Lord of Shadows Arc, Book One: Prince of Darkness

Well, here it is, the last chapter of Book I of the Arc. Come join our group, mentioned in previous chapters. And be on the lookout in a little while for the next Book, mentioned at the bottom.

^_^

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Chapter 17: I Was Brought to My Senses/ Amazing Grace


[Author note: The bit later on with the prayers to Iset (Isis) are taken from M. Isadora Forrest\'s excellent book Isis Magic, which I altered a bit for my purposes. But the rite was so beautiful, I didn\'t think I could do much better.]


Behold, Lucius, I am come; thy weeping and prayer hath moved me to succour thee.
--The Golden Ass, 2nd century C.E.

The first time I went to Malfoy Manor I had a pretty bad time. The dungeons are kept in spotless condition when they are not used, but still . . . However, sometimes, in the middle of a nightmare, miracles happen. I\'m still not entirely comfortable with the fact that there was some sort of third-hand divine intervention thing that happened. I mean, when extra-dimensional beings get involved, I start to get twitchy because when such beings get involved, it means there\'s that much more pressure to not mess it all up, and if you do, there will literally be hell to pay. It\'s not that I don\'t like angels and such, just that. . . How are things supposed to work normally when they\'re involved?
-General Chaos

Lucius leaned against the dungeon wall across from the cell currently holding the Weasley boy. Things had been going well at first-- he\'d got to use his favourite tools. Some were relics of the Inquisition-- the Spanish one-- others were more modern inventions. All were things of terrible beauty and endless utility.

And the boy had been a marvellous subject, determined and loyal to a fault, as expected for a Gryffindor, and much stronger than many others he\'d worked on--expected, too, from a companion of Potter\'s. The first session had been devoted to physical pain, and Lucius had found particular pleasure in finally making the boy scream.

The second time, Lucius had come with needles and potions, powders and crushed crystals, and little bottles holding the most beautiful succubi. The boy had held out for a surprisingly long time, before finally crumbling, sobbing the name of that wretched Mudblood girl as his body betrayed him again and again. Still, he hadn\'t completely broken and Lucius was loathe to melt his mind just yet. So he\'d taken a second break, to prepare for the third session as the sun set.

This time he\'d come with a knife, a rabbit fur brush, a vial of scorpion venom, and the book. He\'d started by painting the boy\'s chest, face and legs with the venom, tracing ancient sigils that blistered the already battered flesh as his whispered invocations blistered the air. The boy had squirmed a bit under the delicate caress of the brush, unable to tear his curious eyes away. Lucius had been quite surprised when recognition had lit the boy\'s face.

\"N. . .no. . .\" he\'d moaned through bloody, chapped lips. \"Not this. . . I can\'t do this . . .please . . .\"

\"You don\'t have to,\" Lucius had soothed. \"Just answer my questions and this will all be over.\"

But it seemed as though the boy hadn\'t heard him, continuing, \"I wanted to be stronger. . .\"

\"Tell me,\" Lucius had tried, \"is your precious pride worth your soul?\"

This had caught the boy\'s attention, and Lucius could see him turning it over in his head.

\"No. . .it isn\'t. . . you\'re right . . .\" Lucius had smiled in satisfaction, \". . .and you did promise . . .\" Lucius had frowned at that, for he couldn\'t recall ever promising the boy anything. But still he continued, setting aside the bloodied brush and starting the knife work with a few precise cuts in essential places.

He was surprised then when instead of tensing up as everyone else had always done, Weasley relaxed, as though he\'d passed out. But when Lucius had looked up, he\'d found the boy\'s bright, burning blue eyes looking right back at him.

It had taken a few more moments of knife-work for him to remember that none of the Weasleys had blue eyes.

\"Who are you?\" he\'d demanded, backing up, the knife clutched tightly in his hand.

The searing azure eyes regarded him with unearthly calm.

\"I am one who is as one who is. One who heard your Solstice plea and has come to bring tidings of its fulfilment.\"

Lucius had shaken his head in denial. \"What are you talking about?\"

The boy had leaned closer, seemingly unmindful of broken bones, missing patches of skin, or awkwardly placed bits of metal.

\"I tell you, Little Star, that before the sun fully rises again, you will have sworn yourself to us three times over.\"

If Lucius had been discomfited by the use of his long-dead mother\'s favourite endearment, he\'d tried not to show it.

\"I\'m afraid I\'m already taken,\" he\'d scowled, but the other was unfazed, responding with a gentle smile.

\"Then rejoice, for the hour of your liberation bounds toward you as a hart in the forest, or a fox in the vineyard.\"

At this point, Lucius had surrendered to his unease, and fled the cell in a vain attempt to collect his thoughts as he now leaned against the wall. He was damned if there was a satisfactory explanation he could give his Lord.

One thing was clear: his plans for Ronald Weasley wouldn\'t work, as he seemed permanently out of reach.

It might be wisest to simply kill the boy and be done with it, he mused.

Perhaps. This would definitely take more thought.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Severus slowly stirred, attempting to get closer to the unusual warmth along his side. Giving in to a rare smile, he blearily opened his eyes, taking in Remus\' worn face, peaceful in deep, healing sleep. Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head, to see Todd Silversman giving him a tentative smile.

\"How do you feel, Professor?\" he asked.

Severus grunted. \"Unusually well for someone who\'s just had their mind put through the wringer.\" He unconsciously gripped Remus tighter. \"How long have I been unconscious, and what happened in that time?\"

\"A little over five hours, sir,\" the boy replied. \"Harry and Draco are resting a bit before going to get Ron. The Weasleys and some from our House have been planning the rescue, and Mrs Whyte and Mr Moody are arguing with the other Aurors because they want the rescue mission to happen before the Ministry corners the lot of us for questioning.\"

\"Whyte?\" Severus looked startled. \"You mean Blanche Whyte from the firm of Whyte, Sharke, and Phox?\"

Todd nodded. \"Yes, sir. The Headmaster called her in right after Harry and Draco retired. She is to represent you, Hermione, Draco, and any other member of the Order or Coven who might need legal representation after all that\'s happened today. . .\"

Severus turned all this over in his mind. \"When are Draco and Harry expected back?\"

\"Within the hour, sir.\"

\"Hm.\" Again Severus pondered in silence. \"Are you free to run an errand for me?\"

Todd beamed. \"Of course, sir! What can I do for you?\"

Severus smirked, giving him a list of things he needed from his office. The boy smiled at the sudden feeling of usefulness, and just before he turned to go, he leaned over to swiftly kiss his two Professors on their brows.

\"I\'m glad you\'re feeling better,\" he grinned, then turned and hurried on his mission.

Severus tensed slightly as Remus stirred against him, but relaxed again when he didn\'t wake up. It wouldn\'t do for the werewolf to see any Slytherins acting sweet. It would ruin the House reputation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In silence, Draco and Harry woke with strange simultaneity. No words were spoken, for none were needed. In silence they showered, taking the time to cleanse themselves inside and out. In silence they garbed themselves, small caresses the only communication needed. A brief meal was consumed, their chewing oddly muted in the peace that refused to leave. In silence they both noticed the odd pulsing of the burning arrow, and in silence Draco picked it up and stuck it through his belt, much to its seeming satisfaction. In silence, they walked through the door, hand in hand, and in silence they passed through the halls. They paused for a moment, outside the infirmary, briefly leaning into each other, and trying to take as much of the stillness as possible to lock away deep within their hearts.

The silence was shattered when they walked through the door, both feeling instant sympathy for the overworked Madam Pomfrey. Neither knew what all the Aurors were doing in the infirmary, but the presence of Sharke, Phox, and an older white-haired women arguing with them did not bode well. They had hardly taken two steps into the room when the white-haired women noticed them and speared them to the spot with a glance.

\"Hello, boys,\" she said, approaching them with outstretched hands. \"I\'m Blanche Whyte, your Headmaster has hired me to represent you. If you could just answer a few questions for me, I promise not to bother you until after you\'ve rescued your friend.

\"First, I am given to understand that the two of you lead a Grand Coven. Is this correct?\"

The boys glanced at each other.

\"It is,\" Harry replied, somewhat wearily.

\"Excellent.\" She pulled out a parchment with a small list on it. \"Could you verify for me whether the people on this list are members of the Coven which you lead?\"

They looked at the list. Harry snorted. \"Yeah, Draco, Hermione, and Professor Snape are all members.\"

\"Good, good. Now, since Professor Snape was a spy working on your behalf, would you say that any previous knowledge of today\'s attack by either the Professor or Draco constitutes as Coven business, and would have been kept secret to preserve Coven safety?\"

Draco and Harry took a moment to sort that out. \"Er, yes, we would,\" Harry said, frowning as he briefly squeezed Draco\'s hand.

\"Excellent. And finally, would the plans being considered for the rescue of Ronald Weasley be considered essential for Coven safety as well?\"

\"Without a doubt,\" Draco huffed. \"Weasley is a member of the Coven, and so I\'d consider his rescue quite essential for Coven safety. \"

She smiled. \"Good, I needed to be sure that my arguments were cogent. Thank you for answering these questions, and now I’ll convince these gentlemen here that taking you in for questioning at this moment would be a gross violation of Coven Law. Good luck!\"

\"Thank you,\" Draco said. \"And good luck to you as well. Tell them we\'ll consider answering questions once we don\'t have friends in hostage to worry about.\"

They then moved to where most of the rest of the Coven was gathered.

\"So,\" Draco asked, \"what\'s the brilliant plan you\'ve come up with?\"

Snape scowled and nodded at George, who pulled out a rough sketch of the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

Clearing his throat, he began. \"Right, well, the only people who can get past the wards here,\" he traced a line in an irregular shape around the grounds, \"are Harry and Draco. So, they\'ll be the ones going in . . .\"


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco shivered in the evening chill, idly wishing that the burning arrow in his belt gave off even a little heat.

\"Are we sure this is going to work?\" he asked, rubbing his hands together and breathing on them.

\"No,\" Harry replied, peering through the gloom to the Manor. \"Not sure at all. But as no one could come up with anything better, here we are.\"

\"Great,\" Draco muttered, but stepped up by Harry\'s side to peer through the gloom as well. \"What are we looking for?\"

\"Anything that will tell us what they\'re watching for. Like, watch that light. . .\" Harry pointed to a light bobbing along an outdoor footpath.

\"What about it?\" Draco asked.

\"It passes by once every five minutes, but it\'s the only one. I\'d suspect some low level initiate assigned with guard duty who hasn\'t thought to vary the rate of his circuit. I think we should go across to the Manor right after he passes. We should be completely in by the time he comes round again.\"

Draco thought quickly on this. \"Better get it all over with, then, shouldn\'t we?\"

Harry smiled, kissing him on the cheek. \"Thank you,\" he said, and pulled out two of the vials Professor Snape had given them before leaving. \"Let\'s hurry up and get ready.\"

With a little concentration, a set of antlers sprouted from Harry\'s temples. Draco uncorked his vial and started rubbing the potion on the horns, watching as they turned black to match Harry\'s hair. When the potion was finished and the antlers solid, Harry uncorked his own vial, and watched as Draco shifted into a sleek, silver fox. After running his hands through the metallic fur a few times, Harry poured his vial over his nearly purring husband, sighing sadly as his beautiful chrome and silver fur was dulled and blacked. Both vials now spent, Harry completed his transformation. Looking back at the Manor, they saw the light right in front of them.

Ready? Harry sent.

Not really, but I\'m not going to get any more ready any time soon.

Harry\'s ears flicked in deer-ish laughter. Let\'s go.

Across the lawn they glided, trying to look natural, but at the same time, not wishing to merely amble about.

They quickly reached the outer wall of the manor, both with ears pricked for anything alarming. Bending his nose to the ground, Draco sniffed, and moved off to the left.

Hey, aren\'t we supposed to go to the right? Harry\'s nostrils flared in confusion.

With a dismissive flick of his tail, Draco responded. Weasley\'s in this cell. And he\'s alone.

Oh. Harry ambled over, standing over his husband, sniffing for himself. He smells. . .wrong. . .

Of course he does, he\'s been in my father\'s hands for eleven hours.

As intended, the remark stirred up Harry\'s anger, which he harnessed to catalyse the change into his other form. With a sensual caress and a sizzling hiss, Harry slipped through the grate, letting the taste of the air guide him.

It tastes of blood and pain in here. . . and coldness. What are these cells made of?

Stainless steel . . . You won\'t have much to hold on to on the walls.

There was a faint reptilian sigh. Except for these chains here. . .

Harry slithered through, Draco keeping a sharp eye and ear out for trouble. Several seconds passed before Draco felt Harry shift.

Holy shite . . .

Draco nodded to himself. Sounded like a reasonable reaction to his father\'s work. There was a very faint magical surge as Harry charmed the bars on the grille to move apart just enough for Draco to squeeze through. With a last glance over his dyed shoulder, he pushed himself through, accidentally yelping as his hips passed through and he tumbled to the cold, unforgiving surface.

Shhh!

\"Who. . .whozzat?\" It was softly spoken, the whisper of sandpaper across skin. Draco returned to his human form, the fitful light of the burning arrow illuminating the torn, ravaged body of Ron Weasley. Draco reached out a hand to stop Harry from releasing Ron at once.

Don\'t touch him yet. I need to see what my father\'s done, or else we may all regret any hasty action.

Nodding, Harry stepped back as Draco stepped forward, holding the light of the arrow up to get a closer look.

Hey, Malfoy. . . Harry\'ll be jealous if . . . you keep looking at me like . . .that.

Draco smirked. You wish, Weasley. I\'m quite happy to leave you to Granger.

Is she. . . is she all right?

Draco had forgot that Ron wouldn\'t know. She\'s fine, and she\'s safe.

Good.

Draco hid a smile as he studied the burns and cuts.

Your father\'s a right bastard, you know.

Draco frowned as his brain made sense of what he was seeing. I agree, he replied curtly. Why didn\'t he finish?

Ron thought on this for a moment. He didn\'t like what he was hearing . . . he was frightened . . . he left. . . I think . . . he\'s going to kill me next.

Then we\'ll just have to get you out of here first. Done studying, Draco determined that it now was safe to release Ron, and signalled to Harry to get ready to catch him. Swiftly, he unlocked the cuffs on Ron’s wrists, neck, and feet. With a groan of pain, Ron slumped across Harry, his leg bending oddly under his weight. With a grimace, Draco lightly tapped his wand on a less injured part of Ron\'s shoulder and muttered a micro-gravity spell.

Right. He sent to the other two. Weasley, try not to move around on your own too much, we\'ll push you out. Where\'s your wand?

Splinters.

Oh. Well, better it than you. Harry, try to refrain from using any magic unless we\'ve already been discovered. Mine will blend in much better, but if you do much more, it\'ll be noticed. From here on out, I lead, Harry, you\'re the rear.

Harry nodded in understanding, manoeuvring himself and Ron into position as Draco moved to the cell door. Ron, from here we must first go to the second floor, across to the landing above the main hall, and then we can get down and out. Draco knows the way best, so we\'ll follow his lead, ok?

Mmph. . .

Both took this as assent, and Draco peeked out of the cell door, unlocked all this time. Looks like this floor is clear. We\'ve got about . . . twenty metres from here to the stairs. Ready?

Feeling their unspoken response, Draco slipped out the door first, motioning for them to follow. As silently as possible, they padded down the ceramic tiled floor, the bleached sterility bringing hospitals to Harry\'s mind. Soon, they were at the base of the stairs, and while Draco leaned over, looking to see if anyone was above them, Harry chanced to look behind.

Ahm, Draco, we\'ve left a trail . . .

Stretching behind them was a dotted red line, reaching back to the cell they\'d come out of.

With a muttered imprecation, Draco waved his wand and the drops floated up into the air, the shivering rubies bright against the white behind them. With a twist of his wrist, the drops were sent back to the cell, were they fell down again, so close now as to run together in a long, shining red puddle that stopped abruptly at the door.

Harry took the moment to lightly wrap some gauze around Ron\'s feet, the white quickly changing colour.

I don\'t think . . . that\'s going to be enough. . . Ron observed, as Harry moved to wrap his also dripping hands.

Madam Pomfrey gave this to us. She said you\'d be dead of blood loss before it got that soaked. Harry replied.

Why didn\'t you use this before, Harry!?

Er, I forgot about it. . .Harry admitted, abashed. Ron glared weakly at him.

Draco moved past them, glancing up the stairs once more. We need to go up to that landing there. Let\'s go.

The micro-gravity spell allowed Harry to lightly push Ron up the stairs, the latter wincing as even the slightest pressure tweaked already raw nerve endings. Fifty-three nerve-wracking steps later, they reached the landing to the second floor, and Draco collapsed against the wall, out of breath.

What\'s . . . wrong with . . . Malfoy?

Harry reached out to touch his husband\'s shoulder as he answered. We’re both rather low on energy, even though we got a chance to nap after helping Professor Snape. Draco\'s been doing most of the magic since we passed the wards, so what little energy we regained from the nap is being drained pretty quickly. Harry pushed some of his remaining energy into Draco, who straightened with a deep breath.

Too bad. . .you guys don\'t have. . . one of Snape\'s . . . miracle potions. . .

Draco silently chuckled. We do. We just can\'t use them unless it\'s an emergency, because they don\'t last very long, and afterwards you’re even more exhausted than you were to begin with. So we\'d better hurry and get back to Hogwarts before we completely crash.

He slowly opened the door and peeked through, slightly extending his thoughts through the ward equations to get a feel for the grounds. After a quick glance, he pulled back.

Most people are down on the first floor. Avery, Bulstrode, and Crabbe are up here though, as well as a few others I don’t recognise. We\'ll have to be careful. Come on.

Again glancing up and down the hall, Draco led them through the doorway, turning a corner, then down that hall, moving as swiftly and silently as possible, and hoping that their luck would continue to hold. But such was not to be, as approaching voices had them scrambling for cover.

In here! Draco pulled them through a door and quickly shut it behind them.

Where are we? Harry asked, the faint light of wall sconces and the burning arrow barely illuminating the room enough to see.

Father\'s study. I\'d love to show it to you, but he\'d sense the change in lighting . . .

Harry nodded. Opening and closing doors wouldn\'t cause any ripples in wards accustomed to the occasional poltergeist, but such a change in the lighting charms would be quite noticeable.

Wait a minute. . . your father\'s study? Why does that ring a bell? Harry\'s brow creased in a frown, as his mind tried to recall something.

Your mother . . . Ron supplied. Didn\'t she say something. . .

I\'m on it. Draco reached out to physically stop Harry before he blew their cover.

Concentrating, Draco laid his wand in his hand. Point me! he sent in command, and the wand spun, tilted, and stopped. Pulling out the arrow, Draco followed the lead of his wand, stopping before a great ebony writing desk. Lowering the hand that held the wand, he pin-pointed a drawer, and silently pulled the handle.

Good thing you didn\'t do this Harry, there\'s a wicked spontaneous combustion charm on this drawer set for anyone not a Malfoy.

He pulled out a slim, leather-bound book and slowly closed the drawer again. Of course, it looks like your father was just as clever.

As Draco stuffed the journal down Harry\'s shirt, Harry felt the whisper of privacy charms that remained intact even after all these years of Malfoy possession. No sooner had he secured the book than they heard voices again.

“Well, he said if it wasn’t in the tea room, it’d be in his study, so I suppose we’d best look there next. . .”

Before he could blink, Harry was being pulled away from the door, as Draco pulled him and pushed Ron ahead through another door he hadn’t seen previously. Draco swiftly shut the door right before the men came in.

“Anyways, then I says to the bird, ‘Look,’ I says,’ I’ve been on hold for an hour already, I’m tired of the ruddy music coming out of my fireplace, all I want to know is why you won’t cover me no more.’ And then you know what the bint says? She says, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, but the policy for FriggaCare specifically prohibits our covering those possibly involved with terrorist organizations.’ Well, you can imagine how I took that--“

“Yes,” interrupted another voice, sounding annoyed. “I can well imagine.”

That’s Avery, Draco supplied. I don’t know who the whiner is, but Avery sounds like he’s about to kill him.

“Listen, why don’t you try--Aha! Here it is!” Avery’s voice was both triumphant and relieved. “Anyway, I was saying, why don’t you try Reichs Partners? They don’t care what a person does, so long as you pay the premiums on time. I hear Durmstrang uses their group plan . . .”

Avery\'s voice faded as the door shut behind him, and Draco slumped against the door in silent relief.

Where . . . are we? Ron asked, peering into the fitful gloom.

This is my old nursery. Draco replied. Father wanted me to be nearby.

Harry smiled, looking closer himself. Not the décor I would have expected. He commented, admiring the silk paintings and block prints.

My nanny was Japanese. Draco said. Where else do you think I learned to make flying paper cranes? He smiled as he took it in. Looks like it hasn\'t been touched since I left -- all my plushies are still on the shelf there, and look, my very first mythology book! Mother used to leave the page open on Orpheus when I wouldn\'t take my nap. He sighed wistfully.

This is great, guys. . . really, it is . . . but can we go?. . . My feet are starting to hurt again . . . Ron’s voice was plaintive, despite his best efforts.

Ah shit, Harry replied. The micro-gravity charm is wearing off. . .

Muttering under his breath, Draco tapped Ron\'s shoulder again, but not only did Ron fail to rise back into the air, Draco crumbled to the ground.

Draco! Harry caught him and pulled him up against himself. What happened?

Draco scowled. Don\'t have enough energy. . . don\'t suppose you\'ve got anymore to spare?

Harry shook his head. Looks like we\'ll have to use L\'Adultera after all. . .

Damn . . . Ron said. How long will that give us?

Harry calculated. Twelve minutes from the first dose, then six, then three, and if we take anymore, we\'ll be dead.

Twenty-one . . . can we do it? Ron wasn\'t sure he\'d be able to walk, but he\'d damn well try if needed.

Draco thought a moment. Yeah. The stairs are just a little bit further, go down those, get out, and then Charlie and the twins will take us back. If we hurry, we should have plenty of time.

After another moment, Harry pulled out the vial Snape had given them. Quickly, he took a small sip, and passed it to Draco, who did the same. Instantly, all weariness and fatigue left them, and Ron gently rose back into the air.

Right, let\'s go. Draco opened a door leading from the nursery back into the corridor. Silently the three slipped out and made their way to the main stair.

Hey, Malfoy . . . why\'s the arrow doing that? Ron\'s frown could be felt in their minds.

Puzzled, Draco pulled the arrow from his belt, its light appearing to pulse brighter with every second. They could now clearly see the stairs before them, ancient weapons glittering on the walls. Suddenly, the arrow shifted in Draco\'s hand, causing him to bite back a startled oath. He looked to where it was pointing-- a small recurve bow was mounted on the wall, just within reach.

You want me to pull that bow down? Draco asked, and the arrow fluttered happily. Right. He stepped forward, Harry and Ron close behind, and carefully lifted the bow off the wall, nervously watching as the flames from the arrow started to spread over his hand.

Nocking the arrow carefully, Draco started slowly down the steps, one at a time, Harry keeping himself and Ron close behind. Draco was exactly halfway down the steps and beginning to think they might actually make it, when his hopes were suddenly shattered.

\"Draco, dearest, what are you doing here?\"

The lights of the front hall rose, clearly illuminating the forms of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Out of reflex, Draco had pulled the arrow to his ear, and now stood trembling as the fire spread up his arms and across his back like burning armour.

Lucius frowned. \"There\'s no need for that, Draco. Just hand over Weasley and I\'m sure we’ll come to some sort of an arrangement.\" Draco simply shook his head, unwilling to speak.

\"You can\'t possibly think you can fight me, can you?\" his father asked with raised eyebrow. \"I know it wasn\'t even seven hours since you freed that traitor Snape, I\'m amazed you\'re even awake. You couldn’t possibly face me in a duel now.\"

\"Draco is stronger than you think,\" Harry growled. \"I wouldn\'t provoke him.\"

\"Potter, hiding behind your friends as usual I see. . . well, you to come along as well.\"

Draco scowled. \"Not a chance in hell, Father,\" he said, stepping into the path of Lucius\' raised wand, his aim involuntarily shifting to his mother.

\"Now, don\'t be hasty.\" Lucius quickly stepped in front of Narcissa. \"Do you really want to be an orphan, just like that piece of arse you seem to like fu--\"

In that instant, Draco loosed the arrow, and it sped through the air, passing through both Lucius and Narcissa before imbedding itself in the stone wall behind them. His parents crumbled to their knees as fire spread outward from where the arrow passed, its burning not dissipating until it had passed beyond their fingertips.

Draco lowered the bow, trembling in shock, unable to move. Harry and Ron stood in silence, wondering what had just happened.

\"Oh, dear gods, Lucius, our little boy. . . how could we, Lucius, he\'s our baby!\" Narcissa gasped, sobbing silently into her hands.

Lucius didn\'t respond, sinking slowly back on his heels and pushing the sleeve of his robe back to gaze, amazed, at his now unmarked forearm. He blinked as everything fell into place, and then raised his eyes to look with horror at his son and his companions.

\"Dear Merlin. . . Draco, I--\" he stopped as Draco raised his wand, the bow now lying on the stairs behind Harry. Carefully, Lucius laid his own wand on the floor, and slid it to the base of the steps, Narcissa\'s clattering after. \"We won\'t harm you, Draco, I swear it.\" He raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender.

\"How do I know I can trust you?\" Draco asked, stepping down to levitate the wands into his hand.

Lucius frowned in thought, then gave a wry smile, lifted his hand to his lips, and blew his son a kiss. Along the path of his breath, the air sparked, resolving into a small butterfly, which danced along the wind until it came to gently land on Draco\'s nose.

\"Papa?\" Draco whispered as the butterfly burst into a small firework. \"It\'s really you!\" He joyfully leapt down the remaining steps to embrace his father. \"Papa, I\'ve missed you so much. . .\"

I can\'t believe it. . . even now that I\'ve seen it . . . Ron murmured. Butterflies, at last. . .

Draco, Harry put his confusion aside for later, I suppose this means somehow your father is no longer trying to kill us, but that\'s going to be a moot point in seventeen minutes.

Draco nodded, pulling away. \"Father, we\'ve got to get out of here before L\'Adultera times out in just over fifteen minutes. Anything we need to know?\"

\"What was Snape thinking, giving you the Adulteress?\" Lucius snarled. \"Fifteen minutes should be easy enough. Most people are in the parlour, debating whether or not they should kill Weasley or keep him alive a little longer. If you go out through the main door, I can make a hole in the wards for you to leave through.\"

Narcissa stepped up, giving Draco the arrow she\'d retrieved from the wall, its burning dimmed, and now fletched with only a single feather.

\"And what will you two do?\" Draco asked pointedly. \"You\'re no longer marked.\"

Narcissa shrugged. \"We\'ll cover for you, give you all time to get back to school safely.\"

Draco shook his head. \"No, that won\'t work, you need to come with us. Father, I saw what you did to Weasley, I know he\'ll need your help to heal some of that. Never mind that only you know which interesting chemicals you introduced to his veins.\"

\"No more time for arguing,\" Harry glared. \"We\'ve got to get Ron back, and if Draco says you need to come, so be it. Professor Dumbledore and Snape will sort things out later.\"

And that settled it as Ron and Harry reached the bottom of the steps, though Ron himself wasn\'t quite sure about the Malfoys. After all, only a few hours before Lucius had seemed quite consumed with causing him as much pain as possible. So when Lucius offered to take over the micro-gravity charm, Ron found himself unable to contain the rush of horror that swept through him.

\"Just lead us out,\" Harry sighed. \"You can work things out with Ron later.\"

Lucius turned, but he had only taken two steps toward the doors outside when another voice introduced itself.

\"Lucius, our Master is wondering--\" Peter Pettigrew stopped himself as it registered what he was seeing. \"Lucius?\"

Harry thought fast.

\"You owe me,\" he snarled, and Pettigrew startled. \"Five minutes,\" he continued. \"Give me five minutes before you go running to your keeper, and the debt will be paid.\"

Pettigrew glanced again at Lucius, who slowly nodded. Confused as he still was, Pettigrew decided to just do what both Harry and Lucius, it seemed, wanted him to do, and continued up the stairs, calling out Lucius\' name every few seconds.

Let\'s get out of here before we get interrupted again.

With a brief check into the ward equations, Lucius led his son and the others out through the front door, Narcissa taking the rear for form\'s sake. They made their way through the night with no more interruptions, and both Harry and Draco sighed as Lucius passed them through the wards.

\"What happens now?\" Lucius asked.

Draco frowned. \"Well, Fred, George, and Charlie are suppose to take us back to school, but they\'re not here.\"

We’re hiding, luv-muffin. Your father frightens us.

Draco rolled his eyes, lifting the wands into the moonlight. \"They’re with us. Now get out here and take us home.\"

\"Right.\" The elder Weasley boys stepped out of the underbrush, eying the two older Malfoys with undisguised distrust.

\"Ron, what happened to you?\" Charlie asked, disgusted. Ron looked somewhat pointedly at Lucius, who had the grace to look thoroughly ashamed of himself.

Fred’s lips thinned. \"And we\'re supposed to take them back to Hogwarts with us? Are you daft?!\"

\"Just do it,\" said Harry impatiently . \"Dumbledore can figure this out once Ron\'s safe and stabilized.\"

Everyone looked at Ron, who gave a faint nod.

\"Right, then.\" George nodded. \"I\'ll take Ron and Harry, Charlie, you take Draco and Mrs Malfoy, and Fred gets Lucius. Any objections?\"

\"Aside from taking them at all? No. . .\" Fred grumbled, passing an amplification amulet to Charlie, and turned to put a hand on Lucius\' shoulder. \"You\'d better be worth it.\"

And then all three groups popped out of existence, and the wards around Malfoy Manor crumbled under the sudden assault of the Ministry\'s finest Aurors.

* * *

Severus woke from a fitful doze with the Crack! Crack! Crack! of the returning rescue party, and it took him only half a second to go from reclined and uncharacteristically \"cuddly\" to standing with his wand drawn and pointing at one of the new arrivals.

\"Wait, wait!\" Draco cried out, waving his arms in desperation. \"Don\'t kill my Dad until you’ve heard everything!\"

Severus froze, realising that neither of the elder Malfoys had their wands out and were, in fact, standing with their hands raised, sleeves falling back to show clean, unmarked arms.

\"What the hell?\" he said slowly, growing even more concerned as he saw Potter push what looked to be Ron Weasley over to the bed where Madam Pomfrey stood waiting. Feeling Draco\'s tap-tap on his mind, he let the boy in to debrief him as the nurse began running scans.

\"I see,\" he said at last, lowering his wand. \"Well, Narcissa, you\'d best find a chair to sit on, this may take a while to sort out. Lucius, Poppy will likely need your assistance with Weasley. And you two--\" he turned to Harry and Draco as he sat back down next to Remus. \"You two find a bed and rest here until this has been dealt with.\"

\"A good idea,\" Dumbledore said gently, as Draco handed over his parents\' wands. \"I take it, Draco, that your parents have had a change of heart?\"

\"You could say that,\" Draco said around a yawn, pulling the arrow out of his belt.

Dumbledore smiled broadly, eyes at full twinkle. \"I see, this is most excellent. You two sleep, everyone is safe, now.\"

Draco slid into a bed, and Harry moved to join him, but then stopped himself with a sudden thought. Reaching into his bloodstained shirt, he pulled out his father\'s journal. When his initial attempt to open it failed, he thought a moment and then, with a wry grin whispered, \"I solemnly swear I am up to no good.\" And just like that, the book fell open in his hands, and without even looking at what was written, he flipped to the back until he found a sealed envelope.

\"Oh,\" he said in surprise, looking at the address. \"I was going to have someone deliver it, but I think I can do this myself.\" He staggered over to where Professor Snape now sat with the sleeping werewolf\'s arms about his waist.

\"Professor Snape, er, better late than never, I suppose.\"

Severus looked at the letter in the boy\'s hands for a long moment before reaching out.

\"Thank you, Potter.\"

Message delivered, Harry attempted a precise pivot and failed, nearly falling over before being deftly caught by Firenze, who helped him over to where Draco waited, in the bed next to Ron\'s.

Lucius and Narcissa watched, happily bemused, as Harry clambered in and snuggled up to their son in a way that was clearly habitual. Within moments both boys were peacefully asleep, the cares and worries of the day vanishing from their now serene faces.

Madam Pomfrey quickly concluded her scans with a harsh tsk.

\"Minerva, I\'ll need your assistance in removing these. . .things.\" She frowned in disgust. \"I can use the last bottle of Second Skin on his back, but then. . .damn, Mr Malfoy!\" Everyone jumped at her sudden swearing. \"What on earth did you give that boy!\"

Lucius swallowed nervously, and took up examining the toes of his immaculately polished boots. \"About twenty cc\'s of ketamine hydrochloride laced with heroin. . .\" he said to the floor.

\"Twenty?!\" the nurse cried, aghast. \"What possessed you to-- not even half that amount would kill a Muggle boy of his size! What were you thinking?!\"

Lucius flinched with every word the nurse spoke, but was kept from answering by Snape. \"Lucius, let me explain it to her.\" Turning to Poppy, he leaned back, resting his hands on Lupin\'s.

\"Poppy, you must understand that what Lucius did is standard procedure when someone is captured by the Death Eaters. Because of the magic in our blood, it is impossible for a witch or wizard to overdose on these drugs, which you well know. But the point isn\'t to kill-- it\'s to addict. If, for some reason, the prisoner is released, they then have a way of keeping them in control. In fact, I\'d bet a good half of the current Death Eaters are former prisoners who gave in. And, if they were to end up being killed, you\'d only have to dump the body, and Muggles would naturally assume an overdose as the cause of death. The amount Lucius gave Weasley would not only ensure addiction, but also probably make him much weaker to the succubi and weaken his mind in other ways, but not otherwise get in the way of the interrogation. And finally, Poppy, I\'m probably the one who mixed the solution Lucius used, which means that I can verify for both the purity and the ratio of ketamine to heroin.\"

Professor McGonagall’s and Madam Pomfrey\'s lips had gradually tightened as Snape spoke, the former keeping herself tightly in control as she transfigured jagged pieces of metal into long, smooth needles and gently pulled them out of Ron\'s ravaged body. Nothing more was said as she finished, and the nurse poured a vial of quick-drying potion over Ron\'s back.

\"There,\" she finally said. \"We can lay him down, now. We\'ll have to put his legs and left arm in casts, and wrap his ribs, since I can\'t use any other regular healing magic until the skin potion has cured his back.\" She sighed. \"That will take care of most of the physical injuries, though we have to deal with those chemicals sooner than later.\" She speared Lucius with a look. \"There are some other injuries here which only you can heal.\"

He fidgeted again. \"Yes, ma\'am.\"

Poppy\'s face softened a bit as she finally noticed how cooperative he was being. \"What will you need?\"

Lucius shrugged out of his over-robe, mentally calculating his needs. \"I\'ve still got the knife that was used. I\'ll need some milk, preferably of a woman who\'s just given birth to a baby boy, and something to paint it with. And some anti-venom in the milk would help as well. . .\"

The nurse nodded. \"As with all wizard-born students, we\'ve got a supply of his own mother\'s milk in stasis, though if Severus would supply the anti-venom?\"

\"Silverman\'s bringing it up even now.\"

\"How--?\" Lucius was confused. How did a student know to bring it, and how did Severus know what was happening?

\"I\'ll explain later, Lucius. Right now, you\'ve got a patient to worry about.\"

Lucius nodded, rolling up the sleeves of his well-pressed shirt, and pulling out a small band to tie back his hair with. That done, he sat down on a stool next to Ron\'s bed.

\"Weasley, the first thing I\'m going to do is to heal the marks that I cut into you. To do this, I need to use the same knife as I used before. I promise, I won\'t hurt you. Do you understand?\"

Again, that bright blue fire seemed to flash over the young man\'s eyes. \"Yeah,\" he croaked. \"I\'ll try to . . . not . . . freak out . . .\"

Lucius chuckled. \"It might help for you to remain calm. . . in fact--\" with sudden inspiration, he looked around. \"Er, Bill? You\'ve done a lot of work in Egypt, right? Do you know any of the Healing Spells of Iset?\"

Bill blinked. \"Uh, yeah, they\'re part of the standard first aid training for curse-breakers . . .\"

\"Um,\" Hermione spoke up. \"I know them in English. . .\"

\"Good, come over here then. I\'m sure Weasley will be more comfortable if his brother and lady-love are helping out.\"

Both walked over, Bill sitting on a stool opposite from Lucius, briefly leaning away to make room for Madam Pomfrey to place a jar-- shaped like a woman nursing a falcon-headed child-- on the side table, while Hermione moved to sit behind the bed, by Ron\'s head.

\"Ready?\" Lucius asked, pulling out a simple, double-edged knife. Bill nodded, placing his hand over the one Lucius held the knife with. \"Hermione, you hold his head and speak the first part.\"

Together, Bill and Lucius guided the knife into the first deep cut, and Hermione spoke.

\"Beloved, Osiris is scattered. He has been unformed, but now may be transformed.\"

As they pulled the knife out, the wound closed behind it. Hermione smiled as she gently caressed Ron\'s brow.

\"Beloved, He is our brother, Osiris. Come, that we may raise His head. Come, that we may reassemble His bones and open His mouth. Come, that we may call forth to Him that which was lost.\"

The other two gashes were healed in the same manner, leaving only the blisters and burns. Todd came forward with the anti-venom, and Lucius mixed a few drops into a bowl with the milk from the jar. Then, dipping a brush into the milk mixture, he started with Ron\'s face.

\"Let the Left Eye of Osiris come forth,\" Bill said.

\"We call you, Eye of Osiris, we invoke you,\" replied Hermione and Lucius.

\"I bring you your Left Eye-- which is no longer yours alone, but is the Divine Moon Eye of Horus-- that you may see the Mysterious Face of Iset, your Beloved.\" Lucius said as he painted around the eye.

Again, Bill called for the other eye, and in the same manner the nose, mouth, ears, spine, heart, breast, and every other major body part, until Ron was dripping no longer with blood, but with soft, cooling milk, the blisters and burns all gone. But still, they weren\'t finished.

Hermione reached for the brush, and traced half a sigil on Ron\'s chest. \"I give you my magic that you may be healed.\"

Taking the brush back, Lucius completed the sigil. \"I give you my healing that you may become magic.\"

Bill then picked up the linen sheet that lay folded at the base of the bed. \"Tayet is the Lady of Weavings, and in the blackness, she has woven about you wings of light. These trembling feathers cover and protect you during this, your healing. Feel the parts of yourself coming together, held in this gentle embrace. Within your body, within your soul, within your mind, within your spirit, there is movement.\" Gently, Bill covered Ron with the sheet, tucking it in around him to ward off possible chill.

Hermione gently washed his face. \"I have heard you shouting into the Heart of All, desperate for healing.
Come then, and I shall bring you to a place where the Ineffable shall enfold you, and you shall give your breath to the Unknown.
For I am Iset, and I call you to me.
I call you by the breath of your body.
I call you by the truth of your soul.
I call you by the spark of your mind.
I call you by the light of your spirit
I call you to bathe in the Pool of Illumination, in the flow of Magic ignited by your own unimprisoned Spirit.
O hear, My Beloved, the Voice that is calling you-- singing strong for you-- and make Me the answer I most desire.
For I, Iset, am in love with you.
Come to Me.
Come to Me by the breath of your body.
Come to Me by the truth of your soul.
Come to Me by the spark of your mind.
Come to Me by the light of your spirit.
And I shall come to you.
Not merely as the soft-winged comfort or merciful kiss--\"

Here she leaned over and gently pressed her lips to Ron\'s, then continued.

\"No!
Out of the Darkness, I shall embrace you, to destroy the cold bonds that hold you.
I shall come to expand your yearning heart to a depth so vast that All is encompassed and changed to ecstasy.
And thus you become My Beloved.\"

Hermione leaned back, fatigue crashing down on her as they reached the final parts of the rite. The men looked to her with concern, but she nodded for them to continue. Lucius and Bill joined hands over Ron\'s form, ready to speak this next part on his behalf, but he spoke before they had the chance.

\"I have gone down. . .\" he breathed, \"into the Land of the Silent One. The soles of my feet. . . and the length of my spine . . . are made firm by Iset. . . and she makes me firm . . .as an immortal spirit. . . a Shining One. . . I am raised up by my Lady.\"

Lucius nodded in approval. \"We have raised up your body, O Osiris Ronald. But it was The Lady Iset Who raised up your Spirit. Remember that, in all times to come.\"

All four heaved a weary sigh as they finished. \"Rest now,\" Lucius murmured, \"we are finished.\"

But Ron only shook his head. \"No . . . not yet . . . not finished . . .\"

Bill frowned.

\"Ron, you need to rest now, the healing has only begun.\"

Ron scowled, eyes flashing with unearthly blue fire. \"One thing left!\" he said fiercely. \"One thing . . .\" He fell back against the pillow. \"It must wait for Draco, and Harry. . .\"

Lucius narrowed his eyes. \"Weasley, who is with you?\"

To everyone\'s surprise, the fire died down as Ron chuckled. \"The Veritaserum . . . wore off . . . hours ago . . . Malfoy. . . But if . . . my intuition . . . is right. . . you\'ll know soon enough.\" Hermione frowned in thought as Ron continued. \"B\'sides . . . drugs still . . . wired . . .like . . . Turkish coffee. . .\"

Lucius gave a \"hmph\" of annoyance, and Ron gave a pained snicker at how much he sounded like his son.

\"All right now,\" Madam Pomfrey clucked. \"Everyone either go to your beds or take one here, we all need to get some rest before dawn, which is only a few hours away.


Several hours later, the sky outside Hogwarts lightened and sometime between when the birds started singing and the sun peeked over the horizon, Ron came to a reluctant decision. He turned his head to see the bed where Harry and Draco lay curled around one another. As the first rays of the sun lit their faces, Harry stirred, eyes blinking open, frowning in vexation. He looked over and met Ron\'s eyes.

There\'s still something that need to be done, isn\'t there?

Ron nodded. Finish forming your coven. His eyes tracked to the lightly dozing Lucius, Narcissa sleeping fitfully beside him.

Harry\'s eyes widened. You\'re joking, right? But not even a full day has passed since--

He\'s not the person who tortured me, Harry. If he was, he couldn\'t have worked that spell with Bill and Hermione.

???

And we need him. He knows his way around politicians and the media. You\'re going to need someone like that.

And besides the now awake Hermione supplied, if you don\'t, both of Draco\'s parents will be executed. If you bring them in the Coven, they can only be exiled.

Wha--? Harry\'s brain still wasn\'t fully engaged.

Mrs Whyte and I discussed some of the finer points of Coven law while you were out rescuing Ron, Hermione explained. When members of covens are murdered or executed, the rest of the coven tends to go mad and ravage the countryside. They had quite a problem with that in the Renaissance, so a law was enacted stating that, unless the entire coven was guilty of a capital offence, individual members could at worst be exiled, not executed.

Harry was absolutely still as everything processed through his sluggish brain. With a sigh, his head thumped back down to Draco\'s chest, waking him with a start.

\"Harry?\"

Harry quickly filled his husband in. Draco rolled his eyes,

Well, as I\'m rather biased, I think everyone else should decide.

The question, when sent out, was first greeted with muttered curses for the early wake up call. Stunned silence followed, questioning and confusion and then, when it was learned that this was all Ron\'s idea, came hesitant acceptance and approval.

A bleary, grumbling Neville stepped over to where Lucius was beginning to wake up, and poked him grumpily, Professor McGonagall standing beside him.

\"Hm?\" Lucius blinked as he woke to Neville\'s incessant prodding. \"What?\"

Scowling, Professor McGonagall extended the invitation, barely refraining from tapping her toe in vexation.

Lucius frowned. \"Are you sure?\"

\"No.\" Neville scowled. \"But it\'s Ron\'s idea, and he\'s the strategic genius of the group . . . it\'s a pretty unanimous \'uh, oh, all…right, \'.\"

Lucius nodded slowly, eyes searching out first his son, then Ron, trying to read their stony expressions.

\"I accept,\" he said, and the sun became whole over the hills.

Of course, it wasn\'t all so simple as that. After Neville linked him in, he immediately started his own Circle with his wife and --to everyone\'s surprise-- the Creevy brothers and the lawyers who had been sleeping in the hall outside.

Minister Fudge had something to say about that when he came to \"survey the damage\" at noon, and raised quite a fuss in the infirmary when Mrs Whyte and Dumbledore told him that he couldn\'t legally have any of the Malfoys arrested. He only quietened down when Harry snapped at him, \"Minister, please! Some of us had work to do last night. Go away!\"

Grumbling, Fudge left the room, but wasted no time in writing up a writ of exile, which stated that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had two weeks to leave the island. But Dumbledore\'s eyes never stopped twinkling, and the amount of time Sharke and Phox were spending speaking through Floo gates reassured everyone that Dumbledore did, indeed, have things under control.


\"So, now what?\" Narcissa asked over dinner that night. Most of the adults were eating in the Great Hall with the recovered students, and she and her husband were sitting with Severus at the staff table. \"What country in their right mind would accept a couple of ex-Death Eaters?\"

Dumbledore\'s eyes twinkled, and his mouth stretched into a broad smile when Remus made his hesitant way through the doors and up to the table.

\"You shouldn\'t be up!\" Severus scolded. \"You\'re still hurt!\"

\"Fuss, fuss, fuss,\" Remus rolled his eyes. \"Headmaster, there\'s a man in a uniform at the doors, he says you invited him?\"

\"Ah, that would be General Garou. I did invite him-- this morning-- so you can put your hackles down, Remus. He\'s here to help Narcissa and Lucius.\"

\"Hn,\" Remus grunted as Dumbledore gestured to the doors, opening them. He turned around and scowled at the man who walked in.

General Garou was a tall man, his dark hair liberally dusted with white, his Unites States Marine Corps uniform still fitting perfectly after all his years in the service, the lights in the Hall glinting off sword, four stars, and shining golden eyes. Swiftly and gracefully he made his way to the head table, slowing as he approached the softly growling Remus. Five paces from the table he stopped, eyes locked with the other werewolf\'s.

Slowly, he cast his eyes to the side and tilted his head back, exposing his neck to Remus, and the growling suddenly stopped.

That settled, the general addressed Dumbledore. \"Headmaster, I\'ve got an agreement from my superiors I think you\'ll be pleased with.\" He held out a sheaf of papers which Dumbledore took and perused, then passed to Narcissa to share with her husband.

Lucius pressed his lips together. \"I was under the impression that the Americans currently only do two things with terrorists, and granting asylum is not one of them.\"

\"Well,\" Garou replied with the slurred drawl of southern Louisiana. \"We figure, you two are ex-terrorists. As you see, the offer is conditional upon your supplying us with all your knowledge of the Death Eater organization and its leader, as well as restricted travel outside New York City, restricted Apparating and Floo access, and consent for your communications to be monitored. Among other things.\"

Narcissa smirked. \"You\'re offering us asylum in exchange for information?\"

Garou grinned. \"Exactly. Just because your government hasn\'t got the sense to keep you close, doesn\'t mean we\'ll pass up this chance. And you will be allowed unlimited communications with your son.\" He nodded toward the Slytherin table. \"Not like we could prevent that, anyway.\"

Narcissa and Lucius looked at each other.

\"What do you think, dearest?\"

* * *

Severus sat by the window, looking out into the depths between the stars, the light of the half-moon reflecting off the lake below. It was a hard thing to do, letting go of old grudges, learning that maybe you misjudged someone. Maybe you never gave someone else a chance.

He didn\'t want to let go of things, didn\'t want the vulnerability that would bring. But, as always . . .

\"Damn you, Potter,\" he growled to the stars. \"Again, you get what you wanted.\"

In reply, a soft breeze blew through the window, causing the parchment in his hands to flutter like the wings of a sparrow, the ink seeming to glow in the moonlight.

31 October 1989

Dear Sever, no damn it, Sna--, no, Severus,

My son had his first birthday a few months ago, and so I think this letter long over due. Well, it was long over due anyway, but better late than never, right?

When Harry was born fifteen months ago, I was changed. I sat there, next to Lily, and held in my arms a tiny little person with wild black hair and his mother’s beautiful eyes. Lily, face still damp with the sweat of labour, smiled in her well earned rest, and I remember hoping that my son would grow to be more like her than me. Indeed, as I sat there and thought about it, I hoped that he would grow up to be a better man than I was, someone who wouldn\'t do all the arrogant, foolish things I\'d done growing up.

Yes, Severus, there are many things I have already come to regret from my former years, but nothing so much as all the times I spoke undeserved words of spite to you. Lily, God bless her, has been telling me since the first day I met her that you are a good man, and smart, and more than worthy of the respect of all. \"And that means you too, you Potter-prat!\"

But I, being me, didn\'t listen very well. Why did I have such scorn for you to begin with? Because Sirius did, and if he thought someone needed a thrashing, then I bloody well stood by him, no matter what Remus said. Do you know, it took until my wedding reception to ask Sirius why he had such a vendetta against you? Even then, I had to ply him with Fire-whisky and tequila to make him talk.

Apparently, he sees you as a rival for his beloved wolf\'s affections. He told me or, rather, what I could decipher through the slurring was that he \"knew\" you and Remus and maybe someone else would one day be together, and he would not even be in the picture. I\'d never pegged him for a morose type of drunk. But there he was, swearing on a bottle of Captain Morgan that he knew that Moony would never be able to hurt you, even in his changed state , and that\'s why he\'d lured you to the Shack that night.

I\'m not sure about that, maybe Sirius didn\'t inherit very much of his family\'s gift after all. Not that I can\'t see you with Remus, but because I can\'t really see Remus giving up Sirius. And when I mentioned that, Sirius got this really tragic look on his face and said that he didn\'t think I would.

Whatever, so it turns out that all my years of taunting you and saying those horrible, nasty things were for nothing. And on top of that, Lily is convinced that you are going to be a great Potions master, and one day go back to Hogwarts and teach our son.

And, knowing how I treated you, the last thing I want is for you to look at my little boy\'s face and see me. And so now, at last, I come to the point of this letter.

I\'m asking your forgiveness for the things I did to you in our school years. Not for my sake, no, but for the sake of my son. I do not expect any sort of reply to this letter, much less any change in our current (lack of) relationship, except for, perhaps, some modest civility. What I ask is that you will not hold my sins against my son, for he is innocent of them and, if Lily has her way, he will also be one of the better behaved students you will ever have. He\'s a quick lad, and if you give him a chance, I think you\'ll like him.

These are tense times, as you know, and the last thing either of us needs is more enemies. I do not wish to be yours, nor for you to be mine or my son\'s. In the future, if it helps, remember that Harry is also Lily\'s son, and treasure him for her sake, if nothing else.
And now someone\'s knocking at the door. Well, I\'ve said what needs saying.

I wish you a Blessed Samhain, and best wishes on your godson\'s birthday.

Sincerely,

James G. Potter


Here ends Book I of the Lord of Shadows Arc. The story will continue in Book II: Morningstar, wherein Harry goes to America and back, and faces his final battle with Lord Voldemort.
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