Here is another chapter. Again not as long as I'd hoped but I didn't want to keep anyone waiting,

Hope you like it, and please review.

Chapter 13

Nikolas turned and rubbed his eyes sleepily as he sat up. He found himself in a large canopy bed dressed in green and black linen, but the bed was much too large to have been in the dorm. Looking around the rest of the room he saw the potions he had made for his father and realized were he was. He slid out of the bed and started towards the door where he could hear the headmaster and Snape talking.

"Dawlish?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure it was him. I spoke with Lucius recently, and he says there has been talk of another ministry official was going to join the dark lord. Dawlish was also in charge of that section of the wards. I believe he may have put up a weak shield so it would appear that he did what he was told, but it was weak enough for any one to have broken through without much effort."

"Very well. Thank you Severus. I'll inform the others."Albus said as he rose from his seat. "Oh and how is Harry doing?"

"The potion we made didn't last as long as we hoped though. He should be fine when he wakes up."

"Wonderful. It seems you two have been getting along as well lately." Dumbledore smiled.

"It's not like we have much of a choice. We have to convince everyone we are father and son."

"I suppose." Albus simply chuckled and left the potions master's quarters. Nikolas then pushed open the bedroom door and walked into the sitting room.

"It would seem the potion we made doesn't last nearly as long as we had hoped. Luckily I was able to pass it off as an illness though; the dark lord didn't appear too suspicious." Severus said as Nikolas moved towards the chair across from him. "What are you doing? It's winter vacation. Go do what ever it is you do during break, so long as you don't get in trouble." It as Snape's subtle way of telling him to go away without saying 'piss off' as he probably would've liked considering the fowl mood he seemed to be in.

Nikolas nodded and left the room. He wandered around the school aimlessly for a while. It was early in the morning and he had a whole day to do as he pleased. First he went to his room and took the Marauders' Map as well as a pouch with a few gallons from his trunk. He made his way to Hogsmeade via the underground tunnel. When he returned the pouch had only one gallon and one sickle left, and was filled to the point where it was nearly overflowing with Honeydukes' best candies and a bottle of butterbeer. With all of these goodies he made his way to the room of requirement. Nikolas smiled when he walked into the room. He kicked off his shoes and shed off the heavy cloak before looking around.

It was a very welcoming space The walls were a soft pastel blue, the farthest wall lined with bookshelves to the roof with a rolling ladder so he could reach the higher books. The plush carpet was a darker shade of blue, with a circular, lavender rug in the center of the room. Half of the rug was covered by several large silken pillows that looked very inviting. A small table sat beside these pillows, the table top was an icy-blue and charmed to keep anything on top of it cold.

Nikolas placed the butter beer and candies on the table then looked over the many shelves of books. Within minutes Nikolas had made himself comfortable on the pillows, reading a book on defensive magic. He lay there for a while until the door opened. Quickly he shoved the marauders map into his back pocket so it wasn't seen by the other.

"Hello Harry." Remus said. "Sorry. Nikolas." He quickly corrected himself. "Mind if I join you?" Nikolas shook his head.

"Pull up a pillow." He smiled.

"How did it go?" Remus asked, but what he was referring to was no mystery.

"The potion wore off too soon." Nikolas replied as he set down his book.

"Were you found out?" Remus asked quickly, his eyes widened.

"No, we passed it off as an illness so you can relax." Nikolas laughed.

"What happened before that?" Lupin laid back against the pillows as he spoke.

"Not much. We talked. Voldemort is actually quite civil when he isn't trying to kill you. We had a fairly normal conversation, or as close to normal as you can get when talking to him. I just had to tell him a bit about myself, or rather the story the headmaster came up with about me. "

"What story is that?"

"Oh. My mother and father met in Beuxibatons when he was teaching the dark arts there. When my father left he didn't know that my mother was pregnant with me. She raised me in France and told me my father had died. She passed away during the summer though, and a simple potion was able to tell me who my father was. Since then I have been staying with him, and attending Hogwarts. Vague but still had the basic details. He seemed satisfied."

"I see." Remus nodded. "Have you heard the news about the minister?" Nikolas shook his head. "He was run out of the ministry a few days ago, and yesterday he was found dead. Most likely from the killing curse."

"Who are they going to replace him with?" Nikolas asked as Nyx came into the room. Nikolas smiled and allowed the serpent to slide around his arm, amazed at how the creature seemed to always know where he was. Remus disliked snakes and moved back a bit but continued.

"It's up to Dumbledore. The ministry came to him first after what happened. My guess would be Arthur, but I'm sure Mad-Eye would do well at keeping everyone in there place. He'd weed out the traitors too I expect." The two laughed and nodded.

"I should be going." Remus stood. "I'll see you later alright?"

"Yep. See ya." Nikolas smiled and pulled his book back open.

-

Meanwhile.

Dumbledore and Kingsley Shacklebolt conjured four stretchers. Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, and Dawlish were laying on them unconscious.