Yer a Wizard, Julian

Hey .. freakonaleashxhp - thanks for your review! I can't email you though, yours is hidden! Happy to have you beta etc - you can contact me on kudra@workline.com.



Julian awoke, blinking bleary-eyed into the mid-morning light ... as he sat up, he reached for his phone, and was astonished to find he'd slept much later than he was usually capable of - his mind almost inevitably started whirling even after only a few hours sleep, prompting him to rise far sooner than his body really needed. It was a novel surprise to feel relatively well rested.

He shucked on some clothes and some holey socks, noting that he was sure someone had mentioned he'd been sent new ones by adoring fans, but had no idea where these might be. Hah. Adoring fans. The idea was quite pedestrian really, his work was so much more important than any "celebrity".

And now, there was this "wizard" situation. Which he needed answers about. He sat down at his laptop and scanned his inbox, and not seeing anything of unusual import on a brief scan, he decided it best to keep regular work on hold until he had had a chance to confront Christine with the information Lucius had given him. He rose and went to the door, and headed for the sitting room.

As expected, his mother was within. A kindly looking woman in her late 50's, she was quite rugged up with a hefty shawl against the mild chill present in the room (even with the fire going it was cold for an Aussie), and was reading what he assumed was today's newspaper. He leaned over to give her a polite kiss on the cheek and queried mildly,

"Morning. Anything in the paper today, mum?" She looked up, and smiled.

"Not about you, love, for a change! It seems after those Christmas photos, there's not been a lot more for anyone to say, for the time being." Julian nodded, and seated himself across from her, helping himself to some toast piled on a plate in the center of the table.

"I'm sure it won't last." Julian smiled wryly, taking a bite and chewing before speaking again. "They're always digging up some more dirt from the past, who knows which long forgotten face will show up next, eh?"

Christine nodded, and murmured "Mmmm," in a noncommittal, vaguely distracted way.

Julian paused for a moment, looking down and away, before coughing slightly, and then said in a slightly tentative voice, but with a hint of firmness,

"Errr, mum... I have to ask you something."

"What's that, love?"

Julian frowned. "Well, you see... someone came to visit me last night. Someone who claimed that he was a ... relative."

Does the name ... Malfoy ... mean anything to you, mum?"

Christine Assange looked up instantly from her apparent interest in the paper, all the colour drained from her face.

"Oh, no." Christine's expression cycled through surprise and fear, and was rapidly transforming into one of pure panic.

"No, no! This can't be happening, I made certain this would never happen! I knew it would be a risk coming here myself, but there should have been no way they would ever be able to find you, and you were never trained... " she gulped back words, eyes wide,

"How on earth did they find you???" she cried, clutching at her throat in reflex.

Julian frowned, his brow furrowing and his lips pursed together somewhat grimly.

"So, what he told me is true? That there's a whole hidden world out there, magic is real, and in fact, I'm a...." his voice sounded hollow and strained, ".... a .. wizard?"

Christine gulped, and looked away, her panic fully fledged, looking back to Julian, she nodded nervously. "Yes, but you were not supposed to ever find out or develop your skills, Julian! It was too dangerous and I couldn't face the possibility of losing you... "

"Losing me? Why would you have - "

Christine interrupted him. "Don't! I ... it was so long ago, and things have changed so much, it's not as dangerous as it was back then, but once the spell was cast, I thought... I thought it was irreversible, I had no idea that they would find you here... of course now, I see that was very foolish... " she wrung her hands in dismay.

This all meant very little to Julian. He said sternly, "Calm down, mum, please. Just start from the beginning. You never told me anything about my birth father, Brett was always dad.... I did want to know when I was younger but I accepted that it was just something too painful for you, I respected that. But.. he found me. Lucius, that is - Abraxas' other son. So please, tell me, how did you meet my father?"

Christine's panic mellowed a notch, and she took a deep breath, nodding slowly.

"I was foolish as a young girl, Julian... or, I should say... young, err... witch." she smiled wryly. "I had only just graduated college, and there was a handsome wizard visiting from the UK, he was incredibly mysterious.... and the accent... well, I was a little too easily swayed, is probably the best way of putting it." She sighed. "I didn't know his real name then, he was very secretive - didn't find out why until much later. He was only around for maybe a month or two, before he disappeared without a word, without a trace. Broke my heart, at least I thought so at the time. After he left, I found out I was pregnant - and even though I knew being a single mother would be tough, I decided to go through with it. It wasn't long til I met Brett, and he was a good, kindly Muggle - that's a non-wizard, if you weren't aware. He didn't know I was a witch, it's not the kind of thing that's always easy to just bring up, you know? Things were fine for a while... I thought you'd grow up happily, and eventually I'd tell him, and you'd go to wizarding school and everything would turn out wonderfully.

At the time, I had no idea how bad things had become overseas - the worst was happening in Europe you see, and we only got occasional attacks in Australia... "

Julian frowned, "Attacks?"

Christine nodded. "The First Wizarding War. It had begun shortly before you were born, and there was little news for a long time - communication was so risky, and we were so far away.... and things with Brett deteriorated badly over the years. I never told him. It was stressful, and we needed to be very careful who we trusted. Things with Brett eventually fell apart... and I got together with ... " Christine grimaced, a look of pain crossing her face, "I ... I can't say his real name, Julian, but I'm sure your remember, at least a little... I didn't know it at first, I was so trusting. It was a relief to be with someone who was magical, so I .. confided far too much.

It turned out, he was a Dark wizard... and he'd found me because... because of you. Because of your birth father. Abraxas, I discovered - was from a very powerful wizarding family, pure blood and all, and we were being called to serve in the war... as soon as you were old enough.

When I discovered this, I was terrified. I ... I couldn't let that happen!"

Christine buried her face in her hands. She spoke muffled through her hands and hair. "Do you really think I wanted to deny you your right to magic? It was the last thing I wanted, Julian. But I could see no other way to keep you safe, to stop them taking us.

So I went into hiding, and I performed a charm that is so rare and unused it took all my power to conjure. I occluded your visibility in the Australian magical registry. It meant you'd never be called to attend wizarding school, so you'd not be able to develop your skills. And ... and you wouldn't be able to be found by the dark wizards who'd come searching for us, and taken to join Voldemort's army.

You were safe, and that was more important to me than you not knowing who you .... who you really were. I'm so sorry, Julian... " she trailed off, and Julian could see her eyes glistening with tears.

Julian pursed his lips tightly. This was just incredible. On one level, he could understand why she had done this. But on another level, he was livid, so desperately angry. She had lied to him about one of the most important things in the world - had stifled and denied him who knows how much? He'd accepted for many years he'd probably never know who his birth father was, but this was SO much more. He wanted to be reasonable, but his temper flared, the anger and hurt in him bubbled up, unstoppable. He stared across at her, unforgivingly, and spat out, bitingly,

"Thankyou for finally telling the truth, mum. I realise you did it to protect me, but I think you might have learned something from my work. Haven't you seen any of the interviews? Read any of the articles? Didn't you ever see or hear me say "You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion."

Now I'm starting from scratch - I have no idea what is really happening beneath the surface of what I thought were the real secrets. You could have let me be involved earlier, have some kind of say in my own future. Why didn't you trust me, when it mattered, or any time before forcing me to find out from someone else?"

His expression was hard and cold. Christine's face was ashen.

"I.... I'm sorry, Julian. I was scared you'd find a way to break the charm when you were still young enough to enter school, I was scared you.... " her voice turned to a whisper, "I was scared you'd be convinced to join the dark army."

Julian rose from the table, his face livid. "Oh, you had that little faith in me? Thanks. Thanks a whole lot, mother," he hissed. "It's so good to have trust placed in you. I really appreciate you having given me the benefit of the doubt." His sarcasm cut like a knife, and Christine's expression was aghast. "Please..." she begged, but Julian had already turned from her, and was striding out the door, slamming it shut behind him.