Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Call of the Dark

by Fiery Gray

UNDER EDITING! (II): After the events of last year, Scorpius is reluctant to return to Hogwarts. The Shadows may have lost the battle but they haven't given up the war. The Shadows are after him. Scorpius finds himself with an unlikely ally in his fight against them as he seeks to save two missing boys on top of school. All the while though, the darkness is calling. COMPLETE

7. Chapter 7: The Unlikely Alliance

Parts (26-29)

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II

Chapter 7

The Unlikely Alliance

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Part 1: Learning to Fight

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They discussed plans for the next day to meet up so Scorpius could be taught to duel without either of them getting caught, Varanian didn't think a Portkey was safe enough in case anyone in his family accidentally stumbled across it and while the Embry's fireplace was hooked up to the Floo Network, he didn't want to put them at risk and Scorpius wasn't comfortable hanging out with muggles anymore than necessary but advised Scorpius to go there if in emergency. He didn't trust Yip to bring him either, Scorpius didn't that Yip would help again anyway so they came to the agreement that Scorpius would go for a walk just outside of his family's grounds where Varanian could apparate to take them both back. He told Varanian where he lived and where his Aunt Daphne lived too as he would hopefully be able to persuade his parents to let him stay with her. They agreed to meet at midday tomorrow before moving to Varanian requesting an explanation of how he'd found him, Scorpius started to tell him about Jack and Yip before something clicked in his memory.

"Wait, what time is it?" Scorpius asked worriedly.

"Quarter to seven," Varanian answered after glancing at a watch on his wrist.

"I'm supposed to meet Yip back at that place at seven, Jack should be with me."

"I'll take you," Varanian offered standing, "we have to go outside though, I put up anti-apparition wards for safety. What did Jack look like though?"

Scorpius was slightly confused by the question until Varanian started altering his appearance based off of what he was saying that he caught on, they spent a few moments perfecting Varanian's image of Jack as Scorpius tried to recall everything he could about the muggle's appearance for Varanian to mimic. Scorpius was satisfied and incredibly impressed as they headed upstairs, Varanian closed the trapdoor behind him but they still had to go outside the dilapidated building before he was apparated to an alleyway on the street. Jack's motorcycle wasn't there so he assumed Jack wasn't either, he wondered what he should do with the leather jacket he still wore as he couldn't give it back to him if he didn't know where he was. He decided he'd just keep it until he next saw Jack to give it back to him or wait for Jack to contact him to arrange to give it back.

"Remember to keep your wand with you at all times," Varanian told him seriously, his voice sounding strange coming from Jack's mouth, "you need to be able to defend yourself, if your life is in danger then you're allowed to use magic. Even if you weren't, its not worth not protecting yourself if you're in danger, doesn't matter if you're expelled or not if you're dead."

"I have my wand with me," Scorpius pointed out and flashed it briefly for him to see, "and can't you change your voice? Jack sounds more... informal and like a bit deeper than yours, slightly gravelly."

"I-" Varanian started to reply but a pop announced Yip's arrival, he looked at Varanian curiously with a frown.

"Weren't you wearing different clothes earlier?" Yip questioned.

"It rained so I changed," Varanian answered in a growl that was slightly more like Jack's voice.

"And you bought him a jacket because of the rain?"

"Exactly, gotta keep kids warm."

"How kind of you," Yip commented before taking Scorpius' hand, Scorpius held up his free one to say goodbye before he was apparated back to his room at Malfoy Manor, "I hope you got whatever you wanted and are done with this. I told your parents that you've been feeling ill and wanting to be alone, I don't think I could've held them off for much longer for wanting to see you. Also dinner's ready."

"Thank you, Yip, you're the best," Scorpius said gratefully as he started to head towards the door to go to dinner. His family were already gathered around the table and looked relieved when they saw him, his mother looked on the verge of rising to go over to him, "hey."

"Where did you get the jacket?" his father inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It was a gift from Michael, I took it back with me from Hogwarts," Scorpius lied and surprised himself both by how easily it passed his lips and the nod of belief from his father as he sat down at the table where a place had been left for him.

"Its very nice on you."

"Are you feeling any better?" his mother burst out looking deeply concerned and Scorpius paused before replying, this was it.

"A bit, I guess. Its just..."

"Just what?"

"Its just... I miss Grandfather, being here just reminds me that he's gone."

"So true," his grandmother mumbled miserably, "we all miss Lucius, dear."

"I was wondering if I could stay with Aunt Daphne for a bit, just for a break and well... I really don't see her enough, you never what's going to happen with the Shadows."

"Well... I... um..." his mother stammered and exchanged a stunned look with his father, "we'll think about it."

"Thank you, Mother," Scorpius said with a slight smile he didn't really feel although he thought his grandfather would probably be proud of his deception, it wasn't a lie about missing him.

---

Brutus turned up for his shift in mid-October and was both pleased and surprised to see both of the twins were in the basement, it would be good for Tommy to have a break from training. He could hear them hissing at each other which he had learned to identify as Parseltongue, Tommy had his blanket wrapped around himself and his face was streaked with blood from a cut above his black eye while Sal look irritated. Both stopped when they noticed his arrival though, Sal smiled slightly and Tommy buried his head in his knees.

"What's up?" Brutus questioned curiously, hesitating going over to them for fear of the Shadows but finally forced himself to so he could heal Tommy. He shivered violently and muttered the spell to heal him.

"Rodolphus is a bastard and Tommy's trying to turn into a squib."

"You can't turn into a squib, Tommy, and we all know Rodolphus is a bastard."

"If I was a squib like Marius Black was then I wouldn't be 'trained' anymore," Tommy pointed out sounding desperate as he raised his head a a fraction revealing that Brutus' spell had worked although the tried blood from the cut remained, "I figured out how to suppress my magic, haven't I? What's to stop me from figuring out how to get rid of it altogether?"

"You figured out how to suppress magic?"

"That's why magic doesn't happen by accident anymore. I can feel it trying to get out but I won't let it, no matter how much it hurts, its no worse than torture."

"That won't make you a squib, you're born like that or not," Brutus pointed out and frowned, "and that doesn't sound healthy, magic shouldn't hurt-"

"Oh good, Brutus, you're here," Rodolphus interrupted as the door at the top of the steps swung open, "I have a special exercise planned today to address your killing issues."

"But I have to guard the twins," Brutus protested weakly and worriedly, hoping he didn't look as afraid as he felt.

"The twins are coming too, don't fear. Come on now, all of you."

---

Scorpius woke early the next morning, despite not being set to meet Varanian until midday. He was excited to learn how to duel, ideally he'd have preferred to learn in class with Professor Ashain but still. He had started to wonder though about using magic outside of Hogwarts, did the Fidelius Charm that Varanian had used protected against the Trace? Or was Varanian going to do something to block it? Or was he planning on just not using magic at all, somehow?

Scorpius pondered it as he paced around his room, only leaving for meals until it wasn't far off midday where he strolled down and mentioned going for a walk to get some fresh air. He left without giving them time to comment but no one came after him so he assumed he'd gotten away with it, he did keep checking around to make sure none of them were following though as he went to the most eastern part of the grounds and leaving Malfoy property. He was wearing the black leather jacket that Jack had given him, he hoped Jack wouldn't mind him using it until he gave it back but it was very muggle and if they were in a muggle area then he wanted to blend in. Plus he kind of liked it and it wasn't hurting anyone.

He leaned against a tree, admiring the way the leaves floated gently to the ground around him before he felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped, for a panicked moment he thought his parents had followed him but it was only Varanian. He relaxed as relief flooded through him, Varanian glanced around to make sure there was no one around before apparating them both back to outside his hideout. He didn't actually look like he'd slept and was wearing the same clothes as yesterday but his stoic expression didn't give away much as he led Scorpius back into the basement, the basement that now had a series of lanterns hung uniformly on the ceiling to give them more light. It was actually a massive space when most of it wasn't in pitch blackness.

"So dueling," Varanian began turning to face him, "the formality is that you both bow to each other although I've noticed that both Shadows and Aurors don't bother with that, they just come at you, imagine that? But the formality is to bow, even Brutus and I used to always bow. Then you both have your wands at the ready and can attack. Simple enough said but more difficult in action. Hold your wand out like you're ready to attack me so I can see how you do."

"Like this?" Scorpius said as he took out his wand and aimed it at Varanian, gripping it tightly and Varanian came over to inspect him. He took one look at Scorpius' hand and shook his head violently.

"Wrong. Holding it tightly like that is good in the classroom, allows you to keep the movements very controlled and accurate for the spells that you're trying but in dueling its the worst thing you can do. In a duel you have to act fast, you don't stand opposite each other and politely take it in turns to let each other cast spells, what you're doing will impede your ability to move and the speed you can cast spells. You need to have a comfortable relaxed grip, hold it how you feel is natural because your wand is an extension of your arm. Your movements and actions need to be fluid as possible for speed and agility. As you get better you will find that you don't need such a tight grip on your wand anyway as the spell movements become natural to your wrist."

"Like this?" Scorpius asked again as he relaxed the grip on his wand so he was holding it comfortable.

"Yes. Now the next thing to learn in a duel is that you have to be light on your feet. You obviously need to attack your opponent but they will also being attacking you, you have two choices when an enemy spell is coming towards you: dodge or defend. Defend is either using a defensive spell - which are a little above your skill level right now - or using an object as a shield, this you could do as if you're fast enough you can levitate an object into the path of an oncoming spell so it hits that not you, not even an Unforgivable Curse can go through solid objects to hit you so it is actually useful and you should be capable of doing it. We'll get back to that though, what I want you to focus on is dodging because even a three year old can do that. I'm going to try to disarm you and you have to dodge the spell, ready?"

"N-" Scorpius started to say no but it was cut short as Varanian had already fired a spell at him, he tried to move but it was too late and the spell hit him in the shoulder, sending his wand spiraling into the air, "hey, I wasn't ready!"

"Wrong. You have to always be ready because an attack could come at any time," Varanian said seriously as Scorpius went to retrieve his wand, "now pick up your wand and try again. Ready?"

"I-" Scorpius was again interrupted by a spell only this time he had no time to dodge and his wand was again knocked from his fingers the seconds he picked it up.

"What did I just tell you?"

"Why do you even bother asking me if I'm ready then?!" Scorpius burst out in exasperation and he trudged over to his fallen wand once more.

"Because you could be in the middle of a conversation when you're attacked. Ready?"

Scorpius didn't bother trying to reply but instead just dived and saw a colored jet shoot by his ear, carrying on and colliding uselessly with the wall. He started to get to his feet, feeling quite proud of himself for dodging it and expecting Varanian to praise him but instead he was struck by a second spell that send his wand flying again. Scorpius scowled in frustration and Varanian raised a tawny eyebrow.

"What? Just because you succeeded once doesn't mean your attackers will stop to congratulate you, they'll just keep trying so you have to as well. Now pick up your wand and try again."

---

Brutus' ominous feeling increased with every step he took upstairs with the twins walking in front of him but behind Rodolphus as he led them up the creaky wooden steps, it was a very bland house with white walls and wooden floors, completely devoid of decoration or personality like you would find in a home. Because it wasn't a home, it was a house being utilized by the Death Eaters. They took the first door on the right that led to what would probably have been used as a bedroom if it had been a home, the only difference between it and the corridor outside - besides the shape and doors - was the unconscious man lying on the floor. Rodolphus waited until they were all inside before slamming the door, the twins both flinched and Brutus swallowed nervously.

"This piece of filth, children, is what we call a 'muggle,'" Rodolphus announced as he gestured to the man on the ground with his wand, the man revived immediately and peered around with beady brown eyes, he tried to get up but Rodolphus gave him a vicious kick that brought him down. Tommy cringed looking sympathetic while Sal wrinkled her nose in disgust, "these beasts lack any kind of magical talent or anything of note, their only noticeable ability is the way they are able to mimic the appearance and speech of people. Aside from that, they're just weak sacks of bones."

"Wh-What?" the muggle stammered fearfully, "my name is David-"

The sentence was cut off as Rodolphus flicked his wand and the man seemed to start to choke, he clutched as his neck as if trying to fight off invisible hands. He was struggling to breathe, clawing desperately at his neck while Rodolphus looked on with a sadistic smirk. Sal shared Brutus' unreadable expression as they watched while Tommy looked positively distraught.

"Stop!" Tommy burst out suddenly in a high-pitched shriek, "stop it! You're hurting him, you're killing him, stop it!"

"Don't tell me what to you, Crucio!" Rodolphus snarled and aimed his wand at Tommy instead, the boy was thrown violently back against the wall but the muggle was freed of his ailment and greedily gulped down breaths while Tommy screamed in an unbearably high-pitched tone and writhed against the agony on the ground. Sal looked away. Brutus wanted to throw up.

"That's enough," Brutus spoke before he realized the words were leaving his lips, Rodolphus blinked in surprise and let Tommy go immediately, "you were... talking about the muggle."

"Yes," Rodolphis said slowly looking back at him with loathing eyes before glancing back at the muggle, he aimed his wand and it was the man's turn to scream in pain. Tommy was getting back to his feet and looked about to protest against the torture again before Rodolphus let the muggle go, "that's how you torture, Brutus, do it to that thing on the ground. Demonstrate for the children."

"Why?"

"Because I'm telling you to."

"Pl-Please don't," the muggle sobbed, "please."

Brutus swallowed again, drawing his wand and aiming it at the crying man who had curled up in the fetal position, as if that would help. He glanced at the others, Sal looked curious while Tommy pleading and Rodolphus' was smiling. Brutus supposed it was win-win for Rodolphus, he'd either get to see a muggle suffer or lash out at Brutus for refusing. He looked back at the muggle, an ordinary looking man of average height and weight with brown eyes to match his eyes, he didn't look much older than Brutus.

But Rodolphus was actually right for once, muggles weren't human. Brutus' grandparents on his filthy mudblood mother's side were muggles, they were the reason his life sucked. They were the reason he was deformed because Ashains were never deformed as his magical grandparents had always been quick to point out, the muggle taint in his blood had twisted his body to make him how he was. It was their fault he was ugly, their fault he wasn't as smart as everyone else in his family, their fault that he wasn't as talented as everyone else in his family, their fault that he wasn't powerful as everyone else in his family, if he'd been a pureblood like them then he would have been okay. But he wasn't.

He was tainted by his blood and his potential to be anything was completely destroyed. And then on top of ruining his life before he was even born, they had the nerve to abandon him on the very same day he'd been born. Thrown him away like he was trash because they were incapable of feeling any kind of normal human emotion, real people didn't do that. He hated them. He hated them so much. He became aware that the muggle was screaming, he half expected to see Rodolphus with his wand out but the Death Eater had his arms folded and was just watching with a malicious smile. Brutus didn't remember saying the curse but it was happening, it was so easy, you just had to hate it, to wish it to suffer and it did deserve to suffer because muggles were bad.

"Alright, you can stop now," Rodolphus said and Brutus jerked his wrist away to end the spell, the muggle was shaking and sobbing harder. Sal still looked curious, Tommy just looked sad, "show them how to kill."

"P-P-Please," the muggle begged pathetically as Brutus raised his arm again.

But he hesitated, it was one thing to hurt but he'd never killed before. Did he really want to be a murderer? Even if it was a muggle. He flicked his eyes briefly to the twins, Sal's eyes were alight with intrigue and Tommy looked distraught and desperate, Brutus could practically feel the silent screams for him to not to take the muggle's life. Brutus gripped his wand and looked back at the victim, the muggle was going to die anyway as he deserved so Brutus wasn't doing anything but prolonging the thing's miserable existence.

But still he hesitated. He didn't want to kill. He didn't.

"Too weak to take a life?" Rodolphus taunted and Brutus tightened the grip on his wand, silently begging for some miracle to get him out of the situation, "its alright, if you don't want to do it then I'll just find someone else to demonstrate killing to them. Hmm... your brother is an Auror, isn't he? Killing blood traitors has always been my favorite, I killed his mother so it'd be nice to take him out too. Should kill your father too, then I'd have the complete set, wouldn't I?"

"Don't hurt them," Brutus whispered but he wasn't sure if he even heard his own voice, his wand hand shook and he squeezed shut his eyes. He had to protect them, he had to. Even if it meant taking a life. It was just a muggle. Just a muggle, "Avada Kedavra."

There was a surge of power. Even through his closed eyes he saw the flash of green and the sobbing was silenced. When he opened there was a corpse lying where the muggle had been.

---

Scorpius was starting to wonder how he could ever have been looking forward to duel, Varanian's training was unrelentingly exhausting. They'd been at it for hours, Scorpius was sure he had bruises from colliding with the ground in his dodging attempts, he was breathless from the exertion. Sometimes Varanian had stopped to talk to him as if they were ending the exercise before launching another attack just when he was starting to relax, he'd asked for a break several times and Varanian just insisted that attackers wouldn't give him a break.

Scorpius was immensely frustrated by the never-ceasing cycle of attacks, his mind was stuck on dodge as he ducked and dived. He'd starting to make sure to keep an eye on Varanian's disgustingly scarred hand as an indication of which direction the next attack was going, so he'd know whether to weave or left or right or duck or sometimes jump if it was aimed as his legs or feet, which seemed a really odd place to try to disarm someone. Varanian in turn seemed to try trick him be deliberately making it look like he was going to attack in a certain direction before changing it at the last second, that got Scorpius for awhile but he got better at recognizing the last second changes and better at altering his direction at the last second.

"Okay, let's take a break," Varanian announced but Scorpius wasn't going to allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security again, he kept his eyes on the wand as he waited for next attack, "I'm serious, Scorpius."

"Of course you are," Scorpius snapped sarcastically, watching attentively as Varanian moved over to the table and put down the wand. He allowed himself to relax for a fraction of a second as Varanian went over to the wall and retrieved two bottles of water, he offered one to Scorpius that he gratefully took and started gulping it down, "thanks."

"You did well. I know its not fun."

"No you don't."

"My grandfather did that to me all the time, as soon as I could walk he taught me to dodge to prepare me to duel. Its not fun but effective."

"Why did he want you to know how to duel?" Scorpius wondered with a scowl as he watched Varanian staring at his hand as he flexed it, sipping the water with his other hand.

"I was an accident, my parents were in their forties and already had four kids in their early twenties, everyone in my family was either an Auror, Auror in-training, a retired Auror or an Auror who died in the War. My grandfather had been forced to retire due to his age and injuries so he was often stuck watching me, he decided to make the best of the situation and prepare me for my future career as an Auror that I was expected to do. His favorite saying was that you can't protect children, only prepare them."

"Was he mad that you didn't want to be an Auror?"

"I did want to be an Auror," Varanian protested looking slightly offended that Scorpius could have suggested such a thing and he paused before continued, "but I met Ethel in Hogwarts and we wanted to start a family, I wanted to be with her and be around to see our kids grow up. My parents were dead by the time I started Hogwarts, everyone else was dead before I graduated. Its not the safest career. Stupid I guess. I've applied to be an Auror since... the Second Wizarding War ended, every year but I keep getting rejected. I did try. And now I'm a fugitive and apparently the Shadow Master so Grandfather would be very proud."

"I'm sorry," Scorpius offered but Varanian said nothing for a moment before he put down his water.

"Come on, I should get you back. Tomorrow should be better."

---

Part 2: Fools and Madmen

---

Scorpius was starting to enjoy his suspension, his parents had agreed to let him stay with his Aunt Daphne and she left him in the care of her one old forgetful house-elf while she worked which made it even easier to slip away to meet up with Varanian. She didn't get up until after midday which meant they could utilize the mornings, she worked for the afternoon and was back in the evening where they would spend time together.

Varanian said his Trace should be undetectable by the Fidelius Charm but wasn't sure if he'd cast it strong enough and so didn't want to risk it, however that didn't mean he couldn't practice spells. The second day he gave Scorpius a list he'd drawn up of spells to use when dueling, the further down the list the more difficult and he probably would be unable to cast them until he was older but he still wanted Scorpius to learn them. Some of the spells had stars by them, those Varainan insisted he never use inside of school and Scorpius realized why, they all caused serious physical injury and the Acutus Curse was one of the ones listed.

He had Scorpius pronouncing them and learning the wand movements, at first just going over them like he would do in the classroom and then trying to do them during dodging sessions because he had to be able to dodge and attack. It was harder than Scorpius had thought, he'd improved his ability to dodge but having time to get an attack back in edgeways while avoiding the next spell proved to be quite difficult but it made him truly understand the point about your wand grip, you didn't have time to stop for pinpoint accuracy, it needed to be fluid and fast while still working. Even when he did succeed, Varanian would tell him that his wand movement wasn't correct enough or that his wand was aimed too inaccurately and would miss him.

Since the majority of his potential attackers would probably be using non-verbal spells, Varanian also thought it was important that Scorpius learn to recognize wand movements so he could act accordingly. They had exercises where Varanian would do a wand movement for a spell - without casting it - and Scorpius had to recognize which one, this was also difficult as you had to remember them all and there were so many spells. Varanian also reluctantly showed him the wand movements for the Unforgivable Curses because they were spells that Scorpius would very desperately need to avoid, he categorized all the spells as 'yellow' and 'red' for him. Red spells were more dangerous physically harming or unable to be blocked by defensive spells and yellow spells were capable of being blocked by defensive spells and aimed more to disarm rather than injure or kill.

Just when Scorpius thought he was starting to get the hang of recognizing the wand movements, Varanian started changing it up by making the movements more subtle and less pronounced or having Scorpius try to figure it out while dodging a bottle that Varanian had hexed into attacking him as he needed his wand free for the spell movements. It certainly was a challenging, Scorpius wasn't used to struggling so much with anything aside from the Patronus Charm but unlike that he was actually making progress. Varanian also taught him the best place to keep his wand to draw it faster and advised he get a wand holster, he also had Scorpius practice drawing it quickly which was frustratingly dull but fractions of a second could make all the difference.

It wasn't perfect, Scorpius did prefer his classes and he thought he rather preferred Professor Ashain as a teacher. Varanian was brutally blunt and sparing of his praise, he was incredibly focused though and Scorpius had yet to see him smile. It wasn't hard to see why people didn't like him, Scorpius still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the former headmaster but he did feel a strong sense of accomplishment after every session and incredibly proud of the slivers of praise that he did get. At least Varanian answered any questions he had honestly and kept him in the loop about his research on the Shadows.

"Think I'll be good enough to kill the Shadow Master?" Scorpius asked after a particularly grueling session, sitting down on the chair and taking the bottle of the water that Varanian offered him.

"You want to kill the Shadow Master?" Varanian questioned as he sat on the bed and sipped his own water.

"Yes. I'm going to avenge my grandfather," Scorpius told him without thinking, he hadn't said that to anyone before and half-expected Varanian to call him an idiot for it and refuse to teach him anymore.

"Ethel always said revenge was for fools and madmen," Varanian offered quietly as his silvery eyes flickered briefly to the photographs on the table, "was one thing we could never agree on. As long as Shadow Master remains in a coma then your chance is as good as anyone's, if you really plan on killing someone in a coma although it doesn't seem like much of a revenge. Personally I think stopping the Shadows thus destroying any chance the Shadow Master has of succeeding would be better revenge, there's things worse than death."

"Which are we then? Fools or madmen?"

---

"You-You killed him," Tommy stammered in shock, staring wide eyed at the body, "he was alive a minute ago and now he's dead. He's dead. You killed him, Brutus."

"That's how death works," Rodolphus snapped but tears started seeping from Tommy's eyes, "and its not a him, its a thing."

"His name was David, he just said so and now he's dead. He is dead. He was a person and now he's dead."

"It wasn't a person! It was a muggle."

"He looks like a person, he spoke like a person, he cried like a person and he died like a person. He was human, the only difference was he couldn't do magic, he didn't deserve to die, he didn't do anything wrong, Rodolphus and you made Brutus kill him."

"Crucio!" Rodolphus roared and Tommy was thrown onto the ground again, screaming his impossibly high-pitched scream as his body was wracked with pain, "how dare you defend muggle filth?!"

"How dare you torture Lord Voldemort's children," Sal retorted and Rodolphus let Tommy go for a moment to glare at her.

"Brutus, torture her," Rodolphus stated dismissively and cursed Tommy again.

"I'm not hurting a child," Brutus growled forcing himself from his shocked stupor at having killed a man.

"They're fourteen!"

"I'm not hurting a bloody child! And I'm not watching you do it either."

Brutus' arm snaked out and he grabbed Rodolphus' wrist, twisting it to force him to drop his wand and freeing Tommy from the Cruciatus Curse. Rodolphus snatched his arm away furiously, his eyes were burning with rage and Brutus felt a flicker of fear but he was steadfast. He wasn't going to hurt the twins and he wasn't going to watch Rodolphus do it either, he knew Rodolphus would probably call him a hypocrite after what he did have some set of morals and he wasn't going to let them be tortured. Not that day. Not in front of him. The muggle may have deserved to suffer but Tommy and Sal didn't.

"Would you rather take their place?! You ugly half-blood! Crucio!"

It happened so fast. Rodolphus flourished his wand and Brutus didn't try to fight it but Sal did, out of the corner of his eye he saw her throw out her hand and felt himself being propelled through air. He slammed into the wall and fell back onto the ground, the red jet from Rodolphus' wand hit the door instead and smashed it off its hinges. Sal's face drained of what little color she had as Rodolphus angrily aimed his wand at her instead, non-verbally using the Torture Curse. Brutus started to scramble to his feet but it was Tommy who reacted faster.

"ENOUGH!" Tommy screamed so high-pitched that it hurt Brutus' ears.

Rodolphus was knocked backwards from Sal at the same time as the windows were blown out, revealing a raging storm blowing outside. The wind howled and thunder growled, rain was being pelted in through the gaps where the windows had been and the drapes were being torn to shreds from the force of the wind. It was so dark outside except for the blinding flashes from lightning. Tommy had been momentarily forgotten but he was now on his feet, shaking with a look of fury that Brutus hadn't seen on him before, his unblinking eyes glittered darkly and miniature lightning bolts seemed to be dancing up and down his skin. Brutus shivered.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY SISTER!" Tommy yelled over the roar of the thunder, raising his arm as he did so and Rodolphus raised magically into the air with it, "you want to see people inflict pain?! Let me show you!"

Tommy clenched his fist and Rodolphus started screaming as his body convulsed violently in the air, when Brutus looked back to Tommy he saw the boy was on fire, golden flames lapped against him but didn't seem to be harming him. Huge bolts of lightning were erupting from him, blasting out at every angle against the walls, floor and ceiling, scattering splinters as it left great gaping holes. Brutus yanked Sal up off the floor to stop her from being struck by one of the bolts, she was watching her brother's bursts of power with awe-filled eyes.

"I've got to learn how to do that," Sal breathed or maybe Brutus imagined it, it was hard to hear over the deep roaring thunder that was becoming mixed with Rodolphus' screams.

The floor started to shake and he kept his grip on Sal to try steady her, the floorboards were rolling like waves in the ocean and then started tearing themselves up in places, cracks were shooting up the rippling walls and spreading to the ceiling. Brutus was afraid, he didn't think Tommy had control anymore. He hugged Sal protectively to him as the floor before them was ripped away, the chunks of wood and splinters were speeding around the room, either magically or caught up in the fierce wind battering against them, Brutus was having trouble staying upright as it stabbed at him.

And then a shrill sound sliced through the storm. Tommy was laughing. His laugh was jerky at first but the incredibly high-pitched sound became more stable, which only sounded more unstable, it was maniacal and demented. The laugh of a madman. Tommy throw out his arms and more bolts of lightning shot out, these ones didn't dissipate after punching through the walls but rather stayed, like jagged tentacles from Tommy's glowing body and cut through the fabric of the building.

The roof was peeled away, the rain felt like it was slicing his skin and the gush of wind did actually knock Brutus off of his feet that time but he managed to pull himself and Sal into a sitting position. He eyed the ruin of the door and saw the corridor was receiving a similar treatment, the floorboards were bending so much they were breaking and the walls were splintering from the cracks. All the while Tommy was still laughing and Rodolphus was still screaming, bolts of lightning were jabbing through Rodolphus' still seizing body. Brutus knew he should do something but he was scared that trying to stop Tommy would make it worse.

"Stop this, Tommy!" Brutus cried over the deafening torrent of power and chaos all around him but Tommy didn't seem to hear, "STOP!"

He wasn't sure if Tommy heard him or not but Tommy's laugh became a shrill scream and he clutched at his head so much it seemed like he was clawing at his own scalp, the power only intensified and waves of light and lightning shot out from the boy. The golden flames blazed, so bright that Brutus couldn't bear to look anymore and he turned away. The roar of thunder, power, wind, rain and screaming all seemed to merge into one unbearably ear-splitting vociferous sound.

Silence.

Brutus risked a glance back to the ruin of the room, the roof was still gone but the wind had died down, it was still raining but only gently. The tops of the walls had splintered so much it looked like rows of dagger-like teeth, there were varying sized holes and snakey lines of missing wall. Chunks of floor were missing revealing the wooden beams beneath the floorboards, the floorboards left were all jagged at the edges and the floor that was left was littered with debris, splinters, bits of plaster and wood. It looked a wreck.

And in the center of it was Rodolphus, his body was in heap like it had just been dumped onto the ground, his limbs were all twisted at impossible angles. His clothes were ripped and torn, there were gaping gushing wounds all over but he was alive, shuddering and shaking but seeming unable to move. Tommy stood before him like a shadow, untouched by the destruction he'd caused, he'd never looked stronger or more like the son of Voldemort. His dark flinty eyes were cold as he gazed down on Rodolphus.

"Is that what you wanted?" Tommy asked calmly, Rodolphus whimpered but didn't attempt to answer, "you wanted to see pain and you wanted to kill, you've seen one now let's see the other. Let me try that."

Tommy pointed his finger at Rodolphus and a ball of flame started to manifest above the Death Eater, it was only the size of a Golden Snitch at first but it started to grow. It was like a snowball pushed down a snowy hill, gorging itself on excess snow to grow only instead of snow it was fire and it rolled over in the same place. Growing and growing, tendrils of flames snaking around each other and flaring, Brutus could feel the heat from it. It didn't seem effected by the rain and reminded Brutus of the sun, it grew so big it was actually larger than its future victim's body. Brutus wondered again whether he should do something to help his fellow Death Eater but then he wasn't fond of Rodolphus, if anyone deserved to die then it was him and Brutus was disturbingly curious over whether Tommy would do it.

"Not really what I had in mind," Tommy mused as he looked up at the fiery ball burning above their heads, "but it should kill you anyway so I guess magic just wants you to die a more painful death than what I wanted, even magic hates you for being the monster that you are."

"Pl-Please," Rodolphus begged weakly before he burst into tears, Tommy looked stunned as the Death Eater sobbed pathetically, "pl-please, I d-don't w-want t-t-to d-die. D-Don't h-h-hurt m-me, Tommy, pl-please d-don't h-hurt me. Pl-please."

"Shut up," Sal spat and it took Brutus a second to realize she was on her feet, she launched a kick at Rodolphus and the man yelped in pain, Sal smirked, "not so fun when you're the one being kicked, is it? And you actually have the nerve to beg for your life? What happened to begging being the most pathetic thing a witch or wizard can do and deserving to suffer worse for lowering yourself to such standards? You're going to die and you don't even have the guts to face death, you're the weak one."

"P-Please, h-have m-m-mercy."

"You don't deserve mercy."

"Sal, stop..." Tommy said and Brutus realized his eyes were watering as he blinked back tears as he lowered his arm.

"Kill him."

"I-I can't," Tommy whispered tearfully and the ball of flames vanished, leaving them all in semi-darkness as he hugged his arms around himself and backed against the wall, "I was wrong, he's just a person. Hurt and in pain and crying like us. I can't kill him."

"He deserves to die!" Sal snapped looking somewhere between angry and upset, "he's cruel and sadistic, he tortures us. Think of everything he's done, he deserves to die. Kill him."

"What have I done?" Tommy cried as he choked back tears.

"You've become a Master! Kill him and we'll be free, don't you want to be free?!"

"I've become the thing I hate the most, I've become just as bad as he is. I don't want to be a Master, I don't want to hurt and kill and destroy. I don't want to be free if it means I'll be evil, I don't want to be evil. Even he is a person, I can't... I can't kill him. Never again. I'm not doing that ever again."

"You're being insane, Tommy! Kill him!"

"No, Sal."

"Then I will!"

"NO!"

On Tommy's shrill shriek of 'no' magic burst out of him again, a pulse of light that shot outwards and knocked Sal off her feet. He clutched at his head and more waves of light were cast out, Brutus watched in amazement as the floorboards were slotted back in place and repaired, the roof slipped back from wherever it had been. The cracks in the wall were filled, the bits of wall sped back into place in the holes and even fragments of glass from outside reformed in the windows. In a matter of minutes the room was back completely to how it had been before, the only evidence of any kind of destruction being the mangled body of Rodolphus.

No sooner had Brutus thought that then the light jumped on Rodolphus, like jaws clamping down and engulfing the man, Brutus heard the snap of bones before the light receded. He blinked in surprise, Rodolphus' wounds were healed, the blood vanished and the clothes repaired, even his limbs were no longer at the wrong angles. Tommy looked utterly drained though, his legs trembled before his body thudded to the ground. His eyelids flickered before closing shut, meeting Sal's identical eyes for just a moment, she looked at her brother like he'd committed an act of the utmost betrayal.

"You'll pay for that, I promise," Rodolphus growled, eying Tommy with a look of loathing as he snatched up his wand and swiped away his tears as he got to his feet, the Death Eaters that hung around stormed into the room and Sal hung her head hopelessly.

---

Part 3: The Lunch

---

"Hey, there's my favorite nephew," his Aunt Daphne greeted him and ruffled his hair childishly as Scorpius returned home from his morning session with Varanian, she would think it was strange if he wasn't there when he left for work in the afternoon, "have a nice walk?"

"Yep," Scorpius answered shortly and the brunette she smiled, she looked a lot like his mother when she smiled.

"Its good you're not afraid to get out there, just stay within visual distance of the house."

"Will do."

"Your parents should be here in about half an hour or so don't wander too much."

"What? My parents are coming?" Scorpius questioned in surprise.

"Didn't you bother reading your mail before you took off?" Aunt Daphne wondered raising an eyebrow, "they're picking you up for lunch today."

"But I... I had plans."

"Sorry Scorpius, you'll have to reschedule the absolute nothing you do all day."

"I..." Scorpius started to protested but trailed off, he couldn't very well say that he was planning on meeting a fugitive in just over an hour and he was eager to get back to Varanian, "I guess its okay."

"Grand," Aunt Daphne grinned and ruffled his hair again, he managed to keep his irritation off his face, he thought he was a little too old to have his hair ruffled. She slipped a small flask into her bag before heading to the door to get fireplace in the other room, "see you later than, Scorpius."

"See you later."

Scorpius went over to the pile of mail and saw that sure enough was a letter from his parents with the plans to pick him up for lunch, it was a good thing they'd told Aunt Daphne about it too or he might not have noticed the letter, he hadn't been expecting mail after all. It did worry him though, he shouldn't be around his family in case they got possessed, he could lose his life and they could lose their soul which was much worse, it was for their own protection as much as his.

On top of that, how was he supposed to communicate to Varanian that he couldn't make it? They didn't have a way of communicating, they arranged the time and meeting place for the next session when Scorpius was disapparated back in person. He knew the address of Varanian's Fidelius hideout but none of the fireplaces were keyed into the Floo Network, an owl would take would too long and he wasn't sure it would be able to find him anyway. He decided he would just have to leave a note at the meeting place and hope no one else came across it, he took a spare a piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note.

Can't meet you, lunch with parents. Usual time, usual place tomorrow, hopefully? - S

It was short but he and he didn't write his name but he hoped Varanian would get it and understand, it was being in left in a public place so he didn't want to give too much away in case others came across it. Still feeling worried and oddly guilty, he quickly headed out.

While the Greengrasses were a pureblood family, they didn't have a manor like the Malfoys did nor were they as wealthy, they weren't poor by any means but they didn't have enough to live off like the Malfoys were doing. Not that it was a good thing the Malfoys had no work, not working and living purely off your family's money was how pureblood families lost their once incredible wealth or at least their once expensive homes forcing newer generations to work for a living, as was the case in the Greengrasses, Blacks and even the Potters.

The Malfoys had no choice though, they were still looked upon lowly and no one wanted to hire anyone with the last name Malfoy, no one cared they'd defected from the Death Eaters only that they'd once been on the wrong side. The only jobs people would willing give them was menial work such as a floorsweeper or cleaner - things his grandfather considered 'house-elf work' - which his father refused to except, they did still have standards and they weren't that desperate for the money. As evidence of how bad the Malfoy name was, his mother had had a job before she married his father. After becoming Mrs Astoria Malfoy, her boss had suddenly had to let her go because they couldn't afford to pay her anymore. A week later they'd replaced her.

His aunt's house was at the end of the street, a quaint detached house with murky yellow walls and a green roof. Scorpius went outside into the muggy street, while not an official Wizarding town it was almost completely occupied by witches and wizards and their families so he considered it relatively safe from being kidnapped by muggles. On the downside though, most of the village were aware of Varanian and if they saw him then Aurors would be on the way in minutes, apparently it was law that Aurors could commandeer any fireplace on the Floo Network if they needed to so traveling to the village wouldn't be an issue. It was why they met on the outskirts of the village, there was a small thicket of trees where they usually met.

Scorpius was still worried about people coming across it as wedged the small note between two extremely close branches, he hoped Varanian would see it and understand. He was feeling guilty as he returned to the house, like he was letting everyone down. He sat miserably in the front room, staring at the fireplace in wait for his parents. It was a musty room, dark and gloomy which might have had something to do with the thick drapes that his aunt tended to keep closed. It suited his mood.

It didn't take too long before the flames in the fireplace became emerald, Scorpius took out his wand and quickly ran over to the door as Varanian had told him to do if people were arriving by Floo in case it wasn't who he thought and then he was prepared to run or disarm or both. You had the upper hand because you knew the territory and the newcomer didn't, plus you were ready while they would likely need a second to get their bearings and draw their wand. It was his father though. Scorpius pocketed his wand before his father had noticed it was out, he smiled when he saw Scorpius and went over to hug him. His mother didn't emerge from the fireplace.

"Where's Mother?" Scorpius asked as his father started to say he was pleased to see him as he pulled away.

"I'm just picking you up, you're coming back home for lunch," his father explained.

"I could have Flooed myself over."

"You're a bit young for that."

Scorpius bit back the urge to say that he could've done it himself when he was four, he didn't know whether to be more angry or hurt that they still considered him a pathetic weak little child. Parents are like that. He realized his wrist was burning again and tried to shake it off as his father told him to go to first, he Flooed home effortlessly because it wasn't difficult and he wasn't an idiot. He was squeezed into a hug by his mother almost as soon as he'd stepped out.

"I missed you," his mother told him gently before she pulled away smiling, "having a good time at Aunt Daph's?"

"Yes," Scorpius answered vaguely, hoping she didn't ask a lot of questions about what he did when his aunt was asleep or at work. She opened her mouth to reply but he was saved by his father's arrival, "so what's for lunch?"

"Not yet, we have to wait for our guest."

"We're having a guest over?"

"Yes," his father said as another man stepped out of the fireplace, Scorpius recognized him even as his father spoke, "Harry Potter."

"Sorry I'm late, I was just finishing up some stuff," Harry Potter apologized and Scorpius tried very hard to succeed in keeping his composure, why was Harry Potter eating dinner with them?

"Now we can begin," his mother said with a nervous cheerfulness and forced smile, "we can head through to the dining room or would you like a quick tour first while the house-elves set up, Mr Potter?"

"Its alright, I have enough familiarity with Malfoy Manor."

His mother lost her smile and his father suddenly looked incredibly awkward, he looked away from Potter and shifted uncomfortably as his eyes became glued to an uninteresting section of floor. Scorpius scowled slightly, he hadn't known Potter had been to his house before and he had a feeling he was missing a lot more than that. His mother swallowed nervously before replacing her smile.

"To the dining room it is then," his mother announced and led them through to the dining room.

One of the house-elves was setting up the silverware, they were using some of their finer dishes despite the fact not one of the four of them were dressed to match, Potter had clearly come from work, Scorpius was wearing the leather jacket over casual clothing chosen for its ability to not impede his movements in case of dodge exercises and his parents were dressed in an ordinary fashion. No one commented on this though, they just sat down at the table, Scorpius sat beside his father and opposite Potter while his mother sat beside Potter and opposite his father. There was no place setting for his grandmother.

"Isn't Grandmother joining us?" Scorpius asked both curiously and worriedly.

"No," his parents answered almost in perfect unison.

The silence was so thick that it was smothering, the only sound was the house-elf setting up their plates and cutlery and others bringing out the food. Scorpius was uncomfortably reminded of how awkward the first meal together after Lyra's death had been and the first one after he'd returned after being abducted, there had to be something to be said and some reason Potter was there but no one was saying it.

Potter was actually the first one to strike up conversation, asking Scorpius about his Quidditch which made him feel the awkwardness of the adults as he was reminded about the Potter boys' upset about not getting the positions they wanted, James had outright accused Scorpius of cheating - which he had undoubtedly told his father about - and Albus falling out with Michael over him getting Chaser. A horrible thought occurred to him, would Michael still be able to play Quidditch after what had happened? The guilt twisted like a barbed knife in the gut, he couldn't have cost one of his closest friends something they'd loved so much, could he?

The other adults seemed oblivious to his discomfort and all jumped on board, his father praising his flying skills and Scorpius didn't want to insist he wasn't that good in case Potter assumed James was right about him cheating, his mother spoke of his desire to be a Seeker when he was younger and Potter himself talked about his own Quidditch experience, he was the only living person who could claim he knew what it was like to be on the team in the first year like Scorpius had been. The conversation moved onto his classes though, for whatever reason Potter seemed interested in his life. Scorpius was careful about what he said, he didn't want his parents to know about his recent struggles with Astronomy or Grant's treatment of him because it would just make them think even less of him but he didn't want to lie so he just was vague about those particular subjects.

"How's the Patronus Charm coming along?" Potter asked just when Scorpius was done praising Professor Ashain's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.

"Not good," Scorpius was forced to mumble reluctantly in answer but he couldn't dodge a correct question so his parents would have to know, their opinion would have just slid further, "I can't get anything silver to come. But Professor Ashain was helping me with it, the next lesson... if I hadn't been... you know, suspended."

"Don't get your hopes up, you are a Malfoy after all," his father commented jokily and Scorpius had a feeling he was trying to make him feel better about not getting it but it just made him feel worse, the Patronus Charm was the only known thing - excluding Calderon - that could fight Specters, it was important if he was helping Varanian stop the Shadows. He had to get it. The hurt must have shown on his face because Potter's next words were kind.

"Its a difficult spell for any wizard, let alone a twelve year old so don't worry about not getting it yet," Potter offered and Scorpius felt even more uncomfortable, was he really missing out on training to fight the Shadows because of this? Another horrible thought struck him, was Potter here because he knew about Varanian?

"How's your work going?" Scorpius questioned of Potter before he could stop himself, "finally realized that Varanian is innocent and are hunting the actual Shadow Master now?"

"Scorpius, I know that's what you believe-"

"Its not about what I believe, its about the truth! And the truth is that he is innocent, he was possessed and he didn't want to do those things! Did you ever think it was horrible for him? Losing control like that, having to watch himself do bad things and being in pain from trying to fight it off, it wasn't fun for him. You've destroyed his life and he was innocent and that's not fair or right!"

"Innocent people don't run," his mother pointed out with an almost scalding 'don't be rude' look.

"Whether he's innocent or not, the fact remains is that we can't prove or disprove anything without him in custody or at least we're unlikely too," Potter said firmly.

"Maybe he had a good reason for going on the run! He's not stupid. Why can't you just believe me? All this time wasted ruining an innocent man's life and the actual Shadow Master is out there causing chaos, I know it can't be easy but wasting time on Varanian is just making things worse for everyone."

"We are still investigating other leads while we pursue Varanian, I assure you."

"Other leads? Like what?"

"Look, I didn't come here to discuss the Varanian situation."

"Okay," Scorpius sighed, both disappointed that Potter wasn't going to say anything noteworthy that he could report to Varanian and relieved that if he wasn't there for Varanian then he probably didn't know about Scorpius meeting him daily, "am I allowed to ask why you're here?"

"Yes you are. Yours and James' suspension ends on Monday, I came over here today to discuss arrangements. And I also need to talk to you about the whole situation in general, causing grievous injury like that in the course of a duel is illegal," Potter pointed out seriously and Scorpius felt fear grip his heart so tightly that he could barely breathe at the thought of being imprisoned again, "relax, I'm not taking you to prison considering the circumstances as it was an accident that Michael Sanford got hurt and you both are underage. But it would be remiss if I just allowed you and James to go back as the situation stands, you could seriously injure each other or someone else and you don't want that to happen, do you?"

"No, I never meant for Michael to get hurt, I-"

"I've talked to James about leaving you alone and he has promised he will, if he stays away from you will you promise to stay away from him?"

"Yes," Scorpius promised, James was the one who started things anyway.

"And you also need to not retaliate if he starts on you, go straight to a teacher and do not under any circumstances engage in a duel with him, especially to not use harmful you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good. I'm trusting you, Scorpius, don't let me down," Potter nodded looking slightly relieved, "so arrangements for Monday..."

---

Bellatrix scanned around the rather bland looking house, it was almost hard to believe that her son had destroyed it not too long ago because he'd done such an incredibly job repairing it. She did believe it though, she'd always known Tommy was a powerful wizard, how could he not be when the Greatest Sorcerer in the entire history of magic was his father? She smiled to herself as she walked, when Tommy could harness that power then his disappointments wouldn't matter and her supposed failings in parenting wouldn't matter to the Dark Lord anymore. Imagine the look on the Dark Lord's face when their son could obliterate filthy muggle towns with a wave of his hand? The thought of his approval and destruction made her excited.

"Bella!" her husband greeted her coming from a door to the end just as she reached the door to the basement, Bellatrix tried not to roll her eyes as he smiled, "its good to see you, I-"

"I'm here to see my children and nothing more," Bellatrix pointed out coldly and his smile was replaced by a scowl that she promptly ignored as she opened the door, cold seeped through her from the Dementor guards but she refused to show her fear, they answered to her now, "give us some privacy."

The ghastly hooded figures glided out past her, she had another smug smile at the Dementors obeying her. Natural allies of the Dark Wizards they were, preferring to answer to the Dark Lord rather than to the incompetent Ministry - as any smart person would also - and were happy to aid him since his return, they'd sneaked Rodolphus and Rabastan out of Azkaban after all because the Dark Lord had use for them and now two of them had left their posts to become the guards the twins. It wasn't an ideal situation that she wanted to put them through but it was necessary considering what Tommy - and possibly Sal - were capable of.

"Mother!" Tommy and Sal cried in unison as she descended the steps, there was a random explosion of light from behind them but Bellatrix decided to let it slide that time, she hadn't seen them since the summer after all.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs to study her smiling children, it was the part where they would have hugged if they had had any other father. But they didn't, they were the Dark Lord's children and she couldn't risk doing anything to them to make them weak and hugs would encourage that because it would have encouraged them to rely too much on other people and not be smart or strong enough to think for themselves. The Dark Lord didn't want weak idiots for children, he wanted them smart and powerful so they could be an asset to him. Bellatrix didn't disagree, there were too many incompetent or semi-competent Death Eaters as it were, the Dark Lord deserved better in his children and Bellatrix didn't want them to disappoint.

"I heard about what you did, Tommy," Bellatrix pointed out to her younger child and his expression became one of fear, randomly the walls changed color from gray to blue but she let it slide again as she smiled at him.

"I'm sorry," Tommy apologized tearfully as he hung his head while Sal shot him a dark look.

"You shouldn't be sorry, that kind of power is something to be proud of. All that destruction and torturing Rodolphus was brilliant, your father even thought it was impressive."

"He did?" Sal wondered in surprise.

"Shut up Sal, I'm talking to your brother!" Bellatrix hissed angrily at having been interrupted, glaring at the girl before turning back to Tommy and softening her voice once more, "it was amazing, you just need to learn to control that and you'll be brilliant just as I always knew you would be."

"I nearly killed him," Tommy whispered looking guilty.

"You should have killed him! You're the Dark Lord's child, you have the right to kill anyone beneath you if you have a reason or if you don't have a reason."

"Tommy stopped me from killing him," Sal pointed out moodily.

"Shut up Sal! I'm talking to your brother!"

"But killing is bad," Tommy said firmly, "and he is your husband."

"No it isn't, there's a lot of filth in the world that needs eradicating. Killing gets rid of them and proves your strength."

"Why does Father only target England?" Sal questioned curiously and Bellatrix actually felt like slapping her, "I mean, there's other countries, bigger, wealthier and with more wizards so why only attack England? In the past countries have worked together to defeat Dark Witches or Wizards so even if he takes England then the other countries could unite to stop him from spreading out. England's a small country with an even smaller wizarding community, it wouldn't be difficult to be overwhelmed, it doesn't matter how powerful or talented you are, there's only so many you can take on at once before you're overwhelmed. I-"

"DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION YOUR FATHER!"

"I'm not, I'm just saying that he could do better. I have ideas if I could talk to him, I think there's some things he's overlooking-"

"NO! The Dark Lord is right and you are wrong, now shut up!" Bellatrix roared and slapped her daughter across the face, outraged Sal could speak that way but was quite satisfied when the girl backed away several feet with a hand to her face and she could calm down as she turned back to Tommy.

He was looking healthier than he had his entire life at Azkaban although still not as healthy as she would have liked, he was getting there though. She reached out her hands to draw his exposed arm to her, where she'd given him the Dark Mark and insisted that it always be showing, they seemed to be obeying as his sleeve had rolled back specifically to allow it to be visible. She idly traced the scar on his wrist - it was very fitting - and glanced back to his face, he didn't look exactly like his father had when he was younger as she'd hoped but rather a mixture of his features and typical Black features, she rather liked that. He'd grow up to be handsome if he could ever shake the toll Azkaban had taken on his appearance.

"Why do the Dementors have to guard us?" Tommy asked after a minute and Bellatrix blinked in surprise but didn't stop tracing the Dark Mark.

"Its not safe without them, they repress magic and you need your magic repressed until you learn to control it. Its for your own safety, Tommy, you could accidentally hurt yourself and we don't want that."

"Then why have us tortured?"

"So you can learn control."

"Why not just send us to Hogwarts like everyone else gets to go to?" Sal pleaded and Tommy shared her look of desperation, Bellatrix actually felt like slapping her again, "Draco gets to go, why shouldn't we?"

"I SAID SHUT UP SALAZIA!" Bellatrix snapped feeling furious again, "and you can't go to Hogwarts, fourteen is too old to start even if your brother was remotely stable enough! You'll never go to Hogwarts, ever so don't waste my time by asking again! And Draco is going because he has an important task to complete that the Dark Lord has ordered him to complete."

"Why can't we be given tasks to complete? I could do it."

"Neither of you can cast a spell if your life depended on it! How do you expect to do anything of value until you can both control your magic?!"

"I don't think its possible to control it, Mother," Tommy offered.

"It is!" Bellatrix shrieked, angry at his lack of belief and stormed up the steps, she didn't feel like speaking to them when both of them were being difficult and insane, "you just need to try harder! You're both lazy slackers and that's why you can't do magic! Try harder!"

She waited until the Dementors were back in the room before stalking out and slamming the door behind her.

---

Part 4: In the Wrong

---

"And I'm sorry for not being able to meet you," Scorpius apologized after he finished explaining to Varanian about lunch with his parents and Potter the next day, back in Varanian's hideout, "did you get my message?"

"You don't need to apologize," Varanian told him dismissively, he was looking particularly tired, "spending time with your family isn't a bad thing and Potter's a gray soul plus Head Auror, Shadows wouldn't have attacked. And yes, I did get your message and it got me thinking about our lack of ways to communicate so I spend the night working on it. Hold out your hand."

"Okay," Scorpius agreed holding out his hand and Varanian hesitated for a moment before slipping a gold ring on his finger, it looked like a wedding band and was slightly overlarge for his small child fingers. Varanian withdrew his wand and waved it over the ring, immediately it shrunk to snugly fit his finger much to Scorpius' confusion, "we're going to communicate with a wedding ring?"

"Yes, I need something that we could both keep on us always that I could work this magic on. Watch," Varanian explained as he took another ring out of his pocket, almost identical to the one Scorpius had been given except larger to match Varanian's adult fingers. He tapped the ring with his wand and Scorpius felt his own ring suddenly feeling hot, not hot enough to burn but not comfortable, "take it off and look at the inside."

Curiously, Scorpius took off the ring and peered at the inside. Written on the inside of the ring was the address of Varanian's hideout with 'basement' written after it, he was sure they hadn't been there before. No sooner had he thought that that they melded into the gold and were gone, the ring becoming cold.

"If either of us tap the ring with our wand then it will heat up and give your current location, the same happens to the ring on the other's hand and only vanishes after its been read. Its mostly in case you're attacked, you should have your wand with you at all times already and never take the ring off unless you're reading it so if you just tap it then I'll know where you are and that you're in danger so I can help. I can use it to you if I'm arranging a meeting, just come to the location as soon as you can after you get it. Alternatively we can use it to send each other short messages, it you press the tip of the wand against the ring then what you say appears on the outside of the ring. Like this."

As Varanian said the last two words he pressed the tip of his wand against the ring, Scorpius felt his own heat up slightly again and glanced at it. Sure enough, 'like this' had just appeared on the band and melded back into the gold as Scorpius read them.

"A little more obvious to others but since you have to speak aloud to reply then you need to be alone anyway, first thing we do if we talk like that is make sure we're both safe to talk. Although like I said, for short messages only because rings aren't that big. And the best part? You can use this without fear of being detected by the Trace. Even though you're using magic, technically you're just using preexisting magical properties of an object which is exempt for the trace, its why underage wizards can practice flying broomsticks outside of Hogwarts, Floo, use Portkeys and so on without repercussion."

"That's cool," Scorpius admitted gazing at the ring on his hand.

"There's one more thing you should know though," Varanian told him in an extremely severe tone and Scorpius glanced back up, "if you lose that ring then I swear, I will hunt you down and kill you."

"I won't lose it," Scorpius offered slowly, not entirely sure how serious Varanian was being, "what if we need to communicate a lot of information though? Like all this you're telling me now would be difficult to tell me with the ring? Its not really a problem now but in Hogwarts it would be because it would be difficult to meet up, I can't go to Hogsmeade until next year so I'm pretty much in the grounds until holidays."

"I know but outside of meeting in person, options are limited. Using the Floo Network to communicate is too risky, conversations can be listened into by the Ministry and getting the Common Room empty isn't as easy as you would hope. At least not in my experience anyway. Besides I don't want to put the Embry's at risk by using their fireplace too much."

"What about owls?"

"Owls can be intercepted easily, the Shadows know this and target them either to stop messages or just to read them first. As an example of how easy it is, the way I got the note to you on your birthday was by intercepting another owl and just giving it that letter as well. I've been working on a spell to hide the content of messages but I still don't think its secure enough with owls and I can't make another kind of bird do it."

"Wait, another bird?" Scorpius wondered as he recalled Aurelius' vulture, "would a non-owl bird help?"

"Yes, its pretty much guaranteed safety because the Shadows wouldn't think to check... erm... other bird types, eagles or robins or hawks or magpies or crows or... chickens."

"Would a vulture do?"

"A vulture?" Varanian repeated dubiously raising a tawny eyebrow, "it could work but unless you have secretly managed to train an army of vultures or discovered a hidden talent for bird conversation then the whole other bird thing is useless."

"I haven't trained vultures but I know someone who has, if I could get him to let us use one then could that be good enough?"

"Well... yeah but how trustworthy is this person? And would they be willing to do it?"

"Well... I don't actually know, I don't really know them very well but he's reclusive so I don't think he'd tell anyone, even if he did he's kind of weird so I don't think anyone would listen, care or believe him."

"Yes because weird reclusive strangers are always the most trustworthy people," Varanian quipped sarcastically.

"Working out okay so far with you, isn't it?" Scorpius countered and he saw the vaguest hint of a smile on Varanian's face.

"Fair point."

"I don't even have to tell him I want it to communicate with you."

"Alright then, ask him if he would consider letting you use one of his vultures or his one vulture first and see his reply then we can move forward from there," Varanian said and Scorpius nodded, although he realized as he did so that he didn't know where Aurelius lived and would probably have to wait to get back to Hogwarts to ask Dom, "in case this does pan out then, I'm going to teach you those spells for the letters. I'll perfect it and we can go for it tomorrow, hope that my Fidelius Charm does indeed leave your Trace unnoticed. Who is he anyway?"

"Aurelius Ashain."

"Ashain?" Varanian cringed, "you want to rely on Ashain? How does he even have time to train vultures when he's teaching?"

"Not Professor Ashain, his first name is Atticus. Aurelius is his father. Didn't you know that?"

"They both begin with 'A' and end in 'icus', its slightly confusing and I've only had two hours of sleep. Also that's even worse."

"What do you have against Ashains?" Scorpius questioned with a scowl.

"I don't have anything against Ashains in general, except Brutus. And my distrust of Ash- Atticus - stems from the fact he was an Auror, I'm not saying he's corrupt but odds are he'll be less likely to believe any of the Aurors are if it ever comes down to it, especially if its someone he knew. I have reason to believe Corvinus - who lives with Aurelius - is linked to the Shadows, which could mean Aurelius is too."

"He isn't. He doesn't like wars or Shadows or his father's friends or his father or Death Eaters. Besides, he was worried about Professor Ashain when he was hurt, I don't think he would have let them hurt his son if he was involved. I think Corvinus is linked too, I think he gave them the second Blood Rune Orb and asked for a memory to see it in use because he wanted to see it used, part of the power of the Orb if you handle it too much. He made an Unbreakable Vow with my grandfather and Aurelius was forced to be the Bonder"

"That must be why they wanted Lucius' memory of watching the Blood Runes be activated," Varanian commented thoughtfully, "the big question is, is he still involved with the Shadows or were they only using him for the Blood Rune Orb?"

"I'll ask and see if he's noticed anymore people talking to his father or anything."

"Good."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why didn't you like Brutus? Was it just because he was a Death Eater?"

"Its not much to do with being a Death Eater, we went to school together, we were in the same year at Hogwarts and... well you could say that we didn't get along," Varanian answered and Scorpius' curiosity was even more piqued.

"Why?"

"Well..." Varanian hesitated as if unsure whether to go on, he sighed heavily, "I'm a metamorphmagus as you should know by now and its an uncommon ability, people were fascinated and were forever bothering me with their stupid questions or requests, it drove me mad. Now Brutus was deformed, I'm not sure how common it is in muggles but its rare in wizards, he was deformed and ugly and people hated him for that, Slytherin's jeered when he was put in their house. He was timid and shy at first, he was bullied a lot by a lot of people, his year and older years, up to and including by his own house.

"I guess he thought being a metamorphmagus could solve his problems in Hogwarts because one day he came up to me in potions and asked how he could become a metamorphmagus so he could stop being ugly and people would like him. I angrily told him that you couldn't become a metamorphmagus, you were either born one or you weren't and called him an idiot for not knowing that like I did for pretty much everyone who asked, except for muggle-borns because they wouldn't know things like that. Unlike with everyone else though, the people around us had overheard and started laughing at him, mocking him for being forever ugly and stupid and that no one would ever like him. He fled in tears and always blamed me for it.

"He was big for his age, not overweight but just bulky and tall and at some point he realized he could fight back. They could call him ugly, he could punch them in the nose. Didn't always work with the older kids but people backed off in our year at least, moved onto bullying this weedy Slytherin instead - something Sayder- who preceded to befriend Brutus for some degree of protection. After that, Brutus became more of a bully with Sayder's urging I think, he was a great believer that being left alone wasn't good enough and people needed to pay for picking on him before.

"Brutus... kind of... started picking on me, he used to mock me for being an orphan and a shape-changing freak, trip me down stairs, beat me up - I used to hide the bruises with my ability because I didn't want the teachers to know. I had enough eventually and fought back with magic, used the body-bind curse on him and it worked a treat, I might have gone overboard with the triumphant mocking of him though. From then on it was pretty much war, he insulted me and I insulted him back, I insulted him and he insulted me back, I did something on him and he retaliated, he did something to me and I retaliated. We dueled a lot. It was pretty much the only thing Brutus was good at aside from flying and the only person in class who could ever best me in a duel and I was the only person who could best him too, we put each other in the hospital wing more than once.

"Dumbledore dragged us to his office more than once too, we came to an unspoken unanimous agreement to defend each other and deny dueling in front of him, which I'm pretty sure he saw right through though. We got better at having someone keep lookout so we wouldn't get caught by a teacher, if we got sent to the hospital wing we pretended not to know who injured us. We had the occasional truce and as we were both on the Qudditch teams, we used to always leave each other alone just before a match. I will admit dueling him so much gave me invaluable experience and a chance to properly practice what I knew though but we just really didn't like each other, he was a bullying muggle-born hater and I hated that. I still regret my behavior though, I shouldn't have been such a stuck-up jerk to him, there's always going to be people you don't like and dueling and mocking them at every opportunity is not the best way to deal with them, in fact I pretty much made him worse. We were both in the wrong. Its not good to be in the wrong."

---

Jack Thorne was sitting in some bar that he neither knew the name of or cared, it was as dark inside as his mood and sold plenty of cheap booze which was really the only thing he cared about. He was only annoyed that he wasn't drunk yet, being sober and having to think about things was tedious. Screw AA. He took another few gulps of his pint and leaned back lazily in his chair, it was why he liked sitting at tables rather than the bar - unless the barkeeper was an attractive woman, in this case it was a grizzled old man with only two teeth - and that people left you alone. And you had a perfect view of any attractive waitresses walking around.

His eyes weren't on women that night though, he wasn't drunk enough for that. Instead he found himself unable to look away from the photograph he always kept with him of his son, it had been taken when Michael was a baby but it wasn't what he was seeing when he looked at the picture. He just kept seeing present-day Michael with a scarred face and a missing eye, he hadn't even seen what the wound looked like but he couldn't get it off his mind. He wanted to see him, wanted to make sure he was alright. Michael would probably insist he was fine until his dying breath but that didn't make it true, he had to be hurting. Jack still wanted to be there. Michael was exactly like his mother that way though, insist they're fine no badly or obviously they're not and struggle alone rather than asking for any help while constantly helping every other idiot that crosses their paths. He was exactly like his mother in a lot of ways. Miserably Jack chugged down more his drink but found his eyes remained rested on the photograph, he couldn't even be there because it was a magic school.

"This seat taken?" a familiar voice asked and Jack ripped his eyes away from the picture to the newcomer, a man with iron gray hair who seemed to have aged quite well. Jack gestured dismissively to the seat in approval and gulped down more as the man sat down, he would need it.

"How did you find me?" Jack wondered curiously as he pocketed the photo and rocked back on his chair, stretching out his legs to rest his feet on the table.

"If you didn't want to be found then you shouldn't hang around in places so swallowed by shadows," the man offered with a sly smirk and Jack rolled his eyes, wizards were weirdos.

"What do you want, John?" Jack questioned although he was almost a hundred percent certain that 'John' wasn't his real name, he had nothing else to call him by.

"You missed your last session."

"I can blow it off if I want, all you do is... what is it again? Oh yeah, nothing."

"I assure you, its not nothing."

"You promised me magical powers and I haven't got magical powers, you've been stringing me along for months with no result. Its a waste of my time."

"These things take time, Jack, muggle bodies can't ordinarily handle magic power coursing through them and finding a way for them to survive with it is tricky. We could give you magical powers at any time but it would kill you, you'd burn up and die within a day or two, drastically less if you actually performed any magic. Patience is a virtue."

"Well its not one of mine," Jack snapped irritably and the man who called himself John tilted his head to one side, studying him with an expression that reminded him of how people looked at bugs, "maybe I don't want magical powers anymore."

"Have you forgotten how we helped you out with your issue of the people who you owed money to?"

"No."

"Good because my organization is very interested in helping out those participating in our experiments, is there anything else on your mind? That you want?" John questioned and Jack hesitated for a moment.

"My son. He was injured and they can't heal him, he's lost an eye. It was done by magic. I want you to make him better."

"Yes, I heard about that. Unfortunately it was done by a curse that can't be healed magically, its designed to injure the victim worse if attempts are made."

"What kind of stupid magic system do you have?! We can heal this and that and this and that but the one freakin' thing that happens to Mikey and its beyond your powers?!"

"Even magic isn't all powerful. My niece is in a coma right now, we have been unable to revive her yet," John informed him looking saddened and Jack felt a flicker of sympathy but still thought it was stupid that magic couldn't find a way around either of their relations ailments, "we have to be patient, all things in good time including my niece's revival and possibly a way to heal your son. You just have to stay with us, there's even less chance for your son without."

"I suppose you're right," Jack begrudgingly agreed, 'muggle' medical care would help even less but still, he felt miserable about the whole situation. He wanted to hug Mikey more than ever.

John smiled again and slid a piece of paper across the table to him, detailing the next time and place that he was supposed to meet them. Jack picked it up lazily, scanning the words and admiring the strange - and more thean slightly disturbing - symbol belonging to John's organization. It was of a skeletal snake, twisted into a random shape with its head in the middle, mouth open revealing fangs and a forked tongue sticking out. It was moving. The actual image was moving. He'd always meant to ask about it, he glanced back up to ask John what it meant but the wizard was gone. Jack wondered if he'd ever get to teleport like that as he downed the last of his beer before looking back to the paper but the symbol was gone.

"Another drink please!"