The Prophecy of Gwydion

Disclaimer: See Chapter One
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Chapter Six:

Black Estates...
Cannes, France...
September, 2000...

Hedwig entered through an open window of the majestic French Villa that was the main house of the Black Estates in Cannes. She settled onto a chair, looking around; her large amber eyes searched for the two she was sent find. Hedwig's head turned to the opening door as it swing in.

Sirius Black had changed since his days as an convict on the run; having been cleared days after Voldemort's defeat, Siris have a much more youthful and clean-shaven apeparance. His long silky black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with rogue strands falling into ice-blue eyes. He looked to be younger then his forty years (acted less then his age as well). He was the first to notice Hedwig.

"Hedwig" Sirius said, holding out his arm for the snowy owl. Hedwig settled comfortably, sticking out her leg with the letter.

Remus Lupin-Black accepted the letter; he too had changed. No longer worn and tired, Remus hand
gained back much of his lost youth. Tawny blonde hair was no longer grey and amber eyes sparkled. Having his mate back had done wonders for the prematurely age Werewolf.

"Letter from Harry" Remus said, looking up at his mate. He broke the seal on the envelope; "he's in
Greece, at the Ioannides Ancestral Estates".

"No doubt due to that dashing young man, Cassander Ioannides" Sirius teased. He suddenly looked, thoughtful; "should we worry about Harry's virtue?"

Remus gave his mate an exasperated look; due to his Fae heritage (and the only Black to be one... thant really burned a lot of Blacks), Sirius was mischevious and playful. To that nature, Sirius was a born prankster, though not many understood that. Like all Fae, Sirius could be equally benevolent and malevolent; though Sirius' malevolent tendencies were drawn out if someone did something to either Remus or Harry (Lily and James had once been counted when they were still alive). The prank in their Fifth Year had been the result of Severus Snape being unjustifiably cruel (he had switched Remus' specially made platinum knife with a silver one; Remus had suffered mild silver poisoning). Despite the fact that the Head of Slytherin was calling for Sirius' expulsion; Dumbledore could nothing. If he tried, Snape would have been the one expelled. Silver poisoning of Werewolves had been outlawed as inhumane and was considered a form of murder; that and the fact that Sirius was one of the the more favored Magickal creatures. Laws regarding the defence of mates or children allowed for Fae (along with a host of others) could get away with murder if the situation justified it.

"Sirius, behave" Remus scolded, "Harry and his team need some help with the Elder Futhark Runes... where on earth did he learn those?"

"I'm telling you, that Cassander Ioannides will turn our boy into a bookworm" Sirius said. Remus rolled his eyes; the he could do when Sirius was being dramatic was ignore him. Remus turned his attention back to the letter; Harry wrote that they needed help with the alphabet form the letter. Luckily for Harry, Remus knew just the book; searching quickly, Remus found the book.

"So, why does Harry want to know about Elder Futhark Runes?" Sirius inquired, shifting Hedwig to his shoulder where she immediately began preening his hair.

"Apparently, they found some that are spelling a word" Remus replied, packaging the book. "They need the alphabet and since Wizards are only interested in the meanings..."

"Ah, I get it" Sirius said. Remus finished tying up the package and penned a sort reply; Hedwig hoisted off Sirius' shoulder and glided to the table where Remus tied the package to Hedwig's leg.

"This is heavy for you, Hedwig, is it?" Remus asked. Hedwig allowed herself to be picked up, giving Remus a stern glare. "My apologies, Hedwig... I just don't want you to hurt yourself". Remus carried her over to a window. "Alright, girl, have a safe return flight... be sure to tell Harry to come visit us and to bring Cassander Ioannides for a visit". Hedwig hooted and took off; Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus, pressing a kiss to the smaller Wizard's neck.

"Let's go have some fun" Sirirus said, huskily.

Remus shivered but allowed Sirius to pull him from the study.

<<>>

Ioannides Ancestral Estates...
Ioannina, Eprius, Greece...
September 2000...

The team had gathered in the library once more, urgency within. Argent had contacted them two days ago and informed them that Hunters had gotten wind of the expedition; the Egyptian tomb had been hit but thankfully the Hunters had gotten away with nothing. Argent had sealed the tomb with Goblin magick (which was impossible for a Wizard to break) and the artifacts were being held at the Egypt's branch of Gringotts. Argent revealed that there were two hunters on their heels, identities currently unknown.

Leifr was going crazy, he was cursing hismelf blue with Alexei egging him on. "Enough!" Kaoru said,
"Leifr-senpai, if you do not calm down, I will sedate you!"

Cassander smirked, looking up from maps that he had been studying with Xiao Xing and Harry . It was always the quiet ones.

"And you, Alexei-senpai, I will do worse to you if you do not stop!" Kaoru threatened. It was rather amusing watching two men of six feet in height obeying someone who was only five foot five.

"You know, Kaoru, you can drop the whole senpai thing" Harry said, looking at the Japanese Healer. "As the Healer of the team, you're technically third in the chain of command". Kaoru chewed on his lip.

"And if you really want to get technically" Cassander said, "Harry is your kohai... he's only been an Archaeologist since June of this year". Attention turned to Harry, who blushed; "payback".

"That isn't payback, Cassander" Harry snorted.

"Do we even want to know?" Xiao Xing inquired.

"He abandoned me to the degradation and humiliation that is my cousins" Cassander replied. At that moment, Phoenix decided to make his presence known by entering the library shrieking; the Dwarf Dragon latched onto Cassander and crawled down his shirt. The group stared at the Dragon.

"He went in here!"

Cassander turned, cupping the mound in his shirt as Christos and Fernando entered. "I told you to keep-- uh-oh" Fernando said, halting at the sight of his cousin.

"What were you two doing to Phoenix?" Cassander hissed, eyes narrowing. Phoenix poked his out, chirping. The turned a smoldering purple glare at the pair.

"Bye!"

The pair took off, Cassander made to go after them but stopped when Hedwig flew through the window, dropping the package and letter in front of Harry and came to rest on Cassander's shoulder. Phoenix looked up at the owl and chirped a question in which Hedwig answered with a hoot.

Everyone was startled by Harry's head thunking against the table. Cassander walked over to his soulmate and looked and the package before laughing; he lifted it up and showed Leifr, who joined Harry by thunking his head to the table.

"This is why I liked Muggles" Cassander said, "its a book on Elder Futhark runes, on its alphabet". The others groaned.

"Why didn't we think of muggles?" Alexei said.

"Hey, exclude Sandy, Kaoru and myself, thanks" Xiao Xing said, "Kaoru and I are Asians, how the hell were supposed to know?"

"And Sandy?" Alexei said, "why should we exclude him?"

"One, I'm the boss... and two, I never worked a site where I had to deal with Elder Futhark Runes" Cassander said, setting. Hedwig flew to an empty chair and punched. Phoenix climbed out and wrapped hismelf around Cassander's shoulders.

"Good point".

Leifr took the book and opened it to a listing of the alphabet. He pulled out the transcribed Runes; slowly he translated the Runes. "Haϸuwulafr? Oh!"

"A eureka moment" Alexei said, earning a smack from Xiao Xing to the back of his head. "Hey!"

"Who is this Ha-what?" Kaoru inquired.

"Haϸuwulafr the Battle-Wulf, one of Norway's legendary sea-kings" Leifr explaiend, "your dream, Harry!"

"The wolf in the armour" Harry said, nodding.

"This still doesn't explain who this guy is" Xiao Xing interrupted.

"Haϸuwulafr was the forerunner of Viking explorers" Alexei replied, "Leifr, doesn't Norway have documented history that Haϸuwulafr travelled to Egypt..."

"He took the diamonds!" the group chorused.

They laughed and hugged; Cassander hurried to the fireplace to place a secure floo call to Argent. None of them wanted the Hunters gaining any information.

"So, we're off to Norway" Alexei said, grinning. "Lilija's here we come!"

<<>>

Paris, France...
September, 2000...

Eyes opened as a young man looked across the café table to the woman opposite him. "Well?" the wash-out blonde inquired.

"Norway, they're headed to Norway" the young man answered, a smile across his face. "How do you feel about Vikings?"

Laughter filled the air.

<<>>

Sortfarget-Ulv Manor...
Olso, Norway...
October, 2000...

Two people were waiting for them when the arrived; a tall bearded redhead and a petite blonde. The redhead was tall, closing in on six foot four; he was the tallest, with Leifr and Alexei a close second. His blue eyes twinkled merrily (it reminded Harry of Dumbledore's eyes) but there was shadow that lurked behind the merriment. The redhead was broad-chested with thick arms; this had to be Eiríkr Thorvaldsson, Leifr's father. The blonde was a tiny thing; around fivee foot even. Golden blonde hair was pulled back into a braid while grey eyes smiled at them serenely. She was delicate but anyone could see the strength in her; she had to be Leifr's mother, Lilija Tolsdóttir.

Leifr's face lit up at the sight of his parents; his mother laughed, picked up her skirts and ran to him. Mother and son reunited with a big bear hug.

"Leifr!Du har komme hjem!" she said, pulling her tall down down to her leave so she could kiss his reddening cheeks.

"Ja, Mor" Leifr said. Lilija moved to the side as her husband came up; Eiríkr pulled his youngest boy into a hug. He rubbed the back of Leifr's neck.

"Hvordan har de det, gutt?" Eiríkr inquired, an eye searching over his son. Leifr squirmed but let his father look him over; he was the apple of his parents eye. Their youngest.

"Det er bra, Faren" Leifr replied.

Alexei grinned; he loved watching the dynamics of Leifr's family. And speaking of dynamics, Alexei saw the pair running toward Leifr and quickly pulled everyone to the side.

"Liten Bror!" came twin shouts. Eiríkr wisel stepped out of the way as his eldest sons, twins Thorvald and Thorstein, slammed into the younger brother. The trio fell to ground; Alexei burst out into laughter, ignoring Leifr's dirty looks as he tried getting away from his brothers. Alexei attracted attention to the team.

"Leifr?" Lilija inquired, giving her eldest sons a disapproving look. Thorvald and Thorstein quickly released their brother and hoisted him up off the ground.

"Mor, this is my archaeological team" Leifr replied, in English. "You already know Alexei".

"Of course, Alyosha, how are you?" Lilija inquired, as the two traded kisses on the cheek.

"Good, good... how are you and Eiríkr?" Alexei inquired.

"The same" Lilija said.

Leifr gestured to Harry and the shivering Cassander, who was huddled against Harry; "This is Dr. Cassander Ioannides, the head of the team... Dr. Harry Potter, the Second".

The two nodded their heads; though Cassander's was sort of jerky, he was shivering so hard. He was drawing concerned looks from everyone.

"This is Dr. Kobayashi Kaoru, our Healer" Leifr said.

"Konnichi wa!" Kaoru said, bowing. He kept one eye on Cassander, who burrowed closer to Harry.

"Dr. Daniel Hughes, our Defense Master and Magizoologist" Leifr continued. Daniel gave a shy wave, shuffling slightly so that he was partially hidden behind Alexei. Whiel Daniel was becoming comfortable around the team, he was still painfully shy. "And this is Dr. Huang Xiao Xing, our Transfigurist". Xiao Xing also bowed.

"Welcome to Sortfarget-Ulv Manor" Eiríkr said, his voice deep and comforting. "I am Eiríkr Thorvaldsson... my wife Lilija Tolsdóttir". Lilija gave everone a beaming smile. "And these are my eldest , Thorvald and Thorstein". The twins waved, grinning. Leifr looked around.

"Where is Freydís, Faren?" Leifr asked, "Mor?"

"Freydís is completing a very important experiment" Lilija said, ushering everyone into the Manor. Cassander was thankful for the warmth but he was still shivering, violently. "Are you alright, Dr. Ioannides?"

"C-cold" Cassander said, his features pale with a slight red tint. His lips had a slight blue coloration; his teeth chattering. Lilija frowned, noticing that everyone else was fine. Kaoru pulled off his glove and touched his fingers against Cassander's pale cheek.

"Stage One Hypothermia" Kaoru said, removing his hand. "Honestly, Cassander, you have to tell me if you are sensitive to the cold". Lilija moved over to Cassander's side.

"D-d-d-didn't k-know" Cassander stuttered, "t-this n-n-never h-happened b-b-before". Kaoru and Lilija whisked Cassander away.

"Where's young Cassander from?" Eiríkr asked.

"Greece... Eprius to be exact" Harry replied.

"Don't you living in China, Xiao Xing?" Alexei inquired, looking at the sole female.

"Yeah, from Daxing'anling Prefecture in Heilongjiang Province" Xiao Xing answered, "near the Russian border".

"Cassander's never gone this far North and never so close to winter" Harry said.

"Then I shall inform the House Elves to keep the fire in his chambers going" Eiríkr said, smiling at the group. "You all must be hungry... come, supper has been prepared".

<<>>

Olso, Norway was quite beautiful in the fall; Ellery Jones leaned against the railings of the Hotel that he and his partner, Ninette Benoit, were staying at. Ellery had once been an Archaeologist but switched to being a Hunter because of the profit. Ellery had Seen Cassander and his team; while possessing clairvoyance as a Gift, Ellery was far from the power house that Cassander was. Ellery was just a Seer.

The American smirked at the thought of Cassander, his fiery ex-lover. And soon, they be together again; regardless of what Cassander thought.

<<>>

Cassander was wrapped up in a thick quilt laced with several heating charms on him. He was seated in front of a fire with his team gathered round. Leifr and Alexei had just returned from the Royal Library and Archives; they gone to obtain copies of Haþuwulafr's logs of journey to Egypt.

The team had gathered in the library of the Manor; they were discussing the findings. Kaoru, as Healer, had ordered the Grecian-Spaniard not to leave the manor until he had acclimatized.

"Anything in particular that you uncovered?" Cassander asked, his voice no longer stuttering; his hand climatized that much to the odd.

"No" Xiao Xing said, viewing her copies of the logs. "At least, none that I find... something tells me this will be a little more tricky. Haþuwulafr seems very cunning, much like your Salazar Slytherin, Harry".

"Yeah, I got that opinion too" Harry said, reviewing his own copies.

"I think, he would have mentioned it as a sort of out of the way thing" Alexei said. Cassander noticed the nods; he reached out a hand to take a few sheets concerning Haþuwulafr's family life. He had married, beget five children (one being a son); Cassander's eyes narrowed at the mention of a son, Hjor.

"Leifr? Who would be in charge of a King's burial?" Cassander inquired.

"The sons... same as with Pureblood traditions" Leifr replied, "why?"

"Does the Royal Library andd Archives have any documents concerning Hjor, the only son of Haþuwulafr?" Cassander asked.

" Sure, we have a copy of his... Cassander, I could kiss you!" Leifr said, "though I'm sure that Harry would probably curse me if I tried. I'll be back in an hour". Leifr was up and out of the library before anyone could do anything. Attention turned to Cassander.

"What was that about?" Kaoru asked.

"If Haþuwulafr died before he could hide the Diamonds, his firstborn son would take up the task" Cassander said, "its possible that Hjor may have hid one of the Diamonds within his father's Burial Mound".

"But where Haþuwulafr be buried?" Kaoru inquired.

"That, Kaoru, we will have to find out".

____________________

Ellery stood outside the Sorfarget-Ulv Manor; a cigarette dangling from his lips. He watched as a car drove out past the gates; the American slipped in past the gate. He pulled out his wand from its shoulder holster and resting it on the palm of his hand. "Point me, Cassander Ioannides" Ellery said.

The wand spun before coming to stop in a direction; Ellery smirked and headed off in that direction.

____________________

Cassander had taken leave to his rooms and for a warm bath. Kaoru recommended plenty of warm baths as they would help boosted his internal temperature.

His chambers had its room temperature set to a more warmer temperature. Cassander had just gotten out of the bath and changing into thick jeans, a long sleeve thermal shirt, knitted cable sweat (Lilija had made it for him) and thick socks. He had just pulled on his sweater when he heard the window open. Cassander turned around; his violet eyes widening at the sight of Ellery.

"You!" He said.

"Hello, Cass, did you miss me?" Ellery asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, like athletic's foot" Cassander hissed. His hand itching to release his wand from his arm holster. But Ellery knew about that wand; thankfully, Cassander never saw fit to inform Ellery of its twin hidden in a holster at his back. Cassander never stopped thanking the paranoia of his great-grandfather, Agammenon Ioannides, for insisting that all Ioannides carry two wands.

"I'm hurt, Cass" Ellery said.

"Not yet you aren't"Cassander replied, watching his ex-lover carefully. He didn't trust Ellery.

The American entered the room, closing the window behind him. "You act as if you don't trust me" Ellery said.

"Gee, you think?" Cassander said, sarcastically. "I wonder what gave me away?" Ellery pouted but Cassander ignored him. Ellery took a set forward and Cassander took a step to the side, making sure to put things between them.

"Cass---" Ellery started.

There was a knock on the door.

"Sandy, everything o---You!" Xiao Xing said.

"Hello, Xiao Xing" Ellery said. Cassander watched as Ellery was distracted by Xiao Xing; he strucked. He gave Ellery a vicious side kick to his stomach knocking him into a wall. His wand were freed and pointed at Ellery. Xaio Xing's wand was also pointed at him.

Alexei, Daniel, Kaoru and Harry came running at the thunk. Their wands drawn; Ellery looked at the group. "Oh, you've got yourself a little team" Ellery said.

"Who's the weirdo?" Alexei said, "and how'd he get in?"

"Ellery Jones" Ellery said, "and that would be the gate".

"He's a Hunter" Cassander snarled, "one I should have know would be following us". Ellery stood, dusting himself off.

"But now, I must say goodbye". Before anyone could react, Ellery pulled Cassander into a full mouth kiss. Cassander's eyes widened in shock. "Nice seeing ya, Cass". Eller gave him a peck before disappearing out the window. Cassander touched his lips; his other hand forming a fist.

"Sandy?" Alexei asked.

"Damn PERVERT!" Cassander roared, "he copped a feel!"

<<>>

Freydís Eiríksdóttir didn't know what to expect when she was introduced to her baby brother's team but the chaos that they excluded certainly wasn't it. She had plans on introducing the young man at her side to her parents; but she was a little hestinant with her brothers around. Gods only know how protective they were of her.

"Are you sure that your parents are coing to like me?" the young man asked. Freydís looked up at him; his brown hair hung shaggily around his youthful face.

"Of course they will" she assured him, "why wouldn't they? You treat me as if I'm a Queen".

"Frey, I'm thirteen years your junior" the man said, "and I've only just completed my Herbology mastery". Freydís took his arm and tugged him over to her parents.

"Please stop worrying" she said, "Mama and Pala will love you... though about my brothers, I'm not entirely sure". But little did she know what was going to happen.

__________________________

Leifr looked up from where he was talking with Alexei and Kaoru; his parents had insisted on this gathering in Family Parlour. He saw his older blonde-haired sister approaching with an unfamiliar young man. Protective brotherly instincts arose but Leifr noticed Harry looking up from where he was having a debate. Green eyes widened at the sight of the young man but an overall happy look appeared on his face.

"Neville!"

Harry left Cassander, who had been curled into his side, and meet the other young man half-way; they laughed, clutching each other in a tight hug. Freydís looked surprised by pleased; the two pulled back.

"It's good to see you again, Mate" Harry said, "what have you been up to?"

"Herbology Mastery" Neville Longbottom replied, "I just graduated, top honors".

"Congratulations!" Harry said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Freydís, who might this young man be?" Lilija inquired, giving her three sons glare. Harry moved back, to let Lilija and Eiríkr up; he tucked Cassander back under his arm. Neville raised an eyebrow at that. Harry gave a one-shoulder shrug.

"Mama... Papa, this is Neville Longbottom" Freydís said, "my fiance".

That caused an explosion; Harry watched as Neville sized up Eiríkr, Thorvald, Thorstein and Leifr. Neville stuck out his hand for Eiríkr, introducing himself; Eiríkr shook Neville's hand, all the while keeping his sons back with a glare.

"Nice to meet you, young man" Eiríkr said. "I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone, Freydís". His only daughter gave him a pointed look then looked at her brothers; Eiríkr laughed and nodded. "Though that is understandable...pray tell, Neville, how is that you know Harry?"

"We were in school together" Neville answered, "Harry and I were friends".

Eiríkr looked at Harry, who nodded.

Longbottom... that name" Lilija said, tapping her chin. "Oh! I know now... Harfang Longbottom, he was married to my mother's cousin".

"Yes, my great-uncle" Neville said, allowing Freydís to take his arm. She smiled up at him and he smiled back; Eiríkr and Lilija could see that the two were smitten with each other despite the age gap between them. They settled down for talks that lasted half-way into the night.

<<>>

"Alright, we know that Haþuwulafr was King of Hordaland and that Hjor was King after him" Alexei said, "so, Haþuwulafr's Burial Mound is in Hordaland, somewhere".

"Where is Hordaland?" Harry asked. Attention drifted to Leifr.

"Hordaland is the third largest county of Norway" Leifr explained, "its on the south-west coast of the country. Has a lot of islands... and since the Muggles believe that Haþuwulafr to be a mythological figure, the burial ma be on one of the Magickal islands". Leifr stood up, spreading out a map over the table; everyone crowded around the table. Leifr pointed to the islands that were colored differently then the rest of Hordaland. "I was thinking along the lines of the more obscure islands. Red designated Magickal islands but the purple designates the more obscure islands".

"Why those islands?" Xiao Xing asked, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"One of the passages in Hjor's diaries" Leifr answered, picking a sheet. It was a copy from one of Hjor's many diaries he rested it on the map. "This passage describes a treacherous passage from the mainland of Hordaland to the Hellig Øy av Kingston or Sacred Island of Kings". Leifr pointed to a small island; "this is the island. No Magickal Archaeologists has ever done an extensive excavation on it; the government never allowed them but it has been well documented by Archaeologists and by the Kings of Hordaland".

"So, we set out for this place?" Kaoru asked, looking at Cassander.

"I guess we do" Cassander said, looking at the map. "Good job, Leifr... now all we need is permission". Cassander looked at Leifr, who rubbed the back of his neck.

"Specifically from His Majesty, King Harald V" Leifr said.

<<>>

"He's blocking me" Ellery said, sipping on the coffee. Ninette looked at him; Ellery looked amused. She rolled her eyes; never pretended to understand what went on through the head of her partner.

"Then we do this the old fashion way" Ninette said.

TBC
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Translations:

Sortfarget-Ulv (Norwegian): Black Wolf

Leifr!Du har komme hjem! (Norwegian): Leifr! You've come home!

Ja, Mor (Norwegian): Yes, Mother

Hvordan har de det, gutt? (Norwegian): How are you, boy?

Det er bra, Faren (Norwegian): Good, Father

Liten Bror! (Norwegian): Little Brother!

-Senpai (Japanese): Honorific; used to address those higher then (not your boss)

-Kohai (Japanese): Honorific; used to address an inferior (someone in a lower position then yourself)

Hellig Øy av Kingston (Norwegian): Sacred Island of Kings