Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Crux of the Alchemist

by Fiery Gray

UNDER EDITING! (VI): While the Shadow War continues far away from the walls of Hogwarts, Scorpius is left facing the frustration of being stuck inside starting his first year of NEWT classes. He finds himself drawn to the mysterious new Alchemy professor, the subject itself shedding light on certain things while Shadows and a defector lurk closer then he realizes. COMPLETE

9. Chapter 9: Troubling Times

Parts (35-39)

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VI

Chapter 9

Troubling Times

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Part 1: Vacation's End

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Scorpius was surprised to say the least, his first instinct was obviously remnants of PAW but why would that cause Leebin to go missing? He wouldn't just abandon his injured family which meant he'd been abducted, why would PAW kidnap one of the few members of the family who wasn't a werewolf? But if not PAW then who? The Shadows was an obvious guess but what the hell would they want with Leebin? Was the mental health issues of Aurors really worth holding him captive for? And if not the Shadows then who? Florian maybe but why was anyone's guess and anyone for ransom was also pointless, the Leebins weren't rich. He was really left stumped and saddened, Leebin had helped him after all.

His mother insisted they visit them in the hospital though so they were dragged there on Christmas Eve, Myriam was still being tended to and Maurene was still unconscious but Lysel was stable. He was sitting up in bed, his wrist bandaged and a new scar going through his eyebrow making him reminiscent of his grandfather. Sol squealed with delight and tore over to his friend, clambering up onto the bed and giving Lysel a hug. The werewolf smiled weakly and hugged him back as they followed him in.

"Sol, don't run off like that," his father chided while Scorpius frowned in confusion, Sol ignoring him to strike up a garbled conversation with Lysel and show him the toy he'd brought.

"Why haven't they healed his wrist yet?" Scorpius asked of no one in particular.

"If he's fragile enough they may use a slower but more subtle method to heal them," Michael pointed out, "Quickly snapping it back into place might cause more damage if the bones aren't strong enough to handle it, most people are fine but people with conditions or sometimes the elderly can be effected by this."

"That is absolutely correct, Michael, you'll be a great Healer someday," his mother praised him and Michael also smiled weakly, "Scorpius, will you watch the boys for a second? I'd like to see Myriam and Maurene real quick, come on Draco."

"They're not conscious, dear," his father stated as if it were quite obvious while Scorpius nodded his consent, "They won't know if we were there."

"We will," his mother insisted and led his father away with a roll of the latter's eyes.

"I hope Myriam will be okay. Maurene too, she's just a kid," Michael said with a sigh while Scorpius watched the toddlers, something occurring to him as he went over to sit by Lysel.

"How you doing, Lysel?" Scorpius asked the werewolf gently.

"Hurts," Lysel told him as he raised his wrist while Sol giggled.

"The eye hair's funny," Sol pointed out as he almost poked Lysel in the eye pointing out the scar, Scorpius batted his brother's hand away.

"Must've been scary when it was hurt, huh?" Scorpius commented to Lysel, for once he looked quite sad as he nodded and Scorpius put an army around him comfortingly, "Was it trolls?"

"No. It was Shadows," Lysel told him immediately as he lowered his wrist, Sol giggled again while Scorpius just felt concerned.

"They not do," Sol insisted and waved his hand, pointing out his own Shadow.

"Not shadows. The Shadows," Lysel insisted worriedly while Sol just looked at him blankly, "That the growed ups say."

"How do you know it's them, Lysel?" Michael asked gently as he also came over, Lysel swallowed and pointed to a newspaper on a table at the door featuring the Shadow Mark as the skeletal snake symbol the Shadows used had come to be called.

"They had it on their clothering."

"What did they do?"

"They hitted Daddy with a red light and he felled asleep then Mummy fightered them, there was lights and bangs and noise. Mummy say to hide and I got hitted in the arm by a light, I heared a snap and it hurt really bad and was not right and then Maurene pushted me into the door out of the way and got hitted," Lysel recounted as his golden eyes started to tear up, Sol looked somewhere between puzzled and concerned, "There was red all everywhere and Maurene was cry, I sayed to her 'you're almost in here, comed on Maurene!' and she tried to crawl but a light hit off the wall and hit her then she screameded so loud and falled asleep. It went all quiet after a bit and I looked and sawed them walk over Mummy, she was sleeping in red water and they took Daddy. Daddy sleeped through it all and I could not wake up Mummy or Maurene, why did every all of them keep sleeping? Why did Shadows take Daddy? Daddy is good."

"I don't know," Scorpius sighed heavily, glad to hear a version of events even if he wasn't pleased with what had occurred.

"Will Mummy and Maurene wake up soon? When will they give Daddy back? I want to go home."

"I don't know either, Lysel, it may be a while," Scorpius repeated apologetically and the toddler's face fell along with Scorpius' heart, Sol gave him another tight hug though while his parents returned.

"Is'okay Lysel, we's'll tek care of you," Sol assured his friend with a warm smile that Lysel returned weakly, Scorpius watched sadly. If only his brother knew helping a werewolf friend was not that simply, "Right, Mama?"

"Yes," his mother confirmed.

"No," his father said at the exact same time, his parents glancing at each other, "No, Astoria, no, we are not taking in a werewolf."

"But if we don't his creepy uncle will get him, Myriam hates Flan's uncle and doesn't trust the kids alone with him."

"She also hates mayonnaise, should we hate that too?!"

"You're letting Michael stay," Scorpius pointed out determinedly.

"Letting a teenage werewolf stay with you temporarily is completely different to taking in a werewolf baby permanently, he still needs to learn self-control and to behave. It's completely unsafe to be around him let alone to raise our son alongside him which we very well may have to if Myriam dies since Flan is either already dead or will be soon enough. Lysel will die too but he could still take Sol with him, not to mention one of us!"

"Draco, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" his mother said stiffly, apparently thinking better of arguing in front of the small children and the two went outside.

"What is die?" Sol wondered curiously and Lysel shrugged, Scorpius and Michael both stayed silent.

Michael managed to steer the conversation back into more pleasant territory at any rate, amusing them and got the toddlers back to laughing cheerful. His parents returned in a while and they left not long after that as visiting hours were ending, they apparently were not done fighting though because the argument reignited when they got home. Scorpius just returned up to his room with Michael, well out of range of his parents.

"Any thoughts to why the Shadows would be after Leebin?" Scorpius asked of his friend curiously.

"You know Annie's right, you suck at small talk," Michael commented and continued before Scorpius could speak up, "And no, I have no idea. Although I do barely know the guy, I'm not sure what he could know that's so important the Shadows would take him."

"We should ask Varanian if he has anything."

"Or you could give him a few days to actually come up with something."

"I suppose that works too," Scorpius admitted and did his best to try not think about it for the rest of the day, he was trying to get Michael to relax after all.

He didn't think he succeeded entirely though because he fell into an uneasy dream about Leebin being tortured and killing himself before Scorpius could rescue him much to Hogan's fury, he was forced to put it out of his mind though because the next day was Christmas. For once he was really looking forward to it because Michael was there, Sol was also old enough to start being deliriously excited. His parents still both seemed tense though, barely saying two words to each other. Sol didn't notice though, he was just happy to be tearing open presents although he did frequently keep asking after Lysel.

Michael's gift load was rather lacking compared to theirs despite Scorpius' attempts to get him plenty of things but he didn't seem to mind, after they spent the better part of the day relaxing around the manor and testing the new Wizard Chess Set Michael had gotten or playing with Sol. Michael seemed in a good mood but it was always pretty hard to tell with him whether it was sincere or not, dinner was delicious although Scorpius panicked for a moment when his grandmother asked if they could have wine and Michael's head shot up interestedly. Thankfully, his parents refused because of Scorpius' presence since they still thought he had a problem with alcohol and Michael did have the decency to look guilty.

He was also reminded of the difference to the Weasley family, things were much calmer and civilized even with a two year old to stir things up. Idly, he wondered how Molly's Christmas was going and recalled he still needed to give her and Latimer their gifts. He very nearly ringed over but decided against it, it was pretty late by then and he knew Christmas wasn't Varanian's favorite time of the year due to his family's deaths. They went the next day though while his parents took Sol to visit Lysel again, there was still no news on Leebin. He walked in and almost into his girlfriend when he reached the kitchen while Michael was called off by Annie, it felt like a lot longer than four months since he'd seen Molly. She was looking a bit more tired but otherwise no different, she smiled when she saw him and hugged him gently.

"It's so good to see you," Molly whispered into his ear, not pulling away from the embrace.

"Yeah," Scorpius muttered, he was happy to see her… He just also felt kind of sad about her blowing off the last two Hogsmeade trips, he said nothing about it though as they finally pulled away and she led him up to her room.

He realized he hadn't actually been in her room before, not in the hideout anyway since she was living there now to work full time with Gray. She had some pictures of landscapes lining the walls, some Gryffindor memorabilia, he remembered she liked them while photographs lined the flat surfaces that were mostly of her family. Not all though, he was surprised to see plenty of him or them together, friends and some of the Quidditch team. The bed had a quilt thrown over it and on the pillow were the same stuffed toys she'd had before, aside from the bed there was a chest of drawers and a bedside table either side of the single bed and that was it except from her broom propped up in the corner.

"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you in Hogsmeade," Molly apologized immediately as they sat down on the bed, looking guilty, "I was busy the first time and I meant to go the second time, I was going to surprise you but I got caught up."

"It's okay," Scorpius brushed it off, glad to get an explanation at least even if he'd rather have seen her, "I know stopping the Shadows is really important and the work you're doing, whatever that is."

"It still sucks though, doesn't it?"

"It wouldn't be so bad if you would talk to me."

"I know but you know owl post isn't guaranteed to go unread, especially with the Aurors patrolling the grounds who – both Shadows and non – are well aware you're associated with Gray. I have to be careful about what I say and then since all I'm doing is Gray, it doesn't leave me a lot that can I actually talk about," Molly explained glumly, she seemed rather down, "I never know what to say."

"I… guess I can understand that," Scorpius admitted and took her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers, "But we're together now and that's all that matters. So tell me, how've you been?"

Molly seemed more than happy to launch into an explanation of the past few months, in fact if he didn't know any better he'd think she was relieved he wasn't mad at her. She talked about Varanian had been training them, honing their dueling skills a bit like Scorpius but mostly teaching them how to spy and track, some protective enchantments as well. It required practice and experience so she was often out with Varanian, following known Shadows and looking for leads on information. There wasn't a lot happening in England currently so it was quite hard to get good information especially since John Avery had inadvertently killed some of their known Shadows leads when he saved Ivy, it wasn't from lack of trying though and if anything they had to put more effort in.

Florian was also difficult to track, Specter travel – how Specters and Jack could teleport people and himself – was impossible to follow so even if they were on his trail – he moved in a variety of different ways to throw people – they always lost him when he did that. She also told him about Rose's father Ron confessing to being a Shadow – the reason she seemed quite sad today – but they didn't have a lot of information on that yet, Varanian wasn't convinced it was true and finally how she'd spent Christmas with Latimer and his dad. In turn he filled her in on his year so far with Alchemy, NEWTs, Captainship, the attempted murders – that she was aware of – and finally his own Christmas with Michael as well as the attack on the Leebins.

"That we do know something about," Molly admitted when he was done, "Hal doesn't know a lot but Leebin's disappearance is connected to Uncle Ron's betrayal somehow, Uncle Harry's pretty upset about it. We know Leebin was taken from England immediately, if not we'd be able to find out more information about him and maybe try to save him. It's quite annoying when they do anything overseas, it's not talked about much because it doesn't need to be and hard to get in on. Uncle Ron is overseas too."

"Damn," Scorpius sighed, "I was hoping for some good news. Least he's alive though, right? There's a chance we can save him."

"He's still alive," Molly confirmed, "If they wanted him dead then they'd have just killed him, they need him for something. Probably information, either about Calderon or something else we aren't aware of yet."

"That's something. Guess there's no word on finding Calderon either?"

"Still nothing," Molly offered before putting her arms around him and kissing him, he relished the feel of her soft lips against his for the long, lingering kiss before she pulled away with a slight blush on her cheeks, "Sorry, been wanting to do that for months."

"Me too," Scorpius admitted and leaned in to kiss her again, this time more passionately as he ran his fingers through her fiery curls.

He didn't know how long they made out for or how long they'd been talking before then but he did know when Michael knocked on the door, thinking it was about time they left. Scorpius supposed he was right, it was later then he'd thought. Thankfully, his parents arguing about Lysel meant they hadn't really noticed he was gone and not simply with Michael avoiding them fighting. Well, he wasn't especially thankful that his parents were fighting but it did work in his favor in this one instance. He didn't remember the last time his parents had fought so much, every couple fought though he supposed.

Eventually his mother did seem to win the fight because once Lysel's wrist was healed – which only took a few days even with the slower magic – he was brought home with them, much to both his father's and grandmother's chagrin. His mother and the toddlers were pleased though, Scorpius was very much on her side with this. Leebin had helped him and the least he could do was help his son, especially since they still had no luck with saving Leebin and really he was quite offended by their prejudice. He spent the rest of his week balancing his time with his family, Michael and Gray where priority did go to mastering transformation while Michael would spend time with his aunt, he also gave some time to his girlfriend as well and caught up with Latimer too who was similarly being trained by Varanian like Molly.

Aside from worrying about Leebin and Calderon, it was a fairly pleasant holiday for the rest of the week and it was kind of nice to relax. As December gave way for the new year in the second week, Michael arranged to spend the last few days with his mother like Crystal had wanted and enlisted Annie's help in this so he could pretend to be staying with her – his father had met her anyway – since his family were supposed to be dead. Scorpius was okay with that, he thought it was probably good for Michael to spend some time with his family as well.

The second week was also the week before the next full moon and he noticed the shift in Lysel's health, similar to Michael but much sooner and more intense. He was bedridden – much to Sol's confusion – by the time Michael left, too weak even sit up and keeping his eyes open seemed a struggle. Scorpius hoped he'd be okay and almost wished he could've stay there for the full moon to make sure Lysel was alright, he wasn't afraid to be around a werewolf when they transformed especially since he was an animagus. After Michael left, he threw himself into his training and by the time he was packing to return to Hogwarts he could transform at will without needing spells and with his mind fully intact.

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Michael was not looking forward to spending time with his family, mostly because of John Avery. He didn't even know the guy but he already despised him, if Crystal was into him then he was clearly just another jackass who would hurt her. A small, rational part of his mind told him he was being unfair and biased but dammit, he didn't care. He hated the place they were living before he even stepped foot inside it, it looked a wreck and reminded him of the Shrieking Shack. Unlike Varanian's hideout, the interior didn't miraculously improve and was just as much of a dump inside.

His siblings flocked to see him and he almost felt happy, until he noticed the absence of two of Ivy's fingers and was reminded of the bad things that had happened. She'd been whole the last time he'd seen her, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness for her. And Crystal thought John had saved her? Did she not see the missing fingers? John had clearly failed spectacularly. Bertie was clingy as if afraid he'd be taken if he left the sight of his family, Flynn was admittedly alright and Agnes was proudly carrying her wand to show him the spells John had taught her. He was upset rather than pleased she was a witch, he just wanted his siblings to be safe and happy not caught up in the Shadow War.

He knew being a muggle didn't guarantee safety but he still felt it was safer, if they were muggles then Cassia and Antonius wouldn't be so involved after all which was safer for them. What was John even thinking anyway? Even as a witch, Agnes was two years away from starting Hogwarts, too young to get a wand and learn spells. There was no way Crystal should be taking parenting advice from John Avery, he wasn't a father and the child he'd raised had died so clearly his parenting skills sucked. Well maybe that was a little harsh but still, the guy was a former Death Eater and had done time in Azkaban for his crimes. She shouldn't be trusting a criminal to be alone with her, let alone with her kids.

He didn't like John himself either, he wasn't exactly friendly although he wasn't outwardly mean either. He was really quite stoic, rarely smiling although he was good at pretending to be nice which was why the little ones seemed to adore him. Sure, he spent time with them and listened to them, read them bedtime stories but he also made them do chores and homeschooled them. Clearly he was just trying to control them and set them up so they could do all the work for him while he lazed around, he already kept feigning illness or pain from his supposed Festering Curse. He had Crystal helping with the housework too, cooking when he was too lazy too and she was just so grateful for his 'saving' Ivy to see it. It was only a matter of time before he started abusing her, Michael knew it. He was just like Bob, offering them a roof over their head so they'd feel they had to stay when he got violent and abusive.

"You ready to go back to Hogwarts tomorrow?" Crystal asked of him gently as he sat on the edge of his bed the night before he was due to go back.

"No," Michael admitted, he had packed his things but he didn't want to go back when they were staying with John.

"Really? That's not like you, sweetheart, you're usually so prepared," Crystal commented in surprise, "Well no worry, I can help you pack."

"I have packed," Michael corrected and his mother looked at him oddly, "I'm just not ready."

"What's wrong?"

"John is what's wrong, who can I leave when I know you're staying with a monster?"

"What? John is a good man," Crystal protested defensively.

"He's just taking advantage of you!" Michael burst out incredulously as he jumped to his feet, "He used to be a Death Eater, people like us are scum to him! Why do you think he's helping you?! It's not out of the goodness of his heart! He's just using you, he's controlling and he's already making you and the little ones do things for him, it's only a matter of time before he starts beating you like Bob! You have to leave him before he gets violent."

"John is nothing like Bob!"

"Yes he is! Everyone you date-"

"I'm not dating John!" Crystal insisted.

"-winds up being a psycho who hurts us!" Michael yelled at her and felt tears prick his eyes, "Robin tried to kill us, Jack turned into some kind of murderous shadow creature and Bob beat the crap out of us for years. I don't want to see you get hurt again, I don't want our family to go through that again and I can't do this again."

"Michael, I know things have been bad in the past but John is one of the good guys," Crystal told him gently.

"NO! No, he's not!" Michael protested, "He's bad and he's going to hurt you just like all the others! You have terrible judgement about men- you have terrible judgement! It made my childhood hell and it will do the same for the little ones if you don't leave John before he hurts them like Bob hurt me!"

"John is not Bob," Crystal insisted yet again, more timidly though, "I'm not leaving him, we're in a stable place here and besides, he needs us because he's dying and until we find the cure he'll just sicker."

"I know he's not Bob but he may as well be! Maybe you just don't notice because you were always at work or pushing out babies while I was standing protectively in front of you taking the beatings for you and taking care of the little-"

"I know what Bob did to you, Michael," Crystal interrupted, blinking back her own tears, "You don't think it kills me inside that I couldn't protect my own son? I couldn't even protect myself. I remember, I was there and not a day goes by when I don't think of him and what he did to us, I still feel afraid, he's dead and I still hear his voice in my mind telling me how worthless I am. I'm scared of going through that again too and the last thing I want is for any of my children to be hurt anymore but John is not like that, he has done nothing but be supportive and if that ever changes then I like to think I'll have the courage to not make the same mistakes again. But right now he's not and things are about as good as they get for our family, we're better off working together right now. If you gave him a chance then maybe you'd see he's not so bad, for crying out loud he's dying because he risked his life to save a stranger's child."

Crystal said the last with a note of finality that the argument was over, Michael sat back down on the edge of his bed. He hung his head and only looked back up when he heard her footsteps stop, he glanced and saw she had paused in the doorway to turn back to him with the tear-filled hazel eyes they shared.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a good childhood, you deserved better," Crystal added before leaving.

Michael sat there in silence for a minute before letting his head fall into his hands, his anger draining away. Where had that even come from? He wished he could have a drink. Sometimes he thought he was far more screwed up in the head then he realized. He raised his head and wiped his eyes, he sighed. He figured he should go apologize to Crystal, he'd gone too far even if he still had his fears and doubts about John. He crept down the corridor, past the rooms containing his sleeping siblings and down the stairs but paused when he heard voices. Crystal was sitting on the counter with a mug of something, wiping her red eyes while John was drying dishes and apparently listening to her.

"Well it's understandable he's upset," John was saying, "I'll be dead within six months anyway, come summer he'll probably be calmer. He's just being protective because he cares, he seems like a good kid when he's not going nuts at the thought of us dating. Like that would ever happen."

"We'll find a cure," Crystal insisted while John just shrugged disinterestedly, she watched him silently for a second as he continued on with the dishes.

"What?" John questioned when he seemed to notice the silent pause, she swallowed and shifted awkwardly as he glanced at her.

"D-Do you ever think about it? Us dating," Crystal stammered out, looking somehow hopeful and completely petrified at the same time. John stopped to look at her completely, shifting and shrugging uncomfortably, "Maybe if I wasn't so damaged I would kiss you."

"Maybe if I wasn't so damaged I would kiss you back," John countered quietly.

"And then we'd be happy."

"Too bad we're both too damaged," John commented seriously and finished up the last of the dishes, throwing down the washcloth as he walked out, "Goodnight, Crystal."

"Goodnight," Crystal offered as she continued to sit there and sipped her drink solemnly, Michael crept back upstairs.

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Part 2: Family and Friends

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"S-So now what?" Pyrrhus stammered out fearfully when Xerxes had brought them back to his quarters in the Training Tower, his bag still slung over his shoulder.

Xerxes sat down at his desk and surveyed his poor brother standing there, looking very timid and afraid. He sighed to himself and rested his head on his hand, it was a good question. What was Xerxes supposed to do with him? He'd saved him in a spur of the moment decision but hadn't really thought to what would happen after the fact. Did he just let Pyrrhus live with him? He cringed inwardly at the thought, he didn't really want to be responsible for the thirteen year old let alone one damaged by years of abuse.

"Just relax," Xerxes offered gently and Pyrrhus nervously sat down, his violet eyes continuing to flicker with fear, "I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now, Pyrrhus, I promise you. Your dad and your brother are never going to hurt you again."

"Thank you," Pyrrhus said quietly, still looking uncertain but maybe the slightest bit more at ease.

Not that that helped Xerxes figure out what to do, he didn't really want the boy but he couldn't just take him back either. He didn't want his brother to be abused like that although really it was quite shameful a wizard had allowed himself to be taken advantage of by muggles, even if they hadn't been allowed to learn magic. Pyrrhus really did need to learn magic, Xerxes didn't have time to teach him but he was in a school. He smiled inwardly to himself, how had he not thought of that before? He could just sign Pyrrhus up to be Soul Eater.

"So Pyrrhus, how would you like to learn magic?" Xerxes inquired and his brother's face lit up excitedly.

---

"So this is our final sibling," Stephan Hunter commented almost to himself as he peered at the little bundle with a grin.

Viola Kalya sighed irritably, she didn't give a damn about a baby, she cared about avenging her father. Stephan disagreed though and they were in the Training Tower to see the ugly wrinkled little sack of flesh, it was sleeping in its mother's arms. The mother looked around Carver's age, her scarred face marking her as a muggle slave and marring any beauty she'd once had. She was smiling lovingly at the baby though, stupid slut.

"You've seen the baby, now can you please track down our father's murderer?!" Viola complained at him irritably but he hushed her, she rolled her eyes.

"What's his name?" Stephan asked of the mother.

"I called him Decimus because he's Xerxie's tenth child," the slave told him, Viola glared at the girl. Had she seriously just called their father 'Xerxie'?!

"That name actually doesn't suck," Stephan commented sounding somewhat surprised, "He can keep that name."

"Thank you, Master."

"But you can't keep him," Stephan added as he snatched the newborn away from her, the slave's expression turned to one of horror.

"Pl-Please, Master! H-He's my son, he's a-all I have!" the slave sobbed and the baby started to try as well.

"He's not your son anymore, he's my brother," Stephan told her coldly and without remorse, "You're just a worthless muggle slave, unworthy to care for a magical child."

On that note, Stephan turned on his heel and walked out with the screaming baby. Viola scrambled after him, glaring at her brother instead. He'd waste time on his kid but on avenging their father, why was she the only one who cared about this?!

"Was that really necessary?" Viola complained of him, "You're really going to waste your time raising a baby but you won't track down Florian?!"

"Please," Stephan scoffed, "I don't have time to raise a baby myself and revenge is still not a priority. I'm just here to make sure all is right with Father's assortment of children and get back to destroying Lebanon, once we capture that I really have my chance to shine."

"Then why not track down Florian before Lebanon is completely under our control?!"

"You realize there is people tracking him right now?"

"Well they're clearly failing and useless and you could do better!" Viola snapped at him in frustration as they stopped outside Ethan's door, "Why are you talking to the lunatic? Are you going to interrogate him about Martha possibly being a traitor?"

"He's too fragile, if I tried anything he'd snap like a twig and we'd never get anything out of him," Stephan said dismissively with a shake of his head as he tapped his wand against the door to unlock it before entering, finding Ethan sitting staring out the window, "Hello, dear brother."

"Go away, Stephan," Ethan insisted immediately and hugged his knees to his chest, his mouth setting angrily while his eyes filled with tears, "I hate you."

"I don't see why, I've done nothing but be a good brother to you."

"You imperised me to force me to complete the test!" Ethan protested in a sob as the tears spilled from his eyes.

"And?" Stephan questioned, "You should be thanking me, you got to complete the test without ever having to get your own precious hands dirty. And really, if you weren't so mentally fragile then you would've been able to resist better."

"I don't want to be a Soul Eater."

"Well you are so tough," Stephan shrugged and approached his brother, shoving Decimus into his arms, "Here, that's Decimus, the last and youngest of the many children of Xerxes Seneca."

"You brought him here to show him to me?" Ethan wondered in confusion, probably surprised Stephan cared.

"No, I brought him here so you can raise him. He's your responsibility now."

"What?! Stephan, I can't raise a child!" Ethan protested but Stephan was already leaving, he scrambled after them but Stephan slammed the door and quickly locked it, "Stephan! Stephan!"

"And that takes care of that," Stephan stated as he rubbed his hands together and started off again.

"You really think it's wise to leave a suicidal lunatic with the newborn infant?" Viola inquired, stumped at his logic.

"Ethan either has to man up and take care of Decimus or he's responsible for his brother's death, he'll do it and if not… eh, it's one less brat I'm responsible for," Stephan explained disinterestedly, "Honestly, it's like Father never heard of contraception, abortion or murder."

"You'd kill the baby? That's a bit dark even for you."

"No, I'd kill the pregnant girl," Stephan insisted defensively which Viola thought was fair enough, served her right for getting pregnant, "I'm not a monster."

"Please can you just find Florian," Viola pleaded desperately, "I can kill him and Oathan myself, I just need you to help me find him."

"Viola, there's no way in hell you could kill Pyrrhus. Heck, even Oathan could probably beat you. And Brutus wants Oathan alive so stay away from him anyway."

"I could take them!" Viola protested angrily, feeling her face going red, "I've been trained!"

"Trained?" Stephan scoffed and smirked at her cruelly, "You were so spoiled by Dad that you missed out on half the training, the only reason you passed the test is that he all but rigged it so that even an idiot could win."

"You take that back, Stephan!" Viola screamed at him as she jumped in front of him, aiming her wand at him.

"No, I won't," Stephan decided casually as he folded his arms, "You allowed yourself to be bested by a deaf child."

"Maurice is a talented duelist-"

"Maurice is deaf. He's missing an entire sense, he's not even partially deaf but utterly and completely incapable of hearing. He's at a severe disadvantage and you still managed to lose to him."

"He's been trained," Viola insisted defensively.

"Trained better then you," Stephan taunted, "And even if we ignore that, a freaking six year old managed to break free of your Imperius Curse. A small child is mentally stronger then you."

"Cassia was seven! And it's hard controlling more than one person at once!"

"Elite Soul Eaters are supposed to be able to do things that are hard!" Stephan yelled at her, his expression turning abruptly dark and Viola felt her wand flying out of her hand before she could react, "And you can't, Viola, you just can't. Pyrrhus may be mad and a traitor but he is still a perfectly capable duelist and talented wizard, you can never underestimate your enemy."

"Well maybe you shouldn't underestimate your sister either," Viola stated as she picked her wand back up.

"I just disarmed you without even trying, stop overestimating your own ability," Stephan pointed out before starting moving again, Viola once again hurrying after him.

"Where are you even going?!"

"To talk to Davin about Martha's potential betrayal, now he's someone who I can interrogate without driving him insane."

"You think that's more important than revenge?!" Viola complained irritably but Stephan just rolled his eyes at her, "And why not talk to Andreas? He's closer to her in age."

"But not closer to her, plus he was Christmasing with his mother and isn't back until tomorrow," Stephan answered readily, much to her surprise.

"How do you know these things?"

"Because I make it my business to know things about my siblings, especially as I'm head of the family now and they're my responsibility. Sometimes it's useful to know seemingly useless crap like that."

"Please, can we go after Florian?" Viola whined once more, "I'll prove to you I'm good enough."

Stephan just shook his head and continued onwards, Viola stamped her foot in frustration but she stuck by him determinedly. He was her ticket to revenge, she just needed him to actually do it. A slave was walking by with a stack of dishes presumably taken them to be cleaned, Stephan flicked his wand subtly and the man was sent spiraling to the ground while his cargo went flying. Stephan smirked and kicked the slave back down when they tried to rise.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?!" Stephan snapped at the slave angrily, the man cowering fearfully, "Do you think its funny slacking on your job?! Why did you break those dishes?! Can't you even do the simplest of tasks correctly you worthless piece of human garbag- No, you know what I think even garbage could do a better job than you!"

"I-I'm sorry, Master," the slave apologized and flinched as Stephan raised his wand, "It was an accident, I swear, I'd never deliberately do anything to the dishes."

"Cruci-" Stephan started to say and the man yelped in terror, tears bubbling from his eyes at a spell he was clearly aware of, "You know what? I'll take pity on you, just don't do it again or you will regret it."

"Th-Thank you, thank you so much, Master," the slave sobbed pathetically and Stephan went to walk on by, Viola kicked the slave in the head in passing to vent her anger and spat on him because he was pathetic.

"Why did you do that?"

"Why did you do that?" Viola countered.

"It's fun screwing with slaves and when I saw him again, I have an excuse to be really pissed," Stephan shrugged as if it was obvious, "Oh Davin, there you are. Just the brother I was looking to see."

Viola glanced up and saw that sure enough, one of her other siblings was walking by. Davin, the scrawny seven year old with a head of tangled dirty blond hair and violently violet eyes which reminded her sadly of her father. He was with another boy of similar age who was also blond, his eyes were all cloudy though as if he were blind. Davin smiled when he saw them and went to hug Stephan, who actually allowed it.

"Come on, I need to talk to you about something in private," Stephan told their brother seriously.

"I'll be back in a minute, Cyrus," Davin assured the other boy who Viola realized was definitely blind from the way he looked in Davin's direction instead of at Davin.

Cyrus – at least Viola assumed that was his name – did nod though before Stephan pulled the younger boy into the closest empty room and closed the door, she eyed the boy and folded her arms. She was quite distrustful of people with disabilities after Maurice and she didn't care what Stephan said, deaf or not he was a threat. Who was underestimating the enemy now? Actually, maybe it was just the disability but Cyrus did remind her of Maurice a little bit. She jumped in surprise as she heard a child's scream coming from the room Stephan had just pulled Davin into, Cyrus jumped too.

"Davin!" Cyrus cried and before she could stop him, the blind boy bolted for the door.

He scrambled for the handle and she moved to grab him but he'd already opened it, he burst in before she could reach him with a wand drawn even if it was aimed in the wrong direction. Stephan had sat Davin down on a chair and seemed to have been doing Legilimency on him since he had no wand, he was just leaning over him and cupping his chin to force him to look into his eyes.

"L-Leave my friend alone," Cyrus insisted, trying to sound brave and Stephan smirked.

"I guess we can add 'bested by a blind boy' to the list of things you fail to overcome," Stephan taunted and Viola's face went scarlet once more.

Cyrus turned his wand to Stephan, seemingly trying to aim it where the voice had come from. He was within arm's length of Stephan though, he let go of Davin who hung his head breathing heavily and easily snatched Cyrus' wand from him. He threw it randomly and struck the child forcefully with the back of his hand, sending Cyrus staggering off his feet. Seizing her chance to try save some face, Viola put her foot on his head and aimed her wand at his head. Why did he remind her of Maurice and his freak brother?!

"Stay down!" Viola barked at the blind boy who quivered fearfully.

"Very necessary," Stephan quipped sarcastically but turned back to Davin, grabbing his face again, "Now where were we?"

"Stephan, please," Davin begged but was ignored as Stephan met his eyes, they immediately filled with tears and he tried to pull away but Stephan held his scarred face firm. Davin screamed as the tears poured down his face, Viola forced down the sliver of pity she felt, "Please! It hurts! Stop, it hurts! STEPHAN!"

"Is that really necessary?" Viola questioned as Stephan let Davin go, the younger boy breathing heavily as he fell off his chair and started sobbing.

"Legilimency is a very useful tool, children's minds are pretty weak," Stephan shrugged dismissively as he strode back over to her, "Seriously, how could you let a six year old break free of your control?"

"Cassia was seven!" Viola insisted defensively, "And you don't need to cause pain with Legilimency, Dad never had to."

"I'm not Dad, I like to play rough."

"Even with your own brother?"

"Davin is doubtful of our cause, he deserves it," Stephan stated darkly as he waved his hand, summoning Cyrus' wand back to it, "He doesn't know about Martha but he does know something else useful."

"What?" Viola wondered curiously and Stephan jerked his head downwards as he kicked Cyrus, causing the boy to cry out in pain.

"Blindy here speaks fluent Arabic, English and Greek. A translator is very useful to me so he just earned himself a job," Stephan explained as he reached down to help Cyrus up, shoving the wand back into his hand, "And you got a job too, I'm letting you join the English group which gives you the chance to be part of the hunt for Pyrrhus."

"Really?" Viola inquired hopefully, it wasn't Stephan's involvement but she'd still rather he there and out searching herself then taking over whatever stupid country they cared about next.

"Really," Stephan confirmed, "Take Davin to the Hospital Wing and they'll be ready by the time you leave. Just keep an eye on Carver."

"Okay."

---

"X-Xerxes?" Pyrrhus stammered out and Xerxes looked up from his desk, seeing his frightful brother poking his head in the doorway, "C-Can I talk to you?"

"Go on," Xerxes agreed and gestured for the boy to come in, he was now dressed in the robes of the others in training. As he approached he noticed Pyrrhus' eyes were red as if he'd been crying and had fresh wounds on his hands from the blood quills, well it wasn't like he could have them go easy on everyone especially since Pyrrhus had so much to catch up on, "How was your first day?"

"Terrible!" Pyrrhus burst out and pulled up his sleeves to show where the wounds continued up his arm, "Look, they make you write with a quill that cuts you with the words you write and if you complain they hit you with a spell that causes you absolute agony."

"That's what the curriculum is like here, I'm afraid," Xerxes pointed out and his brother's eyes bulged in shock.

"But it's horrible! It's cruel, it hurts-"

"Pyrrhus, do you want to go back to your father?" Xerxes questioned and Pyrrhus looked petrified as he slowly shook his head, beads of sweat forming on his brow, "Then you'll just have to live and learn how wizards do."

"You promised you'd keep me safe," Pyrrhus protested as fresh tears filled his eyes.

"You are safe. From your father," Xerxes pointed out quite truthfully, "Now I'd get to practicing if I were you, you're way behind."

Pyrrhus turned away from him in defeat, leaving with his head hung and his shoulder shaking as he cried. Xerxes rolled his eyes, such an ungrateful boy. Even with the blood quills, Pyrrhus should be thanking him after he'd saved him and given him a chance to become a Soul Eater. If he couldn't handle it then clearly he didn't deserve his second chance. That sounded about right, the things Xerxes did because he was such a generous person.

---

Scorpius was taken to the platform unusually by his grandmother this time, his mother wanting to stay home with the bedridden Lysel and his father staying to help with Sol. They also arrived spectacularly early where barely anyone was there, his grandmother seemed even less enthusiastic about Lysel staying with them then his father was.

"You know, I remember when it was just me taking your father to the platform when he was your age," his grandmother told him with a wistful sigh, "Lucius was in Azkaban at that point so it was just the two of us. How the times have changed, huh?"

"I guess," Scorpius shrugged since he had no way of knowing since he hadn't been born, biting back the urge to ask if she'd taken him there so early as well.

She seemed quite content to chat away with him about his father's youthful days while they waited, when he was Scorpius' age he'd become a Death Eater already and was trying to kill the famous Albus Dumbledore. Scorpius caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the train, his hair was longer and messier, the scar obviously new and his father would never have worn his awesome leather jacket but he still did bear a strong resemblance to his father. And Scorpius realized he was actually ashamed of that.

"Hey Scor," Albus greeted him with a clap on the back as he came over with Vern and Lily, much to Scorpius' immense relief as it gave him a welcome distraction and he had missed his friend, "How was your break?"

Scorpius launched into an explanation of his stay with Michael even if he left out things he didn't risk repeating within earshot of his grandmother, Albus also recounting his own break along with Lily and Vern. Both of which abandoned them to greet their respective dates when they arrived, Orous and Olivia. He expected Maurice to come over to say hello but he seemed content to have a hand signing conversation with Cade for the time being. Rose joined them after a while when her grandparents dropped her and her brother off, her own Christmas much more negatively impacted by her father's treachery then even Albus'. Albus seemed rather distracted though, only when Abby showed up he realized why.

"Abby! Hey! Hey! Abby!" Albus burst out and practically ran over to her waving both his arms like a lunatic, he pulled her into a hug, "Are you alright? I'm sorry your break was so terrible, didn't I tell you that it would be terrible? But its okay now, your friends are here."

"What are you talking about?" Abby wondered as she pulled away before smiling, "I had a great holiday, it was really lovely with Sequoia and his sisters are so nice, they made me feel really welcome."

"Oh," Albus muttered, looking actually disheartened she'd had a good time and even more so when Sequoia came over and put his arm around her, giving her a peck on the cheek in greeting.

"Trunks are loaded," Sequoia offered before smiling at them, "Hey guys, how was your break?"

"Terrible! My uncle is my Dad's oldest friend and be betrayed him to the Shadows not that you'd care to ask how my break was!" Albus snapped angrily and folded his arms in a huff, Sequoia looked slightly confused.

"Al, he did ask how your break was," Rose pointed out in a whisper that turned his face scarlet.

"Well I'm really sorry to hear that," Sequoia offered sympathetically, "That must be rough."

"Obviously," Albus scoffed.

"Why don't we make sure the prefect compartment is ready?" Abby said to Sequoia, clearly uncomfortable with the increasingly awkward conversation and started to lead her boyfriend away, "Talk to you guys later."

"I hate that guy."

"Who? John Avery?" Michael questioned as he joined them, looking quite angry, "Yeah, that guy sucks."

"Well no but-"

"He's taking advantage of Crystal. By the time I go back for Easter, my family will be his punching bags just you see!" Michael interjected, sounding upset, "I warned her, you know. I warned her. And she went and told him!"

"How awful," Rose offered dismissively before turning back to her cousin, "See, Al? I told you that Abby would be fine."

"She's not fine, she's crying inside," Albus muttered bitterly.

"Corin!" Rose exclaimed and moved past them to go hug her boyfriend as he arrived.

"I'm so sorry about your Dad, Rosie," Corin said, sounding sincere as he hugged her tight and Albus looked on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius prodded.

"Why does everyone rush to greet their boyfriends when they show up?" Albus asked of him, his voice catching slightly as he gestured to where Grozda was chatting with some girls her own age, "When I saw her all she did was wave, when I tried to talk to her she said later because she was looking for her friends and now she's talking to her friends. Why don't I matter to her as much as everyone else matters to the people their dating?"

"I don't know, Albus," Michael admitted and patted him on the back comfortingly, "Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"No. I don't want to rock the boat and be knocked overboard so I die alone," Albus protested and sighed sadly, "Sometimes, I just feel like I'm the only one in the boat."

---

Part 3: Missing

---

Scorpius bade goodbye to his grandmother and got a compartment with Albus, Rose, Corin, Orous and Lily as his other friends were called to the Prefect compartment to fulfil their duties. It was a pleasant enough train journey for the most part, Orous and Corin had had better breaks and then Albus, Lily and Rose could talk about Ron's betrayal to fill them in. Albus did seem preoccupied with complaining about Sequoia as well. He got a carriage with Michael and Maurice, the latter of whom naturally just wanted to talk war. He thought Lebanon was almost done for and had plans to put Martha under the same kind of protection he had for the Scamander twins, the assassin after the three of them could very try again after all.

They got to the Great Hall and dug into the delightful feast, it was in his customary survey of the staff table that he noticed something odd. Antonius and Cassia always sat with Professor Ashain at the staff table, Antonius wasn't there though and the other Ashains didn't look very happy with Hope the dog lying at their feet. Was Antonius ill or something? But then why wouldn't they be with him… Or no, had Antonius chosen to stay with his mother? Was he living with Skye now? Scorpius found himself rather sad to think that although he supposed maybe Antonius was better off, Hogwarts was hardly the sanctuary of safety that it once was. He made a mental note to ask her about it when he had the chance, they did have the weekend before classes began again so there was plenty of time.

"Hey Grozzie!" Albus called out as he spotted his girlfriend as they were on the way to breakfast the next day, the Slytherin smiled widely as she approached and kissed him which made Albus look slightly more relieved but he held her hand regardless, "How are you?"

"Great," Grozda offered brightly while Scorpius looked for a break in the crowd to leave but found none, she ran her fingers through Albus' hair, "Thank you so much for all of my presents by the vay, you are so sweet to be so generous."

"Well I love you, of course I'm going to shower you with gifts," Albus assured her with a nervous grin, giving a slight pause as if for her to give her a chance to say she loved him too. She didn't, "I liked that shirt you got me, it was very nice and I love how loose it is being a size too big."

"I'm glad you like it, I thought the emerald color really vent vell vith your eyes. Do you vant to meet up later? Ve still have all veekend and I can spare some of my team training time for you."

"Great!" Albus burst out excitedly, seemingly pleased his girlfriend wanted to spend time with him but immediately looked panicked as if afraid of being too eager, "I mean, sure I could probably move some stuff around, that-that'd be cool."

"Good," Grozda offered a smile and made to leave.

"I love you."

"I think you're really great too," Grozda assured him and made to leave but Albus grabbed her arm back, looking anxious.

"Don't-Don't you love me too?"

"I know, you've said. I think you're good too," Grozda reiterated looking slightly annoyed, "Now come on, I am hungry. Are you not?"

"That's not love though?" Albus wondered as the beads of sweat brewed on his brow.

"Albus, ve are young and I really like you a lot but love?" Grozda said seriously, "Sometimes I feel like you are vay more serious about this relationship then I am."

"What do you mean? This is a serious relationship, we've been together over a year and I-I hope for us to be together for many more years."

"Vat? I graduate this year and you don't, you realize that is the end of us, right?" Grozda questioned, Albus' expression of shock and horror indicated the contrary.

"B-But w-we ca-can do long distance, we can still see each other at Hogs-"

"Long distance never vorks and who vould vant that anyway?" Grozda interrupted and asked him, looking off put at the thought, "Never seeing each other, talking vith letters. I'm going to playing Quidditch professionally, moving forward vith my life, I don't vant to be tied down to someone I can never see."

"I only have a year extra!" Albus protested, his voice cracking as his eyes filled with tears.

"A year is a long time to be alone, Albus. If I'm still single ven you graduate then maybe but if not this will end ven my Hogwarts education does," Grozda told him quietly, "Or if you can't handle that then maybe ve should just break up now."

"D-Doesn't it matter that I love you?" Albus choked out, desperately trying not to cry.

"Goodbye, Albus," Grozda said finally as she turned and left, leaving Albus looking like he'd taken a punch to the gut.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Michael offered gently and patted his friend on the back as the Potter gaped after her with eyes glossy from tears.

"What's happening?" Maurice asked curiously as he, the Scamanders and Corin paused by them on their own way to breakfast. Albus opened his mouth to speak but instead burst into tears and ran back the way they'd come, "Was it something I said? Did the wrong words come out of my mouth or something?"

"Grozda broke up with him," Scorpius informed him and Maurice nodded in understanding.

"Relationships always end badly, haven't I said that?"

"Repeatedly," Corin assured him.

"Well I better go make sure he's alright, the rest of you carry on," Michael offered and gestured for them to go on while he trudged away after Albus, Scorpius felt bad for his friend but if that was Grozda's attitude then he probably was better off.

The rest of them continued on to breakfast, Scorpius glanced at the staff table and yet again noted Antonius' absence. Maybe he had chosen to stay with Skye, Professor Ashain seemed to be taking it pretty hard as he looked like sleep had abandoned him completely if the heavy bags beneath bloodshot eyes were anything to go by. Wanting to find out, he deliberately hung around in the corridor outside the Great Hall to speak to Cassia when she exited.

"Hey Cassia," Scorpius' greeted the small girl with a smile that she only half returned, her serious expression reminding him very much of her father, "Didn't have a good break?"

"Haven't you heard?" Cassia wondered and he scowled in confusion, what would be upsetting her? Another country being attacked wasn't new, she barely knew Ron or Leebin to be upset about the former's betrayal and the latter's abduction.

"Heard what?"

"Come on, I'll tell you in private," Cassia offered and led him into an unused classroom nearby before turning back to him, Hope plodding along after, "Do you remember how Antonius was going to stay with Skye over the holidays?"

"Yes."

"Well she done fucked up again," Cassia spat darkly and the window nearest exploded into a shower of glass, "Antonius was kidnapped when she was supposed to be protecting him."

"K-K-Kidnapped?" Scorpius stammered out and staggered back as the news hit him like a troll's club.

Cassia only nodded in confirmation while he felt his legs shaking, she started speaking again but he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything, he couldn't believe this. Antonius had been taken, he was ten years old. Just like Scorpius had been. He felt like he was going to be sick, he'd feared Antonius being taken before but that had just been paranoia or so he'd thought anyway. But no, he'd been taken and now he was handcuffed to a bed in some old attic with a new set of muggles to abuse him at their leisure.

Forget feeling like he was going to be sick, Scorpius was actually going to be sick. He tried to move to head to the nearest bathroom but had no time, instead he just gripped the wall as he hurled and lost the breakfast he'd just eaten.

"Are you okay?" Cassia asked him gently and worriedly as she wandered over and patted his arm.

"I just have to go," Scorpius told her shakily as he wiped his arm on his sleeve and staggered off, still tasting the bile in his mouth.

He headed back to his dormitory, wanting to just lie down or cry or die. He couldn't believe Antonius had been taken, he'd been having a nice vacation while his young, defenseless friend was being abducted. He should have protected him, why didn't he didn't he protect him? Why didn't anyone protect him? He reached his dormitory where Albus was hugging an ugly looking green shirt, his face stained by snot and tears while Michael sat on his own bed. Their other roommates weren't there, Scorpius closed the door behind him and leaned back against it. He blinked back tears as he looked at the beds, he wondered what bed Antonius was shackled to right now...

---

Antonius sighed heavily as he watched the world flying by through the window of the car, fields and trees and buildings all just blurring into a speeding mess. It was two weeks since he'd been taken and he still had no idea why or what they wanted, all they'd done was move around constantly. He was beginning to doubt there even had been a reason to take him, his captors seemed far from sane. Florian it seemed had worsened since his Hogwarts days and had developed a habit of talking to people who weren't there, he'd also had a mental breakdown and killed a bunch of people as well as burning down a motel. Then there was Jack or One who not only talked to himself but talked back, they also had a terrifying habit of killing people just by holding out their hand. And then there was Oathan, probably the sanest and safest of his captors but he was also only four as of last week.

"I like this," Oathan commented cheerfully, they were both in the back seat on either side looking out of the windows, "I like to see all of the things speed by."

"Whatever makes you happy," Antonius said disinterestedly, his uncle was dead, his own mother had betrayed him and he was prisoner to some crazy people. It would more than a pleasant drive to improve his mood.

"Okay, we're here," Florian announced in a sing-song voice as he pulled the car to a halt.

Antonius sighed once more as he was forced to wait while the adults got out of the car, it seemed they were at a farmhouse that looked abandoned now. Not that it mattered, they'd probably be gone by the time the weekend was over. The doors were locked behind them so Antonius couldn't get out – he had tried in the past – while his captors went around putting up protective enchantments.

"Do you want some chocolate?" Oathan offered kindly with a smile.

"No," Antonius insisted for what felt like the thousandth time, Oathan was forever offering him things which was really quite tedious.

He wondered if this was what it was like for his friends, did they find him as out of touch as he did Oathan? They had the same age gap after all and never seemed to want to spend time with him because they were busy with their lives, just like he didn't want to be around Oathan despite thinking the boy was nice enough. He wondered if he was ever going to see them again, or his family or his home. And by that he meant Hogwarts, the house Skye lived in wasn't home anymore. He felt a fool for ever thinking his mother could love him and that bitter hurt gnawed away at his heart still.

"Are you sure? I can make it go biggerer with my wand, Daddy teached me a spells," Oathan offered again and Antonius glanced back to him, he'd forgotten the boy had a wand along with a knife on his belt that Florian was teaching him to use. Would it be possible to get the wand off him? If he could get a wand then he had a chance of escaping or maybe at least getting a message out, "Then there is more."

"Okay," Antonius agreed and forced a smile, Oathan's face lit up delightedly.

"I'm so glad!"

Oathan happily drew his wand and Antonius lunged for the smaller boy, using his superior size and strength to tear the wand from his small scarred hands. Oathan looked at him with hurt-filled eyes welling with tears, Antonius did feel somewhat guilty but he had to get away. He slashed his wand at the belt they always magically sealed.

"Diffindo," Antonius cast and successfully severed the belt to free himself, he then aimed it at the door, "Alohomora."

To his great relief, the door did actually click open and he scrambled to get out while the adults were still distracted by the enchantments. He froze though as he felt something sharp pressing into the back of his neck.

"Give my wand back or I'll hurt you in the neck," Oathan told him, managing to sound innocent, firm and tearful all at once, "People stop living when you hurt them in the neck."

"Please, Oathan, I want to go home to my own Dad and family," Antonius pleaded desperately, "You wouldn't like it if someone took you away from your dad, would you?"

"Give it back," Oathan insisted and Antonius sighed frustratedly as he tossed the wand back to Oathan, he felt the knife point leave him though and closed the door as he sat in annoyance back in his seat, "You should of not take things that aren't yours, it's not nice."

"It's not nice to take people from their families either but you don't mind your Daddy doing that."

"Daddy needs you to ended the war," Oathan told him seriously as Antonius' door was pulled open by Jack, ready to let him out.

"What happened here?" One questioned suspiciously and gestured to the snapped belt.

"I thoughted should be able to move easierly," Oathan lied quietly, much to Antonius' surprise.

"Well don't," One growled at him irritably while yanking Antonius out of the car, Florian had gone over to open Oathan's door for him as well as to take in their things from the trunk. One pushed him in the direction of the farmhouse and Antonius trudged on, feeling as if he walked with chains even if he couldn't see any.

"Are you ever going to tell me what you want with me?" Antonius questioned as he was led inside and forced to sit at the table in the kitchen, it had wooden beams on the ceiling reminding him vaguely of a long forgotten holiday but also cobwebs.

"Never," Jack offered.

"You're both mad if you think I can actually help you end the war," Antonius insisted determinedly, "In case you haven't noticed the past two weeks you've been dragging me around, I'm ten. If I can't even escape you guys, how do you think I'm supposed to kill the Shadow Master?"

"Oh Antonius," Florian sighed as he threw down the bags and paced, scratching his chin and Antonius tried not to glare since he did want information, "What do you think, Oathy? Think it's time we told him."

"Yes," Oathan agreed with a nod and Florian slid into the seat opposite with a demented smile playing on his face.

"Alright, Antonius, I'll tell you," Florian offered and whipped out Antonius' wand, placing it on the table in front of him, "That's why."

"My wand?" Antonius wondered in confusion, "How does my wand help?"

"Because it's not just any wand, is it? Its Ashylos' wand, the one from the Scepter of Night," Florian stated and Antonius clamped his mouth shut, not sure how he knew but afraid to ask because that would confirm it. It was supposed to be a secret, "Do you know why the Scepter likes the Shadow Master so much?"

"Because the Scepter belonged to Herpo and the Shadow Master is his descendant."

"Very good, in the past blood relation was important in wands and Scepters which is why they often passed them down through the family in generations," Florian nodded in agreement as he idly toyed with the wand, "But do you know what trumps the blood relation?"

"No," Antonius admitted truthfully, he didn't know anything about wandlore.

"Choice," Florian said seriously, "The wand chose you. Scepters tended to either be made as one giant wand or as separate wands joined into one entity like Herpo's Scepter, they can still be used as separate wands but overall they are bound. If one chooses you then the whole thing belongs to you. It's not Herpo's Scepter anymore, it's yours. The Shadow Master can try to Frankenstein a new Scepter together and it can work but it'll still be yours because it'll be connected to your wand until it's destroyed for real. And since it's yours, you and you alone will be able to summon it away from her."

"Her?" Antonius repeated in confusion.

"Shadow Master's a woman," Florian stated dismissively and Antonius' jaw dropped in surprise, how many years had people pondered the Shadow Master's identity and Florian just casually gave it up to him, "Her name is Salazia Riddle but she prefers Sal, she's Calderon's twin and she's also kind of your aunt since she's doing your Uncle Brutus. They have twin sons I hear, congratulations on your baby cousins."

"Wh-Bu-Yo-Jus-Wha"

"Anyway," Florian interjected, "As long as old Sally has the Scepter, she is like mega unstoppable and all-powerful. She's stopped using Polyjuice so not even her dear brother would be able to call the Scepter from her since they're on the same level now, if he can't do that then she could just crush him. So what we need to do is get it off her and if you can summon it away from her then we can destroy it, once that's gone she and Calderon can fight it out and kill each other like they almost did last year. No more Shadow Master, no more leadership, Brutus hasn't the heart to lead the charge and the spy hasn't the weight of power so they eventually crumble. Without Sal, they won't last and will be easier to take down. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? Don't you want the war to end?"

"I feel like there's a catch," Antonius wondered suspiciously, he also didn't want Calderon to die fighting his… apparently sister.

"Depends on your definition of catch," Florian shrugged, "The thing is, you see she's connected to five kids marked by their scarred wrists."

"Scorpius, Orous, Maurice, Lorcan and Lysander," Antonius recounted as something dawned on him, "You're the one trying to kill Scorpius and the Scamanders."

"Yes, you see Sal can potentially tap into their magic especially through Maurice since he alone has an unsealed connection since he refused when Calderon sealed the other four. With that, she's more powerful than Calderon and could crush him. Also, she's more powerful then you and could probably kill you before you got the Scepter off her. So before we go after her Scepter, the five must die unless there's another way to sever the connection, we must get Calderon to force him to fight from us and you need to be made more powerful."

"How do you expect to make me more powerful?" Antonius wondered in confusion, he was quite sure that was impossible.

"Well for starters we need to teach you how to summon the Scepter and… and well…" Florian trailed off and sighed guiltily, "We need to add extra magic to your soul, that's why we have Jack/One over there."

"I feel like that will kill me."

"It will and your broken soul means Jack/One can't remove it either but you'll have long enough to get the Scepter, after you can go back to your family and enjoy the last few months of your life knowing you helped save the world," Florian offered and patted him on the hand comfortingly with a smile, "You care about that worthless crap, huh? So what do you think?"

"I think your nuts if you think that's ever going to work or that I would ever agree to it," Antonius scoffed as he yanked his hand away and folded his arms crossly, "You want to kill my friends, you murdered my uncle. You and your plan can – as my sister would say – fuck off. If you really wanted to help then let me go home and sign up for Gray."

"And what's Gray's plan, huh?" Florian questioned but Antonius had no answer, "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

"And you care about the greater good?"

"No I care about my son," Florian admitted quite readily as he stood, taking Antonius' wand with him, "But you care about the greater good. Think about that, the right thing to do is rarely the easiest."

---

Part 4: New Year

---

"Scorpius, are you okay?" Michael asked of him in a tone of concern.

"A-At the start of th-the hol-holidays, An-Antonius w-was…" Scorpius started to say but trailed off, feeling he bile rising in his throat again and swallowed it back down. His final word came out in a whisper, "Kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Albus repeated in shock could and Scorpius only nod in reply without risking retching again, he shakily staggered over to his own bed and sat against one of the four posters with his knees hugged up to his chest, "Does Maurice know?"

Scorpius shook his head mutely, at least he assumed Maurice didn't know because he probably would've reeled off some soldier crap otherwise. He didn't really care though, Maurice wasn't a miracle worker and he wouldn't be able to save Antonius. He buried his head in his knees as the silent tears streamed from his eyes, haunting memories flashed on the insides of his eyelids overlaid with the knowledge that it was happening to his friend. He heard footsteps but they were too distant and un-Antonius related so he didn't care, he ignored vague voices saying his name until he felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. He flinched from the touch and finally forced himself to look at reality.

"What?!" Scorpius tried to snap at Michael but due to his crying, it came out more of a forceful strangled croak.

"Talk to me," Michael offered as he sat on the bed beside him, "You're upset."

"OF COURSE I'M UPSET!" Scorpius screamed at him in frustration, "Antonius was taken, they took him! How can I be not be when I know the hell he's going through?!"

"You're not thinking rationally," Michael insisted gently, "What would Leebin say? Didn't he say something to you about generalizing before?"

"Leebin's dead!" Scorpius spat and felt a pang of sadness at the thought, seemingly to Michael's surprise, "It's been almost two weeks, the Shadows have probably torn his soul to shreds already and fed it to their Specters. He can't help me anymore, he can't help anyone. He died alone, in pain, probably scared and just wanting to go to home to his family… Just like Antonius will, in fact he probably died shackled to a bed as well-"

"Scorpius!" Michael interrupted seriously, "There is no logical reason to think that the same thing that happened to you will happen to Antonius! None. At all."

"There's every reason, he's the same age as I was! Don't you see that?! It's the Shadows again! They took him and handed him over like a lamb to a butcher!" Scorpius insisted in a sob, "Wh-Why do they even do that? Why do they have to destroy people's lives? Why can't they just leave them alone? Leave us alone. What did anyone do to deserve to have these horrible things happen to them? Antonius is just a kid."

"I used to ask myself the same thing with Bob," Michael admitted quietly and met his eyes, "And you know what, Scorpius? There is no reason. There's no order, no plan, no destiny, no karma, there's no grand scheme in life. Life's just a bitch."

"That doesn't really help Antonius," Scorpius stated miserably and wiped at his still running eyes, trying to work up the courage to say his next words, "When they took me I woke up handcuffed to a bed because… I guess they felt like a small child needed extra precaution, it's not like adults have a strength or size advantage over children or anything. Bastards."

"Well they're dead now," Michael assured him, "They can't hurt anyone wherever they are, certainly not you or Antonius."

"They raped me, you know?" Scorpius admitted aloud for the first time and so quietly he was almost surprised Michael heard him, he shuddered at the memory and more tears escaped his eyes, "I was a child and they forced themselves on me."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't feel up to it," Michael offered in a soothing tone, "I get the picture."

"But I do," Scorpius insisted determinedly despite his tears, "When Orous begged me for help back in our First Year, I didn't help him or even believe him. I could lie and say deep down I really thought he didn't exist but I think I did, I just ignored him anyway because I didn't have the courage to face my past. Maybe if I had then I would've been able to save him, maybe we could've even saved Lorcan.

"I still don't face my past, I refuse to think about it and just push it out of my mind because it hurts to think about it. I like to think that it doesn't affect me but it does, I know it does. I can't change the past, I can't go back in time and take my child self home from that park, I can't go force myself to listen to reason to save Orous and I can't save Lorcan either. But Antonius…" Scorpius trailed off, finding his voice coming out stronger now though, "There's still hope for him, I don't want him to go through that and I won't let my own inability to face the past be the reason he suffers like it was for Orous."

"Well I'm proud of you for that," Michael offered and gave him an encouraging smile, "But I still don't think that's what's happening to Antonius."

"Why not? Isn't it obvious?"

"One: it's been a few years since the Shadow Master's bothered with that, with the Scepter I doubt being connected to people even matters anymore. Two: I know I don't really the guy but I don't think Brutus would allow this to happen to his own nephew and most importantly three," Michael recounted, ticking them off on his fingers as he spoke, "Varanian would know if the Shadows had taken him. If it's been two weeks and he hasn't mentioned it then he doesn't know and if it was the Shadows then he would know. Even if he didn't know where he was or why like with Leebin, he would know by now if they had captured Antonius."

"Well who else would it be?" Scorpius demanded, "He has a wand and he knows enough about how to use it that it's not like muggles could've taken him without the Shadows help. He's not a werewolf so any last pathetic fragment of PAW wouldn't have targeted him. Who else could it be?"

"Florian?"

"Why would Florian want Antonius?!"

"Why does Florian do anything?!" Michael countered and Scorpius was forced to incline his head in agreement, they still didn't know what in the world he was after, "Have you told Varanian yet?"

"No."

"Well get him on it," Michael commanded and Scorpius moved to do so before pausing, noticing Michael was still there. Despite everything they'd been through, despite how unfun it must be to sit through him crying pathetically. Michael was still there for him, still his best friend, still a good person. He pulled Michael into a hug, "What's that for?"

"Everything," Scorpius offered as he pulled away, he still needed to find a way to help Michael. When he was done saving Antonius, "Okay, I'll ring Varanian now."

---

The first thing Carver ever remembered was eating a banana split or rather playing with it, waving the banana around and pretending it was a boat or possibly a dragon, or a winged creature of some sort – he didn't remember – but it was carrying its cargo or passengers which was the topping. He remembered laughing before his mum abruptly screamed at him to not play with his food – it was dripping everywhere – and vanished it which sent him crying. It wasn't the best start to a relationship with his mother.

Carver felt she was always against him, he just wanted to eat and play or eat and play but she was never happy. She was always screaming at him for something, for leaving his toys in the way or making a mess or whatever. She was impatient too, if he didn't do something immediately she'd scream at him for not doing it or if he didn't know something or if he did something wrong. He didn't know why she couldn't just be nice to him, she never wanted to play with him or look at the pictures he drew – and if she did, she'd tell them they were terrible – or even hug him. She was at work most of the time and he was left with a babysitter who liked to sleep, Carver got ice cream if he didn't disturb her. He missed his mum when she was gone, didn't she miss him?

He got his answer that summer after using all her makeup to decorate the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, he thought she would be happy that he made it pretty for her. She didn't think so, she yelled at him and yelled at him for wasting her precious makeup and their toilet paper, she didn't even like what he'd drawn.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO INCONSIDERATE?! YOU KNOW I DON'T MAKE A LOT OF MONEY, CARVER!" his mum screamed at him, much to poor Carver's confusion. He didn't know that, he didn't even know what money was or even what inconsiderate meant. He just knew she was mad and it made him sad, "THAT IS IT! YOU CAN STAY WITH YOUR FATHER FOR AWHILE!"

And that was that, his dad came and took him away. His dad did pay more attention to him – when he wasn't being distracted by ladies – but he was also around less so Carver didn't feel as attached to him, he wanted his mummy. And he wanted her to want him too, why couldn't she just like him? Living with his dad might not actually have been so bad except he wasn't actually with his dad, he was in a school. He still didn't see his dad much and didn't see his mum at all, he didn't get to play anymore and instead was just expected to learn. His brother, Ethan, was in the same class as him though so he saw him more than either of his parents.

It was a good thing too, Carver really started to get the impression his fellow classmates didn't like him. They threw him dark looks when he tried to talk about how fun writing was, nursing hands they seemed to have stupidly drawn on. Silly classmates, his mum had told him before that you shouldn't draw on your skin so he knew better. They didn't seem pleased when he pointed this out though. They also didn't seem pleased he got to take breaks from his classes to see his dad or that he was allowed to eat the staff's food at meals whereas they weren't, they seemed mad at him for the physical classes as well. Like if they were slow running, the teacher would zap them with their wand and they'd wriggle around screaming like a crazy person but if he was too slow – which was quite a lot, he was a big boy – then he was just told to run faster. If Carver didn't know any better than he'd think he was missing something.

Carver didn't like it there, he still wanted to go home to his mum. He'd said as much to his dad but he insisted he was in the right place, although his dad had been more distracted than usual with Carver's new baby sister: Viola. Carver didn't see why, she couldn't play with him or even talk and all she seemed to do was cry and poop. He got to wear big boy underpants because he could go to the toilet all by his own, surely that made him better and more worthy of his dad's time then Viola? She was too stupid to even sit up. Why wouldn't his parents pay attention to him? All he had was Ethan and even he was pretty serious. Until Ethan's third birthday, then he got moved into the class for his year and Carver was left all alone.

---

Scorpius had a rough time of it in the weeks that followed, he was very much preoccupied with concerns about Antonius. This was especially unfortunate considering how he really needed to focus on his NEWTs, in his first week alone due to his distraction he was bitten by a Venomous Tentacula in Herbology, scratched by a Griffin in Care of Magical Creatures and chastised three times by Rojer for almost blowing himself up. It didn't help either that the first Professor Ashain also dedicated to make January safety month, ignoring the nonverbal spells they were practicing to instead focus on ways to defend yourself when you were being abducted, useful tips, spells to best deal with multiple attackers – in abductions when there was more than one after you – and also on preemptive safety, protective enchantments and the like.

He found his favorite class actually quite depressing, seeing Cassia sitting alone where her brother was once beside her and Professor Ashain. The man looked a frazzled wreck, he constantly looked disheveled and frequently wore the same outfit for days at a time as if he hadn't thought to change. The rings beneath his eyes seemed darker every lesson and by the end of the month, his eyes themselves would be bloodshot. He wasn't sleeping much if at all. Not that Scorpius was doing much better nor did he blame him, nightmares about his time with the muggles plagued him constantly and often overlaid or jumbled in with Antonius and failing to protect or save him. Professor Ashain seemed so upset he actually asked them questions about Antonius, seemingly desperate for anything about his son. Idly, he wondered if his parents had been that upset when he'd been missing.

He did manage to keep up with arranging Quidditch practices, not that his team were too happy about it considering Scorpius had taken a liking to early morning slots. His struggles with nightmares made it hard to get a good night's sleep so he was tired, a nice start in the biting cold, fierce January wind was good for waking him though. Albus was not so pleased though, he was extremely upset about his break up with Grozda and since she loved Quidditch so much, it was a sure way to rile up his misery. Scorpius didn't see how he could care about that when Antonius was missing but then he supposed he'd be devastated too if Molly broke up with him. Homework was another matter and Maurice quickly became his rock, helping him both to stay on top of it and helping him when he was doing it.

In general, Maurice was really quite a star. He was keeping up the protection of the Scamanders and had now added Martha to that, there were no further attempts on anyone's life that month and Scorpius was sure it had to be at least in part because Maurice was making it difficult. He was also quite glad because he did not want to be dealing with that on top of everything else, Scorpius just really had to get back into the swing of things. He'd have more things on his plate soon enough anyway with Apparation classes starting, he, Abby, Albus, Rose, Maurice – although Scorpius wasn't sure he'd be allowed due to his younger age, Corin had practically thrown a tantrum when his father had said he was unable to let him take the class early – and even the reluctant Michael had signed up for them like most Sixth Years did.

The first Hogsmeade trip of the new year was the same weekend as the first class so it would be a busy one, Molly had agreed to meet him though this time so he had. Even though he felt guilty for even thinking about having a good time with Antonius gone. He and Molly had both been putting more effort into communicating, their letters were always brief but sending them at all was to show they still cared not to be able to stay caught up on what the other was doing. They had to save that for more reliable communication like a face to face meeting in Hogsmeade, he also hoped there'd be news on Antonius too. Scorpius was so tempted to just turn into a Thestral and fly out to look for him, a complete lack of idea of where to go and what to do stopped him though. Maybe some things were best left to Varanian.

Varanian did give him news though, he couldn't figure out where the Shadows had taken him and what muggles they'd put him with because the Shadows weren't actually involved like Michael had believed. Later in the month he also sent word the Shadows believed Florian had taken him, the team trying to track Florian was supposed to save both Antonius and Oathan on Brutus' orders when they found and killed the delusional defector. It helped put Scorpius' mind only slightly at ease, after all he still had no idea how Florian was treating him or why he wanted him or if Antonius was even still alive. This also made Abby particularly invested, Florian was still the man who had murdered her brother after all.

News wise, Lebanon fell to the Shadows in the second week back making it now five entire countries that were completely under the Shadows' control. But before that, Scorpius was actually surprised to see – or rather have pointed out to him by Maurice – his own family was mentioned in an article about Lysel Leebin. For the first time in a while, there was a front page article not about Shadows but werewolves.

SANE WEREWOLVES?!

At the most recent full moon last night, the first werewolf transformation in the history of the wizarding world has occurred where the werewolf kept their sane mind without being under the influence of Wolfsbane. Lysel Logan Leebin made history today for the second time in the two year old's short life.

Lysel's story begins even before birth during the attack of the werewolf army on Hogsmeade in 2020, the wizarding village being where the Leebin family resides. His mother Myriam Leebin then aged 29 was pregnant at the time with Lysel and bitten during the attack by an unspecified werewolf, not only turning her but Lysel in utero. Instances of pregnant women being bitten are quite rare and in most cases a miscarriage occurs, if a birth always occurs it is always premature and the infant usually is stillborn or dies shortly after birth. Lysel was born premature late December 23rd of the same year but managed to survive, making him the first naturally born werewolf in wizarding history.

"Healing Magic has made advancements and always is striving to better itself," says Garrett Miller, 54, a Head Healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, "I believe this is why Lysel has survived when others have perished, instances like this are so rare that there simply has not been opportunity to test these advancements on a werewolf baby." This appears to be the general consensus for Lysel's success across the Healing industry, Lysel has been on an intensive regime of potions to aid his body in surviving the brutal and painful transformations he has to undergo monthly. "He's lucky to have survived," says Magizoologist Quentin Tarrow, 39, "It is not widely known but werewolf transformations can kill, they take a tremendous toll on the body even in healthy magical adults and while most people bitten can survive there are two major exceptions: muggles and babies. And this is if they even survive the initial traumatic injury, especially in infants it's often fatal. None under a year are reported to have survived to adulthood, in my professional opinion I don't believe Lysel will either."

In addition to his potion regime, Lysel has also been given Wolfsbane which is provided free to all werewolves by the Ministry as per Lupin's Law. The potion must be taken daily in the week leading up to the full moon, Lysel has been no exception until recently. After a recent Shadow attack on his home occurring on the night of his second birthday, both his mother and human elder sister are in critical care in St Mungo's while his father is missing. Lysel is temporarily being taken in by former Death Eater Draco Malfoy, 42, and his wife Astoria, 40, who have a son not only the same age but born earlier the very same day as Lysel.

"We didn't forget to give him Wolfsbane," the widowed mother of Draco, Narcissa Malfoy, insisted testily as if her interviewer had just suggested it, "He poured it away because it 'tastes bad.'" Whatever the reason, on the evening of January 7th the Malfoys did discover Lysel had gone without his Wolfsbane. "There wasn't time to get more so we did what any normal people would do," Draco Malfoy states with a steely glare, "Locked him in the basement with protective enchantments so he couldn't get out to harm us and contacted the Ministry."

However before Ministry official arrived to contain the werewolf, young Sol wandered down into the basement, likely drawn by the screams of pain from his friend during the transformation. When Malfoy rushed down to save his son, he found Lysel fully transformed and cuddled up to Sol who was singing a nursery rhyme to soothe his friend. Lysel showed no signs of hostility, initially believing the boy simply too exhausted from the transformation he removed Sol. When Ministry workers came though, they found Lysel still showing no signs of hostility towards them and seeming perfectly capable of understanding English.

This has opened up a flood of debate in the magical community, there is debate whether his unusual circumstances are the cause or whether it had been somehow triggered by a combination of his potion regime or if Wolfsbane can have lingering effects. People in favor of his natural state argue that he displays traits different to humans like his eyes naturally being golden as they are transformed or sharper more canine like teeth (however it is noteworthy the latter can occur in regular victims, especially children bitten young will develop sharper adult teeth then their human peers) while others argue the eyes are just a coincidence.

Both werewolf and human alike are nonetheless excited by this discovery and the potential for werewolves to somehow retain or regain their humanity, scientists are also seeking custody of the boy from the Malfoys for further experimentation and requesting his body for study upon his death. Lysel's lifespan is still believed to be short, his body too weak to handle the strain, but he may still yet provide new hope for werewolves.

---

Part 5: In Blood

---

Valerian "Vale" Rooke sat quietly on his bed in his own room in the Burrow, it was one of the few places he ever felt safe. Grampy Arthur and Grammy Molly had told him that it was his room, his own special place just for him. They usually watched him while his daddy was at work and since his mama was dead now and his daddy worked late quite a bit, he often spent the night there now so had been given his own room. He liked it, he'd never seen his daddy in his room there so it felt safe. He was so scared of his daddy.

He'd always known his daddy didn't like him, he may not understand all of the meanings of the words said to him but he got that he was hated and got there was something intrinsically wrong with him. Everyone said it, not just his daddy. He wasn't completely stupid, he may not say much but he heard everything even if he didn't quite understand it all. Since his mama died, his daddy also had started hurting with his wand, he'd say 'Crucio' and Vale would be pain. He just hurt and hurt everywhere, nothing he could do made it stop. He liked the nights when he stayed with Grampy Arthur and Grammy Molly, they never hurt him with their wands. Nor had his mama, he missed his mama.

Of course they still tried to feed him, he didn't know why. He knew he was hungry but too many times he'd gone to eat food and it had been so bad he wanted to be sick or it just hurt his mouth, his daddy would make him eat it anyway so it was just safer to be hungry. Surely they had to have realized sometimes food was bad, either they didn't understand or didn't care. They were always encouraging him to play as well, smile and talk, be happy. Like his mama. How could he possibly do that when the world was so bad? When his daddy despised him, when his mama was dead, when he lived in constant fear, when he knew there was something very wrong with him. The world was a scary place, food and drink could hurt you, people randomly stepped out of the shadows to attack people like when that man had chained August to a tree and lighted him on fire. And then there was how his daddy could take away life.

He half expected toys to bite him if they weren't immediately snatched away from him as soon as he worked up the courage to take it anyway, the same way he expected his blankets to attack him in his sleep. How could he be happy when the world was so bad that he lived in terror? He knew exactly where his heart is because more often than not he could feel it trembling from his fear or pounding like there was a mini-Vale hammering on the inside of his chest, desperate to escape his dark prison. No one understood that though or else they just didn't care. He didn't feel like smiling when he felt that bad. And talking… he didn't like talking, he never knew the right words for what he wanted to say.

Learning colors, shapes and to count to ten didn't help him describe why he cried himself to sleep at night. He had to because whenever he closed his eyes to sleep, he saw his mama's death playing where it had been burned into the back of his eyelids. The horrifying memory haunted him. He could still remember her struggling, still see her hanging there, still smell her perfume lingering in the air but most of all he remembered how he did nothing while he watched his daddy kill her. What emotion was that called? The memory of Uncle Ron wasn't much better, Uncle Ron had been nice to him but Vale had still agreed with his daddy. He'd been so scared his daddy would kill Uncle Harry and hurt Vale, he had said a lie and now everyone thought Uncle Ron was bad, everyone was sad about it. And poor Uncle Ron, he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place. Whatever that emotion was, he felt it worse about lying for Uncle Ron. He didn't know if Uncle Ron was even alive.

"Hey Vale, there you are," Grampy Arthur commented and Vale turned to the door to see the old man entering, his wrinkled face soothing. The elder smile warmly at him as he approached him, carrying a box of toys he'd gone to get, "You should've waited downstairs."

Vale hung his head ashamedly and twiddled his thumbs, he had been bad and disobeyed but he liked his room better. Grampy Arthur came over to him and set the box on the bed beside him, he glanced inside and saw a variety of metal box shaped things with wheels.

"But it's alright, we can play in here if you'd like," Grampy Arthur assured him gently before taking out one of the toys, "This is a car, muggles use them to transport themselves. Well obviously real cars are much bigger for muggles to fit in them, this is just a toy version. They're pretty cool, huh? Aren't muggles marvelous?"

He then proceeded to show Vale the different toy cars he had, they came in all different colors, shapes and sizes with some being specialized like the bus or police car. Grampy Arthur showed them how they moved by rolling them on the wheels, telling him about how the sides were doors that opened and encouraging him to try it. Vale tried to work up the courage to do so while Grampy Arthur rambled on excitedly about muggle cars and how he had once owned one of them that he made fly, Vale would've liked to have seen that. He finally settled on one of the white ones and moved it around on the bed, pretending he was driving away from his daddy forever in it.

"And this one used to be Ron's favorite," Grampy Arthur told him before his face fell sadly, he thumbed the toy in his hand and looked like he was trying not to cry, "When he was a boy. He was a good boy, once."

"I sorry," Vale mumbled and Grampy Arthur forced a smile.

"It's alright, Vale, it's not your fault," Grampy Arthur assured him gently and patted him on the back, Vale's eyes filled with tears. He couldn't stand it anymore, his lie was making people sad, people he cared about.

"I did a lie," Vale admitted tearfully, earning a look of surprise from Grampy Arthur, "Uncle Ron is good and Daddy is bad. Daddy killed Mama, Daddy Crucio I. I is sorry, I was so scared of Daddy, I is sorry!"

Vale broke down sobbing, he buried his face in his hands – as best he could with a toy car still clutched in one of them - and rocked his body to comfort himself. After a second he felt Grampy Arthur put his arm around him and pull him close.

"My poor boy, it's okay," Grampy Arthur offered, rubbing his shoulder soothingly, "It'll be okay now."

"No it won't," his daddy said and both of them jumped in shock, Grampy Arthur staggered to his feet and Vale looked up to see the older man's face contort with rage for his daddy but his daddy was faster, "Avada Kedavra."

Without knowing the meaning of the spell, Vale knew they were bad from how his Grampy Arthur's expression turned to one of horror. Just for the briefest of seconds before the green light struck him and enveloped every corner of the room, throwing his lifeless body back onto the bed. Vale knew he was dead, he could see the lack of life in his eyes. Just like his mama. His daddy magically lifted Grampy Arthur's body and put it in the chair in the corner, positioning his hand over his heart.

"I told you not to tell anyone, Vale," his daddy told him darkly and tears bubbled in his eyes again, "I had to kill that sweet old man because of you. You're a monster, why do you want everyone who cares about you even slightly to die? That's sick."

"I don't!" Vale cried desperately and miserably, "I won't tell anymore."

"Good. And I'll know if you do because I'm always watching you, Vale," his daddy said seriously, forcing him to meet his dark eyes, "Now run down to Grammy Molly and tell her he said his heart hurt, that he clutched at his chest and collapsed onto the chair, that he told you to get help. And I was never here."

Vale nodded and reluctantly rushed to obey, unable to stop the tears streaming down his cheeks as he ran to get her and spew his daddy's lies. His daddy was gone by the time Vale returned to his room with Grammy Molly, watching her wail and fight to save him when it was already too late. Too late because of Vale, he'd been alive and happy just a few minutes ago. Why did he have to go and open his mouth? He just destroyed lives. He clutched the toy car in his hand, remembering how excited Grampy Arthur had been about it. He'd treasure it but his room no longer felt safe. He wished it was true, he wished his daddy had never been there.

---

"Which letter is your favorite?" Carver asked conversationally of Patton - the boy he sat next to now Ethan had moved up - who threw him a murderous glare, "I like the little 'e' cause I like thas is curly."

"I like shut up Daddy's boy," Patton spat bitterly much to Carver's upset, he just wanted to fit in and have friends now Ethan was gone. Patton rubbed his hand, covered in red letters.

"Mum says thas your nos s'pos to draw on yourself," Carver pointed out in case Patton wasn't aware of this, it only earned him an even darker look.

"Arwe you stupid?" Patton demanded of him and Carver scowled worriedly, was he stupid? "Why don't we swap quills and thened you can tell me that again."

"Okay," Carver agreed eagerly, thinking Patton may like him then.

They swapped quills, Patton looking really quite pleased with this for some reason. Carver made to continue the writing exercise with his shiny new quill, only to have it snatched out of his hand by the teacher who must've seen. Patton quivered in fear but Master Wolfe hauled him up and threw him roughly onto the ground, whipping his wand out in an instant to aim for the toddler who burst into tears as he begged for mercy.

"Xerxes' son doesn't use blood quills," the master snarled and a jet of light left his wand, striking to sobbing boy. The cries became screamed as he writhed on the ground, Carver giggled. Why did they do that? Didn't they know how silly they looked? After a few minutes, Master Wolf lowered his wand again, "Never again. And I want an extra roll of parchment telling me such, if you spell it wrong then you can do it again until you get it right."

Patton nodded meekly and dragged his shaking body back onto his seat, Master Wolf gave them back their correct quills and moved back to the front of the class. Carver went back to writing and Patton did the same, or at least tried to. His hand was shaking so much it was illegible and the tears leaking from his eyes messing with the red ink, making it even worse. With a pang of sadness, Carver realized this meant Patton likely still wouldn't like him. The rest of the lesson passed in silence as they usually did these days, Carver very much had similar reactions to Patton with his other classmates.

His life passed by miserably until his own third birthday – only his dad gave him gifts – several months after Ethan's when he too was moved into the next class with him, he didn't know what he'd do without Ethan. At least he was less lonely with Ethan around but he did still dislike the school in general, it was boring and serious, he didn't care about being a Soul Eater or a soldier. He missed playing and having fun, he missed being able to do what he wanted, his missed his mum. As the year wore on, Carver was forced to more and more just accept his unhappy life. And then Ethan went and turned four, once again being moved to the older class and leaving Carver alone. Once again, he struggled to get along with his classmates. And he thought they were actually getting meaner as his chubbiness became more noticeable.

"Hey Carver, do you know why theyed call you Carver?" Patton taunted when they were outside doing athletic exercises that he struggled with, waddling behind the rest of his class.

"No," Carver admitted and Patton smirked.

"It's b'acause you're so fat they could carver you up and feeding the army!" Patton told him and the other children laughed, Carver's cheeks tinged pink as his eyes welled with tears.

"Carver's so fat the wholer class could use him for cover!" Lyda – a girl in his class – added which earned more laughter, Carver's cheeks now burned red as the tear supply started leaking from his eyes.

"Y'know his pwecious Mum should've have just called him Fatter nor Carver," Bernard – another boy in his class – supplied which earned even more laughter, Carver just stopped as he burst into tears.

"What is the matter, Carver?" Master Zelle snapped at him as she noticed him stop.

"Th-They're being me-mea-mean t-to me," Carver told her in between sobs while the rest of the class froze, looking positively scared, "C-Calling m-me na-a-ames and la-laughing at me."

"Which ones called you names?" Master Zelle questioned and Carver pointed the three out to her, "Well you three just earned yourself a trip to the dungeons because I don't have time to punish you all, the rest of you get extra lines. You know you don't make fun of a Master's son."

"Snitch," Patton snapped and Master Zelle had her wand on him in an instant, he fell to the ground screaming and convulsing uncontrollably. Seriously, why did they do that? Did the spell make them act stupid?

At any rate, while they were punished it only worsened his relationship with them. His class threw him dark looks whenever they passed him or saw him, ignored him when he spoke and he knew they mocked him behind his back. He didn't know why but he did come to dread physical exercises, only becoming more aware of his obesity. He was glad when he turned four, this time his mum did actually send him gifts as well which was good because he'd been starting to forget about her. He was really quite overjoyed, maybe she did love him after all. A bubble of hope formed in his heart and it wasn't burst, that summer he was returned to his mum because she wanted him back.

He was so excited he was practically bouncing off the walls and the memories came flooding back when he saw his home, the crumbling house was a welcome change to the Training Tower. He squealed with delight when his saw his mum waiting, she smiled and held out her arms when she saw him. He ran over to her and threw himself into her arms, she squeezed him tightly and he hugged her back.

"I missed you so much, Mum!" Carver cried happily, tears of joy filling his eyes for once as he let himself be cuddled.

"I missed you too," she admitted and patted his back gently.

"Then why did you sendat me away?" Carver wondered as they pulled away.

"BECAUSE CARING FOR CHILDREN IS STRESSFUL, CARVER, GOD!" his mum screamed at him angrily and his own joy wavered but his mum took a deep breathe, her smile returning as she started smoothing his hair into place, "But it's okay, we're both a bit older now and you've been educated so hopefully we'll be okay."

"Okay, Mum," Carver smiled, just happy to be home.

---

The article wasn't the last thing to hit the papers about Lysel, Scorpius actually felt bad that his family had managed to bring the toddler into the public eye. Now he had scientists arguing for the right to experiment on him especially considering he might not have much of a life left to experiment with, other extremists viewed it as a bad thing and claimed Lysel was an abomination of life who should be alternatively locked up in New Azkaban prison or 'put down, like the dog he is' according to some extreme person. And the bad news kept coming.

February began in blood, Albus and Rose – along with the other Potter/Weasley kids – got word of their grandfather's death. The Shadows also made their next attack on Damascus, the Capital of Syria which was the country in between Lebanon and Turkey. Scorpius thought Maurice was proved correct in his hunch about the Shadow Master wanting to create a bridge between the countries he controlled, Israel would likely be the next target. However there was a change in the usual pattern as they discovered first thing on Friday before the Hogsmeade trip and Apparation lessons, they were shushed into their seats as their teacher listened to the radio.

"… Breaking news is still occurring here! We have live Mahir Samara from Daraa, Syria, speaking to us through magic mirror where was he talking to his brother, here in the UK when the Soul Eaters attacked! The city of Aleppo miles away is also believed to be under attack due to communications shutting down as has occurred with everywhere they've attacked so far, this marks the first time the Soul Eaters have attacked two cities so distant at once. What's happening there now, Mr Samara?"

"The-There's th-the dead in-in the streets," came a stammer of broken English in a different voice, presumably Mahir Samara.

"Dead? People have just dropped dead?!" the first voice wondered in shock.

"N-No, the already dead. Inferi," Samara's voice told them fearfully, "An army of Inferi, muggles shoot at them but the bullets do nothing. Aurors try to fight them but there is too many and we do not have man- The Aurors are down, they-they're all being t-torn apart…"

"Stay with us, Mahir!" the first voice urged as Samara trailed off, sounding like he was resisting the urge to retch, "Your words are the only account the entire free world of the Soul Eater attacks, what's happening now?"

"I-I th-there is a voice, magically amplified for all to hear."

"The Shadow Master?!"

"No, a child," Samara corrected.

"Why a child?" the other voice demanded in surprise as if Samara would actually know.

"Maybe he is all they have who speak Arabic, I do not know," Samara guessed distractedly as if he was listening, "He is saying instruction on surrender, if we want to live we must crouch in a ball until we are given word we can stop. The Inferius have orders to tear apart everyone who is resisting, if you are not in this position then they will think that you are resisting and kill you. Muggles and wizards alike will be spared if you do this and do it now while they sweep the city for resistance, he says we cannot beat them or escape- Oh Merlin, the Inferi are climbing the buildings to get inside!"

"Stop panicking, Mahir! Come on," the first voice complained.

"I-I must crouch or I will die," Samara whimpered fearfully, "Cyrus is still speaking, he is say if the Mayor does not surrender to Stephan and the Soul Eaters by the time the Inferius finish the sweep then they will kill all of us… Now the Mayor is speaking, he is sobbing and agreeing to the surrender- Inferi! Inferi! Inferi are climbing in the windows! I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

Samara trailed off, saying words in a language that Scorpius didn't recognize which was presumably Arabic. He heard a guttural shriek and a smashing sound, Scorpius would guess the mirror.

"For our confused and concerned listeners, what I just saw through the mirror and what you just heard was an Inferius grabbing the mirror and throwing it against the wall," the first spoke again, sounding somewhat shaken, "But Mahir was alive last I saw him, folks! But those may still be the last words of Mahir Samara, who we can only eternally thank for talking to us here and his brother for alerting us to it before the Ministry could cover it. And so there you have it, live from inside the throes of war. Daraa has fallen..."