Parts (47-51)

I

Chapter 10

Change of Heart

Part 1: The Obelisk

"Why are you telling him that?" Calderon wondered with a strangely disapproving look on his face and Varanian shot him a dark look before he went back to looking at Scorpius, an immensely thoughtful expression came over his face as he seemed to be trying to decide what to do.

Scorpius didn't answer. He felt terrible enough as it was and he just hung his head, he didn't know whether he'd done the right thing or not. It felt like he'd betrayed his friends but then the thought of staying in bed and waiting for things to happen made him feel like he was betraying Calderon, even if Calderon didn't look particularly pleased with him at that moment. He didn't think there was a right thing to do in the situation, or maybe he just couldn't tell what was right or wrong anymore. He felt awful.

"There's nothing we can do," Varanian said eventually and Scorpius finally raised his head, "short of breaking into the Malfoy home to destroy it before then, that seems like a worse idea."

"You can't do anything?!" Scorpius burst out angrily, he'd betrayed his friends and Varanian wasn't even going to do anything?!

"I'm not all powerful," Varanian growled glaring at him again, his hair was darker than Calderon's, "I have an idea though. Come on both of you, we have to get to the obelisk."

Calderon started to protest but Varanian was already going back the way he'd came and Scorpius raced after him, Calderon kept asking for answers but the headmaster's jaw was set determinedly as he led them. Eventually Calderon gave up and they just walked in silence with red balls of light floating around them. To Scorpius' surprise Varanian led them to a girl's bathroom, he was sure the headmaster was insane now.

"Open it," Varanian commanded as they stopped in front of a sink.

"Why?!"

"We can't just leave the obelisk down there to be found by anyone, we have to destroy it or seal it off so no one can ever use it for evil. The Shadows are after the school, Marius, we can't just leave it here to fall into the wrong hands," Varanian said sounding very sincere.

Calderon's expression was unreadable and Scorpius was just plain confused, Varanian was being sounding strangely human for once even if he had no idea what they were talking about, it was not the reaction he'd been expecting from Varanian or Calderon. He couldn't see the obelisk and a girl's bathroom was a stupid place to hide- something clicked inside his brain, recalling Albus' story of his father's adventures in Hogwarts. Hadn't he said the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was in a girl's bathroom?

"I really don't think anyone's going to find it down there, Varanian. Only a few people know how to get down there, even less people know about the obelisk and even less people are Parselmouths."

"You want to stake the safety of the school on the bet that you're the only Parselmouth in the world? Malfoy is a former Death Eater, there's loads of former Death Eaters unaccounted for who are probably involved with the Shadows too - Seraph, the Lestrange brothers, Avery for example - Voldemort could easily have told them."

"He didn't just go around telling everyone and none of those people were Parselmouths, being former Death Eaters doesn't mean they're now Shadows and for the record, Rodolphus Lestrange is dead," Calderon said as he rubbed his arm.

"You can't know any of that for sure! Its better to be safe than sorry."

For a moment Scorpius wasn't sure whether Calderon would do it or not, he wasn't sure what he would prefer. Very slowly Calderon turned back to the sink and made a hissing noise. In response one of the taps glowed with a white light before the sink started to move downwards leaving a large pipe exposed, Scorpius gasped.

"Let's go then," Varanian barked and gestured for them to go into the pipe.

"Why does Scor have to be here?"

"He doesn't I suppose," Varanian stated with a snort of irritation, "go then, go back and crawl into bed like the little weak coward you are, Scorpius. Say goodbye to Marius, probably the last time you'll see either of us."

"I'd rather stay," Scorpius spoke up glaring at Varanian.

"It's safer and better if you g-"

Scorpius didn't even wait for Calderon to finish his sentence before he jumped into the pipe, he didn't want to miss what was happening. It was cold and slimy, Scorpius noticed as he found himself hurtling down into the darkness, further and further, and further. He was starting to wonder if he would ever stop sliding when the sloping became more gentle and finally evened out as he was thrown out of the pipe and onto damp floor.

He got to his feet quickly and moved forwards to look around in the darkness, he wished he'd thought to bring his wand, Lumos would be incredibly useful then. He couldn't help but feel some sense of amazement at being inside the Chamber of Secrets, Albus would be insanely excited when he told him and might even forgive him for trying to warn Varanian but considering how they couldn't do anything and he'd be arrested anyway then maybe everything would be okay. Varanian seemed to be more reasonable than usual at that moment, maybe he'd listen to whatever shred of decency he had left and wouldn't try to drag everyone down with him after all. He'd just let himself be arrested, his tyranny would be over and everyone would be safe, students, teachers and Calderon alike.

"Do you ever listen to me?!" Calderon complained and Scorpius glanced back to see the two men had emerged, Varanian had his wand out and must have done something to stop himself getting covered in slime like both he and Calderon were.

"I always listen to you," Scorpius pointed out quietly but Calderon still looked annoyed and unconvinced.

"Come on," Varanian called as he started to lead the way, his wand lit up against the darkness and they both followed.

"You don't act like you listen to me," Calderon continued irritably but the lights around him were no longer red, Scorpius realized tiny animal bones littering the floor, he cringed slightly in disgust, "just once when I tell you to wait or go back, do it. By all accounts you got hit in the head by an iron ball, you're in your pajamas and I'm guessing without you wand, do you really think you're in any state to be wandering around in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Well... I did get healed," Scorpius said timidly but when Calderon put it like that, it did seem a bit silly, "but I want to know what's going on, I want to help, I want to stay with you. I don't know what's going to happen."

"If you wanted to help then you should have done what I say. What were you doing trying to warn Varanian anyway? When did you stop hating him?"

"I didn't... I just wanted to warn you because I don't want you to go to Azkaban and die, I was trying to protect you - and don't say I could have protected you more by staying back because that's not true. You were with Varanian and he asked why and... I was trying to do what I thought was right, I didn't think I'd get another chance so it just kind of came out."

"Well next time don't do anything. And never try to protect me, Scorpius."

Scorpius hung his head miserably as he walked, not really knowing why Calderon was being so mean to him when he'd been trying to help him. He shivered at the cold and felt a sudden warmth, he glanced back up and saw Calderon holding out his hand, light spreading over him and warming him up. He offered his thanks but Calderon said nothing, he didn't think Calderon could completely hate him if he was trying to shield him from the cold.

Calderon hissed something else and Scorpius looked back ahead to see a door opening to reveal a long dimly lit chamber, Varanian wasted no time in heading up it with them following. Calderon laughed his high-pitched laugh so abruptly and for no apparent reason that Scorpius nearly jumped, Varanian shot a dark look over his shoulder.

"Do you have to do that every time you walk into this room?" Varanian complained.

"I don't know, I haven't been here a lot so its not like its a lot of times to go on," Calderon said, sounding much more like himself and strangely enthusiastic, "Salazar Slytherin built this chamber himself, one of the greatest wizards of his time - despite his unfortunate views - and its... strange to think we're walking in the footsteps of such a famous figure in history where such few people have ever been, after all only his heirs have ever found this place - with a few exceptions - I don't why it makes me laugh. Sometimes I almost forget, you see, and then I remember and it always makes me laugh."

Scorpius was a bit lost by the end of the assistant's rant, Varanian seemed to share in his confusion and shook his head muttering something about insanity. They reached the end of the chamber and he saw the obelisk, placed before a creepy ugly statue... hadn't Molly said that was what she'd dreamed?

Varanian started walking around the obelisk with his wand out, he must have been doing some spell because a foggy white light was being drawn around the obelisk wherever the wand touched the wall would appear beneath it. He started on the left, went round the back and came from the right side having drawn an almost perfect rectangle with the spell except for the front. Scorpius had a suddenly very ominous feeling as Varanian came back to stand beside them.

"This should stop people getting to it, magic can't get in the lines I've drawn," Varanian spoke very neutrally and Calderon stepped closer, scowling slightly.

"Magic can get in but not out, you've done it the wrong-"

Calderon stopped and seemed to realize at the same time as Scorpius did that Varanian hadn't made a mistake, before either could react Varanian shoved Calderon towards the obelisk and whipped his arm across the gap to complete the rectangle. Calderon's light magic shot out towards the foggy white light wall but rebounded and threw Calderon backwards, his body bounced off of the opposite foggy wall - it appeared further up when Calderon touched the air - and thudded onto the ground.

"Calderon!" Scorpius cried out and ran towards the assistant but the second he touched the wall he was flung back, landing painfully on his back beside Varanian.

"What... What are you doing?" Calderon asked worriedly as they got back to his feet.

"I'm truly sorry, Marius, you're my only friend but I have to do this," Varanian spoke calmly, "it is important stopping this from falling into the wrong hands but its more important to protect the school."

"But the wards aren't complete, I heard you say!" Scorpius burst out in panic as it dawned on him what Varanian was planning, "it won't work!"

"The closer the wards are together the stronger the magic, it could have worked at any moment after four were completed but I just wanted to make it as strong as I could by completing the circle around the entire school. I won't be able to do that now so its just going to have to be good enough as it is now. I just need a gray soul to sacrifice so Marius, if you would please activate it."

"Don't Calderon, it'll kill you!"

"How do you know that?"

"I'm not doing it," Calderon said stubbornly and folded his arms, laughing his demented high-pitched laugh again, "if I'm going to kill myself in any way then it will be to destroy this thing, did you not realize in sealing me in with the obelisk that you were sealing me in with the obelisk? I'd rather die doing something good than live doing something evil. Lower the barriers or I'll destroy it. You need help, actual mental help of some sort, these blood runes are making you crazier than I am. Just stop, Varanian, you're a better person than this."

"Ah, you see if you do that then I will be forced to kill little Scorpius here," Varanian countered and Scorpius realized Varanian now had his wand trained on him, "you don't want that do you? Activate the obelisk or I swear I'll kill him."

"You wouldn't."

"I have nothing left to lose! I am going to protect this school or die trying, children of Death Eaters don't even deserve to be called human, your deaths will be a blessing to the world."

"Won't killing me ruin your soul and make the spell evil?" Scorpius wondered quietly, hoping he didn't sound as scared as sounded, he tried to force his mind to be calm and think, maybe Varanian just needed to think to calm down because he was sounding more deranged by the second.

"No! You're evil so killing you is good, the spell will work. I don't want to kill you but I will if I have to, I'll kill you both, I'll kill you all! Do it, Tommy! Do it now! Don't test me!"

"Calm down," Calderon said seeming to try to have a similar idea to Scorpius but his face had even less color than usual, "think about what you're doing and saying, souls are tainted regardless of the circumstances of the kill and murdering two people - especially an innocent child - will earn you a life sentence in Azkaban, you don't want that. You're not a murderer."

"I don't care if it protects the school!" Varanian screeched, his hair was slowly growing and lengthening at random and flicking between random colors, "now do it or I start torturing Scorpius, the Cruciatus curse is especially painful, isn't it?"

"He's just a child, leave him alone!"

"He wanted to stay, remember? He jumped in with both feet! I knew he would, if he wanted to be left alone he would have left but he didn't so he deserves the consequences of his actions! Cru-"

"NO!" Caldreon shrieked and practically ran to the pedestal, "I'll do it, I'll do it, don't hurt him."

"Don't do it, Calderon!" Scorpius burst out desperately as Calderon brought his left hand over where the rune was, he hesitated and met Scorpius' eyes for a moment.

"This isn't your fault, Scor," Calderon told him gently with a weak smile before slamming his hand down, "I Ecifircas."

"NO!" Scorpius screamed but it was already too late.

It was similar to what it looked like with the discs, a pulse of crimson light shot through Calderon and out the hand on the pedestal but unlike with the discs when it went out another one would come. Varanian's magic-stopping wall vanished after the first pulse and Scorpius saw the lowest runes were starting to fill up with the assistant's blood, a look of pain was on Calderon's face before he hung his head.

He glanced back to Varanian to see he was pulling a small ball from his pocket with his free hand, - he kept his wand on Scorpius - it was a bit smaller than a golf ball and fit on his palm. It had to be the orb. The color of it kept changing though, swirling between black, white and gray. It rose out of the headmaster's hand and sped over to the obelisk without command or wand, propping itself on the point of the obelisk and remaining there. It stopped changing color. It was as black as the night.

"Varanian, please stop this," Scorpius begged desperately, "this isn't going to protect the school, its going to make things words, please don't kill him."

Varanian didn't say anything. He was staring at the obelisk, Scorpius glanced back at it to see it was now about a quarter filled, when one level of rune was completed the blood just started rising on the next one. Scorpius' heart was thundering in his chest, he had to do something, he couldn't just stand there. The obelisk was now half full. He had to do something, Calderon tugged his hand seeming to try to break the spell but seemed as incapable of tearing his hand away as the others had with the wards.

Take his wand, he seems distracted

Scorpius blinked in shock at hearing the voice in his head, he glanced around wildly but there didn't seem to be anyone else there. Calderon hadn't spoken, the only sound coming from him was his ragged breathing. Varanian hadn't spoken, he wasn't making any noise at all, he was trembling and had his eyes squeezed shut. His free hand was clutching at his head, he looked in pain.

Take the wand and do something!

The voice repeated and Scorpius didn't have time to dwell on his sanity as he glanced briefly at the obelisk, it was now three quarters full. Without further hesitation he grabbed the wand with his left hand, Varanian didn't even try to stop him but he did scream, his scream barely sounded human as he fell to the ground clutching his head and writhing like he was having a seizure.

He had to ignore it for now as he aimed it at Calderon and focused his energy as if for a spell, one was on his lips but the scar on his wrist seared with pain and a pulse of gray light shot out before he could say it. Scorpius was knocked back from the force of the magic that erupted from the wand that collided with Calderon, tearing the assistant from the pedestal and propelling him away from it.

Part 2: Blood-Replenishing Potion

Scorpius scrambled to get to his feet as fast as possible and started to run to Calderon, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the orb was falling as it flickered between the different colors again. He changed his route to dash to it and plucked it out of the air like it was a Snitch, the second it touched his skin it became gray and stayed gray. Up close he saw that the color swirled inside it like clouds, it was so light to hold too, it barely felt like he was holding anything at all. He pocketed it quickly, not sure what to do with it and glanced briefly at the obelisk to make sure it had indeed stopped filling up with blood before continuing over to Calderon.

The assistant was sprawled on his back on the damp ground, Scorpius fell to his knees beside him fearfully, his skin was so pale it was white in contrasted with his shiny black hair. On his open palm, Scorpius could see the sacrificial arrow had cut into his skin deeply and unlike the wounds on his friends, it was bleeding. He was still breathing though, every breath seemed weak and shallow but he was still alive.

"Calderon?" Scorpius whispered and gently shook the assistant's hand, his skin was colder than ice and clammy to the touch. The assistant's eyelids flickered at the sound of his name but he didn't seem to have the strength to open them, "can you get up? We... We have to get you to Madam Pomfrey. She'll know what to do."

Scorpius knew it was stupid the moment he said it, if Calderon couldn't open his eyes then he certainly couldn't walk. Mentally he tried to rush through his options, Calderon needed help but Calderon couldn't move. He could go and get help but he wasn't sure that Calderon had that long, plus he had no idea if the chamber would seal itself - or possibly already had - and he couldn't speak Parseltongue to open it again, only Calderon could. He thought of magically lifting Calderon to take him with him but it still seemed too long, the journey back up would be a lot longer than the long slide down. There had to be something else.

Can't you just heal him with a spell?

"I don't know any spells to heal him!" Scorpius yelled at the voice in frustration, "if I did, don't you think that I would be using them?!"

Sorry, no need to yell at me. I was only trying to help. What a depressing end to my dream

"This isn't a dream, this is my life," Scorpius pointed out in confusion and seriously started to doubt his sanity.

No this is my dream, I'm asleep

"This is not a dream!"

Scorpius screamed the last and the voice went quiet, he glanced around again for a speaker but saw only Varanian who was still thrashing on the ground and clutching at his head. Varanian... didn't he constantly carry around blood-replenishing potion for his friends? That's what Calderon needed. Scorpius got to his feet and stalked over to the headmaster, Varanian's seizure event seemed to be slowing down and by the time Scorpius reached him he was just lying there with his eyes closed, his hands still on his head. His scars were visible again and his hair was the tawny color, Scorpius aimed Varanian's own wand at him.

"Give me the blood-replenishing potion," Scorpius demanded and the headmaster's silver eyes opened slowly.

"W-What?" Varanian croaked weakly trying to sit up, sluggishly and looking dazed as if he wasn't sure what was going on.

"Give me the blood-replenishing potion."

"What?"

"Give me the blood-replenishing potion or I'll kill you!" Scorpius shouted louder than he'd heard his voice, it echoed around the chamber and Varanian seemed immediately.

He was surprised by how much he meant it, in that moment he felt nothing but rage against the headmaster. He'd held the wand in his left hand again, his magic was focused and his scar was burning, he could hear it crackling strangely but he didn't care. He was going to save Calderon and Varanian was going to help him, the headmaster was just staring at him strangely and not doing what he wanted. He was so angry.

A blast of magic shot out from the wand, Varanian ducked and it hit the ground behind him. Fire erupted around them. From that spot a ring of fire spread around the three of them and the obelisk, despite the water around them the fire burned and shot out from the ring in all directions across. Huge crimson flames that lashed out higher than the obelisk itself, burning so intensely he could practically feel the water evaporating off his body. The scar on his wrist was in agony, he felt like it was on fire.

"Put out the fire!" Varanian shrieked with a look of terror on his face. Scorpius tried wishing the fire would stop but it didn't, black smoke was being pumped into the air, "killing us all isn't going to help Marius!"

"I don't know how to put it out!" Scorpius yelled frantically, starting to cough from the smoke.

"Give me my wand then!"

"So you can kill us all?! I don't think so!"

"I'm not going to kill anyone! The fire will! Give me my wand!"

"NO!" Scorpius protested stubbornly but fell to his knees from the force of the coughing, the smoke was so thick he could barely breath.

"Scorpius, give me my wand!"

"N-"

Scorpius started to say no but logically he realized that if he didn't they would die, Varanian seemed to take this as confirmation and snatched the wand from. He aimed it into the air and a pulse of magic shot out, rippled outwards from them and extinguishing every flame it touched, taking the smoke with it. They both remained on the ground for a minute, gulping down the clean air once more. Scorpius felt drained.

"I don't like fire," Varanian whispered and from the look on his face, Scorpius that was the adult way of saying it scared the life out of him.

Varanian seemed to recover before Scorpius did as the headmaster rose and went over to Calderon, Scorpius forced his trembling legs to move after him. Varanian couldn't possibly expect Calderon to finish the spell now - the assistant was still barely breathing - and Scorpius had the orb, he resisted the urge to hold it protectively in his hand because it would alert the headmaster to the fact that he had it. If Varanian did try anything he would throw it onto the ground and step on it, he just hoped there was nothing magically protecting it so it would break easily. It was the best he could think of. Varanian didn't do any of that though, he fell to his knees beside Calderon and pulled a bottle out of a pocket on the inside of his robes.

"Is that poison?!" Scorpius demanded rushing over and Varanian gave him an incredulous look.

"Its the blood-replenishing potion," Varanian pointed out as if it was obvious before lifting Calderon's head to pour the crimson liquid down his throat, Scorpius wasn't sure if the assistant was conscious but he seemed to swallow. Varanian stopped after a few mouthfuls, "have to wait to give him more, if you give someone too much at a time they get to much blood too fast and it can make arteries burst."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because its the truth, I'll show you the passage in the potions book if you really want but right now we have to get him out of here, he needs more potion than I have on me."

"How are we going to do that?"

Varanian shot him a neutral look, the usual anger was again gone like when he'd been sick before. He just looked exhausted. He pocketed the potion once more and brought his wand out, Scorpius tensed and Varanian seemed to notice because he sighed.

"I'm not going to do anything bad. As headmaster I can lower the anti-apparition wards, just momentarily so we can get out of here. Come over here and take Marius' hand, the less time its lowered the better."

"Why should I believe you?" Scorpius repeated angrily, "you tried to kill us not ten minutes ago! You were insane!"

"You tried to kill us not five minutes ago! I'm feeling much better now so please hurry up while it lasts."

Scorpius reluctantly knelt down beside them while the headmaster muttered a spell, he really didn't feel like he had much of a choice, he had no better ideas and Varanian did have the wand. Scorpius took Calderon's hand, squeezing it tightly as if it would bring some warmth back into the assistant's body. He was still breathing though, even though his eyes remained closed. Varanian put his free hand on Calderon's chest and immediately they were in motion, Scorpius had apparated before - only side-along with his parents or grandparents - so the sensation didn't make him throw him up like he had the first time, he still didn't think it was a pleasant sensation.

They reappeared in a room that Scorpius had never been into before, they were in a bedroom - in fact Varanian had had them land on the large double bed, probably for Calderon's sake - a large circular bedroom with chests of drawers built into the wall. The room looked oddly bare, there was no decoration. No pictures, no portraits or tapestries on the walls and on top of the chests there was just nothing. There were two doors on opposing ends of the room, one had a cloak on a hook and he assumed it was a closet and the other was probably the exit.

Varanian immediately held out his hand and said another spell that sounded similar to the first, he guessed it was resetting the wards. The headmaster's exhaustion was even more evident in the light of the room, his eyes were ringed and he looked about to pass out. Scorpius wasn't feeling very sympathetic but he was feeling very confused and wary, either Varanian was completely and utterly insane or he was just trying to get Calderon to recover enough to finish the spell. He wondered if the headmaster realized that he had the orb. Varanian didn't seem concerned about that at that moment, he had the vial out to give Calderon more of the potion.

"Shouldn't we take him to Madam Pomfrey?" Scorpius wondered and realized that she'd probably be looking for him, how long had he been gone?

"No. She'd want to know what happened to him and the less people know about the obelisk the better, you can't tell anyone," Varanian said firmly and the usual edge was back in his voice even if he continued to look ill and rubbed his temple, "healers are useless idiots anyway, nothing they can do that I can't do better."

"Are you going to erase my memory if I do tell anyone?"

"No, that was... that was probably wrong of me to do that to the girls. That thing is very dangerous in the wrong hands, you don't want anything bad to happen do you?"

Scorpius bit back the urge to say 'aside from what already happened, you mean?' but remained glaring at the headmaster who shifted uncomfortably. He didn't though, it would be stupid to provoke the man with the only wand and he had no idea where Varanian had taken them, where they even still in Hogwarts?

"Where are we?"

"My room. We're less likely to be disturbed here than his and I need to make more potion, this isn't enough to get him back up to full strength."

"Don't you have more?"

"No, Saturday's usually when I replenish the week's supply but I was busy. I was coming back to do it when you..." Varanian rubbed his head and trailed off looking miserable, "I have to make more. I don't know how long I have. Do you want to help or go back to bed?"

"Help?" Scorpius said with a confused scowl, "are you... are you trying to help Calderon? I'm not leaving him alone with you."

"Obviously I'm trying to help him," Varanian snapped sounding exactly like his usual self again for a moment before his exhausted expression returned and he demonstrated how to give Calderon the potion as he spoke, "to give him the potion, just lift up his head slightly and pour it in until he swallows three times. Like so. You need to do that every five minutes, when the bottle runs out come out and tell me. It won't last long but I think I have one more, I'll give you that when the first runs out and give that to him every ten minutes instead. If he stops breathing get me immediately but I think he has enough blood at the moment to cope."

"There's no clock."

Varanian sighed and got up, rubbing his head once more as he retrieved an hourglass from one of the drawers. He turned it over and placed it on top of the drawer, explaining when the sand ran out it was five minutes and he just needed to give Calderon the potion, when he was done he should just turn it over again. He handed Scorpius the bottle of potion and waited for the sand to run out to make sure Scorpius could do it right - which he did - before turning to leave.

"I don't trust you," Scorpius said and Varanian hesitated but carried on walking.

Scorpius sighed heavily, not sure what else to do. He couldn't leave Calderon alone, not with the man who'd tried to kill him and was responsible for his condition, to get help - assuming Varanian would let him leave - and he couldn't take Calderon with him, the assistant wasn't even conscious enough to walk. He silently vowed to never go anywhere without his wand again and decided he would just have to wait until Calderon recovered more, Calderon didn't need a wand and surely he would defend them against Varanian now he knew he was insane and intent on murder and torture. They didn't have to hold him off for long, it was Varanian's last night at Hogwarts as Rose's letter would still be found.

Apparently they were just ignoring that, or maybe Varanian had just forgotten. Scorpius certainly wasn't going to be the one to remind him, he might go insane again and try to make Calderon finish the obelisk. Or Scorpius, he realized with horror, he had just said a gray soul, did it matter if someone else finished the obelisk? He felt very vulnerable all of a sudden, Calderon was in no position to defend himself if Varanian threatened to kill him if Scorpius didn't activate the obelisk, what choice would he have? He glanced at his wrist, the bruising looked worse and he was sure the scar was even darker. What was wrong with his wrist? What was up with him? He'd nearly burned them alive when he was mad and the voice...

"Hello?" Scorpius asked in hopes it would hear him but he got no reply. Maybe he really was losing his mind.

"Here," Varanian spoke as he returned through the door that Scorpius had correctly deduced as the exit, handing him a book open on a particular, "there's the passage of the book I told you about, I don't really expect you to trust me, quiet frankly I don't even trust myself right now but I'm not lying about the potion to save Marius."

Varanian left without another a word, Scorpius assumed he already knew the potion because the page was the blood-replenishing potion. He skimmed it after he gave Calderon his next dose of potion, sure enough it warned against giving too much too quickly because it could burst the arteries or veins. It depended on the consistency of the potion apparently how much would cause this but it did urge caution. It didn't make him feel much at ease, he probably wanted Calderon to recover so he could complete the spell. Scorpius considered hiding the orb amongst Varanian's things in case he tried to get them into the Chamber of Secrets again before he ran out of potion and went to tell Varanian.

He was slightly surprised to see the room exited into Varanian's office, the headmaster was brewing the potion at one of the tables and handed him the bottle quickly. He made a note that Scorpius needed the hourglass to run out twice but otherwise to carry on, he should be finished before that bottle ran out. It was smaller than the first bottle so he hoped Varanian was right, the book also mentioned that in cases of severe blood loss the potion should be given at regular intervals to lessen the risk of the person dying before their blood can be replenished. He really wished Calderon could at least be conscious.

After giving Calderon his next dose he decided to check around Varanian's draws, see if there was a good place to hide the orb in one that less used. The first few that Scorpius checked seemed to be his clothes, he assumed Varanian used those regularly so it would he stupid to hide it there, although since Varanian would be arrested in a few hours he supposed he didn't need to worry about that. In the next few draws he found only pictures, he thought they must have been Varanian's family.

Most of them were of a beautiful young woman with dark curly hair who he assumed was Ethel - in several she was holding a younger Varanian's hand and there was one of them getting married - and three children, a little boy and girl with the same dark girly hair as the woman and a baby who had different color hair in every picture. Varanian's hair was fairly consistent in the pictures, in most it was short, scruffy and tawny although it did vary in some. They always looked happy though. Some looked older and they featured people who seemed to resemble Varanian and if Varanian appeared in any of those pictures then he was always a child, Scorpius assumed those were his relatives. He wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic to Varanian's losses though, it didn't give him an excuse to act how he was and he thought Varanian's family would probably agree with Scorpius on that.

After he stopped again to give Calderon another dose of the potion he returned to the next drawer, that one was filled with letters. They were part in English and part in a different language, he thought it looked like Greek or Russian maybe. They were all about the blood runes, the English didn't reveal much more than he already knew except to constantly praise the safety and unstoppable protection and ensure Varanian that whatever worries he had were uncalled for, the other language he couldn't understand and they were all signed 'Retsam Wodahs' and written in the same spidery handwriting.

I recognize that handwriting

"What the hell?" Scorpius wondered and jumped in surprise at hearing the voice again.

After Joel was done punishing me for trying to escape he dragged me into the kitchen and he wrote a letter, he folded it up and placed in an envelope that already a word written on it: Shadow Master. It was written in the same handwriting

"No it wasn't!" Scorpius snapped angrily, shoving the letter back into the drawer and slamming it shut, "you're lying and that was a dream and go away."

That wasn't a dream! That was my life

"Well you're a liar, I'm alive and real and that was a dream."

I'm not a liar! It wasn't a dream!

"Yes it was!"

I wish it was a dream, I wish I could wake up and be in my bed at home and find everything had just been a horrible nightmare, to be safe where no one can hurt me and be with my family. But its not a dream

"Yes it is. You're not real."

I am real. I'm ten years old, they took me two weeks before my birthday. I was playing in a muggle park and I got lost on the way home, I don't know why I knew the way so well but I got lost and-

"NO!" Scorpius screamed before forcing himself to speak calmer, "that didn't happen to you. You're some kind of demented trauma thing that's happening to me and I've got so much on my mind that all this stuff is mixing in with it but its not true, they were just muggles. There was no magic involved, magic is good and muggles are bad with very few exceptions. Wizards weren't involved at all, don't you understand?! It was muggles, it was just muggles. They took me and they hurt me but I got away, it has nothing to do with anything."

You were abducted too? You were the one who killed Joel's little brother?

"The next batch of potion is ready," Varanian said as the doorway opened, Scorpius had never been more relieved to see the headmaster and considering his burning hatred for the man it, it said a lot. His anxiety must have shown on his face because Varanian's face held a look that resembled concern, "are you alright?"

"Fine," Scorpius snarled angrily and Varanian actually jumped as he continued into the room, placing a huge cauldron on top of the nearest drawer.

"Fine. This should be enough, we just refill the bottle when its empty and keep going until Calderon recovers."

"Fine."

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed?"

"And leave you to kill Calderon? I don't think so," Scorpius continued irritably, he felt drained but not tired anyway and he doubted he could sleep even if he could trust Varanian to not kill Calderon while he was gone. He wasn't leaving the assistant's side until he was sure he was safe, unless it was in a body bag.

"I'm not trying to kill him, I told you I feel better," Varanian complained and rubbed his head again but Scorpius had stopped believing him several lies ago. He didn't care what the headmaster had to say, he couldn't wait until Varanian was dragged away and fed to the dementors in Azkaban. He knew his statement was illogical but he was too shaken to care.

Part 3: Watching, Waiting, Witnessing

It was oddly silent in the room. Varanian conjured a chair and sat beside the potion after bandaging Calderon's injured hand - it didn't respond to magic attempts to heal, taking the hourglass so he could turn it over beside him while Scorpius went to sit on the bed beside Calderon. Neither of them said anything and the voice had thankfully gone quiet again, they only moved to give Calderon the potion, Varanian didn't even seem to blink but rubbed his head so much that Scorpius started to wonder if his headache had returned. Calderon remained unconscious but his breathing seemed more even than it had been in the Chamber.

It felt like a long night, even if it had to be the early hours of the next morning by then, Scorpius supposed that sitting in silence and staring at an hourglass made you aware of every second which did make time feel like it was moving slower. Scorpius continued to give Calderon the potion until it ran out, then Varanian started doing it and Scorpius was left with nothing much to do but wait and keep an eye on the headmaster. It was hard though. He did feel drained, his eyes stung with tiredness and Varanian's bed was really comfortable. He gripped Calderon's hand tightly as if to anchor himself into consciousness, he was pleased that Calderon's skin was no longer as cold. That had to be a good sign.

"Oh, you think that, do you?" a gruff voice growled angrily and Scorpius realized he had to have fallen asleep, his head was buried in the pillow so he couldn't see anything except his hand except again it wasn't his hand. It had the handcuff still on his wrist, his strangely colorless skinned wrist. Weirdly he smelled perfume. Everything hurt. He felt like he'd been ripped apart inside, every part of him ached and from the intensity of the pain in his wrist and the angle of it, he thought it was broken.

NO! I have to stay awake

"Awake?" a child's voice breathed, Scorpius felt his lips moving but it wasn't his voice or his words again, "I am very awake, voice. Leave me alone."

"Yes," Joel's voice said firmly, "the boy almost managed to escape today, as I mentioned in my letter, I don't want to end up like my brother Marvin. I demand you do something to ensure my safety from him."

"Avada Kedavra!" the first voice yelled, Scorpius thought it sounded familiar and there was a blinding flash of green that enveloped the whole room, he turned abruptly just in time to see Joel's body thud to the ground. His eyes were staring sightlessly ahead and his body spasmed for some reason, "don't piss me off, filthy muggle scum! You don't make demands of Soul Eaters! You're clearly expendable and I'm not in the mood. But don't worry, you didn't end up like your brother, Specters didn't take his soul."

What is he talking about? Did he just kill Joel?

"I don't know," the child's voice whispered and squeezed his eyes shut, - Scorpius assumed that was why it suddenly went dark anyway - burying his head in the pillow once more fearfully. He heard footsteps moving closer to them, the floorboards creaking underfoot.

"Probably shouldn't have done that... Are you okay, kid?"

"Are you going to kill me too?"

"Of course not, I'm not evil."

"You just killed Joel."

"Yeah well I hate people like that and he just pissed me off, he deserves it. You haven't done anything. Come on, take my hand and I'll get you out of here," the man said in a gentler voice.

Scorpius' eyes opened to see he was being offered a large deformed hand, the six fingers were all the wrong lengths compared to a normal person's hand and all seemed angled slightly wrong. He was sure he was dreaming then, he hadn't seen the face of the man who'd save him after he'd killed Marvin but he had seen his hands and he recognized them. He reached sat up and grasped the killer's hand tightly, darkness enveloped them and...

Scorpius jolted upright, gasping at the strange sensation that had cast him away from the dream. He was grateful though, he didn't like those dreams and he really hoped that would be the last one. He was still in Varanian's room, on the bed beside Calderon and even still clutching the assistant's hand. He wondered how long he'd been asleep as he glanced at the headmaster who was sill sitting in the conjured chair, the hourglass looked like it had just been freshly turned over as the sand had only started to drop. Varanian opened his mouth and then closed it again, waited a minute then opened and closed his mouth again. He seemed to give up after that and just stayed silent, Scorpius was glad, the last thing he wanted was Varanian asking questions.

He didn't fall asleep again that night, he just waited and watched the time slipping. They tarted taking it in turns with Varanian to give Calderon the potion though, he and Varanian had a weird way of working things out between silently, it was an almost unspoken agreement to just not talk about the events that had transpired and concentrate on saving Calderon.

It was a long night.

"Get up," a voice growled in his ear and Lucius jumped, immediately awake as he tried to scowl at Brutus in the darkness, Narcissa was sleeping right beside him after all.

He started to get up slowly and carefully as to not wake his wife but Brutus seemed to have other ideas, he roughly yanked Lucius' arm, digging his nails into the brand painfully to force him to come along. Lucius didn't have much choice other than to allow himself to be half-dragged through his own house, it was cold and he was half-naked to boot, it was more than slightly humiliating. He hoped none of the house-elves were up and working yet.

"If this is about insulting you, I'm sorry," Lucius decided to apologize, it wasn't sincere but if it was the reason why Brutus was dragging him then it was worth a fake apology to make him stop. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of perfume off the Soul Eater.

"No you're not and shut up," Brutus snarled and half-threw Lucius into his own study, practically slamming the door behind them.

"What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until morning? You could at least wait for me to pull on a robe and not drag me! I know it must be difficult for you to understand human behavior but we have some sense of common decency and civility that may be lost on animals like yourse-"

Lucius hadn't finished his sentence before Brutus' fist smashed into his face, the punch had enough force to throw Lucius off his feet. His head felt like it was ringing from the force of the blow, the eye that had been hit hurt too much to open. He glanced back to the Soul Eater who had his wand out and trained on him.

"I said shut up!" Brutus snarled angrily, "I already killed one man tonight, do you want to be the second? Go ahead and finish that sentence, Lucius."

Lucius said nothing.

"I thought so."

"So what do you want?" Lucius asked quietly as Brutus put away his wand.

"There's a letter that your son agreed to send for the Weasley girl, Rose, and it can't be sent. Draco needs to conveniently lose that before he can send it tomorrow, you will take it and destroy it."

"You're worried about a child's letter to their father?"

"It's important. If it reaches her father then Varanian will be arrested and we can't have that, not yet anyway, not until he's finished what he started. The letter must be destroyed."

"Why? What is the headmaster doing? Is he doing anything to Scorpius? Draco was going to report him for not letting him stay with Scorpius while he was injured."

"Its none of your concern and I'm sure your grandson isn't at risk and convince Draco not to report him while you're at it!"

"You don't seem to be in the best of moods today," Lucius commented irritably.

"The master's plans were almost ruined by your idiot grandson and the girl's stupid letter!" Brutus roared and Lucius jumped in shock, "Varanian nearly got arrested, his assistant nearly died and the master's weak from the effort of keeping certain stubborn people under control! None of those things are good! Varanian has to finish the wards or it won't be as powerful as we need it, the assistant has to live so he can join us and I hate seeing the master weak! So no, Lucius, I'm not in the best of moods right now!"

"Sorry I asked."

"Just destroy that letter or I will kill your family myself!"

Lucius opened his mouth to ask what he was supposed to do about his injured eye but Brutus furiously turned away and vanished into the shadows, leaving Lucius awkwardly clutching his eye on the floor. He swallowed nervously and got to his feet, moving quietly through the silent house and half-expecting someone to have heard but thankfully everyone still seemed to be asleep except perhaps the house-elves as he could see the first rays of the day peeking in through the windows.

He went into the kitchen where he knew Draco had left the letter, in fact he'd left it at the top of the pile to post in the morning, Lucius recognized the name 'Ron Weasley' and the handwriting didn't belong to any Malfoy. His mind was filled with questions, what was the headmaster up to that the Shadows cared about so much? How was Scorpius involved? Was he in danger? Lucius eyed the letter, would he be in trouble if he read it for he destroyed it? Would Brutus notice?

"Lucius?" Narcissa's voice questioned worriedly and he hurriedly pocketed the letter, turning quickly to see his wife wandering sleepily into the kitchen, "are you alright? I heard yell- what happened to your eye?"

"I... I..." Lucius began, trying to think of a convincing lie that wasn't too humiliating, "I was sleepwalking, I walked into a door or something and hit my eye. It woke me and I was yelling in frustration, the damn thing hurts."

"Aww Lucius," Narcissa cooed coming over to him but thankfully seeming to believe him.

She put on the faucet and took out her wand, using a spell to turn the pouring water into lumps of ice that she collected in a cloth and gestured for him to sit at the table. He didn't bother arguing with her and sat down as she sat down beside him, he closed his eyes as she pressed the cloth against his injured eye, it was cold but numbing and soothing in an odd way. He opened his good eye when he felt her free fingers gently caress his cheek, she was looking at him anxiously.

"Yes?" Lucius wondered, fearful that maybe she didn't believe him after all.

"I'm just worried about you is all."

"I'm fine, Narcissa," Lucius lied and gave her his best comforting smile but it didn't seem to ease her worries.

"Losing Lyra and Scorpius' disappearance... even though we got him back, it just makes you realize how fragile life is... I just worry, first your arm and now your eye, the headaches and having trouble sleeping... I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You have nothing to worry about," he lied again and gently took her hand, "I guess... its just... I worry about Scorpius, I'm the one who pushed for him to go Hogwarts and if anything happens then its my fault, him getting injured in that game is my fault. I worry about him too."

"So do I but... I think you're right," Narcissa admitted much to his surprise but at least the conversation was off him, "Scorpius is stronger than we think and he has friends - I know you don't approve of who exactly - but its good for him to not just be around family all the time, having friends is normal and if he's playing Quidditch at least maybe it'll get him to start caring about things he likes again. If it gets too much for him then I'm sure he'll say or one of teachers will, he mentions liking his detentions with them so he does have adults if he needs them and friends if he needs them, as well as us. He'll be fine, its just Hogwarts and he's probably safer there with all the Shadows about. And also, its not your fault that Potter boy has a terrible aim so don't worry about that."

"Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you either."

"I love you," Narcissa said with a warming smile as she pressed her lips against his and he felt immediately guilty for lying, he hadn't kept so much from her even when he was a Death Eater. He was very aware of the letter in his pocket as he kissed her back passionately, constantly afraid that any second would be his last he would ever know.

"I love you too," he whispered when they pulled apart. The best he could hope for was that his last thought would be a happy one, that his family would understand and that they'd be safe. He just wanted everything to be okay again.

"It's breakfast time," Varanian said and Scorpius blinked in surprise at hearing his voice for the first time in hours, he shot a glare at the headmaster. As if food mattered to him in that moment, he wouldn't be tricked into abandoning Calderon.

"I'm not hungry."

"I can bring you back something so you can stay here with Marius, I don't know... I don't know when the Aurors will... I don't know when they'll come for me so you need to keep administering him the potion. I was going to sit at breakfast so they can arrest me there rather than here and find him, tell them anything you want except that obelisk you saw and that orb," Varanian continued awkwardly and Scorpius was even more surprised, he'd assumed the headmaster had forgotten about the letter, "it really is important that no one gets their hands on them, they're both trapped down there in the Chamber now, forever, with any luck no one but Marius will be able to get inside."

"I won't say anything about it," Scorpius promised, secretly relieved that Varanian seemed to think the orb was still down there and not in his pocket, the headmaster looked relieved as he headed to the door but paused with his hand on the handle.

"Good... and... um... I... if I don't come back tell Marius that I'm sorry for nearly... err... you know, everything and... and um... he's not in danger of going to Azkaban. And also um... I'm sorry for threatening to... err... whatever I said I'd do to you back there."

"Err... okay," Scorpius said awkwardly, not sure whether Varanian was just trying to seem remorseful so he'd get a lesser sentence or was just trying to seem remorseful because he thought it would increase the chances of Scorpius staying quiet about the obelisk, it was hard to tell when he could only see the back of Varanian's head.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want?"

"My wand. A change of clothes would be nice."

Varanian's tawny head nodded before he left and Scorpius went to give Calderon his next dose of potion. He didn't actually expect Varanian to return, at the very least he didn't the headmaster would let him have a wand to defend himself but he came back a few minutes later with Scorpius' wand and a change of clothes, the headmaster just placed them on the bed silently.

"Just... you know, don't set the room on fire," Varanian said quietly before slipping out.

Scorpius was really confused as he studied his wand and tested it with Lumos to make sure the headmaster hadn't done anything to it, it worked perfectly. Varanian was either really going out of his way to try lessen his sentence or he was insane or possibly a combination of both. He just shook his head and got changed quickly, using the closet for privacy even though Calderon had yet to wake up. He just focused on keeping the assistant alive and managed to keep his worries and sleep at bay.

It was awhile before Varanian returned again, almost looking disappointed as he explained that no one had come to arrest him yet so he assumed it would be later on. Scorpius was surprised that the headmaster wasn't trying to run, he could remove the apparition wards in a second so it wouldn't take long for him to escape but he didn't. Scorpius didn't ask him about him in case it gave the headmaster any ideas, maybe Varanian was just too stressed to think of escaping? He didn't know, Varanian still looked exhausted, like he might pass out at any second and had his hand clutching his head with a pained expression again.

They sat in silence for a long time before Varanian said it was lunch time and he'd go wait there to be arrested again, seeming more sure that it would be the last time then. It still wasn't. Varanian returned in less time than he had at breakfast, saying that it still hadn't happened and this time had brought some food for Scorpius because he thought it was important that he eat something since he was a child. Scorpius refused on the basis that it could be poisoned and Varanian took a bite of everything to assure him, Scorpius reluctantly ate the food as he was actually hungrier than he'd thought, he hadn't eaten since breakfast of the Quidditch match.

Varanian's headache was definitely back, he looked in pain the whole time before he left for dinner a few hours after that, brought Scorpius back a plate of piping hot food before leaving again. Scorpius hoped it would be the last time he ever saw the headmaster, surely Rose's dad had to have gotten the letter by the evening. Varanian returned though, looking immensely frustrated.

"What did she put in that letter anyway?" Varanian demanded irritably rubbing his head as he sat back down, "it wasn't in code or anything? What are they waiting for?"

"I don't know," Scorpius sighed, "shouldn't you be glad of the delay?"

"Why? At this point I'm pretty sure I belong in Azkaban, the faster they lock me up the faster I can be sure that I can't hurt anyone else."

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand either. I'm not even going to try to explain."

They fell silent again. Went back to alternating turns in giving Calderon the potion, it felt like an age that they continued that before Scorpius noticed the assistant's eyelids twitching. He squeezed his hand desperately and felt Calderon squeeze back gently as his eyes fluttered open weakly, sleepily taking in the scene. Varanian noticed too and rushed over.

"How are you feeling?" Varanian asked immediately as Calderon struggled to sit up.

"Like you tried to kill me and suck out my blood," Calderon answered weakly with a faint smile, "what happened?"

"I don't know, the pain in my head got so bad I passed out. When I woke up you weren't at the pedestal anymore and the obelisk had stopped filling up before it was complete-"

"You looked like you were having a seizure or something," Scorpius interrupted, not content with Varanian's explanation of passing out, "I grabbed your wand and... used magic to throw Calderon back from the pedestal which made the obelisk stop, it didn't magically stop by itself."

"Alright, that happened then. Then Scorpius set the Chamber on fire-"

"That was an accident."

"Accidentally set the Chamber on fire then, I put it out and then brought you here and made more potion. We're been giving you blood-replenishing potion all day, its good you're awake."

"What about the letter? And the trying to kill us to protect the school?" Calderon wondered looking between them with a mixture of confusion and amazement on his face.

"Still waiting to be arrested... and that was... that was wrong of me to try kill you both, protecting the school isn't worth it if it means killing people. I'm sorry, Marius, I didn't want to hurt you. Either of you."

"Then why did you!?" Scorpius demanded irritably.

"I don't know! I just... don't know," Varanian answered unhelpfully and to both of their surprise, Calderon burst out laughing his high-pitched maniacal laughter, "what?"

"You actually got along to help me, you two hate each other, its funny," Calderon pointed out, still smiling weakly as his laughter stopped, "I forgive you, Pippy."

"You forgive him?! He tried to kill you!" Scorpius exclaimed incredulously, "how can you forgive him?!"

"He said he was sorry."

"You're too forgiving," Varanian complained of his assistant.

"Stop agreeing with me!" Scorpius snapped, shooting a glare at the headmaster whose behavior continued to confuse him. Evil people weren't supposed to turn around and help save the person they were trying to kill, they weren't supposed to apologize and they weren't supposed to be forgiven.

"You should be going to bed now. Marius is perfectly capable of taking the potion by himself now when I get arrested, you don't need to be here anymore and you need to rest."

"I'm not leaving you alone with him!"

"I'm right here," Calderon complained glancing between them, "and I think we should all go to bed and get some rest, you're probably both tired and I can take potion by myself. In my own room."

Part 4: Disappointment

Calderon got his way in the end, Varanian didn't seem to have the energy to fight and Scorpius was still a student. They left Varanian in his room and went back to their own beds, Calderon saying he'd conjure the potion to his room when he'd got there to save his strength and Varanian had apparently told Madam Pomfrey he'd been taken for a task so he was excused from the hospital wing and could return to his own dormitory. He was walking with Calderon for the part of the walk that was the same, there were a lot of things he wanted to say but at the same time he didn't want to say anything, Calderon was unusually silent.

"Calderon?" Scorpius said finally, knowing he was running out of time and the assistant glanced at him in reply, "I...I'm sorry. I should've listened to you and gone back, if I had then you wouldn't have nearly died. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Scor," Calderon brushed it off, "didn't I tell you it wasn't your fault?"

"Well yes but I'm still sorry, I should have known Varanian would do something crazily evil, I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"You couldn't possibly have known he was going to do that and yes, you should have listened to me. But don't beat yourself up over it, learning from your mistakes is much more productive than dwelling on them. It's over now anyway, that's what matters and only the three of us know, we'll be safe as long as only we know."

Scorpius just nodded although he still had a bunch of questions about the blood runes that he was dying to ask, as well as a bunch more about Varanian's impending arrest but Calderon looked so tired and worried, Scorpius didn't think it was the best time. Calderon needed to rest and keep taking the potion to regain the blood he'd lost, or rather the blood the obelisk had stolen from him. Besides, Calderon was right, it was over. Any second Varanian could be arrested, no one else would be mad enough to try activate the magic and they couldn't even if they wanted to, Scorpius had the orb and Calderon alone could access the Chamber of Secrets - he didn't think the assistant would be doing that again any time soon - so it was over. Scorpius kept telling himself that but he still found himself thinking about it as he bade Calderon goodnight and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. It didn't feel like it was over.

Everyone was already asleep at that point, his Quidditch clothes had been cleaned and left neatly folded on his bed with the Golden Snitch resting on top. He'd almost completely forgotten about it with everything else, it didn't even feel like an achievement at all after everything with Calderon, it was just a game and life was serious. He put the clothes all away and put the Snitch on his bedside table, not sure where else to put it or what to do with it. He checked and was relieved to find the blood rune book was still under his pillow, he wished - not for the first time - that he could read runes. That would answer all his questions, or at least a lot of them.

He closed the drapes and crawled into bed, taking out the orb and looking at it properly. He turned it over and over in his hands and it remained gray, the color seemed to swirl around slightly inside the orb but it didn't change. The orb itself was smooth and unblemished all over and incredibly light, he stared at it for a long time before placing it on his bedside table. He lay on his side to stare at it, it changed color then, shifting between black, gray and white like it had before it went to the top of the obelisk. He wondered if it was gray when he touched it because it was recognizing his tainted soul and didn't know what color to be when it wasn't touching him? Although it had kept changing color when Varanian was touching it. He had no idea what was normal for it, or even what it really was supposed to do. He wished he could understand runes, maybe he'd risk asking Professor Ashain after all, he didn't see the harm after Varanian was arrested. He fell asleep thinking about it.

He was in different room, warm with wood paneled walls and lying on his side on a comfortable double bed. He noticed a glass of water and jug on a bedside table, he drank some of it and lay back down sleepily and saw his wrist. He bore the same scars on the colorless skin, except they looked fresh and without the strange bruising that his had gotten. His eyes gently flickered shut before he heard voices and was immediately awake again.

"What am I supposed to do with the brat anyway?" a rough voice was saying, "we're supposed to keep him until June, that's months away! You really think the third muggle will make a deal with us after you murdered two of his sons?! Its not easy to find muggles who know about magic who would keep children prisoner like the master wants."

"I didn't kill the first one! The kid did!" a second voice said, it sounded like the man with the deformed hands who'd killed Joel in his other dream, "I already told you that!"

"It wasn't a dream, this is my life," the child's voice whispered and again Scorpius felt as though his mouth was moving but he wasn't speaking. He decided to ignore it.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," the first voice complained and he thought the voices were coming from outside, it was hard to tell considering he could only see the bedside table with the glass, "it impressed the master, its more important than ever that he remain with muggles who'll treat him cruelly, the master wants to see if the situation will drive this brat to kill as well."

"Well then go convince the muggle to make a deal and stop whining to me about it, Selwyn!" the second voice barked, "if I go then I'll just kill the son of a bitch and I have enough to do as it is, I have to help Celestine plan the Azkaban thing and help the master deal with the Varanian thing. This is your responsibility and its simple by comparison, if you can't handle it then I'll just get someone more worthwhile."

"Then don't interfere and kill the damn muggles just because I'm too busy to make a house call!" the first voice - presumably Selwyn - snapped irritably, "don't be so soft!"

"Soft?!"

"Yes! Protecting that freaky looking brat, giving Lucius the potion after you branded-"

"Crucio!" the second voice yelled and it was followed by screaming, "do you think I'm soft now?!"

"I take it back! I take it back!" Selwyn screamed, "stop this! Stop!"

The spell caster apparently chose to ignore the begging because the screaming continued, he felt his eyes closing but it didn't block out the agonized screams. And Varanian had almost done that to him? Was that what his grandfather had done to Calderon? It sounded painful.

"It is," the child's voice said quietly, fearfully, "Selwyn did that to me earlier."

Shut up, Scorpius thought as the screaming finally stopped and was replaced by heavy breathing, it sounded like Selwyn was trying to catch his breath, this is just a horrible dream and not real.

"What the hell?" Selwyn's voice croaked weakly, "I took it back ages ago."

"You didn't say please or sorry," the second voice sneered, "deal with the boy, get back to your duties and never insult me again."

Selwyn didn't say anything. For a few minutes all he could hear was the sound of the man breathing before finally he seemed to get to his feet, from the sound of the footsteps it sounded like Selwyn was walking away. It was silent for awhile in the darkness before he heard himself started to sob again, he wished he could roll his eyes but he didn't seem capable of controlling his body in these dreams.

Stop crying, Scorpius thought instead and the dream-boy seemed to hear him.

"Why? I just want to go home," the boy cried miserably.

You're a dream, you can't go home and I have enough on my mind without these dreams so go away

"I'm not a dream! And I wish I could go away, you're so mean."

I'm not mean! You don't exist

"I do exist!" the boy sobbed and preceded to cry himself to sleep, blissfully taking Scorpius with him.

Scorpius still felt tired when he woke up but he was glad to be awake, those dreams were weird. He got dressed quickly, the others in his dormitory were still asleep but it was morning time and they would be awake soon. He decided to just let them sleep as he debated for a long time whether to leave the orb in the room or take it with him, he watched the changing colors for a long time before finally choosing to take it. It was too important to be let out of his sights.

He headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast, considering detouring to check on Calderon for awhile but decided against it. As much as he wanted to make sure that Calderon was okay, he knew that the assistant needed to rest and if Scorpius woke him up then he probably start doing things.

There was a few early risers in the Great Hall already, he saw there seemed to be quite a lot of Ravenclaws who were pouring over books instead of eating. Quite a few of the teachers were also there, Professor Hagrid looked extremely excited for some reason and was chatting to anyone who would listen, which happened to be Professors Slughorn, Ashain and Rivers - the Arithimancy professor who Scorpius disliked. None of them seemed to particular interested in what Professor Hagrid was saying though, Professor Slughorn seemed more focused on eating his mountain of food but looked happily enough and nodded occasionally to the giant, Professor Ashain looked utterly miserable as he twirled his fork around and around but didn't eat. Rivers just looked bored, he tended to do that when he wasn't the one who was speaking.

As Scorpius took a seat, he noticed that Calderon wasn't there - he hoped that meant that the assistant was resting - but Varanian was. The headmaster looked like he hadn't slept at all, he still had his tawny hair but looked in pain, had his hand on his head again. He wasn't even trying to eat. Scorpius was both disappointed to see he still hadn't been arrested but excited at the prospect of seeing it for himself, happily expecting Aurors to burst through the doors at any moment to take Varanian away. It didn't happen though. Every time someone walked through the door, Scorpius and Varanian both sat up and looked to see who it was but disappointingly it was always students or teachers.

"Thank Merlin you're alive!" Albus exclaimed as Scorpius glanced at the door once more to see his friend beaming as he saw him, coming over and taking a seat beside him, "we thought Varanian might have killed you or something. After we'd already started the detention he randomly came out and told us we never had to do it again, then we heard from Madam Pomfrey that he'd taken you for a special task in the middle of the night but she didn't know what or where you were. What happened?"

"I..." Scorpius started to say but stopped himself, Calderon hadn't exactly told him not to say anything but from their conversation earlier it seemed like it was one of those things that went without saying. He wrestled with the decision for a moment, he could trust his friends surely? They'd kept Varanian's secret after all - apart from the letter - but he trusted Calderon more, last time he hadn't listened the assistant had nearly died, "I can't tell you."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, Albus, really I am but... I just can't."

Albus scowled at this but thankfully didn't push the matter further, Rose, Michael and Abby arrived shortly after and didn't seem to enjoy being in the dark either. Rose badgered him for the entire meal but he still wouldn't give in, she finally seemed to be giving up when the mail arrived. It actually didn't seem days out of date for once. He recognized the family owl immediately although oddly enough, it gave one letter to him and one to Rose. Rose tore open the paper and looked on the verge of tears as she read it, tossing it to them miserably. It was short but crushing.

Dear Miss Rose Weasley,

I regret to inform you that I seem to have misplaced your letter, I came home and put it on the top of the pile to go out with the morning post but unfortunately it wasn't there the next day. I have searched but can't find where it went so I am writing this to just let you know so you can re-send another.

Again, you have my apologies.

Draco Malfoy

"How could you lose a letter?" Abby asked incredulously.

"I bet he's sorry," Rose spat irritably, "should've known better than to trust a Malfoy. No offense."

Scorpius did feel slightly offended but he didn't say anything, he too was disappointed in his father. He had really been looking forward to seeing Varanian be arrested, the headmaster deserved to go to Azkaban for a long time. As he read through his own letter though he did realize that it had been a genuine mistake on his father's part, most of the letter was congratulating Scorpius on victory and saying how proud they were of him but some of it was apologies for not being able to stay but Varanian had threatened to expel him if his father didn't leave and his father said he knew how much it meant to him to stay in school so he had left, his father hoped he was alright and that his head didn't hurt too much. At the bottom though there was a bit about the letter, his father sounded almost humiliated to have failed at such a simple task.

He glared in Varanian's direction again, the headmaster still sitting up straight every time someone walked in the hall in case it was Aurors to arrest him. He certainly wouldn't be the one to break it to Varanian that he'd gotten lucky and wasn't going to be arrested that day, that would break the headmaster's remorse act and he rather liked seeing Varaniain squirm or jump. He wondered if that made him a bad person.

Yes, the voice spoke in his mind, its mean to enjoy someone's suffering even when they're bad. It'll make you bad too and you'll become just like them

"Hey!" Professor Hagrid's cheerful booming voice greeted them and Scorpius jumped, he'd been too busy listening to the voice to notice the giant striding over. Scorpius wondered if he really was going mad.

You and me both

"Hey Hagrid," Rose, Albus and Abby greeted the giant almost in unison.

"Hello Professor," Scorpius said more politely and felt a bit bad for Michael, his friend just looked awkward as he didn't know the giant as well as they did. The trio had known Professor Hagrid all their lives and Scorpius knew him from his detentions but Michael didn't, he became very interested in the ceiling all of a sudden.

"An' congratulations on yer game, Scorpius! I was rootin' fer yer an' yer did great, well until James accidentally got yer in the head with that Bludger bu' yer still caught it so well done to yer! How's yer head?"

You play Qudditch?

"Good thanks," Scorpius offered with a polite smile but the giant had already moved on to whatever had him so ecstatic.

"Guess wha'?"

"What?" Albus offered glumly, everyone still in a slump over their dashed hopes for Varanian's arrest. The professor seemed to be in too good a mood to notice.

"Varanian finally agreed! Corin an' his frien' gets t' stay at Hogwarts with me fer Christmas!"

"That's great," Rose offered with slightly forced enthusiasm through their grief over the letter, Scorpius still had no idea who that was but he recalled the conversation from Halloween.

"An' yer should all get t' meet him! Well yer've met him before bu' this time yer should remember it."

"We look forward to it!" Abby said brightly and Professor Hagrid's smile widened before he said his goodbyes, saying he had to prepare for a class and they went back to their breakfasts.

"I wonder what he's like," Albus mused thoughtfully, "how old is he now? Like nine?"

"Ten," Rose corrected and Michael continued to look uncomfortable, "we haven't seen him since we were like five, I think?"

"Do you think he'll start Hogwarts next year?" Abby wondered, "or stay in Beauxbatons because they start learning magic younger and he already goes there."

"Okay," Michael spoke up, his voice still raspy, "what's Beauxbatons and who's Corin? If its a secret like what happened with Scorpius' mystery day yesterday then can we please talk about something else that I actually have a clue about."

"Corin is Hagrid's son," Rose explained and Scorpius blinked in surprise, he hadn't realized the professor had a son but thinking about it made sense, "Corin's mother is the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, that's another magic school in France."

"Ah right, cool."

"Yes but things didn't work out between Hagrid and Olympe because of the whole different countries thing but Corin lives in France with his mother so its hard for Hagrid to see him, especially since they start learning magic at eight in Beauxbatons so Corin's been busy with school since then. Hagrid doesn't get to see him as much as he'd like, he talks about him a lot though and I know they write."

"Well Corin's still lucky."

"How so?" Albus wondered looking surprised, "I'd hate if I didn't see my dad that much."

"Because his dad cares about him. My parents split up before I was born, they were both just teenagers and my dad's never really been there. He breezes into my life every so often when he can be bothered and is not in jail, he only stays for a day or so before he gets bored and annoyed that I'm... me, he's only remembered three of my birthdays and not once did he send me a card in the right month let alone the right day, he never bothers trying to stay in contact because its not like he cares about me or mum at all," Michael ranted looking somewhere between angry and upset before seeming to regret saying so much and his cheeks colored slightly, "so yeah... at least Hagrid tries and cares about his son and tries. Is that the bell? I think we have class. Good old class. Dying to get back into the fold so let's go."

Part 5: To the End of November

They remained in low spirits for the rest of the day, his friends had really pinned their hopes on Varanian being arrested and so had Scorpius. Regardless of Varanian's charade he wasn't worried about Calderon going to Azkaban anymore, the headmaster had tried to murder him after all, he was as much a victim as they were and they couldn't send the assistant to Azkaban for that. He was happier the following day when Calderon was back on his feet though, even if he wasn't as energetic as usual and kept a flask of blood-replenishing potion that he was still taking - just with much longer intervals in-between doses - but he seemed cheerful enough considering he'd almost died. Scorpius wasn't sure why it annoyed him that no one noticed Calderon had almost died, no one knew when he was a hero, no one knew he nearly lost his life. It bothered him.

Things settled back into routine surprisingly quickly though, a happier routine. Varanian had been keeping true to his word about his friends being done with their detention, a week went by and not once did the headmaster drag them out to the wards. Although understandably they were still wary of Varanian changing his mind, in fact they were expecting it because Scorpius wasn't buying his niceness and thought as soon as Varanian realized he wasn't in danger of being arrested that he'd go back to being his usual self. It didn't happen though, in fact they saw less and less of Varanian as the week went by and every time they did he looked worse. By the Friday, Professor McGonagall had announced that the headmaster had taken ill.

"Good," Albus muttered bitterly under his breath, "I hope he dies."

"That's karma for you, I suppose," Michael added quietly.

He won't die, the voice in Scorpius' head said, they won't let him die

Scorpius just tried his best to ignore the voice, it had continued to talk to him all week. Mostly in the morning before classes or in the evening when he was catching up on his homework, unlike his friends he still had his detentions and also unlike his friends he continued to enjoy them. The voice did bother him though, even if it never said anything cruel or acted malicious - in fact often it seemed almost childishly amazed by things and usually tried to offer him advice even though it didn't seem to know much or made observations about his life or problems. It was the fact that he was hearing a voice in his head that no one else could hear that bothered him, he had no interaction with it beyond telling it to go away and it would go silent for awhile but it always came back. Scorpius was terrified he was losing his mind but he was even more terrified of telling someone, everyone would think he was mad and too unstable for school, he'd probably be locked up in St Mungo's for life.

He also continued to get the dreams, in his dreams he was now back in Marvin's house and Marvin's father Linden the gardener seemed to be in control although sometimes another man was there talking to Linden, he had the same voice as Selwyn and attempted to use the torture curse on Scorpius' dream body. Scorpius woke himself up every time he saw the man or Linden, he didn't want to know what it felt like to be tortured and he couldn't cope if he had to live though - even in a dream - being touched again by Linden. He would lie there for hours after he woke up, terrified of falling asleep again. He'd lie there rolling the orb around in his palms to calm himself and wondering why he was even having those dreams.

And they were dreams, he knew they couldn't be true because wizards hadn't been involved and his parents had told him that the muggles were in jail, his parents wouldn't lie to him about something that important. Besides in his dreams any part of his body he saw had the same strangely colorless skin, it was beyond pale and no one had skin like that so it had to be a dream. He couldn't tell anyone about the dreams either, he'd have to tell his friends about his abduction then and he couldn't bring himself to do that and his parents finally seemed to think he might not be so broken after all. He'd thought of telling Calderon but the assistant had been so busy since Varanian's health issues had started, Scorpius didn't want to burden him more.

He hated getting the dreams as much as he hated the voice, he thought the two were connected, in fact he would bet most of his family's wealth that the voice and the dream-boy whose body he shared were the same consciousness. He had enough to deal with without his past haunting him in his dreams and a bunch of other randomness mixed in, he was still worried about Varanian and the blood runes after all, he did still have school and Quidditch practice - although they were practicing less times a week because it was nearing the Christmas holidays, also Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff needed the pitch for their upcoming game - and his detentions were taking up more of his time than ever.

With Varanian sick someone had to run the school, officially it was Professors Longbottom and McGonagall - who were the joint Deputy Headmasters of the school - but unofficially it fell on Calderon, really all the professors did was give Calderon approval for whatever he thought was right because he had yet to be wrong and his sixteen years there as assistant actually gave him a unique but thorough view of how the school worked, he knew who needed what and when and why - Scorpius had come to realize that Calderon had an incredible memory - but it also meant that as the assistant's assistant, he also had been busier because Calderon was.

None of this managed to earn Calderon a seat at the teacher's table however, the assistant continued to hover by the vacant headmaster's chair when there were announcements to be made. Scorpius didn't think that was fair. Although during the second week of Varanian's mystery illness - which happened to be the last week of November - Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement and Calderon started to whisper to her every time she went to open her mouth, finally she just turned to glare at him and snapped at him - loud enough for the staff and nearest students to hear - to give the announcement himself before promptly sitting back down.

Calderon looked like he'd been slapped in the face for a moment before he seemed to take the challenge, he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, both loud and high-pitched enough to draw everyone's attention and make Scorpius rub his ears. People looked slightly irritated at first but Calderon paid them no mind, they cheered up when they heard the announcement, that the Hogsmeade trips were back on. Because of the Quidditch match they wouldn't be until December but for both of the weekends before the Christmas break anyone with permission would be allowed to go, the whole hall cheered. Calderon made all announcements after that, even if he kept his high-pitched to silence them, Scorpius supposed it matched his high-pitched laugh.

Molly was ecstatic to be able to go. She was literally bouncing up and down in her seat that night, failing at concentrating on her homework and unable to do anything but ramble excitedly, she rambled a lot when she was excited but Scorpius liked that. He liked her. He wasn't quite sure how and he couldn't explain it but it was different to how he liked his friends, the rest of the Quidditch team - minus James, Calderon, the teachers, the house-elves and his family. He liked hearing her laugh, he liked seeing her face, he liked the way her hair blew in the wind when she flew, he even liked the cute way she only bit the left side of her lip when she was thinking really hard about something on her homework. He didn't know why he felt like that. He knew it was weird, maybe even insane. He wondered if anyone else had ever felt like he did.

"Sorry," Molly apologized as her cheeks flushed, "I should probably stop talking about Hogsmeade since you can't come, only a few more years and you'll get to go too. Time goes faster than you think."

"It's okay, I don't mind," Scorpius offered with a smile he hoped was reassuring, "I'm glad you get to go. It must be exciting."

"It is! Although Uncle Aubrey told me its boring there."

"Your Uncle Aubrey?" Scorpius wondered, trying to recall the names of Albus and Rose's uncles but didn't remember an Aubrey.

"Yeah, he's a professor here. Only reason I took his class and he's disappointed that I suck at it and for some reason he always marks my homework in different handwriting."

"Your... Your uncle is Professor Rivers? The Arithimancy professor?" Scorpius said in amazement, his cheeks went as red as her hair, he was sure he'd pointed out dislike of the teacher before.

"Yep," Molly sighed, "on my mother's side, not my Weasley side. He's Mum's twin brother, Audrey and Aubrey, she has another brother too - Roman - but I don't really know him, he's ten years younger then them. Mum doesn't get along very well with her brothers, Roman never made any attempt to keep in touch after he graduated Hogwarts, despite Mum's best efforts and I don't think she really forgives Uncle Aubrey for what he did. Plus he's... kind of self-centered and insensitive, I don't think anyone likes him really although I don't think he realizes that or just doesn't care. That reminds me, it's his and Mum's fortieth birthday in December, he's a nightmare to buy for but I was going to get to Mum some of her favorite perfume, I've been saving up for it in case I ever get to Hogsmeade. Maybe I'll find something nice there and if I have any money spare then I want to buy a charm bracelet, I've always wanted one and I keep meaning to get one. There's so many birthdays to buy for, money never lasts. Sorry, I'm rambling again, I'm just going to go to bed before I talk us both to death. Night, Scorpius."

"Night, Molly," Scorpius offered as she started packing up her stuff, he watched her go and tried not to think about holding her hand. He slapped himself and went back to finishing his essay, his free hand went to the orb now that he was alone and he held it tightly, he found it comforting and much less weird than wanting to hold his friend's hand.

He'd almost thought that he wouldn't get to see the next Quidditch match, in truth he wasn't sure he wanted to but logically he knew it was good to see what competition he'd have when he was against both teams after the Christmas holidays. Despite his nerves and injury from his first game, he found watching the match not half as enjoyable as playing it and he almost felt jealous that the other team got to play, in fact he was jealous as they were the houses he'd wanted to be in. As Molly had said the Hufflepuff had a very strong defense which was an advantage, the Quaffle got nowhere near their Keeper but the Quaffle also got nowhere near the Ravenclaw Keeper for a long time either.

It was very much a stalemate for awhile, Hufflepuff blocked everything that Ravenclaw tried and one of the Beaters seemed to permanently hound the Ravenclaw Seeker so every time they seemed to get sight of the Snitch then the Beater would distract them with a Bludger. He actually felt bad for the Ravenclaw Seeker, not just because he was cheering for Ravenclaw - they were Professor Ashain's house after all - and didn't think much of the Hufflepuff Seeker, her reactions were slow and more than once he found himself thinking that he could've done better. The Ravenclaw Seeker caught the Snitch in the end, he called something to one of the Ravenclaw Beaters and when he next saw the Snitch that Beater hit a Bludger into the path of the one that Hufflepuff hit towards him. It effectively neutralized the Bludgers long enough for him to speed to the Snitch and win the game, 150-60. Scorpius considered him much more of a threat even as he cheered as loud as the Ravenclaws.

"Well I still think the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game was more interesting," Albus pointed out as everyone started filing back into the school, "and not just because its my house and two of my cousins, my brother and one of my best friends are on the team. Although that move at the end was clever."

"Yeah, that was smart but then Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart," Abby added.

"If Hufflepuff had a better Seeker than their tactics might have paid off a bit more," Rose said as they made it inside the castle.

"Definitely," Albus agreed with a nod.

"Hey Scor," Calderon's voice distracted him from his friends and Scorpius quickly identified the assistant as virtually the only person besides Varanian who hadn't been at the Quidditch match, he seemed oddly covered in grime like he had when they'd been down in the Chamber, his smile almost managed to hide the anxiety in his tired eyes, "can I talk to you for a sec?"

"See you later," Michael offered in his almost normal sounding voice, his friend had mostly recovered from James' curse by then although he still had to be careful of what he ate and still tired easily.

"This won't take long," Calderon promised and gently led Scorpius away from the crowd into an empty classroom where he lost his smile, "okay firstly you can have the day off today, catch up on your homework or be with your friends or whatnot because you'll be busy shortly. Secondly I just wanted to ask you about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets that night, if you saw what happened to the ball thing that was on top of the obelisk."

"Why?" Scorpius asked and it took every ounce of control to not shove his hand into his pocket to grasp the orb.

"Because I've been down there all night and all day and I couldn't find it."

"Why do you want to find it?"

"Well you know how Pippy's ill?" Calderon said and Scorpius nodded, even if he didn't know the specifics of whatever was wrong with him, "no one really knows why he's ill but I have a theory, in the letters Wodahs said it would be bad for Pippy's health if that ball - the orb - was broken. I think it was broken and that's why he's ill, I thought if I could find the pieces and fix it then he'd get better or find it and know its not that."

"Why do you want him to get better? He tried to murder us," Scorpius wondered in amazement but felt more relaxed that Varanian wasn't trying to kill anyone with the blood runes, not in that moment anyway.

"I don't like seeing people in pain, Scor."

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't see what happened to it," Scorpius lied. He lied to Calderon. He felt sick with guilt but he didn't want to give up the orb, it was safer with him then it would be if he ever gave it away and clearly it wasn't the reason for Varanian's bad health as it was perfectly intact so its not like it would help anyway.

"Okay, thanks," Calderon sighed and looked melancholy, "back to the drawing board on how to save him, or maybe I should write to Wodahs... Wodahs might know something to help him."

"Its not your responsibility to save him, leave it to the healers. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the orb."

"Poppy has no clue either, nor do the few who've been over from St Mungo's. Physically they can't find anything that would cause the crippling headaches and weakness, nothing they've tried has helped in any way at all."

"That's karma for you, I suppose," Scorpius repeated Michael's previous words and to his surprise Calderon laughed shrilly, shaking his head.

"I don't believe in karma," the assistant pointed out but his smile returned, "see you tomorrow, Scor."

Scorpius took out the orb the second that Calderon was gone, rolling it around gently on his palm. He bit his lip and wondered if he should have told Calderon about it, he felt horrible for lying but... he didn't want to tell Calderon about the orb, he was afraid that the assistant would take it away from him. Maybe he would even return it to Varanian because clearly he believed Varanian's lies of remorse - he'd just believed Scorpius' lie after all - Varanian was probably faking being ill just to gain sympathy. Scorpius was protecting them both, not to mention everyone in school, by keeping the orb for himself so it was alright to lie. Just one little lie. Calderon would understand if he knew, Scorpius knew he would pocketed the orb and went back to his friends.

"Have a new task for you," Brutus' voice announced gruffly and Lucius' eyes snapped open, he'd fallen asleep at his desk. Again. He groaned and sat up straight, his head was still throbbing painfully and much to irritation the Soul Eater had helped himself to Lucius' liquor. Again, "I'm sorry, did I disturb your beauty sleep?"

"Yes," Lucius snapped and tried not to regret it, wary of their last encounter, "not that someone as hideous you would understand that."

"You really don't think I haven't heard every jibe in the book about my appearance by now?" Brutus growled and gulped down some of the alcohol, one of the most expensive Lucius owned, "I was born like this, just minutes into the New Year. My filthy mudblood bitch of a mother abandoned me on my father me a few hours later, he gave me the ugliest name he could think of to match: Brutus Hephaestus Ashain. He thought it was rather clever, my grandparents of course would have preferred him to toss me into a river with a brick for company."

"Smart people."

"Yes, you'd probably like them. My grandmother however died years ago but my grandfather is still alive."

"I really don't care."

"You should because your next task is to get acquainted with him."

"What?!" Lucius burst out incredulously, "why in Merlin's name would your master approve of that?! I have no desire to waste my time with a disgraced family."

"Corvinus is a collector of rare magical artifacts," Brutus explained calmly as he slumped into the couch, "he happens to have something that we need."

"And you can't just trick him into selling his soul or possess him or whatever it is your Specters do?"

"No. His collection has unwittingly made the mansion into a fortress, much like Hogwarts is protected so is his home, he never leaves and my father's paranoia for his safety unwittingly made all of our attempts unsuccessful to retrieve the object in question. Eventually we got the object from somewhere else but now its either destroyed or otherwise beyond our reach so we need another one or the spell won't work so we need the one he has so you have to get close to him and convince him to give it you."

"Why me?"

"Because he can relate to you, you're the head of a once respected pure-blood family that has fallen into disgrace just like him. You'll interest him, he hasn't spoken to anyone interesting in a long time and he'll jump at the chance to be in contact with someone of a similar social status. Write to him, pretend to care about his collection, include frustrations about your unfair fall from disgrace and pure-blood mania, also play to his ego. Don't say anything about caring about your family, he considers that pathetic because he's incapable of caring about anyone besides himself. Build up a rapport and in a few months ask to meet."

"Is that all?" Lucius grumbled irritably.

"For now," Brutus commented darkly and vanished into the shadows with Lucius' best liquor.

Lucius sighed heavily and clutched his aching head, at least the Soul Eater didn't seem to be aware that he hadn't destroyed the letter, only hidden it just to see if they would notice. He'd been afraid that Brutus would know, he hadn't actually risked trying to read the letter yet or even removing it from its hiding place but the fact that they hadn't noticed meant they didn't know every last thing about his life. Or it could be that whatever happened had temporarily incapacitated the ever-watchful master, which was why he was afraid to read it but he did want to know what it contained. He wanted to know what they were after, what they wanted. Although he had a horrible feeling that when he eventually found out their plans that he'd wish he didn't. He wondered how much he'd be able to regret before he lost his soul.