"

Remus had also stood up, his body tensing with alertness as if about to spring forward, though he kept his voice steady and calm, "I'm sure there's a reason for-"

"He's Grindelwald - the mass-murderer of muggles!" yelled Sirius wildly, tightly clutching the wand, seeming ready to cast a curse at any time. "He was a Dark Lord! He's supposed to be locked away in Nurmerngard, Moony! What's he doing-"

Orion fleetingly felt for his father; Sirius was receiving shock after shock, but it was necessary. He wasn't going to molly-coddle his father, and more importantly, he had needed to gauge their reactions.

"He's supposed to be dead, Sirius," interjected Remus quietly, shooting an intent glance at Orion.

All the while, Grindelwald had elegantly and unworriedly sprawled himself on an armchair, looking like a man thoroughly and gleefully amused by the dramatic prances of lesser beings, as if all of it had been orchestrated for his own entertainment.

But Orion's gaze didn't linger on his mentor. And he didn't observe Snape's reaction, since the wizard had known about Grindelwald from the start, and he didn't waste time in contemplating his father's ongoing outburst – he had expected nothing else from him- but he did intently study Remus' reaction, and the wizard didn't disappoint.

"I'm sure," said Remus quietly, interrupting Sirius' frenzied rant once more, while his amber eyes pierced Orion with a firm gaze, "that Orion can explain why this wizard is here, alive. I'm sure you had a valid reason to break him out of his prison and bring him here, while making the wizarding world believe that he had died when Voldemort attacked Nurmerngard."

Orion nodded at him, satisfied with the werewolf's acceptance and his show of open-minded level-headedness. "Yes, I had and still have my reasons. And now, I will explain everything to you." He glanced at the others, and added calmly, "I'll explain why I have access to Potter Manor, why Grindelwald has become my mentor, and how I resurrected my father, amongst other things." Then he pierced Sirius with his eyes, and said quietly, "Dad, you were Kissed, and you died. It happened almost four years ago, and since then I worked very hard to find a way to bring you back. And yesterday, I succeeded. I found the Dementor who had taken your soul, I freed your soul, killed the creature, and placed your soul back into your body – which was kept alive thanks to life-sustaining potions. Thus, I resurrected you. Now, lower your wand – Grindelwald won't attack you- sit down, and I'll tell you the rest."

It didn't go smoothly at all. He had not spoken two more sentences when his father jumped to his feet again, in an explosive outburst. Nevertheless, Orion had taken it all in stride and done what he had expected to be forced to do – he wandlessly forced his father back into his seat and swiftly casted paralyzing and silencing charms on him. Not even Remus said a word about it, even though Sirius' eyes had been spitting fire in indignant anger, while Grindelwald seemed to be viciously amused by it and Snape sneered something silkily contemptuous at Sirius.

Therefore, when Sirius could do nothing but move his eyes to glare at everyone and fix him with a hurt glance, Orion proceeded to finally say everything without interruptions. And he told them absolutely everything, as planned. He began from the very first day that he accounted as being the moment in which his quest had unwittingly started – when he was ten years old and had discovered Slytherin's locket in Regulus' room. And he told them what it was – a horcrux, and he explained in detail just what that was, for Remus' and Sirius' benefit. He told them about locket-Tom, and how he had discovered what a horcrux was by finding and entering Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and finding Tom Riddle's empty diary. From there, he told them what only Grindelwald knew: about his first day at Durmstrang and when he had gone into the school's Chamber of Whispers to be sorted into an Order, and how he had seen the spirits of Mordred and Morgana for the first time. In wasn't long before he told them about the Vindico Atrum, Sebastian Valois, his Headmaster Vulcan Vagnarov, his professor Roman Komorov, about Calypso's father Romulus Rosier, and all the others that were the Aux Atrum, including the deceased Igor Karkaroff and Gregorovitch, and also his and Draco's childhood tutor Ragnarok and the books that the old wizard had given him.

He spoke about everything he knew about the Aux Atrum, about their goals, the spirits' manipulations, including that which had affected Salazar Slytherin, Cadmus Peverell, and Tom Riddle – briefly mentioning Horace Slughorn's part in the latter case. And he explained who Tom Riddle was at present, and he disclosed that Cadmus had been the Dementor he had killed and also the one mentioned in the Tale of the Three Brothers. From there, he unraveled to them the true meaning of the Tale, explaining about the Hallows, and also how he got two of them and how he was planning on getting the Elder Wand.

Moreover, he explained how he had discovered that he had been subjected to the consangri ritual when he had been a baby, and how by using it, James Potter had given him Potter blood and magically adopted him as his heir, with Lily knowingly supporting it.

He also explained how and why he had killed Barthemius Crouch, and what had happened during the Final Task of the Triwizard Tournament when Neville Longbottom had been killed and he had done nothing to stop it, though he had saved Cedric Diggory from Bellatrix. Then, he went on to explain how he had served Horace Slughorn on a platter for Voldemort, who had ended up killing him, and also about how he had killed Peter Pettigrew, since it had been Voldemort's way of paying him back for giving him Slughorn.

He also mentioned in detail his incursion into the Department of Mysteries, about Lezander and his blood-bond with the vampire, about what had happened with the Veil, Dumbledore's actions, the prophecy and the meaning of it regarding the Dark Lords he had to supposedly kill. And about how his Phoenix wand had caused a Priori Incantatem with Voldemort's wand, and how he had seen Lily's and James' spirits and what had been said. After that, he went on chronologically, telling them how he and Voldemort, with locket-Tom's outburst, had discovered that he was a human-horcrux with a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him.

Furthermore, he told them what had happened when Dumbledore and the Aurors had forced him back with the Dursleys, what Vernon did, how he killed him and that Voldemort had killed Petunia and Dudley. He explained to Sirius that Severus became his guardian after that, since Lucius –his previous guardian- had been sent to Azkaban.

Also, he told them how he had discovered his unique dark magic during his first year at Durmstrang, and the things he could do with it, and how Grindelwald had helped him in that regard. He told them about the 'pull' that he and others powerful in dark magic felt, the consequences of it, and also about his Necromantic abilities and what little he could tell them about the Guild. And he disclosed that he had made a breakthrough in power of his dark magic after training with Grindelwald, and how he was taking a potion to contain his aura of dark magic.

He spoke about the Zravens, the vampire legend he knew very little of, about his suspicions regarding the Kraljica Mati, and his present situation with Lezander who he hadn't seen since finding out that he had truly saved him. He told them about his DA and Elite, and also about the Dark Allies, his allegiance with Remus and the Zravens, and his plans to undergo training to become a Necromancer. He explained about his commitment to go to Zraven Citadel during the summer, to solidify his allegiance with them, to train under Cyprian, and also all his other plans for the preparation for the real war. He included his plan of killing Grindelwald, while sparing Voldemort, and thus, only partly fulfilling the prophecy and going against what the spirits wanted him to do.

He disclosed Dumbledore's plans for him – that the old coot wanted him to confront Voldemort so that the wizard would kill him, along with the piece of soul inside of him. He explained further about the horcruxes, though not mentioning the ones he knew of, besides himself, and the Gaunt ring, locket and diary which were no more. He also revealed that he had visions, and told them what he saw in them, and what he was planning on doing to circumvent them.

Furthermore, as he told them more about the Vindico Atrum, he deeply dug into the matter of blood, since light wizards knew next to nothing about it and dark wizards knew only the essentials, but he had discovered much. He also told them about the Sources of Magic, what the spirits aimed for, what his candidacy as the Vindico Atrum entailed, about the legend regarding the prophet, and about his plans concerning that matter.

Also, he explained how he had transferred Voldemort's piece of soul into another receptacle, to free the Resurrection Stone. And about what had happened between Draco and him, and how he was sure, by now, that it had created an unparalleled bond between them – satisfying the 'trice-bonded' part of the little known vampire legend, since he was also blood-bonded to Lezander, and bonded with Voldemort due to the magical bonding ceremony and because he was a horcrux.

And from there, he plunged into his explanation of his relationship with Voldemort. How it started, how it progressed, and how he had finally decided to become the wizard's spouse. And at last, he updated them regarding his current circumstances with Voldemort –though not telling about his 'I love you' mistake and his present rocky situation due to it. Remus and Grindelwald knew about it, but they didn't say a word. Thus, he went on to explain how he had discovered Nymphadora Tonks passing off as Barty Crouch Jr., and how he left her with Remus, also including his plan of killing her if she didn't turn to the Dark's side.

At last, he explained how he had confronted Cadmus and resurrected Sirius, though he didn't tell them about what he had been forced to experience, or that it still happened to him. For that, he would wait until he was alone with Grindelwald, to try to find a solution with his mentor's help.

He didn't know how long he had talked, but by the end of it his throat was dry and his voice slightly hoarse. And all in all, he had told them absolutely everything – purposely, for it was his plan and much depended on their reactions. Given how they reacted, he would adjust his schemes, because the three of them -his father, Severus and Remus- were crucial for his plans and he needed to know if he could depend on them.

After saying his last, Orion remained silent, intently inspecting them. Sirius had obviously not said a word, still charmed, but he could see the brash anger, bristling outrage, deep worry, blazing disagreement, and a mesh of other emotions he couldn't quite decipher. Remus had kept quiet all that time; his amber eyes widening during some occasions, then turning concerned at others, though the werewolf had now a deeply pensive expression on his gentle face. On the other hand, Severus had also remained quiet, but with his eyes piercing him and narrowing most of times. At present, Orion could almost see the clogs working in Snape's sharp and cunning mind, taking in all the information disclosed and quickly piecing it together even more profoundly and consequentially, and no doubt weighing it and deciding his position on the matter.

And Grindelwald – well, the wizard simply looked darkly amused, with a darned crooked smirk on his face, while also observing the others, surely eagerly waiting for something entertaining to happen.

"Vindico Atrum? – and you believe in that," said a quiet voice, and Orion's eyes snapped to Remus.

"I do," said Orion impassively.

"I see," muttered Remus, shooting at him a concerned glance. "What can I say to you, cub? Not to kill Dumbledore? You know I disapprove of it, even if you need to have that wand you mentioned – that Hallow…" He shook his head and deeply sighed. "I wish I could tell you to disregard everything about this Vindico Atrum issue, but I know you won't. You've made your decision to try to become it. You left it clear when you told us that you were following your own path, independent from what the Spirits want of you. Yet..." He side-glanced at Grindelwald, before he bore his amber eyes into Orion's. "Yet you're planning on killing Grindelwald and on becoming a Necromancer. I don't like either, but I dislike even more the latter, though you know better than I do what it will do to you. You are resolved, then?"

"About killing Dumbledore and obtaining the Elder Wand – yes," replied Orion impassively. "About killing Gellert… I don't like it or want to do it, but I will, since he wants it as well… The pull… He feels the pull still. Ever since having left his warded cell in Nurmengard, the pull had been growing stronger inside him, as we knew it would happen." His gaze flickered to his mentor, and he wanly smiled at him before he glanced back at Remus. "Even if Gellert doesn't show it, or like to admit it, the pull affects him, growing stronger. If I didn't kill him, he would eventually go insane, because he can't go along with the pull of his magic and undertake the Vindico test-"

"The pull, as you call it, also affects Voldemort," pointed out Remus, "according to you."

"It does," said Orion, with a sharp nod of his head. "I told you that Voldemort has the same type of unique dark magic as Grindelwald and I. Just like me, Voldemort is the end-product of a long series of breeding crosses influenced by the spirits. He has our type of magic but not powerful enough to be detected by him, or used. Thus, his pull is not as strong as what Gellert feels and what I'll come to feel if I don't try to become the Vindico. But it's not because of that that I'm resolved to undergo the test, but because of-"

"I know, cub," interrupted Remus quietly, "you explained it at length. It's because you think that you need to be the Vindico in order to lead the Dark in the wars, so that we can have swifter victories will less casualties. But that's not necessarily true-"

"It is," interjected Orion curtly. "And even if it wasn't, my pull doesn't really leave me any other choices. Gellert and I have discussed my options at length, and none -except undergoing the VA test- are appealing to me. I won't do as Gellert did and allow some Dumbledore to lock me in a cell imbued with wards that would nullify my dark magic."

"I understand," muttered Remus, piercing him with his eyes, "and it's your call, cub, but I ask you to re-evaluate your decision of becoming a Necromancer. You're going to do it to obtain power – the power you won't obtain from Voldemort because you don't want to kill him." He shook his head, and added firmly, "I don't see how becoming a Necromancer is better than killing Voldemort. Not after you've told us how he tried to kill you when he discovered that you were Harry Potter, or what he did to you when-"

"It's thanks to my Necromantic abilities that Sirius is here, back with us," interrupted Orion calmly. "So how can you think that becoming a Necromancer will be bad for me? Imagine what I could do if I was a full-fledged Necromancer, Remus! The less savory consequences of it pale in comparison to what I would gain." He pierced him with his eyes, and added pointedly, alluding to their discussion about the whole 'I love you' issue, "And I thought you would understand why I want to spare Voldemort."

"I do understand," said Remus quietly, and then remained silent.

"I want to know," interjected Orion, eyeing him closely, "if you'll support me through all my plans, including my aim of becoming the Vindico and killing Dumbledore in order to obtain the last Hallow."

Remus' amber eyes snapped to his, and he said sharply, "I will. You know I will. But again, killing Dumbledore isn't necessary. You told us the terms of the Unbreakable Vow you took, and what Severus told you about Dumbledore's plan of using his Phoenix's tears to heal himself. Dumbledore believes that Severus took the Vow, and has planned accordingly for Severus to cast a curse that could kill him, so that Fawkes afterwards heals and saves him from death. Therefore, you can fulfill the Vow you took by casting at Dumbledore a curse that seriously injures him and could kill him if unattended, but not fight with him until death. Thus, Fawkes could save him afterwards. It's the intention of the action that matters in an Unbreakable Vow, cub."

"I know that, Remus," said Orion in a steely tone of voice. "But Dumbledore has much to pay for, and there's no way I won't duel with him until I kill him. After everything he has done to me, and Voldemort, I might add, he has it coming. I cannot allow him to live just for him to become a nuisance when the war truly erupts. The Light will be leaderless and weakened for a while without him." He shook his head, and added resolutely, "I won't change my mind."

Remus deeply sighed, before he said quietly with a frown on his face, "What about the possibility that the Vindico test will kill you?"

"It's acceptable to me," replied Orion, shrugging his shoulders. Then he smirked, and added deviously, "Besides, I have no intention of undergoing the test before turning even more powerful by killing Grindelwald and becoming a Necromancer. I'm not a self-sacrificing fool, Remus. In the end, I'm doing it as much as for the Dark's chances in the war as for myself – because I want to be powerful. I want to be the Vindico and then mold the wizarding world according to my beliefs."

"And what are those, cub?" said Remus sharply, intently boring his eyes into his. "You've spoken about the complex matter of the crossings between types of blood – about everything you read in Slytherin's journals. You even mentioned this Archive the Spirits have, which detail every bloodline they have manipulated, and their results. Are you going to base your decisions on Slytherin's research discoveries and what you find out from the Archives? And what if, as you suspect, you find that muggles and muggleborns indeed weaken the magic in our bloodlines? Will you condone their massacre? Will you execute it yourself, cub?"

"I would take measures," replied Orion firmly, "but which, I don't know yet, because I haven't accessed the Archives. That's one more task for me, in the future. Regardless, I have to study the matter deeply, and be certain that I won't make a decision lightly. Moreover, I would most surely rely more on laws restricting marriages and breeding, instead of going into a killing-spree." He faintly smirked at him, and added loftily, "I don't intend to become a mass-murdered, Remus."

"It's the easiest way, mein junge," interjected Grindelwald, shooting him a lopsided, toothy grin.

Remus frowned at the wizard, before turning to Orion, saying sternly, "You should have told me about him, cub. That you had broken him out and that he was alive-"

Grindelwald let out an amused crow of chortlings. "Ha! The werewolf disapproves of me - precious!"

"I do," said Remus curtly, his frown deepening. "And I don't particularly like the influence you have on Orion."

"Ja. You wouldn't, of course," interjected Grindelwald, crookedly smirking. "You consider him your 'cub', werewolf. And all of you werewolves are such overprotective creatures over your young." His smirk widened, and he added with a poignant barb, "I've been a positive influence on our young Lord and he doesn't need overprotective and restrictive pseudo-parents. Furthermore, I dare say that your protectiveness would be best invested in any cubbies you can have yourself – after all, you do have the natural ability for it, wolfie."

Orion frowned while his gaze flickered from one to the other, but his question got interrupted when Snape impatiently cleared his throat, and sneered acidly, "As fascinating as this uselessly inane chit-chat is, we have more important matters to discuss. The werewolf has already told you that he will stand by you, despite that you have concealed such important information from him - that's the stupid beast's prerogative." He pierced Orion with narrowed eyes, and added sharply, "I, on the other hand, demand to know why you didn't tell me about all of this sooner. Do you have any idea, you dim-witted brat, of how we could have planned for all of it better, had I only known?"

"What do you mean?" interjected Orion, frowning at him, puzzled.

Snape slowly took a deep intake of breath, as if summoning all the considerable patience he required to deal with feeble-minded idiots, and said crisply, "Where should I start? For instance, it would have been useful for me to know that Romulus Rosier is part of this society called the Aux Atrum, and that's he's been spying on the Dark Lord all this time, for them. It would have been highly advantageous for me, as well, to know that Sebastian Valois, one of the most influential members of the Dark Allies, is also an Aux Atrum who has been trying to help you." He pierced Orion with furious, narrowed eyes, and added tartly, "Had I known that they are your staunch supporters, or that they will be once you become this Vindico Atrum, then I would have surreptitiously plotted with them for our benefit. They are allies in key places, brat. And since I'm also your ally, I should have been informed! I cannot properly do my best spying and scheming work if such relevant information is withheld from me!"

"Well, I've told you now," interjected Orion, deeply frowning at him. "But you're taking all of this better than I expected. Aren't you surprised that I'm-"

"That you are powerful?" sneered Snape, foul-tempered. "Or that Morgana's and Mordred's spirits exist and that they have pegged you as a 'Vindico Atrum candidate'? The term is new to me, brat, but remember that I am a dark wizard, raised as such by my mother. Thus, that legend you regaled us with, regarding the 'prophet', isn't new to me." He bore his obsidian eyes into Orion's, and added dryly, "The Dark's prophet, indeed – that's what they think you can become, and I'll believe it when I see it. Nevertheless, despite that I've never put my faith in such things as prophetic legends, most of dark wizarding kind firmly believe in it, and we can use it for our benefit. Moreover, if you believe that it will be better for you to become a Necromancer, then go ahead. You're old enough to make your own decisions, and I'm not your nagging werewolf – nor would I protect you when you don't need it, as you obviously don't."

"Good," said Orion, beaming a true smile at him.

The wizard shifted in his seat to lean close to Orion, and with a dark expression on his face he said in a low, sharp voice, "Regardless, insufferable brat, think twice if you remotely believe that Dumbledore doesn't know about it."

"Albus knows nothing about the Vindico Atrum," interjected Grindelwald curtly, narrowing his hawk-like, hazel eyes at Snape. "Or about the Spirits."

Snape scoffed, and sneered snidely, "Never underestimate Albus, you geriatric old goat. You –out of all people- should know how resourceful the old man is, and how he digs into matters until he knows everything there is to know about them. The Dark's legend about a prophet isn't unknown to him. Dumbledore has made it his life's pursuit to be well cognizant on everything Dark – since he's the Dark's greatest opponent. And the Dark Arts comprises but a small part of what he has studied." He intently pierced Orion with his eyes, and added briskly, "I assure you that Dumbledore is not only fully aware of this prophet-business, but that it's also highly likely that he found out, Merlin knows when, that this Vindico Atrum is the prophet of the Dark's legends. Furthermore," he shot Grindelwald a scathing glance, "according to you, our dear friend here showed the old man his powers, when they were young, and even asked for Dumbledore's help to obtain Ignotus' Hallow – James Potter's Invisibility Cloak, which you said that Dumbledore kept in his desk, before you stole it from him in your fourth year. Moreover, he never showed you the memory where Voldemort's grandfather boasted about the Gaunt ring – another Hallow. This isn't mere coincide, Orion. And due to it, I can deduce that Dumbledore knows that the 'prophet' needs all the Hallows for this Vindico test you talk about, and that he purposely didn't show you the memory about the Gaunt ring because he didn't want you to see it. Thus-"

"Thus," interjected Orion, with a deep frown on his face while his gaze locked with his guardian's, "you believe that the old coot suspects about me? That maybe he knows that I stole the Cloak from him and that I want his wand because he realizes that I need to have all the Hallows, since I'm a Vindico candidate?"

"Precisely," said Snape, with a sharp nod of his head. "Even if Dumbledore doesn't know that Morgana and Mordred are here in spirit, and that they have been pulling the strings behind the scenes for centuries, the old man surely suspects what you're trying to do. I'm not saying that he knows all what you do regarding this Vindico Atrum issue, but it's safe –and necessary- to operate under the certainty that Dumbledore thinks that you believe yourself to be the prophet. Therefore, he'll be prepared if you try to take the Unbeatable Wand from him, and he'll try to obtain the rest of the Hallows as well." He arched an eyebrow, and drawled pointedly, "After all, you said that he went to the Gaunt cottage in search of the Resurrection Stone, moments after you did, and that you were able to leave with it in your possession after briefly dueling him, and without your identity being discovered. That tells you at what length he's prepared to go. It's clear that the Hallows are important to him, and the only reason why that may be, is because he wants to prevent other Grindelwald-like wizards from obtaining them. Therefore, he certainly knows more about the Hallows and this Vindico or prophet matter, however you want to call it, than you realized."

Orion pierced him with his eyes, and said impassively, "It doesn't come as a surprise, Severus. I did consider the possibility. After all, that Dumbledore didn't show me Ogden's memory was very revealing. And it was I who remarked upon it when I was explaining everything to you a while ago. Nevertheless, it changes nothing – I will still duel with him." He smirked, and added nonchalantly, "And perhaps, before I kill him, I'll force him to tell me how much he knew – just to satisfy my curiosity."

"And you're underestimating him," hissed Snape with sharp irritation, narrowing his eyes at him, "if you think you can defeat him so easily, when he was the Elder Wand as well."

"I didn't say it would be easy," interjected Orion, widely smirking. "But I have the advantage that he doesn't truly know how powerful I've become under Gellert's tutelage."

"A powerful dark aura which can be felt by others doesn't a duel-victor make," sneered Snape, shooting at him a grave yet scathing glance. "You might have, as you assure us, a dark aura as the likes of those of Dark Lords, but even Voldemort hasn't been able to best the old man in a duel. And Voldemort has decades of experience over you, as does Dumbledore."

"Yes, they do," said Orion placidly, "but it doesn't faze me, Severus. I know what my own abilities are." He waved a hand dismissively, and intently locked gazes with his guardian. "All of that is my problem, and I'll be ready when the time comes. What I want to know is your position regarding this matter and everything I've told you."

Snape arched an eyebrow, before he casually leaned back on his seat and nastily smirked at him, drawling silkily, "My, my, Orion, are you worried that I'll withdraw my allegiance from you?"

"Worried? No," said Orion pleasantly, though he smirked just as poignantly as him. "We took magical oaths a long time ago – remember? You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, and it has worked so far. What I wonder is just how firm your alliance is to me, after hearing all what I said."

"I don't ally myself with the losing side, brat," said Snape, his black eyes glittering while his lips curved upwards. "All I need to say is that you haven't lost my allegiance."

Orion smirked at him with satisfaction. Even if the wizard was too proud, or damned stubborn, to say it openly, he could easily discern his guardian's tacit loyalty and agreement. Severus was nothing if not a sly survivor, who had cast, even before now, his chances with him. Therefore, now that he had revealed to the wizard everything about the Vindico Atrum, his dark magic and Necromantic abilities, it was only to be expected that Severus would be more firmly entrenched on his side. Nevertheless, he needed to know just how much, since Severus was a key player for him, in the war.

"And how much are you willing to do for me?" asked Orion mildly, though he intently inspected him.

Snape arched an eyebrow, and said tartly, "Depends. What will you ask of me, brat?"

"I want you to seemingly remain a loyal Order member," said Orion instantly. "No matter what happens with Dumbledore, and even after I kill the old coot, I will need you to spy for me on the Light. So no matter what, behave as an Order member would – when the time comes. Also, you'll have to appear to be a loyal Death Eater. I don't want Voldemort to know that you really support me instead of him."

"That's acceptable," said Snape, piercing him with his obsidian eyes. "But am I to assume that you're planning on having problems with the Dark Lord, or breaking from him, and that that is why you're asking me to continue my spying activities on him?"

"Nothing of the sort," replied Orion dismissively. "I simply value being kept well-informed." He smiled wryly, and added, "And Voldemort has been known to keep things from me. Thus, I need you as a source of information regarding dealings in Death Eater ranks."

"Very well," said Snape curtly. Then the man smirked at him with vicious relish, and said silkily while side-glancing at Sirius, "Now I think you should hear what your flea-bitten mutt of a father has to say."

Orion inwardly grimaced as his gaze landed on his father, seeing that the wizard's dark grey eyes were spitting fire, his face red in anger, while breathing in blustering, loud gusts of air. Sighing, and with a hint of reluctance, he swished his wand in the air, summarily cancelling the charms on his father.

In the blink of an eye, Sirius jump to his feet, wildly gesturing as he roared furiously, "AM I THE ONLY WHO HASN'T LOST ALL HIS SENSES?" He pierced Orion with his grey eyes, and raged angrily, "Where do I start, pup? Spirits – prophets – rubbish, all of it! Morgana and Mordred?" He loudly snorted, and continued his rant, "I don't give two figs about who they are, but you're not doing any of it! Do you hear, son? And to become a Necromancer? Well, over my dead body, pup!"

Then he pointed an accusing finger at Grindelwald, fixing Orion with a blazing gaze, as he spluttered angrily, "They've brainwashed you, son! All of them have - these Aux people you mentioned and this mass-murderer of muggles! You can't trust a single one of them. As for the legend…" He scoffed scathingly, and his voice rose to an angry and vehement pitch, "My mother always tried to brainwash Regulus and I with that tripe about the legend regarding a prophet of the Dark! A prophet who would defend the Dark and bring it glory, purifying all dark bloodlines! It's utter rubbish, I tell you – I never believed it!"

Sirius towered over Orion, his dark grey eyes seething in fury, and added in a frenziedly frantic bellow, "And what possessed you to bound yourself to VOLDEMORT – the man who murdered your mother and tried to murder you when you were a baby! That murdering psychopath - that madman has Imperioused you, pup!" He clutched Orion by the lapels of his robes, lifting him up, with a desperate and wild look in his eyes. "I know he must have, and we're going to fix it right now, son – don't worry!"

"What?" choked out Orion with alarm, the second his father aimed his wand at him. Instantly, he wandlessly casted a disarming spell at his father, gripping tightly the wand that came shooting into his spread palm, and he snapped angrily, "Haven't you heard a word of what I said, father? I explained why I became Voldemort's spouse and no one has Imperioused me, for Merlin's sakes!"

"Oh, yes they have!" spat Sirius, looking quite deranged to Orion. "And we're going to undo your magical bond with that evil psychopath, and you aren't going to see him again, and I'm taking you out of the bloody continent!" He leveled at Orion a resolutely stern and overbearing gaze, and snapped forcefully, "And all this madness about Vindicos, horcrux-thingies, hallows and whatnots, prophecies, legends, and killing Dumbledore, and others, will end! You are not a murderer, son – if you killed Crouch Sr. and Peter, then you weren't yourself – surely you were under some evil dark spell. And you ARE NOT going to be involved in any battles or wars, and you are not going to visit any sodding vampires or become a bloody Necromancer! And for once you're going to obey me, pup, because I will not have it any other way!"

Sirius folded his arms to underscore his point and did his utmost to sternly glare down at Orion in a classic 'Father Knows Best' fashion, a proposition complicated by the fact that the wizard hadn't been around to be his father for quite a while.

"Did you even pause to think about anything I said?" interjected Orion slowly, bristling with fuming anger. "I explained to you everything in detail, my reasons, and the pressing importance that I attempt to become the Vindico, for the sake not only of the Dark's chances in the war, but also for the magical strength and purity of our dwindling bloodlines! And becoming the VA includes, first, becoming a Necromancer and also killing Dumbledore to get the last hallow-"

"I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ARSE ABOUT BLOODLINES AND THOSE HALLOW-THINGIES!" yelled Sirius, blustering and puffing with anger. "And I won't have my own son sinking deeper into this madness, with the aim of becoming a deranged Dark Lord – I will not have it! And I'm your father and you WILL obey me-"

"My father?" spat Orion heatedly, feeling increasingly incensed with every word that Sirius spouted. "Since when? You've been gone for almost FOUR years! Lucius Malfoy and Severus have been more of a father to me than you have!"

He saw the deep hurt in his father's eyes, but he didn't stop, as bitter recriminations long locked away bubbled into the surface of his mind, also knowing –but not caring- that they were also spurred by what he had felt as Regulus when Sirius had abandoned him.

Orion eyed him coldly, and sneered, "You lost all right to voice your opinions regarding my life, father, when you left me in order to pursue Pettigrew to have your revenge! And that wasn't the first time you abandoned me, was it? You left me when I was a baby too, after mom and James got killed – you handed me to that oaf Hagrid, knowing he would take me to Dumbledore, who then left me with the fucking Dursleys in a crappy childhood!"

"I – I," spluttered Sirius, before he firmly set his jaw, and snapped with fierce defensiveness, "You were Harry Potter then – I didn't know you were my son!"

"But you thought I was your godson!" yelled Orion madly. "And you still left me in order to go after Pettigrew! It's the story of my life – you cared more about having your revenge, than about me. I warned you that it wasn't safe to go to Hogwarts, and you knew the chances were very high that you would be captured – the proof is that you left a letter behind, for me to read. So you knew, but you went, regardless! And I had to spend four years without you, and quite frankly, I don't need your bloody input concerning my life anymore! My choices are my own – and I will not sever my magical bond with Voldemort. I am his HORCRUX and that can't be changed. And I chose him as my spouse and I have no intention of leaving him!" He pierced him with narrowed eyes, and added sharply, "And I'll become a full-fledged Necromancer if I bloody well decide to, and I'll came and go as I see fit, and I'll finish what I bloody started and become the Vindico! And there's nothing you can say or do to change ANY of it!"

"We'll see about that, pup!" said Sirius sharply. Abruptly, his expression fell into one of deep concern, and he said with frantic worry and vehemence, "You are Imperioused or Voldemort has cast on you some other spell – surely you are not yourself! And I know who can help us, pup. I'm taking you to Dumbledore – he'll know how to lift the curse you're under!"

Orion pierced him with furious, narrowed eyes, and instantly aimed his wand at him as he hissed in a low, deadly voice, "Try to take me to Dumbledore and we're through, father. You're not daft and you know as many dark curses as I do. Look into my eyes – they are clear. I'm not under the Imperious Curse or any other, and you bloody well know it! And you know that since I was a little boy I have been fascinated by Voldemort; with curiosity, reluctant admiration, and most of times with hatred as well, but he was my obsession from the start-"

"Because of that bloody locket horcrux thing!" roared Sirius. "And you should have told me about it the instant you found it-"

"Yes, Tom had a great deal to do with it," interrupted Orion in a steely tone of voice. "But I got to know Voldemort after that, and I also wanted him. So you know why I chose to marry him - I wanted him before I even knew it. But that's not the issue-at-hand; your choice is. Regardless if you choose to delude yourself by believing that my decisions during these four years weren't freely made, if you attempt to take me to Dumbledore we're done. I'm not kidding – I will completely obliviate from your mind everything you know about me, and then I'll drop you somewhere so that you can do whatever you want. But you won't remember much about me, and nothing at all about what I revealed to you today, and I'll never see you again. Is that clear? Now, make your choice!"

The silence that spread between them was pressing and unbearably tense, as the others who were intently observing them didn't beep a word. Though Orion didn't peel his gaze away from his father, so he couldn't tell what their reactions were.

"You don't mean it," said Sirius in a tight, hoarse voice, staring at him with wide eyes, his face having suddenly lost all of its color.

"I do," said Orion sharply, eyeing him with a cold, hard glint in his eyes, without an ounce of emotion showing in his face, since he really meant what he had said and was prepared to go through with it. "You are my father, and I love you, but I won't have you by my side if you choose to become an obstacle in my path. Becoming the Vindico is my highest priority and goal – for the Dark, and myself. I know you never really went back to the Dark's side; you became a Death Eater to protect me from Voldemort. Nevertheless, I am truly on the Dark's side now, and that's something you'll have to accept without complains if you want to stay with me. If not, as I said, I'll obliviate you and everything will be fixed and you'll have the freedom to go back to the manipulative old codger – and good luck with that, and with explaining how you're alive when you won't remember that I did it or how."

"What has happened to you?" croaked out Sirius, looking completely despondent, beaten, and sorrowful.

"I grew up," replied Orion shortly, piercing him with his eyes.

Abruptly, Sirius sprung forth and tightly clutched Orion's shoulders, as he said adamantly, "Listen to me, son. Something isn't right with you and we have to discover what it is-"

But, suddenly, Sirius' eyes glowed joyfully, and he let out a loud bout of giggles, before he exclaimed giddily, "Today is a luvverly jubberly day!"

Orion stared at him horrified, with his jaw hanging agape. The man had lost it! His father had just – giggled? He could concede that his father had a natural cheerful and mischievous disposition, and that the wizard was a prankster, but the man had always been too smooth and cool to do something such as 'giggling'. And he instantly panicked, as he was struck with the possibility that his father was this way because he had been resurrected.

That was until he caught sight of Grindelwald, who was crookedly smirking while watching Sirius with gleeful and sadistic amusement.

Instantly, Orion narrowed his eyes at his mentor, and indignantly pointed at his father, who was now happily twirling around the room. "What did you do to him? You casted a spell on him, didn't you?"

"Ja," replied Grindelwald impassively, gazing at Sirius while his lips curled into a highly amused smirk. "A cheering charm. He had it coming. He was getting on my nerves, and his yells were giving me a headache– he's too stupidly stubborn, mein junge."

"Oh, come and stirrrr my cauldrooon, luv," merrily sang Sirius at the top of his lungs, with a goofy, lopsided grin plastered on his face, "and if you do it right, I'll boil you up some hot, strong loooveeee to keep you warm tooonight!"

Orion wildly gestured at his father, and said frantically, "Well, you obviously overdid it, Gellert! Look at the man – he looks as if he was high on muggle drugs!"

"It will pass," said Grindelwald dismissively, utterly unrepentant and looking to be quite enjoying himself.

"You charmed the heart right out of meeee," sang Sirius in a jazzy tune, who had now grabbed a robe-hanger as a dancing partner, while he spun and frolicked around the room. "Oh, my poor heart, where has it gooone? It's left me for a speeell... You stole my cauldron but you can't have my heaaart! You can't have my loooooveee!"

Orion saw Snape smirking with vicious relish, also intently observing Sirius, as if trying to burn the image into his mind to have something to recall and enjoy forever – a duplicate of the memory was going straight into his guardian's pensieve, he had no doubt about that.

"Undo it, Gellert!" snapped Orion briskly.

"Nein," said Grindelwald, shooting him a sharp, toothy grin. "There's nothing better to watch, mein junge."

Orion angrily huffed, whipping out his wand to cancel the overdone cheering charm on his father, but a hand instantly gripped his wrist.

"Let him be happy and carefree for a few more minutes, cub," said Remus, his amber gaze fixed on Sirius with fondness and warmth, while his lips twitched as if suppressing laughter. "It will be good for him after everything he has learned. It was difficult for me to accept all what you have done and kept a secret, so I can barely imagine how your father must have felt. It was certainly hard for him, and he'll have this to remember as a fun anecdote." He side-glanced at Orion, and added with a faint smile, "That is, after his subsequent anger passes."

"Oh, well - fine," muttered Orion, dropping tiredly on the couch besides Remus and soon joining the others in observing how his father joyfully sang some ridiculous sappy song at the top of his lungs, while twirling and spinning around the room, charmingly and heavily flirting with the robe-hanger.