Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Harry and Draco stepped out of the fireplace, arm in arm. "Terry is sweet as can be, but it really is good to be home." Draco sighed contentedly. "I truly do hope he\'s with child."



"That would be absolutely brilliant." Harry agreed. "Do you think your father brought the children home last night…?"



"Of course he did. He would never have allowed them to remain there." Draco said firmly.



"Where would he have put them?"



"In the children\'s wing, of course."



"You have a children\'s wing? But you were an only child, what did you need a children\'s wing for?" Harry wondered aloud.



The blonde laughed. "The manor has been in the family for generations, love. Just because mother and father only had me doesn\'t mean every generation of Malfoys have had only one child." He reminded. "I have been told at one time that there were three full families living here."



"And this place is so big they probably never ran into each other unless they intended to." Harry smirked, walking with him through the halls. Draco chuckled as he led him through the great entrance hall and to the east wing. The distant sound of children\'s voices became clearer.



"Young sir, it is time for you to dress…" one of the nurses stood in the hallway beside the door of a bedroom. "You must dress for breakfast…"



"I will not wear such childish things!" a young voice said insistently, arms folded. Draco smiled softly as he watched a moment.



"You must change to be properly presented to your grandfather for breakfast and to meet your grandmother…"



"I will NOT wear that! There is nothing you can do to make me wear such a silly looking thing! I want my robes!"



"They are being cleaned…"



"Then I will remain in my room until I can wear them!" he scowled at her and the nurse took a step back as an unmistakable wave of power came from the young boy. "I will NOT wear that!" he repeated.



"And you should not wear it, if it is not to your liking." Draco said, stepping forward. "Never settle for second best." The power waves dissipated and the boy looked over at him; Draco was immediately struck by the boy\'s likeness to him. Alerick gazed at him, silent, and bowed formally to him.



"I\'m just trying to get him dressed, but he won\'t wear what we have on hand." the nurse explained. In her hands was a simple button-down shirt and pair of shorts. "He doesn\'t have anything else."



"I will take care of this; you may go." Draco told her. The nurse nodded, gave a quick bow and hurried off to help take care of the other children. Draco returned his gaze back to the child. "I am Draco Malfoy. I am your father." He said then noticed he was staring at Harry. "Is something wrong?"



"I\'m never supposed to see him." Alerick said quietly, slipping backwards into the room.



"Things will be changing for you, many things. One of those is that you ARE allowed to see your father, and you are allowed to see my husband." Draco assured, moving to the doorway to watch the boy.



He stood beside the dragon bed, directly under the head of the creature as if seeking shelter. "Yes Lord Malfoy." He said quietly, and then took a deep breath. "I\'m ready to do my reciting…" he said.



"Reciting..?" Draco asked.



"Yes, Lord Malfoy. I must recite my duties as consort every morning to be sure I never forget, and then I have to practice my spell words to be sure I can say them right." He said, looking a little confused. These grown-ups knew nothing of his regular routine; he\'d surely fall behind if he remained here. "Won\'t I have my old Nursemaid here? She knows what I must do."



"You will be tended by our house elves and nurses here, Alerick." Draco answered.



"You will not be returning to your old home nor will you see any of those you used to be surrounded by." Harry told him quietly.



He frowned, looking down. "I haven\'t any proper clothing here. I cannot go to meet my grandfather and grandmother dressed in this… this nightshirt that house elf made me wear."



"I will get you something more appropriate for a young wizard." Draco assured. "You shall have one of mine; I will use a sizing charm to make it small enough to fit you."



He looked up at him. "You will…?"



"Of course." Draco assured, turning to the closet. He opened it and moved into the expansive walk-in closet, looking around. He picked out one of the first sets of wizard\'s robes that his father had purchased him, when he was nine years old. "This should do. We will see about getting you a proper wardrobe purchased very soon." He said, turning back and showing the boy, who eyed it with a little hesitance, then nodded.



"All right, thank you Lord Malfoy." He said, turning his back as he stripped off his nightshirt.



Upon Alerick\'s right shoulder there was a very clear and very familiar tattoo; just seeing it sent a chill of dread running down Draco\'s spine. A skull, with a snake twining around and through its mouth opened as if to scream… This boy bore the Dark Mark! He looked back at his husband, eyes wide. "Harry!" he whispered, his face losing all color.



"I see it." Harry responded in a quiet tone. Draco had backed out of the room and Harry called for a house elf to come and adjust the sizing to make the robes properly fit the boy.



"Thank you, very much sir." he said formally.



"You\'re welcome…" Harry assured. "The house elves will be along shortly to show you to the breakfast table." He told the boy, who nodded and moved to the window, sitting down in a chair there to wait in a quiet and unruffled manner.



Harry turned from Alerick\'s room to find Draco was nowhere to be seen. He frowned, worried. Draco had been so pale when he had hurried away, leaving Harry to take care of Alerick. He moved to their room, looking around in the adjoining restroom before he moved on to check both the library then the den. "Toodles?" He called, knowing it could take him quite a while to locate his husband in all of these rooms of the mansion.



The little house elf appeared instantly. "Yes Master Harry…?"



"Where is Draco?" He asked.



"Master Draco is gone to the greenhouse."



"Thank you." Harry said, moving quickly on his way. "Draco…?" he called as he moved into the building. He spotted a bit of off color down in the area where the larger plants were cultivated; he moved closer and found Draco there, pale and shaking. "Oh, Dray…" Harry moved to him, pulling him into his arms.



"The Dark Mark, Harry…" Draco whispered, voice shaking. "My… my son… why…? How…?"



"He\'s just a child… Voldemort is dead. It can\'t be the real Dark Mark, the Dark Lord is long dead, baby…"



"You\'re sure… You\'re sure he\'s gone…?"



"Yes, Dragon; I swear to you. He will never return to harm you again…" Harry held him close, soothing him with his soft speech and gentle caresses. "This is just one of Pansy\'s sick, twisted jokes or something… he\'s only a child, much too young to have the true mark… he\'s an innocent, caught up in a sick game. It\'s all right…"



Draco trembled in his arms, clinging to him. Seeing that mark again on such an innocent child had shaken him to the core… "It\'s not a game, Harry; not a joke… there\'s more to it, I know there is…" he whispered.



"He\'s gone, Dragon… he is NEVER coming back…!" Harry said softly, gazing at his husband in concern. "No one is going to hurt you or our children…" he reassured, then, seeing that he was having no impact upon his husband\'s level of anxiety, he called for assistance once more. "Tootles…?"



The house elf appeared, looking rather worried. "You is needin\' Toodles…?"



"Yes. Can you have Severus Snape come..? Draco is upset and needs a potion…"



"Oh yes, Master, Toodles is fetchin\' him right away!" She said and vanished immediately.



"Come on; let\'s get you to our room…" Harry said gently.



"What\'s going to happen to Alerick, Harry…? What\'s father going to say…? What\'s he going to do…?"



"He\'s just a normal child, Dray…"



"But he has the Mark, Harry… Do the other children have the mark too…?"



"No one knows about the mark; as far as anyone is concerned, he\'s a normal child." he gently led him toward the house.



"You\'ll see. Severus will check him; he will know for certain if the mark is real or a fake…"



"Could it really… could it be a fake…?" Draco asked hopefully as Harry led him into the bedroom.



"Of course it could. I\'m fairly sure it is… Pansy\'s sick way of making fun of what\'s happened in the past…" he reassured, having Draco sit on the edge of the bed.



There was a loud bang and Toodles reappeared with a rather startled Severus Snape. The sallow-faced wizard held a basket laden with various spell components. The house elf looked very proud of herself. "Master Draco, Master Harry, I bring him for you!"



"Someone will have to explain to the shopkeeper why I did not pay." He scowled at the elf, who scowled up at him.



"Master Draco be needing you NOW! We is not waiting to pay!" she retorted, standing her ground.



"The Mark… Uncle Sev, the Mark, the Dark Mark is back!" Draco whispered, eyes wide and skin pale.



"What are you talking about…? Here, you need to be lying down…" he frowned, setting the basket aside and moving forward to assist his godson to lie back on the bed. "What in Merlin\'s name has you so upset…?"



"Alerick! Alerick has the Dark Mark!" Draco whispered.



"What…?" Snape\'s frown deepened as he glanced at Harry.



"On the back of his right shoulder. It\'s a tattoo some mad person put on the boy. It does look like the Dark Mark… but it can\'t be. He\'s far too young…" Harry clarified, more shaken than he would show anyone at this point.



"The Dark Lord is no more, Draco." Snape said calmly. "You must calm yourself; this has to be a fake. Why someone would do this only Merlin knows…" he settled Draco onto the bed and pulled his wand, doing a few scans. "You must calm down…" he repeated, pulling a potion. "Your stress is affecting your son…" he said, pulling out a potion.



"I would have given him something but I didn\'t know for sure what would be safe…" Harry said softly, watching worriedly. "So I sent for you…"



"Please Uncle Sev… please look at it… I swear it looks so real…" Draco murmured, hands shaking as he took the potion.



"I will take care of it, Draco. I want you to try and rest now. I\'ll send up some breakfast for you, but I want you to stay off your feet."



"Yes, Uncle Severus…" Draco murmured, allowing himself to finally relax as the potion did its work, relaxing tense muscles and easing the level of panic, muddling his mind and helping him to rest.



Harry covered him gently, sitting beside him on the bed. He tenderly brushed Draco\'s hair back away from his face. "Everything is going to be fine…" he said softly, reassuringly as he watched Draco\'s eyes slowly close. "We\'ll take care of it. You have nothing to fret over…" he stayed by Draco\'s side until he was certain that his husband was sound asleep. "Toodles…? You stay here with Draco. Tell us if he needs anything." He instructed.



"Toodles is caring for Master." She bowed low to him.



"Where is Alerick?" Severus asked. "I need to see this mark."



"He\'s most likely at breakfast." Harry walked out with Severus. "The mark is hardly bigger than a Galleon but it really does look like the real thing… this is just mental! Why would anyone want to mark a child this way…?"



"The mark was never placed on any child of his age; it was never put on anyone younger than their teens. The Dark Lord had absolutely no use for children." Severus answered quietly.



Harry was struck with a thought and memory of the uses the Dark Marks were utilized for by the Dark Lord. "Merlin." He murmured, looking at the older man. "Severus; they can\'t call him with it can they? They can\'t find him here?"



"I don\'t think they could call him by using it, if the mark turns out to be real." Severus answered. "The Marks were used to call the servants, not to drag them unwilling to his side. If they had been usable that way Karkaroff and those who did not show up to his reappearance in that cemetery would have been dead the very first night. I doubt they could even use it to call the child, if it is real, anyway. There are many generations of protections on and about the Manor that would prevent any type of summons from getting through…"



"We need to be sure of that… I don\'t want to take any chances someone might show up here. I want Draco and Angel safe…"



"Morning daddy." Angel smiled as the two moved into the dining room. All the children were seated about the table; Lucius at one end watching the nurses tend to the children as they ate their breakfasts. Angel sat at Lucius\' left side, and Narcissa sat on her other side. Opposite Angel at the table sat Alerick at Lucius\' right side. Of all the children, only Angel and Alerick were displaying proper manners expected of someone much older than they were.



"Good morning Angel…" Harry moved to give her a kiss on the head. Alerick watched him kiss the girl, then looked down at his food, a faint look of envy on his handsome young face. He picked delicately at his meal and took another bite.



"I missed you last night… is papa okay…?"



"Yes, love. He is resting right now; we had a very late night last night…" he reassured her.



"But Papa needs to eat too…" she said worriedly.



"Don\'t you worry, Angel, we\'re taking care of that. He will eat when he wakes…"



"Severus, I didn\'t know you had returned…" Lucius said. "Join us, won\'t you…?"



"I\'ve eaten. I was actually out shopping for what we needed when I was called to come here today…" he said with a smirk in Harry\'s direction.



"Ah, excellent. Were you able to acquire everything…?" The elder Malfoy asked, taking a sip of his tea.



"Most of it… I shall have to return to pick up the rest…"



Alerick nudged his plate back and sipped his juice, watching Severus out of the corner of his eye.



"I\'m all done, Nonno… can I feed the babies now?" Angel asked.



Narcissa smiled. "I think that Nonno has business to tend to, so you may help me to care for the little ones after you wash up."



Angel\'s eyes sparkled. "Can I be excused? Please?" she asked, so eager to go she was wiggling in her seat.



"Of course you may." Narcissa laughed softly. Angel bounced out of her chair, paused to push her chair in and scurried off to wash up.



Alerick watched her with envy clear on his face now. He had not really been allowed to act like a child… and seeing adults who doted on the behavior of a child was a little confusing and disconcerting. He would have been beaten for sure if he had dared to act as that girl just had… He looked down and sighed softly, waiting to be properly dismissed from the table.



"Alerick, you will be coming with us." Severus ordered. The boy looked at him, then turned and looked at the elder blonde wizard. "Lord Father Malfoy…?" he said as if asking permission.



"You are excused, Alerick." Lucius said, nodding to the boy.



"And you should come with us as well, Lucius." Harry said softly.



Lucius raised an eyebrow at that, but rose nonetheless. "I think I shall…" he agreed. Alerick looked up at him and smiled, clearly relieved. He moved to fall in step behind the elder blonde wizard.



Severus led the group to the lab. Lucius glanced at Severus, then Harry. He was beginning to worry; something had to be extremely wrong for these two to call him in as well. "What is the trouble, Severus…?" he asked, preferring to inquire of his friend, keeping his tone calm.



"There is something that I need you to look at. Both of you…" Harry said softly. "Alerick…? I need you to take your robe off your shoulders."



He looked up at Lucius. "Must I, Lord Father…?"



"If it is something that these two believe that I should see then yes, you must remove your robe, Alerick." Lucius said with a nod.



The boy nodded and obediently undid his robes, allowing them to slip off his shoulders to the floor. The shock of seeing the Dark Mark, so clearly and perfectly inscribed upon the pale skin of the little boy hit Lucius like a physical blow. Even Snape, who had been expecting to see a mark, was shocked by seeing the actual thing upon the boy\'s shoulder. It was on the back of his right shoulder, and an inch tall. It was a perfect representation as both older men knew; they had copies of it permanently engraved up on their forearms that, with years of dormancy, had faded over the years but would never be gone. Both of them felt a tingle and warm sensation from their own Dark Marks; they knew at that moment that this was no joke, no sick attempt to try to make people fear. This Dark Mark borne by this boy of only four was definitely the real thing.

Lucius\' eyes held a dark fury as he looked at Severus. "My son has seen this?"



"Yes." Harry said softly. "We put him to bed and sent for his healer…"



Alerick looked over his shoulder at them, confused. "What is wrong, Lord Father?" he asked, trying to see what was making them all so upset.



"Nothing for you to be concerned with, my boy. Just a simple birth mark." Lucius answered.



"I don\'t have any birthmark, Lord Father, I…Oh!" the boy\'s face lit with a smile and he held himself quite proudly. "You\'re talking about my Dark Mark."



"Yes, indeed. You are quite a clever child. What does this mark mean to you, Alerick?"



"It means that I belong to the Dark Prince." He answered. "It means that I am his to command."



"So the others will have this mark as well…?"



"One of the guardians doesn\'t." He said, shaking his head. "They didn\'t really want her but he was so strong they marked him and let her stay too."



"But how was it placed, if this Dark Prince is but a babe…? Who controls it…?"



His smile faltered at that memory. "There was a ceremony. I was very strong… it hurt but it didn\'t stop me, I was born to be the consort. My Dark Prince had to be tested too and he went through a ceremony but he was very strong and doesn\'t have to have a mark…"



"Alerick, how was it placed upon you?" Snape interrupted the boy.



He frowned at Snape. "I told you. The ceremony…"



"Who was the head of the ceremony?" Lucius asked.



His frown deepened. "I… I don\'t know his name, Lord Father Malfoy… I was not allowed in the room when they would talk. And Lord Father McNair called him lots of things that I\'m not allowed to say when he wasn\'t around. When he was he called him… um… Parks…?"



"You may put your robes back on, Alerick." Lucius instructed, then called for a house elf. "Take the young lord to the nursery with the others."



"Yes, Master Malfoy."



"Lord Father Malfoy? Must I be with the babies?" Alerick asked softly as he obediently picked up the robes and slipped his arms into the sleeves.



"Angel is not a baby. She is your age; actually a bit older than you are. She will be a companion to you."



"She is different, I am nothing like her…" he said, looking down. "She is not trained, I…"



"Trained or not, Alerick; she is my granddaughter and your sister. I expect you to treat her with respect as is befitting a Malfoy."



"Of course, Lord Father." He said, bowing to him, continuing to fumble with the catches on the robes meant for someone much older than he. "I will treat her as I have been taught, I would do no less…" the house elf moved up to assist him and Alerick stepped back from the elf, giving it a distasteful look. He was the Consort; he should not be sullied by house elves. Last night was bad enough… he looked up at Lucius. "I can\'t… I\'m sorry, Lord Father, its much more complicated than my own robes… help please…?"



Lucius knelt to fasten the robes with a quirked eyebrow and no smile. "You must allow the house elves to assist you; that is their job here, Alerick." He instructed.



Alerick looked ashamed, looking down. "Forgive me Lord Father…" he murmured.



"Forgiven. But you need to learn how to live in our home." He said, brushing Alerick\'s hair back and smoothing it in place. "Things will be all right now that you are home, my boy. It will just take some getting used to for you."



"I miss my things, Lord Father. And I miss my servant." He said softly.



"You had a servant?"



"Yes, Lord Father. He dressed me and bathed me and took care of all of my needs… I am unused to doing things for myself though I did try to learn."



"You will adjust, Alerick." Lucius assured. Perhaps he should look into hiring someone to tend to the children… just to assist, of course…



"Why can\'t we get my clothes, Lord Father…?" Alerick asked innocently, gazing at him.



"They were left at the house you came from but you need not worry of that. I will arrange for a tailor to come today and fit you for all new clothes."



"Really…?" he gazed up at him, his eyes and hint of a smile the only giveaway that he was truly excited. Lucius found this rather sad; this boy could not really express joy… he had so much to learn. And Angel could teach much of it to him, if he would allow her to.



"Only the best for a Malfoy." He answered, straightening. "Now go on, enjoy the day. Soon enough schooling will begin…"



"But… what do I do…?" he asked softly, gazing up at him again. "I\'m supposed to study, and to recite and to work on wand movements…"



"Be a child." Lucius answered simply. "That is what you can do. Allow Angel to show you the joys of simply being young…"



Alerick frowned thoughtfully and then nodded as he took a deep breath. "I shall try, Lord Father." He said in a very serious tone.



"Come little Master…" the house elf said and led the boy out.



"That mark isn\'t just a joke, is it?" Harry asked softly.



"No. It\'s very real, Harry." Lucius answered in a soft growl, one hand moving to unconsciously rub at his still tingling mark.



"Can it be removed…?" Harry asked.



"Don\'t be a bloody fool Potter. You know the answer to that already." Lucius grumbled, giving the younger wizard a momentary glare. "If the damned things were removable without losing the entire arm, neither Severus nor I would still have them."



Harry sighed. "I know. But he\'s just a baby; he shouldn\'t have to bear such a thing…"



Severus, quiet until now and quite thoughtful instead of angry, spoke up finally. "You know, Lucius; we could use this to our advantage." He said quietly.



Harry looked at Snape as if he were mad. "What are you talking about?"



"The Mark. It feeds both ways, Harry." Severus said, pacing to the window and pulling up his sleeve to look at the mark he had hated for so many hears. "The Dark Lord used these to call to us, that is true. But we could also use this mark to call to him."



"Call to him?" Harry was confused now. "What the bloody hell are you talking about? The Dark Lord is dead!"



"The Dark Lord may be dead, Potter, but the Dark Prince has been born. He is the Master now."



"Dark Prince…?"



"There was more to Pansy\'s scheme than simply making money, it seems." Lucius explained. "There are five children who were not on her lists…"



"I\'m not even sure that Miss Parkinson knew or cared of these children." Snape put in. "These children aren\'t like the others, according to Mrs. Weasley."



"What does she have to do with this? Damn it, I want to know what is going on!"



"They\'re trying to recreate the Dark Lord with their Dark Prince. And since the Dark Lord\'s main failing was he had no true support system, they are starting our little Princeling off with a support system bound to him magically. He has a consort, guardians, and an enchanter…"



"This is madness. These are children!"



"Child or not, Alerick is quite proud of the fact that he is destined to be the Dark Prince\'s consort." Severus retorted.



"Consort?" Harry looked to his father-in-law, stunned by this news. "But he\'s just… Lucius, you don\'t think they\'ve trained him in…" he could not finish his sentence, the thought abhorrent to him.



"Sex magic?" Lucius finished for him. "No, Harry; I do not believe that the phase of his training involving that would have begun at least until he reached puberty." He reassured. "But there is definitely a bond related to the Mark. I am not certain if the bond itself can be removed from him without harming the boy, and I will not harm my grandson nor allow any harm to come to him…"



"This is madness! Why would anyone wish to recreate that psychopath? And make him stronger?"



"There are those who had power during the Dark Lord\'s reign who would give anything and do anything necessary to return themselves to positions of power. Surely you could think several who would enjoy a return of their status."



"One or two." Harry agreed quietly, subdued now. Draco\'s fears were quite justified, it seemed.



“This is precisely why we must retrieve the children." Severus said firmly.



"Most dark rites will need to be performed when the children are older, near puberty. We must have them in our hands to prevent any such thing from occurring to them. We may be able to undo most of what has been done to them with time…"



"And it may be possible to use Alerick\'s mark to call to the Dark Prince, and follow that link to find the child."



"We might even be able to use our own." Lucius said softly, thinking now of how his had reacted.

Severus shook his head. "Although they reacted I do not think we are included in their circle or every past Death Eater would know where they exist."



"But the potential of controlling us lies there, if the child grows in power." Lucius said softly. "So the onus lies upon us to take advantage of their rash mistake and follow the bond. That will lead us to the little Prince, who then can show us the precise location of the other children." He finished with a smile.



"I want them stopped." Harry growled. "This has gone past the point of letting the ministry take them. I want them gone. I want them dead!"



"Agreed." Lucius said. "But for now, we must focus on the children. Those who are sheltering them and raising them to be monsters are, as far as I am concerned, dead men."