Chapter 13 Grace

Daphne shook her head, amusement lined her face, as she watched Rodrick gulp down another cup of Fire Whiskey.

"Rodrick, that's your third one already!" She remarked, barely keeping a straight face.

"Let him drink, it's a natural part of life!" The voice of Sirius Black echoed over the small room.

Daphne sighed as she watched Rodrick nod his head eagerly. Really the only reason she'd even agreed to join them was to stop Rodrick from drinking too much, however, whatever had happened in the drawing room seemed to haunt him. He'd been shaking non-stop ever since leaving the room, whether anyone else had noticed was another matter, the drinks at any case had helped calm him down and so she'd just left him to it. 'If only they'd drink faster... It's been hours...'

The four of them were in a secluded room, it'd been warded to stop any underage students from entering, of course, because Sirius was the current head, he had the power to turn such wards off. It had been the first thing the ex Azkaban prisoner had done.

Harry Potter was taking the drink with a lot less composure, having never experienced it before and without Occulumency for that matter.

The small peace and quiet had only been achieved after the Weasley family had left. That was a point Rodrick still hadn't managed to understand. Hermione had taken to randomly entering the room to question him on things related to the holiday work they'd been set, she would've simply stayed in the room... If they hadn't been breaking the law. The girl was far calmer compared to earlier on in the year, 'Occluemency's really helping her... Maybe it was a bad idea showing her the technique...' He thought to himself, worried, remembering the deal Snape had given him at the start of the year. When he turned towards the head of the house, Rodrick raised an eyebrow as he realized that his defence professor was missing.

"Wheres Professor Lupin?" Rodrick questioned.

"Hmm?" Sirius replied, his eyes had dazed look to them, which wasn't at all surprising, the man had drunk an entire bottle on his own. "Moony?" Sirius's mind had finally processed the question. "I think he's still talking with the headmaster," he answered, whilst he drained another cup.

Daphne couldn't believe this was the infamous Sirius Black.

Rodrick hummed to himself, he was about to ask another question before one Hermione Granger entered the room.

"Rodrick!" she called out, there was an ecstatic look on her face. She quickly made her way over, whilst of course shaking her head at her best friend's current state and his failed attempt at saying hello.

"Yes?" Rodrick calmly replied.

Hermione flashed the paper in her hand on the boy's face, smiling.

Rodrick blinked at the gestures before raising his gaze. "Is this supposed to mean something?"

The smile on the girl's face didn't change, "I finally finished it, all of the homework for the holidays!"

Daphne and Harry took a double take at that, "Really? We still have so much time," the girl questioned, surprised.

"Of course you have," Muttered the boy-who-lived. He knew he needed to get started on his.

"I didn't know students were given holiday homework," remarked Sirius as he stared at the piece of paper.

The student's quickly turned towards the head of the house disbelief writ over their faces, the man had been genuine when he'd spoken.

"That's because you always skipped the last lesson before the term ended," another voice joined the fray. The others quickly turned their heads towards the source, finding Remus Lupin.

"You can do that?" Rodrick questioned eagerly.

"Don't give him any ideas!" Daphne's voice ringed in their heads, causing the drunks to groan.

"Really Sirius? Fire Whiskey? And you wondered why the headmaster was reluctant to let you take care of Harry?" Remus added on, completely ignoring the two Slytherins, it was easier that way...

"Where is the old coot anyway?" Sirius questioned, his eyes focused on magically refilling his empty cup, causing the defence professor to sigh before he took a seat next to the fellow marauder.

Rodrick turned his attention back to the smiling Gryffindor, "Do you want to do easter's work as well? Professor McGonagall gave me the assignment,"

Hermione's eyes widened at that before she spluttered "No, t-that's fine, I think I'll just do it later," she nodded her head along as she moved away. Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the girl before he shrugged and got back to filling up his cup again.

"I'll see you later Harry," Hermione said just before leaving the room, earning a half-hearted agreement. She sighed again, wondering how on earth the boy was skimming through all of his assignments.

Sirius appraised the Slytherin, "I am surprised you do so much work, considering what you get up to,"

Rodrick grinned, "How do you think I get to have so much time to do it?"

"I am so telling professor McGonagall that!" Harry Potter grumbled, his eyes had a glint in them, 'Is that his secret?' The boy thought to himself somberly.

Rodrick let out a laugh at the boy, one the other's slowly joined.

"This wouldn't have been possible without your help," Remus added on, fondly. His gaze on Rodrick.

"I would have managed fine on my own," Sirius added on, while downing another cup.

The other's stared at Sirius for a few moments before Remus shuddered. The professor turned his attention back to Rodrick. "Thank Merlin, you were there..."

"Hey!" the protesting voice of Sirius Black fell under the laughter.

"What's Dumbledore up to now?" Rodrick questioned, earning chuckles at his casual tone.

"He's scanning the house, to make sure it's safe." Remus replied, "Something you really should've done Sirius"

"Hey give him a break," Rodrick decided to interject, earning an amused look from Black. "He's only a Gryffindor, there's only so much he could do," he finished, barely holding his laughter.

Daphne had the decency to look abashed. "Rodrick, they're all Gryffindors,"

Rodrick turned towards Daphne, "Exactly."

Remus wasn't sure if he was insulted or not, but considering he was the boy's professor he figured he wouldn't do that, simply out of respect.

Harry Potter knew for certain that the boy had indeed insulted all of them, however, he wasn't in any position to actually argue it, it was technically correct.

Sirius Black on the other hand...

"See Moony! he get's me!" he cheerfully exclaimed.

Daphne almost facepalmed herself, she had to keep reminding herself that the man had been in Azkaban for 13 years and so wasn't in the best state of mind... At the rate things were going, she was starting to believe it was his actual personality.

"What happened to the Weasleys?" Rodrick questioned his professor, he doubted Black even realized the family had left.

"Oh," Remus started somewhat uncertain, "Their uncle wanted to leave apparently."

Rodrick turned towards Daphne at that confused.

"I think it was the forlorn looking one..." Daphne answered.

Remus nodded to that, "Fabian Prewett, he's not really one for conventions. Not ever since his brother died in any case."

Rodrick wasn't sure how to respond to the comment, "I don't see why all of them had to leave though," he settled on instead.

"Oh, no the rest willingly followed, except the two graduates, in any case, they seemed to be trying to keep their uncle entertained."

"Really..." Daphne sarcastically started, "I wonder why?" she rolled her eyes as she turned towards Rodrick. The boy didn't even react to her, he settled on filling up another cup to annoy her.

"You've really finished up all the work up to Easter?" Remus asked Rodrick, a surprised and rather happy look on his face, it was always a good thing to be diligent...

Rodrick nodded on to his professor mid-gulp causing Sirius Black and Harry Potter to start laughing. "Aside from Transfiguration anyway, I believe we'll be starting Animagus Theory when we return."

The two marauder's eyes lit up at the subject.

"Really!?" Sirius Black asked eagerly. "We could probably help you with that," he added on.

"You two are Animagus?" Daphne asked, surprised. The subject wasn't easy, there was a reason they only attempted theory at Hogwarts.

Remus nodded his head civilly. Sirius just grinned.

"No need," Rodrick remarked, causing Black to frown somewhat. "I've got the gist of it," he finished, earning surprised looks.

"I had no idea you were attempting it," Daphne remarked.

Rodrick shrugged, "I read a couple pages on it,"

Remus was trying to process the words properly. "A couple pages? And you think you've got the gist of what to do?"

Rodrick nodded on, "It doesn't look as hard as Human Transfiguration and I've managed that rather well so far,"

The surprised look on the girl's face quickly disappeared.

"You can do Human Transfiguration?" Sirius asked, his voice slurred more and more.

Remus turned towards his friend, "Yes, I believe there was an incident that ended up with him attending a NEWT class and doing and in McGonagall's own words, Extraordinarily,"

"Let's see it!" Sirius asked, causing Remus to shake his head.

"It's not that sim-" Remus started before, to his surprise, Rodrick removed the Transfiguration on his face"

The others, minus Daphne, openly gawked at the sudden change.

"You just removed it... That wasn't applying it," Remus pointed out. Sirius's head had quickly swapped between Professor and Student.

Quickly applying the Transfiguration back on his face, Rodrick confirmed the professor's words.

"Why?" Remus had to ask, in the corner of his eye, however, he could see understanding dawn on Harry's face.

"I believe that is a story for another day," The voice of Albus Dumbledore quickly seeped into the room. The other's turned towards the headmaster as he entered the room. "I believe it is getting quite late, your parents and guardians must be worried," His words were meant to be taken by all parties, including Harry.

"Harry's spending the holiday here," Sirius quickly defended his godson, he knew for certain that the Dursleys were a hellhole for him.

Dumbledore held back the sigh that threatened to escape, realistically, it was possible that the Black home would probably be the safer location. Now that the house elf wasn't trying to harm anyone. While the blood wards were indeed powerful, it simply couldn't compare to the ancient house's wards... Continuously built upon over the centuries. There was always the backup charm he'd placed on the house in the case of emergencies at any rate. Should anyone attempt to break through the ward, all current parties in the house would immediately be apparated to Hogwarts.

"We as it so happens aren't," Rodrick quipped, he attempted to get up, failing quite badly as he felt himself fall back into the chair, to the amusement of others. With a helping hand from Daphne, Rodrick managed to get onto his two feet.

"Are you sure you two will be fine?" Remus asked worriedly.

"I probably can't kill a Basilisk right now but I am sure we'll manage," Rodrick remarked smiling.

Daphne shook her head before she started leading him away.

"I'd take them up to the door but I am not even sure if I can get up right now." Sirius's slurred voice seemed to echo over the room.

Remus had been about to get up, to make sure the kids were safe before to everyone's amusement, Rodrick put up a Disillusionment charm.

Dumbledore made to take a seat before he heard a distinct "Bye!" come from the front door.

"Man, where do you even get wizards like that," Sirius asked nobody in particular.

"Apparently Slytherin," answered a frowning Harry Potter, briefly wondering what it would've been like had the boy been in Gryffindor.

"Talented though... I am not sure I've seen anyone learn magic that fast," Remus remarked, slowly filling up half a cup of Fire Whiskey.

"Headmaster, what do you think?" Sirius turned his attention towards Dumbledore.

"Think?" Dumbledore remarked amused, "About what?"

"Your opinion I meant" Sirius shrugged.

"Rodrick is a rather curious person, he knows when to play his cards and when not to, and the cards he usually does play are quite remarkable,"

"What do you mean?" Remus questioned, curiosity peaked.

"I mean, he is the kind of student Salazar Slytherin expected of his house"

"I agree, he's a menace when he's acting like a Slytherin," Added on Harry Potter, remembering his second year, still completely lost on how everything had spiralled out of control.

"Indeed. And that's not even taking his talent into question." Dumbledore accidentally spoke out.

"Talent?" Sirius questioned.

Dumbledore's gaze stayed touched to the open door, the same door that the two Slytherins had left through. "The boy could very well be Salazar Slytherin come again,"

The room quickly fell into a small silence as they contemplated what that could mean. Everyone but one. Sirius decided to break the silence by filling up another cup.

"That bodes well for the house cup..." Harry Potter remarked still wondering how they were going to win it, even if they won the Quidditch cup it was still no guarantee.

Dumbledore's face almost lost its composure at the comment. 'Dear boy, you have no idea..'. He felt quite bad that he'd sold the house cup, he didn't have the heart to admit it, which he knew he definitely should've. It was a bad idea to break your word with a Slytherin and considering the circumstances, he'd be breaking it with the entire house. It was far too risky not to keep it.

"He said he was an orphan right?" Sirius questioned, "Did you know his parents?" he asked the headmaster.

Harry Potter had almost let out on the fact that he was a Grindelwald before realizing that even Remus most likely didn't know.

Dumbledore's face, however, sent a chill down Sirius Black, he had that same unnerving smile he'd usually had when he'd caught them in a prank. "I believe the two of you should know who his mother was,"

Remus raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? I don't really recall."

Sirius on the other hand was slowly going pale, "No..."

"Indeed, his mother was none other than your Divination Professor at Hogwarts, Lenora Grace,"

Harry Potter had no idea who that was, the only divination Professor he knew off was Trelawny, 'Grace? I thought it was Grindelwald?' It took a moment before he'd realized they'd most likely used a fake name... 'But Rodrick said she was targeted... Did they find out?'

Sirius Black buried his face on the table.

Remus had his first laughing fit in years.

"Does he know?" Harry decided to ask referring to Rodrick.

Dumbledore blinked at that, realizing that he'd never told the boy anything besides his parent's house.

"Who was his father?" Remus asked, barely able to stop his laughter. Sirius' face seemed to pop up for a split second.

"Perhaps I should tell the boy first..." Dumbledore remarked to the other's disappointment although they looked like they understood, Sirius, in any case, looked like he didn't want to know.

...

Rodrick slowly staggered through the fireplace, it had to his surprise been quite dark out, he felt the tension slowly ease up as Daphne walked out of the Greengrass Manor fireplace and pulled his cursed arm over her shoulder. Slowly helping him into the sofa before sighing. Putting her hands on her hips, she stared down at the sitting drunk wizard.

"This is why you don't drink, you can barely function on you'er own," she chastised.

Rodrick grinned at the girl, "It's a good thing then isn't it?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow at that, "What is?"

Rodrick started patting the spot next to him.

Daphne rolled her eyes before taking a seat by him, "What is?" she repeated her question.

Wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulder, "That I have you," Rodrick answered.

Daphne could feel the tinge growing on her face, Rodrick's was inches away however at the last second she pulled her head back. "You need to brush your mouth," she remarked to the boy's annoyance. She chuckled at his expression.

The two sat there in silence for a while before Daphne's voice broke it.

"What did you see?" she questioned, her hands slowly tracing the mark on his cursed arm.

Rodrick sighed before he pulled away his arm. He stared at his arm, recalling the event. "I suppose I saw what I assumed Death looked like? I don't imagine he looks like that with everyone he meets,"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because that's what I imagined death would look like," Rodrick shrugged.

Daphne nodded slowly, "What happened?"

Rodrick wasn't sure where to even start, "I found another Horcrux," he whispered, earning a gasp from the girl. "And then that Horcrux showed me..." he found himself unable to finish, instead he could feel his hands slowly start shaking again.

Putting a hand on the shaking arm, Daphne locked eyes with the boy. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she spoke, her voice seemed like a melody to him.

The words somehow had the opposite effect as it seemed to make everything spill out.

"I saw Voldemort," Rodrick remarked, looking down.

Daphne's expression slowly changed into a confused one, "Yea... I think you've told us about that time-" she was about to add more before she saw Rodrick quickly shake his head.

"It was nothing like that... I saw him in the future"

"You mean... After he comes back?" Daphne asked, her voice uncertain.

Rodrick looked towards the ground, "He saw me..."

Daphne's world froze as she took in the words, "What do you mean?" she found it hard to even make the words.

"I honestly have no idea... The only explanation I can even think of is that all of it was a vision guaranteed to happen? Almost like a Prophecy? Voldemort interacted with me... Harry interacted with me... It was surreal."

"Guaranteed? You mean it's guaranteed you'll meet him?"

Rodrick simply stared out at the ground. "If it is... Harry Potter will probably die again,"

The words seemed to confirm what she'd already guessed, Harry did indeed die in that vision. "That's why you made a deal with death then?"

Rodrick nodded.

"Maybe now it'll be different, your visions aren't always completely accurate."

Rodrick shook his head, "That's not the problem..." he barely whispered.

"No?" Daphne questioned, she'd never seen the boy like this, he looked so... vulnerable. Even the Dementor incident wasn't this bad.

"I met him... I saw what the dark lord really was... and I am afraid..." Rodrick admitted.

Daphne could only stare, she had no idea how to deal with this. "It's natural to be scared. I don't think anyone could hold up to him,"

"You don't get it... It's not that I am scared for my sake... I am scared for the rest... For my friends... For your family... I can't... I just can't lose another one... The idea of him coming after you and everyone else..." Rodrick Whimpered, "I just can't do that... And I know I wouldn't be able to stop him..." his words seemed to have died, Daphne felt a chill as she stared at his eyes, she'd never seen him tear up before.

"If I fight him... He'll go for everything else... I can't let things go back to what they used to be like..." he spoke before burying his face in his hands.

Daphne quickly pulled him into a hug, "They won't,"

"You don't know that," His head tilted slightly. "Things could very easily go back... If Lost yo-"

"I do know," she tried to reassure him, "I have you remember," she tried to cheer him up.

"I can't stop him... The level of magic-"

"Then get better and make sure you can," she spoke, pulling his head away and locking eyes.

"It's impossible,"

Daphne shook her head, "You survived and killed a Basilisk in your second year. Used an unforgivable to stop a mountain troll in your first year. You've even managed to do Magic Extraction, something no one alive has ever managed to do. Not even Dumbledore."

Rodrick could only stare at the girl as she continued on, "How does that help?"

"Rodrick, you've been doing impossible things since I first met you, what's one more?" she joked, a broad smile on her face.

Rodrick could only stare at her before nodding slowly, "It's worth a shot,"

'Worth a shot...' Rodrick felt like snorting at the thought... Everything he'd ever done practically started with that thought.

He sighed, calming himself down. He could feel the effects of alcohol slowly leave as his Occulemency took control once again.

'Maybe it's my curse,' Maybe it worked on alcohol. He shook his head and turned back to Daphne. He thanked her. She was right. No matter how impossible it looked, it was still worth shot.

Daphne beamed at him.

Rodrick huffed at the girl before a grin took over his face, "I have an idea for what to do this year... now that extraction and all is complete, really it's a waiting game at this point." he seemed to drift off before shaking his head to the girl's wasn't a recent idea, he'd been considering it ever since he'd bought the house cup.

It was time to take over Slytherin completely.

"What are you planning this time?" she questioned amused.

Rodrick grinned, "Seeing as we already have the house cup guaranteed, I figured it would be fun to..." he stopped himself causing the girl to roll her eyes.

"Do what exactly?" she asked amused, glad to see the shaking had stopped.

"Really, it's quite obvious" he teased, enjoying the small look of irritation.

"Just tell me already!" the girl demanded.

"So childish," Rodrick remarked earning a glare. "Alright alright, it's simple"

Daphne ignored his antics, "What's simple?"

"Nothing much really," he remarked grinning, "Seeing as we've already won the house cup, I am just going to start a war with Gryffindor"

Daphne stared at the boy before inwardly cursing her curiosity, "What have you got planned?"

...

Rodrick stared at the letter he'd received, bemused. 'What the hell does this mean?' He'd finally received a letter back from Bathilda Bagshot, his great aunt. He'd sent the woman a letter in hopes of connecting with her at least. It would've been interesting to have a glimpse of his grandfather's past... He could ask Dumbledore but a small part of him told him that it would be quite biased. Of course, the reply he received wasn't what he expected at all.

"Rodrick?" he heard Roxanne's voice. So far it seemed they were the only two to be up and about downstairs. It was Christmas morning and it seemed Roxanne still had a small amount of work to do before everything's in place. Cyrus had gone out earlier on in the day for some sort of business. The girls were either sleeping, in Astoria's case, or getting ready in Daphne's.

Rodrick turned to Roxanne, a confused expression on his face. "This doesn't make sense," He remarked.

Roxanne walked over towards his side before taking a look at the letter in question. The same confused expression showed upon the woman's face. After all, the letter had explicitly told him that Bathilda Bagshot didn't have a single clue on who he was... Considering she was the one who had given him his letters and starting galleons, it really made no sense that she couldn't remember or in fact, even knew who he was.

"Are you sure it was the same woman?" Roxanne asked.

Rodrick nodded absentmindedly, his mind trying to figure out what to do with the new piece of information. He sighed again when he realised there was only one possible way to answer his questions... He needed to meet Malf- Rodrick's thought process stopped there, remembering the vision he'd had of Voldemort's return... It seemed he had more than one thing to discuss with the Malfoy Lord.

"Rodrick?" Roxanne asked, an inquisitive look in her eye.

Rodrick raised his head to meet the Greengrass woman's eyes. "I need to meet Malfoy,"

Roxanne stared at him for a few seconds before nodding, "I'll have Cyrus arrange a meeting..."

Rodrick blinked a few times at the woman's casual tone. "It's fine if I do?" he questioned.

The action seemed to make the woman laugh, "Of course it's fine," she answered chuckling.

"Really? I thought-" he stared before stopping himself, unsure of what to say.

"You thought we'd be against it?" she questioned amused.

Rodrick nodded his head slowly. "I thought your families didn't like each other?"

Roxanne had an amused look on her face, "Yes well I wouldn't say we were fond of each other much..." she spoke, slowly the woman walked towards the sofas before urging Rodrick to follow her.

Sitting down, Rodrick turned towards the woman, a curious look on his face.

"Where to begin..." Roxanne remarked.

"How about the beginning?" Rodrick offered, barely holding a straight face.

"Yes well... Let's see..." Roxanne remarked rather slowly.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"You see, the two families, in this case, Cyrus's father and Lucius's. They both started Hogwarts at the same time, the two were both sorted into Slytherin and a friendship came out of it," Roxanne remarked, a twinkle in her eye.

Rodrick's mouth had dropped at the words, he couldn't see how the two families could get along, let alone become friends.

"I am sure you know that our family had refrained from entering the last war?"

Rodrick nodded his head at the question, Greengrass was famous for staying neutral... It was then Rodrick had found a question.

"How many families stayed neutral?" Rodrick questioned.

The shadow of a smile showed up on the woman's face. "More then you realise,"

Rodrick's gaze didn't budge, "How many are still alive to this day?"

"Less than right..." Roxanne remarked, waiting for the boy to make the connections.

"Abraxas Malfoy... I believe that was the man's name. He asked Voldemort to ignore your family, didn't he?"

Roxanne nodded, the smile on her face more visible. "Yes the man had given us his protection, he had been apart of the inner circle, one of the more influential ones. He gave my family and Cyrus's the protection to stay neutral."

Rodrick nodded at that, it explained things more.

"My husband and Lord Malfoy had grown up under that friendship, they never did manage to replicate it, this day its more of a rivalry really" Roxanne chuckled, "But even then, thanks to the man's father, our family had managed to avoid the war. Of course, it went both ways, while Abraxas didn't want to fight his friend, Lord Greengrass was even less likely to fight his friend."

"And so he chose to stay neutral..." Rodrick remarked... He wondered if they could get the same protection for the second time Voldemort returned, he knew it would put him at ease if they weren't in any danger.

"Perhaps it might be better if you met Malfoy at his dinner party," Roxanne added on.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the idea, "What kind of party will it be?"

"A Pureblood special I am afraid," Roxanne remarked amusedly.

"Will the ministry employee's be there?" Rodrick questioned, hints of a plan forming in his head, he knew Malfoy would appreciate this...

Roxanne nodded somewhat uncertain.

"And Sirius Black?"

"I don't think the man plans on attending..."

Rodrick shrugged at the words, "I'll send him a letter," he finished, causing the woman to start laughing. If all three factors were at the party... Yes it would make everything go much smoother.

"So you'd like to attend?" Roxanne questioned.

Rodrick nodded, "When will it be?"

"A couple days from now," Roxanne answered.

The two fell into a short silence before Roxanne broke it again, once again noticing the same worried look on the boy's had caught her attention.

"Is there something worrying you?" she questioned.

Rodrick shook his head, "It's Christmas, I need to visit the headmaster's office,"

Roxanne raised an eyebrow at the words.

"I want to test it, the magical extraction,"

Understanding dawned on the woman's face, "You know," the woman started, however, the words simply couldn't come out, she was torn between the boy helping cure her daughter and the idea of what would happen should he make a mistake.

Rodrick seemed to notice the look if him shaking his head meant anything.

"I've spent the last who knows how many months trying this! The idea of a little danger stopping me now is unheard of!" he remarked before falling into laughter, "Merlin, I am turning into a Gryffindor,"

Roxanne brought him into a hug.

"You don't need to do everything by yourself," she remarked to the surprised boy, moving back she grabbed his shoulders, "Your the ward remember," she remarked chuckling, "We're here to help you, not the other way round,"

"Is that an excuse to keep paying for everything?" Rodrick questioned, causing the woman to smile, feigning innocence.

The smile seemed to leave him speechless.

"Thank you..." he'd settled.

...

Dumbledore watched as the Slytherin Menace flood through the fireplace into his office, a grin on his face. He sighed, knowing the boy had every attention of attempting the extraction. He made no reaction to his Phoenix bowing its head towards the Grindelwald heir, he did take note of the fact the boy was still wearing the necklace, the supposed... Or rather definite at this point, fourth hollow. It took a lot of willpower for the headmaster to simply ignore its existence... Everything he'd ever read about the hollows was slowly turning out to be minuscule... Just what exactly had Gellert been planning all those years ago... A question he sadly will never know the answer to.

"Good morning Rodrick." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, once again amusement hitting his face as he watched the boy casually plop a sweet into his mouth, 'Like Grandfather like Grandson,' he thought to himself, it was there he remembered that his mother had had the same liking to sweets.

"I am sure you know why I am here," Rodrick remarked.

"I am, however before you do attempt that, I must ask you to show me what you saw at the Black home," Dumbledore asked, there was an edge to the man's voice.

"Straight to the point," Rodrick remarked, a smile on his face.

"Yes well, I figured you'd rather not beat around the bush considering it's Christmas," Dumbledore remarked.

Rodrick nodded quickly, "Indeed I have present's waiting for me at home,"

"You call the Greengrass Manor your home?" Dumbledore questioned, the same twinkle in his eye.

"I call the Greengrass family my home," Rodrick spoke back.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, a family is a much better home indeed,"

"Compared to an orphanage... I'd say so myself," Rodrick deadpanned.

The two ironically set into a small conversation regarding the boy's mother, it was here that he'd finally learnt his mother's name, when Dumbledore had asked him if he wanted to find out his father's name, Rodrick quickly took his wand out to take the memory. His grandfather had warned him he wouldn't like it... He wasn't for once going to ignore the said warning. Raising the wand, he slowly placed the tip of it at his temple. \I still can't believe she taught Divination of all things...'

Dumbledore watched as the boy slowly removed the memory from his head.

"This is..." Rodrick started before he shook his head.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the boy's face, it wasn't the first time he'd received a vision. The reaction was surprising.

Rodrick sighed, "Just watch..." he remarked before he poured the contents onto the Pensieve.

Dumbledore watched the content's whirl before the two both dipped their heads in.

Rodrick felt himself grow wary as he watched the memory play through, turning towards the headmaster he found a shocked look on his face.

"This is... How are you interacting with Harry!?" Dumbledore questioned, clear signs of worry in his eyes...

Rodrick shook his head, "I have no idea... lo-" Rodrick was about to tell the headmaster to take a look at Harry Potter's clothing before his mind stopped itself... He turned towards himself... Worry quickly took over as he'd realised that he was wearing the exact same clothing. 'Well, that's just perfect...'

"Why does young Harry believe you can apparate?" Dumbledore questioned as he watched the vision played through.

Before Rodrick could answer, however, the area was quickly covered in malevolent magic.

"Tom..." Dumbledore whispered as he watched the dark lord. Surprise and shock emanating from the old man's face. It seemed the sight of young Grindelwald had sent the man into a rage... Or perhaps it was the magic surrounding the boy's eyes? Dumbledore shook his head at the thought, no it was no doubt the boy's face... Voldemort for a strange reason seemed to recognise Rodrick... Not just recognise but seemed to have a personal vendetta against him... It wasn't easy to get that out of Tom... Dumbledore watched as Voldemort struck down Harry Potter and then the vision ended.

"That... I need time to process this..."

Rodrick nodded, "I agree," he managed a weak smile.

"You said you made a contract with death? and that we no longer needed to worry about Harry Potter's Horcrux?" Dumbledore remarked, he was still to this day surprised that they'd managed to take out 3 Horcrux's already, The Black Horcrux was especially surprising... He had never considered it to be there... He'd spoken to Kreacher the house elf about it, apparently, Sirius's younger brother had stolen it and attempted to destroy it, the poor boy must've believed it to be the only Horcrux, he'd found it inside a strange cursed cave. Kreacher had explained how the young master had replaced it with a fake... The thought of going through the horrors of that place only to find a fake Horcrux... The idea unsettled Dumbledore greatly... Something about the words he'd heard seemed to haunt him... Really it just showed how truly insane Voldemort was... He had no doubt the man had more.

"You remember my Grandfather's death?" Rodrick questioned, barely suppressing his emotions.

Dumbledore nodded, "The same happened with young Harry... Only you were able to save him,"

Rodrick nodded absentmindedly, "Yes... I can't take the memory to show you but I will say the contract I made revolves around returning the hollows to their home, in exchange Harry keeps his life and link to Horcruxes... But is no longer one."

"Home?" Dumbledore questioned, once again seeing just how much he truly understood, the ideas of Hollows having a home? that made almost no sense...

"I was told to find all the answers in a book..."

"The book?" Dumbledore questioned.

"I saw what kind of pages there were... The titles..." Rodrick stopped there. "My grandfather was right... The book is a horror"

Dumbledore's curiosity was slowly going out of hand, he quickly shook the thoughts away, 'Another time,'

"You said Harry keeps his link? Is there a particular reason you included that?"

Rodrick nodded his head, "I think the link between them could be used to find the other Horcruxs,"

Understanding quickly filled the headmaster up, "Yes that is perhaps for the best..." he did sigh in relief knowing that Harry Potter was no longer in danger of dying... "How long do you have?"

Rodrick shook his head, "No real limit, I'd made it clear I'd only start pursuing the contract goals after Voldemort was dealt with."

Dumbledore nodded again, "A good choice,"

"So... What do we do about Voldemort?" Rodrick questioned.

"You were right in thinking that he may return next year..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the words, "What makes you say that?"

"Because from the looks of it, it will be during the Triwizard tournament, a tournament that Hogwarts will be hosting for your fourth year,"

Rodrick's eyes widened at the words, "You can't stop it?" He asked, perhaps they could avoid it if the tournament never happened.

"The board would never agree, too much work has gone into it as it is. Though I am confused about one thing,"

"Hmm?" Rodrick blinked.

"From what I saw, I believe both you and Harry will be participating... Which frankly makes no sense considering it's only one person per a school," There were hints of amusement at the man's voice, no doubt Rodrick must've had a hand in the picking... Future one at any case from what he'd seen.

"Do you think I should avoid it? The tournament?" He'd heard about it from Gellert, his grandfather had drilled it into him to always take the chance to show the world his worth...

Dumbledore stared at the boy, that was perhaps the most important question... It was too late to cancel such an event, the opportunity to host the famous Tri-wizard tournament was not something they could ignore... without his seat as Chief Warlock the level of influence he had was far less. And so it really depended on whether Rodrick should even attempt it in the first place...

"For starters, how you manage to even participate is a question in itself, the fact is the tournament is made for those who have already come of age."

Rodrick shrugged, "I'd probably manage to go past an age limit," He remarked amused before the situation really fell into place... Voldemort may return in the next year... That was a level a of stress he wasn't looking forward to...

"No doubt..." This was it... Dumbledore knew if he'd asked the boy to avoid it, he very well might listen... However... The old man sighed.

Rodrick had a wane smile on his face, "You want me to participate" it was no question.

Dumbledore nodded anyway. "You are perhaps the most promising student currently at Hogwarts," 'Perhaps even in History, I certainly don't remember performing Human Transfiguration at 11... Then again my Grandfather didn't start war,' "If Voldemort is truly returning, you are the most likely to survive an encounter,"

"And Harry?" Rodrick questioned.

"I can trust you to keep him alive if recent happenings are any indication. Of course, the better question is how the both of you would even manage to enter, I would much rather Harry didn't put himself in danger..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow, "And it's fine for me?"

Dumbledore levelled a stare at the boy, "You are a talented wizard... You would be hard-pressed to find anyone, dead or alive, who wouldn't see that. If there will be danger involved with the tournament, danger that can't be stopped...Then it's best that you are the one who has to deal with it, I am sure you realise that anyone else will no doubt break under that pressure, I have no doubt in your abilities to overcome it... of course if a good solution shows itself, I don't need to tell you to take it, you are a Slytherin,"

Rodrick nodded along, speechless at the man's praise.

...

The two had settled into a small silence before Rodrick had once again taken hold of his wand, he reached into a robe pocket to pull out the test subject for the day, the same phoenix feather Fawkes had gifted him with. He was amused to see the bird tilt it's head at the action. He took in a large breath.

Dumbledore watched with an inquisitive look as Rodrick cast of one of the most difficult spells in history, wide-eyed as the boy slowly extracted the essence? Or magic? Out of the Phoenix Feather. The feather was currently levitating in midair, a small globe of magic surrounded it as Rodrick slowly but surely extracted out it's core. 'Incredible,'Dumbledore couldn't help the thought, the level of magic being performed was truly remarkable... 'To think he's only 14...' Who knows what the boy would accomplish when he comes of age... Or even before, he already had a rap sheet of doing the impossible.

Small drops of magic slowly came out of the feather, it had an orange tint to it, no doubt due to where it came from. Dumbledore watched as Rodrick slowly levitated a flask near it and quickly fill it up in Phoenix essence? He really couldn't find a word for what the boy had managed to, in a sense, discover... The possibilities the flask currently being filled up could be used for was almost endless... Of course, the fact that it could only be acquired through Magic Extraction outside of alchemy and the fact that there was only one person currently alive capable of doing it made it extremely rare... The boy could very well sell the flask for an unearthly amount of galleons... Considering the boy's personality, however, Dumbledore chuckled. He would never willingly give up such a rare ingredient. Whenever he'd spoken to Snape about the boy, the main subject was always surrounding his competency at Potions... It seemed the ex Death eater had a soft spot for the Grindelwald heir.

Ironically it seemed his Transfiguration professor had similar views surrounding his talent at Transfiguration... The combination of the two was truly remarkable. It had finally given the two rival head of houses something in common with each other.

"Screech"

"Not now Fawkes," Dumbledore frowned.

Rodrick almost lost concentration at the headmaster's ability to speak chicke- Phoenix.

...

It was an hour later before a haggard-looking Rodrick came out of the Greengrass fireplace, he was greeted by the entire family there.

"Rodrick!" He heard Astoria's voice call out to him, putting in place a smile Rodrick quickly patted the girl on the head before he was pulled into a hug by the girl's sister.

"Merry Christmas," the rest of the family seemed to watch the scene with a smile. Letting go a flustered Daphne gave the boy a grin, "Guess who's coming!"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Who?"

"Tracey and Blaize, their parents gave the ok and Blaize finally found his letter!"

Rodrick stared at the girl before turning towards her parents.

"Yes?" Roxanne remarked, staring at the boy bemused. She'd figured he'd be happy about the news.

"Do any of you have a history book I can give Blaize?"

...

Rodrick was not surprised to find himself in another dream... The place didn't look familiar, there was a strange looking doorway in the middle... He turned around, his eyes widened the moment he saw Harry Potter and his friends, as well as Luna at the centre surrounded by what he assumed, were death eaters... He watched as others slowly Apparated in, he only recognised his defence professor and Sirius Black...

He facepalmed himself the moment he watched the dumbass get stunned.

That was the moment his brain had decided to wake up, he groaned when he realised it was still dark out... He had a busy day in the morning... He had Malfoy to deal with... He tried and failed to fall back to sleep, his mind replaying the dream he'd had over and over again, almost taunting him.

...

Malfoy wasn't sure what to expect from the Grindelwald heir, when he'd first heard about him he'd felt conflicted about whether he should make an outreach towards him or not.

At the end he'd decided to go for it, simply because he knew if he didn't, someone else would.

So far the boy's actions had well... He was confused, to put it bluntly, he was confused about the whole situation, he'd originally thought the boy would turn towards completing his grandfather's plans...

What the boy had managed to achieve however turned out to be far more noteworthy. Even without a name, if his son is to be believed and Lucius found no reason why he shouldn't, the boy had taken over Slytherin almost on instinct. Without even realising it...

If someone had told him a nameless boy would somehow take over Slytherin, and by extension a majority of the future heads of the Wizangamot, he would've never believed it. If he was told that boy would do it by his third year... The odds were almost non-existent and yet he had managed it all the same. The earlier you took over, the longer your hold lasted... Grindelwald had managed to do it 3 years earlier then the average.

He'd only managed to by his fifth year...

Oh, the boy was certainly powerful, only an idiot wouldn't see that... But the problem came from the fact that he'd not relied on that power... It was pure cunning, he had somehow torn apart the hierarchy at Hogwarts and no-one had even realised it.

By the end of his first year, he'd shown a level of skill that wasn't possible for the first year, that had gotten the attention of the professors and more importantly the headmaster.

In his second year he'd not only managed to break down Gryffindor but to top it off he'd managed to kill a Basilisk. When he'd found out from his son the fact Slytherin had beaten Gryffindor, with Harry Potter studying and Dumbledore as headmaster... He was left speechless. He knew the old man would've tried anything to give Gryffindor the edge but Grindelwald had made that an impossibility, even for the eccentric wizard. Not only that... He'd even gotten Dumbledore out from his position as Chief warlock... He'd never thought to see the day when that came to pass. When everyone had thought that things would quiet down... The boy went and freed a wanted wizard, he'd managed to give Sirius Black his freedom... How he'd ever managed that was beyond the Malfoy lord.

And then as if to make sure that Slytherin was guaranteed the win, the boy went and bribed the headmaster! Albus bloody Dumbledore was bribed by a Slytherin... Sure he might've lost the black fortune, not that he'd ever really had it, he knew the moment Sirius Black was freed it was gone. However, the fact he'd bribed the headmaster to give away the house cup for a couple votes was priceless... You couldn't buy that sort of thing, no matter how much money you had.

And not once did he have to use his name, wealth or power to do it... He'd used cunning and cunning alone. It was no wonder the grandfather had almost won, if the grandson in his third year could manage all that, who knows what wonders he could manage as an adult.

He was in his office, Grindelwald had taken the seat opposite him, he wasn't sure what to expect, he had been surprised when Greengrass had approached him for an invitation, even more, surprised when he'd been asked to forward one to Sirius Black... Of course, he'd initially refused until he'd found out the request was from Grindelwald. Currently, there was an ex Azkaban prisoner socialising with the height of society and the ministry.

"So, is there a particular reason you requested this meeting and the more important question been why Sirius Black was required to attend?" he questioned to the point.

Rodrick sighed, "Before we get to Black, I need you to explain this, so far I haven't managed to come up with anything." he reached into his pocket before he took out a letter.

'Interesting...' Malfoy thought as he took hold of the outreached letter. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the name on the letter. Bathilda Bagshot.

"You attempted to contact her?" Malfoy questioned, he opened up the letter and started reading through it when Rodrick nodded.

Rodrick watched as confusion quickly swept over the Malfoy lord's face. 'Seems he's as lost as everyone else,'

"This doesn't make any sense..." Malfoy remarked as he closed the letter, he was certain the woman had been the one to send Rodrick his letters and the necessary galleons... For her to not remember him was out of the ordinary.

"My thoughts exactly," Rodrick sighed.

"I'd have someone look it over but that wouldn't exactly be safe..." Malfoy spoke.

Rodrick nodded before another thought occurred to him, "Were you responsible for my missing orphanage?" he questioned. He raised an eyebrow when Malfoy had shaken his head.

"I am afraid my wife had found it in the state it was in when she'd arrived,"

"Great..." Rodrick drawled, just what he needed, more mysteries.

"I am afraid I have no information regarding this," Malfoy remarked.

The two set into a small silence before Malfoy spoke up again.

"Is this the reason you requested the meeting?" The man questioned, his expression passive.

Rodrick shook his head. "No, as a matter of fact, it wasn't."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at the boy's sudden stop.

Rodrick sighed, "Tell me, do you still have the dairy?"

If Malfoy was surprised by the question he didn't show it. "Yes as a matter of fact I do. Why?"

Rodrick's gaze didn't budge, "As it so happens, that book turned out to be a Horcrux," he finished, he watched as a look of horror slowly took over the Malfoy lord's face.

Malfoy felt smothered... The book was a Horcrux... Voldemort was alive... 'He'll know... He'll know that I lost it,' He could feel his breathing slowly quicken at the thought. Taking a look at Grindelwald he was surprised to find the boy calm. "I don't see how you could feel remotely relaxed right now... The dark lord is alive... he-" Malfoy was about to finish before Rodrick raised one hand up.

"I have an idea," Rodrick remarked, a steely gaze in place.

Malfoy could only wait as the boy slowly explained his plan... His eyes widened when he'd finally realised why both the ministry and Black were here... Yes, it might work... It wouldn't stop all the damage but... He'd most likely live through the onslaught.

"You really think Black would cooperate?" Malfoy questioned, his mood soured when he realised he would need to rely on the Black family head...

Rodrick nodded, "I am sure I can convince him... I hope so in any case, worst case is you give your lord a dead body when he comes back,"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at that, hints of worry clearly lining the man's face. "You believe he will come back?"

"I know he will," Rodrick spoke in a cold voice.

The sheer look in the boy's eyes unnerved him. "When?"

"Next year,"

Malfoy cursed. It seemed unlikely but he knew if he disregarded it he would regret it. He quickly agreed to the boy's plan. He knew he couldn't even consider attempting to stop his lord's return... He wasn't sure where everything even stood. Following the dark lord was a gamble... a painful one if the first war was any indication but he knew he would need to, lest he died for it.

A thought quickly entered Lucius mind, "Azkaban!" The man muttered.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "What about it?"

Malfoy could slowly see a plan forming in his head, "The death eaters that followed him are there... If he comes back he will no doubt attempt to free them." He wasn't sure how that would be achieved but if Black was capable of it, then Voldemort definitely was.

Rodrick quickly followed the thought process, "You're going to try and make it look like you had been planning for his return..."

Malfoy nodded, "Yes if I try to reconnect and help make sure those death eaters are ready then I could at the very least be seen as a loyal follower,"

"Are you not?" Rodrick questioned.

Malfoy wasn't sure how to answer the question, yes he believed in the Lord's ideals... but that first war... It showed how unstable things could get. He stared at the boy in front of him, he remembered how the senior Grindelwald had attempted his plans of action... He'd used muggles against themselves instead of attempting to kill them directly like Voldemort had... The idea had almost worked if it hadn't been for Dumbledore. On the other hand, Voldemort died to an infant. Simply out of a lack of patience. There were hundreds of better ways he could've handled the Potter problem and yet he'd elected to go for the one that had gotten his body destroyed.

"What about you? What will you do once he returns?" Malfoy suddenly questioned, odds were Voldemort would very likely accept him into his circle of followers, he had the name and power for it... Only he doubted Grindelwald would cooperate as well. From what he'd learnt from his experience with the boy and the information his son had, the boy prefered to lead than follow. Something that would no doubt spell doom for everyone if he'd even considered following Voldemort.

There was a glint in the boy's eyes as he slowly processed the question, a look that sent chills down Malfoy's back.

"Honestly, I have no idea"

"Would you follow him?" Malfoy questioned, he knew it was extremely unlikely, considering the boy didn't even seem to hate muggles... Or muggle-borns at any case.

Rodrick didn't immediately answer. "You said you knew nothing about my mother, correct?"

Malfoy nodded warily, "I don't believe we ever encountered a Grindelwald during the first war,"

Rodrick's gaze didn't budge. "Yes, you didn't encounter a Grindelwald... But did you encounter a Lenora Grace?"

The look of shock that dawned the Malfoy lord's face confirmed it for him. The man seemed to stammer slightly as he recalled the Divination professor. "So she's?"

Rodrick nodded.

Malfoy expected the boy to start demanding information regarding the woman.

"What do you want for that information?" Rodrick questioned.

Malfoy almost chuckled, "You won't demand it? even if I said there wasn't a price?"

Rodrick shook his head, "I am not a Gryffindor."

Malfoy shook his head, "No you certainly aren't... Although I am afraid I don't know all the details, what I am sure of is that there was a prophecy... One Voldemort believed your mother to have given..."

"Because she was a divination professor?" Rodrick asked incredulously.

Malfoy shook his head, "No, but the fact was that when that Prophecy had been given out, your mother had suddenly changed from teaching Divination to Defence... Your current one replaced her."

Rodrick's eyes slowly widened as he realised what had happened... "So the woman currently teaching was the one who gave the prophecy... Dumbledore had them change positions in an attempt to protect her... Voldemort took the fact that my mother had switched as a sign that she was the one who'd made the prophecy..." That certainly helped explain Dumbledore's reaction... He was essentially responsible... But he knew he couldn't hold it on him, no one could've expected Voldemort's reaction, the man was insane.

Malfoy nodded slowly, "That is the assumed verdict..."

"What happened to her?" Rodrick questioned, his voice on edge.

Malfoy wasn't sure how to answer, "Voldemort killed her... The only one who knows the exact details is currently dead, Barty Crouch Jnr... Died in Azkaban."

"My grandfather told me there were 4 of them, 4 who chased her down..."

Malfoy's gaze didn't budge, "The Lestranges, Bellatrix, her husband and her brother in law," he answered passively.

Rodrick nodded, thankful he finally had some names. He felt his mood drop, however, when he'd realised that if he even attempted anything, it would put the crosshair on him and more importantly the Greengrass family.

"What do they look like?" Rodrick suddenly questioned.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow before he took a photo out from the drawer, "This is Lady Lestrange, the one in the middle. I am afraid I don't have a picture of the others," Lucius pointed towards the estranged woman, it was a picture his wife had kept.

Rodrick closed his eyes as he recognised the woman, the Greengrass family had helped him understand the family tree... As twisted as it was... Rodrick shuddered, he was glad his Grandfather hadn't been from the country.

The room entered another silence after that before Rodrick sighed, "I suppose I'll leave you to deal with the ministry while I handle Black, just make sure the man's ready when we need him,"

Malfoy nodded, uncertainty clouding his face. As Rodrick was about to leave the room, he voiced his thoughts.

"You could've made a rather effective Dark Lord,"

Rodrick didn't turn around, instead, he asked his own question. "Malfoy, what do you think of when you hear the word Dark Lord?" His grandfather had asked him the same once.

Malfoy brows furrowed at the question before he answered, "A powerful Dark Wizard, a man who dwells in the dark arts", Malfoy gave the textbook answer.

Rodrick nodded, "And what do you think about when you hear the word Lord?"

Once again the bemused Malfoy lord answered... "A man who control-" however he couldn't finish it as he understood the boy's meaning.

Rodrick raised his head at that, "Yes, Dark Lords are known for their capabilities at fighting, the same can be said about your average Auror, if you asked anyone, they'd likely give you the same answer... You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who would tell you it's about leading and controlling a significant part of the world..." He continued on towards the exit.

"The greatest Dark Lord is the one who convinced the rest of the world he was a mere lord, just like Slytherin," Rodrick finished as he left, intent on finding Sirius Black.

...

It took some time and effort but he'd finally managed to get Sirius Black away from everyone else, he'd quickly found out that Harry Potter hadn't tagged along but had instead decided to spend the time with Lupin, something about learning the Patronus charm?

The two were in a secluded room, one bottle of fire whiskey between them, the man had apparently stolen it from Lucius personal stash.

"I'd much rather spend as little time here as possible so I'll cut to the point," Rodrick remarked to a chuckling Black, the man felt the same about the manor.

"Yes, I can understand the sentiment," Sirius Black quickly poured two drinks for the two of them. "So to what do I owe the pleasure? besides my charming personality I mean," He spoke, causing the boy in front of him to roll his eyes.

"I have a question, what is your greatest desire right now?"

A look of surprise quickly took over the man's face, "To raise Jarry,"

Rodrick's gaze slowly narrowed, "I am serious,"

"So am I," Sirius couldn't help himself... The words seemed to irritate the boy.

Sirius sighed, it wasn't a good thing but he knew what the boy was referring to. "You know what it is,"

Rodrick nodded, "I am willing to give you that opportunity," he remarked earning a surprised look from the man.

"Really now?" Sirius questioned, his eyes held a look of greed before he remembered the boy's personality. "In exchange?"

"Two things..." Rodrick started.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything.

"One, you can't break the law... Not openly, if you know what I mean," Rodrick remarked.

Sirius Black scoffed at the thought, "I don't really see much of a point then..."

Rodrick had a small smirk on his face, "I am willing to give you an hour... Just don't do anything... Permanent?" he finally found the word.

It took a while before Sirius would agree but eventually, he decided to go along with it.

"Why?" The man suddenly questioned.

"It's a matter of insurance", Rodrick shrugged.

Sirius took it for what it was, the boy had no intention of telling him... Well, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him... As long as he had his fill first in any case... He was already picturing exactly what he wanted to do... 'Should I invite Moony? or would he try to stop the whole thing...' Sirius shook his head, he would mull over it later.

"And the second thing?" Sirius questioned.

Rodrick felt himself grow uncomfortable before he decided to answer. "Don't taunt your cousin..."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at that, "Cissy?" he questioned, it was a bit late for that... His brows furrowed when the boy shook his head. "Andy?" he tried again, he never really had problems with the oldest... Once again Rodrick shook his head. "Bella?" he questioned confused, the surprise quickly increased when Rodrick nodded his head. "She's in Azkaban..." Sirius pointed out.

"So were you,"

"Fair point," Sirius remarked, while confused he figured taking the boy's warning wouldn't hurt.

"Jarry?" Rodrick suddenly questioned.

"Ah" Sirius replied, a grin on his face. "I kept mixing up Harry's name with his father's so I figured I'd just call him Jarry." He'd expected the boy to find that amusing...

"Make that three things, never do that again and make an effort to remember," Rodrick remarked icily, his eyes narrowed.

Sirius Black didn't understand the reaction.

"Just don't... I doubt he'd appreciate it all that much, I certainly wouldn't,"

Sirius Black sighed. "It's not easy..."

Rodrick shrugged, "Deal with it,"

Sirius rolled his eyes before reaching out for the fire whiskey and poured two more drinks.

"Black you have the subtlety of a transformed werewolf," Rodrick quipped before he started laughing.

"You know!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed... He knew he screwed up the moment Rodrick raised an eyebrow at him.

"Know what?" He questioned innocently.

"Never mind, forget I said anything," Sirius quickly stammered before downing a whole cup.

...

"So is there a reason you decided to add... What 7? Privacy charms?" Blaize speculated.

"21 to be exact" Rodrick replied as he turned back and walked towards his seat. It was between Malfoy and Blaize. All of them long changed into their school robes. Sitting down, Rodrick eyed the four students sitting in front of him, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey and Nott.

Next to Malfoy, ironically sat Luna. Rodrick had initially been surprised to see the Malfoy heir not give off any reaction when the blonde had decided to sit next to him. From the looks of things, it seemed like she was more uncomfortable than the pureblood. For some reason that amused him.

Blaise raised his eyebrows in surprise, he had never seen Rodrick put so much effort in order to conceal something. Even when he usually decided to put up charms in order to remove the transfiguration on himself, he had never gone that far.

"You know..." Rodrick started, grabbing everyone's attention. "We probably won't be able to fit into one compartment soon enough," He finished with a bemused expression on his face. He almost snorted at the twitch that seemed to pass Blaize's face.

"Legroom issues aside," Nott remarked, "Is there a particular reason you decided to put up 21 privacy charms?" There was a surprised and annoyed look gracing his face, he'd only managed to count 13 of the spells he'd seen the boy use... the fact that 8 had gone unnoticed was both incredible and irritating. He knew he couldn't pull that off, not without anyone knowing. When he glanced at Malfoy, Nott found a similar look on his face.

Rodrick sighed, "Well... I'd prefer other's didn't find out about this..."

"You mean the fact you're a Grindelwald or something else? Because the first one isn't much of a surprise anymore," Malfoy remarked, there was a glint in his eye... He knew there was something good waiting to happen... He could just feel it. His father had been acting strangely, ever since Rodrick had shown up to their dinner party in any case. His father had been seen frequenting the Azkaban cells, of course politically it was to ensure that prisons held up and all of the inmates weren't being treated too horribly, the ministry had loved him for willingly going to check each prisoner, after all, it meant that they could avoid visiting Azkaban and public wise, it was being seen as a wizard looking out for others, after what had happened to Sirius Black... Well it had apparently become a necessary part of the prisoners rights... Even if they weren't exactly stable... Ever since hearing of it... Malfoy had been expecting something big.

If only he knew.

Rodrick turned his gaze to his right, finding Malfoy with an expective look on his face. 'Hasn't his father told him? or perhaps he doesn't even know?'He thought to himself, keeping a grin in check. "I was just thinking..." He started.

"Oh dear," Tracey remarked, earning amused laughter out of most of the students in the compartment. Surprisingly even Nott seemed to find it funny.

Rodrick rolled his eyes before continuing. "Seeing as we have the house cup... I figured we should take complete advantage of it,"

Malfoy and Nott seemed to perk up at the words, no doubt they had their own ideas of what they should do. Daphne looked withdrawn but didn't say anything. The idea of buying the house cup still hadn't settled in well. Rodrick thought it was unfair... so what if he technically blackmailed the headmaster of their school in order to cheat and win the house cup... it's not like the man wouldn't have done it himself in order to let Gryffindor win.

"You think we should hide some muggleborns in the chamber of secrets!?" Malfoy asked excitedly to the surprise of most of the people in the compartment.

Rodrick, as well as everyone, glanced a look towards each other before they turned back to Draco.

"What happened to calling them mudbloods?" Nott, helpfully, asked.

Draco seemed to pale at the words before he shrugged uncaringly.

"His dad stopped teaching him Blood Supremacy I think," Blaize remarked amusedly.

"Or his mom finally took control of the house," Tracey added on.

"Maybe he's finally realised without them were screwed?" Rodrick added on grinning.

"All candy shops are owned by muggleborns," Astoria remarked helpfully.

"What's the difference?" Luna questioned amiably.

The last one seemed to tick the blonde off royally. "Oh for the love- It's because he's friends with one!" Draco exclaimed as he point at Rodrick.

Rodrick blinked a few times before smirking, "And that means we can't call them mudbloods anymore?"

Draco looked confused for a second before Daphne interjected. "Don't encourage him, Rodrick, he's improving... Slowly" her words sent the group into another fit of laughter.

Rodrick frowned when he realised Malfoy hadn't taken that badly... in fact, he looked rather pleased with himself. 'I don't think I want to know why...' He completely ignored the way he seemed to look at Astoria. 'Whatever the hell Lucius is planning is not my problem to solve...' Rodrick added on mentally.

"So we can't call them mudbloods... But throwing them into the chamber is completely fine?" Blaize questioned.

"You heard my sister... It's a slow change" Astoria added on grinning.

Rodrick was almost certain someone had replaced Malfoy, seeing as the boy didn't even react.

"Hey, it's Rodrick's call," Malfoy defended himself, grinning when he saw how uncomfortable the boy seemed to get.

"I don't understand how I was unanimously made the group decision maker," Rodrick remarked.

"Because anyone else is too unstable," Luna answered helpfully.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "Seriously? Me? Stable?" he questioned staring at the girl in front of him, he decided to wave around his cursed arm for added effect. The others looked at each other for a few seconds before they snorted at the thought.

"How do I resign?" Rodrick questioned, increasing their amusement at the idea.

A few moment's passed before Blaize was finally capable of speaking, "Seriously, why the privacy charms?"

"He want's to start a war," Daphne finally answered, she shrugged at the annoyed look on Rodrick's face, knowing he wanted to tell them but frankly it was taking too long.

"A war?" Malfoy questioned frowning.

"You don't approve?" Rodrick grumbled.

"No offence but the last Grindelwald to start a war... Didn't exactly end well... For anyone..." Nott sighed, leaning back into his seat. He wasn't sure why he'd decided to sit next to the girls, he knew he could've swapped with Luna if he'd asked.

Rodrick rolled his eyes, "A war with Gryffindor, as in a non-lethal version,"

"Really, I feel like Dumbledore profited quite a lot from that war... His status and all," Blaize mumbled to himself.

Rodrick deciding to ignore his best friend and turned towards the others, "Nothing illegal but I want to make this year an absolute hell for everyone else,"

The other's stared at Rodrick before a grin seemed to blossom on Malfoy and Nott's faces...

"For everyone?" Daphne decided to question. "I thought it was only with Gryffindor?"

Rodrick almost snorted at the thought, "As if the other houses could control themselves" he scoffed.

The other's entertained the thought before they promptly agreed with him.

"So... We start a war... Make life hell for everyone, I believe teachers included?" There was an almost hopeful tone to the voice. "And then we win the house cup anyway?" Malfoy added on, his look growing greedier by the second. "... If we win after making a clear showing of breaking every school rule... We'll make Hogwarts history..." There was an almost fanatical look on the boy's face at the thought.

"I don't remember the part about breaking every rule..." Daphne frowned, concern writ over her face.

"Starting a war is pretty much doing just that," Rodrick remarked evenly.

"Killing isn't allowed... That's a school rule..." The question didn't need to be asked, Nott merely stared at Rodrick, awaiting confirmation.

"Accident's happen," Rodrick shrugged to Nott's delight.

"Rodrick!" Daphne warned.

"Fine, fine, no killing," Rodrick dramatically raised his hands. He didn't react to Nott's sudden displeasure.

'There goes my chance to prove I am not a Hufflepuff...'

"How do you even plan to start a war... I doubt most of Slytherin would agree," Malfoy decided to add on.

Rodrick frowned, "I thought it wouldn't be that difficult considering the Black vote..."

Malfoy shook his head, "That was different, our house wouldn't have been affected by that... Seeing as you want to start a war, something that will, without doubt, affect everyone, you're going to need quite a lot of pull,"

"Which I don't have enough off?" Rodrick questioned disappointed.

Malfoy stumbled as he was about to answer, he really wasn't sure how much influence the boy had. instead, he shrugged, ever since his father had started his Azkaban program, his lecturing on pureblood matters had dropped considerably, he didn't feel the need to act like a blood supremacist... At the very least he didn't have anything to gain from it, considering Rodrick seemed to like them and the fact that his father wasn't paying him much attention.

"You said you already won the house cup, no?" Luna decided to ask.

The question seemed to send everyone into a small panic, all of them having forgotten Luna wasn't actually a Slytherin. If she told anyone about the whole house cup thing, who knew how many problems they'd get. She seemed to notice this given what she said next. "I won't tell anyone, I feel more of a Slytherin than a Ravenclaw anyway..."

"It's the end of the world isn't it?" Nott asked, his mind trying to process just how accurate the girl's words were.

"Says the Hufflepuff," Tracey remarked quietly.

Nott's face looked paler than usual as everyone else snickered.

"What about the house cup?" Rodrick questioned.

"If you already have it then you really have nothing to worry about," Luna remarked smiling.

Rodrick quickly turned to Malfoy before raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose..." Malfoy spoke warily... If they told their house then they'd more likely agree...

"That settles that then," Rodrick remarked grinning.

Malfoy changed his attention towards Astoria, "What do you mean muggle-borns own all the candy shops?" he questioned, a frantic look on his face. Perhaps muggle-borns had more power then he'd initially thought...

Astoria took one long look at the blonde before asking in a serious voice, "How would you like to work as a store worker... Or a secretary or under anyone for that matter."

Malfoy had a horrified look at the thought of doing such common work.

"That's what Muggleborns are for," Astoria remarked nonchalantly.

The others stared at the girl with raised eyebrows, wondering where it'd all come from. Everyone but Malfoy and Nott who'd seemed to have the revelation of the century given to them. The blonde quickly turned to Nott, "Is she serious!?" he questioned.

"I don't know", Nott replied. warily. "It makes sense I guess..."

Malfoy's eyes slowly widened at the thought of working for so little, he turned towards Rodrick. "Listen if you ever become a dark lord, make sure to have enough house elves or something," Malfoy had his hands on his head. Worrying about the kind of future without servants.

Rodrick didn't even deign him with a response as he turned towards Daphne, "What are your parent's teaching Tori exactly?" he questioned.

Daphne twitched at the question, "They're your guardians, don't blame me. She started acting like this after you joined,"

"Hey! they were yours first! you explain them," Rodrick fired back.

Astoria was watching this with a smile on her face. Luna couldn't help the chuckle.

"What is it?" Blaize questioned the blonde girl as Rodrick and Daphne bickered back and forth.

"I told Astoria about the muggle-born thing, she asked me why they were important," Luna answered smiling.

Blaize was suddenly far more careful when approaching Luna... "You really are a Slytherin" he finished, earning a bigger smile.

"Is that the only reason?" Tracey finally spoke out earning most of the compartment's attention... as everyone else quickly grew bored of the couple's argument.

"Reason?" Nott asked, curious.

Tracey turned towards Nottn, "I mean for the whole privacy thing"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow when he saw Nott's expression, the boy looked uncomfortable. "Not really," He decided to answer, once again getting everyone's attention.

"No?" Daphne questioned. Even she was surprised to hear that.

Rodrick grinned, "What I am about to tell you, can't leave this compartment."

If Rodrick didn't have everyone's attention before... He did now.

"You heard me right." Rodrick added on with more emphasis, "You can't tell anyone, yes, even you Malfoy, no letters to daddy about this"

A vein showed on Malfoy though he managed to keep his calm, interest in knowing outweighed everything else.

"What is it?" Luna asked casually, her head tilted to the side.

"Well... It has something to do with something called the Tri-wizard tournament..."

...

As Malfoy dug into his food, he contemplated Rodrick's reasoning... They were going to start a war... Because they finally had a decent Defence teacher. Not that he agreed but he figured the man was better than the previous ones. He'd already known what the tri-wizard tournament was, only he hadn't known that it would happen in their following year... He was pretty sure that his father didn't know... That part both freaked him out and elated him, he had information his father didn't have for once... Only, somehow Rodrick had gotten it first... The Slytherin apparently wanted to use this chance to start a war, in the sense that the students would go to the defence professor for extra help in their duelling. That way whoever was chosen for the Tri-Wizard tournament wouldn't embarrass Hogwarts, not horribly anyway. Seeing as it was likely to be a random draw, Hogwarts wasn't guaranteed a good pick. Therefore the war would hopefully convince people to go try and learn more and preferably not embarrass the school if by some chance they're chosen. Usually, Malfoy might have had a problem with the idea of helping other's better themselves... but Rodrick promised to help teach their small group in exchange.

Like hell, he was missing that. Grindelwald knew more dark curses then anyone else he knew. If his father found out about him missing out on such an opportunity...

Of course, Draco knew his reasoning was all drivel. He more than likely just wanted an excuse to show off and raise hell and get away with it. He could understand that thought process, it was quite reasonable. Frankly, he was looking forward to how the boy would even convince their house... If there was one thing Malfoy had learned in the past three years, it was that Rodrick seemed to have a natural magnet for attracting people... It was terrifying. Malfoy almost shuddered when he considered just how popular the Slytherin orphan was in both Gryffindor and his own house... Such a sentence shouldn't have been possible... 'Maybe his talents in both the representative house subjects had something to do with it,'

His thought process however quickly ended when he saw the owls fly in with the daily Prophet. 'That... Never happens on the opening feast...'Everyone else had come to the same conclusion, the only way that came about was if something big, something serious had happened. As Malfoy clasped a hold of the paper, he heard a loud gasp emanating from everyone else. 'What the hell happened?' he thought to himself as he unfurled the paper.

PETTIGREW ESCAPED!?

He turned towards Rodrick, wondering how the boy would react to such news, it wouldn't really affect Black as his freedom was already finished but the fact the former death eater had escaped could spell trouble for the one who'd put him there... And in a sense anyone else who was related to the boy. He didn't know enough of Pettigrew to determine whether he should be worried or not. What he found however almost sent a shudder down his spine. Rodrick's eyes had an almost emotionless glint in them...

He watched as Rodrick put the paper down before, and to his surprise, the shadow of a smirk appeared on his face. 'What on earth is going on with this year? Almost as if the years are getting more and more hectic... Next years a bloody Tri-wizard tournament... It's almost taunting, what's next? Potter a part of Slytherin?' Malfoy wondered.

"I need to write a letter," He heard Rodrick say before he put the paper down and settled into eating, a smile on his face.

...

Sirius Black couldn't help but feel trepidation as he waited. Waited for the confirmation. The Daily Prophet earlier in the morning had set him into a panic. He'd initially planned to go out marching towards the Ministry, demanding how Pettigrew could've possibly gotten away before he'd remembered his conversation with the boy.

'Don't do anything I wouldn't'

The boy had explicitly warned him, while he should've felt embarrassed at the fact a child barely reaching his teen years had felt the need to warn him. Two things made him feel nonplussed about it. One the boy seemed to have the headmaster's attention if what he'd seen so far was any indication. If the headmaster was willing to give him the time of the day and actually consider what he said... Then who was Sirius Black not to? Two? Everything he had considered doing as soon as he'd heard the news involved utter stupidity, really Rodrick was right to worry, Sirius briefly wondered why no one else had given him similar warnings before he'd remembered that this likely wouldn't have occurred without someone planning it beforehand and plus every other person who would've warned him was a Gryffindor and so likely had no idea what the Slytherin was up to... Sirius stopped for a moment to consider what Malfoy had to do with any of this before his thoughts trailed back to his initial plans.

Really, putting thought into his 'plans' showed just how ridiculous any of them would've ended up. It really was Moony's area of expertise to plan things out for the group. He was for the 80th time that day reconsidering his decision regarding not involving Lupin.

It was at that point that Kreacher decided to pop in, with a letter in hand. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the tame house elf, ever since the small party he'd hosted, the elf had lost a vast amount of his aggression. At first, Sirius had assumed it was because of the boy's threat towards the elf. Until he'd heard the whole story from Dumbledore(Horcrux left out, in this sense Dumbledore had merely told him it was a part of a plot to take out the dark lord), Sirius's respect for the elf had risen while his regret for his brother's death truly took hold of everything. Regulus had thought he could outsmart or in this case kill Voldemort... He'd failed in the end and the elf had been left with the impossible task. It certainly explained the elves previous attitude... 13 years and failing a simple task and at the end having lost the only person that treated you with respect... Sirius sighed as he took hold of the letter in the elf's hands.

His eyes widened in what could be considered excitement as he read who the letter had come from, a grin etched itself onto the former Marauders face as he quickly made towards the fireplace. 'Why doesn't Rodrick have an owl,' he thought to himself, amused that Rodrick was using Kreacher as a messenger, not that the elf seemed to mind, in fact, it was almost as if he enjoyed the work given to him by the teen. Later on, Sirius would consider it almost hilarious that he had never questioned why a relatively dark house elf would willingly serve what had already been established as a very Slytherin wizard. Really it was only the confirmation that was needed.

As Sirius was about to floo through to Malfoy Manor, he absentmindedly wondered what his mother would've thought of the boy, seeing as Kreacher seemed to like him, the same could be said about the screeching painting he'd put in the basement. The basement he'd filled up with as many muggle things he could get his hands on. The woman's horror left quite a patrons worthy memory for the marauder.

...

Lucius had a passive expression on his face as he watched Black floo through to his home, he'd already made sure to keep the entire manor empty. If even a hint of what was about to happen came to light... The repercussions made Lucius shudder.

"Malfoy," Sirius spoke, his eyes roamed around the manor.

"Black," was Malfoy's stoic reply.

The two stared each other off before Lucius spoke up.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor," the man greeted him in a mocking tone.

Sirius rolled his eyes before taking his wand out, "Where is he?" he cut straight to the point.

Malfoy didn't react to the show, instead, he merely turned and started walking towards a secluded room in the manor, it was originally kept as a room for his family heirlooms, the same he'd recently put into his vault. There couldn't be any unnecessary risk, the odds of the idiot currently whimpering in the room accidentally setting something off was too great.

Malfoy glanced backwards to see Black warily following him, keeping an eye out.

"Just so we're clear, I've already made Harry my heir, should you try anything,"

Malfoy had an exasperated look on his face, "Do remember I wasn't the one to host this little plot," He remarked as he walked on through the hallway, when he reached the door, he took his wand out before proceeding to cast off several unknown spells.

The words, unfortunately, did nothing to hide Black's disdain, "How exactly do you even know Rodrick in any case?" Black decided to question a somewhat amused Malfoy.

"I could say the same to you," Malfoy remarked, "The boy happens to be friends with my son, can you blame me for taking an interest?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Even you must realise the amount of danger this could cause for you, I highly doubt you would accommodate this simply out of your son's friendships,"

For the first time in his life, Malfoy had a genuine expression on his face, in an almost hollow voice he responded, "Believe me, Black, You have absolutely no idea what kind of danger is involved,"

Sirius didn't reply, he merely stared passively at the door Lucius was currently casting spells off against. As soon as the blonde had finished, Sirius quickly walked through the door.

"Remember," Malfoy's voice stopped him in his tracks, "I need him left alive,"

Sirius stifled a growl at the man, "What exactly are you planning?" Before Malfoy could answer, Sirius decided to push on, "I don't see what you could possibly have against Pettigrew,"

"Perhaps," Malfoy idly remarked, "Do keep in mind, it wasn't my idea, to begin with, let's just say this is a matter of preservation... as an Ex-Azkaban prisoner... you should understand what that entails,"

Sirius seemed to stop in his tracks at the words before sighing. "I promised the boy I wouldn't kill him..."

Malfoy had a bemused expression on his face, "It's surprising how accepting you are of a Slytherin, considering your Hogwarts years at any case,"

Sirius stared at the floor, briefly recalling memories as a student, Malfoy was right, 15 years ago, he would've never befriended a Slytherin, let alone one like Rodrick. Sirius wasn't stupid, he could tell the boy was surrounded by dark magic... At the same time, something about him just didn't spell out evil. The fact that 15 years ago, he would've never believed a Gryffindor was capable of betrayal let alone one of his own closest friends nor the fact that the only reason he'd achieved his freedom so quickly was thanks to a Slytherin had a lot to do with it.

"Don't worry,"

"What?" Sirius turned back.

"What the boy has planned for Pettigrew is worse then any death you could ever come up with,"

He watched as a silent Sirius Black merely entered the dark lit room before he closed the door.

Lucius sighed, feeling tired of all the work he'd already put through and knowing that it was only the beginning.

...

It was an hour later before Sirius Black left the dark room, silent as a bat, the man didn't even acknowledge Malfoy as he walked back towards the fireplace.

Lucius took a look in the room, his eyes quickly widened at the quivering mess that was Pettigrew... He was relieved to see the man still alive but his current condition... He shook his head as he turned back to the retreating Black.

"They called you the black sheep of your family..."

Sirius stopped in his tracks momentarily, still staring ahead.

"What's your point?" he snapped through grit teeth, he was glad that Harry was currently in school. He wasn't sure he wanted anyone to see him like this.

"I doubt even Bellatrix could have the stomach to do what you just did..." Malfoy remarked evenly.

Sirius didn't react, he merely paced to the fireplace before he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and disappearing.

Malfoy let out a disgusted sigh before he reached into his robes and grabbed the damaged diary and threw it to Pettigrew. He took his wand out before he began altering the pathetic shell of a person's memories.

He wasn't sure how long it would be before Voldemort was back, Rodrick had only told him it would be in their fourth year, all he had to do now was keep Pettigrew alive until Voldemort saw to him. Until Voldemort was made to believe that Pettigrew had turned out to be a triple agent working for Dumbledore, to make it seem as if his goal was to get the dark lord's trust and have easier access to his Horcrux. To make it as if Dumbledore only believed one existed and he'd set Pettigrew the task of destroying it. That the price for it ended up being his closest friends... Voldemort would buy it in the end, as would anyone else. Dumbledore fought vehemently for the greater good, the idea of sacrificing two wizards for such a thing wasn't impossible.

As Malfoy closed the door, he quickly started to seal the room, only allowing a house elf in so as to keep Pettigrew alive, having completed his short goal, having set up Pettigrew as a triple agent who had betrayed them as soon as he'd gotten his hands on the diary.

He wasn't sure how Voldemort would react to the destroyed dairy but he was certain to enjoy the gift he would eventually give him in the form of the 'traitor'.

Only two people currently knew of the plan, no one else but Malfoy and Grindelwald. Lucius intended for it to stay that way. All Black had been told was the location and the fact Pettigrew couldn't die, however the simple opportunity to have a taste of vengeance had made it easy to keep the amount of information to that.

Unknowingly, as he walked away from the dark lit room, from an almost amnesiac, whimpering Pettigrew clutching the destroyed dairy.

Long before the Dark Lord's return, in an attempt to save face, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy had instigated the very downfall of Lord Voldemort

Bab 18: Chapter 13 Grace

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Bab 18: Chapter 13 Grace

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