Thanks to: Cal, Colin Creevey, Bratwurst, RandomGerman and laceyowens50 for reviewing!
Questions:
Is Roxy going to get any action soon?
Depends on your definition of action and soon but I'd say yes, she'll be a bit more involved this book
Will James turn to the light or become completely evil?
Too spoilery to say
Will we ever see Tommy again?
If you mean will he get resurrected that's too much of a spoiler but if you just mean be in it in general then yes, Scorpius recently heard his voice and that's not the last you'll hear of him
Will Scorpius ever get apparation cracked?
Maybe, he did splinch himself that one time
Scorpius stayed a bit longer at the Embry's seeing how his friends were doing, not too much longer though because he didn't want his plans to get waylaid again. He went back outside with Lamb who then apparated him to the new base, it was actually his first time going to the new base and it struck him immediately as both better and worse then the original.
For starters, at least from the outside, it looked to be in a much better state of repair. The walls were old coral colored bricks but the dark roof looked fresh and new, the frames around the windows and doors were also not falling apart. The building itself was also several stories tall, more then the original base but it came at the cost of being very visually smaller otherwise. It was possible it was magically expanded inside but he knew Varanian disliked doing that, made it easier to detect or something. The surrounding area was more open, there were only a few patches of trees but it was mostly expansive fields and the land itself seemed generally flatter. There was a fence not too far off which seemed to serve as a barrier for target practice, it was too far to make out exactly who but several people were firing off at moving conjured targets and another looked to be observing, likely focused on making the targets.
Scorpius was given a few glances but no one paid him any mind as he made for the actual building, after all he knew Brutus was in the basement and they should recognize him. Inside he found it not that different to the original base aside from the obviously new layout, rather plain and bland but that was practical and these bases weren't meant as a home. It started to occur to him that he wasn't exactly sure where he was going, he made to try the nearest door while opening his mouth to ask Lamb but almost bumped into a familiar pockmarked face exiting the same room.
"Wow, hey Scor, long time no see!" Tobias Latimer exclaimed in surprise, reddish-brown eyes widening but a smile caught he edges of his mouth. Scorpius returned the smile, maybe he had been overreacting about everyone being mad at him after all.
"Hey Lat, how you doing?" Scorpius offered, his smile slipping away as he recalled Latimer had lost his father recently and that Latimer had attempted suicide in the past… He was looking well enough though, a little tired but then who wasn't these days? He carried himself with more confidence than he had in Hogwarts, making him seem taller despite being on eye level with Scorpius but his hair was as dark as Scorpius' was fair, longer too as it reached down past his ears but it was no longer greasy.
"Alright, busy," Latimer explained, moving his arms to draw attention to the fact he was holding a bundle of parchment, "Varanian wanted me to take inventory of everything we have and deduce what we need so we know what to ask the Ministry for, dunno when exactly the next meeting is but Varanian said it was urgent. I thought it wouldn't be that hard since I'm already having to work out food allotments and resources for everyone across not only this base but the other locations because we got to keep everyone alive as well as trained, there's more to it though and there's potions I've never even heard of that like the Healers are after and everything… someone's got to micromanage all this shit."
"Right…" Scorpius muttered, having not really expected that and was left wondering where his days went.
"So anyway, how's Molly?" Latimer asked, looking rather concerned and understandably so, he had been in Molly's year in Hogwarts and they were good friends, "I've been meaning to visit her but there's a lot to do, Varanian's AWOL a lot then with Annie and Dom dying someone has to pick up the slack keeping everyone organized for when we can move."
"I'm sure she understands," Scorpius brushed it aside, pretty confident Molly would if she didn't already, "And she's doing better, obviously she's been through a lot but she's recovered enough to move around and go outside now."
"That's great, she's probably been going stir crazy," Latimer smiled, looking relieved, "You should tell her to come here whenever she feels up to it, she's more than welcome and everyone's been worried."
"I will do that."
"So… I'm guessing you're here for Brutus?" Latimer wondered rather accurately, "Varanian said you wanted to talk to him."
"That's right."
"Well go on through," Latimer offered, jerking his head in the direction he'd just came through, "Brutus' in the basement, just have the guard let you down. When you're done consider getting some apparation practice in, Varanian said you might want to work on that."
"I know, thanks," Scorpius muttered, feeling his cheeks burn a little at the reminder of his failure as Latimer moved on past them to get back to what he was doing.
"Good luck, oh hey Lamb."
Scorpius composed himself and headed on through the door, finding himself in the kitchen. Opposite him there was more window then wall and completely open to give a view of the people training by the fence, it made the room feel much bigger than it was. Two other walls were occupied by cabinets and counters and the appliances expected of any kitchen, the diagonal tile gave it a country feel and all the colors were cool pastels. A large light-colored table also joined them, of the chairs had been dragged over to sit at the end of the counters and upon which sat the sole occupant of the room. As he approached, Scorpius realized he was sitting – though he stood once Scorpius entered - in front of a door which logic deduced led to the basement.
"Hey Scorpius," the guard greeted him in a far more neutral tone then his friend, understandable since Scorpius didn't know this boy though he thought he vaguely recognized him from Hogwarts. The teen was taller than him but also far ganglier, neatly cropped dark hair failing to disguise the fact his most visible feature were scars scoring his face that looked lycanthropic in origin.
"Hey…you…" Scorpius offered a little awkwardly as he didn't know this kid's name, the teen scowled at this, "I-"
"It's Prosper."
"Right, Prosper, good to meet you," Scorpius bobbed his head in acknowledgement, pretty sure this was the Hogwarts dropout PAW member they'd turned to their cause.
"Good to meet me?!" Prosper spluttered out, looking completely incredulous, "We've met already! We were in the same year in Hogwarts!"
"Not the same house though…" Scorpius pointed out, least he was pretty sure. Maybe his friends had a point about him not paying much attention to his classmates.
"Hufflepuffs always had Herbology and Charms with Gryffindors, we still had classes together for five years! Plus Astronomy and Flying were for all houses."
"Doesn't ring a bell…"
"I let you borrow my quill once?"
"I'm sorry, I guess you just have a pretty forgettable face," Scorpius offered, only making Prosper look even more confused and realizing how stupid his statement probably sounded when Prosper's facial scars were only surpassed by Agnes in terms of being easy to miss, "Look, Hogwarts was a long time ago, can you just let me see Brutus?"
"I don't know, do you remember who Brutus is?" Prosper spoke with heavy sarcasm as he moved aside, dragging the chair with him by one hand and using the other to flick his wand at the door.
"I- I'll ju- ju- just w- w- wait out h- here," Lamb stammered out from behind them, Scorpius spared him a glance to see the werewolf looking uncommonly uncomfortable as he took a seat about as far away from them as possible and kept his eyes on the ground.
"Come on," Prosper was saying and Scorpius looked back to see the teen was already descending, Scorpius quickly followed.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but much like most windowless basements, it was dark with the artificial light unable to provide to same warmth to the bare brick walls. This made it all the more disturbing it was juxtaposed by a childish atmosphere, the first thing that stood out to him was the brightly colored jigsaw rug scattered with toys for toddlers. Scorpius felt a chill creep through him as he reached the bottom despite the lack of cold down there, laying eyes for the first time on the Shadow Master's child.
The boy was only two or three years old, certainly no older than his own brother and in fact he supposed this child would also be his cousin. There was no mistaking the resemblance to Calderon, or probably rather to his twin, with short night black hair contrasting with his pale skin and dark chestnut orbs that met Scorpius' gray. Inside his mind a wail of despair was let out, echoing in the hollow of his mind so only he could hear. Another basement briefly flashed before his eyes, a basement the boy's mother and uncle had once been kept in…
"You have a visitor," Prosper said, snapping Scorpius from his stupor though Calderon continued to sob inside his head.
Scorpius tore his eyes from the boy, briefly skimming the rest of the bare room to finish taking in the contents: two beds, one obviously child-sized and some crayon drawings decorating the walls. Brutus Ashain had stood, his little boy running over to him and Brutus put a protective six-fingered hand on his shoulder.
You have to get him out of here, Calderon pleaded so desperately that Scorpius was starting to feel desperate himself, Don't let history repeat itself again
"Can't you take the kid outside or something?" Scorpius questioned of Prosper, despite Calderon's distress he understood why they'd want to keep him with his dad but that didn't mean he shouldn't be let out. Plus, he'd prefer to be alone with Brutus.
"Um… Well, I guess so since I'm supposed to do what you say," Prosper offered uncertainly, scratching at the back of his head, "But he's not really supposed to right now, he lost his outside privileges for-"
"Then just take him outside, its fine," Scorpius interjected dismissively, "Surely you can handle a toddler while we have a conversation, kids need fresh air not basements."
"As you wish," Prosper agreed reluctantly before gesturing at the boy, "Come on, Omega, want to go outside again?"
"I want go home," Omega said immediately.
"You know you can't right now."
"Can Dada come?"
"You know he can't right now."
"Just go and have fun," Brutus urged his son as the boy heaved a sigh, gently pushing the kid forwards as he was seemingly in agreement with wanting him to get some fresh air, "And be good this time, okay? Remember what we talked about."
"Yes, Dada, I good," Omega chimed up as he walked over to Prosper obediently, Prosper took his hand – which made the boy scowl – and led him up the stairs.
Scorpius waited until they were up the stairs, the loud clunk and vanishing of light from upstairs marking the door closing behind them. He glanced over at Brutus and closed the distance between them a bit, taking in his appearance which hadn't changed much since he'd last seen him a month ago. His dark chestnut eyes were large and at different angles and heights, his large bulbously nose slanted and his overly thin mouth curled to one side, his large ears also stuck out of his head at differing levels. There was no mistaking his uniquely deformed face but there was also no mistaking he was an Ashain, his eyes were still a dark chestnut and his hair extremely dark auburn which was slightly longer than it had been a month ago. For some reason, he almost felt like giving him a hug.
He looks so sad
"What do you want?" Brutus asked, his gruff voice too full of defeat to sound remotely threatening as he sat down on the bed. His hulking form slumping, making it more obvious one of his shoulders was higher than the other, "You know there's nothing more I can do, right? If stripping her of her magic and handing her into the Head Auror's hands doesn't help, dunno what the fuck else you expect."
"I'm not here because of that," Scorpius told him as he went over, withdrawing his wand and casting a quick Silencing Charm to prevent eavesdropping, "I need to know where Calderon's body is."
"Ugh, this again? It's not going to work," Brutus complained, rolling his eyes as Scorpius pocketed his wand, "Just let his soul go, Tommy's been through enough."
"I can't do that, I won't give up on him."
"I'm not sure I even know where his body is anymore," Brutus said with a sigh and continued before Scorpius could protest, "Last I heard she was moving him."
"Where to?"
"Hogwarts," Brutus admitted and Scorpius felt his body straighten in surprise, "She was going to put him in the hall of their ancestors, the Chamber of Secrets, and let Hogwarts be his tomb."
"Well… that's okay," Scorpius stated with mixed feelings, it was at least a location he knew and could work with but it was unfortunately nigh impossible to get into right now so that was rather problematic.
"Well good luck with your doomed plan," Brutus offered disinterestedly as he rolled over, going from sitting to lying on his back.
"That's not all I wanted to ask about, I need to know why she can come back from the dead," Scorpius continued but Brutus continued to lie there disinterestedly staring at the ceiling, despite having faith in his magic Scorpius was still compelled to glance at the closed doorway for reassurance they were truly alone and undisturbed before continuing, "I need to know because I can do the same."
"What?!"
Molly straightened herself up, dusting off the old suede jacket she now wore. Flan had been nice enough to procure it for her, it wasn't exactly the same as her usual one but it was close enough. It had surprised her how much just how much better she felt wearing normal clothes again, she still didn't feel completely comfortable in her own skin but getting to wear normal clothes after being bedridden and imprisoned went a long way to making her feel more normal. Normal was the new good. She let out a breath, not that she had put on the jacket for any normal outing.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to," a voice spoke from behind her, she turned seeing Oathan- both the small unconscious boy breathing raggedly in the other bed and the man in the mid-twenties which was just a manifestation of her poor mental health mingled with her Seer sight. It didn't even surprise her anymore.
She knew she was doing better. Physically she could no longer feel her ribs through her skin and the worst wounds had healed into scars while the weakest were gone entirely, she felt a lot stronger and no longer sleeping constantly or doped up constantly with potions. Then mentally… mentally she still felt she was doing better, she was working through things in her head but the hallucinations still continued. Flan still believed they'd most likely stop as she recovered and even though she was feeling better, logically she knew it would take longer than a month to heal but it didn't stop her worrying for her sanity, it just shoved it off to the side instead.
"I want to," Molly told him, even though 'he' didn't exist but she was starting to accept this was just life now. He was sitting beside his child self, chin resting on the sword of Gryffindor, "I'll be nervous no matter how long I wait."
Adult-Oathan said nothing, his violently violet eyes now focused on himself.
"I'm ready," Molly insisted though he didn't look away from the little boy, each breath seeming a battle for him. She pitied him.
"Don't pity me yet," adult-Oathan spoke up, still without looking at her and she let her gaze shift the child as well, "Every breath would be agony if I awoke, the slumber is painless. It's the last long rest we'll have for a long time, savor it while you can."
"I know but I still have to do this," Molly concurred, turning on her heel and striding out of the room.
She headed downstairs where the Leebins were, Scorpius and Lamb had already left. Flan's kids were playing Exploding Snap on the floor while he stood talking to his wife on the other side of the room, he stopped when he spotted her though. Instead he seemed to wrap up the conversation, finally giving her a kiss goodbye before moving over to Molly.
"You ready to go?" Flan asked of her and she nodded, "Then let's go."
"Do you remember the address?" Molly asked of him as they made their way outside, the weather very warm and welcoming.
"Indeed," Flan confirmed as they continued walking, needing to get away from the range of anti-apparation spells, "It's a lovely day."
"Yeah, shame no one's able to enjoy it."
"Guess the weather didn't get the memo about the word ending."
"I think this is far enough," Molly pointed out, fairly certain they were out of range, "Meet you there."
She saw Flan nod as she disapparated, her body compressing into nothingness as she focused on the location with determination. She reappeared with a bang in the open countryside, there was another crack and Flan was there beside her before she had time to take in the scenery. Rolling fields stretched out before her, a banner of clear blue above her with the shining down unhindered by the branches blocking it around Hogan's. And then there was the target, nestled in the crook of the hillside was the old abandoned cottage that had been her grandfather's home.
"Looks like we arrived unsplinched," Flan said and she glanced back to him, realizing he was looking at his arms as to make sure they were still attached, "Can't cast a spell but apparation is a-okay."
"Yeah, I dunno why Scorpius struggles with it," Molly admitted as she let Flan look around as well, allowing him to lay eyes on the cottage before starting to walk towards it with him, "When you get used to it it's like riding a broom, it's just something you just do not something you have to even think about."
"I guess he's just not used to it… Do you still him flickering?"
"Yup," Molly confirmed readily and sighed, "It really doesn't help me with figuring out whether I can trust him anymore, it was happening long before I was captured too so it's definitely not linked to my sanity."
"Maybe that's why he's flickering? Could be a manifestation of his your trust issues."
"I don't think so," Molly brushed it off and decided to elaborate, it was easy to talk to him even though she found herself caring less about it. She couldn't help but feel they'd already lost so it didn't really matter what was up with Scorpius, Oathan was the new priority, "You see, it's not like he's flickering in and out of existence but rather he's flickering between being himself and another person. The more it happens the more I'm sure of that, it's like he's flickering between being two different people."
"Hmm… Do you know who the other person is?" Flan asked as they reached the cottage, resting his hand on the sword of Gryffindor at his hip.
"No, it's too brief to get a good look. I do know they have dark hair and eyes though, it stands out because it's so opposite of Scorpius," Molly explained before jerking her head at the cottage, "Maybe I'll finally get some answers in here."
"Maybe," Flan agreed though his tone suggested a healthy amount of skepticism as he followed her inside.
It was cooler inside, out of the gaze of the sun and was rather bland all things considered. The walls were white and anything decorating them and had been removed decades ago, most things there had but there were still some large items of furniture left behind, unable to fit into the apartment her mother and uncles had moved into. They were covered in large white dust sheets, only making the room feel more empty and solemn, her grandparents had lived here but they'd also died here.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Flan questioned of her as he looked around, "To find this secret room?"
"Well you can do nothing, according to Roman only those of Magnus' bloodline can enter- kinda like Platform Nine and Three Quarters but more exclusive from what I understand," Molly explained as she recalled what her uncle had told her years before, she put a hand to the nearest wall and started moving along with her hand on it, "Sorry. You should still look around though while I look for this, maybe there's somethi- Woah!"
Molly almost fell off her feet as her hand slid through the wall without warning, she managed to pull herself back though and stabilize herself though. She studied the blank stretch carefully, seeing no discernable difference to the rest of the wall. Cautiously she stretched her hand back out to it and found it went through it again, it still looked solid around her hand but she could move it around as if there was nothing there.
"You found it," Flan realized it as he came over, reaching out his own hand to the wall but it didn't go through. He patted it like it was solid even though her hand was going through it just an inch away, she even heard the slap of skin on plaster, "Weird."
"Yeah," Molly agreed as she pulled her hand back.
"Least we know it still works."
"Yeah," Molly said again, taking a deep breath as her insides quivered nervously, "Here goes nothing."
Molly reached her hand out again but this time stepped forwards as well so when her hand went through the wall, her body followed. She had to blink as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, finding herself in a small closet-sized room. The walls in here were brown and looked like boards, there were shelves but only one had anything on it and she left it for the time being to turn back around. She could see back out into the room quite clearly, there was a slight haze around the edges but otherwise she saw Flan standing there as if no such wall existed.
"You still there?" Flan wondered a little anxiously.
"I'm standing right in front of you, it's a very small space," Molly told him truthfully, waving her hand but his expression remained blank as if he saw nothing, "You can't see me?"
"I only see the wall, I can hear you though."
"Cool."
"So is it there?"
"I think so," Molly confirmed, shifting her gaze to the right where a letter was staring her in the face. In fact it was on perfect eye level with her, almost as if it was planned.
"I'll erm… I'll leave you to it, I'll go look around like you suggested," Flan decided and moved away from the wall, "Tell me when you're ready."
"Thanks, Flan."
Molly took a deep breath before picking up the letter, there was also some kind of wooden puzzle box that it had been resting on as well but she decided to leave that for now. The envelope was fairly heavy, the thick good quality parchment probably contributed but she still thought it was probably still a decent length letter held within. She held up to her face so she could read the words written almost three decades before:
Molly Mavis Weasley
2024
"You heard me," Scorpius pointed out calmly, in contrast Brutus had shot bolt upright and his jaw was hanging open, "When I was rescuing my girlfriend I got shot through the heart and I died, I was dead and gone, I saw my buddy in this weird afterlife place."
"Maybe it was just a near death experience?" Brutus seemed to half ask and half guess though Scorpius had successfully regained his attention.
"Someone in real life was there, they confirmed I was dead and that I didn't get healing. The wound healed on its own and I came back."
"That's what happened to Sal…" Brutus mused aloud, his gaze trailing off with his words.
"I know, Brutus, that's why I need to know what you know about it."
"Well I don't have anything good to tell you," Brutus admitted with a shrug as he continued to gaze off thoughtfully, "Sal's immortality wasn't planned, she never tried to become immortal and doesn't know how it happened. It's as much of a mystery to us as it was to you."
"And in all this time, she never looked into what caused it?" Scorpius questioned, finding it hard to believe she wouldn't if she didn't know why it happened, "Not at all? She just accepted it as divine intervention with no questions asked?"
"We looked into it of course," Brutus told him rather begrudgingly, still not looking at him and idly started playing with his hands, "But we never found anything, we never figured out what caused it."
"You must have some idea what caused it, surely?"
"Look, the avenues I followed all led nowhere," Brutus said and finally looked back to him, "None of the theories panned out, though it's hard to tell since Sal often dallies with things not well documented if not unheard of so I could be wrong. Still, I suspect that it was more likely not any one thing that caused her immortality but rather a combination, alone it's not enough to defy death but shit just lined up together. I'm just fumbling along in the dark so who the hell knows?"
"Apparently no one," Scorpius muttered as Brutus' ugly mug scrunched up suddenly as if he was scowling, dark chestnut eyes drifting off focus again.
"Although… if its effecting you too then that should narrow down the possibilities, I never thought it applied to anyone besides her."
"What about Calderon?" Scorpius suggested while Brutus continued to look troubles, "its not unreasonable to think he could have the same thing as her, they're both so powerful and twins and all. I have his soul so it could've just transferred to me."
"If it applied to Tommy then you wouldn't have his soul!" Brutus scoffed, glaring at him like the suggestion was stupid.
"Maybe I took his soul before he could revive."
"I doubt it, his body never healed like hers or apparently yours did."
"Okay," Scorpius mused, not entirely convinced that meant it was nothing but it could still be other things so he'd leave it for now, "What about the wrist connection then? Maybe it's just her and that's why it links to me."
"You severed that connection," Brutus pointed out with a dismissive shake of his head, "Besides, didn't Lysander die and stay dead? If it was that it should apply to all of you, there was nothing different about your connection to any of the others."
"What's your theory then?" Scorpius questioned, gesturing for him to go on and noticed Brutus' gaze focus on his hand.
"Isn't it obvious?" Brutus breathed quietly and jerked his head in the direction of Scorpius' hand, the one with the Rune arrow scarred into his palm along with a line through it where Brutus had made him cut himself once.
"The Blood Runes?" Scorpius wondered in confusion, suddenly finding himself completely lost and eyed his palm looking for answers, "They've got nothing to do with immortality?"
"I know, quite the opposite, they left Sal comatose and barely alive after you activated. Do you remember that? After all think about it, how many times have you ever actually met Sal? How many of those times were you trying to save her life?"
"Never," Scorpius shot out immediately, "I remember her being in a coma or something after the Blood Runes but I never tried to save her."
"But you did because I did!" Brutus hissed, sounding very distraught and Scorpius looked back to see the deformed face even more contorted by his distress, "Don't you remember when I tricked you into giving your blood to the potion? Even if you didn't realize it was to save her at that exact moment in time, you still did it. We did it, we brought her back… I caused this."
"What's that got to do with me, though?" Scorpius wondered dubiously, not seeing how saving her would give him immortality.
"You put her into a coma by activating the Blood Runes, being connected to the Specters you destroyed nearly killed her. The magic I used works by having the person who caused the injury take it back- that's why it was important I make sure you willingly gave your blood- and restores her by binding her to you, she wasn't afflicted anymore because you weren't. On the flipside if she ever did this to you then you would be restored because she is and she would be restored if you did this again, it's called Tethering and as long as one of you is fine the other should be," Brutus explained and Scorpius suddenly felt cold despite the warmth, "This was alchemy, powerful restoration magic."
"Powerful enough to raise the dead?"
"It shouldn't be, that's the thing, it's only supposed to work for the specific magic you inflicted. It was often used amongst warring Celtic clans, they'd restore those they'd cursed as part of alliances later on but it didn't make any of them immortal."
"That's why you think it's a combination of things?" Scorpius realized aloud and Brutus gave a nod, "That something has somehow boosted this Tethering to defy even death?"
"It's too much of a coincidence otherwise, don't you think?" Brutus queried as he averted his gaze again, "That after being restored by Tethering she not only seems to become allergic to death but the person Tethered to her also mysteriously developed immortality?"
"Do you think it's just because she's so powerful?"
"Maybe, or it's something to do with being bounds to thousands of Specters which are just shadows of Dementors and are themselves immortal since they're not really alive, or it's something to do with the Blood Runes themselves," Brutus continued quietly and Scorpius looked back down at the scar on his palm, "None of the documented uses were to save someone from something as powerful as that and I noticed you cut yourself right over Tiwaz, maybe it enhanced it somehow. I don't know."
"It was glowing when I was in the afterlife…" Scorpius recalled unhappily, feeling the information starting to sink into his brain.
"I caused this, I caused all of this," Brutus whispered, his voice cracking as if on the cusp of crying but Scorpius found it hard to feel sympathy. After all he had caused this, he'd helped her set up the dominoes then watched her knock them out and probably also given her immortality.
"So fix it, Brutus," Scorpius snapped at him sharply, looking back up and seeing Brutus had let his head fall into his six-fingered hands, "How do I get rid of this Tethering?"
"You can't, there's no way to break the connection. There's nothing any of us can do now."
Despite being well aware that the letter had been addressed to her, Molly still felt chills creeping through her as she read those words. With trepidation she reached out, letting her fingers trace the aged ink that had long since faded with time. This was real, Roman had been right all those years ago. It had been in the back of her mind but she hadn't realized how much a part of her had doubted the truth of it until this very moment, her parents hadn't even met when her grandfather had written these words. And she had the gall to call herself a Seer?
Molly swallowed nervously and picked up the puzzle box before letting herself sink down to the ground, she put the box beside her and settled into a more comfortable sitting position to read the letter. This was it, this was maybe the answers she'd need to get a grip on putting her powers to good use and the end war. She turned the letter over, finding a wax seal of a letter 'M.' Whether it was supposed to stand for Magnus or Molly, both or something completely different she had no clue. Either way she cracked the seal and removed the letter, moving slowly as she found herself struggling with an irrational fear of missing something. She unfolded it to find there were several pages, all written in the same faded ink on the same aged parchment as the envelope. She started to read:
Dear Molly,
I'd say I hope this letter finds you well, or as well as you can be after your recent ordeal, but I already know for these words to be read at all you must be.
Molly stopped reading for a moment in surprise, her recent ordeal? He knew what she had been through? She wasn't sure whether to be ashamed or pleased, after all if he knew that much detail then it fueled her hope this would help her. She went back to reading.
Yes, I know what you've been through, I would not have chosen to send a letter through time if I was not confident of how things would fall into place. Though I confess you may find our correspondence disappointing, I don't have answers for you in regards to your powers. I know you'd like to see with the clarity you know I must be capable of to write this but not only am I unsure whether it's even possible for you, I wouldn't know where to begin describing my process.
You see, for me the visions began in infancy so it's been a part of me for as long as I can remember, honestly I live more in the future then the present and I always have. My mother died in labor which teaches an important lesson, Molly, that life and death are intricately linked. Unfortunately my father didn't see it that way and went mad with grief, I was treated cruelly and as the severity of the neglect I suffered was so great I ended up looking with my third eye, if I hadn't had them for stimulus I would probably be a drooling permanent occupant of St Mungo's.
It's because of this I am unsure whether you or anyone else can see like I do, it's possible my mind just broke in the right way to develop like this and it's not something easily replicated, I'd never claim I'm not damaged. Furthermore, when you learn to do something before you're even capable of stringing coherent thoughts together, it becomes something you just do as naturally as breathing or blinking and is not easily described. It is not aided by the fact my father also denied me an education so my magical knowledge is lacking, I am entirely self-taught and piecing things together yourself does not lend itself well to explaining this to others. So I hope you understand why I cannot help you in this regard, I have tried several times to think of what to say but I always find myself at a loss.
On the other end of the spectrum, I won't be telling you what I know of the future not because can't but because I simply have no desire to. Simply telling you what can happen is pointless, I could've told anyone that but I wanted to speak to you specifically. You're my granddaughter and our gift connects us through time and space, you're a powerful Seer in your own right and spelling things out to you would be insulting to the both of us. You already know what's coming and what you don't know, you'll discover in time. Don't despair though, Molly, I already know you can do this and the reason you don't is the main point of this letter.
You desire the defeat of the Shadow Master but find yourself at an impasse, it is more complicated than a fork in the road as her victory remains a strong possibility and further down the road a new window will eventually open but there are essentially two outcomes for her fall now. As you know the first outcome rests in your boyfriend defeating her in the present, if he is successful then by this time next year she will be gone and if he is unsuccessful then by this time next year he will be gone. The second outcome comes twenty years after this when Oathan Loren defeats her, no one else will be able to during that interim and if he fails it'll be years before another will be able to, some American I think.
You know this, you also know the latter is more likely but what you don't know is your ordeal is skewing things in favor of the latter. You're depressed, Molly, and even if you don't realize it this has an impact on your gift.
I touched briefly upon my troubled childhood and it got a lot worse, before I even hit adolescence I had become a bitter hate-filled person and I idolized the Death Eaters. I didn't care about their goals or ideals, I just knew it was cause chaos and I wanted to watch the world burn. I hadn't experienced kindness or love or any of that good stuff, even in my visions I was seeing only bad and it just reinforced my belief everyone was evil and the world deserved to burn. I chased after – I was living on the streets by then, my father had thrown me out years ago - them like lost puppy, naturally they didn't care much for me and wouldn't take me seriously, they were often cruel to me but I was used to that. Still I would help them, I would do horrible things- this wand I have isn't even mine, I murdered an innocent man and stole his wand. I've never claimed to be a good person.
Anyway, eventually I was injured in a skirmish and the Death Eaters naturally left me to die. I thought I was done for and foresaw as much, when I collapsed by the side of the road I never expected to wake up. I was found by some random muggles driving by though, they took me to the nearest muggle hospital- St Audrey's – and they saved my life, I wish I knew who those muggles were. It was mind blowing to me, I hadn't experienced such kindness before and I had long stopped believing people even were capable of such things. I saw the care people had for their loved ones in the hospital, even the concern staff had for their patients and my visions were no longer all bad.
It made me realize the grave error in my thoughts, not everyone was evil so screw the Death Eaters, but also that my emotions affected my power. I'd only been seeing what I wanted to see, I had stopped believing people could be good so I had stopped seeing any evidence of people being good, I'd closed myself off to it on a subconscious level so I couldn't see it anymore. Really it's a vicious cycle to become trapped in, I kept expecting to see bad because I was only seeing bad and I was only seeing bad because I expected to see bad.
And now you're falling victim to the same vicious cycle, you're only seeing things related to Oathan's future because you're giving up on Scorpius and you're giving up on Scorpius because you only keep seeing things related to Oathan's future. You have to snap yourself out of it, Scorpius' future may have less of a chance of success but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
If I had kept trailing after Voldemort then eventually I would've been able to join him, he was more likely to win then since I could've stopped him damning himself but now his failure is such a forgone conclusion this war isn't worth looking at. The future is not set in stone it is far more fluid, like water, like a river. You have twenty years to prepare for Oathan whereas Scorpius has just a year, of course Oathan has better odds of success but that doesn't mean Scorpius has none, he can do it if he finds the man of many souls.
Quite frankly, I don't actually mind if Scorpius or Oathan defeats her as both futures have merits. Naturally if Scorpius wins then the loss of life will be greatly diminished, more of our bloodline has a chance to survive but by the time Oathan wins, the world will have been irreparably changed forever. Life and death, remember Molly, they're intricately linked so a new world rising from the ashes after the old flawed world has fallen might now be a bad idea. Either way you're likely to survive and have a life, to find happiness and have a family so our bloodline continues.
I don't know which future is preferable and wouldn't mind Oathan winning but it's not my choice anymore because I am long dead by the time you read this, my death will have helped shape my children's future lives, put them on preferable paths, life and death. No, the choice rests with you now, Molly, you're the architect of fate now. That's why I think it's important you're viewing this as impartially as possible without having sealed yourself off to one particular future, a future you may find much happier so I hope you think on what I said.
I wish you all the best, Molly, with your recovery, your future and whatever path you choose to walk. I regret I could not meet you but just knowing you'll exist gives me more joy and comfort then you could know, I'll die happy and I hope you'll feel the same one far off day after a fulfilling life. Your family is proud of you, don't forget that.
Yours truly,
Magnus
Omega Riddle didn't like when they separated him from his Dada, he already was separated from his Mama, Vathan and of course Lazarus – he hadn't even realized he could be separated from Lazarus like this - so he really didn't like it. In fact, he lamented as he silently climbed the stairs with Prosper, there was a great many things about this place and these people that he didn't like. Like everything. From the rooms not being as nice as anywhere his Mama had shown him, to the toys not being as nice, to the people not being as nice, to the thing he didn't like the most: that they didn't let him go home. These were the enemies his Mama had warned them about, the bad people.
"And remember, Omega, you have to behave," Prosper spoke up as they reached the kitchen room where slaves made food, he saw for once there was actually a slave there sitting at the table, "Do you understand?"
"Yes," Omega said.
After all he knew that Prosper thought he had to behave but Prosper clearly had a messed up idea of what behave was compared to what his parents had taught him, obviously he wasn't going to listen to the enemies over his own parents. Mama had told him he didn't have to listen to anyone except her and Dada, everyone else was supposed to listen to him. He hoped when Mama found them – which she would, his Mama could do anything - she would kill Prosper with fire.
"That means no running off again and being nice, do you understand?" Prosper reiterated and Omega scowled at him, he wasn't a stupid – he could go to the bathroom all by himself.
"Yes," Omega said again though more testily.
"I just have to make sure, last time you made Bertie cry and that's not okay," Prosper continued and Omega just rolled his eyes, it wasn't his fault Bertie was a wimp who didn't like the truth. He hadn't seen most his family since like forever ago but you didn't see him crying about it - not anymore – so he didn't know what Bertie's problem was, "By the way, I um… I'm sorry for erm… you know, the whole imprisonment thing."
"Huh?" Omega wondered in shock at Prosper's apology before realizing he was just speaking to the slave.
"I- I- Its o- ok- okay," the slave brushed it off though he looked incredibly uncomfortable and his wrist was shaking, the poor slave. Omega hadn't realized they were holding slaves prisoner too, hopefully his Mama would save the slave too.
"I'm still sorry," Prosper repeated and Omega shook his head, if he was really sorry then he wouldn't be holding them all prisoner, "Well come on, Omega, let's go outside."
Omega said nothing, just allowing himself to be led away – Prosper was still holding his hand – by his captor. Prosper took him outside where it was sunny, though somehow it never seemed as warm as where they lived. There were people out further away but it was the bird calls that captured his attention, he could hear them chattering about mostly food - animals seemed to talk a lot about food – but they were there and he was pretty sure none of this people could talk to them like he could.
He didn't know of anyone else who could except for Lazarus, that's why he thought they'd be perfect to get a message out. Lazarus was with Mama after all, if the birds told him then he could tell her where he and Dada were then she could save them. The bad people wouldn't even know to stop the birds, as long as they didn't see him talking to the birds anyway because then they might suspect. The problem was they never let him be alone, not outside where he could actually speak to the birds anyway because they didn't want him to run off. In hindsight, Omega thought maybe he shouldn't have tried running off the first few times they let him out, maybe then they'd be less strict now.
"See Bertie? Didn't I tell you its nice outside?" a female voice was saying.
Omega's eyes shot towards the source like a homing missile, finding Bertie and Bertie's own Mama, Crystal. They were much closer than the other bad people doing magic further away, she was just walking him slowly around and despite continuing to cling to her for dear life, was looking a little relaxed. Bertie was a bit bigger then him and was older then him, probably around Vathan's age but he was just weird. He wasn't like Vathan at all though, he was just weird and got upset over everything… though in thinking about it, maybe he would serve as a good distraction?
"Hi Bertie!" Omega called out loudly and he saw Bertie freeze, his usual terrified expression returning as Omega waved with his free hand.
"Omega, didn't I say-" Prosper tried to chastise him.
"You said be nice!" Omega insisted desperately, "I be nice. I want say sorry… like you."
"Really?" Prosper wondered, ogling him in surprise then glancing at the other two who were watching, "Is that okay with you?"
"If he wants to say sorry, I suppose so," Crystal agreed and Omega tried very hard not to smile as the adults led them closer until he was facing the bigger boy, he had cropped dark hair and miscolored eyes darting around nervously.
"Bertie, I sorry," Omega told him in a way he hoped sounded sincere but he wasn't as good at people words as he was at bird or snake words, the again birds and snakes were simpler then people. Bertie said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement and Prosper let go of his hand as he made to give Bertie a hug, after a second of surprise Bertie hugged him cautiously back. Omega smirked and stood on his tiptoes to whisper into Bertie's ear, "Sorry I was wrong. Mama is gonna kill you, kill you and your family! You can watch the burning, burning and screaming as all of the skins go burning off-"
"No!" Bertie cried and pulled away, starting to panic and hyperventilate as his body shook violently.
"Omega!" Prosper barked at him, pulling him further from the boy as Crystal knelt down to try comfort her son, "What did I tell you!"
"I saw it! I saw Mama killed the bad people and you are all of the bad people! You will burn! Burn and scream and die!" Omega yelled at him, Bertie's body seized up in terror and his breathing worsened, "All of you! Burning and screaming and burning and screaming til you all dead!"
"Can you get his Calming Draught?" Crystal pleaded of Prosper.
"Accio Calming Draught!" Prosper cast and Omega started to back away while he was distracted to ready his escape, Crystal's attention was completely focused on trying to soothe her weirdo kid.
The vial flew into Prosper's hand and his captor knelt down to be at Bertie's level, getting him to drink the contents of the vial. Not that Omega saw that as he bolted, tearing away from the enemies as fast as his little legs could carry him, pushing himself to run faster than he ever had because he knew he didn't have long and could already hear them calling his name. He made a beeline for the tree line, they would give him some cover and were where birds were.
"BIRDS!" Omega yelled to them in their language as he came to a halt in a small clearing, spinning around and holding up his arms, "BIRDS, COME TO ME!"
"A human who can speak?"
"What is this?"
"How odd!"
"Yes I can speak!" Omega told them loudly – loudly as he could when he was panting anyway - over their chattering as they flocked around, those in the vicinity coming to the trees around, "I need your help! I have no wings so I cannot escape like you, my friends, I need you!"
"What can we do?"
"Poor human."
"How can we help?"
"I need you to remember this location and pass the message along, fly far from here and tell all who will listen to spread the word," Omega pleaded with them desperately, "You need to find my brother, you will know him because he can speak to you as well. You need to tell him where I am so he can get help, please, I need-"
"Omega!" Prosper called and Omega stopped speaking immediately, the birds immediately scattered at the rude interruption. He made a pitiful attempt to run but Prosper was faster and grabbed him quickly, "What do you think you're playing at?! This is why you can't go outside more!"
Omega just shrugged, instead allowing himself to catch his breath. He'd done all he could, he could only hope it was enough and they'd spread the word. Prosper gripped his arm tightly as he started marching him back towards his prison, Omega found himself smiling this time and didn't fight it. Omega thought his Mama would be very proud of him when she came to save them.