Parts (1-3)

VII

Chapter 1

An Age of Discord

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to JK Rowling

Author's Note:

This is Book VII in my Gray series, if you have not read the others in the series then go back and read Book I Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Blood Runes, Book II Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Call of the Dark, Book III Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Werewolf Army, Book IV Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Scepter of Night, Book V Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Son of Voldemort and Book VI Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Crux of the Alchemist first because otherwise this won't make much sense

Part 1: The Sons of Alzay

He ran. Fleeing as fast as his short legs could carry him, hugging the bushes for cover despite the fact he had a Disillusionment Charm on. His head ached so much he was almost numb to how the brambles jabbed him painfully, he knew he'd be hurt worse if he couldn't get away. He wasn't entirely sure that house-elves couldn't see through those kinds of charms anyway, he also hadn't much faith in his magical ability considering his young age. By his count, he was only four and a half.

He stumbled out of the greenery with leaves getting stuck in his crimson hair which had a slight wave to it, panting heavily from the run while his violently violet eyes picked up light. He peered towards it, his eyes stinging from tiredness and his aching body shaking weakly. He never thought he'd miss the Training Tower but here he did. At least they gave him regular food and rest, he also got to see his brother. He didn't think Vathan was even alive at this point. He blinked that sad thought from his mind, he needed to focus or he'd never get away. It looked like a muggle dwelling, he saw a truck outside of the little cottage anyway with its thatched roof.

He shifted the grip on his precious wand, the last relic of his father that the house-elves had retrieved for him. Not out of the goodness of their tiny crippled black hearts – if they had any – but because they wanted him to do magic. He missed his dad. A lot. It still hurt too. A lot. He didn't know why his bad brother had to do that, his dad had been innocent and had a truce with them. People were just bad, his dad was right. He tried to shove that thought aside again, he needed to focus. He thought he could handle muggles.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with them exactly but he figured he had less chance of getting caught in there then out here, maybe they wouldn't think to look in a muggle house. Maybe he could finally get some rest. He took a deep breath and made a beeline for the truck for cover, from there approached the door.

"Alohomora," he whispered and waved his wand over the door, it clicked and started to swing open.

He slipped inside and pushed it closed behind him, trying to be quiet as he tiptoed around the room. It was a kitchen he found himself in, large terracotta tiles lay underfoot and beamed ceilings overhead with an abundance of cabinets lining the walls. No sign of the owners though. He put a hand to his stomach as it gurgled desperately, maybe they also had food here that he could eat. His mouth watered at the thought of proper food, letting his guard down as he headed for the door to explore further into the house.

BANG!

He yelped in surprise at the gunshot, his wand flying from his hand as he tried to jump out of the way. It seemed to hit the large kitchen table and fear made his heart beat faster, his fingers subconsciously drifting to the scars around his eye. Two had been caused by his mother but one had been done by Jack/One after he tried to kill them, they hadn't died though. Jack/One had gotten back up. Why couldn't his dad have gotten back up? Then he wouldn't even be in this situation, everything would be okay again. He fought back tears as a couple rushed into the room, a mustached man holding one of the bigger guns... a shotgun he thought they were called. He didn't want to deal with this, why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?

"Don't!" the woman behind the man squealed. He must have lost his Disillusionment Charm in the chaos, or maybe he'd never cast it right in the first place. His eyes captured his wand several feet away, "It's just a child."

"Child my ass," the man growled and jerked his head in the direction of the wand, "He's one of them, those magic Shadow folk. He's probably as old as we are, it could just all be a trap. I'm sure they don't give real littleuns magic sticks."

"I am a child, my name is Oathan Loren-"

"Shut up, you!" the man barked roughly and Oathan fell fearfully silent, hoping the tears didn't trickle from his eyes. All he wanted was to rest, why couldn't he catch a break? Just once he'd like to catch a break. Now he had to get away from these people too, since when did muggles know about magic anyway? "Now, if you want to live then do what I say, OK? Put your hands in the air and don't move, then nobody has to get shot while we call the Police."

"Okay," Oathan agreed, doing as told because having his arms in the air aided him not because he had any intention of going with the Police who'd probably just torture and imprison him because that was what people did. The man kept the shotgun aimed at him but it didn't matter now, "Why don't you put down the gun then I don't have to hurt you?"

"See, hon? Mouthy if he's a real boy, isn't he?" the man commented to the woman triumphantly before refocusing his attention on him while the woman looked uncertain, Oathan kept his focus on the gun, "And you, magic man, shut up. I'm the one with the gun here."

"Are you?" Oathan asked quietly.

On that he gestured and the couple gasped as the shotgun levitated out of his grip, Oathan guided it with his hands using windless magic. They didn't seem able to do anything other than gape in shock as he had it move away from them, he turned his scarred hands embedded with layers of words carved into his skin and kept his concentration making the hovering weapon slowly turn around to aim at the couple. He armed it as his dad had taught him, causing a click that made the couple's expressions turn to fear and the man tried to place him himself almost protectively in front of the woman.

"L- Look, w-we're sorry, okay?" the man stammered out, the terror in his tone matching the fear on his face and Oathan felt his resolve wavering. He didn't really want to install fear in people, it wasn't a nice feeling and he didn't wish it on others. But then it wasn't his fault they threatened him, he hadn't done anything to them, "Please don't hurt us."

"I won't just-"

SNAP!

Oathan was cut off abruptly at the snapping sound that accompanied the couples' heads violently wrenching, twisting so forcefully he almost thought they'd be ripped off. Regardless, their corpses crumpled to the ground, revealing a short spindly creature who had undoubtedly been the cause. Without hesitation, Oathan magically jerked the gun to change the aim and mentally pulled the trigger. There was a deafening bang and the gun recoiled back in the air, the house-elf vanished through and a crack behind him announced it had reappeared.

He tried to turn but it was already too late, he fell screaming as pain erupted through his small body and the gun clattered to the ground forgotten. He wasn't sure if it was really the Cruciatus Curse or just some house-elf version but it still hurt, like thousands of burning drills were boring into every part of him. It was agony. He was crying before he realized it, writhing instinctively and wishing there really was some way to escape the pain, why was life just filled with pain? The house-elf dropped the curse. He recognized him as the leader one but they had no names to identify them, so he just called him Leader.

"Don't try to escape again," Leader told him coldly as Oathan curled into a protective ball, tears still streaming from his eyes as his body trembled from the waves of residual pain like it took his body a minute to remember what it was like to not suffer, "You've been told before our master still has use for you."

"I don't care! I don't care about your master!" Oathan screamed at him still sobbing, "I don't care about his plan, I don't care that he needs me, I don't care! Just leave me alone, I want to go!"

"What you want is irrelevant, boy, our master's desires are all that matter."

"I told you before that my name is Oathan!"

"And I told you before that you no longer have a name, we are servants of our master and that is all the identity our master requires of us."

"I don't want to serve your master!" Oathan cried in frustration, what part of that sentence was so hard to understand?

"What you want is irrelevant, our master's desires are all that matters and we live to serve him. We includes you, boy," Leader told him and Oathan heard the soft footsteps as the barefooted creature approached, he curled up more fearfully already feeling sick with dread and it didn't help his scars took that moment to burn. The house-elf lowered a vial of bubbling blue liquid into his eye line, "It's time for your potion."

"No," Oathan whined, trembling in dread and shaking his head into the floor, "Please, I don't want it."

"It's necessary for you to be able to complete the task our master requires of you," Leader told him coldly, seizing his shoulder in a vicelike grip and pulling him into a sitting position while the other hand offered the potion to him, "Drink it or we'll have to force it down your throat, again."

"Why?" Oathan choked on a sob but nonetheless took the blasted vial shakily, "All it does is hurt me, that doesn't help your master unless he's a Specter."

"Its sole function isn't to cause you pain, it's just a side effect," Leader explained irritably, "You have power, boy, plentiful raw power but that alone won't restore our master. For magic to work you need to have the presence of mind to make it so, to will it so. Something the young tend to lack due to their unfocused, undeveloped minds. You have more skill then most but powerful magic is required of you, we are training you the best we can but our master still does not wish to wait years for you to grow up so this potion makes your mind at least develop. Side effects can include pain, seizures, bleeding, brain damage, migraine, stunted development, dizziness, nausea, disability, mental conditions, hallucinations, violent impulses and death."

"Death?" Oathan repeated in surprise, not knowing what half those other words meant and Leader nodded, "If I die doesn't that mean I can't help your master?"

"If you die I was clearly mistaken and you are of no use to our master, you are expendable and we can just find another."

"Why not just find someone else?" Oathan pleaded and as usual Leader just looked at him blankly, "I don't want to do it. Find someone who is already old so you don't need to use the mind potion or just do the magics yourselves."

"It has to be human magic and someone older is harder for us to control. Now drink," Leader insisted more forcefully, "We still have much to do, we can use this place and those corpses will be good for an anatomy lesson. You need to learn how the body works to learn how to break it, we must do a better job protecting our master when he returns. We includes you."

"They aren't corpses, they're the people that you killed."

"That's what corpses are, boy. They were just muggles anyway, our master considers them animals."

"They knew about magic, it was weird," Oathan recalled thoughtfully, glancing sadly at the lifeless forms as he was reminded of his dead father dropping to the ground beside him.

"We heard the Shadow Master revealed magic to the muggle world along with her own identity. It is irrelevant to us however, this does not affect our task so stop stalling and drink. Or I will be forcing you."

Oathan cringed and Leader raised his hand threateningly, he tearfully chugged down the liquid preferring not to be forced. For such a vile substance it didn't taste the worst, it tasted oddly... clinical. The effects were still bad. Almost immediately he felt dizzy, the world spinning around him as he sat swaying unsteadily against the wave of nausea. Leader removed the empty vial from his hand and then the pain hit.

He screamed in agony as the pain cut into his mind, he gripped at his head. It was almost like the Cruciatus Curse localized entirely inside his skull, which also felt as if nails were being hammered into it. It had the piercing quality of a blood quill too, as if every layer of his brain was being written into with knives because he could feel it very three dimensionally. He felt liquid dribbling through his fingers out of his ears but couldn't do anything about it, he was shaking badly as he screamed. It was different to Crucio though, he was shaking not writhing and it worsened. He collapsed in terror, his body convulsing uncontrollably and he felt his head banging off the floor while the world flashed in and out.

He wasn't sure if he passed out or it just stopped but he found himself lying there still spasming occasionally as the pain receded, his brain still hurt as if the potion really had left raw wounds inside his head. He lay there for a minute, clutching at his skull with his trembling fingers and still feeling damp. He sat up slowly and shakily, still twitching as he went to wipe at the wetness in his ears. When he moved his scarred hand back he saw red, blood.

"Time to train," Leader announced, Oathan turned slowly to see he was being offered his wand which he took only because of the personal meaning, "You wasted enough time today with your foolish escape attempt, we still have much work to do to get you good enough to restore our master."

"C-Can't I rest? I took the potion," Oathan asked blinking his still gritty eyes, his voice coming out as a quiet rasp, "I'm tired and now I don't feel good, the-"

"All the more reason to train now, if you succeed at your weakest you'll strive at full strength. You need to pull through whenever our master requires, how good, bad, ill or injured you are is irrelevant to our master so come," Leader said, gesturing for him to follow.

"Please," Oathan pleaded tearfully, standing regardless and following on unsteady legs as he had come not to expect mercy. Leader walked over the dead, he chose to step around them instead as he was led into a corridor where Leader paused by a large window there, "Please let me rest for even just a little bit, I don't know if you even can feel-"

"I can feel," Leader interrupted again, sounding almost offended which was more emotion then he usually showed. He hesitated, "I was once too like you, as were all of us who were born before he cleansed the family tree we served and became the sole master. I had a name and was put under a training regime like yours to become a servant satisfactory for the master, to speak with the level of etiquette he desired, to dedicate my life to him as servants should. But I learned, just as you will and now I am what he wants me to be just as you will."

"Well what about what do you want?" Oathan wondered curiously, the revelation quite new to him and made him feel a newfound sympathy for Leader.

"What I want is irrelevant, my desires are one with the master now. So should yours be."

"He doesn't sound like a very nice pers-"

Oathan was silenced as Leader swiped his hand at him as if he was slapping him, instead however he felt a single line of searing pain rip across his cheek over the scars already embedded around his eye. He whimpered and clutched at the wound as he was sent spiraling to the ground, feeling the increasingly familiar warm liquid oozing from it.

"Never insult our master, ever. Corvinus Ares Ashain is good even when he's bad, he's right even when he's wrong and we will serve him loyally until he allows death to take us. We includes you," Leader told him sharply, snapping his fingers and causing the window to shatter, "Do not insult our master again, bear that scar as a reminder. Do you understand, boy?"

"Y-Yeah," Oathan stammered out shakily, deciding resistance was futile. He'd had enough for today, the sooner he shut up and the task was over with then maybe he could rest.

"Now get up, you have a task to complete," Leader said, nodding at the shattered window, "You have to repair this window, levitate each and every piece back into the correct slot. It'll improve your control and precision with magic, as well as work on your intelligence."

"What?" Oathan croaked in disbelief as he looked at the hundreds of identical shards, starting to cry again. At the Training Tower they gave them tasks actually achievable at least, "That's impossible! I don't want to, just let me go to sleep!"

"You can sleep when your task is complete," Leader told him coldly and Oathan went to object before crying out as he felt a whip cut into his back, "To encourage you to speed up and ignore the distraction of pain, you will receive a lash every five minutes you have failed to finish repairing the window. Your own pain is irrelevant to the master and must not interfere with tasks."

"I thought it was every two minutes?" another familiar voice from another of the house-elves said from behind him, they had no names to identify them but he knew it was the chunky one from the voice who he called 'Chunky.' He usually was in charge of punishment.

"Five will suffice," Leader decided, "Unless the boy sits there doing nothing."

"I'll do it!" Oathan sobbed, fumbling shakily to pick his wand back with the hand not clutching his wounded face and focus on the task. He hated his life.

"Be careful not to run into anything!" Brutus' gruff voice called after his sons.

Vathan was knocked from his thoughts as the two year old twins jostled him as they ran giggling up the hallway, identifiable by the different colored ops of hair. The elder had the same extremely dark auburn hair as their father while the younger had raven black hair like their mother, the Shadow Master. Vathan too had black hair but his was longer with a slight wave to it, his eyes a mossy green and his skin not as pale. He wasn't related to either but Brutus had been taking care of him since his parents had died, he was the closest he had to family now everyone was dead or just gone. Plus he had two older brothers, one had killed his grandfather and one his mother. He wasn't sure how to feel about them, he was tempted to write them off as evil but how much had been an accident if they were brainwashed? His mother at least hadn't been a nice person anyway, not to her sons at least.

He heard Brutus sigh and turned to the man standing beside him, he was undeniably odd looking. His dark chestnut eyes were overly large and at different angles, one was also higher than the other. His nose was large and bulbously, his large uneven ears stuck out of his head and his thin mouth curled up the side of his face. He is extremely dark chestnut hair was normal though, his hands though had six fingers on each. He was also muscular in addition to the deformity, which gave him an imposing presence. Despite that, he was actually really nice if you knew him like Vathan did. Brutus was a hero like his dad had been, they were making the world better because it was bad how it was. He didn't know why the other countries fought it, it just prolonged the war part of their plan so it took longer to get to the peace. He supposed it just went to show how screwed up the world was with this violent people preferring war.

"So what do you think?" Brutus asked of him encouragingly as they continued down the hallway after the twins, Vathan glanced back to him to see him gesture, "This is where the US muggle leader lived, it's called the White House."

"It's fancy," Vathan commented, it seemed to be a recurring theme with these leaders' houses which they often stayed in like now. He thought maybe if they tried to help their people instead of just living in fancy houses then the world wouldn't be so bad in the first place. They also had lots of strange muggle things, he flicked a random switch on the wall idly in passing but it did nothing. He chuckled at the stupidity of a useless switch, "Muggle things are weird."

"They are," Brutus agreed as they reached the end of the hall.

It led into a round room where the Shadow Master – or Sal her real name was – sat at a desk, her children sitting on either knee babbling away to her excitedly while she listened with interest and cuddled them. He'd be lying if he said she didn't scare him a little, her power was amazing but terrifying. She didn't seem it at first glance, she was slender and pretty but he'd seen her raze whole cities to the grounds as easily as knocking town something her sons had constructed with wooden blocks. She had a nice side too obviously but he didn't forget her power. The new Scepter she was working on lay on the desk before her, just a bunch of sticks and crystals spread over rolls of ancient looking parchment. Stephan was also there standing in front of her desk, Stephan Hunter his half-brother's cousin. He was a General now and Vathan would guess he'd been in a meeting with Sal, Vathan didn't like him too much.

"You can go," Sal said dismissively to Stephan, "Keep leading the Inferi against the states bordering our Mexico, the more we take while they're distracted reeling from my revelation the better. You don't need Specters. If you're successful in this conquest of American then maybe I'll consider the promotion you want."

"Understood, Master, I live to serve. Lieutenant Brutus," Stephan said in greeting as they approached, inclining his head respectfully while Omega squirmed out of his mother's arms as his attention had been captured by the window. The young man's eyes shifted to him, "Vathan. When will the boy be returning to the Training Tower?"

"He's now under my care, he'll go back only if and when I deem it appropriate," Brutus growled defensively and put an arm protectively around Vathan, Vathan smiled to himself feeling comforted and happy Brutus cared about him enough to stick up for him. Brutus was the best.

"Understood," Stephan commented, "I was merely curious, it is the place if you want him to continue to become an Elite. It's an effective system with or without Blood Quills, two of my siblings are taking the Test right now."

"He doesn't have to be an Elite, he's Lieutenant Rabastan's only child. He has tutors, its fine."

"I'm learn a lot," Vathan spoke up eagerly, he did enjoy his lessons with tutors, "Last week, I was learning this charm that makes people happy. The Cheering Charm, isn't that cool? You know, it made me think that maybe if we did it to the slaves then they wouldn't feel so sad about being slaves and would be better with the changing."

"What an interesting suggestion," Stephan said neutrally, Brutus cast him a sympathetic glance.

"A nice thought, Vathan, but the spell doesn't exactly work like that," Brutus offered gently and clapped him on the back when he started to feel slightly disheartened which made him feel a bit better, "Good suggestion though, keep at it. Someday you will be in a position to make decisions like that though, caring about people being happy in the new world is a good thing."

"We have to win the war first, for that you'll need people are… you know adults. Children are the future, we are the present."

"We'll keep that in mind General, you can go now," Brutus told him and Stephan inclined his head respectfully once more before leaving, they watched him leave.

"So when can I see my room?" Vathan asked curiously, "I need to see how bit that it is to know how many pictures that I should draw to have decorate it."

"I-"

"Omega, what are you doing?" Sal questioned, drawing their attention back to her. Omega was standing chirping at the window.

"Tawk to the birdies," Omega stated as if it was obvious, looking back to them.

"They sad the nest is destroy," Lazarus added and their parents looked between them, Brutus walked over to them while Vathan scowled. He already knew this and he didn't see what the big deal was.

"You can't… Do you do understand what the birds are saying?" Brutus asked and the twins nodded vigorously.

"And you can talk to them? Like how you two and Mummy can talk to snakes?" Sal prompted and the two nodded again, "Since when?"

"Since ages," Vathan offered trying to be helpful, the two adults exchanged looks.

"Is it even possible for someone to be a Parselmouth and an Avisora?" she wondered of her husband.

"I have no idea," Brutus admitted, glancing at his children with interest before Sal smiled and pulled the toddlers back into a hug.

"Aren't our children amazing?" Sal commented as she kissed both of their heads making them giggle, "For that you two can have a extra special reward, did you still want to fly on one of Mummy's dragon?"

"Yes!" the twins cried excitedly and Vathan couldn't help but chime in, fidgeting sheepishly when Sal glanced at him. He wanted to ride a dragon too.

"Then let's do it and you can see the famous city we just took for our own," Sal decided and the twins cheered, Vathan grinned from ear to ear. He loved his life. He just wished Oathan, Daddy and Grandpa were still in it.

Maurice Rivers lay on his side on his bed, staring through the murky darkness beyond the stump where his hand had once been to the wand he left laying on a stack of newspapers. Both muggle and magic titles, ever since the Shadow Master had dropped the bombshell of magic on the muggle world things had exploded. As had America, she had also launched her attack on America with their own missiles which also served as hard to deny proof of her claims. Muggles were protesting and rioting against magic which they seemed to think were the same people as the Shadows, they were also against the government themselves for their silence or denial. There had been attacks too, muggles attacking those they thought were wizards or witches. It was stupid since the vast majority of victims were completely innocent muggles. The wizard side was also in uproar, the pure-blood extremists claiming they should declare war on muggles to eliminate them before they wiped them out first while the international magical government as a whole was freaking out over the statute of secrecy.

Normally Maurice would be all over wondering what this meant for the war but despite trying to research it thoroughly to think about it he found... Well, he found he just didn't care. He tried to care but he didn't, he didn't even want to care. He didn't want anything to do with the war anymore, he didn't want to fight, he didn't even want to think about it. He was just sick of it. Last year he'd lost his girlfriend to the Shadows, a couple of months ago he'd lost his oldest friend and a couple of weeks ago he'd lost another of his close friends. He was starting to wonder what the point was, all fighting did was cost him people he loved and it felt like it was all for nothing. The war was still going after all.

He didn't feel proud or good about fighting, if anything he felt sick with himself and the guilt was starting to eat away at him. Corin had died because he had killed his former mentor, his little brother was clearly a monster who deserved to be locked up but… so was he really. He had killed innocent Aurors who probably also had had friends and boyfriends left behind who had loved them and missed them, his grandfather had been an accident and now Florian who he had killed in cold blood in revenge for his hand but it had cost Corin his life.

He tried not to let himself feel bad, soldiers weren't supposed to. They just needed to do their part in the war, it didn't matter how they felt as long as they got things done. But it was getting to him, it was all getting to him. He didn't want to fight anymore, he didn't want to be a soldier anymore, he didn't want to worry about the war anymore. He hated it, he hated it all. He didn't want to inflict pain and death anymore, he didn't want to kill, he didn't want to do anything anymore.

The tip of his wand started flashing. He squeezed his oceanic eyes shut for a second, wishing he could just ignore it but he couldn't. It meant the perimeter had been breached, possible intruders. He had to deal with it. He got up and grabbed his wand, he frowned in confusion. It was flashing orange, meaning the breach was coming from the inside out not the outside in.

He left his room anyway to check it out, if his stepfather Cade or Cade's girlfriend Tabitha had got called into work for an emergency then he would have to reset the enchantments anyway. He headed down to check for Cade's car, as he was deaf he wouldn't be able to hear it. Instead he caught a glimpse of white out the window, his scowl only deepened and he hurried out into the cool night air. Sure enough, there was a figure his height walking away from the house.

"Orous!" Maurice called after his brother, Orous didn't stop, "Hey Orous, I know you can hear me because you're not dead! OROUS!"

Maurice ran after him as the figure froze, turning to face him with an expression of irritation. He studied his twin, they were of the same pretty average height with an average build and both had a slight wave to their hair but otherwise were very non-identical. Orous stared back with sharp crimson eyes set in exceptionally pale skin to the point it seemed colorless, his face framed by snowy white hair as he was an albino while Maurice was simply a normal Caucasian with light brown hair. Like his mother. He couldn't help but notice Orous had a rucksack.

'Could you try being any louder?' Orous signed to him with his hands, 'You'll wake everyone.'

"What are you even doing?" Maurice questioned with words he couldn't hear since he couldn't sign with only one hand which had a wand in it currently. Orous' eyes shifted.

'Just going for a walk. Had a bad dream. Wanted to clear my head.'

"What's with the bag?" Maurice demanded, finding the answer very hard to believe and Orous fidgeted, "Where are you going?"

'Nowhere.'

"Don't lie to me, okay?" Maurice snapped, really not in the mood for this, "You are sneaking out in the middle of the night with a bag and no dog, you are clearly going somewhere."

'Okay, you got me. I was sneaking out to see my girlfriend, I was going to spend the night,' Orous signed, his expression one of discomfort as he started to sweat, 'We were going to… do the… thing… you know that couples do. That's why I snuck out.'

"Really?" Maurice wondered dubiously, finding it hard to believe. Especially when they were barely talking, Orous nodded as he fidgeted again, "Just tell me the truth."

'Fine,' Orous signed with a sigh, looking irritated, 'I was going to hunt down, torture and kill James Sirius Potter.'

"The truth, Orous!" Maurice snapped irritably and Orous looked offended.

'That is the truth.'

"Seriously?" Maurice wondered in disbelief, Orous nodded still looking annoyed at him, "Aren't you the one who is always telling me revenge is bad and-"

'He murdered my best friend and tried to burn my girlfriend alive. And another of my friends and all the other bad stuff he's done in general,' Orous signed, looking extremely serious. And dark, Maurice was reminded of their mother. Or himself, 'I want him to die. And to suffer. I don't care if it's wrong or if it makes me a bad person. I want him to pay.'

"Okay," Maurice said slowly, feeling very confused by his usually kind brother talking about revenge, "I get that you're angry but I don't think you're thinking this through."

'I am thinking this through.'

"What will Lily think of you trying to kill her brother?"

'I hadn't thought of that,' Orous admitted with a flicker of uncertainty before seemingly shaking it off, 'But I don't care, he deserves it.'

"Okay then, how do you expect to find James? He's probably not even in the country."

'I planned for that, I'll just go across to Europe and sneak into Shadow Land somehow.'

"Somehow? No one's been able to do that," Maurice pointed out but Orous made no move to answer, "And how do you plan on torturing him? You've never hurt a fly."

'That's why I borrowed some of your books on torture. I can do it.'

"Knowing how to do it and being able to are two different things," Maurice insisted but was again ignored, "And what about killing him? You can't kill without risking destroying your soul. Don't you remember what happened last time?"

'I got better, I can handle it and if I can't then I don't care. It's worth it to put him out forever.'

"You sound insane right now, you'd really sacrifice your life - a life where you have friends and family who love you and wouldn't be able to cope if they lost their twin brother too - just to kill one admittedly despicable person?"

'Yes,' Orous signed fiercely, 'So there, it's thought out so don't try stopping me.'

"I will try and stop you! You can't just go off hunting James, you're not even of-" Maurice started to say before another point occurred to him, "You're not even of age! You're still under the Trace so if you try to use magic they'll find you."

'I'll just not use magic,' Orous signed although looking a bit more uncertain.

"There's no way you'll be able to do that," Maurice insisted desperately, "If you run off like this now you'll die, you won't even get far enough in to have any real shot at taking James. James who is older, more experienced and likely a better duelist then you, plus there's a whole army and stuff you'd have to get through to get to. You still have a whole year until you're free from the Trace and two whole years until you finish Hogwarts, the education isn't perfect but it's a start. If you seriously want James to die, you need to wait, learn as much as you can and have a better plan. You know one that isn't going to immediately end in failure and death."

'I don't know.'

"Well think about it, okay? Just one year at least until you're of age," Maurice pleaded, "And if you still want to follow this suicidal plan then I will go with you."

'I still don't know.'

"If you don't agree to wait, I'm going to force you back inside and you can explain to Cade why you're about to go and get yourself killed," Maurice snapped and Orous heaved a heavy sigh.

'Okay, I'll wait. But for the record, I hate it. And James will die,' Orous signed but nonetheless headed back towards the house.

Maurice breathed a sigh of relief. Orous was a rational person or was supposed to be, hopefully he'd snap out of it. He still made a mental note to up security, make sure his brother didn't go off and die. He hated the war.

Part 2: Rage and Pain

Michael Sanford was sitting at a bar, swirling the half-empty glass of whiskey in his hands nervous of being discovered. He had no right to be there as he was still only sixteen so under legal drinking age for either world, not that he looked it. He wasn't the same scrawny runt he'd once been, he was as tall as any adult man if not above average. His tangled mess of hair had a healthy mixture of gray in with the blond, brown and flecks of red as was his long stubble beard. Stress and lycanthropy had aged him beyond his years, the scar going vertically through his magical prosthetic golden eye - which he hated for not being hazel like his real eye - also helped as did the pitted and raised burn scars engulfing one hand and arm completely. Kids weren't expected to look like that.

He was more worried about being caught for being a wizard though, he was in a muggle pub after all and the muggle population had being going nuts about magic since the Shadow Master had revealed it to the world before attaching America despite the governments denying it. Fighting amongst themselves was making them easier to be conquered as was the fact she had blown apart a bunch of cities with their own missiles when they tried to attack her, Washington DC had been the first to properly fall. He needed a drink after all that, plus he had his friend Vern's funeral in a few days and that was the second friend he lost recently, he was stuck in the dump his family were living with the former Death Eater John Avery and then there everything else still fucked up with his life. The other patrons were paying him no mind though, eyes glued to the television. His mismatched eyes were drawn to it as the volume as upped, seeing some political speech was going down.

"There has been a lot of... debate following the message released internationally by Salazia Riddle, the woman claiming to be the Shadow Master, the leader of the Shadow terrorist organization also known as the Soul Eaters who has taken control over ten countries and is currently invading the United States of America," the British Prime Minister... whatshisface began, fidgeting uncomfortably at the podium and looking as if he was trying not to look nervous before the crowd and cameras, "Most importantly the announcement about magic which has caused an outbreak of riots, protests and attacks across not only the United Kingdom but the world as a whole, some governments have tried to deny this as the delusional beliefs of a madwoman and some have stayed silent. I called this press conference here today but to end this silence, I can indeed the things she said is true. I can confirm the existence of magic."

The spell of silence across the crowd was broken in an instant, gasps of shock and cries of surprise of surprise filled the air. Michael wasn't sure why, it had pretty much been established as fact regardless. Unless they were just surprised at the government confirming it, he supposed that was pretty surprising. The crowd then broke up into an uproar of sound as did the patrons of the bar, expressing their shock and outrage at this having been kept from them.

"I realize this is big news and I would now like to introduce my colleague who can answer your questions better than I can, the British Minister of Magic himself," the Minister said loudly over the crowd, holding out his arm.

There was a loud crack like a thunderclap before the man apparated in which seemed to shock the crowd back into quiet. Michael hadn't actually seen the minister before although some of his friends had met him, he was slender and much younger than Michael had expected. He was well dressed, his short dark hair neatly cropped too. He smiled welcomingly to the stunned crowd revealing uncommonly sharp teeth, it didn't quite reach his navy eyes which were shadowed by tiredness. The only sign of any stress he was under.

"My name is Alaric Layton and as my esteemed colleague said, I serve essentially the same role as he does for the magical populace of our country. I am a wizard… and a werewolf," Alaric said taking the podium and his expression becoming more serious as he spoke quite clearly into the microphones. If he was fazed by the muggle crowd, cameras and being the first wizard to openly speak to the muggle world he didn't show it. The crowd exploded into noise again but he held up his hand, causing them to jolt into silence as if they had expected his hand to do something, "Please hold your questions until the end. I understand this revelation about the existence of magic must come as a shock to many, the hostile reception to the Shadow Master's announcement has been quite telling and I'd the reason magic was kept secret initially and kept this way until now.

"I'd like to start off by making it clear that the Shadows are only a very small proportion of the magical community as a whole, we are actively engaged in a war with them and many witches and wizards have been victims of their attacks just as you have been. I want to make this clear because the Shadows are a major threat to both your muggle world and my magical one, they have taken over both communities across ten countries and are now in the process of adding the United States to the list. The Shadow threat originated in this country and quite frankly, we've gotten lucky in fending off their attacks so far. I cannot emphasize enough how serious this threat is and I also can't stress enough how important it is that we are together on this.

"Most muggle governments are denying or staying silent on the existence of magic, they don't want to break the system that has been in place for so long but I say the system is already broken. The focus since the initial attack on Greece for the magical community has been on containing it, continuing to keep magic a secret not stopping the threat and every country they've gone after so far has fallen. I pushed for this announcement today because I believe if we continue this pattern we too will fall when they come for us, wizards and muggles alike have failed to stop this threat alone. I believe our best chance is if we as a country work together, our two cultures united against them not focused on trying to keep secrets and fighting amongst ourselves."

"Took them long enough to admit to it," one of the other bar patrons scoffed in annoyance, "The psycho hot chick was honest at least."

"You get that she's trying to destroy the world, right?" Michael pointed out with a scowl, not liking how the guy sounded almost in support of the Shadow Master.

"I get it, that's why I say we nuke all them wizard folk," the man insisted and Michael tiredly downed the rest of his drink, "Problem solved, screw the magic freaks."

"Refill please," Michael said to the barkeeper, shoving the glass over the counter to him, "And make it a double, I need it."

"On the house," the barkeeper said as he handed it to him, pouring one for himself, "I think we all need it after that."

Michael thanked the man in gratitude and gulped down his free drink gladly, as did everyone. He quickly ordered another, not wanting to think about the chaos the world was in with magic and muggles and Shadows and… urgh, he was too young for this. He drank even though he knew he should go home before his family started to be 'worry' – really they probably just hated him getting to relax – and drank as more people starting pouring in also reeling from the revelation apparently, but it didn't matter as reality almost seemed to be disintegrating around him as the alcohol started to mix into his brain making everything a blissful blur where he didn't have to worry or think. Perfect.

"Michael!" a gruff, vaguely familiar voice barked.

He jolted away from the girl he was snogging- Wait, what? He didn't know how that had happened, his matched eyes drifted over hopefully. She wasn't Rose, she wasn't ugly though. He felt there was usually a reason he'd be opposed to this but he couldn't think what it was, he didn't even remember why he'd stopped kissing her. She ran her hands through his hair and he captured her lips sloppily in his once, closing his eyes and losing himself in the moment again as he ran his hands over Rose's slender body. Rose was a really good kisser.

"Michael!" the voice barked again and he pulled away again at the sound of his name, he blinked in surprise seeing a random girl sitting on his lap with her hands in his hair. She wasn't Rose. Wait, hadn't he already known that?

"Is your name Michael or something?" the girl asked of him with a slight slur to her words. She wasn't Rose but she was pretty.

"S'okay, they proly need another Michael," Michael told her, his words even more slurred.

She nodded in satisfaction as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him again so passionately he almost lost his balance, he hugged her close to stop it enjoying the feeling of being close to her. Maybe he did need a girlfriend like his friends wanted. He would ask Rose but then he'd have to stop kissing her, she also had really soft thighs. He wondered if there was any chance they could go somewhere more private…

"Michael!" the voice snapped very close this time and before he could react, he felt himself being yanked away and Rose fell off him back onto the couch.

"Hey!" Michael protested as he saw it wasn't Rose but some girl with dark hair, "You're not Rose."

"I never said I was," the girl insisted, she may not be Rose but she actually pretty hot. He wondered if she was as good a kisser as Rose, "I'm Samantha."

"Hi Samantha, I'm Michael," Michael introduced himself, going to offer her his hand but his arm didn't move as something had it. He scowled, "Hey, my arm's stuck."

"How drunk are you?" the voice demanded and he glanced beside him, jumping in shock to see John was standing there. Crystal's boyfriend even though she insisted he wasn't her boyfriend but Michael wasn't stupid, he knew. Although maybe for once he'd be useful.

"Can y'jus help me? My arm's caught on something that it's caught."

"I've got your arm."

"Oh that esplains it," Michael slurred with a nod of understanding before scowling as his mind caught up, he tried to pull his arm away but failed, "Hey! Lemme go, I've got things thas I gotta do to."

"You're coming home, you're drunk," John growled in a tone like he disapproved as he tried to pull him away but Michael refused to move.

"Hey! No, I stay to want with-" Michael gestured to the girl who wasn't Rose whose name he didn't know "-Not-Rose. I don't care I'm drunk, s'the best way to be."

"Yeah, cranky-pants, whassit to you what he does?" Not-Rose complained at him, taking a glass of vodka from the table beside the couch and downing it, "And didn't you hear? Magic is real, we're all gonna die."

"He's sixteen and he's going home," John decided and Not-Rose's eyes widened in surprise as he pulled Michael away more forcefully, this time succeeding in starting to lead him through the crowded pub where people were packed everywhere drinking like the world ended tomorrow… Did it? Michael didn't remember what the TV had said anymore, something about a werewolf?

"Hey and let go, I wanna stay. Sisteen is old enough!" Michael complained as he realized he was still being led away, "You're not the boss of me, y'can't tell me whatado. You're not that my dad. You'll never have a dad. You suck and you're worthless and you're mean. Let me go!"

John ignored him.

"Y'should lemme go, I saved your life. You owe me."

"All the more reason to save you regardless of what you want like you did to me," John commented snarkily as he took Michael outside where there was still a sizable crowd sitting or standing around still drinking.

"I'm n'even tha drunk," Michael insisted before the cool night air, making him feel suddenly nauseous. Very nauseous, "John, stop!"

His more serious tone must have caught John off-guard because he did stop, a good thing as Michael's stomach lurched and he hurled. John let him go and he fell to his knees, vomiting at the Death Eater's feet. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve when it was over but it did nothing for the acrid taste the bile left in his throat.

"Not that drunk, huh?" John commented and helped Michael to his unsteady feet.

"Hey, thas not cuz I was drunking, the air made me do it," Michael insisted defensively, "And now I need a drink to wash the bad taste down, s'all bad it cancels out each other."

"No, you're going home," John decided and took his arm again, continuing to lead him away while Michael struggled in frustration.

"I don't wanna go! Lemme go you prick, let me- Guys, this guy won't isn't letting me go!" Michael changed his tactic to try appeal to the muggles, they ignored him though. How could he get their interest? "Guys! This guysa wizard!"

"What?!"

"There's a wizard?!"

"Sure is!" Michael confirmed eagerly as it earned looks and comments from the crowd.

"Ignore the kid, he's drunk," John brushed it off dismissively.

"Nu-uh, he's a liar. Look his got a wand, see!" Michael said and withdrew John's wand which he was close enough to do as John was trying to lead him away, the Death Eater tried to grab it but too late as Michael flung his proof into the crowd which shot off yellow sparks.

"He is a wizard!"

"He's one of them!"

"Is he one of the evil ones though?"

"He is!" Michael added and John shoved him violently further away from the drunken crowd, "Hey!"

"Go home!" John hissed at him and Michael staggered further away from him, realizing he was free from the Death Eater's grip, "And never leave the house without your wand again!"

"Who cares?! To hell with all the magic freaks ruining our world!"

"To hell with magic freaks!"

"Well if you just let me have my wand back, I'll be out of your hair," John said neutrally and started to make his way further into the crowd amidst leers and looks of loathing, Michael started running away though as he didn't want John to grab him and try take him home again.

"Why? So you can murder us with magic?!"

"Down with magic!"

"Get him!"

Michael froze in a brief moment of panic as the increasingly distant voices become more violent, followed by the sounds of a struggle. Was John in trouble? Should he go back and help him? Nah, he brushed those thoughts aside as he carried on walking. John was a Death Eater, he was sure he'd be fine. He knew lots of Dark Magic, if anything the muggles were the ones he should worry about. It wasn't like they had a chance of getting John's wand off him or anything- Wait… No, he was pretty sure John had his wand and he could apparate so the guy was probably fine. He didn't seem the kind to leave the house without his wand, unlike Michael who feared with the unrest it'd be bad to be caught with one. Plus, he was still bound by the Trace so he couldn't use magic so freely.

What had he been worried about again? Where was he even going? He wanted a drink… But then John would just try making him go home, he should just go home then John couldn't make him go anyplace he didn't want to. He smiled to himself, that'd show him. Or would it..? He felt as if something was off with his logic but wasn't too sure what. He supposed it didn't matter. It was only as he left the town that it occurred to him he could've just gone to a different bar, he didn't know the way though and sleeping had started to become appealing to him. He thought the ground must be really uneven there because he had a hard time keeping his balance, especially when he was back onto the dirt track leading to the shithole John thought was a house. He wondered if John was back yet, he could apparate so it was faster. He staggered back into the house, the door not even locked because it was broken.

"Michael! You're okay," his mother, Crystal, burst out immediately as he came in the door, sounding relieved as she hugged him before jolting back as if burned, "Michael, are you drunk?"

"Just cuz I was drinking, it doesn't mean I was drunk," Michael offered with still slurred words, Crystal looked at him anxiously, "What? S'my money I can drink that I want to."

"Where's John?" Crystal asked instead, her expression serious, "He went looking for you, we were worried."

"I'dunno," Michael shrugged, trying to remember where he had last seen John somewhere… He had told him to go home. He'd stopped him kissing Not-Rose. He mentally kicked himself, he should've gone back! There were other bars but probably not other girls who… well he didn't remember a lot about her, she'd been a girl and Not-Rose as a pretty name. Almost like Rose but not, "He hates romance. He told me to go to this place that's home 'cept not really home, sis'shit so I went and he's stayed. Who knows where that place that he went to is that?"

"Go to bed."

"Why's? Don't you want to- to want to spend time to me as now I'm not just a lickle kid en'more?" Michael complained, feeling irritated by her.

"You're drunk, Michael, go to bed," Crystal told him firmly and gestured to the stairs, her arm shaking slightly.

"Fine, has it your way," Michael agreed, throwing up his hands and almost losing his balance, "I'm g'oin."

Michael staggered back upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him and trying to reach his bed but tripped over his trunk to fall flat on his face. Ow. He thought the rotting floorboard must've made him feel sick as he felt nauseous again and threw up, he let his head fall back onto the floor though because it was surprisingly comfortable…

The smell is what woke him, a putrid stench so strong that made him feel like he was nose first in vomit. He forced his eyes open and found that he was lying on his stomach, his face resting in a pile of his own bile. He cringed in disgust at himself and got up slowly into a kneeling position, his stomach churned and his head throbbed. How much had he had to drink last night? More than he usually allowed himself to keep him sober enough to hide it he'd bet. Damn.

He groaned as he stood on trembling legs, the light filtering in through the thin drapes was too much light let alone without. He needed to go to the bathroom though, at best to clean up and at worst to throw up again. He moved slowly out, having to move cautiously as he was dizzy and shaky. He also had to put his hand half over his eyes to try block out the light, his footsteps seemed unnaturally loud but not as bad when he moved slowly. He reached the bathroom, vaguely hearing the sounds of the little ones playing outside as he'd guess it was late morning if not afternoon by now so of course they'd be up. He also realized it was the worst case, he fell to his knees at the toilet and hurled once more.

"You okay?" a voice asked.

Michael flinched at the volume, looking up from the toilet bowl to see the oldest of the little ones, his half-sister Agnes, standing in the doorway which he hadn't closed in his desperation to get the toilet before he lost his stomach contents. Agnes was ten, dressed in boyish clothes he was sure were hand-me-downs that he'd once owned. Her hair was dark like her father's which was long and tied into a ponytail, her eyes – or eye, singular – was azure like him as well while half her face clearly had their mother's beauty. The other half was a wreck though, destroyed by the werewolf Greyback in an attack several years ago. From her forehead to her chin there was livid wound tracks from the claws, one nostril, one eye and half her mouth were ruined from it. It made her look like something out of a horror movie rather than the sweet little girl she was, he felt sorry for her and guilty for incurring Greyback's wrath in the first place.

"Yeah," Michael croaked out, trying to be quiet and deciding not to risk getting up as he still felt nauseous, "I'm just…"

"Hungover?" Agnes guessed as she walked over to him, he cringed at the noise and she sat down on the floor near him leaning back against the cupboard under the sink, "Dad used to be like that too."

"I know," Michael said letting his head lie on the seat as he closed his eyes against the sunlight, wondering how to politely tell her to go away. Didn't she have anything better to do? Now wasn't a good time for a chat.

"You were drunk before then, Dad used to be drunk too. He'd smell just like you do."

"I know," Michael repeated, feeling his anger rise at the thought of Bob and not wanting to talk about it.

"He used to hit you and Crystal-"

"I have a memory too, Agnes, I know what he did," Michael insisted irritably and glanced back to her, seeing she had taken out her wand and toyed with it. She was unfortunately 'magical' too and despite being too young, John had gone and gotten her a wand. It was like he wanted her to get killed.

"You remind me of him right now," Agnes admitted quietly making him feel defensive.

"Lots of people drink," Michael snapped a little too loudly, making himself cringe at the volume, "Annie did."

"She wasn't angry though. Dad was angry, you are angry. Why are you angry?" Agnes asked him curiously and Michael wasn't sure what to say to that, "This is the best it's been in years for our family, you don't need to be angry. You're nearly finished Hogwarts, John says that's great. It's just a shame that you'll leave before I start, it'd be awesome if we could've been in magic school together."

"It's not a shame," Michael blurted out before he could stop himself as he was still feeling riled up, Agnes' one good eye widened in surprise.

"Why not? Don't you want me to go to Hogwarts with you?"

"Honestly Agnes… No, no I don't. I don't want you to go to Hogwarts at all," Michael admitted and saw the hurt appear on the good side of her face, "Look, I know it seems wonderful but you're better off not going. You're better off not being magical at all then you can just have a nice normal life without having to deal with wars and people trying to kill or hurt you or your friends, its better if you're safe at home. I was unscarred before I went to Hogwarts and now look at me. I- I want you to have a good life Agnes, not to wind up like me."

"What planet are you living on?" Agnes wondered looking rather incredulous, "You think we're safe while you're back in Hogwarts? Dad used to hurt Crystal a lot when you were gone, sometimes I had to do chores since she couldn't and Dad wouldn't, I had to take care of the little ones when she had work. Things were bad when you were there and bad when you were gone too. Then we got attacked by Greyback and almost died while you were gone, I only have half a face now. Then Dad got arrested and died then Crystal got sick and we had to live with Grandma, then Crystal nearly got killed, then Grandma died, then Crystal had to work a load of jobs because life is expensive, then Bertie got kidnapped, then Ivy got kidnapped and had two of her fingers cut off, then we had to burn our home and all our things to pretend to be dead. What part of that is safe or good?! Maybe that's not as bad as what happens to you but that doesn't mean it's good and it's definitely not safe. If you don't want me to be a witch then just say it not random crap that it's because my own safety, you're so mean."

"Agnes-" Michael started to say but she stood and made to leave, "Agnes, wait-"

"And just that you know," Agnes said, pausing in the doorway to look back to him and seemed on the verge of tears, "I can do magic and John says I'm pretty good and that I could be a great witch someday."

"Agnes-" Michael tried again even though it sounded half-hearted due to not wanting to speak too loudly to hurt his head more, she left regardless and he sighed heavily which caused him to gag once more.

He supposed it was better out then in and that did seem to be the last wave, after that he started to clean himself up before he heard a familiar crack sounding like apparation. He rushed to the window and peered out, catching a glimpse of John looking rather beat up before he limped inside. What the…? Then it came back to him about where he'd left John, wandless amidst a group of angry drunks who'd been complaining about magic all night. Despite disliking John he buried his face in his hands, feeling a wave of shame for getting him into that situation. He also didn't know which was worse, that he was ashamed or his first thought was needing a drink to down this shame. Which he did still want. Maybe he was developing a problem with alcohol but… well if he stopped then what did he have? Or maybe he was overreacting.

He left the bathroom, wanting to make sure John was alright. He cringed at every step on the creaking stairs before he spied him leaning back on the couch, his face blotchy from bruises and his lip split plus his clothes were torn or spattered with dried blood. Crystal was walking over to him with a wet tea towel, her expression one of concern as she pressed it against the worst looking part of his face.

"Its fine," John tried to brush it off.

"Trust me, it helps," Crystal insisted and he sighed, taking the towel and closing his eyes as he pressed it against his face, "What happened to you?"

"Muggles found out I was a wizard, they were pretty pissed because of the Shadows and all. Couldn't just leave because I had to get my wand back for their safety as well as my sanity, wands can go off in muggle hands and cause injury or death. Muggle Police showed up and threw us all in a jail cell for the night to calm down even though I didn't do anything, idiots threw me in the same cell with them so I got attacked again before they gave me my own. Only gave me wand back and let me go now," John recounted tiredly and his cerulean eyes flicked back open as much as possible, one was very swollen and the other very black, "Did Michael get home okay?"

"Yeah I did," Michael confirmed quietly and the adults glanced at him, Crystal averting her eyes uncomfortably and an awkward silence befalling them. He cleared his throat as he started to move to the kitchen area, "Why don't I make us some coffee?"

"So um… H- How did they know you were a wizard?" Crystal asked, turning back to John and the Death Eater's eyes drifted to him briefly before going back to his mother.

"Must've dropped my wand," John lied so surprisingly that Michael almost dropped the mugs he'd been getting, "A foolish mistake."

"Happens to us all," Crystal offered gently and went to pat his shoulder comfortingly, he cringed in pain as if he had underlying bruising making her look guilty, "Sorry."

"Its okay, happens to us all."

"I'll go check the medicine… potion… cabinet, think I know what I'm looking for," Crystal told him as she stood.

"It's no rush. I'll look in a minute when my ankle has had a chance to rest," John brushed it off as he closed his eyes once more.

"No, I got it," Crystal said so firmly it his eyes jolted back open in surprise as she made to leave, pausing as she passed by Michael looking nervous, "Annie called for you by the way, wanted to know if you wanted to spend some time together, she volunteered to teach you to drive."

"No," Michael shook his head, causing his mother to look slightly surprised, "What?"

"Y- You just always… liked spending time with her before."

"Before when?" Michael scoffed irritably, unable to help himself, "Before she went to jail for five years? It's a long time, Crystal, we're like strangers now. And I don't care about learning to drive, I'm a wizard and I'll be able to get my apparation license soon anyway."

"Isn't that all the more reason to catch up?" Crystal prompted.

"I said no, okay?!"

"O- Okay," Crystal muttered and made to leave before pausing again, fidgeting nervously, "And um… I… err… Y- You're underage and I don't want you drinking, it's bad for your health."

"I don't care."

"Well I do, okay?" Crystal insisted slightly more forcefully.

"Since when?" Michael barked, not meaning to sound so angry but he did which he regretted as she flinched.

"Since- Since always," Crystal muttered, trembling fearfully and averting her eyes, "Y- You're my son and I love you."

"Are you alright?" Michael asked, scowling as he was somewhat concerned by her odd behavior.

"Y- Yeah. I'll go check the thing now," Crystal offered as she left.

"What was up with her?"

"You smell like a brewery, what do you expect?" John commented from the couch without opening his eyes, Michael almost had forgotten he was there and cringed at the volume starting to regret volunteering to make coffee. Would they settle for water? It was less loud then boiling it for the coffee. Something else also occurred to him.

"Why did you lie?" Michael asked of John, earning a fleeting glance as the man flicked his cerulean eyes back to him, "About dropping your wand?"

"Isn't it obvious? You didn't tell her the truth either, who is she - or anyone - going to believe? You or the former Death Eater?"

Albus Severus Potter slumped still in his pajamas down into one of the seats at the kitchen table tiredly beside his sister, his jet black was in even more disarray than usual and his emerald eyes sorrowful as he let his head drop onto his hand in wait for the foot. His sister didn't look much better, her hair was red and almost shoulder length but it was just as unruly as any Potters. Her eyes were the same chocolate as their mother but hidden behind lopsided oval spectacles – she alone of Harry Potter's children needed glasses - knocked by the hand she was leaning on, the hand with a burn going down their side from where their dear brother had tried to burn them alive a few weeks ago in this very room after he… Albus shoved the thought aside, blinking back the desire for tears to well again.

"Sleep well?" their mum asked of them as she worked over the stove on their breakfast, they nodded mutely.

He didn't know about Lily but he was lying, he had found it hard to sleep lying staring at the empty bed his cousin had once had. His parents had taken it out to try help but he found staring at the empty space just as depressing, the room felt so empty all to himself. He was pulled from his thoughts as their mum tossed a pile of letters on the table in front of them.

"The mail, looks like Hogwarts letters have arrived," the mum said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Finally!" Lily exclaimed, it wasn't the Hogwarts letter bearing her name she dove for but the one he recognized as his friend's - who also happened to be her boyfriend – handwriting. She tore it open eagerly while he lazily started to reach out for the pile, fixing her glasses to skim it eagerly.

"I was thinking we could go in quite soon, get some gifts for your dad while we're at," their mother continued, "Things have eased since Alaric come forward but it is still pretty tense especially on the magic side now, it's just safer we get as much as we can in one trip."

"Sure. Can get some presents for Lat too, he has the same birthday as dad. Think Antonius' has passed but we can get him a bunch of late things plus Scor and Michael have summer birthdays to come too," Albus agreed before Lily angrily threw down her letter, folding her arms crossly but looking upset, "What? Did Orous say something to upset you?"

"It's what he didn't say," Lily insisted and waved the paper at him which barely had anything written on it, "I sent him a whole long letter asking him how he was doing and talking about things, I made it especially long to try take his mind off things and there is his reply: 'To Lily, I'm glad to hear you're all doing good and the house is fixed up, give my best to Al too. I'm alright I guess. Maurice is being a jerk. See you, hope you have a good rest of the summer. Stay safe. Love, Orous.' That is literally all he wrote!"

"It's… short," Albus commented, usually he was against his sister dating in general as she was too young but he found he couldn't care right now. She shouldn't complain anyway, least the person she loved wasn't with someone else.

"Short? It's abysmal. Its official, he hates me," Lily complained, looking almost ready to cry as she snatched up her Hogwarts letter leaving behind one of interest for Albus, "James fucked up my love life as well as everything else."

"Language, Lily!" their mum shot out as Albus slowly pulled the letter not bearing his dead cousin's name, "And I'm sure he's just grieving."

"Or he hates me because my brother killed his best friend and now my hand is all grossly scarred," Lily muttered unhappily as she opened the letter, he picked the other one while their mum watched his sister eagerly.

"Well?" she prompted, "Did you make prefect?"

"Nope," Lily said as she turned the envelope upside down, shaking it to show nothing falling out, "If any of us did it was Hugo and August, I'm not prefect material. And it's a good thing too, who wants all that extra work?"

Albus choked on a sob that just about went unnoticed as he opened the Hogwarts letter with shaking hands, Vern had made prefect. Now officially the only one in the entire household, a Dursley managed what Potters hadn't because he'd been great like that. He unfolded the page, seeing it was Vern's OWL results.

Vernon Evan Dursley has achieved:

Arithmancy: O

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: E

Herbology: O

History of Magic: E

Potions: O

Transfiguration: A

Study of Ancient Runes: E

"What you got there, Albus?" Lily asked of him as the tears and he was sure his shining with the unshed tears welling.

"Vern's OWL results, they must've sent us them anyway by mistake," Albus said through the lump in his throat, unable to stop his voice cracking as the tears spilled from his eyes while his shoulders shook from the sobs he tried to hold back, "H- He did well, y'know? B- Better then we did. He sh- should be here to read this, he never got to see that he did so well…"

Albus trailed of, unable to stop himself breaking down crying again. His tears fell onto the words on the page, words that should be read as a positive thing. Words that Vern should be reading, if he hadn't been killed. If he hadn't died in Albus' arms. He screwed the paper into his hands as he buried his face into them, sobbing uncontrollably. Why, James? he asked of himself uselessly, hopelessly, Why?!

"Can't you go one day without crying?!" Lily complained irritably, "You're of age not a little girl."

"Apparently not!" Albus croaked, trying to stop and just crying harder as he was reminded Vern wouldn't be going to Diagon Alley to his things for Hogwarts with them, he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts with them either, "I just miss him, okay?! I miss my cousin, I miss my friend! An- And there's so much stuff he won't get to do, life he won't get to live and it's not fair, it's not. He should be here but he's not and it- it hurts. Don't you even care?"

"Just because I don't cry every five minutes, it doesn't mean I don't care," Lily told him in a very serious tone.

"Lily, if your brother needs to cry every five minutes then let him cry every five minutes and Albus, if your sister doesn't need to cry to grieve then let her not cry," their mum told them in a no nonsense tone, "Everyone grieves differently so let's just be respectful of each other, okay?"

"Okay," they muttered in unison.

Almost immediately after they were distracted by the sound of the front door opening, he and Lily both leaped to their feet in panic. They rushed out to face the possible intruder, drawing their wands- Albus dropped his in his haste and had to pick it up but by the time he stood his sister was already running over to hug the newcomer. It was Teddy Lupin, the metamorphmagi currently having his black hair shoulder-length and wavy while his eyes were a yellowish-brown. He was married to their cousin, Victoire, and the pair were both Aurors. After James had broken in, killed Vern and tried to burn them alive, Teddy had become one of the many relatives who liked to pop in to make sure they were alright.

"What's up?" Teddy asked of them, his tone annoyingly cheerful.

"We thought you might be an intruder," Albus grumbled, wiping his eyes and shuffling back into the kitchen where his mum seemed to have tactically removed Vern's letter of results, "Why are you so happy? Is Victoire pregnant?"

"What? No," Teddy shot him down, losing his cheerful expression and scowling as Albus slumped back into his chair.

"I wish she was pregnant. You could call the baby Vern."

"What if it was a girl?" Lily wondered as she sat back down beside him.

"Vern... a?"

"Yeah, we're not doing that," Teddy admitted, "And I'm still in a good mood about Alaric being a werewolf and revealing it."

"Isn't that causing chaos in the magical world as everyone's outraged a werewolf is the Minister?" Lily asked earning a surprised look from Albus and the rest at her apparent newfound interest in current events, "What? I can read."

"Some are yes but in the grand scheme of things its good, he confirmed the existence of magic and was the first to do so which makes him now the most famous wizard in the muggle world. They can't just fire him," Teddy explained very excitedly and quickly, "And on the muggle side of things its calming down now they're being honest with them plus because he revealed himself so casually as a werewolf and wizard in one breath, muggles think it's a normal thing to accept them in one breath and don't realize it's such an issue in our world. Even if a certain disgraced former PAW leader tried to convince them, they're pre-disposed to accept it because they accept Alaric. The ones who aren't tend to be those not accepting of magic in general, it's a wonderful thing. They're looking at it like they should do because of Alaric, . If our two worlds do merge as one now, the vast majority of muggles would be accepting of werewolves so that's a major boost in support for them. More muggles and wizards a now are trying to reach out to each other now outside of official things, wanting to meet and learn about the new culture so it's another way to get the word out there to increase acceptance in general. It's just such a positive step forward, I wish my dad was alive to see it."

"That's great and all, Teddy, but you are such a Ravenclaw nerd," Lily complained of him.

"Also, speak slower maybe," Albus added while Teddy looked deflated at their lack of enthusiasm, "And not that it isn't good for werewolves and stuff apparently but isn't the war still on?"

"Well obviously but I'm trying to optimistic here," Teddy pointed out and idly Albus wondered if this would help Michael and Hugo, "And now we're out in the open, we're able to and are working extensively the muggle military to prepare for if and when the Shadows come for us. The rest of the world may be falling apart but Alaric's doing a pretty good job keeping our patch of it together, united instead of divided I feel like we have the best chance yet. Alaric is genius and an inspiration for werewolves everywhere."

"Why? Are they Ravenclaw nerds like you?" Lily mocked playfully, earning a scowl from the Auror, "C'mon, you know we love you really. August is the biggest Ravenclaw nerd and we still love him."

"Right…" Teddy said slowly, "Actually it reminds me that I wanted to talk to you about something, I do charity work with Still Human the werewolf support group who also take in werewolf orphans. In the Hogsmeade werewolf attack a few years ago, they targeted adults and young children for biting. This is the first year some of those turned children are old enough and willing to attend, I'd really appreciate it if you could just keep an eye on them for me."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"Just talk to them occasionally and make sure they're alright, that no one's giving them a hard time."

"How are we supposed to know who these kids are?" Albus wondered and Teddy rolled his eyes.

"Because I'll tell you, you moron. You two are the laziest kids, I'll give you money if you help me, okay?" Teddy said with a sigh and Albus felt mildly dumb for not having thought of that, they paid more attention at the offer of reward too, "There's Beth and Ben Griffin who are cousins not twins, Orlando Endicott who should have started last year but didn't have the courage to go alone and Sebastian Libra who I saved personally and is still kind of messed up from what he's been through. School starts the day after a full moon so it will be especially rough for them, if any of them make Gryffindor please be good to them and make them feel welcome if not still keep an eye on them and pass the word along to any friends in other houses. Did you get that?"

"We got it," Lily confirmed as their mum must've finished the breakfast as she brought over the plates of bacon, sausage, beans and egg, "I forgot how bossy you were."

"Thank you," Teddy said with relief as he started to leave.

"You weren't going to stay for breakfast?" their mum complained, "I cooked extra on purpose."

"I'll be back, just want to make sure the house is secure first and the enchantments still in place."

"Aurors," their mum sighed as Teddy left while Albus felt another lump in his throat, this time his choked sob didn't go unnoticed, "What?"

"M- Maybe if we had this protection before then Vern would still be alive," Albus blubbered as he buried his face in his hands again, resuming crying from before, "An- And Teddy said to ask people in other houses, Vern was in another house but I can never ask him to help Teddy now…"

"Dammit, Al!" Lily groaned in irritation and he heard the slap of her hand against her face.

Part 3: The Two Pocket Watches

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy slid open his gray eyes sleepily unsure what had woken him, surprisingly the first thing he saw was a pair of chocolate brown ones gazing into his own from behind a sheet of white-blond hair. He blinked a few times and realized the eyes were set into the face of a toddler, his two and a half year-old brother Sol. He was pale as Malfoys were but his face was more rounded like their mother, he had a big toothy grin plastered from ear to ear as he rocked forwards and backwards on the balls of his feet clutching at something in his hands.

"Are's you awake?" Sol asked of him in the quietest of whispers.

"Err… I guess?" Scorpius offered unsurely, he would prefer a lie in but he also had no idea why Sol was there.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Sol shrieked deafeningly and threw himself onto Scorpius' large four poster bed, Scorpius jolted upright in shock and the toddler threw his arms around him in a surprisingly strong grip. He immediately pulled away though before Scorpius could react and shoved the large colored piece of card he'd been holding into his face instead, "We maded you birthday card!"

"You… did…?" Scorpius said and rubbed his eyes, not having expected such a rude awakening. Sol nodded enthusiastically and started pointing to the scribbled colors on the card. Half was black with random blobs, the other was blocky brown with blue triangles everywhere with some random scribbles he couldn't even hazard a guess at on top of green.

"Look, thas Howarts cuz thas where you stay – Lysel drawed it cuz he has seened it and lives next to aside it – and thas the night sky and stars cuz Granama says Malfloys are names of stars, and thas you and me and Mama and Dada and Granama and Lysel, you see we's all is smiling cuz it's your birthday so it's all happy times."

"It's lovely, Sol," Scorpius offered gently with an encouraging smile, he thought no matter how poor they were at that age it was the effort that counted.

"I's not done!" Sol complained and opened it, revealing an image spanning the interior of what looked like a very, very crudely drawn Quidditch game with one side having actual words in childish handwriting 'To Scorpius, Happy Birthday! Love Sol and Lysel (and Maurene),' "See? Is a Quid'ch game cuz you's in Quid'ch. Thas all of the balls and theys have the bats and thas you with the Snitch and can you tell what is yours? Lysel is know the colors and houses so he dided them. And Mauree did that words."

"It's very goo-"

"I's not done!" Sol complained once more and turned it over, revealing the back was also filled with poorly drawn colorful shapes, "We's not know what you like so we dided los of things! Do you like it? Do you? Do you?"

"It's very good," Scorpius praised him, causing the small child's grin to widen even further, "I love it."

"YAY! I's happy!" Sol squealed excitedly and gave him another hug along with a sloppy kiss on his cheek, "Happy Birthday! Now come, you got presents! And I can help you to opened them if you like cuz I's nice like that."

"I'll get dressed and come down," Scorpius told him, surrendering to thoughts of a lie in and not wanting to dampen his brother's enthusiasm. Sol gave a whoop of delight before bouncing off his bed and bounding out.

"HE'S AWAKE! HE'S AWAKE! AN I DIDUN AWAKE HIM UP I PROMISE!" Sol yelled as he left, his voice becoming increasingly quiet as he ran further away.

Scorpius sighed heavily to himself and rubbed his eyes, he'd forgotten it was even his birthday today. In truth he didn't feel too much in a celebratory mood, he'd lost another of his friends just as the summer break had started which combined with the war and the revelation… He just didn't, in fact he'd spent the majority of his time formulating a plan to win the war and how to save his cousin's life. He even thought the two were linked, after all Calderon was the only one who had the power to stop her and maybe he'd know the secret of her immortality. He had been in contact with Varanian - the leader of the vigilante group Gray – and he was pretty clueless, especially since the Shadow Master had seemed surprised herself.

At any rate, his brother's enthusiasm might have rubbed off on him as a very important fact occurred to him. This wasn't just any birthday, it was his seventeenth meaning his Trace was broken and he was now free to use magic at will. He was legally an adult and free to do anything he wanted really, today he literally became a man. He jumped out of bed and grabbed up his wand, summoning his clothes to himself just because he could. He got dressed and went to wash up quickly, Malfoys were raised to make themselves presentable before leaving the room not to amble down in pajamas like he knew the Weasleys did.

He took a good look at himself in the mirror, not sure what he was expecting to change. He had the same pale, pointed face he'd had yesterday with the same dull gray eyes and the same messy mop of white-blond hair. His expression seemed naturally serious, he had a vertical scar through his chin inflicted after his friend became a werewolf and looked like he might need to shave soon. Rojer had removed the scar on his wrist but his wand hand was still a mess of scar tissue from being burned saving Varanian, on that side he still wore the friendship bracelet Michael had made him along with the golden ring to communicate which Varanian and the silver Thestral ring Calderon had gifted him with. Still that was normal, he looked no different than he had yesterday, if people were suddenly supposed to feel a rush of wisdom and maturity when reaching adulthood he didn't feel it.

He headed downstairs where his family was indeed waiting for him, along with a stack of presents both from them and owled in from his friends. His mother greeted him with a smile and a hug, clearly where Sol got that from. He was taller than her and his grandmother now, he was the same height as his father was smiling more than usual. Sol 'helped' him open his presents and cards, even people he didn't usually get things had sent him cards and sweets mostly like some of the extended Weasley family. He did get a variety of things, from books, sweets, homemade fudge, a wand holster that hid your wand when it was in a slot, clothing, a painting of a Thestral flying through the night sky, a photo album, an ornament of a motorcycle, a magical shaving kid, a new broomstick repair kit, a new leather jacket, boots and a cloak with the Malfoy family crest as the clasp. It saddened him to not get gifts or cards from Corin and Vern, not in greed for presents but merely the absence of anything reminded him they were dead. He also got nothing from Martha, he had hoped to purely because it would confirm she still lived. He also oddly got absolutely nothing from his girlfriend.

"And more," his father announced happily as he stood, gesturing for Scorpius to do the same as he handed him a Gringotts key, "When a Malfoy comes of age, you are deemed responsible enough to have your own key to the family vault to access it independently of us. Misusing the funds will result in losing it but we have faith in you, you also no longer have an allowance now you can access that."

"Well thanks," Scorpius offered as he pocketed it while his father withdrew a golden pocket watch, he handed it him. It had a lion engraved on the front while on the back it bore his initials of 'SHM' inside a patterned ring.

"Finally, as per tradition, here's your pocket watch which custom made of course. I'm proud of you, son, I'm sure you'll be a great man," his father told him and held out his hand for him to shake very formally, Scorpius shook it.

"Thank you, Father," Scorpius said once more, finding the moment underwhelming.

After all, father knew little and approved less of his involvement fighting the Shadows which Scorpius considered his greatest accomplishment, win or lose at least he fought but his father was only proud of him for stuff he didn't care much about like his academic success which was just easy or making Quidditch Captain which wasn't even his choice and he'd lost his first year anyway. He also felt the pocket watch showed how little his father knew of him, he even didn't like gold and his animal was a Thestral not a lion, that was more Michael's vein. In fact, if he just switched the first and last initials it would be perfect for his friend.

At any rate, the gift giving was over. He brought his things upstairs, taking full advantage of his ability to use magic outside of Hogwarts now. It was still unfortunate they were so invested in his birthday, he really wanted to see his girlfriend but couldn't due to the fact she was living in the secret Gray base as she had graduated Hogwarts already. He wondered if he could get away with a quick visit while he was putting his things away or if they'd just let him go if he said he wanted to see her alone, he wasn't sure. He was thinking about it as he hung up his Thestral painting when he heard an excited shriek from his brother downstairs.

"LYSEL!"

Scorpius thought Sol was definitely finding his voice. He also went to investigate, mildly surprised that the Leebins had come over or at least half of them who were werewolves. His mother had befriended Myriam while the pair were in St Mungo's, having given birth to their sons on the same day. Sol and Lysel also seemed to have taken a shine to each other, the pair were babbling excitedly away to each other when he came down. Due to Myriam being bitten while pregnant, it had also turned the unborn Lysel which made him a werewolf when born and due to his young age the condition took its toll on him and carried the risk of death. The difference between the pair was evident just looking, Lysel was smaller and thinner, very frail looking especially so soon after the last full moon. Beneath dark hair his skin was waxy and pale, tinted gray almost. Despite this he was smiling with his unusually sharp teeth, his golden eyes alright with joy as he conversed with his friend.

"Hey Scorpius!" his mother called him over cheerfully to where she was talking with the dainty, dark-haired werewolf holding a plant. His father just scowled, he wasn't too fond of his family's friendship with werewolves, "You remember my friend, Myriam? She got you a gift."

"I do," Scorpius assured her, he'd even known her outside of his mother. She'd helped them navigate to Hogwarts to stop the Shadows attacking a few years ago and more recently, he'd saved her husband from the insanity he'd been driven into by extensive torture. Not that his mother knew any of this, of course.

"You smell funny," Lysel commented and Scorpius glanced down at the sickly boy in surprise to see he'd approached and sniffed at him.

"Lysel! You can't tell people they smell bad, that's rude," Myriam chastised him immediately but Lysel looked quite defensive.

"I said funny not bad. Diffderent. Not normal, not like he smelled all of before."

"Well I don't smell anything," his father scoffed, staring dubiously at the boy but Lysel merely shrugged.

"I's not s'prised, Uncle Hogan says I smell betterer then the normal people. I keep the…" Lysel paused as if trying to think of the word correctly, "Sentses that werewolfs only have as tranced-formed, he thinks to say. Scor smelled diffderent before, why?"

"Well what do I smell like?"

"This house," Lysel answered immediately and gestured around, making his father look insulted, "So why diffderent?"

"I do not smell like my house."

"I'm sure it's just nothing, sweetie," Myriam brushed it off but Lysel looked at Scorpius rather determinedly.

"But why?" Lysel insisted, sniffing and scowling then opening and closing his mouth like he lacked the linguistic skill to articulate what he wanted to say, "It is not normal."

"Well I'll make sure to have a shower before next time we meet okay?" Scorpius assured him causing Sol and the women to laugh nervously, Lysel just scowled more but nonetheless walked away shaking his head with Sol in tow.

"Sorry about that," Myriam offered apologetically while his father went after the toddlers, "He's not usually like that."

"It's alright, kids say the strangest things," his mother brushed it off as she picked up the plant, "I'll just go put this outside, I'll be right back. Thank you again."

"Did you get me a plant?" Scorpius wondered of the werewolf in surprise but Myriam shook her head.

"No, I got her one. I thought it would be a good reason to get her to leave because I wanted to talk to you alone," Myriam explained as she searched briefly through the assortment of bags at her feet like she'd just been shopping, withdrawing a leather-bound book, "I got you this, why don't I help you take it to your room?"

"Absolutely," Scorpius agreed and led the way, he wanted to talk to her alone away so he could ask after Leebin who had to hide the fact he was sane or the Shadows would come after him so his parents didn't know. She handed him the book.

"It's a journal, notebook, planner, whatever you want. It's magically protected too, you can open it and write in it as normal but if you press the tip of your wand to it before you open it you'll find the pages blank. If you write in it then, the words will be invisible unless you open it with the tip of your wand pressed to the cover first so it keeps it private," Myriam told him before shrugging, "I thought you might like it, wasn't really sure what you'd want."

"Well thanks, it seems cool. And expensive."

"You saved my husband, it's the least I could do."

"How is he?" Scorpius asked curiously and noticed the slight cringe on her face.

"Not so great actually, it's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Myriam said and shifted nervously, "I erm… I wondered if he'd be allowed to join Gray."

"He wants to join Gray?" Scorpius wondered in surprise.

"Not exactly," Myriam stated before sighing, "It's too risky for him to leave the house so he's just on edge going stir crazy sitting around worrying about what happened to him and waiting for the next attack to come, I just think it'd be good for him to be able to fight back even if it's not directly fighting. He can't really use magic right now, not on purpose. But you know he's smart and he's hard working, he could probably do something. Not really sure how Gray works, if they even take new people or what the requirements are."

"I erm… I don't know, I could ask?" Scorpius offered unsurely, "They spy mostly, try to figure things out. The focus isn't on England right now so it's harder to find things out, there's really not that many. There are people who are less active but that's more because they have to stay there because the Shadows want them dead."

"Thank you," Myriam said with evident relief in her tone, "That's all I can really ask. I do think its good work you people do, I'd join myself if I didn't have two young children to take care of. Doesn't help that Lysel's special."

"I understand."

He put the book away in his room and they returned downstairs, Sol and Lysel had started playing with toy blocks. Myriam didn't stay long, she had only really wanted to drop off the book and ask him about Leebin joining Gray. It gave him even more of a logical reason to have to see Gray, not just becoming increasingly worried Molly had developed some kind of issue with him. He spent some time with his family who mostly seemed to want to talk about his future plans or final year but he did manage to get away though, claiming he wished to take a bath after Lysel's smell comments and read some of the books he'd gotten. As long as he was down on time for dinner.

He used the ring Varanian had given him which was also a Portkey, sadly he couldn't apparate yet and not because his August birthday had stopped him getting his license. He literally couldn't, he'd failed the course and didn't look forward to the embarrassment of having to retake it with the Sixth Years. He had no idea of what he'd do if he failed again.

The Portkey brought him to a sunny field outside the protective range of the base so he did have to walk to it, it was a large broken building from the outside. It looked like a dilapidated wreck, however interior it had been done up much nicer. He didn't have to go inside to find some people though, Varanian was standing outside. The tall, lean man was the Gray leader and a metamorphmagi, his ever-piercing eyes were an icy blue today while his hair was his usual scruffy tawny color. Scorpius wasn't sure what he was trying to do but he seemed to be casting random flashes of silver, as he got closer he saw he wasn't alone. Annie Thorne, his best friend's paternal aunt and Varanian's sort of girlfriend was sitting watching him eating a bag of chips resting her tattered sneakers on a crudely conjured footrest. Her long reddish-brown hair was tied back and clipped up, her sapphiric watched with amusement.

"You looked closer that time," she commented to Varanian.

"How was that closer?" Varanian asked breathlessly as if whatever was doing was tiring, scowling at her, "There was even less silver then last try."

"Hey, I'm trying to do the supportive girlfriend crap here so I can't that it sucked ass and you seem to be getting worse rather than better," Annie stated making his scowl deepen, "Plus, if I did you'd probably tell me to go inside if I'm not going to be helpful."

"I don't say that… often."

"What are you trying to do anyway?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"Trying to create a new spell that maximizes the power of Patronuses to be able to kill Specters, it's pretty hard- Scorpius!" Varanian started to explain before seeming to realize it was him, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. I actually wanted to talk to you about something specific though."

"I've told you before, finish Hogwarts first. It's just one year and honestly you probably won't be doing much anyway, the longer the Shadows are off England the more information dries up. It's mostly research which you could do just as easily if not better in Hogwarts, a lot of the dark books were removed but it's still quite an extensive Library which we don't have access to."

"It's not about that, I get it," Scorpius assured him, if nothing else he did think learning Alchemy from Rojer was something he really wanted to do. For now he was okay with going back anyway, he'd gotten his Hogwarts letter and would be getting his things from Diagon Alley fairly soon. His parents had wanted things to calm a bit first.

"Okay good because I had something I wanted to give you," Varanian said, sounding relieved and actually a little excited as he darted back inside, "Come on."

"You didn't really need to get me anything," Scorpius assured him while following awkwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed. Varanian had never got him a present before, he was fugitive and all so it wasn't like he had access to much anyway.

"Hey, he smiled. If giving you a present makes him happy then damn well let him give you a present!" Annie chastised him as he walked by her through the open door.

"You have the strangest ways of showing you care," Varanian commented with a shake of his head as he opened the trap door further up the hallway, leading to his area.

He walked down the concrete steps and Scorpius followed, the dark gray walls quite familiar to him even if he hadn't been down in a while. Varanian had moved his boards of tracking war stuff up to be more accessible as Gray expanded, he also thought he might've wanted more privacy when he started dating Annie. As evidence of that, his small bed had been widened to a double and he saw Annie's clothes mixed with his. Varanian's table with family photos now also had some muggle ones of her own family, he found both Michael and Jack quite recognizable. Beneath the table looked like stores of potions, there were a few books too and the titles about healing or more basic magical things made him think they were Annie's, she was a healer and relatively new to magic after all. Varanian started rooting around amongst his things and Scorpius sad idly on the bed to wait as he so often had as a child.

"Okay, here we are," Varanian announced as he triumphantly pulled out something gray, also dropping a small ring that he quickly scooped up but Scorpius had still recognized it, "Not that."

"Was- Was that an engagement ring?" Scorpius asked in surprise and Varanian looked away blushing.

"I erm… I want to ask Annie to marry me, okay? So just… shush," Varanian told him and Scorpius vaguely recalled Molly predicting such a thing, he smiled inwardly rather liking the thought of Varanian getting married. He thought he deserved to be happy.

"Okay," Scorpius promised and Varanian nodded in satisfaction before sitting down beside him without looking at him, he fidgeted for a minute and opened his closed his mouth a few times as if struggling to think of what to say.

"I- I um… I mean… My children died, you know?" Varanian began and Scorpius nodded in acknowledgement as Varanian gestured to the photographs, the older man swallowed nervously and fidgeted awkwardly, "They died and… You… I mean… erm… If- If they'd lived and they had turned out to be enough half the person you are then… then I'd have- I'd be proud. What I'm trying to say is… You… um… Y- You… You're like- like a son to me and… I um… I'm really proud of you, Scorpius."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered quietly, feeling very touched as Varanian nodded and attempted a smile. He handed over what he was holding, a slightly battered almost misshapen gray pocket watch that might have been silver at one point or was just a duller metal. On the front, a Thestral stood proud with its wings spread to make a 'V' shape.

"I erm… Varanians have- had a tradition of passing down pocket watches when their children came of age an- and since mine are dead I- I wanted you to have it. It used to be just a 'V' but I made it a Thestral since you have no 'V' in your name, seemed more fitting."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered quietly, already preferring it to his own and deciding to switch the initials of the other one for Michael. It occurred to him the odd color was because it had probably been burned with Varanian, he clicked it open and saw it worked perfectly fine. The interior must've been protected as the inside cover was silver, it also bore an inscription in Latin which he didn't understand.

"I mean… I know you probably already got one that's much better but… I- I still wanted you to have it," Varanian added awkwardly, still not really looking at him.

"No, I love it really," Scorpius assured him, realizing you didn't have to be a two year old to struggle to find the words to say, "I erm… Y- You're more like… I err… I mean… You are more like a father to me than my real father at times, a lot of times and um… I look up to you, if I can be half the man you are then- then I'd be happy."

"Really?" Varanian wondered in a tone of surprise as he glanced at him, Scorpius nodded and attempted a smile. Varanian returned it slightly before giving him a hug, Scorpius hugged him back readily and they pulled away. He laughed nervously, "It's funny, when I first met you I hated your guts. Of course I was possessed by a Specter at the time."

"Oh yeah," Scorpius also laughed nervously recalling his First Year, "I used to hate you with a passion, I despised you. Of course you were possessed by a Specter at the time."

"Life is strange," Varanian said and Scorpius nodded in agreement, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Erm…" Scorpius mused but it had slipped his mind, probably just to talk to Molly, "Is Molly in?"

"No, she volunteered for a long scouting mission with Aurelius. Won't be back for a few days."