Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

“This is the second time their powers have come to bear against others.” Harry said quietly. He and Lucius had returned to Draco’s room, the younger blonde wizard propped up on pillows and the other two seated on either side of his bed. “Something must be done…”



“I don’t want their powers blocked… making them into squibs is a horrible punishment for doing what they have learned to do.” Lucius said in objection, though he did look quite thoughtful. “Although I must admit; Sectumsempra is a seventh-year spell, and a very dark one at that. No four year old should be able to do that spell, and especially not as wandless magic.”



“Then don’t take their powers.” Draco said, seeing the answer clearly. “Take the knowledge.”



“Take their knowledge…?”



“Not all of their knowledge, father. Simply removing the memories of the training that Parkinson had them put through should be enough. They have undergone a lot of unnecessary training and it won’t hurt them to lose it for a while.” Draco reasoned.



“Let them have the chance to be children, and to have a childhood with all its normal bumps and bruises, hum?” Lucius said thoughtfully. “Interesting…”



“And I can change their marks… I can link the blockage of the knowledge to levels, to be released as they reach that year in their training at school, or to when they have achieved a certain level of adeptness on their own without that maniacal training. I can link that into the marks, I have an idea how to alter it already…”



“How will you alter it?”



“Hopefully I will be able to do that tonight. Toodles ‘fetched’ me a book on it from the library at Hogwarts; it has a lot of information on the marks and how to control them. I’m going to alter one if I can but I need someone to experiment on to ensure I’m doing it properly and I don’t wish to harm the children.”



“How interesting that Toodles seems to find it all right to ‘borrow’ anything you wish or need.” Lucius smirked. “As for the marks; I have another possibility for you. Warrington bears the dark mark as well; he was never bound to the Dark Lord, but has been bound to our little Dark Prince.”



“He does…? Well I’d rather experiment on him than on one of the kids.” Harry admitted in a thoughtful voice. “I’d better get to studying that book… I’m sure that Severus would know how to bind the levels of knowledge.”



“He has already mentioned to me that it needed to be done, the night that my grandson was born.” Lucius said, not wanting to directly reference the momentary death of his son. “I will call him immediately to discuss what must be done.”





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Malcolm Parkinson unfolded the copy of the newspaper he had picked up on his brief trip out of the hotel room he had felt forced to hide in since the seizure of the children. The headline was what had caught his eye when he\'d been out getting something to eat under careful concealing spells. The headline read "RAID ON CLINIC EXPOSES PLOT TO STEAL WIZARDING BLOODLINES!"



Damned fools, that\'s what they all were; this so-called writer had no idea what he had truly been after. He moved to a seat at the table, taking a few moments to read through the article. He was not surprised to find that it detailed the facts of the clinic\'s business and all that idiotic foolishness that his daughter had indulged in. The children had gone to their ancestral families if there had been any abuse suffered at the hands of their parents. So Malfoy and Potter had the children now.



He glanced through one of the doors in the small flat; it was one of two separate bedrooms off the living area. In one of the bedrooms was August Bebel; he had not allowed that man to stick his narrow nose out of the door since they had holed up here. Bebel was his key to being able to start over; he needed him. Bebel had not complained; Malcolm had him well under his control. In fact August had dove directly back into his work again; he was trying to recreate his work once more. He had the first bedroom converted into a lab and was working nonstop.



In the second room a bed visible from the table; Pansy lay in a spell-induced coma-like state until he needed her again. He scowled at her. Why was she such a stupid girl? Why had she not inherited her mother\'s cunning and intelligence? His wife would have been a proper partner and support for him in his work... if only the Dark Lord had not seen fit to kill her. He sighed softly and looked away from his daughter. There was no use bringing up past pain; he had enough to focus on right now.



He took a few minutes to rip the paper up into tiny strips before he threw it in the trash. He didn\'t care one bit about the clinic, but the children... they had stolen his precious children from him. His life\'s work stolen out from under his very nose; he had never suspected that anyone would ever find them where they had been sequestered. Because of the raid of the clinic his last embryos to re-create the Dark Prince were forever out of his reach. All of August Bebel\'s notes and work gone. Why...? Because that over-sensitive and ungrateful little bitch Weasley had supplied the Aurors with every bit of information. And that damned fool Warrington had probably been the one who had given the dark circle up. He had only learned of the destruction of the hideaway when a report of a devastating explosion had been reported over the Wizarding Radio. He was sure that Malfoy must have somehow been involved but no one had survived the violent conflagration. His little valley had been turned into little more than a blackened crater.



Not everyone had been destroyed, though. Jerrod Warrington had not only survived, he had been seen to be in quite good health. He had seen Warrington himself in Diagon Alley, flitting about and spending Malfoy\'s money on potions supplies.



A smile touched Malcolm\'s lips. What a perfect place to begin getting back on his feet. Jerrod Warrington was his first target. Taking him would serve three purposes; first, it would deprive Malfoy of a tool and a servant; second it would restore his own servant, and third he would have a chance to vent his anger on someone. That fool was still bound to him and could be forced to do his will fairly simply; it was only a matter of getting close enough to give the orders and instructions. Pansy could be of use to him right now despite the fact that Jerrod knew her face and did not trust her. She could go out under a glamour and the Imperious command; she would be able to fetch the fool back for him. Then he could return the man into his service... though he might just decide to kill him outright for his obvious betrayal. Working for that rich fool Malfoy indeed.



Oh, yes, he had his plans. And once Warrington was squared away, he would make both Potter and Weasley pay for taking his world away from him. He would take theirs away from them.



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Warrington slipped on his cloak and shook back his hair. One trip to the store, one last ingredient... this potion was working precisely how it should. Finally! The color was perfect, a deep blue with tiny flecks of gold. It just needed an hour or more to cool before adding the final ingredient, fresh reishi mushrooms. Once he had that last ingredient he could test the potion as he had tested the first potion; on his own self. Once he was sure that it functioned as it was meant to, he would use it to restore all the children to their families.



Following that, he would most likely be asked to destroy any trace of his potion if he read Malfoy\'s intention correctly. All that work gone... and no one would know that he had created a potion to bypass the traditional hereditary trace potion. No one had ever managed that before. He sighed and turned to leave the potions lab and was startled to see a child in the doorway again.



It was not Alyssa as he had half expected, come to fuss at him for not speaking with George. It was Harry\'s daughter Angel. What in the world would she want to come and see him for...? "Mr. Warton, sir?" she began in a timid tone.



He frowned; he didn\'t like how exhausted the child looked. "It\'s Warrington, and you ought to be in bed little girl. You look like you could sleep another week..." he said, moving to her.



She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands, then gazed up at him. "Can\'t sleep... I need to tell you; don\'t go. Please stay here."



That got his attention. "Not go to the store...? Why?"



"I dunno." she said, looking a little confused. It was all a bit fuzzy...



"Did you have a bad dream, little lady?" he asked her and she nodded, her vivid green eyes looking huge in her pale face. He patted her awkwardly on the head. "You mustn\'t worry about me; I\'ll be just fine. You go on back to bed, all right? I\'ll have your house elf bring you some milk and cookies."



"Well... okay..." she said hesitantly, allowing herself to be guided back away from the door.



Warrington escorted her back to her room and called for the promised milk and cookies before striding out, intent to finish his business. Rather sweet of the little girl to worry like that, especially since he\'d hardly even set eyes upon her since he arrived here. No wonder Lucius cared for the girl so much...



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Angel finished her cookies and drank nearly half of her milk before a wave of weariness overtook her once more. She felt calm and really couldn\'t remember why she had been so upset. She sighed and settled to her pillow, allowing her eyes to close.



Immediately she was swept into the dream once more... she knew she had just dreamt this because she recognized it all. It was like she was sitting down and watching telly at the foster\'s old home, watching a movie that she couldn\'t turn off. The street was strange, not straight and well-ordered like the streets of London but strange in an interesting kind of way.



Every shop had strange things on display that did unexpected things. She had been there once with her Nonno but they had gone into the pet store and had not lingered on the street.



Mr. Warrington emerged from a shop that had really weird stuff in the windows; things that blew up and fixed themselves and what looked like candy but she thought she could see the word "poo" up on the wall too, inside the place. He looked angry and seemed to be in a hurry, mumbling about books.



She knew what was coming, the bad person was waiting just up ahead in the dark place! "Mr. Warton... Warrington...! Stop! They\'re gonna get you...!" she called out but he did not hear; he kept walking closer and closer and then she saw it; the hands reached out of the dark and he was grabbed; his body stiffened and his face froze in pain; he fell toward the hands and was dragged into the dark alley.



Angel sat up with a gasp of fear, her little heart pounding. Jerrod Warrington should not have left the manor; bad people were looking for him and they would take him away forever if they didn\'t do anything. She pushed the blankets back and slipped from her bed. She had to get help, she just had to. She hurried out of the room, forgetting to get either her robe or slippers in her haste.



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"Nonno...?" Angel asked timidly, peering in the door of the nursery for the twins.



He looked around at the voice from just setting the baby boy back into his bed to sleep. "Angel...! I didn\'t know you were up, my little love..." he smiled at her warmly.



"Has Mister Warrington come back yet?" she asked softly.



"Jerrod? I actually wasn\'t aware he had left; last I knew he was working in the potions lab." he answered truthfully.



"He went to the store to get something. I don\'t think he\'s back yet..." she looked frightened and exhausted.



Lucius covered little Remus with his blanket and went to her, scooping her up into his arms. "Now, now, he\'s a grown man and sometimes shopping takes a bit longer than planned, that\'s all love..." he soothed, wondering what had gotten her so upset about a shopping trip.



She shook her head, clinging to him. He was very concerned to feel that she was trembling. "It\'s not just shopping Nonno. It\'s more, it\'s something bad...." she whispered, afraid that he would not believe her either.



"Why do you say that?"



"I keep seeing it when I go to sleep, and you can\'t let it happen, please... Mister Warrington goes out and the shadow people come after him, Nonno. The shadow people come and take him away and hurts him. I don\'t want him to be hurt Nonno..." she blurted it all out. "He\'s on that street with candy and ice cream and bats and owls where we got Tia and it\'s not a dream..."



"Sounds like Diagon Alley, Angel." he answered. "Will it make you feel better if I summon him back home?" he asked her.



She nodded solemnly. "Yes, Nonno..."



"Then I will simply have him return here." he smiled reassuringly at the girl as he carried her out of the room.



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Jerrod examined the bottle of Reishi mushrooms very closely; he did not wish to open it because extreme delicacy of this particular ingredient. It must be fresh cut and sealed; not old or wilted in any manner. The caps looked crisp and fresh, no soft edges in sight, no bruising at all; but then most of the ingredients he had bought at this particular store were of the upmost quality. "You said this was harvested last week...?"



"Late last week; in fact, only two days ago." the clerk at the counter agreed, watching the man examine the goods with a very careful eye. She smiled slightly; she liked dealing with men who knew what value was found in a potion and quality ingredients. She was only in her late twenties and had seen him several times here at the shop; she found him quite an intriguing person though he never spoke to her of anything but potions and potions ingredients.



"Hum... should be precisely what I need, then." he barely gave the woman a glance, more of his attention on the several ingredients he had selected. "Put these on Lucius Malfoy\'s account. I need to have them delivered to Malfoy Manor immediately. I have a few more items to pick up..." he said distractedly.



"Of course, sir." she said, and started to speak more but he was already at the door and out before she could form the thoughts. She sighed and shrugged. Maybe next time he\'d come in she\'d be wearing her sexier blouse...



Warrington drew a notepad and pencil out of his pocket, scratching off the items from his list. He now had everything he needed to create enough of the potion to ensure that all the kids at the house had their heredity restored.



Unfortunately he didn\'t bother looking around to see if anyone happened to be walking by at that moment and he walked directly into another pedestrian. They bounced off each other and both went sprawling to the ground in a tangle of robes. "Bloody hell...! Sorry..." he mumbled as he disentangled himself from the other wizard, who sat up and gave him an unsure look. Jerrod groaned inwardly; of all the wizards and witches strolling up and down Diagon Alley, why did it have to be him?



George Weasley picked up the book he had been carrying. "Jerrod Warrington; I certainly didn\'t expect to run into you today..." he commented with a smirk. "Are you okay?" he asked.



"Yeah." he grumbled, getting to his feet, not looking at him.



"Good; sorry about that, just going too damned fast, I suppose." he said, standing as well and dusting off his dragon-hide jacket. "You must be busy, I\'ll just let you get on with it." he said, starting to turn away.



"Wait." Jerrod heard himself say; he didn\'t want to talk to this man but now that they were face to face he couldn\'t put it off any longer. He could feel the siren\'s command his daughter had given to him surging up to full strength. Avoiding contacting Weasley had allowed him to ignore it but now he had no choice. He had to talk to this man, there was no way around it. "I... we need to talk. About Alyssa."



"Are you certain? The last time we did that we had a shouting match." George smirked.



"She\'s not just your daughter, she\'s mine too whether we planned her or not." he said, chewing on his lip for a moment. "She needs to have two parents to help her get past the crap they stuck inside her head, I..."



George glanced around, holding up a hand to silence the other man. "Look, this is much too public a place for a conversation like this. My store is just a few more doors down. We can have a drink and at least act like we\'re civilized, hum?" he suggested, turning to walk down the block. Just down the street Jerrod could see very clearly the large sign advertising Weasley\'s Wizarding Wheezes.



"I do have a LITTLE time..." he acquiesced, moving along with him, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets. Neither of them noticed that they were being watched, someone lurking in silence in the dark shadows of the alley watching their every move.



Warrington followed George into the store and was struck by the almost garish displays and loud noises and pungent and sweet smells that assailed him the moment he stepped inside. George didn\'t try to talk over the noise, he simply gestured him to follow. Fred was at the cash register; he looked curious and George gave him some sort of signal, pointing up at the stairs. Fred nodded and turned back to the customer he was dealing with. When the two mounted the small staircase behind a curtain the noise level was vastly lowered. "You actually make this crazy stuff...?" Warrington asked.



"You\'d be surprised how just a little joviality can put the meaning back into people\'s lives. We make a pretty damned good living off this \'crazy stuff\', actually." he answered, not offended by the comment at all and taking it in stride. "Fred and I are always doing surveys to find out what people want. We\'re constantly developing new things..." he explained as he led him up the stairs and through a hallway crammed with boxes and shelves that they could barely fit by.



"Do you clean, occasionally...?" Warrington asked a bit sourly.



George chuckled softly. "Oh, once a month or so... we\'re building up stock for the holidays and haven\'t got our storage system expanded yet. It\'s not so bad; I could find anything I needed in here in about ten minutes or so..." he said as they emerged into a small but comfortable sitting room. "Here we are..." he said, moving to a wall and gesturing with a wand. The bookshelves slid forward and apart, revealing a hidden bar stocked with damned near everything a wizard could ever desire to drink. "What will you have?" he offered.



Jerrod sighed; he really didn\'t want to be here. Maybe a drink would help him to relax just a bit. "Nothing too strong; I need to finish a potion for Malfoy once I get back." he said, still standing and feeling nervously like he should be gone.



George nodded and poured him a small glass of red currant rum and the same for himself. He handed one glass to Jerrod as he moved past, taking a seat in one of the two armchairs by the little window. "Come on, sit down, I\'m not going to bite you." he commented.



"You may not, but the chair might." Jerrod said; he had approached the seat but halted with the first sign of humor on his face that George had seen. He looked at the chair to see a set of teeth similar to what muggles had - wind up teeth with feet - but this one had fangs. And it was opening its mouth wide, orienting itself toward Warrington ready to bite anything that came into reach.



George laughed and snatched the toy teeth off the cushion. "Yes, that definitely would have bit... takes a special charm to get the little bugger to let go too. I bet Fred planned on that one getting me later tonight." he smirked as Jerrod paused, lifting the cushion to check for any other nasty surprises before he sat down. George sat patiently but Jerrod just sipped his drink, staring at his own shoes. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about...?"



He couldn\'t just sit here; he had to say something. "Alyssa. Alyssa wants us to talk." he answered.



"All right, you got me where you want me. What about Alyssa?" he prompted.



"We need to work together somehow. She... found out about me; the nannies were talking about it in front of her even though they were strictly forbidden to do so."



"Good." George said firmly.



Warrington was surprised and confused enough to look up and meet the eyes of the other man. "Good? What the bloody hell is good about that?" he asked.



The red-haired wizard eyed him calmly with a bit of a grin. "You\'re close to my age. No romantic interests, no focus outside your work... you need a kid. Even Severus Snape, that old stick, has a pair of lovers and stepson to keep him happy."



That comment got a rise out of him. "I am NOT Severus Snape...!" he bristled.

George laughed. "I\'m quite aware of that, Jerrod." he answered. "Calm down, I didn\'t mean anything by it."



"You aren\'t exactly surrounded by screaming brats yourself, Weasley." he said, preferring to use the more formal last name. "You aren\'t married, and from what I understand your mother had quite a few children." he commented, trying to make this redhead feel as uncomfortable as he was about this situation.



"And so should I?" he asked, drawing the obvious conclusion. "Lack of desire and effort, I suppose. Not to worry though, there are more than enough of us to carry on the family name. My sister has four kids and Ron has one, I\'ve lost count of Bill\'s brood." he smirked. "Besides, I have a daughter now, don\'t I?"



Jerrod shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Yes, George had a kid, with him. "She doesn\'t like dolls." he said out of the blue, unable to think of anything else to say.



"She doesn\'t...?" he asked, frowning a bit. "I thought all girls enjoyed dolls..."



"Your sister Ginny didn\'t."



"Fred\'s fault." George answered immediately. "He came up with the idea to charm her doll to bite her if she touched its face. She didn\'t play with it long and didn\'t ask mum or dad for any others..."



He looked shocked. "You did that to your little sister...?"



George shrugged. "She transfigured the waistbands of our underwear so they fused with our skin. I figure we were even." Warrington took a sip of his drink; he would never thought of doing either of those things to anyone...! He wasn\'t sure that this family of Weasleys was entirely sane at the moment. "But I\'d never do that to a child now." George said firmly.



Jerrod was somewhat mollified. "Alyssa told me that you couldn\'t be a good dad because you didn\'t know what she likes and doesn\'t like." he said.



George leaned forward slightly. "So teach me." he suggested.



"What...?"



He smiled at the other wizard\'s surprise. "I said, teach me. Teach me what my daughter likes and doesn\'t like. You know all that about her, don\'t you?"



"I know all of that about all five of them." he said crossly, not liking at all that he felt like he was getting put on the spot. He was very uncomfortable about this whole situation and how it was making him feel.



"I\'m serious, Jerrod. I need to know about the girl..." George started.



He set the drink down. "I don\'t think I should stay; I\'ve got to go..." he said, scowling.



"Why? Lucius Malfoy can summon you if he needs to, I can read a binding scar as easily as the next wizard." George said, eyes flicking to the scar visible on the other man\'s wrist. "After all, you\'re the one who said we had to talk."



"You\'re getting too damned personal; I don\'t like it." he scowled.



"No more personal than you\'re getting with me." the redhead answered.



"It\'s none of your business why I don\'t have kids or a wife!"



"Perhaps it isn\'t. Look, I\'ll make it even; I\'ll tell you why I don\'t. I\'m not into birds; never have been for anything serious." George admitted. "They\'re fun, but I need something and someone that\'s more than just fun."



"That\'s not my problem!"



"Isn\'t it?" he asked pointedly. He knew what he was seeing in the man\'s face before Jerrod had gotten all angry; the man was interested but clearly afraid to admit it.



Warrington got to his feet. "No, it isn\'t!" he said, feeling very angry and not sure why. "I\'m into birds...!"



George tried not to grin; he could see it as plain as the nose on Warrington\'s face. "...but birds aren\'t into you?" he finished for him.



"You, George Weasley, are a total and insufferable git!" he growled, shoving to his feet. "I was wrong; I don\'t have time for this." he said, stalking back toward the door. George did not stop him as he stalked out of the room, down the hallway, and into the shop again. Fred was at the counter waiting on a customer but Jerrod ignored him completely, pushing past a few customers in order to get out of the shop.



Once outside he took a shaky breath. Damn it all he hated for people to bring that shite up... he was happy. "I\'m a happy bachelor, let it go and leave me the bloody hell alone...!" he grumbled as he paused to get his bearings. The bookstore; that was what he needed now; he turned and hurried in that direction. When he was passing the alley again he felt something reach and seize him, and he fell into the alley and out of consciousness.