Coming back down the next morning Stephen was feeling quite refreshed, stretching as he moved about the kitchen he leaned against the counter and looked over at the people still eating breakfast. In contrast to his normal behavior he wore a brilliant smile. Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're looking positively chipper."
"Oh yeah, feel great, tongue's a bit worn out though," Stephen shrugged before grabbing a cup of coffee.
Ron looked up from his platter of food and looked at the boy in confusion. "Why would your tongue be tired?"
Lestrange stared flatly at the boy before sighing heavily. "I weep for whatever poor girl you end up disappointing."
"What's that mean?" Ron glared back at the insult.
"Honestly I'm in such a good mood, I won't demonstrate it to you on your sister," Lestrange snarked, causing Ginny to sputter and cough and her mother to look incensed. "It's a joke Molly. But honestly, you should go ahead and get your son up to speed, his mouth should be useful for more than just eating. Lord knows nothing that comes out of it is needed."
Fred and George were guffawing at their brother even as others at the table flushed from the crude implication.
Lestrange took a plate and started in on his breakfast as he saw his cousin arrive and start to move over to the coffee pot. "Where's Rose?" Sirius asked Bella's son because after his goddaughter had gone upstairs to a room which had enough security measures put on it to make Azkaban look unguarded.
"Sleeping still, I made sure she had a very loud and very memorable birthday," Stephen grinned before looking confused and tapping his chin. "I did remember to untie her from the bedposts… I think."
The door opened and Rose, looking like she had just woken up with her nightgown barely hanging on, shuffled in. "You good there Rosey?" Stephen asked as she winced when she sat down.
"Just a bit sore, never been spanked like that before," Rose muttered and Ron made a weird noise.
"I thought you two were shagging, why would he spank you?" Ron asked and this caused some more giggles.
"Molly please, I am begging you, educate your son because I can only hold myself back for so long," Lestrange pleaded as this would be the funniest gossip he could spread around Hogwarts to start off the new year.
"I mean," Ginny nodded since she was thankful that the only other people to hear this outside of her family that still went to Hogwarts were Hermione and Rose. "If he starts running around the school asking other people what Lestrange was talking about, I'd probably just curl up and die."
The floo flaring in the den made others look towards the door and it opened so that Minerva could walk in with a stack of letters. "Good all the children are awake, I have finished finalizing the Hogwarts letters, despite the issues we've been facing."
She moved around and started to hand out the letters which included the book lists, Hermione gasped when she opened hers to see a shiny prefect badge in her hand. "Oh congratulations Hermione," Rose happily said as her friend had expressed an interest in the position. She wouldn't have minded it but Hermione had really been working at it since her first year.
"No way," Fred cried out and that caused others to turn their heads.
George snatched something out of Ron's hand. "Has to be a forgery, Lestrange did you do this?"
The twin held out the other prefect badge and Stephen looked at it with a raised eyebrow. "I like to keep my pranks believable, no one would believe Weasley could make prefect, it has to be a mistake."
"It is no mistake," Minerva huffed at the insinuation that she gave out the wrong letter.
"He has no business being prefect," Lestrange complained at the woman.
Frowning back at the boy. "And am I to take it that it should have been you, because under no circumstances was that ever going to happen."
"God no, I'd probably be an even worse choice, but if anyone should have gotten it, it was Longbottom," Stephen answered back. "He's pretty much the only boy you have that isn't a troublemaker."
"Only you have been a nuisance to me over the years," Minerva responded sharply.
Chuckling to himself Lestrange shook his head. "You do know that when Finnigan isn't blowing stuff up he's determined to become an alcoholic before he graduates, he's been trying to make his own magical booze since second year. And Thomas, while not as mischievous as the rest of us, has been sneaking into the girl's showers down by the pitch. He's seeing one of the Patils, or both, and maybe they know about it, not my business."
"But Weasley here, well I doubt he'll go a week without trying to push around the younger kids. Not like he's going to be able to reign in those two knuckleheads he calls brother and if he tries with me, I might shove his mangled corpse in your bed sheets just to prove a point," Stephen warned and got Ron to glare at him for saying he'd do a bad job before he even had a chance to do it.
Sighing, Minerva looked at Ronald and considered what Lestrange had told her, it frustrated her that those were not illegitimate complaints. "Mr. Weasley I expect you to take this responsibility seriously," Minerva stated because she wasn't going to change her mind unless she saw an actual issue.
Lestrange figured that would be the closest he'd get to her admitting she made a mistake when he opened the letter to see the book list and spit out his drink. "Oh what is that?" Lestrange wiped his lips from his outburst. "Now I know this is a prank."
"What's the problem now?" Rose asked because she rarely saw Stephen get so worked up over little things, so his letter probably just called him names or something since Professor McGonagall likely didn't bother to give him a book list since he wouldn't follow it anyway.
Leaning over to read Rose's letter to ensure the deputy-headmistress hadn't tried to prank him, he glanced at the books and saw it was true. "Defensive Magical Theory? Lestrange spat out in disgust. "For fifth years?"
"It was the book chosen by the new defense professor," Minerva said back and somewhat understood the distaste. The adults who knew of the book were giving her an odd look as well.
"Wait," Fred and George said before they swapped book lists. "That's our defense text as well?"
"What, is it too advanced?" Hermione inquired because if the new professor was assigning her a seventh year text she was going to enjoy it quite a lot.
"The exact opposite," Sirius admitted because he'd seen the book once in the Hogwarts library, it was a funny read for how lame it was. "It's a book I'd use as a target while practicing real spells."
"So you hired this mutt then, it's his doing, I see. Well done cousin, I actually have a shred of respect for you with this prank. Now what are we really getting? Dokhan's Most Vile, or is it Roshmania's One Thousand Curses for Vengeance?" Stephen asked for the real books he'd be requiring.
"I wasn't hired," Sirius clarified and then looked at his cousin. "And I definitely would not recommend those books."
"Why not, everyone in this family had read them before fifteen, they are very educational," Stephen pointed out but he knew it was unlikely that books teaching the Dark Arts would be allowed.
"No, due to recent incidents, namely the frightening number of brutal attacks on defense professors. Those who had extended an offer have rescinded their desire to educate at Hogwarts, until certain elements are no longer present," glaring down at the child responsible for most of them but when he just shrugged in response Minerva cleared her throat and continued. "As such the ministry passed a vote that allows them to fill the position if we are unable to and the new defense professor is Dolores Umbridge."
"You hired that nasty bitch," Remus said indignantly. "Why not just stab me in the back as well."
"Professor Lupin," Hermione said in shock that the werewolf was so antagonistic at just the person's name.
"She's the one who wrote the anti-werewolf laws that made me quit," Remus explained. "She's been a thorn in the side of anyone who isn't a proper pureblood for years."
"You seriously hired her?" Rose asked the professor because that sounded like lunacy.
"I did not have a choice, no one qualified applied for the position," MInerva answered.
"As if Dolores has the necessary qualifications," Lestrange scoffed. "What, is Alastor too scared to come back for another year?"
"He's busy working for the headmaster to fight against your father," Minerva answered with the reason as to why they did not just rehire the ex-auror.
"Then why didn't you hire that idiot over there then, he's not doing anything with his life, he could be useful. He used to be an auror so I'm sure he had some qualifications," Stephen pointed at Sirius who grunted in annoyance at the insulting claim.
"While Sirius did in the past, due to his incarceration his mastery had lapsed and he will be required to demonstrate his capabilities before he could be hired on as a defense professor," Minerva explained because she had actually asked Sirius to take the position and it was him who told her couldn't just yet.
"Damn," Stephen snapped his fingers. "No chance you'd move Snape to that class and hire a new potion's professor?"
"That might have worked but as it stands, it is too late to make the change," Minerva sighed as that had not been something she considered doing and it might have worked as well.
Groaning because this was probably going to be a total snoozefest of a year in defense that Stephen just got up from the table. "Well might as well get our shopping done now, we might even beat the crowds since we got our letters before the other students waiting on the post."
Stepping out of the floo into the Leaky Cauldron, it was odd for Stephen to finally be shopping with Rose, as in every past year he'd only met up with her after she had made her purchases but walking alongside her was quite pleasant actually. Heading into Gringotts, Molly went over to the exchange counter in a hurry because Minerva had said that some of the money Stephen had pilfered could be used to purchase her children's school supplies and other necessities. Lestrange hadn't cared at all what happened to the money so for the first time in years Mrs. Weasley was going to be able to get all her children first hand supplies.
"Hey Lestrange," Ginny called out as she watched her mum walking ahead of them with a large sack of galleons. She saw the boy glance at her and she pulled him into a hug. "Thanks for killing drug dealers and stealing their money."
It took him a second but Stephen laughed quite loudly that he was being praised for his violent tendencies. "Oh Gin-Gin, you are a riot," Stephen smirked as he broke off from the group and started heading to Knockturn Alley. Hearing footsteps following he turned his head and saw that Rose, Hermione and Ginny were behind him.
"We want to go shopping with you, and it would be nice to see more shops that the Alley has to offer," Rose smiled as she looped her arm around Lestrange and pulled him down the stairs.
"Well it's not like you have to worry about anyone hassling you when you're with me," Stephen surmised as he was a known quantity to the usual suspects one would find down in the darker section of the shopping area. Even as a little kid who seemed an easy target, after spilling enough blood, regulars managed to remember his face as someone you did not wish to accost.
"Well first I'm going to get my potion supplies," Lestrange pointed to an apothecary tucked into a corner. It was an easy enough door to miss if you just walked straight forward, which benefited the shop by not being frequently checked by the aurors that patrolled the alley.
"Couldn't the one in the main alley get you what you need?" Hermione asked as Lestrange held open the door for them. And upon entering their senses were assaulted with strange smells from the ingredients kept inside.
"Not if I wanted to get away with crimes," Lestrange answered flatly as he went up to the counter, letting the three girls meander around the shop to see that besides the common ingredients everything else on the shelves was a bit more vile.
"Ugh, is that a real harpy womb?" Hermione retched at the bag on a hook.
"Yes, don't touch it," Lestrange shouted before turning back to the shopkeep to assure him that he wasn't in the market for that product. "I don't need the womb, I'm not trying to breed a roc this year."
"Is this, veela?" Ginny gulped seeing a jar filled with skin.
"One of our best sellers," the man behind the counter answered. "You ladies looking to buy? They make a top of the line beauty potion, guaranteed to get rid of any wrinkles, crows feet and blemishes in minutes for twenty-four hours."
"Um no thanks," Rose cringed because she didn't much like the idea of rubbing anything made of a person's skin on her own.
"Did you just want to get your normal creams then?" Lestrange asked since the girls didn't seem interested in brewing their own high end cream like most socialites did.
"We'll stick with those thank you," Hermione nodded as she moved Ginny away from the skin and found a box full of assorted insects which were less disgusting than the pickled baby hearts.
Lestrange shrugged and turned back to the man who shook his head. "Not sure why they'd want to do that, those muggle creams use foreskin in them. Disgusting," the surly man said as he grabbed the usual and a few extras for the customer.
"That place should be shut down," Hermione huffed once they got outside the shop. It was nothing like the store she had been purchasing from for the last four years.
"Why? He's only selling direct to the consumer. Unless you wanted to buy all your potions brewed by somebody else who would be purchasing the same things anyway, he's just making those hard to obtain ingredients available to those who don't want the markup of buying from a potion company," Stephen asked as the group moved to the next shop.
"Ah Lestrange, my favorite customer," Mr. Borgin grinned even if it faltered seeing the other witches that he knew were not dark come in behind him.
"You say that to everyone you old suck up," Stephen rolled his eyes. "Has it ever worked?"
"Considering your uncle's continued patronage, then I would say yes," Mr. Borgin answered as he kept an eye on the witches.
"Don't worry about them, I warned them not to touch anything," Lestrange explained as he went over to a bookshelf and started to read the bindings. "I've been looking for a copy of that for ages."
"A good eye as always," Mr. Borgin stated as he came over to see what caught the young dark lord in the making's attention. "wújìn de tòngkǔ hé zhémó"
"The ancient Chinese wūshī were notorious for their torture techniques," Lestrange grinned and nodded before turning to the girls. "But unfortunately, since the early nineteen hundreds, the Chinese ministry has expressly forbidden the dissemination of their historical magical texts outside their borders."
"It's pricey," Mr. Borgin warned, because he only ever got his hands on something like this once every couple of years.
"Worth every knut," Lestrange practically salivated at what he could learn from that book.
"So it's a real ancient Chinese secret?" Hermione snickered before seeing everyone in the shop looking at her funny. "It's a reference."
"Ignore her, she's been corrupted by muggle television," Lestrange quickly said as he went to the counter to make his purchase.
"Nasty thing that," Mr. Borgin shuddered. "Can you believe muggles invented something so evil as the telly? Makes me sick."
"I know, and I've heard rumors they're working on something called an inter-net. Supposedly a way to connect everyone in the entire world through things called chat rooms and A.O.L," Lestrange nodded his head. "Nothing good can come of that I tell you."
"Muggles, always messing with the natural order."
The shop's bell dinged and Mr. Borgin turned to greet his next customer before his fake smile turned into a cringe. "Mr. Greyback."
The werewolf stood in the doorway taking a deep whiff of the air around him. "Smells like mudblood," his eerily gray eyes sweeping around the room before landing on Hermione who gulped and stepped back nervously.
With a grin threatening to split his face, he started moving towards the girl only to have a redheaded witch stand defiantly in his way. "Stay away from my friend," Rose warned, only to have the gargantuan man burst out in a bark like laughter.
"Little Rosie Potter, oh the Dark Lord's lookin' for you, but I don't think he'd mind if I took you back to the pack for some fun before I brought you to him," Fenrir snarled and licked his lips, raking his eyes up and down her body.
"Oi, mongrel," Lestrange hissed. "You ugly, flea-bitten rug."
The werewolf snapped his eyes to the side to see just which meatsack was begging to be killed when he noticed that it wasn't the old man behind the counter who had decided that the warded backroom of his shop was the best place to be right now, it was the kid at the counter.
"I said," Lestrange slammed down his hands on the wood. "You piss smelling, mangy, rapist runt. Do you have any idea how horribly I am going to slaughter you."
"No one talks to me like that and-," Fenrir stomped away from the girls only to fall into the wood as it changed into quicksand. He quickly tried to pull his own wand out when a confringo smashed into his face.
"No one talks to you like that and what?" Stephen growled as he crouched low to be at the man's level. "Did you forget that you're nothing but a rabid bitch for the dark lord, to only go out and bite the people he commands you and your little pack to?"
Fenrir swiped his hand out to attempt to rip out the kid's throat only to have a sharp knife meet his swing and dig into his arm. "As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to gut you, I'm going to enjoy eating your entrails."
Lestrange just smirked before transfiguring the floor into concrete, trapping the madman as he stepped around him and moved towards the girls. "I'm so sorry about that, it seems he managed to slip my father's leash. Sadly I'll have to put Old Yeller down."
The girls gulped because they understood that Lestrange was ushering them out of the building so he could kill this man. "Let me get you all back up to the alley proper," Lestrange said as after Fenrir made an appearance there was a chance that he'd came with his pack or other death eaters and did not want to risk the girls out on their own.
The three just nodded and hurried out as the werewolf spewed more and more vitriolic threats against them all and their entire bloodline. Lestrange stayed with them for the rest of the shopping trip.
Upon arriving back at Grimmauld Place, Lestrange let out a sharp whistle, which made Sirius wince in his chair. "Was that necessary?" Sirius snapped at his cousin.
"Yes, get me some silver, seems the big bad wolf set his sights on my little red riding hood," Lestrange snarled as he moved to the couch and flipped it over, revealing a stash of muggle firearms attached to the frame.
"When did we get these?" Sirius gawped at the guns, his parents would never have tolerated a gun in the home, not because they were against implements of killing but that they were muggle in design.
"When I decided that I might want to shove one up your ass now get me some silver," Stephen shouted as he picked up a shotgun and checked it over. "I need to go blow a stupid werewolf's brains all over Diagon Alley."
Sirius seemed to finally catch on to what was being asked of him. "I'm not letting you shoot Moony?"
Lestrange stopped his inspection. "Not that werewolf you fool, Greyback. He got Granger's scent and has it in his head that he wants to have playtime with Rose. I'm going to disabuse him of that notion."
"Why'd you let Greyback get near them you incompetent moron?" Sirius shouted as he went over to a wall and pulled off a portrait to reveal a safe which kept various rare metals and jewels.
"I didn't fucking know he was back from Germany, I didn't expect my father to draw his powerbase in so quickly, either Fenrir was bored of eating hikers or my father's got a brand new incentive to gain followers," Lestrange said as he called down Kreacher.
"Take this silver to the goblins, I want twelve gauge pellets, then get me sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal," Lestrange instructed the nodding house elf. "Then after you've gotten that I'll need empty casings."
"Can't you just send Sirius to go buy some shells?" Ginny commented because Sirius was an adult, surely he could get them. There had to be a muggle store that sold muggle guns and bullets.
"No one makes silver bullets Gin-Gin," Lestrange chuckled as he patted the girl on the head. "And even if they did, muggle gun stores are all about records and such, not like a wand shop where anyone can just walk in and get a new wand without any questions asked."
Hermione looked offended at the notion that the guns were even in the same room as her. "Well if you're so opposed to buying bullets how did you even get those killing machines anyway?"
Stephen chuckled. "Oh Granger, sometimes muggle governments trade guns to criminals to get drugs and other illicit and illegal goods to be given to other criminals around the country. They claim that it's to map out the criminal enterprises so that when they make a move, it doesn't just get the easily replaceable street level criminals who even you could pick out of a crowd. They want the people who are at the head of the organizations."
After Sirius handed the silver to the house elf, he nodded his head in agreement. "He's not incorrect, even the aurors did something similar. We had people like Dung who would take goods, wands, artifacts and potion ingredients that we had marked in a way only we'd know and then later when we pulled a bust on an operation like smugglers, if we found our stuff with it, then we knew that this fit into the chain somewhere."
"Unfortunately for the muggle governments, some things go missing that are never accounted for, which tends to mean that someone like me got their paws on it," Stephen said as Kreacher returned shortly with what was needed to make gunpowder.
"But why does it have to be silver bullets?" Rose inquired because she knew silver hurt werewolves but a bullet was still a bullet.
"Oh, because I really want this to hurt him, and if somehow he gets away he'll still be in agony as the pellets burn him from the inside out," grinning at the thought of Fenrir dying from the wounds, Lestrange went over to the kitchen and got out a mortar and pestle to grind everything together.
Kreacher returned shortly with some empty casings and Lestrange started to pour in the chemicals needed to make gunpowder. "Oh good, these are already primed," commenting on being able to skip that step.
The mixture was poured in, a wad inserted into each casing. "Now I just need the pellets," Lestrange said as he waited for the goblins to finish up. "Should be done about now, they're pretty fast since they just need to melt it into molds."
All said and done, Lestrange started to load the shells into the shotgun as he started to gather up other weapons. "Tell Molly I'll be late to dinner," Lestrange commented as he tossed a handful of floo powder into the fireplace. "Knockturn Alley."
Once the flames died down Rose let out a nervous whine. "I thought that knowing where he was going would make it easier whenever he went off but it only made it worse because I know he's doing something incredibly dangerous."