Call Me Home

Chapter Six

Pictures of You

Draco smirked as he snuck up behind his wife, his footsteps charmed to be silent as his twin granddaughters' stifled giggles. Hermione was cooking and had not heard him come home for the night, so he had decided to surprise her much to Violet and Syrena's amusement. The four year olds were trouble makers to the extreme and often managed to get him involved in their schemes.

He should have learned his lesson when they had convinced him to buy them a dog . . . Rose had taken one look at the Labrador and given it to Hagrid, who apparently needed companionship now that Fang had died. What was marginally worse was that Draco had become attached to the hound and was hoping that Rose with let the girls keep it purely so that he could visit on occasion. Hermione point blank refused to let him bring a dog home to the Manor, it was her opinion that she already had to look after five little devils and she did not need a hellhound as well.

He had pouted but given in because whilst he was the Minister of Magic and ruled Wizarding Britain, it was Hermione Malfoy who ruled him at home.

"BOO!" he shouted as he came up behind her and grabbed her by her shoulders. She jumped in shock before whirling; smashing the hot ladle she was holding against his left cheek. Draco yowled in pain, his hand flying to clutch at the scalded flesh as Hermione's hands flew to her mouth in horror. Behind them, the Zabini Twins grasped at each other to keep from falling of their chairs due to their excessive laughing. This was because to them there was nothing in the world that was more fun than causing Grandpa Draco physical harm . . . other than winding Grandma Hermione up till she was screaming at them like a banshee.

"Merlin, Draco!" exclaimed Hermione as she helped him to one of the chairs, drawing her wand to begin healing his cheek.

"You hit me with a spoon," Draco spluttered in a shocked voice, causing his granddaughters to laugh harder than ever, "You could have killed me!"

"I doubt I would have killed you," Hermione rolled her eyes as a steady stream of blue light flowed from the tip of her wand and began soothing his burned skin.

"Why were you sneaking up on me anyway," she narrowed her eyes as she continued. He flushed and tried not to meet her gaze, though he shot guilty glances at the two toddlers sitting at the table.

"You two!" Hermione said in a stern voice, catching her husband's look and sounding surprisingly like Molly Weasley had whenever she had disciplined Fred and George.

"What did you two monsters do?" she glared at the two of them, the two girls quailing slightly under her stern gaze.

"Nothing, Grandma 'Mione," said Syrena, her lower lip trembling in an attempt to guilt their grandmother into not disciplining them.

"We didn't mean for Granpa Draco to get hit with the spoon," added Violet, but there was a mischievous look in her eyes that she had failed to hide. Hermione raised her eyebrow whilst Draco nursed his slightly swollen cheek in the background.

"We just thought it would be funny," said Syrena, glaring at her sister for giving away their prank.

"To see you jump," explained Violet when both Malfoys stared at the girls questioningly.

"You know what I think is really funny," said Hermione with a sly smile that sent shivers down Draco's spine, "That the tub of bubblegum ice-cream your Uncle Scorpius bought for you two is going to be eaten by Grandpa Draco and I tonight."

The girls looked at their grandmother in horror and Draco chuckled at his wife because really, it took one hell of a woman to be able to keep the Malfoy's in line.

(*)(*)(*)

Rose stared out across the grounds of Hogwarts, the view from her office window offering her a perfect vantage point with which to survey the area. She could make out a small crown of students swimming through the Black Lake and the sight of platinum hair flashing in the morning light brought a smile to her face. Her nephew had adapted to Hogwarts quite quickly and whilst he still had a few American mannerisms it was for the most part difficult to understand that he was from another country. Orion was full of surprises though, the entire family had been stunned senseless when the Sorting Hat had placed him in Gryffindor. Despite his unexpected sorting, Scorpius was not Harry and it filled Rose with joy whenever she saw how her brother doted on his son.

She missed her own girls; it had been a week since she had last been home. It was an incredibly busy time as the school year had just begun and her duties as Headmistress kept her from leaving Hogwarts till all was settled. Most parents willed their children to remain young but she eagerly wished for her girls to reach Hogwarts age so that she may see them every day, she felt hollow when they were not around.

She just hoped the pair weren't causing her parents too much trouble.

The school was quiet this year; it was the beginning of Orion's third year which meant it had been exactly a year since the Avery family had disappeared of the face of the earth. She tried not to think about them often, but Xavier and Kat had been two of her best friends so when they both had left on their international vacation she had not expected them to be gone so long without so much as a letter being sent to them. Matthew was supposed to begin Hogwarts next year, Riley would have long grown out of his toddler phase and yet she had seen neither hide nor hair of the four of them in two long years.

It stung that her best friends could have so casually forgotten them all.

Today on the other hand also marked the one year anniversary that her school was free of the troublesome, prankish, slightly insane Remy Lupin and his partner in crime, Demitria Pierce and for that she was duly grateful. Remy had been the grandson of a Marauder and the great-nephew of the Weasley Twins. It was a lethal combination, especially as he was the veritable leader of their generation Marauders, whom had been christened The Wolf Pack.

Rose found this amusing considering that Remy had been one quarter werewolf. She had been less impressed when she discovered that whilst he was unable to transform, he boasted strength and agility beyond that of a normal humans. Despite all of this, she had grown to like the student for his bright personality – especially after the incident in Orion's first year when a group of sixth year Ravenclaws had been bullying him. When Remy was done with the bullies they had spent a week in the hospital wing to recover from the savage mauling they had received in return for preying on the metamorphmagus' cousin.

Demitria had been another story all together. She was cold were Remy was warm and yet complemented him as the sun did the moon. The punkish girl was lethal with a wand, deadly with a knife – as those same Ravenclaws could attest to – and Rose had only ever seen her smile when around Remy. She wondered how her former students were doing and considered dropping them a line then thought better of it. Both of them had just finished their Auror training and where no doubt extremely busy with their new job. Nevertheless she made a mental note to check up on them soon, they were after all distant relatives of hers.

Her thoughts were diverted back to the children swimming in the lake without a care in the world. Rose envied them their childhoods; they reaped the benefits of what the Outcasts had once sown. She had given up so much in her youth for their cause; she had lost so much that she rarely thought about her own years at Hogwarts. They had been darker times, when bigoted individuals like Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had still held sway. When Neville Longbottom had tortured Slytherin students for his own sick pleasure and when Albus had still been alive. . .

Albus. Thinking of him often drove invisible daggers through her spine, paralysing her with her envenomed pain. They had grown up together, back in the days when she had still believed Ron to be her father, when their family had accepted them for who they were. They had climbed trees at the Burrow, read the books her mother had leant them, help their older cousins annoy Molly and Lucy and sometimes just spent hours making kissy faces at Teddy and Victoire till the part-veela would snap at them.

She had learned to cherish her memories of him rather than wallow in self-pity but at the same time she hated the world for being so cruel as to take him from them. He had been more than their leader in the Outcast rebellion. He had been their family.

She was started from her contemplative musings by the roar of emerald flames in her fireplace. She turned, a smile breaking over her face as Delphin walked out with a grin on his face.

"Hey, love," he said, smelling of the magical creature sanctuary he worked at as he took her into his arms. She wrinkled her nose and pushed him away, rolling her eyes at the look of mock annoyance on his face.

"You reek," she stated bluntly, standing on tiptoes so as to kiss him on his nose. Delphin raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is that how you speak to your husband after not seeing him for a week?" he admonished in a faux stern voice as he folded his well muscled arms and glared at her reproachfully.

"Yes," she said with amusement evident in her voice, "Especially if he forgets to bath in that week."

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "You know what it's like at the sanctuary this time of year." It was true; caring for such a large assortment of magical creatures during the fall was a sweaty task. Take into account that autumn was mating season for many of the creatures and she knew her husband was like to be working overtime to control them.

"You still need to take a shower," she pointed out.

"Is yours free?" he asked with a smirk and Rose shivered slightly in anticipation. She grinned as she led her husband to her private quarters and could feel his smirk deepen behind her without looking. Years may have passed and they may be parents but their sex life had remained as active as it ever was, so she was determined to ensure her husband was thoroughly cleaned by his shower.

After all, it was such a waste of water to shower alone.

(*)(*)(*)

Victoire walked into her living room holding two cups of tea and coming to sit beside her brother, yawning as fatigue from her triple shift at the hospital began to catch up to her. St. Mungo's was incredibly busy these days due to a recent outbreak of dragon pox and this was then coupled with the Law Enforcement Ward being in use for the first time in years. Aurors and Order agents were being injured a lot more regularly during their field missions and through the connections she had heard rumours of a mysterious cult that was gathering on the fringes of society.

It was what filled her heart with worry for her son was a fully trained field Auror. She had thus been thankful when Remy had announced his decision to take time off from work and see the world with Demitria. Victoire hadn't initially been fond of the rebellious girl but had accepted her warmly once she saw how happy she made her son, even if the two youngsters were too stubborn to admit that they bore deep feelings for each other. When they had moved in together, Nana Molly had raised quite a few protests about the arrangement but her protests have been quelled by Victoire who cared more for her son's happiness than for old fashioned values.

Louis had come by to talk about their sister's new lover. Dominique had shocked the family by falling in love with a muggle and had then put down her wand when he had stated that magic made him uncomfortable. Louis and Victoire had both argued with their sister that magic was a part of who she was and that she shouldn't have to change herself to be loved. Dominique countered that some things were worth being sacrificed when it came to love.

Their wedding was a month away and the family had no choice but to accept it. They had learned the hard way what could happen when they didn't accept the choices of those they loved . . . it had cost Albus his life and son but it had softened the Weasley's ire towards Slytherins and their ilk.

The sibling's conversation was interrupted by a harsh knocking on the front door. Puzzled as to who would be calling at this late hour, Victoire went to answer it. Louis stood and went with her, his hand grasped around his wand. As a journalist he too had heard rumours of the Cult and knew that his it was unwise for woman, even those as ferocious as his sister, to be answering the doors so late into the night. The fact that her husband was an ex-auror and her son an active Auror made it that she was also as good a choice as any for a victim.

Victoire opened the door, exposing the sight of a regal looking woman standing on the threshold. The woman was extremely beautiful and well dressed, carrying herself with an air of haughtiness and superiority that instantly caused the Weasley's to dislike her.

"Is this the Lupin residence?" inquired the woman as she surveyed the siblings with a nasty expression on her face, as if she had just smelled something distasteful.

"It is," said Victoire, "And you are?"

"Opalneria Pierce," was the response, spoken in a tone that implied that they should already know this for some strange reason. Victoire frowned at her son's lover's mother, curious as to why Opalneria would have shown up on her doorstep. From what she had heard of Opalneria, she was an extremely vindictive person and Victoire had no intention of letting her in.

"I have come for my daughter," sniffed the woman, "I am told she has been staying with your son." Victoire felt her brother tense behind her at the manner in which the woman said the word; it was if she was considering speaking another term entirely. Instantly, Victoire felt her temper begin to grow.

"Surely you know that Remy and Demitria are currently in Spain?" scoffed Louis, his expression and voice icy. He regarded his nephew and niece as his own children, especially considering his own sexuality made it unlikely that he would ever have children of his own. It was not the first time they had had to deal with people who looked down on them because of their mixed bloodline.

"I did not know," Opalneria responded, "If I had then I would surely have put a stop to it . . . I cannot have my daughter cavorting about with such halfbreeds." Victoire felt Louis lay a restraining hand on her shoulder and she realised that her wand was sparking dangerously in her grasp. Opalneria stared at the brilliant red sparks warily and took a step back, intelligent enough to know she had caused grievous offence.

"Halfbreeds?" echoed Louis, despite him being the one holding his sister back he was trembling with rage.

Opalneria sniffled. "I did not mean to cause offence but surely you two must know what a freak that boy is," she said after a few minutes of silence.

"I happen to be his mother," spat Victoire, and she felt no shame in punching the older woman in the face hard enough to break her perfectly sculpted nose.

(*)(*)(*)

"You planning on coming home tonight, Scor?" asked Lily as she stepped into his office, smiling at her boyfriend of two years. Due to the nature of running such a massive conglomerate, Scorpius often worked late at this time of the year and Lily often found herself going to bed alone. She always woke to him beside her, however late he finished he would always come home to her and for Lily that was enough.

After the first six months of their relationship she had finally acceded to her son and boyfriend's nagging and had moved into Scorpius' penthouse. She had however kept the ownership of her own flat and leased it out; the monthly rent she received allowed her to have her own source of income which made her feel better. It made her feel as if she was not mooching of her rich lover or being overtly reliant on him as a means to sustain herself. Not that money was much of an issue for her anymore, even though she refused to take Scorpius' cash she was a hard worker and was held a high ranking position in the Malfoy Holdings Public Relations Department.

"I'll be late," he grunted, not looking up from the mountain of paperwork on his desk. She frowned at the sight, Scorpius was a very good CEO but he had never learned the skill of delegating and often took too much onto himself.

"Scorpius," she said in a stern tone, one she had mastered over the years of raising one Malfoy, "This is from the Potions Department and this," she pointed to another stack of documents, "Is from my Department. It isn't your job to oversee my work, or Cassiopeia's for that matter." He looked up at her rather sheepishly.

"I just need to make sure that everything is running smoothly, Lily," he said, biting his lip as she trained her patented glare on him.

"Everything is running smoothly," she pointed out, "Come home, you haven't had a full night's sleep in weeks."

"But . . ." he fell silent when she raised an eyebrow. Lily had long ago found that Orion and Scorpius were extremely similar and what worked with one often worked with the other. She, like every other Malfoy consort who had come before, had learned that it often fell to her to keep the men in her family in line.

"Fine," he grumbled as he rose from his desk, pointing his wand at the door to lock it for the night before whisking her towards the fireplace. Still mumbling about overzealous girlfriends under his breath, he floo'ed them both home. Lily winked victoriously as she pecked him on the cheek and disappeared into the kitchen to make dinner whilst he declared that he needed to shower.

The penthouse had been made much more homely in the past two years, it no longer resembled the bachelor pad it had when Scorpius had been dating Adrianna Zabini. Now there were pictures on the walls and a distinct air of warmth and family that Lily had missed for a long time. She bit back a smile as she glanced at the picture hung beside the kitchen doorway, James had taken it when she and Scorpius had invited his family over for dinner. Lily was standing beside the stove, Scorpius behind her with his arms around her waist and his lips on her throat. Orion was sitting at the island, helping himself to pumpkin juice and feigning disgust at the sight of his parents romancing each other.

Lily hadn't even known James had arrived till she saw the flash of the camera and turned to see him in the doorway. It was one of her favourites because it wasn't staged in the slightest and so perfectly represented her family.

She had also been thrilled that the relationship between James and Scorpius had grown so significantly in the past couple of years. Both parties had initially started getting along for her sake as they were both important to her, but over time they had built a solid friendship. Orion also had taken to his younger cousins quite well and despite the slight age difference was quite close to Trystane and Daniel – of course his favourite was Remy . . . Lily had discovered early on that all the children idolised Remy.

"What's for dinner?" asked Scorpius as he came into the kitchen, sniffing at the tantalising aroma of braising meat.

"Lamb chops and potato," answered Lily, shaking her head as his eyes seemed to glaze over at the thought of food. One thing that hadn't changed since she had first met him had been his prodigious appetite.

"What's the occasion?" he asked after a while as he began to wonder why his wife was cooking one of his favourites.

"How often do we get to spend an evening together?" she shot back and he instantly felt guilty. He had been really busy with work and Orion had taken up a lot of his time during the holidays which had meant his time with Lily had been cut into quite a bit.

"Not often enough," he agreed with her unspoken judgement.

Dinner was served and they tucked in heartily whilst making small talk, it was only once the meal was over and they were both on the sofa, her head nestled on his shoulder with his arm slung around her did he say:

"We're going to be doing this at least once a week from now on."

"Really?" she curled up against him in pyjama bottoms and one of his t-shirts, no make-up on with her hair tousled from her shower.

"Really," he repeated, pressing his lips to hers and she giggled as she moved to straddle him, the movie completely forgotten.

(*)(*)(*)

Aurora dipped her brush into the dollop of blue before streaking it across the blank canvas, forming the first vestiges of what would soon be the summer sky. Her emerald eyes shone with a childish delight as she painted, revelling in breaking in the professional set of artist brushes her Uncle Hugo had bought her – Cassiopeia had recently tried adopting a sterner hand in raising her daughter as she didn't want Aurora growing up to be a haughty, spoiled princess – but this had little effect considering that the young Potter had every one of her male in her family wrapped around her little finger.

"Hey, daddy," she said, smiling as she saw his Shadow recoil as if struck. From what she had heard her mother say, daddy was supposed to be invisible to everyone but Cassiopeia. Aurora didn't understand this though, she had never had a problem seeing her father although this was first time she had plucked up the courage to speak to him.

"See . . . me?" asked Albus weakly, flitting to kneel beside her easel as he watched her trace the rays of the sun across her still wet sky. His daughter truly was a talented artist, even at age eight she could capture a landscape so exquisitely that her parents were often staggered to see her art.

"Yes," she shrugged her small shoulders and turned to face him, her delicate fingers moving out to brush his icy silhouette. She didn't flinch at the cold, rather her smile widened as for the first time she was able to touch her daddy so to speak.

"Auro . . . ra," he whimpered, not understanding how she could see him, tears of black diamond forming in his eyes as he reached out and brushed his hand against hers in a perverse imitation of holding hands.

"Do you like the picture?" she asked in a voice filled with childish innocence.

"Very . . . pretty," he murmured.

Satisfied, she turned away and returned to her painting, the silver brushes moving deftly as she formed grassy hills dotted with red blooms and a stone-strewn stream, gushing from an orchard of apple trees. Albus found himself blown away by her skill, the landscape was gorgeous – smudged and minutely haphazard from her youth – but still so picturesque that he felt himself being drawn into it.

Aurora grinned happily when she was done, looking out the window and noting that the sun was now a molten slash across the horizon. She wiped her fingers across her dress, staining the pale pink cotton with vivid streaks of paint before she felt her door slide open.

"Time for a bath, Aurora," said Cassiopeia, her eyes widening as she saw Albus sitting on the edge of their daughter's bed and watching her with such longing in his eyes that it stung her soul with needles of white hot iron. She forced a trembling smile to her lips as Aurora pouted but complied, then turned to the dark outline on the bed.

"I love you, daddy," she said before scurrying off to the bathroom.

Cassiopeia felt her heart shatter just as it had twice before.

(*)(*)(*)

James walked with an easy dignity that he had come to master over the years. His face was an iron mask of courteousy, held in place to hold back his powerful emotions on the subject in mind. He had been called to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by an owl from Hugo's office on urgent business concerning The Cult. It would seem that after months of stumbling blindly in all their dealings with the mysterious group they had finally managed to achieve something concrete to go on.

He nodded briefly in greeting at Hugo's secretary before entering the office, biting back a scowl when his eyes fell on Blaise Zabini, Director of Ghost Division. It was no secret that he detested their organisation, he felt that there should be a certain degree of honour and nobility amongst the magical world's law enforcement agencies. Blaise, for his part, maintained that James just didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done and he would sincerely like to see one of his precious Order agents pull of an assassination as flawlessly as Ghost Division could.

"James," acknowledged Hugo, able to put on an air of familiarity because they were behind closed doors and also eager to diffuse the tension that he knew existed between the two men. He was spared further unrest by the timely arrival of Kingsley, who although aged was still as active and strong as ever. The bald-headed man nodded warmly at them all, his brow furrowed in confusion as he noted the other attendees.

"Hugo," James shook his hand and nodded cordially at Blaise before taking a seat and hoping that Hugo would get to the point of their meeting quickly. It did not bode well that the Head of the Department had assembled the Heads of the Aurors, the Order and Ghost Division – all they needed was Scorpius Malfoy and the Outcasts would be represented as well.

"Now that we all are here," said Hugo, "Blaise, if you would be so kind." James noted that Hugo was speaking in a very agitated tone of voice.

When Hugo noticed that he was been studied, he shrugged and mouthed, "He hasn't told me yet." James stomach tightened as if filled with lead, if Blaise had so far been silent then that meant it was a matter that was far above his own pay-grade.

"Two years ago we sent our best agent, Katherine Avery, to infiltrate the Cult of Shadows," began Blaise, instantly capturing James attention.

"Unlike the other agents who went before her, she was successful and has just been admitted entrance to their inner circle. However, she has uncovered something that is most troubling. This roll of film was sent for development by owl – it is unclear if she knew what the photos contained," he extricated a folder from his briefcase and placed in on Hugo's desk. Before The Head of Department could reach it however, Kingsley spoke in a terse voice:

"What of the aurors that were sent in to back her up?" James instantly whipped his head towards the two older men.

"You sent in aurors?" he asked incredulously. The aurors were not trained to handle such situations, they were their law enforcement forces – they were not agents.

"Both of them are fine," assured Blaise, "I received a patronus from him yesterday." James got the feeling that the conversation was being censored due to his presence. He scowled, not liking that they were keeping things from him.

"Who did you send?" he asked, but there was a startled gasp from Hugo. Whirling, he felt the blood leave his face at the horrified expression on the younger man's face. Without a word, Hugo handed him a stack of photographs that had been enclosed in the folder.

James heart sank.

The first photograph showed Cassiopeia and Aurora in the gardens of Malfoy Manor, and then there was another of the two of them in Diagon Alley. The next showed Hermione standing beside the stove, it was obvious the photo had been taken from afar. There were others; Draco, Hugo, Rose, Delphin, Scorpius, Lily, Orion, Ginny, Xavier, Kat . . .

If his heart had sank when he had seen the first picture, then it rose again when it saw the last set, filled with burning rage as he flicked through them.

Himself.

Alison.

Trystane.

Daniel.

All four of them were under surveillance by the Cult of Shadows.

Then the significance of the picture before that of his family sank in.

"Katherine has been made," he said grimly, clenching his teeth because he was furious that his sons were at risk. He knew better than most what the Cult was capable of and he was already planning on ideas to put his family under heavy guard. His boys were his life, he would be damned if anybody had the chance to harm them.

"We need someone to extract her immediately," agreed Blaise, and suddenly everything became clear because really, who else was skilled enough to go in. Who else had experience fighting Shadows?

"You want to send me in," stated James, his eyes still trained on the picture of his sons playing innocently in his back garden whilst Alison sat in the shade of a large pine watching them, "When do I leave?"