Darkness Rising

Okay, this is the sequel to Keep Your Enemies Close. I hope you all really enjoy it as much, if not more than KYEC. I'm not even going to pretend to know how long this will be this time, since I had to take it back every two chapters in the last one. All I'm going to say is that I'm shooting for that length or longer. Take into consideration that I might not have time to update every day. I'm starting school in another month, and I have to move to a new city. I'll try to update as quickly as I can, and I swear every spare minute I have, I'll be sitting here typing, but I think I'm going to shoot for four a week at least. Right now it'll be more, but later, probably not.

Rating: Pg-13 to light R. Same as everything else that I write.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters in J.K.R's books. All other characters are mine. I am not profiting in any way from this work.

Summary: Sebastian and Carys are in their seventh year at Hogwarts. For the last decade a new threat has been rising, and their parents have been fighting it constantly. When they're forced by circumstances to join the fight, they find in themselves a strength they never knew they had, and a love they never thought could be real.

Title: Darkness Rising

Dedication: To all those people who reviewed KYEC. I really thought I was done writing. The amazing response I got from that fic was absolutely amazing and convinces me otherwise. And to Kali. Who believed in me long before anyone else.

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Sebastian Albus Finn Potter was seventeen. He'd passed his Apparating test with flying colors, was Captain of the Quidditch team, Head Boy, and in his final year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was happy. All was right in his world. His younger brothers Alastair and Gabriel were also in Hogwarts, as fifth and fourth years, and his little sister Abigail was starting her first year.

His Godfather's eldest child Carys Malfoy was also a seventh year, and Head Girl. She also played Quidditch, and was Captain of her house's team. Carys, though, would be turning eighteen in two days. She'd barely missed the cutoff to be in the year before him. Sebastian was nearly always torn between thinking that was a good thing, and wishing she'd come earlier.

His best friend was Carys, and they were always getting into trouble together. His Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna Weasley's triplets were very nearly always involved in some way as well. They were all three brilliant Chasers on Sebastian's Quidditch team. Josh, Noah and Caleb. They were inseparable and unstoppable. His aunts also played Quidditch. They were mere hours older than he was. Gwydion and Artemis Potter. They played Beaters. That meant that six of the seven Gryffindor players were seventh years and practically family. Carys, to her father's delight and mother's sorrow, was in Slytherin. She, however, spent most of her time in the Gryffindor common room. She didn't much care for her house.

Sebastian loved being at school. He missed his parents, grandparents and family, certainly, but he liked being away. Had since his very first year. His father, Harry, had told him that Hogwarts almost felt more like home than their house did. Sebastian agreed, though he wouldn't tell his mother that. Hermione hated sending her children off to school, despite the fact that she was their Transfiguration Professor. He insisted on calling her Professor Mom. It drove her crazy.

Things in the wizarding world had been relatively quiet since the fall of Voldemort twenty years earlier. Until Sebastian had been seven. That's when the stirrings had started again. A dark wizard, gathering followers, gaining power, slaughtering those who wouldn't join him. Those who remembered how Voldemort had started were instantly scared to leave their houses. Some went into hiding, and the Order of the Phoenix was reinstated. The number of Aurors had been doubled.

While his parents had always been open with him about what was going on, they'd always refused to let him have anything to do with it. They always said he was too young, which was when he would point out that they'd begun fighting Voldemort at the age of eleven. After a while though, he'd decided the best strategy was to wait until he was of legal age. That had happened six months earlier. Carys, who had fought similar battles with her parents, had agreed.

The new dark wizard was simply being called The Black Knight. No one knew his name. Except for those who had joined him. Most were left over Death Eaters, and their children. Some others had power complexes. Everyone had their theories on who he was, but no one would know for sure until he revealed himself. Sebastian and Carys had decided that they were going to find out.

The train left for Hogwarts on the morning on August 31^st. The new term would start the next day. As Head Boy and Girl, Sebastian and Carys had to do the rounds of the train, making sure that no one was where they shouldn't be, and then meet with the Professors aboard the train before retiring to their car. Sebastian was okay with the arrangement, though he would have liked to have set with the seventh year girls.

“I don't see why you insist on leading them on like that.” Carys grumbled, tossing her hair over her shoulder and swerving to avoid a first year trying to find a car. They'd just left the car that most of the seventh year girls had been sitting in. Sebastian was a favorite among the females. A situation he found to be to his immense liking. He nearly always had a girl on each arm and two waiting in the wings.

Sebastian lifted one eyebrow at Carys. “You aren't a stranger to leading people on yourself.”

Carys was beautiful. Carys knew she was beautiful. She was not above exploiting her beauty to get what she wanted. She had a gorgeous face, soft and feminine, with big blue eyes, long thick lashes, a lush mouth, sharp cheekbones, and a strong jaw and slightly pointed chin. That with her blonde hair and razor sharp brain made her a match for anyone. “No, but I don't always have two with me and two more begging to take their places.” She tugged her hair back into a ponytail. “I mean, honestly Sebastian, have you heard of a meaningful relationship? They aren't just about big boobs and fake blonde hair, you know.”

Sebastian peered into a sixth year car. “I am well aware of that.” He grinned wickedly at her. “I'm seventeen, Carys, love. I don't particularly care if a relationship is meaningful at this point in time.”

“Only because you've never been in one.” She sighed deeply. “I don't care what you do normally, but if we want to have a prayer of stopping this Dark Knight person, then you need to be focusing on the task at hand, and not how many fifth years you can lure up to the Astronomy Tower.”

“And you, my hypocritical friend, need to do the same.”

Carys didn't want to admit that Sebastian was right. They were both popular with members of the opposite sex. They knew and enjoyed it. Carys liked always having someone to carry her books to class and to take her out on the trips to Hogsmeade.

“All right. I'll make you a deal. You don't date anyone this year, and I won't date anyone this year.”

Sebastian thought about that for a moment. “Deal.”

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The beginning of the year was always boring. It was getting settled into classes, and finding your way around the huge castle. To Sebastian and Carys, it was auditioning people for any open spots on their respective Quidditch teams. Sebastian typically only had one spot. The spot of Keeper. Carys had to put together an entire team. So their focus was taken off of beginning their research for the first two weeks of term. After that, it was class, and practice, and training, and studying for NEWTS. The next time either surfaced for long enough to think about the Dark Knight, it was after Christmas, and they had to think about midterms and the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup and their Head Boy and Head Girl speeches, as they both had perfect marks for all of their seven years. That was when Sebastian suggested that they wait until after graduation to do anything other that study and theorize. Reluctantly, as she was more interested in proving herself to her father than anything else, Carys eventually agreed.

They dedicated two hours each night to the library. Sebastian had inherited his father's Invisibility Cloak and they made use of that much of the time, sneaking in and out of the Restricted Section. Of course, they both had their fair share of relationships, despite the fact that neither were supposed to. Since they weren't doing any progressive work on the Dark Knight, they both chose to look the other way. Noah, who was also in on the whole thing, simply rolled his eyes and let them go. He'd been dating his girlfriend, Olivia Wood, for two years, and was damned if he was going to break it off just because Sebastian and Carys, the habitual singletons, decided that it was bad for their work.

Graduation came and went, they left Hogwarts and went back home. Sebastian and Carys had two weeks before they reported for Auror training. Their parents were torn between incredible pride, and total terror. Josh and Caleb were going into business with their Uncle Fred and George, and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Gwydion was accepted into the MediWizard training program, and Artemis took a job working in the Spell and Curse development division of the Ministry of Magic. Lily and James were as proud of them as they'd been of Harry.

Sebastian was determined to move out and into his own apartment. There was no way that he could go to training and do his research on the Dark Knight with his parents and aunts and uncles just down the hall. No way. And he knew that his parents would never go for it. He had his trust fund, yes, which was quite substantial, but technically his parents controlled it until his twenty-first birthday, which was when he would graduate from his Auror training. Which meant he had to talk them into it.

“Come on, Aunt Ginny. You left the Burrow and Gramma Molly and Grampa Arthur when you were seventeen.”

Ginny stopped pounding out a piecrust, and looked at Sebastian. “Yes, and that was in the middle of the war. My parents were safer with me gone, and I was safer with Harry and Hermione and Ron and Draco. There's nothing that could be accomplished by you leaving.”

“I'm eighteen, Aunt Ginny. I'm an adult in the wizard world, and in the Muggle world. I'm going into Auror training, and I need my own place. I have to grow up sometime.”

Ginny moved her crust into the pie pan. Despite the fact that it would take a quarter of the time using her wand, she liked the Muggle way. It calmed her. “Sebastian, I love you. You know I love you as much as if you were one of my kids. But, with the Dark Knight gaining power, and your parents working day and night to stop whoever it is, it's more dangerous for you to be out on your own than it is for you to stay here. We want to keep you safe.”

“And I have to learn to keep myself safe. Aunt Ginny, come on, would you want to be stuck here? I just graduated Hogwarts, I had offers to join any branch of the Ministry that I wanted at just about any level. I got a perfect score of every single NEWT that I took.”

“And that doesn't mean a thing in the real world, Sebastian. You know that.”

“I also know that my parents started fighting Lord Voldemort at age eleven. They didn't know a charm from an Unforgivable Curse, and they managed to muddle through it just fine. I can do this, Aunt Ginny. You know I can.”

Ginny felt herself giving. Those silvery eyes and messy black hair always made her give in. she ran a hand through her hair. “All right. I'll talk to Harry about it.”

Sebastian hugged Ginny, lifted her off the ground. “Thank you, Aunt Ginny.” He grinned. Phase one, complete.

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Carys darted into Harry's room, cornered her uncle in front of the closet. “Uncle Harry, I need to talk to you.”

Harry turned around, two shirts in his hand. Hermione wanted to go out to dinner, and he had no idea which one to wear. “Blue or green?”

Carys shouldered past him and pulled out a silky silver one. “Neither. Here you go. Now, I want to move out.”

Harry lifted an eyebrow. “How did I know that was what this is about?” he sighed. “Carys, your parents don't want you moving out for the same reason I don't want Sebastian to leave. It isn't safe, you're more protected here than you would be anywhere else, and you have three years of training ahead of you.”

Carys nodded. “I know all that.” She took a second, let Harry entertain thoughts that he'd won. “But you were my age when you and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron moved out and into your first apartment.”

“That was quite different. We were being targeted and if we had stayed with Molly and Arthur, then they would probably have been killed because of us. You're perfectly safe here, and there's no reason that you shouldn't live here with us until you finish your training.”

Carys sighed. “No, but there's no reason we should either. Uncle Harry, I've been here all my life. Mom and Dad smother me. They want me safe, and I know that, but I'm not in any danger. I aced all my NEWTS, I was Head Girl. I am better at Potions than Dad and better at DADA than you were in school. For crying out loud, Aunt Hermione taught me everything I know about Transfiguration. There is nothing for us to be afraid of. And it's important, Uncle Harry. We're grown up now. We have to act like we're grown up.”

Harry was not going to give in. He was determined not to give in. He changed his shirt from the t- shirt he'd been wearing to degnome Hermione's garden into the button down. “Carys, I understand that, but we can protect you here.”

“And I need to learn to protect myself. I'm going to be an Auror. I'm starting Auror training. You and Mom and Dad and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna aren't going to be there to protect me then. I need to learn, Uncle Harry. It's time for me to grow up.”

Harry sighed. He could feel himself caving. “I'll talk to your father.”

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Ginny marched into Harry's room as he was tying his shoes. “Harry, can we talk for a second?”

Harry nodded. “I was just coming to talk to you or Draco.”

“I think you should let Sebastian move out.” She said, just as Harry spoke.

“I think it's time to let Carys out of the house.”

The two looked at each other, the pieces clicking into place. “I take it Carys came and talked to you.”

“And Sebastian got you.”

Ginny nodded. “They got us good.” She stuck her head out the door. “Draco! Hermione! Come in here please.” She waited until her husband and Hermione had entered the room before closing the door. Draco lifted one eyebrow, ran a hand through his perfect blonde hair. He was nearly forty, and still looked like he was twenty. All of them had aged well.

“This is quite kinky, Ginny, love.”

Ginny smacked his arm. “We need to talk about our oldest children.”

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Carys and Sebastian were taking on Jordyn, Julian, Gabriel, and Abigail at Monopoly when their parents walked in. They looked at each other, hopeful that their efforts had worked the way it had been meant to. Both were thrown slightly off when Ron and Luna entered the room next, Noah, Josh and Caleb in tow.

Draco spoke. “All right. You win. You can move into an apartment. But,” he added, just to let them know they hadn't entirely won. “There are some conditions.”'

Harry took over. “One, you live together. With Josh, Noah and Caleb. That way the five of you will be able to look out for one another.”

Caleb stuck up his hand. “But Josh and I are supposed to move into the rooms above the store to run the one in Hogsmeade.”

Harry acknowledged the point. “Fine. Then the three of you will live together. We will pick the apartment. That way we know it's safe and properly connected to the Floo network. There will be wards placed on it. No objections. We can't just have anyone busting in there any time that they want to.”

Hermione's gaze settled on her son. “You will go to training, you will do your homework, but you will not have duels in the apartment. If any dueling goes on in there, the Auror office will be contacted, and you will come back here. Understood?”

Sebastian nodded, nearly grinning. He knew how to bypass wards and alarms and all that stuff. Draco had taught him five years earlier. “Understood. Is that all?”

Ron nodded. “Go pack.”

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This will get more exciting as it goes on. I need the first couple chapters to set the stage, introduce all my characters, and explain the situation. This is pretty much a prologue, explaining how everything started. Stay tuned for the next chapter. And don't forget to review.

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Here's chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it. Keep in mind, too, that this is still setting things up. The last chapter was the chapter to introduce the characters. This is to introduce and explain the problem that they're facing. You're going to learn a lot about the Dark Knight. So this is very important to the plot.

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Carys folded up the last box and looked around her bedroom. She'd been unpacking all day. Her parents had found an apartment quickly, in one of the buildings her father owned. And since all three inhabitants were training, and didn't get paid very much, not having to pay the full amount of rent was a very good thing.

She'd spent a week decorating, determined that the men weren't going to have a bachelor pad. There were suede couches in charcoal gray, black leather chairs and ottomans, a Muggle TV and computer, and a dining table in the living room dining room area. The kitchen was where she insisted that everything be done her way. She was the one who would be cooking, so she had to have everything just right. Copper pots and pans, an island, tile floors, marble counters, a china cabinet in one corner of the room. Plenty of cabinet space, and drawers under the counters. She got what she wanted, from the sage green and muted blue plates, to the crystal stemware, sturdy coffee mugs, fancy silverware, and solid drinking glasses. No one interfered with one plan she had in the kitchen.

She personally decorated the three bedrooms as well. No posters of Quidditch players or half naked models would reside in her apartment. She went with hunter green in Noah's room. Sage green walls, the darker curtains and sage sheets with a hunter comforter. Her only concession to maleness was in the Muggle X box she let him have in the corner with his television.

Sebastian was easy. The man was pickier about his living space than most girls. But that was Sebastian. He was every girls' best friend, and every guys' worst enemy. He understood fashion crises and cramps, and could beat the living hell out of any man. Which pretty much meant he always got the girl he went after. When he told her he wanted to decorate his room in jewel tones, she'd readily agreed, trusting his decorating abilities. He'd gone with light gold walls, sapphire bedding, and jewel toned pillows. Carys could have happily moved into the room herself.

Though she liked things a bit more feminine, Carys wasn't a ruffles and frills kind of girl. She painted her walls a light, buttercup yellow, used deep purple bedding, threw on maroon curtains, and sheer lace curtains. Once she finished, she was happy with her living quarters.

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Carys hated grocery shopping, but she did it because she wanted to have more to eat than potato chips and frozen pizzas. She hefted the bags into the kitchen and looked around. “Sebastian! Noah! Anyone home?” Hearing a sound of affirmation from the room they were using as a study, office, and library, she walked in, and found Sebastian.

He was sitting in the middle of a fortress of books. His reading glasses were shoved up onto his head, he seemed to be reading four books at the same time, and despite the fact that there were three desks and five chairs in the room, was sitting on the floor.

“What are you doing?”

Sebastian looked up, startled. “When did you get home?”

Carys laughed. “Two seconds ago when I yelled, `anyone home.' This ringing a bell?”

Sebastian nodded. “Now that you mention it.” He looked around. “How did I get down here? I distinctly remember starting out sitting at my desk.”

Carys shrugged. “Couldn't tell you. Now what are you doing?”

“Research. I'm trying to figure this out.”

Carys perched precariously on the arm of a chair. “Make any progress?”

“Quite a bit. I've been going back over all the different murders, doing some research on all the known Death Eaters we never rounded up, going over their records.”

Carys thought that the Auror office had probably done that, but didn't say anything. “And?”

“I've narrowed it down to a list of three.”

“And?”

“I really think that we're dealing with a witch, not a wizard.”

“Why?” Carys sighed. “Please tell me that this isn't another descendent of Slytherin, relation to Voldemort. His long lost sister's, son's brother-in-law or something. Those theories aren't based in fact, Sebastian.”

Sebastian simply looked at her. “Carys, I know how to research. I've been doing it all my life. Come here and look at this.”

Carys chuckled. “Can I knock over a wall of your fort?”

Sebastian seemed to just then realize that he'd stacked books up as high as his eyes all the way around him. “Sorry. Yeah, just let me help you move them.” He stood, moved a couple piles of books away from himself. “There. Pull up a patch of carpet.”

Carys lowered herself to the floor next to him, sitting Indian style as that was the only way there was room for her in the small city of thick, musty old books he'd built. “Okay. Show me your research.” She watched his search for the book he wanted to show her. “Y'know, if all the girls could see you like this, you'd probably never have another girlfriend.”

“Which is why you and Jordyn, my sisters, Celeste and my aunts are the only females that will ever see me up to my eyeballs in books.” He found the book, plopped it on her lap. “There.”

Carys gestured with her hands. “What am I looking at?”

“A family tree. You know how the good families, the really pureblooded ones are experts at sweeping things under the proverbial rug?”

Carys nodded. Her grandfather had been the king of that before her father had killed him in final battle against the Death Eaters. “Yeah. Why are you showing me Helga Hufflepuff's family tree?”

“She had one daughter. Katharine. Who married Bradon Knightley.”

Carys' head snapped up. “The Dark Knight.”

“That's what I think. I started doing some research. From then on, each generation produced one child, a daughter. They always sorted into Hufflepuff, and always had some sort of problems. Some of the stuff was little, like getting suspended, detention, short stints in Azkaban. All stuff that disappeared because they were direct descendents of one of the founders.”

Carys was combing the records herself, flipping from one book to the next without even looking up. Sebastian knew that she was searching for a hole in the work that he'd done. He'd have done the same to her. “How is it that the Aurors missed this?”

Sebastian looked at her. “The same reason Lucius Malfoy got away with murder, literally, and many times, and they couldn't do a thing. Names matter, Carys, you know that. You and I live in the world of name recognition. A powerful family, like the Knightley family, has the name recognition. The Aurors probably don't think that this person could ever be a witch. There hasn't ever been a case of a really powerful dark witch. I know they've looked hard at the males in the family, but they've all married into it, and there isn't anything concrete that I can find on any of them. I think this is just a female thing.”

“That's a possibility. There have always been rumors that Voldemort was just someone else's pawn.”

“I wouldn't phrase it like that. Voldemort was a very powerful, extremely evil dark wizard.”

“Yes, but what if he wasn't the top of the line?” Carys was on a tangent, and her brain had already sorted things out. “I mean, think about the Nazis. Once Hitler was gone, they went away for a while. They went to jail, they went into hiding, and it was years later that the Neo Nazis came about, and even then they were just an annoyance. They never really did anything. The Death Eaters haven't dropped from the public eye yet. Voldemort falls, and yet there are arrests being made every day. Knockturn Alley is darker and more sinister than it was before; Death Eaters are still recruiting and killing like there was never a loss of power.”

Sebastian was following her. “Are you saying that Voldemort was just a front man for someone else?”

Carys shook her head. “More like the five star general, and now we have to get to the Prime Minister.”

“I think I get what you're saying. That despite the fact that he controlled the Death Eaters, and they all answered to him and worshipped him, there was someone he answered to.”

“That maybe no one else knew about.” Sebastian nodded. “Voldemort falls, and someone has to take command, and fast, unless they want the Death Eaters to disband. There's no time to find a new general, so to speak, so she has to take over herself.”

Carys continued. “She gets a taste of the ultimate power, having those followers, decides she likes it, takes a few pages out of the book she wrote for Voldemort, takes over the Death Eaters and starts a Voldemort-like climb to power.”

“Makes sense, doesn't it?”

“In a weird, completely unlikely way.” Carys wasn't completely convinced about Sebastian's theory, but it was the best one that they had, and she had to admit that the evidence was compelling. “Okay, let's run with this. Who's the latest in the line?”

Sebastian consulted the family tree. “Well, the only one we know about was born two years before Voldemort. Desdemona Knightley. She married her third cousin and they divorced about three years later.”

Carys held up a hand. “How old was she then?”

Sebastian consulted his chart again. “She's Grampa James' age.”

“Sebastian, she's past sixty!”

“So? That doesn't mean anything. Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard into his second century.”

“That doesn't mean that everyone is that way. Look, it's still worth looking into, and it's definitely far enough off the grid that most people wouldn't look at her, and I know the Aurors haven't even so much as glanced at her, or her family. If they were Death Eaters, they were quiet about it.”

“The ones that were the most powerful were the ones no one could prove were involved.”

“I'll give you that.” Carys nodded. “Okay. It's a starting point, and that's more than anyone else has managed to get. So let's give this a try and see where it leads us.”

Sebastian grinned. “Good. Now, I think we should start with some old fashioned breaking and entering.”

Carys groaned, didn't even bother protesting because she knew she'd lose, and picked up parchment and quill. “Okay. Let's make a list.”

Sebastian started putting the books back on the shelves, keeping all the ones that he had used close together. He handed her three sheets of parchment. “I've already made lists. The first thing I think we need to do to start gathering information is to interview people.”

“I don't want to go about this like Muggle police officers.”

“Why not? We're training to be Aurors. That's like a police officer. This will be good training. We'll start tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow's Saturday.”

“Exactly. You, Noah and I all have Saturday and Sunday off of training. That means we can all go to the interviews.”

“Do we at least get to sleep in?”

“If sleeping in is eight o'clock, then yes.”

“Sebastian, I don't mind getting up, and you know I want to find this person as much as you do, but don't you think interviewing people about Desdemona Knightley and her family is just asking for trouble?”

Sebastian nodded. “That's the point. In order to prove anything, we have to lure them out into the open.”

Carys was entertaining a thought she didn't like. “There's another option.”

“What?”

“The Malfoy name still holds a lot of weight with the Death Eaters. Centuries of dark wizards, and only one good man? I can get an in.”

Sebastian shook his head, put his glasses on the desk. “No. We'll do it this way. At least this way we're all in it together. That's the point. To help each other and keep each other safe. You going in is risky, iffy and an unnecessary risk.”

Carys let out a deep breath. “I can tell you now I was hoping you'd say that.”

Sebastian walked into the kitchen, spotted the groceries. “Where'd these come from?”

“I went to the store, and then forgot to put them away. Give me a hand and I'll start dinner. Noah will be home soon, and he'll be starving. We'll fill him in over fettuccine.”

“I love you, Carys.”

“I love you, too. Now put away those groceries and set the table.”

“Can we have garlic bread?”

“Yes.”

“Marry me?”

Carys laughed, tossed an orange at him. He placed it in the fruit basket. “In your dreams, Sebastian, my boy. Only in your dreams.”

She had no idea how close to reality that statement actually was.

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Here we go with Chapter three. I really hope that you're enjoying this story so far. I know I've got a lot planned for it, and I hope you'll stick with reading it. I know the last two chapters were a little boring, but it's backstory and very important to the plot. There's a little more action in this chapter: a big argument, an introduction to our antagonist, and some general evilness. So, there's more substance. Also there is a mini battle scene in the next chapter. Give you all some action to tide you over until the big ones.

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Carys decided that their best bet for getting the answers that they needed was to make the interviews as official as possible. That meant she and Sebastian wore their Auror robes, and Noah wore Sebastian's spare robes. There was a small badge stating that they were in training, but a quick charm from Carys hid those and made it look as if they were all fully trained and capable Aurors.

“Okay, the first person on our list is Desdemona's ex husband. His name is Phillip Knightley.” Carys reached for Sebastian's hand and Noah's hand. “Let's go together. That way if we don't make it since we've never seen this place, we'll all at least be together.”

Sebastian nodded. “On three then. One, two, three.”

With a loud crack, they all disappeared. Less than a second later they reappeared in a yard. Carys consulted the nearest street sign. “We're a block off. Come on then, let's go.”

She led them up the street and down a driveway. Lifting her hand, she rapped smartly on the door. Ten seconds later, a man wearing black robes and carrying a wand opened the door. Carys could practically smell the dark magic.

“I don't talk to Aurors.”

Carys decided that she had the best chance of getting them into the house. “Mr. Knightley, we aren't here to question you. We're looking for your ex wife, Desdemona. We want to question her in regard to an ongoing investigation. We're simply contacting people who may be able to give us a place to start with our search.”

Phillip wasn't entirely convinced, but he didn't shut the door their faces either, which was a plus. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you have any idea where she might be?” Sebastian asked, scribbling on a piece of parchment.

“If I did, do you think I'd tell you?” he turned to go inside, but Carys' hand shot out, grabbed the door.

“Mr. Knightley, allow me to introduce myself. I am Carys Malfoy.” She smiled saccharinely. “You worked with my grandfather, I believe. Trust me when I say that I would not be here unless it was completely necessary, and that I will not take kindly to having a door shut in my face when I've traveled across the world to see you. My friends here are Sebastian Potter and Noah Weasley.”

Knightley wasn't stupid enough not to recognize the parentage of the three teenagers. He glared at them, scared to do anything more. “What do you want?”

“We want to know about your wife.”

“I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her in twenty years. Not since-“ he cut himself off, mentally cursing himself for starting to give that away.

“Not since what, Mr. Knightley?” Sebastian asked, tapping his wand against his palm.

“Not since your grandparents came back. We were both called to a meeting right after that. I haven't seen her since then. I have no idea where she is.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

Carys nodded. “All right then. Thank you very much for your time. I won't tell you to remain available in case we have more questions, because I know as soon as we leave that you're going to start packing, but I will tell you that if I find out you're lying to us, I'll find you.”

Phillip ran into the house and Carys turned to her friends. Sebastian looked at the door a moment longer, very unsure that the man had given them anything useful. “Carys-“

“Shut up, Sebastian.” She gripped his hand, and Noah's hand and Apparated, dragging them along with her. The next thing they saw was their apartment. “He's lying through his teeth. He may not have seen her in twenty years, that wouldn't surprise me. But he knows where she is, and what she's up to. I'll tell you that much right now.”

“Then why did we leave?” Noah demanded, stalking to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. “There are three of us and one of him. We had him exactly where we wanted him to be.”

“And it would have done us no good.” Carys said reasonably. “We got what we wanted, Noah. He knows exactly who we are, and if I pegged him right, which I'm sure I did, he's telling someone important exactly what we wanted and what we're up to right now.”

Sebastian growled in exasperation. “How is that a good thing, Carys? We don't want them to know what we're up to!” he slammed his bottle of Butterbeer down onto the counter. “If they know who we are and what we're up to and what we want, then that puts us at risk, and vulnerable to attack.”

“And we won't gain any knowledge by playing it safe. We have to take risks. You knew that, Sebastian. And so did you, Noah. This isn't a game, guys. We have to take risks, and we have to let them know that we know what's going on.”

“Why the hell do we have to do that?” Sebastian demanded. “There is nothing wrong with staying anonymous for a while. If he scampers back to Desdemona and tells her about us investigating, then we're in even more danger.”

“It's a calculated risk.”

“One that you didn't consult either of us on.” Noah said, flopping angrily onto the couch. “Carys, are we in this together?”

Carys' head snapped up. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Yes or no. Are we in this together, or are we Carys Laine Malfoy's sidekicks?”

“We're in this together, Noah. You know that.” Carys wasn't liking the way the conversation was going.

“Then stop acting like this is the Carys show, and start following the plan we decided on before we went to see this guy. Why is it so important to you that we set ourselves up to be attacked? We're eighteen, Carys, we just got licensed. We aren't experienced wizards yet. If this guy, or chick, or whoever the bloody hell it is comes after us, than we're royally screwed.”

Carys' face was turning red, displaying signs of the infamous Weasley temper. “And our parents brought down Voldemort when they were our age! They'd been fighting him for years! And we've sat around waiting patiently for the day that we could take over the fight. That we could be the ones to battle the Death Eaters, to do what they did, what they raised us to do.”

Sebastian thought he was beginning to understand. “Carys, our parents don't want us to fight Death Eaters. They want us to grow up, have jobs, get married, have kids, and live our lives.”

“Your parents started fighting Voldemort when they were eleven!” Carys roared. “Eleven! All my life Mom and Dad have said just wait until you're older, then you can help. I've sat and watched them keep the world safe. Watched them research and plan and defeat Death Eaters.”

“And so have we.” Sebastian laid a hand on Carys' arm. “Carys, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone.”

“Yes, I do. It's different for the two of you. Generations of good witches and wizards, not a hint of darkness in your blood. My grandparents were the most evil people of their time! Dad has to prove himself every day. Every day he has to prove that he isn't like them. And so do I. Except I haven't been able to yet. I've had to wait, and wait, and wait until someone says `okay, Carys, it's your turn. Go do it now. Show the world that you are nothing like them.' No one's said that, Sebastian. Ever. So I said it. It's my turn. And I have to show the world that I'm not like them.”

Noah nodded. “The same way we have to prove we're as good as our parents.”

Carys nodded. “I'm sorry I did that without asking you guys.”

Noah shrugged in a way so much like his father it was scary. “No harm done. We'll get through it.” He grinned. “That's how our parents did it, isn't it? Working together.”

Carys nodded. “We'll do it together.”

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The room was dark. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that the room was empty. But against one wall was a chair, which resembled a throne. And one woman, strikingly beautiful, and very young, resided upon it. Her hair was long and thick, glossy black and shining even in the dark. Her eyes glowed icy blue, framed by long thick lashes. Her face was sharp angles and blatant sexuality. Her body much the same. Perfect.

She lifted one hand and the door to the chamber opened. A man walked in, more than twice her age. “My Lord.”

The woman gestured to a plain aluminum folding chair. “Sit. Tell me what it is you know.”

Phillip Knightley sat. “My Queen, I was visited today by three Aurors.”

“Aurors? What could Aurors possibly want with you?”

“To ask me about Desdemona.”

“And what did you tell them?”

“Nothing. That I hadn't seen her in two decades; that I didn't know where she is. Not since the meeting after the Potters were released.”

The woman considered. “Who were they?”

“Carys Malfoy, Sebastian Potter, and Noah Weasley.”

“Really? How…predictable. They will be easily subdued.” She rose from her chair, glided across the room in a billowing of black robes and blood red cloak. “I trust, Knightley, that you will be very easy to find should they have any other questions for you. The last thing we want is for them to believe you went running to your master like the scared little weasel you are.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Very good. Leave me now.” She waved a hand and the door opened again. Once Phillip had gone, she walked into the hallway, spoke to the man in front of the door. “Dispatch a team. I want Malfoy, Potter and Weasley taken care of. Quickly, and quietly.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Good. Oh, and Parkinson, don't let their parents find out immediately. I don't want the first generation of self-made heroes in on this too soon. And get me Desdemona. If they think she's the one in charge of this, we're just going to let them keep thinking that as long as we can.” She laughed. “The woman's expendable. She'll have to be sacrificed. Greater evil, and all.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Very well. You may go now. And I don't want them killed, Parkinson. They could make this interesting. And besides, overcoming an obstacle such as the children of the five greatest warriors in their generation makes me that much harder to stand up to. Hurt them. Let them know that I know what they're up to. That'll make for even more fun.”

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Like it? Hate it? Lemme know. Review! I love getting feedback.

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Chapter four. This chapter is going to have a little more action in it. You're actually going to see a mini battle scene. I think it's important that our trio find out that who they're dealing with means business. Also, in case you haven't guessed, Parkinson from the last chapter is Pansy Parkinson's son. You probably won't see much more of him. He's pretty much just a lackey. No important part in the story at all. Just thought it was interesting to have him in there. Also, here's a little spoiler for later on. Our antagonist and Carys have much more in common than they think they do. That's not giving anything away really, but it'll make sense in a few chapters when I get there in the plot line. And this is looking to be even longer than Keep Your Enemies Close. I think that's a good thing. And one more thing. Carys is going to be fighting a real human battle within herself after this chapter. I'm afraid I'm torturing her a little, but there's a destination in mind. That's really important to remember for future reference. All will be revealed when the Dark Queen is fully revealed. Stay tuned.

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Sebastian walked into Noah's bedroom and shut the door. His friend from birth was sitting at the computer desk, firing little green rockets at an alien ship. “Got a minute?”

Noah nodded. “Gimme a second. Almost done.” He concentrated on firing by pressing the arrow keys. “Gotcha!” he turned around, swiveling the chair so he could face Sebastian. “What's up?”

Sebastian sat down on the edge of the bed. No matter how close two men got, there was always a level of awkwardness when one needed to talk to the other about a sensitive matter. He bit back his pride and embarrassment. “It's about Carys.”

Noah was wondering if he could convince his friend to try out the new video game he'd gotten. “What about her?”

“I'm worried about her. She's so involved in this. She wants to show everyone what she can do so badly it scares me. Noah, she reminds me of the stories Mom told me about Dad. How he thought he had no choice but to be the one who rushed into battle first, the one who habitually risked his life.”

“Uncle Harry didn't have much of a choice. It was fight or die.”

“Or hide.” Sebastian pointed out. “Voldemort wanted him dead, but Dad went looking for him much more than the other way around. Carys is like that. She's so immersed in what her family was like before her Dad that she thinks everyone sees her as a ticking time bomb or something.”

“Well, they're always going to be like that, mate. Her grandfather was Voldemort's right hand man. Remember the stories and the history books? And it's always going to be hard for us because the world is going to expect us to be as talented and as smart, and to take over where they've left off. And our parents have spent all of our lives shielding us from anything dark. Carys is just rebelling.”

“You really think so?”

Noah was becoming slightly interested in the conversation. “What do you think?”

“That she's fighting herself as much as she is Desdemona Knightley.”

“You can't possibly think-“

“That it's a battle for her to stay on our side? Yeah, I do. And it makes sense. It's easier to join her. To be evil. It's hard to be good. To do what's right, when it could get you killed so much faster than doing the wrong thing. Uncle Draco still struggles with it.”

“But he has Aunt Ginny and the kids.”

“And he was a Death Eater.” At Noah's raised eyebrows, Sebastian elaborated. “He had a taste of it. Of what it was. Of what the dark was like. And though it was easy, and what was expected, he couldn't take it. You've heard the story. He knew what was right, but went along with what was expected. He had to break loose of that, and struggle to do the right thing when it was so much harder.”

“And you think that Carys struggles to do the right thing? Sebastian, I think you've hit your head on something. Carys has never been expected to be anything but herself.”

“And she's eighteen, same as we are. We're all trying to figure out who we are. I just think she's wondering if she isn't going to end up like the rest of her family. Which is what worries me. I don't know how well she'll do when she has to fight this witch.”

“She's Carys. She's never failed at anything in her life.”

Sebastian nodded. “I know. But she's never had to fight herself before either.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don't know. I was hoping you'd have an idea.”

“Let me think about it.” Noah idly picked up a book on Quidditch, briefly considered reading it. “Give me a couple days. I'll try to come up with something subtle. Though I think if you're right, the only thing we can do is just be there for her. Support her and let her know that we understand.”

“That's all I was able to come up with too.”

Noah grinned. “It's worked before, mate. My parents, your parents, her parents. They all got through some majorly tough situations just by having one another. Friendship is a powerful force, grasshopper.”

Sebastian chuckled at the Star Wars reference, stood and crossed to the door. “Thanks, Yoda.”

“Sebastian.”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“You like her, don't you?”

“Of course I like her. She's one of my best friends. I've known her since I was born.”

“No, I mean you like her. As more than a friend.”

Sebastian sighed. He should have known his friend would catch on. Noah was incredibly astute when it came to matters of the heart. At one point Sebastian had actually entertained thoughts that he was gay. They'd lasted all of two seconds, because at that point he had gone into the dorm and found that Noah had snuck a girl into the guy's dorms, and was checking to see if she still had her tonsils.

“Yeah.”

“Thought so. What are you going to do about that?”

“Absolutely nothing. It's practically incest.”

“Is not. She's my cousin, not yours. You aren't related to her in any way, shape, form or fashion. Took you bloody long enough, I say.”

“Draco would neuter me.”

“Nah. He loves his little girl, but you're his godson, and he'd never do something that would prevent him from becoming a godgrandfather. He's looking forward to more babies too much.”

“Okay, he'd just beat the hell out of me until I ran far away and fast.”

“That he might do.” Noah chuckled over the image. “Still say you should go for it. Might be what she needs. Someone to hold on to.”

“I don't think so. See, first, she has to return the feelings.”

Noah chose not to say anything, as he had no idea what his cousin's feelings were toward Sebastian. Luckily Sebastian didn't get a chance to expect him to say anything because they were interrupted by Carys shoving open the door.

“There's a Dark Mark over the building. I think we really pissed someone off.”

Sebastian ran to the window, craned his neck to see. He could already see forms in billowing black robes Apparating onto their roof from the balcony. “I think you're right. Get your wand.”

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She watched from a neighboring roof, wanting to see if there was any real threat from the three teenagers. She saw the female, pretty in her own right, with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a near perfect body alert the two boys. They weren't hard on the eyes either. Tall, muscular, well out of the gangly teenager stage. One with black hair, the other with longish, messy red hair. One with eyes of molten silver, the other eyes of shocking blue. What they looked like wasn't important, as their blood would be the same, but she had an eye for beauty, and appreciated those who were of an appealing appearance. Fleetingly she wished she could win the boys over to her side. She's like to look at them.

She sighed as she moved from one side of the roof to the other, her robes and cloak billowing around her legs. She tapped her wand on her hand as she watched her minions physically bust down the door into the apartment. The wards were too strong for them to Apparate through. Considering that, she paused, sliding onto the edge of the roof so that her vision was unimpaired. It was already apparent that her followers were going to lose. The trio was better trained and more cohesive than she'd thought. With a disgusted sigh, she closed her eyes and disappeared with a loud pop. She hated seeing failure. It served no purpose other than to piss her off.

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Sebastian looked at his wand, then plowed his fist into the face of the Death Eater charging him. He liked magic just fine, but it was much more satisfying to get his hands dirty, so to speak. Carys glared at him from across the room and he shrugged.

Noah and a Death Eater were circling. He vaguely recognized the man as having graduated three or four years before him from Slytherin. Maxwell Lestrange if he remembered right. “Always thought you were a bit smarter than this.” Noah said, not at all happy about having to kill anyone, let alone someone he knew. But he knew there really wasn't much choice.

“Funny, I always thought the same about you. Nothing smart about taking on a fight you can't win.”

“We know all about your plan. All about Desdemona.”

Maxwell laughed, lifted his wand. “Lot you know. Crucio!”

The Cruciatus curse hit Noah solidly in the chest. He didn't cry out, he didn't drop to his knees, or fall on his face, though his vision went decidedly blurry and black for a long minute. Nothing pleasant about that one. It felt like his skin was being ripped from his body, and his eyes were boiling out of his head. But he wasn't going to give the older man the pleasure of seeing him fall. So he stayed on his feet, and when his vision had cleared enough, and the pain had faded to the point that he could lift his wand, he closed his eyes and shouted two words.

“Avada Kedavra!”

The man's eyes widened, and he looked shocked for a second before the pain took over. There were several seconds of what appeared to be excruciating pain, resulting in a lot of screaming before he fell and was still.

Carys shoved Noah to the ground, leaping behind the couch herself, fleeing from a well aimed Killing Curse. She hadn't had half a second to think, had just let instinct jerk her around. The curse sailed over her head, and, almost ironically, landed solidly upon the chest of another Death Eater.

She stood, wand aimed perfectly at his head. “Get out of my house.”

He laughed, and the sound resonated with evil. “Only when you die, Malfoy. Your father was a coward, and so are you. Turning your back on your family, your lineage, the very reason you were born. Prophecies don't lie, Carys Malfoy, and yours is most intriguing. Join us, or die.”

“I'll take death over you.” Carys growled, and noticed Sebastian stepping up beside her. “There is no choice.”

“So be it, witch.” Before Carys could react, he launched a Killing Curse, wordlessly. Sebastian leapt in front of her.

“Patronum!” he bellowed, and a stag spurted from the end of his wand and devoured the curse less than an inch from his throat. The Death Eater was shocked. Sebastian approached, reached out with one hand and lifted the man off of his feet. He took his wand with the other hand. “You're going to leave now, and go tell your master that we haven't even begun to fight. You're going to tell her that we know who she is and what she's up to. And you're going to tell her that I am going to kill her, be it with magic or my bare hands. Got it?”

The man nodded, terrified of the son of Harry Potter, though he'd rather die than admit it. Sebastian dropped him. He looked at Carys, intent on completing his mission. He removed a misty orb from his robes and tossed it at her. “Your future, girl.” He said, and then Disapparated.

Carys held the ball in both hands, staring at it like it was going to bite her hand off at any moment. Gently, Sebastian reached over and took it from her. “What is this, Carys?”

“It's a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries.”

“Like the one my Dad had telling him about the battle with Voldemort and that Neville Longbottom could have been the Boy Who Lived?”

“I think so, yeah.” She looked around their living room for the first time, and saw Sebastian tuck the orb into his robes. “The Aurors will be here soon. We should Floo our parents.”

Noah walked to the fireplace. “I'll do it.” He reached into the jar on top of the mantle for a handful of the green powder, and threw it on the flames. Moments later, Draco's face appeared.

“Noah. Want to talk to your parents?”

“No, you'll work, Uncle Draco. You and Mom and Dad and the rest should get over here.”

“Why? What's going on?”

“We were attacked by Death Eaters.”

Draco dropped his coffee mug. “You were WHAT?!”

Noah winced at the change in octave. “Calm down, we're all fine, but we thought we should tell you.”

“Damn right. Stay right there, double the wards and don't move.” He went to the door. “Ginny! Harry! Hermione! Ron! Luna! We need to Floo to the kids' apartment right now. Send the rest of the kids to Lily and James.”

Ginny appeared in the door in her pajamas. “Why do we need to go at eleven o'clock at night?”

Draco gripped her shoulders. “They were attacked. It seems the Dark Knight has figured out they're on their own and decided to go after them.”

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Harry paced in front of the three children. The Aurors had come and gone, the bodies had been taken away, the apartment had been reasonably put to rights, and his son had explained what they had done. All six adults were furious. Hermione had screamed at them for a full ten minutes. It had been the first time Sebastian's mother had ever raised her voice at him. Ginny had sat in mute fury, not trusting herself to do so much as even open her mouth for fear of what would come out of it. Draco and Harry had lectured in that way they had that made all three teenagers feel half an inch tall. Luna hadn't said a word, like Ginny, not trusting herself not to hex her own son. Ron had taken a page from Hermione's book and raved at them until, unable to take it, he had started to stun Noah when his son had argued with him. Hermione, still unrecovered from her fit, had snapped his wand into half a dozen pieces.

“You'll all move back into the house immediately.” Harry said, his look just daring any of them to argue with him. “You will attend training, or class, and then you will come home. In three years, when you are all licensed, we will again discuss you having an apartment of your own. You will not go out, or put yourself at any risk until we,” he cast a glance at the adults to let the trio know they were not going to be included. “have stopped this person. Hermione, Ginny, start looking over their research, will you?”

Sebastian stood. “I'm not going.”'

Harry whirled to face his son. “You'll do what I tell you to do.”

“I will not. Dad, I don't want to fight with you, and I know you're mad. But think about it. When Gramma Lily and Grampa James came back, you were my age. You were living on your own with Mom and Uncle Ron, and you were fighting Voldemort. You three were bloody vigilantes! You can't say that we can't do what you yourselves did when you were years younger than we were.” He looked at his mother. “You can't protect us for forever. And I know you want us safe, but we won't be safe even if we do go home.”

Carys nodded. “Daddy. I can do this. I know I can. It's something that we have to do. Sebastian and I, we got into the Auror program because of who our parents are. Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione, you and Mom. We've never got to escape the stigma of being your children. And if we go home with you, we'll just be putting you in danger. You can't fight our battles for us forever. And this has nothing to do with any of you. This is about us, and you have to let us do it. And even if we fail, at least we did it on our own, without our mommies and daddies hanging over our shoulders.”

Noah was still sulking, but decided he had to help out with the last ditch effort at least a little. “We can handle it. We weren't hurt. No harm done. If anything, this just proves that we can hold our own against an attack, which I know is what you guys were afraid of in the first place. Well, we're all here, uninjured, and completely alive. We proved we can do it. And no offense, but you can't make us come home with you.”

Ron glared at his son. “Just you watch me make you come home.”

Luna laid a hand on her husband's knee. “They're right.” She sighed deeply. “I wish they weren't. There's still a good chance they may get attacked by giant man eating Fizzing Whizzby's, and in that case, I'll drag them home kicking and screaming. But, honestly, Death Eaters are nothing compared to the Fibrous Blugworms that attacked them five years ago. They can handle it.”

Ginny looked at Luna with raised eyebrows. She was continuously hoping that time would make the woman more sane. So far it didn't seem to be doing anything, but none of her children had been affected by her eccentricities. And in the end, she made a lot of sense. She looked at Draco. “We have to let them grow up, Draco.” She stood. “Let's go. We'll talk about this more tomorrow. We all need some sleep, Lily and James are probably desperate to know what's going on, and we'll discuss alternate plans of action at home. We'll be back tomorrow.”

The three hugged their parents goodbye and fell onto the couch in one exhausted heap. Noah lifted his head and looked at Carys. “Going to open up that prophecy?”

Sebastian took it out of his pocket. “Want to do it alone, or do you want us to stay?”

Carys rose. “This I think I need to do by myself.”

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Prophecy well be revealed in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one. Review and let me know what you thought. Update day after tomorrow, though I most post earlier if the demand for a quicker update is there. So lemme know!

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Alright, chapter five. This is going to start to get really interesting very soon. As promised, the prophecy will be revealed this chapter, and Carys is going to find out a lot that she wishes she didn't. I hope you enjoyed the battle scene last chapter. I know it was short and kinda sketchy, but there will be some more drawn out ones and longer ones as this fic progresses. Again, these first chapters have been setting the stage. This one is going to segue into a progressive one. Some of what they have to do is going to be outlined. There will be a lot of breaking and entering, getting around and through wards, and in the future, Carys is going to take a page out of the Death Eater handbook. So you'll just have to keep reading.

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Carys locked the door to her bedroom and put up sound proofing charms. She didn't really think the boys would eavesdrop on her, but she wouldn't put it past them if they thought it was important either. She took out the orb, turned off the light, placed it on the floor, and smashed it with her heel. Mist surrounded her, clinging to her, smothering her in images and sounds.

She saw herself being born, her father holding her for the first time. She saw when her cousins and Sebastian had been born, she'd been in her grandfather's arms the whole time. She felt safe, and loved. She saw herself grow up, a six year old chasing Caleb and Josh in the back yard, mud wrestling with Gwydion and Artemis, getting her mouth washed with soap when she was mad and cussed at her mother.

She saw herself at eleven, donning robes for the first time and lining up in front of the Sorting Hat after it had sung it's song. She was scared of it, scared of what it would say. Scared of what it had said.

`Like your family, I see. Grandfather, father, mother. Elements of all you possess. The determination and ruthlessness of Lucius, the struggle and heart of gold of Draco, the kindness and temper of Ginny. Intelligence, yes, there is much of that. And bravery is not lacking here. Loyalty is prominent also. Qualities from all four houses, and parents from opposite ends of the spectrum. Will you take after Lucius and Narcissa? Determined and ruthless? Or after your parents? Good hearted, brave and loving? A mixture of the two perhaps? Nothing is impossible. Your future is unclear, my dear. A difficult choice you must face. In all four houses you would flourish. One will batter you down and make you stronger. The other will support you. Do you want strength or support?'

To which she had answered strength. She had love and support from her family, and she'd truly thought that the hat was going to put her in Gryffindor. However, with a resounding yell, it responded differently. `SLYTHERIN!'

She saw herself join the Quidditch team at twelve. Go through two more years, and receive her Prefect badge. She saw herself as Head Girl, at graduation, moving into her own apartment. She saw herself at that moment, surrounded by mists. And then she saw the future.

Black. Everything was dark, she was surrounded by evil and hopelessness. It was bearing down upon her, surrounding her, possessing her. She felt it take over, and she was evil. She felt herself turning into that which she had always despised. She felt herself turning into her grandparents.

There was a woman there. Billowing black robes, and a curtain of black hair. She was young, and power rolled off of her like water. She exuded power and strength. Carys was sitting on her right side, and there were two people in front of them. Sebastian and Noah. She saw herself torturing her friends. And then she saw herself kill them.

She wanted to scream, but couldn't, so far was she sucked into the vision. She saw herself gain more and more power, grow more and more evil. All the good in her had been extinguished. She saw herself killing, taking over the post of Headmistress of Hogwarts. All students unwilling to pledge their allegiance to her were slaughtered.

The world was dark, eternally gray. She saw herself fight and kill her parents, Harry and Hermione, Ron and Luna, Lily and James, Molly and Arthur. All the family she had, she killed. Her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. They all perished at her hand. No one was spared. Then she saw herself taking over the Death Eaters, being proclaimed their Queen. Their leader. She'd done what no one else had been able to. She'd brought down the Order of the Phoenix and taken over the magical world.

She saw the woman again, but this time she was on the floor, in a fetal position, screaming as Carys stood above her, grinning, holding her wand and torturing the woman. She saw herself cast the killing curse on her, and in her dying breath, she uttered one sentence. “Rejoice in what you've become; the student that surpassed the teacher.”

Carys saw the woman die, and she saw herself continue down the path that she had chosen. Or, that had chosen her, as the case seemed to be. She watched herself take down the Ministry. She watched herself move on to the Muggle world, until, eventually, she controlled it all. And just when it seemed that her mission was complete, she felt herself go mad, as she imagined Voldemort had. She lost her mind, starting going crazy. Killing her followers. She thought she was going to have to watch herself destroy the world.

But before that happened, before she could kill everyone, she watched herself pick up a wand. And she watched the future Carys kill herself. And she felt herself die. The scream managed to break through the mist that time.

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She curled into a ball on her bed, sobbing and clinging to her pillow like it was her lifeline. And maybe it was. She felt pain greater than she had ever known, and beneath that, she felt the stirrings of glee in what she would do. And she was tempted to rip that part of her out and destroy it. But a part of her was happy that she had that power. That if she so chose, she could take over the world. That she could do what no other witch, wizard or Muggle had been able to.

And it scared her to death. She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't let herself. There was no way she was going to turn into her grandparents. She'd kill herself first. And as that was supposedly how she ended up anyway, she'd just be hurrying destiny and fate along.

She didn't hear the door open. Didn't really notice Sebastian and Noah cross to her bed. They sat on either side of her, and she buried her head in the nearest lap, that of Noah. The sobs tore through her, wracking her body and stealing her breath. Sebastian's hand closed warmly over hers, and she felt her best friends pulling her back from the nightmare. Her future.

Noah pulled her close, stroking her back, rocking back and forth. Tears didn't intimidate either of them. They were used to them, if not comfortable with them. “Shh, baby. Tell us what happened?”

“I'm evil.” She murmured, holding on to her cousin with all the strength she had. “I turn evil.”

Sebastian gripped her chin, lifted her face to his. “You are not going to turn evil. The future is not set. You remember that. The past is the only thing certain.”

She looked at him with tear streaked face. “I killed you. And Noah, and my parents and your parents. I killed them, and all my grandparents, and I liked it. I felt the joy.”

“That wasn't you. That was them. Prophecies are not certain. You know that. And now that you know about it, you can stop it. Carys, you are the best person I know. We are going to beat her, and we are going to do it together. And you are not going to be evil.”

Carys wasn't so sure. “Sebastian, you don't know what it was like. I watched myself kill and torture and maim. I took pleasure in taking lives. It was what I got out of bed to do. I took over the Muggle world. I killed children who wouldn't pledge themselves to me. I did unspeakable things to hundreds of people, and I relished it.” She took a deep breath. “I was worse than Voldemort. I was worse than this woman. I was worse than Lucius and Narcissa.”

“You are not worse that Voldemort, or this woman, or your grandparents. Carys, I know you. We've known you all our lives, and all but the first six months of yours. And I know that there is no way in hell that you could do anything like that.”

Noah, always the logical one, despite his parentage, spoke. “Carys, we have to consider the possibility that this is a trick. We don't know what prophecies look like, so there's no way to know if that was a true prophecy. It could be a tactic to throw her off her game. If they've done their research, they know we're a threat, and no offense, Carys, but women are more emotional. It's both a blessing and a curse. In this case, you'd be the easiest to trick into believing something untrue when it's something like this.”

Carys nodded, desperately wanting to latch on to what Noah was saying and believe him with all her heart. But something wasn't right. “I want to know. I have to know if that was a real prophecy.”

“Then we'll try to find out. We'll call Grampa Arthur on Monday and see if there have been any break ins in the Department of Mysteries. He probably can't give us any specifics, but I'm sure he can say yes or no. And from there we can decide where to go next.”

Carys wiped her eyes, banishing the last of her tears. “Okay.” She stood, walked toward her bathroom. “If you don't mind, I'd like to go get a shower and go to bed now. I'm really exhausted.”

Sebastian and Noah left the room, both their faces creased in worry. They went, by silent consensus, into Sebastian's room. Noah leaned against the door. “Think it's a trick?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I'm praying it is. I hope to God it's a trick and that she doesn't have to fight this. But I don't know. I think Carys has always had to fight the same battle that Draco does. And now it's decided to really start fighting back. I think if we found a prophecy for Uncle Draco or Julian or Jordyn, it would probably be much the same thing. It's in their blood, and in their genes, and they have to battle it.”

“She won't give in.”

“No, I don't think so. Maybe if she was by herself. It would be easier. But with us here all the time, and a family like the one we've got, she'll be able to resist all of it. And this will make her stronger; give her confidence in her ability to take on evil and win. I think that's something we all need to do.”

Noah sighed and stretched. “I think she's had it harder than any of us ever realized. I never really thought about it, because we obviously didn't know Uncle Draco before he ganged up with our parents and Aunt Ginny. But from what they've said he wasn't the best person to be around. He was evil, and he was cruel, and he was being groomed to take over for Voldemort. Dad said it nearly ripped him in half when he tore himself away from it. That has to affect her, seeing what her father goes through every day. People still don't completely trust him, and they're still scared of him.”

“We'll just have to wait and see what happens.” Sebastian said, thinking about the situation. “But if the prophecy is real, she's going to need a lot of help. And we can't tell our parents.”

“Agreed. But hey, what are friends for? We'll pull her through, Sebastian. The same way your mom and my dad did for Uncle Harry.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian collected his clothes and headed for the second bathroom. “Get some sleep, Weasley. We're going to need it.”

-->

Carys stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around her slim form. She wrapped another one around her hair and stepped in front of the mirror. She wiped away the steam with one hand, and stared at herself intently. What did she see? Even she didn't know. She couldn't tell what she was.

Was she good? Someone who would die for her friends? Someone who would sacrifice herself to save those that she loved? Someone who didn't care what happened to her as long as the objective was completed? Who would lay down her life for a cause she believed in?

Or was she evil? Would she let her friends and family be killed so that she could live? Would she let terrible things happen just so that she didn't have to suffer? Would she brutally murder others who didn't believe in the same things she did?

She hoped she was the first. And feared that she was the second. She knew, if she looked hard enough, that she would see both things in her. She'd never been tested, and that was half the problem. She didn't know how she would react, because a situation like that had never arisen. She hadn't ever been able to find out which person she was. The person in the prophecy, or the person she truly wanted to be.

Angry at both nothing and everything, she slammed the side of her fist into the mirror. It didn't break, though she almost wished it had. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she stared at her hands. No, she didn't believe that those hands could ever torture and kill the people she loved. She had to hold on to that.

Methodically, she took the towel from her hair and picked up her blow dryer. There were drying charms she could have used, but she liked the Muggle way better. Most times it was so she could keep one of the boys out of the bathroom longer, but at that particular moment, she needed time to herself. And she knew Noah and Sebastian. They wouldn't leave her alone until they couldn't keep their eyes open anymore.

She turned it on and flipped her head over, grateful that even some small part of her brain could be occupied for a minute amount of time. She'd cut herself shaving half a dozen times because she hadn't been paying attention. Nothing helpful about that.

She squeezed her eyes closed, and fought the tears with every ounce of her being. She didn't want to cry anymore. She wasn't going to let them win. She wasn't going to give in and admit that even she didn't know for sure that she wouldn't turn into that person. She could almost always feel the licks of longing inside of her. That told her all she had to do was let go and embrace the reason her family existed. That all she had to do was escape from them. And then it would be easier. It wouldn't be a struggle to be good. It wouldn't hurt so badly to know that all it would take was one shove and she'd topple over the edge.

Her hair dry, Carys dressed slowly in flannel pajamas she'd stolen from Sebastian the previous Christmas. She swam in them, but they were warm and comfortable, and always managed to smell like her best friend. It made going to sleep easier to know that either he or Noah was close. A pair of Noah's pajamas was in her bottom drawer. He'd given them to her after Luna had presented them. Bright pink and dotted with orange Quaffles and large golden Snitches. He'd immediately despised them and handed them over the first chance he got. She didn't care for them terribly, but she wore them on a regular basis, never failing to get laughs from her roommates both at school, home and in their apartment.

Tying her hair back into a loose bun, she deposited her towel in the laundry basket, noted that she needed to do laundry, and walked into her bedroom. She found her father sitting at her desk, casually flipping through a book on the History of Magical Photography. He was looking extremely bored.

“Daddy, what are you doing here?” Carys gave in to a very juvenile urge and climbed into her father's lap, resting her head against his chest. He'd been her living pillow since birth, always there to soothe away a nightmare or dry tears over one thing or another. She needed him right then more than she ever had before.

Draco's arms surrounded his daughter, and he buried his face in her hair for a moment, wishing she was still five and he could make it all better by simply kissing a scraped knee or getting her a bowl of ice cream. “Sebastian came to see me. He told me about the prophecy. I figured you could use me about now.”

Carys hugged her father tightly, pulled her legs in closer to her body so all of her was in his lap. Draco covered her feet with one hand, both to keep them warm since she'd forgotten socks, and to anchor her. “I should have gone to tell you.”

“You should have had me here when you opened the damn thing, Carys.” He sighed. “I'm sorry, baby. I can see you're hurting, and I don't like it. Look, I never told anyone this. Not even your mother, or Harry, or Hermione or Ron. Especially not Luna. But I think you need to hear it.”

He'd gotten her interest. Carys burrowed closer. “What is it?”

“Why I left my father and Voldemort.”

“Because you couldn't do it. You couldn't be like them.”

“Partly. Carys, I was like them. I was evil, and I liked it. I didn't care about anyone, or anything other than myself. I hated my family, and I don't mean the Malfoys. I mean the family I have now, at home. Mom and all the rest. I despised them. I was willing to help my father and Voldemort kill every last one of them. And I would have enjoyed it.”

“Then what happened? What changed you?”

“It started with Dumbledore. You've heard the story, it's in every history book that's been written in the last twenty some years. I was supposed to kill him. It was my mission, the first I was given as a Death Eater. At the time, I thought it was a great honor. No one else had been assigned the same…caliber of work before. I tried the entire year, making half-assed attempts at taking him down. And they never worked, mainly because I never wanted them to.

“I didn't like Dumbledore. It's safe to say I fairly hated the man. But he always gave me a chance to not be what my father expected me to be. To be me. And I didn't want to hurt him. Snape let everyone believe that I had killed him. I was heralded as the next great dark wizard. I was a hero among the Death Eaters. I took my place at Voldemort's left hand. And my father took me to the Department of Mysteries. He showed me two prophecies, both that had to do with me. One was branching from the killing of Dumbledore, and the other was coming from if I hadn't. In the one, I took over. I was the Dark King. Everyone worshipped me, and I ruled the wizarding world. I was like God, Carys, and it was so tempting to follow that path that I can still taste it.

“But to get there, I had to kill everyone I knew. And that scared me. I would have had to kill all my mentors, all those that had instructed me in wizardry. I had to lose myself, give myself completely over to the black and let it rule me. I had to stop being Draco Lucius Malfoy, and start being pure evil. That was what eventually got to me. It was that that I couldn't do.

“And the other one. Well, it was different. I died. I didn't kill Voldemort, I ran and escaped from the Death Eaters, and joined the Order. I died in the Final Battle, fighting beside Harry and Dumbledore. And they won.” Draco looked down at his first born, knew exactly how she felt. “Carys, I couldn't do it. I couldn't let go of who I was.”

“But you're still alive, and Dumbledore's dead. Neither prophecy came true.”

“Exactly. Carys, if my father hadn't shown me those prophecies, I would probably fulfilled the first one. Because I wouldn't have realized it until it was too late. By showing them to me, my father basically nullified it. The power was tempting, enough that it's still hard for me to believe I didn't take it, but I couldn't give away my soul. I couldn't stop being myself. Prophecies aren't set in stone. And sometimes, just by learning of their existence, they are negated. If you know the future, you can stop it. Look at Voldemort. He made Harry his worst enemy. By believing the prophecy and choosing Harry, he wrote his own downfall. He made it come true. If he hadn't seen it and believed it, it wouldn't have. There's a reason that the Department of Mysteries isn't open to the public. No one can tell the future. No one. And that prophecy they gave you, even if it was going to come true, knowing about it can stop it.”

Carys was fighting years. “I'm scared, Daddy.” She whispered, holding on to her father. “I'm so scared that I'm not as strong as you. That I can't stop it.”

Draco rocked his daughter, desperate to make the hurt go away. “I know you are. It is scary. And it's a hard fight. You're too much like me. It will always tempt you, Carys. Tease and tempt you. And it's in refusing it that you make yourself into a stronger person. That you battle back the dark and keep doing what your heart tells you is right. You're stronger than you think you are.” He sighed. “You're stronger than I've let you discover you are. I'm always going to be here for you, baby. For anything that you need. I love you. I fell in love with you the very second your mother told me she was pregnant for you. And nineteen years later, I just love you more. And maybe because of that, I've kept you sheltered and protected from everything bad. And that was a mistake.”

Carys shook her head. “No. You're a great father. You raised me to be strong and independent and self sufficient, and brave and determined.”

Draco nodded sadly. “I did. And then I never let you be any of those things. I have to let you know, sweetheart. And it isn't going to be easy. And when the battle against Desdemona comes, you're going to be tempted to go with her and let her teach you.” He whispered in her ear. “But all you have to do, baby girl, is let love pull you back.”

He sat there with her, rocking and soothing until she fell asleep. Then, as years of parenting had taught him, he lifted her effortlessly and laid her in bed, covered her up, kissed her forehead, and left the room. As predicted, Sebastian was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking what looked to be his fourth pot of coffee.

“You should have gone to bed.”

“Not until I know she's going to be okay. Want coffee?”

Draco nodded. “I'm going to want your couch as well. I don't want her left alone tonight. And no offense to your nightmare techniques-“

“But you're her father and you've been doing it much longer than me. I know. You can have my room. I'll sleep on the couch.”

Draco sat down at the table while Sebastian filled up a mug with coffee and put another pot on to perk. “She'll be all right I think. You should have told me.”

Sebastian sat the mug in front of Draco. “I didn't think it would be that bad.”

“A Death Eater throws a prophecy orb at my daughter, says `see your future, witch' and you don't think it's anything to worry about?”

“I should have told you, I know that. But she was determined to do it herself.” Sebastian sighed, dropped his head into his hands. “I can't stand to see her hurt, Uncle Draco. I just can't take it. And when she screamed, I felt my heart bleed.”

Draco decided to have sympathy for the boy. “I know the feeling. Sebastian, she's going to need your help. I don't want her left alone, period. You're with her in training, you've already been paired as partners. She doesn't need to think about that prophecy.”

Sebastian's head came up. “You think it's real, don't you?”

“I'm pretty sure that it is.” He laughed bitterly. “I had basically the same one. I imagine if you found one of the twins, it would pretty much be the same thing. Yours probably isn't all rainbows and sunshine either. No one's is, Sebastian. It's when people get to see them, and they don't think there's another choice that prophecies come true.”

“Like Voldemort and Dad.”

“Exactly. Carys half thinks that she doesn't get a say in what happens in her life now. She does. We all do. Nothing is prewritten. We all get our own shot to do what we want with our lives. There isn't a set path that each of us has. Nothing is for sure. And it was very, very hard for your father to admit that. It's going to be just as hard for Carys.”

“What about you?”

Draco laughed. “Me? Well, let's just say that I managed to escape it by running scared. I had two, Sebastian. One like hers, and one where I did the opposite. Where Dumbledore wasn't killed, and I died fighting with him and Harry. Neither was reality. Reality was something completely off of both. Dumbledore is dead, I did fight the final battle, but I'm still here to tell about it. But seeing those prophecies, made me realize that I couldn't keep doing what I was. It made me run from what I had always been told was my destiny. And by learning that that was very well what could have happened to me made me run from it and create my own path. One that was never predicted for me. She'll do the same.”

Sebastian looked his godfather in the eye. “There's something you need to know.”

Draco lifted one eyebrow. “Oh? And what's that?”

“I'm in love with your daughter.”

The answer that came shocked Sebastian. “I know you are. I've known for a long time. Probably before you knew.”

“How?” Sebastian sputtered, hurriedly guzzling his coffee.

“The same way I knew your parents had fallen for each other before they realized it. The way you look at her. Like she's the only person in the world that matters.”

“And you aren't skinning me alive?”

Draco shook his head. “Why would I do that? Sebastian, I love you as much as I love my own children. I'm not real vocal about my feelings, but I haven't ever been. Your father and I had an interesting conversation about you and Carys not too long ago.”

“WHAT!” Sebastian was shocked by that even more than he was uncomfortable with the conversation being held. “You and Dad talked about it?”

“He told me that he thought you were falling for her. It was last year, and I think you were both in between play things. He said you had started looking at her less like she was a member of your family, and more like she was your favorite food.”

Sebastian felt his face redden. He hadn't been embarrassed that badly in the whole of his life. “I don't - I've never-“ he decided to shut up before he made Draco angry.

“I know you haven't. Which is why you're still alive. As far as I'm aware, and I promise you that my awareness when it comes to my daughter in unending, no one has.”

That was news to Sebastian. He'd always thought - that wasn't important. He needed to concentrate on the matter at hand. “And does she-“

“Like you back?” At Sebastian's nod, he continued. “I don't know. I think so. But I also think that she's hiding it from herself. Or that she thinks you don't so she isn't willing to admit it. Not even to her mother. And she tells Ginny everything.” Draco closed his eyes in pain. “Some things, though, I really wish Ginny would keep to herself when it comes to Carys. Because some things, a father just doesn't want to know.”

Sebastian had a fair idea what he was talking about, but didn't want Draco to divulge any awkward knowledge about Carys. “Would you mind if I…”

Draco finished that thought too. “Pursued a relationship?” he shook his head. “No. At least I trust you, which is more than I can say for any other male that isn't related to her. Your brothers excluded, though they're too young for her.” Draco finished his coffee. “Go get some sleep, Sebastian. And don't worry. This conversation stay between us.” He said, anticipating Sebastian's next sentence. “And perhaps your father.”

Unwilling to make Draco reconsider, Sebastian headed down the hall. “Night.”

Draco let himself smile as he heard the boy's door close. He really liked that kid.

-->

Harry paced. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do with himself. Hermione sat on the edge of their bed and watched him patiently. Finally, when he crossed in front of her again, she reached out, grabbed his arm and yanked him down beside her. “Stop.”

Harry gaped at his wife. “What?” He started to rise again, but her grip was too strong.

“I know you're worried, Harry, and I know you wish they'd have come home with us last night, but they're all adults. We have to accept that. And at least Draco stayed there last night. That has to make it a little easier knowing that one of your very best friends was on their couch in case anything happened. And Sebastian came to get him, saying that they'd all feel better with someone there.” Hermione looked at her husband. “That shows maturity and responsibility.”

“He's my son.” Harry said, as if that explained everything. And to Hermione, it did.

“I gave birth to him Potter, and don't you forget it.” She said, grinning, and slapping his arm. “That has to count for something. Look, everything's fine. We're going to go over there in a little bit and check on things, talk about setting up a schedule so one more experienced witch or wizard stays there each night.”

Harry sighed, twined his fingers with Hermione's. Nearly nineteen years of marriage and he still got butterflies from her. “I love you, `Mione.”

“I love you, too Harry.” She leaned against him, and he realized that she was as worried and as scared as he was. “I hate that he's grown up.” She whispered. “That we can't shelter him from the things that go bump in the night. He's too much like we were at his age. Ready to do whatever it takes to bring down the problem. I think we must know how your parents felt when they came back.”

Harry chuckled. “They adjusted better than us.”

“Because one second they had a baby and the next they had an adult son. We remember his first step, his first word, the first time he got into Draco's hair gel. His first broom, when we sent him to Hogwarts, seeing him Sorted. The first Quidditch match, the first girlfriend.” Hermione smiled softly. “And we've got three more to go through it with. Gabriel and Alastair are already itching to help.”

“But Gabriel's only sixteen.” Harry protested painfully. “And Alastair's fifteen. The next thing we know, Abby is going to be taking on Dementors.”

“She's going to be twelve, Harry. Same as Gabriel will turn seventeen in November, and Alastair will be sixteen in November.”

“They aren't our babies anymore.”

“Sure they are. They're just growing up. Nothing we can do to stop it. They'll always be ours, Harry. They'll always need us for something.”

Harry looked defeated. “I just wish they were still little.”

Hermione laughed. “We've still got three in the house. Abby'll be here for another six years. Don't get too morose yet. We have to let them grow up and discover who they are. It's natural. We did it.” She grinned. “God, doesn't Sebastian remind you of yourself? And Noah and Carys. They're just like the three of us were when we moved out on our own.”

“Much less damaged, thank Merlin.”

“They all have their own problems. Sebastian is head over heels. You know that right?”

Harry chuckled. “Completely starry-eyed. And Carys doesn't have a clue. She isn't interested, either.”

“How do you know that? Sebastian is gorgeous, he's incredibly smart, a completely wonderful man.” Hermione was chagrined that anyone could not be attracted to her son. “He's perfect.”

Harry looked at his wife, both eyebrows raised. “Of course he is. But he's also stubborn as an ass, opinionated more than you, cocky as hell and knows he's perfect.”

Because she knew Harry was right, she decided to change the subject. “Did you know Draco and Ginny were talking about having another baby?”

“No. I thought they were done.”

“So did they. Ginny's only thirty eight.”

“She's going to be thirty nine before long.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “I'm going to be forty. Does that mean I'm too old to have a baby?”

Harry shook his head vehemently. “No. Ginny isn't too old. I just meant that the twins are Gabriel's age. That's a pretty big difference.”

“No more than you and your sisters. And the three of you are extremely close.”

“Despite the face that they're the same age as my son.”

“Despite that.” Hermione looked at Harry sideways. “Harry.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you mean what you said about wanting them little again?”

Harry nodded. “Why? Do you know a spell?”

“No. I can't make them young. But there's no reason we can't have another.”

That took him by surprise. “But you don't want more kids.” He said, leaning back on his elbows. He had wanted as large a family as he could talk her into. She'd put her foot down at four. Since that was more than he'd ever imagined he would get a chance to have, he hadn't argued about it. He'd never thought he'd get a chance to be a father. Four was a miracle. One had been a miracle.

“I didn't want more kids eleven years ago.” Hermione countered. “I was twenty nine when Abby was born, and that was plenty for me. But I miss having a little one here. And the doctor says I'm in great shape and that there's no reason I can't have another one.”

“You talked to the doctor?”

“I just wanted to make sure that it was physically okay for me to before I mentioned anything. Ginny and I talked about it last week. That we were both missing having small children.”

“And Luna?”

“Doesn't. She wants to get the triplets raised.” Hermione laughed. “They're fifteen and driving her up the wall. Especially Michael. And Vivien and Celeste have gone boy crazy. So has Jordyn, but she's sixteen.”

Harry waved one hand and the door shut with a solid click. “You really want another baby?”

“I'll be saying something different when I'm forty and have to get out of bed every two hours, but yeah. I do.”

He grabbed her around the waist and they rolled across the bed. “Okay.”

888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sebastian woke first, despite the fact that he'd been the last to fall asleep. Draco was sprawled on the couch, his blanket on the floor beside him. Deciding to wait on starting breakfast, Sebastian showered and dressed for the day in jeans and a sweater. When he yanked the sweater over his head, he realized that it was one of Noah's that had gotten mixed in with his. Noah was a couple inches shorter that Sebastian's six three, and much more muscular across the chest and shoulder. Which meant that the sweater didn't come close to fitting. Yanking it off, he padded into the kitchen in jeans and nothing else.

He was at the coffee pot pouring himself a cup when he heard a door open and close. Carys stumbled into the kitchen, heading straight for coffee. Laughing under his breath, Sebastian handed her the cup he'd already poured and got out another mug.

It took a minute for Carys' vision to clear. She was not a morning person and it always took a couple gulps of strong coffee and a few seconds for her brain to defuzz and start functioning again. When it did, she was faced with a shirtless Sebastian. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, as they'd lived in the same house all their lives. But it was incredibly early in the morning, and she was too sleepy to coach herself that it was Sebastian's chest, and not just the chest and torso of a very strong, well toned, gorgeous male.

She felt pure female appreciation rise up, and she cocked one eyebrow at him. She was a good six inches shorter than he was, so he really couldn't see the expression on her face. “Been working out?” she asked innocently, sitting at the table. She heard Sebastian chuckle.

“Always do.” He said, walking back to his bedroom. She had to watch his retreat, and noticed that he had a very nice back as well. And the boy had a butt. Shame she'd never noticed before. Oh well, better late than never, she supposed.

What the hell was she doing? Carys caught herself in shock. She'd been checking him out! With her father in the next room! Albeit he was asleep, but he was still there. And Sebastian was Draco's godson. Which made him her quasi brother. Oh, she was sick! He was practically related to her!

Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she downed the rest of the coffee in one long gulp. She saw Draco stirring out of the corner of her eye and got up to fix his coffee. He was exactly like his daughter in the mornings. Unable to function without a shot of caffeine.

“I didn't know you were going to stay.” Carys commented when Draco was capable of speech. He offered his eldest child a small smile.

“Thought you might need me. You always had nightmares after a good crying jag when you were younger.”

Carys didn't tell Draco that the only reason he hadn't been waken by her screams was because she'd put a soundproofing charm on her bedroom. She'd waked at four drenched in sweat and screaming her lungs out. She walked around the table and wrapped her arms around her father. “I love you so much, Daddy.”

Draco hooked one arm around his daughter. “I love you too, Carys.”

“I'm glad you stayed.”

“Anytime you need me, I'll be here, remember?”

Carys nodded, moved to the stove. “Pancakes or French toast?”

“Pancakes. I'll get the sausage on.”

Together, father and daughter worked. Cooking breakfast was a job they had always liked to do together. She would make the pancakes or waffles, he would fry eggs or sausage or bacon or whatever. He did the same thing with Jordyn. He and Julian didn't cook together, they would play video games, or polish their brooms. He'd always spent a lot of one-on-one time with his children. It was why they were all so close. Nothing went on in their lives that he didn't know about. They trusted him not to get angry and to understand what they were going through. He'd never punished them for coming to him and telling him about some mistake they'd made or something that they'd done or needed to talk about. He never lectured or yelled, just advised.

Carys looked over at her father. “Dad, can I ask you something?”

Draco nodded. “You know you can.”

She sighed deeply. “You knew Mom for years before you got together.”

“Yeah. Six, I think.”

“You didn't always like her.”

Draco's brow furrowed. “No. We hated each other until after I graduated and she was supposed to be in her seventh year.”

“When did you know you were attracted to her?”

“When she kissed me while we were trying to rescue Lily, James, and Sirius.”

“I ran into Sebastian this morning.”

Carys was confusing him, but he imagined she'd get to her point eventually. “And that's something new?”

“No. I see him every morning. I've seen him every morning since I've been alive. But this morning he beat me up, which never happens and I looked at him before I'd waken up good.”

“And?”

“He wasn't wearing a shirt. Looked like one of Noah's found it's way into his laundry again from the sweater he had tossed over his shoulder. I've seen him shirtless plenty of times, but never when my brain was still fuzzy.”

Draco thought he was catching on. “Liked what you saw, huh?” he nudged Carys with his shoulder, grinning at her.

“Yeah. And it was weird. Normally the first thought that hits me when I see him like that is `It's only Sebastian, nothing new.' This morning it was more along the lines of `yum.'”

Draco managed to control the wince, though just barely. His baby was grown up, and she was going to start talking to him about more adult things. And since he always wanted to know what was going on in her life, he had to deal with it. Get used to it. “Okay. Was it a fluke?”

“It has to be. We're related.”

“You are not.”

“You're his godfather.”

“Which means absolutely nothing. Hermione's your godmother. That doesn't mean that you're related to her. Carys, the only thing familial between you two is the fact that you were raised together. There's nothing wrong with you being-“ Draco had to gulp at the word. “attracted to Sebastian. You're both unrelated, single adults.”

“I'm making you uncomfortable, huh?”

Draco nodded. “Just a little. But keep going. This is what I'm here for. I want you to talk to me.”

“I could talk to Mom.”

“Who'd just tell me about it anyway.” Draco laughed. “This is no more disconcerting than when your mother called me when you were thirteen and asked me to pick up tampons for you.”

Carys turned bright red. “She didn't!”

“Oh, she did. She was working a double at the hospital and gave me strict instructions on where to put them so you'd think she'd gotten them for you.”

“Is it too late to kill her?”

“Yeah. Though I was the same color you are now when I stopped at the drug store. So I can take this, Carys. That was much worse.”

“Okay.” Carys nodded, as if bracing herself. “Does he like me? As more than a friend?”

Draco knew he could make it easy on her and tell her that yes, he did. But matter of the heart weren't meant to be easy. “You have to stumble through this on your own, baby. I'm here when you need to talk, but you have to figure out how he feels on your own.”

“I thought you were going to say that.” She looked at the plate of pancakes she'd made, turned to face the hallway. “Sebastian! Noah! Get your butts out here! Breakfast!”

It took them all of ten seconds.

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I know that this was like a filler chapter, but I figured that after the last two there needed to be a little bit of lightness in here. After all, this isn't just about the Dark Knight. It's about Sebastian and Carys getting together as well. This is setting the stage for that in a few chapters.

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Chapter 8. I'm amazed that this is going as well as it is. I never really thought that I would be able to take this anywhere. It was an idea that got lodged in my head and just wouldn't ease up until I put it on paper, so to speak, though this is more like electronic paper and not real paper. Oh well, I'm rambling, and I don't want to be, so on with chapter eight. Hopefully there will be a little more action and less boredom in this one. So, on with the story.

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Sebastian faced his parents, godparents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Also present was Oliver Wood, Alisa, their three children, including Noah's girlfriend Olivia, who was starting her seventh and final year of Hogwarts, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks. Their children were nowhere to be seen. There were two of them, one at university and the other with Tonks' parents for the summer.

“Okay. Now that you've seen all of our research,” he looked at his mother pointedly, “and gone over every inch of every book I used to get it from, what do you think?”

Harry was having very little luck not laughing at the exchange between his wife and son. It was quite humorous. Hermione cleared her throat. “Sebastian, your research was correct. I couldn't find one hole in any of it. Having said that, I still think that it's a little unlikely that we're dealing with a witch. There are reasons that the great, if you can call them great, evildoers, for lack of a better word, are always wizards.”

“That doesn't mean that it can't be a witch,” Carys said, “Aunt Hermione, I thought that to, until I looked at his research. Add to that the fact that Desdemona Knightley has been missing for twenty years, and that our new problem is being called the Dark Knight? It just seems a little obvious to me.”

“Exactly. Carys, I looked at the research. It's correct. There's nothing wrong with it. It's completely perfect.” Hermione shook her head at her son when he started to speak. “However, that's part of the problem. It's too perfect. Too right. Too obvious, and if there's anything we've learned over the past thirty years or so, it's that those things that seem to be obvious are most often the wrong things.”

Harry was, unfortunately, forced to disagree. “Herms, not always. I remember being eleven and swearing that Snape was evil and working for Voldemort. We didn't know we were right until five years later because no one wanted to believe what seemed to be obvious.”

Hermione glared at her husband. Harry suspected that Hermione wasn't going to put up more than a token protest, but that she would argue a little because she was upset that she hadn't come up with the theory herself. “Look, it's worth a look, but I don't want you to be disappointed if it turns out to be another wizard who's playing at being the Dark Knight. This person, whomever he or she, is, hasn't really put on much of a display yet.”

“You don't think attacking our children last night was much of a display?” Ginny demanded, gripping Carys' hand tightly. “I'd say that was a pretty damn large display of power.”

“Not compared to things that Lord Voldemort did.” Draco said gently. “It scared me too, Gin, but think about it. Possessing students, attacking Hogwarts, the TriWizard tournament, the Department of Mysteries, everything he did while we were in school was bigger than what this person has done. And yes, it is big. Whoever the hell it is has been gaining followers and power steadily for eleven years. I think that means it's safe to say that he or she has considerable power. Perhaps they're just choosing to be more modest about showing it off. Letting the public, specifically us, underestimate them and not go full out fighting. That's how battles are lost. By underestimating your enemy.”

Ron nodded, stopped pacing the living room. “I'm forced to agree with Draco.” he said mournfully. “I think we have to sit back and see what happens.” Before all the adults in the room could jump down his throat, he elaborated. “Not just sit and act all helpless. That's not what I mean. But we need to be able to judge what they've got, and we really can't do that from the front lines.”

“You think we should just go home and leave our children to face this on their own?” Ginny's voice rose with every word. “Over my dead body, Ronald Weasley. That is my daughter, and your son. It is our job to protect them and keep them safe.”

“That's not what I'm saying exactly. I just think that we should let them start, be right there to help if and when they need it, and just see if they're looking at the kids as a major threat.”

Harry thought he grasped what Ron was saying, but thought that his best friend wasn't expressing himself well. “Okay, let's see if I can say this any better. The kids are adults, as much as none of us want to admit it. They are. They are capable wizards and witch. And if we keep them from doing this, we are hypocrites, because we were much younger when we started fighting Voldemort. We need to be available for help. But not interfere. Because ultimately, the main goal is to bring the Death Eaters and their new leader down for good. And that's going to be easier to do if they think they're fighting three teenagers and not us. It's the same principle as us being able to defeat Voldemort. We were severely underestimated because we were young and inexperienced. It's an advantage. One we don't have anymore.”

“No,” Hermione said, “But we do have an advantage. People are scared of us. Death Eaters don't want to mess with us. That's a powerful advantage too.”

Harry took his wife's hand. “'Mione, we've always known that eventually we would have to step back and let them do their own thing. I think this is that point. However, one of us will be staying here each night in rotation. Very low key, no one will know about it outside this room.” He looked at Oliver and Alisa. “You two don't have to stay, but we thought you should be aware, because of Olivia and Mikayla probably spending a lot of time here.”

Wood nodded. “I know we don't have to, but they're our family too.” he said, and Alisa nodded. “We'll stay too.”

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Carys paced around the library, holding one thick book in her hand, several more spread out on the desk. Every few minutes, she would switch books so that she could read a passage. She was researching all of the known Death Eaters and other major dark witches and wizards through out the ages. She was mainly trying to lend credibility to their theory that the Dark Knight was a woman.

“Sebastian! Noah!” she yelled, hurrying to the door. “Come here, I think I found something!”

Noah got there first, “What?”

“Wait for Sebastian. He needs to hear this too.” She waited until Sebastian walked in. “Look at this.”

Sebastian peered at the place where she was pointing. “What about it?”

Carys resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to explain the significance to the men. “Look, this chapter is completely dedicated to dark witches. It's one I nipped from the Restricted Section at Hogwarts. McGonagall ordered it cleaned out and I managed to grab a few before they were pitched. This is Advanced Dark Arts and the Craft of Evil Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“So why doesn't my mom know about this?” Sebastian asked, making a very valid point. He should have expected, however, that Carys would have a very logical, and extremely plausible answer.

Because the last time anyone did anything to the Restricted Section, Dumbledore was Headmaster and he had all the really bad books disguised. This was under the title, `How to Turn Yourself Into a Werewolf.' Our parents never really needed to learn that. I was intrigued, but when I opened it, the pages were blank. I had to decloak it and never got around to actually reading it. Look, the important thing is that for every dark wizard from the time of Merlin, there has been an equally great dark witch. It's all part of the balance. Male and female.”

“There have not always been an equal number of dark witches and wizards. There aren't an equal number of witches and wizards period.”

“No, but think about it, Sebastian, it's your damn theory anyway. This is all about dark powers rising, and a very renowned scholar of the dark arts wrote it. He lived about five hundred years ago, was the greatest alchemist before Nicholas Flamel, and invented the Draught of the Living Dead.”

Sebastian held up a hand. “We don't need a biography on the author, we need to know what the hell is so important about the book he wrote.”

“Okay, but this is really important history and should not be ignored. I mean without his contributions-“

Noah cut her off. “Carys! What is so important?”

“Aside from Voldemort, every dark lord has been killed by a dark witch that attempted to take over his post as the Dark Queen. Harry was the first wizard to defeat a dark wizard and kill him.”

Noah perched on the desk. “Voldemort was smarter than your average cookie.”

“And very interested in the Dark Arts.” Carys continued. “I also nipped the old library check out book. I imagine Dumbledore put it there as a joke, but it's really very invaluable in judging who was a possible Death Eater and who was not- anyway,” she said before she could get interrupted again, “that isn't the important thing. The important thing is that Tom Riddle checked out the book `How to Turn yourself Into a Werewolf' while he was in school. Which could mean that he was smart enough not to put himself in the position to meet the same fate as all of his predecessors.”

“Meaning that he wasn't the original Death Eater. More like their spokesperson.”

Carys elaborated. “The five star general waging the way, and biding his time until he could overthrow the Prime Minister. Exactly.”

“We have to show this to our parents.” Noah said, tucking the book under his arm. “This is very important. I don't know why this pattern hasn't been realized before.”

“Because typically the witches didn't get very far because no one wanted to follow the command of a witch. Very sexist, but true. No dark witch ever rose to any amount of notoriety. Not one. Voldemort would have known that. He also would have known who the most powerful dark witch of the time was.”

“Desdemona.” Sebastian said, his brain fully wound around the idea. “Bloody brilliant on his part. He gets to wage his war and doesn't have to worry about being killed by a dark witch greater than him. It's playing the odds, but it worked for him. And her. She got to technically run the show, and he got to be a Dark Lord. After his death, she gets to really take over and start rising.”

“Now all we have to do is figure out how to find her.” Carys said, twirling her wand idly between her fingers. “Any brilliant ideas on how we go about that?”

Sebastian nodded. “Actually, yes. I've got a couple.”

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She walked the length of her chambers slowly, her back turned to the four men that bowed on the stone floor. She wasn't really angry with them. She'd expected the first batch of young, unseasoned Death Eaters to be defeated by the three teenagers. It hadn't surprised them. But to be defeated so easily, that was the problem.

“I never want to be embarrassed again. We must make a statement.” She nodded to the four of them. “You are one third of the governors. Enough to start a movement. I want new legislation drafted. Malfoy, rest his black soul was, on the right track with the purification of the wizarding schools. That will outrage the public, make them easier targets. Tomorrow night, once you've outraged the public, I want a team of our best Death Eaters to attack and battle the teenagers. I want the originals. Those who followed my father. Inferi. I want Inferi. I will personally see to them. I want them chosen very exclusively. Those who will haunt our would-be heroes.

“We will be moving immediately. This place has served its need. It is too conspicuous. I have already prepared a place. Randomized and Unplotable. Impossible to find unless you know exactly where you are going and are allowed in by the wards. Even Mudblood Hermione Potter's spell won't allow you in there. And once the teenagers have been injured, and we've done enough to interest their parents in what's going on, we will fight the battle.” She laughed, the sound frightening, “and unlike those before me, we will win. And the world will be mine. Until my successor takes over.” She grinned wickedly. “Carys Malfoy will be mine. Her soul is black as night. She just has to realize it. Give herself over to her destiny. And once she does, the circle is complete.”

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Here's chapter nine. Thanks to all those who have reviewed this story so far. I really appreciate it. This is coming along very nicely, and I still think that I might beat the length of KYEC with this. No promises, but that's what I think. Though you all probably know from previous experience that what I think, and what transpires are usually two completely different things. My muse is in control of this. Not me. Though I desperately wish that I was. There's just a teeny bit of fluff in this one. Not too much, but a bit. And then I sort of wash it out with another mini battle scene. I know that was a complaint that I got with KYEC. Not enough action. Well, I'm trying to fix that problem in this one. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to leave a review! I thrive on feedback!

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Sebastian, as soon as they'd moved in to the apartment, had put together a gym in the room that had originally been designed as a Muggle laundry room. It was cramped, but worked for what he needed, which was a place for his weights. He'd played Quidditch since his first year, taking after his father, and took pride in the shape he was in. Which meant that he worked out several times a week. He was on his weight bench, in fact, when Carys shouldered open the door and slid into the narrow room.

“Hey.” She sat down on the edge of the bench and he put his weights down and sat up.

“Hey. What's up?”

Carys ran a hand through her hair. “Just wanted a bit of a break from the books. Noah took over. He's gonna give it an hour or two before we call it a night. Uncle Oliver is due over anytime now and he wants to be hard at work and very impressive when he gets here.”

Sebastian chuckled. Despite the fact that Noah had known Wood all of his life, the second that he had started dating Olivia, Noah had begun trying to impress the family friend. Wood laughed at him quite a bit, but let him do what he wanted to.

“He doesn't need to impress Uncle Oliver.”

“I know that, you know that, he doesn't know that.” Carys tucked her hair behind her ear. “I wanted to run an idea by you.”

“Okay.”

“I think the idea about them using the old Malfoy manor and possibly the place that Voldemort stayed with some of the other Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley. But,” she paused, glared at him as he rolled his eyes. He'd known there was a but coming. “But,” she continued, “I think that it's more likely that they're in the process of moving somewhere else. Somewhere Unplottable. Or possibly someplace that moves around.”

Sebastian's eyebrows went up. “Someplace that moves around?”'

“It isn't impossible, Sebastian.” Carys said patiently. “I think it happens to be quite likely. Someplace that you can't fly to or Apparate to unless you've already been there? Brilliant, I think.”

“If it is - moving around,” Sebastian still said it as if he wasn't entirely sure she hadn't lost her mind, “then we're screwed.”

“It's called Randomized,” Carys told him patiently, “And places have been Randomized before. It doesn't occur often, but it does occur.” Her brow furrowed as she thought. “Though right off hand all I can think of is a cartoon I liked to watch when I was a kid. Anyway, I've read about places before. Mount Olympus was said to be Randomized, Atlantis is a good example. It's hard to do, and takes years of preparation, which is why it's done so little, but it is possible. And no, we aren't screwed. No matter how random things are, if it's been going for a while, there's a pattern. It just depends on how determined you are to find it. And I've been working on a spell with your Mom. Aunt Hermione thinks it could work. She's also working on another Undetectable spell to get in under the wards and keep us undetected while we're there.”

“Good. If anyone can do it, it's you and Mom. I imagine you'll get it figured out long before we figure out where exactly it is that we're going. In the meantime,” Sebastian reached across her to snag the Daily Prophet. Since Lavender Brown had taken it over several years earlier, the content of the paper had become much more reliable. “we need to deal with this. Apparently this morning four of the Governors called a meeting. They're calling for the purification of Hogwarts. The removal of all Muggle born teachers and students, and the expulsion of all Squibs from the magical community.”

Carys gaped, grabbed the paper from her cousin. “What!? They can't do this! It's outrageous! Horrific! Grampa Arthur will never let them do this!”

“He can't stop the Governors right now. They have to sign the law, and then he can veto, but it works just like a Muggle government. They can override the veto with ten signatures.”

Carys was raging. “That is so stupid! I mean, Aunt Hermione is the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts for Merlin's sake! And her parents are both Muggles!”

Sebastian managed to keep a straight face. “I think I knew that seeing as she's my mother, Carys. This is just a diversionary tactic. The Dark Knight wants everyone's attention going in a thousand different ways so that she can step in and take over while everyone else is distracted with something else.”

Carys deflated. He made sense. She laid one hand on her forehead. “The sad thing is, it's working with me. I'm so distracted by that prophecy, and the Dark Knight and now this, and our parents and finding out where they're hiding, and getting ready for another attack, it's just got me frazzled.”

Sebastian would later swear that it was the night, that someone had woven a spell on him that he was helpless to break no matter how hard he tried. “I know a great way to soothe frazzled nerves.”

Carys laughed. “I'm willing to try anything at this point. Do your worst, Sebastian Potter.”

“Willing to try an experiment?”

“Sure. Why the hell not?”

Sebastian turned so that he was straddling the bench and facing her. Without giving himself a chance to chicken out, he leaned over and captured her mouth.

He was gentle with her, didn't do anything other than lay his mouth on hers. After a moment, the shock broke, and Carys slid her lips over his, curious as to if there way anything there. When he took her invitation and swept her lips open with his tongue and heat and flame coursed into and throughout her body, she discovered that, yes, there was undoubtedly something there.

He was very good at kissing. That was the only thought that Carys managed to latch onto. His mouth was clever, and his taste intoxicating. She'd never imagined that the boy she'd grown up with would turn into such a gorgeous and desirable man.

She wound her arms around his neck, returned his kiss feverishly. Tongues dueled, breath meshed, his hands fisted in her hair, dragging her head back to get a better angle to her mouth. She was responsive, and drugging. That was all he knew. That he didn't want to stop kissing her.

It was wild, and impulsive, an experiment to see if they'd been imagining the changing dynamics of their relationship. And it changed everything. Everything that had been a constant as long as they could remember. Nothing would be the same after that one kiss. The attraction hadn't been a product of circumstances or stress. No, once his mouth was on hers, Carys wondered if it hadn't always been there. Sebastian was thanking whatever God was listening that she hadn't thought him crazy.

When he yanked back from her, they were both breathing hard. Neither knew what to say, or do, or what came next. They sat and stared at one another, both trying to get their brains around the situation. They were both very analytical, and needed to sit back and look at the situation logically and rationally. They both knew that.

And then they were kissing again. Neither knew who had made the first move. It didn't matter, and they didn't care. The next thing they realized, she was in his lap and they were feverishly pressed together, mouths devouring each other.

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Oliver had arrived and Noah was desperate not to be alone with him. He dashed to the weight room, threw open the door, and saw Carys fall out of Sebastian's lap. He stood, stared, completely in shock as his cousin dragged her hand across her mouth as if trying to disguise the fact that she had been thoroughly kissed. Sebastian extended a hand, yanked her up, and was looking rather proud of himself.

Noah debated for a long minute. “Dammit, Sebastian.” was what he finally decided upon. “Am I going to have to kick your ass now?”

Carys shook her head. “No need for that, overprotective cousin of mine.” She eased past him, casting a grin over her shoulder. “Oh, and Sebastian? You got your little experiment. I want mine.”

“Which is?”

“A date. Tomorrow, dinner.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Whatever you want.” He looked at Noah. “I really can't believe that went as well as it did.”

“I can. Good thing she endorsed it though, or I would have punched you.”

“You would have tried to punch me. What's that?”

Noah followed Sebastian's gaze out the window. There were several people standing below their apartment, looking up. Sebastian didn't recognize them, but had a feeling that his parents would. They were all in their forties or older, and were wearing the traditional Death Eater robes.

“They can't be attacking us again. Not this soon. It would draw too much attention to them.”

Sebastian yanked his shirt over his head and grabbed his wand from the windowsill. “Which is exactly what they want.” He wrenched open the door and walked to the living room window. “They know we see them. Ten, maybe twelve of them are down there. My God, who do those people look like?”

Noah craned his neck to see. “Good Lord. A couple of them look like Snape. Pictures I've seen, of course, since he was dead before we were born, but they look like him. Did he have kids?”

“Not that we knew of. Mom and Dad would have known though. Go get Carys.” Sebastian walked out on to the balcony and looked down at the Death Eaters. Everyone else had fled to their houses and apartments, scared of the dozen dark witches and wizards. He recognized almost all of them. From pictures that he'd seen in old Daily Prophets. As the pieces clicked into place, he ran back in the apartment, nearly collided with Wood.

“What's going on?” Wood demanded, pushing past his nephew.

“They've broken out of Azkaban.”

“Who's broken out of Azkaban?”

“All the Death Eaters that survived the war.”

Wood looked down and saw old classmates, men and women younger than him that he had fought nearly twenty years earlier. “Merlin have mercy, you're right. They can't break through the wards that your parents put up.”

Sebastian waved his wand. “Now they can.”

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The battle was very uneven. Three teenagers and one well trained wizard against a dozen hardened Death Eaters. All four knew that going in, but they also knew that they couldn't afford to appear scared of the Death Eaters.

Noah found himself facing Crabbe and Goyle. They were scarred from their years in Azkaban, their eyes dull and lifeless, glinting only when they were casting spells. And they had increased their power. It was all Noah could do to block all the spells.

Sebastian was taking on the two Snape lookalikes. He was holding his own, though they were both at least a decade older than him and very well trained. He was getting in some curses and hexes of his own. The two men weren't as lifeless as the rest, but they exuded evil. Sebastian thought that they were probably pretty far up on the Death Eater chain of command. The Dark Knight had decided to use the big guns instead of sending less important players.

Carys was handling the three females of the group. Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and a strange woman around her own age that she recognized as a distant cousin from her grandmother's nephew. Augusta Zabini. Her father, Blaise, was an Auror and worked for the Order of the Phoenix. Augusta had left home at fifteen to join her grandparents in the Death Eaters. Blaise still wasn't quite over losing his eldest child.

Wood handled the other five. They were strong, and they were evil. Had as much training, if not more than he did. But he was more powerful. He blocked their curses and hexes and sent them back. He didn't want to kill them, as he knew they weren't there to kill Sebastian, Carys, Noah and him. It was a show of power.

Sebastian watched their second couch be Obliterated seconds after he leapt behind it. He stood, pointed his wand at Crabbe. “Crucio!”

The bigger man waved his hand and the spell reflected off of him and was absorbed by the wards. “Come on, Potter, you can do better than that. We all know you're the son of the Boy Who Lived. Show us what you're made of.”

“No, I don't think I will.” Sebastian twirled his wand, mentally preparing himself to cast a wandless spell. He'd been practicing it, but hadn't yet gotten very good. Carys exceeded him greatly in that area. “See, my parents are two of the most powerful wizards of our time. Dad defeated Voldemort, Mom's Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and single handedly captured or killed over a hundred Death Eaters. I have a lot to live up to. And I'm not about to waste my time on the likes of you!” Sebastian forced the spell from his mind and the Cruciatus Curse hit Crabbe squarely. The larger man fell to his knees, howling with the strength of the curse.

Carys grabbed Sebastian's arm and dragged him out of the way a millisecond before a Killing Curse smacked into him. She spread her arms and lifted her wand. “Pulsato!” she yelled, using one of Hermione's famous spells. All the Death Eaters in the room were knocked over by a sonic wave. Knowing that the battle was over, they Disapparated.

Noah limped over. “Nicely done.”

Sebastian looked at Noah and Carys. “Yeah, but we didn't come out as on top that time.” He commented, taking stock of their injuries. He had what he was nearly positive was a broken nose and a couple fractured ribs. Crabbe had been as amicable to hand to hand as he was. Noah was bleeding from many gashes, obviously having been struck by the sectum sempra curse. Carys was nursing a broken wrist and a severely bruised jaw. Wood came out of it the best, as was expected, and had nothing more than a couple of bruises.

“Okay, kids, let's get you guys all healed up. Call Ginny Sebastian. You're the least hurt one. Noah, sit down and try not to bleed on the recliner.”

Noah looked at Wood. “Why the bleeding hell not? Every other piece of furniture we have is destroyed.”

Wood surveyed the steaming burnt to a crisp pieces of furniture. “You're right. Bleed away, mate. I may just have to call Olivia to come baby you.”

“That's not necessary.” Noah, to his eternal consternation took his vocabulary after Percy, and was an expert at managing to sound pompous. Wood laughed and went about healing the gashes.

“Whatever you say. My God you three are just like your parents.”

Carys grinned. “Which is exactly why we're going to win this.” She plucked a wand from the floor. “Sebastian, my wave knocked this out of the hand of one of those Snape wannabe's. Aunt Hermione can trace it to a maker and look at it's spell history. It'll tell us a lot about the one at least.”

Hermione came through the fireplace, having just Flooed over. “Well let me have a look at it then. Sebastian, go clean up your nose.” Her sharp caramel gaze swept around the room. “Well, well, well. I take it you didn't like the furniture Carys picked very much. We're going to have to find you another apartment.”

The three teenagers exchanged looks. Progress was definitely being made if their parents weren't going to try to convince them to go home. Sebastian spoke. “Actually, Mom, I think we'd like to come back to the house for a bit.”

Noah nodded. “Best bloody idea you've had yet. Can't get any work done with Death Eaters constantly burning the place down.”

Carys echoed the sentiment. “We'll still have the option of moving out again, obviously, but we could use the help, Aunt Hermione. We have training, and research. And they didn't send lackeys this time. There were some rather strong witches and wizards in the group.”

Hermione nodded, barely able to restrain her glee. She whipped her wand around the room and boxes started packing themselves in every room. “We'll put the dishes and such in the basement for storage, and you can take your clothes with you. Carys, I understand you have some research to show me when we get home?”

Carys nodded. “See, I found this cloaked book-“

The boys groaned as Hermione's interest turned rapt.

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And there we have chapter nine. I hope you enjoyed the mini battle scene. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco and Ginny will be in things a little more now, but the focus is still going to be on the kids. And in the end, they're going to have to do it by themselves. There's a little humor planned for later that I think you'll all enjoy, which is part of the reason they're moving back. Next chapter will be an investigation into the old Malfoy Manor. Carys and Draco will have to face some demons of their history, and the Dark Knight will raise some Inferi. Any ideas on who she is yet? I know, and I'd LOVE to hear your theories! So review and tell me what you think!

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Here's chapter 10. I think that this is coming together well and that everything is falling into place. As promised, this chapter will contain a trip to Malfoy Manor and the raising of the Inferi. The identity of the Dark Knight will be revealed within the next few chapters. I'm thinking I might reveal her around chapter 17. Can't promise, because I haven't written it yet, but that's what I'm shooting for. I think you're all going to be surprised. I actually had thought of making her someone, and then changed my mind and made her someone else. Someone that would affect Carys, and therefore Noah and Sebastian more.

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Sebastian was back in his room. He'd unpacked his things by noon and spent the rest of the day planning his date with Carys. He wasn't entirely sure she remembered the fact that they were supposed to go out, but he was determined that he was going to remind her of it. He made reservations at a restaurant in Venice, Italy, thinking that they could Apparate into the nearest Wizarding village, and walk into the city. She knew that Draco and Ginny had taken the kids there when Carys had been ten, but to his knowledge she hadn't been back since.

He was standing in front of his closet, debating between the black tie and the emerald green one that matched his dress shirt when Draco rapped on the door and walked in. His godfather took one look at Sebastian, in a pair of dress slacks, dress shirt, with the suit jacket tossed over the chair and lifted an eyebrow.

“I see you got over Carys quick. Who's the lucky girl?”

Sebastian waved one hand and the door shut behind Draco. “I'm taking Carys out to dinner.”

Draco was shocked enough that he had to sit down. “You're taking my little girl out on a date.”

Sebastian turned to face Draco. “Is that a problem?”

“Seeing as she's sitting downstairs in her pajamas watching the newest horror flick with Abby and Jordyn? It could be.”
“I want to keep her off balance.” He sat down beside Draco. “We agreed that I would take her out on a date tonight, but with the attack and the stress and getting moved back in today, I think she's forgotten.”

“I'd say so. I think I'll go remind her. Subtly.” Draco added when Sebastian started to protest. “But before I do, what have you got planned?”

Sebastian grinned. “I'm taking her to Venice. Great little restaurant. Ventimiglia's.”

Draco whistled. “Fancy. Please tell me you have reservations.”

“Seven thirty. I called about noon and set it up. I figured we'd do the fancy dinner and wine thing, then walk around the city, maybe a gondola ride, and then I'm taking her for ice cream.”

Draco would have laughed at the end of the date Sebastian had planned had he not known his daughter's addiction to double chocolate chunk ice cream. She could, and had, on many occasions, eaten an entire quart in one sitting. “Sebastian, this is putting me in a bit of a bind. I want to give you advice on how to make it a wonderful date because you're my godson and that's what I've always done for you. But this date is with my daughter. And that makes me want to tell you to take her someplace she'll hate so that she'll never go out with you again. And I think you know enough to know that that isn't anything personal.”

Sebastian walked to the mirror to check his hair, again studied the two ties. “I won't hurt her. You know me too well to think I'll take advantage of her. I love her, Uncle Draco.”

Draco headed for the door. “I know you do. Which is why I'm not trying to ruin this for you. And wear the black tie.”

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Carys jumped as the killer stabbed yet another helpless female. She absolutely adored Muggle horror movies. When she felt hands descend on her shoulders, it was her turn to scream. Draco's hand clapped over her mouth.

“Easy there, baby. It's just Dad.”

Carys turned around, slapped his arm. “You know better than to touch me while I'm watching a movie.”

“Normally yes. Just wanted to check and see what your plans for today were. With the Aurors giving you and Sebastian a couple days off, I thought maybe you two had planned something.”

Carys shook her head. “No, I don't think-oh crap.” She leapt off the couch, barely missed hitting her father. “Sorry, Daddy. Gotta go. I've got a date!” she paused at the top of the stairs. “Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“Does he remember that we're supposed to be going out?”

“He was debating on what to wear when I left his room.” Draco said honestly, following his daughter up the stairs.

“What should I wear?”

“A turtleneck and overalls.”

Carys giggled, kissed her father on the cheek. Draco hugged her tight for a long second. “Can you send Mom in?”

“Sure.”

Carys gripped Draco's fingers. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Draco lifted one eyebrow. “For what?”

Carys shrugged. “Being my Dad. I really lucked out.”

Draco smiled at his daughter, mind swamped with pictures of her growing up. “So did I.”

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Ginny stood in front of Carys' closet while her daughter showered. She was perusing the contents when an idea struck her. She hurried out of the room and into her own. She delved into her closet and removed a dress. One that she hadn't worn for twenty years.

Carys was waiting when Ginny got back. She'd used a drying spell on her hair, and was curling it with her heated wand. She was wrapped in only a towel. Ginny laid the dress on the bed. “Here. I think you'll like this.”

Carys looked past her mother to the silver sheath on the bed. It was fluid and absolutely gorgeous. “My God Mom, it's beautiful. I haven't ever seen you wear that.”

Ginny smiled softly. “That's because I haven't worn it in years. This is the dress that I wore on my first date with your father.” She held up a hand when Carys started to protest. “No, no, I don't think you're going to marry Sebastian, but for you to date him, to put yourself on the line with your best friend, that tells me that he has to mean more to you than the other boys. And that makes this special. Special enough for a great dress. I'd like you to wear it, Carys.”

Carys nodded. “Okay then. Thanks, Mom.”

“You're welcome.” Ginny sat on the bed. “Now, tell me, has he kissed you yet?”

Carys laughed, started on her makeup. “He has.”

“And is he good at it?”

Carys rolled her eyes, turned to face Ginny. “Having him kiss you without you being braced for it should be a crime.”

“Sounds just like his father.”

Carys gaped. “You've kissed Uncle Harry?”

“Yeah. We dated when I was in my fifth year for a few weeks. Come on, finish up. You don't want to be late. And I don't want to be in here when Sebastian gets here. Hermione's in there with him now.”

“Probably instructing him on how to treat a woman on a date.”

“Typical mothering stuff. Now, Carys, do I need to explain contraceptive potions to you?”

Carys laughed. “Mom, you explained those to me when I was fifteen.”

“Refresher course then.”

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Hermione paced back and forth in front of her son. “I can't believe you're going out with Carys.”

Sebastian put his hands on Hermione's arms. “Truthfully? Neither can I. it just sort of happened. I've like her for a long time, Mom.”

Hermione arched one eyebrow. “Do you think I don't know that?”
“Was it obvious to everyone?”

“No. It wasn't obvious to Carys. That's about the only person who wasn't aware of your crush.”

“It isn't a crush. I'm in love with her.”

Hermione felt tears well in her eyes. She hugged Sebastian tightly. “Oh sweetie. That does come as a surprise.” She sniffed once, then let her son go. “Fix your hair, get your coat, and go pick up your date.”

Sebastian ran his fingers through his raven locks, which had been carefully coaxed into place a la Draco, yanked on his suit jacket and headed down the hall. If he'd stayed for long, Hermione would have started to cry, and that was the last thing that he wanted to have happen.

He knocked on Carys' door lightly and she opened it. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw her.

Her dress was silver, clung to all her curves and had a deep V in the front and the back. Her hair was curled and clipped back from her face, with just a couple ringlets glancing off of her cheeks. With the heels that she'd chosen, her face was nearly even with his, and she'd done something to her face. Her cheeks were glowing and her eyes were bigger and brighter than normal, their silver brighter than even the silver of his eyes. Her lips were slicked with some sort of coppery substance and her eyelashes looked a mile long.

“What?” Carys demanded, breaking the spell. “Do I have chocolate in my teeth or something? I knew Mom shouldn't have given me that Reese cup.”

Sebastian laughed, took her arm in his. “No, no. No chocolate. I just haven't seen you so dressed up in a while. You look lovely.”

“Thank you. Shall we?”

Sebastian nodded. “We shall.”

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Carys was struck by all the time he'd put into arranging their date. When he'd Apparated them into the village, she'd been wondering why they were so dressed up to go eat in a wizarding pub. But he'd led her out and she'd found herself in Venice, Italy.

“Sebastian, my God, you didn't have to do all this.”

Sebastian led her down the street and turned a left. “I wanted to.” He grinned at her. “I like to make a good impression.”

“Well you definitely have.”

“Well then. Let's see if I can keep it up.” He opened the door to a small restaurant and ushered her inside. The maitr'd casually opened the reservation book. Sebastian took Carys' shawl and handed it to the woman at the coat check station. “Potter.”

“Very good, sir. Right this way.” The man picked up two menus and led them to a small corner table. They had a good view of the street and could watch all the people. “Is this satisfactory?”

Sebastian nodded, pulled out Carys' chair himself. “Fine, thank you.”

“Your waiter will be with you shortly.”

Carys gaped at Sebastian as he sat down. “Do this for all your dates?” she wondered out loud, not entirely sure that she wanted to know the answer.

“No.” he said, laying his napkin in his lap. “Normally a first date with me is a trip to the Leaky Cauldron and then the Shrieking Shack. You go to the Leaky Cauldron every week and the Shrieking Shack doesn't scare you. I don't tend to care if I get a second date most times.” He grinned at her and Carys realized why he was so popular with the opposite gender. “This time, I care.”

Carys was saved from responding when the waiter, dressed in a tuxedo came over to pour their glasses of water. “Would you like a wine list, sir?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Chianti.”

“Twelve or twenty years?”

“Twenty.”

“Excellent choice.”

Carys narrowed her eyes at Sebastian. “How do you know that?”

“I asked my Dad. It's what he suggested, and Mom agreed, so I imagine it's nice.”

“Sebastian, this is too much. I really only expected a movie and fast food.”

“Which is why I didn't do a movie and fast food.” He spied the waiter coming with their wine, sat back to go about the ritual of smelling the cork, swirling and tasting the wine. Once it was poured and they'd ordered their food they both relaxed a little. Sebastian looked toward the band, a couple violinists and a cellist and stood. “Let's dance.”

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He charmed her that night. With the romantic dinner, and dancing, the gondola ride and then ice cream on the river. By the time they got home, she'd have been inclined to agree to just about anything. But he just walked her to her door, kissed her cheek and headed down the hall to his own room. Ginny was waiting for Carys.

“How'd it go?” she demanded anxiously.

Carys sagged against the door. “Amazing. Absolutely amazing. He took me to Venice, Mom.”

“Italy?”

“Italy. Candlelit dinner, dancing, a gondola and ice cream.”

“Wow. He certainly is the romantic.”

“It was incredible. Absolutely incredible.”

“Going to go out with him again?”

Carys lifted one shoulder as she walked into her bathroom. “The ball's in his court. If he asks, I'll most certainly go.”

Ginny hated to burst her daughter's bubble. “Carys, your father wants to leave early tomorrow morning to go to the old Malfoy Manor. He thinks that the Dark Knight may have been using it as a resting place before moving to the new headquarters, wherever that is.”

Carys nodded. “I'll be ready at six.”

“Seven is fine. We're all going to go. Well, except for Luna and the younger ones. She claims that she's stayed out of the majority of the war against the Death Eaters and that she isn't going to start getting in it now. So it's Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Harry, Sebastian, Noah and us.”

“I'll be ready.”

Ginny kissed her daughter's forehead. “I'm glad you had a good time, baby.”

“So am I. don't know how many nights of fun I'll get to have now that we're at war again.”

Ginny smiled. She knew that feeling. It had led her to her husband. “You'll be fine. Get some sleep. We're getting an early start.”

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She walked around the cemetery with a sharp gaze. She had a list, and it would be followed exactly. The flask in her robes was filled with the potion needed to raise the corpses, but she had to find the right ones. She had most of them already. Adding the potion to the last two graves, she stood back and spread her arms.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Reverse the process and let them rise. Army of dead, rise to my bidding. To torture the living and rot the soul. To my command let them answer, to my will let them bend. As I will it, mote it be!”

The old Wiccan curse made the ground tremble and the headstones fall apart. No one used the old spells any longer. They were long and only good for a few things. Raising the dead was one of those things. She grinned as the corpses rose, one by one until she had an army. Made up of the Malfoy family, and Voldemort himself.

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Didn't get to the Malfoy Manor expedition, but it's coming up next, I swear! Review please! I need feedback! Hope you enjoyed their date. It took a little longer than I expected, but there it is, and I enjoyed it. Hope you did too.

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Okay, everyone. Updates won't be as regular now. I am leaving for college in about two hours, and I don't think I'll have the next one up until the weekend. I'm moving in and starting class and all that. Don't fear though. I have up through sixteen written, so I'm not forgetting about this, or even leaving you hanging for a long time, though this chapter is a bit of a cliffie. Anyway, review, please! I haven't gotten nearly enough reviews on this, especially after the amazing response that KYEC got. I'm a little disappointed. So, let me know what you think!

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Malfoy Manor hadn't been lived in, in more than twenty years. Not since Draco had moved out at eighteen. The house was cavernous, taking up at least three or four acres of land. It was built of stone, and exuded evil. When Carys saw it, she felt both repulsion, and a disconcerting tug toward it. She imagined her father felt the same thing.

Harry whistled softly, took his wife's hand. “I've never been this close to it before.”

Draco laughed. “It's much scarier inside than out.” He looked around, took in everything. The dead trees, the lack of the grass and the gardens that his mother had loved so much. It was just an empty, evil house. “Let's go. We'd might as well get this over with.” He led the way to the door and pushed it open.

The front room was huge. Antique tables covered with dust, a black chandelier, black marble floors that led to a grand staircase, which was, not surprisingly, carpeted in black. Draco swished his wand, and the chandelier lit, revealing what Harry imagined was the living room.

The furniture was all antique. Eighteenth century was Hermione's guess. The cabinets were filled with artifacts that she was itching to get her hands on, but knew that if she touched them, she'd be lucky to remain in possession of her hands. On the walls, the paintings were stirring, and they were granted glimpses of the Malfoy family. What shocked her was the portrait of Voldemort and Lucius and Narcissa.

“Draco.”

Draco had already seen them. “My father had them commissioned a couple months before I left. They were for the unlikliness that he and Mum and Voldemort would be killed.” He expelled a breath. “Look, let's just get this over with. Be careful when you touch something, because a lot of it will kill you. Carys, you, Sebastian and Noah go down to the basement. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, upstairs. Harry and I will take the main floor.”

Carys nodded, and led the two men to the stairs. Unconsciously, she reached for Sebastian's hand, not entirely sure what she was feeling about being in the house. She needed an anchor. “Let's go, but we have to stay together.”

Noah left the basement door open, should they need a quick escape. “What is your father expecting to find in here?”

Carys lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Expecto Lumos.” She said, and the candles lining the walls lit, allowing them to see. “He thinks that the Dark Knight may have been using this place as a base while they got the Unplottable and Randomized place ready. Which makes sense, if you think about it. Voldemort himself lived here.” She glanced around, shivered at the sight of all the weapons hanging on the walls. She imagined that the basement had been used as a torture chamber, among other things. It didn't even surprise her that her grandfather had had an affection for Muggle devices.

Sebastian dropped her hand and walked across the room to the bookshelves. “Carys, do you know if your grandfather kept journals?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

He held up one of the leather bound novels. “These. They don't look like textbooks, or any books at all. They're all handwritten.”

Noah snatched it away. “Don't touch those, mate. Remember, my mom got possessed by Voldemort in her second year through a diary.”

Carys took the book. “Yes, but it was blank and she was talking to it. This is decidedly different. This is full of words already.” She tapped it with her wand. “Yeah. They're just regular journals. But this writing isn't Lucius'.”

“Do you recognize it?”

Carys was flipping through. “Sebastian, these are Lord Voldemort's. Good Merlin, these could be invaluable to us.” She was flipping faster. “Spells, potions, curses. Seems he was very talented at development. Oh my.”

“What?”

“This is a record of his life. Not just the spells and potions he developed and the people he killed. This is a full list a recruitments, and names, things he did that we were never able to fully prove. This is everything. Do you realize the implications here? This is the biggest discovery in decades when it comes to stuff like this.”

Sebastian charmed the journals to box themselves up. “Okay, we'll read later. Let's get going.” He led the way into the chamber off to the side. As soon as they entered the room, Sebastian felt smothered by evil. “I think we found where he stayed.”

Noah nodded slowly. “So it seems. But the evil would have dissipated from Voldemort. He's been dead over twenty years. She must have stayed here too.”

“I think she did.” Carys murmured, running a finger down the arm of the throne that sat in the corner. She paused for a second. “Sebastian, Noah, get out of here.”

Sebastian touched her shoulder. “What's going on?”

“It's a trap.” Carys said matter of factly, her voice betraying the fear that she felt. Sebastian followed her gaze and saw the woman framed in the door leading to another chamber. The door had been hidden unless you stood at the side of the throne, so they hadn't been able to see her.

“Welcome.” She crossed the room to them, long black hair cascading down her back. She spread her arms as if to embrace Carys, and the doors slammed shut. “I've been waiting for you. All three of you.” She sat down in the throne, crossed her legs. “Sit, please.”

As if they'd just been waiting for her to speak, three chairs flew across the room and knocked Sebastian, Carys and Noah into them. “What the bloody hell do you want?” Sebastian demanded.

“Conversation at the moment. In the long run?” she pursed her lips. “To rule the world. Tell me, children, how is it that three recently licensed wizards managed to defeat a team of my best Death Eaters? Death Eaters that have killed and tortured many greater than any of you.”

Carys shrugged nonchalantly, trying desperately to ignore the fear that was clawing at her throat. “We wanted it more than they did?” she suggested boredly, crossing her own legs. She tossed her hair over one shoulder.

“Possibly. Maybe not though. I tend to chalk it up to luck.” She narrowed silver eyes at Carys. “Tell me, what did you think of your prophecy?”

“Well, the only part appealing was the part where I killed you.” She said sweetly. The smile was erased from her face as the woman cursed her with using neither wand nor voice. She writhed uncontrollably for a long minute, struck by the Cruciatus curse.

“That's enough of that. You'll mind your tongue and your manners when you speak to me. I won't tolerate insolence or disrespect.”

“You'll tolerate it from me.” Carys forced herself to her feet. “I bow to no one. I obey no one. And I will kill you. That part of my prophecy will be fulfilled. You will die at my hand. That I promise you.”

With a wave of her hand, Carys flew across the room and slammed into the wall. The Dark Knight smiled, and Sebastian was struck by the evilness of the woman. Noah ran to Carys' side while Sebastian faced the woman. He could vaguely hear his parents trying to get in. He knew though, that they wouldn't be able to.

Sebastian ran his fingers over the wand in his pocket. He wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but he'd seen a spell in Voldemort's journal as Carys was flipping through it. Before the woman realized what he was doing, he yanked out his wand. “Doleo aduro!” he yelled, and was amazed when she burst into flames.

He watched in terrified horror as the flames engulfed her, and she screamed as her skin was burned. He wasn't stupid enough to think that it would kill her. He didn't think that at all. But it hurt her. And if she could burn, and bleed, as she was, then she could be killed. All they had to do was find a way to accomplish that.

“Foolish boy,” she said as the flames flickered out, leaving her hair singed and her skin an angry red. “you have no idea what you have done. For your stupidity, you'll watch your friends die.” She pulled out her wand. “I want to do this the old way. Avada Kedavra!”

Sebastian shouted his spell at the same time. “Patronum!”

The Patronus the curse, but did nothing more than slow it down. Not thinking at all, let alone rationally, Sebastian leapt across the room, absorbing the curse into his own body. The last thing he heard before everything went black was Carys' scream.

Sebastian hit the floor with a dull thud, his head lolling back, limbs stiff. Carys couldn't tell if he was dead or not. No one but Harry had survived a killing curse aimed at them, but there had been a few cases of someone doing what Sebastian just had and surviving it.

The woman stood, angered by the three teenagers. “Next time we meet, children, you won't be so lucky. One death is two fewer than I had intended upon today. And Carys? Tell your grandparents hello for me.”

Carys was fighting tears and screaming. “Who are you?”

“All you need to know is that I am the Dark Queen. My name? Lamia.”

With that, she Apparated and the adults were able to force their way in. Draco slammed the door shut behind them. Ginny was the first to see Sebastian on the floor and Carys sobbing, his head in her lap. She grabbed Hermione as her friend saw her son.

“Oh my God, is he?” Hermione couldn't bring herself to say the word. Noah shook his head.

“He isn't dead. Uncle Harry, he took a killing curse square in the chest. It was aimed at me and Carys. He tried to use his Patronus, but it didn't affect the curse.”

Harry crouched, touched his fingertips to Sebastian's throat, let out a sigh of relief when he felt his son's pulse. It was weak and fast, but there. “Ginny, get him out of here. Take him home. We have to deal with this first.”

Carys didn't want to let him go, not even to let her mother take him home and take care of him. “Take care of what?”

Draco met his daughter's gaze. “The Inferi in the other room.”

And the last thing the Dark Knight had said suddenly made sense. Her eyes flashed. “She raised Lucius and Narcissa.”

“She raised our entire family. And Voldemort.” Draco corrected, helping his daughter off the floor. “Harry, you and Hermione go too. You should be with him in case-“ Draco trailed off, found that he, too, was unable to voice the possibility that his godson might not survive. He gripped Carys' hand firmly. “This is something meant for the two of us, baby girl.”

Carys nodded. “I know. Mom, will he be okay?”

Ginny offered her daughter a smile. “I hope so. Take care of her Draco.”

Noah stood up himself. “Uncle Draco? It was her. The Dark Knight. And she isn't Desdemona. She's younger than all of you.”

“We'll worry about that when we get home. Right now, get out of here.”

Draco waited until everyone had Apparated. In some way, they all understood that it wasn't Inferi that father and daughter was facing. It was their past. He dropped Carys' hand, picked her wand up off the floor and handed it to her. She took it, gripped it hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

“How do you kill Inferi?”

Draco grinned. “You blow them up or set them on fire.”

Carys nodded. “Let's go.”

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Sebastian would live. Ginny was sure of that several hours after she got him back to the house. Whether or not he would wake up? That was a different story. “Look, the best I can do is keep him stable. There is not treatment magic or Muggle that can make someone unconscious or in a coma wake up. It's up to him if he even does.” She laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder, near tears herself. “Herms, I love him as much as if I'd given birth to him myself. You know I would do absolutely anything I could to get him to wake up. There just isn't anything that I can do.”

Carys looked at her mother, eyes rimmed red from the crying she'd been doing. “It's my fault, Mom.”

Ginny hugged her daughter. “It is not. He's alive, you're alive, Noah's alive. That's two more people alive than would he have just stood there. He loves you, Carys. And would you have done the same thing had he been about to be killed?”

Carys nodded. “I would have.”

“Then you can't blame yourself. He made his choice, and it saved your life.”

“But I was the one who was making her angry.”

Hermione looked at Ginny. “Can you give us a minute?”

Ginny nodded, slipped from the room. Carys laughed bitterly. “Want to curse me without an audience? I wouldn't blame you.”

Hermione sat down next to Carys on Sebastian's bed. “Carys, when I was seventeen, Harry, Ron and I were in a situation similar to the one you found yourself in today. It was right after our sixth year ended. We had started hunting for the Horcruxes, weren't having any luck, and got ambushed by Death Eaters. God, I loved those boys.” She smiled, remembering back. “We were inseparable. Did everything together, went everywhere together. Harry was battling Bellatrix. I took on Crabbe and Goyle's fathers. Pretty good wizards. Strong. And I defeated them. Lucius Apparated in and cursed Harry with Avada Kedavra. I didn't think. I threw myself at him and took the curse myself. I woke up a week later. Harry and Ron hadn't left my bed once since they'd gotten me home. And ya know what?”

Carys looked at her aunt. “What?”

“I'd have done it again that very day is they would have needed me to. Being friends with someone like you are with Sebastian and Noah, and like I was with Harry and Ron means not thinking about yourself. Loving them like you do means being willing to do anything, even die, so that they can live. I was willing to die so that they didn't have to. Harry and Ron, your parents, they've put themselves on the line many times so that I didn't get hurt or killed. That's why Sebastian did what he did for you and Noah. He loves you, and he'll do anything in the world to make sure that you stay safe. And you'd do the same thing for him.” Hermione was about to cry. “If he dies, he'll have died doing something worthwhile. And if he dies, it won't be anyone's fault but that of the woman who cast the spell.”

Carys slowly nodded, the fact that Sebastian's mother didn't blame her helping immensely. “Thanks, Aunt Hermione.” Carys watched Hermione walk to the door. “Her name is Lamia. She told us that. And the box Noah brought with him is full of Voldemort's journals. There are a lot of spells and potions I've never heard of in there.”

Hermione nodded. “I'll bring them up. It'll give you something to do while you wait for him to wake up.” She stopped, turned. “Can I ask you something totally none of my business?”

Carys nodded. “Sure.”

“Do you love him?”

Carys met Hermione's gaze, woman to woman. “I think I might.”

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Carys looked at Noah and Hermione, who were with her in Sebastian's room. A week had passed and he still hadn't waken. She rarely left his bed, and Noah left it only when absolutely necessary. They both felt incredibly responsible for what had happened to him. The good news was that their employers understood the situation and didn't make a big deal out of them missing their respective training sessions. The good news was that they'd read through just about all of Voldemort's journals and found a lot of spells and potions that did an array of gruesome things. Hermione thought that they could successfully be used on the Dark Knight as she wouldn't be prepared for them.

“Okay, what we do know is that the Dark Knight isn't Desdemona.” Carys said, gesturing to the chart she'd made. “But, what we do know from the journals is that it was Desdemona that Voldemort trained with, that taught him and instructed him in the Dark Arts. She was the one who he answered to, and she was even more ruthless than him. He was scared of her, and even at the end, wouldn't dare defy her or do something that she hadn't sanctioned.”

Hermione nodded. “I read the passages, and performed a bunch of tests. They're all accurate and legitimate.”

“Right. That's where this whole bit gets scary. Whoever this is, I think it can be safe to say that she's more powerful than even Desdemona. Because the only way that the Death Eaters wouldn't disband after the fall of Voldemort is if there was someone right there to take over. And the entry the day of his death tells us that she was still in charge.”

Noah tapped the chart. “So Desdemona is our link here. In order to find out who is greater in power than her, we need to find out about her. And if someone took over from her, I think we can safely say that she didn't give up power willingly, and is probably dead.”

“That's a safe assumption,” Hermione agreed, running her fingers through her hair. She was tired, it was past midnight, and they had been strategizing for hours. Harry, Draco, Ron and Ginny had gone to a meeting of the Order to discuss the newest findings, and Luna was in bed asleep. Hermione didn't know how she could be a part of the family she was and not be involved in the Order.

Carys suddenly sat up, and grabbed one of the journals. Used to the behavior, because ideas struck her in the same manner, Hermione leaned back in her chair and waited for the younger woman to explain what it was that she had figured out.

“These spells.”

Hermione shifted to look over her shoulder, saw the section Voldemort had done on the protection spells that he had used. “The protection ones. The ones that can only be used on someone that is, for all intents and purposes soulless?”

Carys nodded. “Those would be the ones. I have an idea.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

“What if we can use them on inanimate objects?”

“They still wouldn't do us any good. We don't need to protect the bookcases from curses.”

Carys was still off on her tangent and wouldn't be distracted by her cousin's negativity. “No. Remember how Voldemort was killed? He had to be hit in the head by a curse. The ones that hit him in the chest reflected off and all the ones that Uncle Harry sent at him alone, he could deflect. It was when he had twice the power from your spell, Aunt Hermione, that Uncle Harry was able to defeat him. I don't think he was soulless enough to use the spells on himself.” She pointed to the date, which was marked with the day that he had tried to destroy the Potters. “My theory is that he developed these and decided to try them the night that Uncle Harry got his scar.”

Hermione was following along pretty well. “And that they didn't work. But then he didn't have the last Horcrux made. He had a little over a quarter of his soul left at that time.”

“Yes, which is why I don't think he could use them. They nearly got him killed. And Voldemort, from what you've told me and what I've researched was the type of wizard who didn't make the same mistake twice. He'd have probably put the charms on chairs and maybe a cat or something, and then cursed them.” She flipped the page to the next entry, which was after he'd regained his body thirteen years later. “He used a dog, but that's all relative.”

What she was getting at suddenly struck Hermione. “My God it's brilliant!”

Noah's head snapped up. He'd been falling asleep in his chair, but the shout from his aunt made him wake up suddenly. “What's brilliant?”

Hermione ignored him. “It works like a Muggle bullet proof vest, doesn't it?”

Carys nodded. “That's my theory anyway. We'll have to try it, see if it works, but I think that we could use this. Since the journals were still in Malfoy Manor and covered in dust along with everything else, I don't think she looked at them. She doesn't think that she needs any help. She was very cocky. If we become impervious to her curses, then we might just have a fighting chance at winning. And,” she looked at her aunt, slightly nervous for the first time. “I've been working on a few spells.”

Hermione's interest was instantly piqued. “Spells? Really? Let's see them.” She rubbed her hands together. She'd been developing spells since she was Carys' age. It was still a hobby of hers, working on a few that would help with everyday things. Magic was always changing and growing. It was natural that new spells and curses would need to be created. And new Unforgivable Curses were invaluable in the defeat of Death Eaters. It had been a curse just out of development that she had made up that had defeated Voldemort.

Carys shook her head. “The only thing I've tried it on is a few spiders that I found in the attic the other day, and it worked on them.”

“That's a promising indication. What is it?”

“Neco torqueo. It's Latin.”

“Death and torture.” Hermione murmured, nodding as she went over the curse in her head. “I think it might work.” She laughed as a thought struck her. “There have been three Killing Curses invented in the history of magic. Two of the people to create them are sitting in this room.”

“It's like evolution, I suppose.” Sebastian said from the bed, shocking them all into silence. “Makes a great leap every few millennia.”

And then the room erupted in a flurry of activity. Carys launched herself onto the bed with Sebastian, raining kisses on his face. Hermione dashed to the fireplace to Floo Harry and Noah woke up for good, saw Sebastian's eyes open and patted him soundly on the back.

“Oh my God, you've had us so worried.” Carys crushed him in a hug tight enough that Sebastian swore he felt his ribs pop and then slapped him. “If you ever pull anything like that every again, I swear to God I will kill you! What the bleeding hell were you thinking jumping in front of that?! You nearly died because I was stupid enough to take her on.” And then she was crying, and holding onto him. Hermione laid a hand on Noah's shoulder and slipped from the room. As much as she wanted to see and hold on to her son, Carys needed a minute alone with him more than anyone else did.

Sebastian shifted so that she was curled up in his lap. She pressed her face into his shoulder and sobbed, wrapping her arms around him, holding him as if she was seriously considering never letting him go again. And truth be told, that was exactly the thought running through her head.

He didn't say a word until she'd gotten herself back under some measure of control. When her sobs had quieted to the hiccoughs, and her arms had loosened their grip on him, and he felt that she would listen to what he said, he spoke.

“It wasn't your fault,” he whispered in her ear, “If I hadn't cast that fire spell on her, then she probably would have let us go. If I hadn't done that, we would have had time to figure things out. But I thought that would give us enough time, and when it didn't, she was going to kill the two people in this world that would hurt me the most. And I'd have rather died then let that happened.”

Carys didn't answer for a long time. She just held him, and let him hold her. “I thought that you had died when you fell like that.”

“So did I.”

Carys pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “I'm sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. I made a choice, Carys, and if I was in the same position, I'd make that choice again in a heartbeat. It wasn't really a choice. If it came down to you or me. To Noah or me. To anyone that I love and me, there is no choice.” He smiled at her, and she felt her heart melt. “That's what love is, isn't it? Caring about someone enough to be willing to give up your life for them? Besides, I know you. I didn't do anymore than you would have had you been in the same position that I was.”

Carys couldn't argue with him. Nor did she tell him that she was halfway convinced that she was going to have to die in order to escape from her prophecy. At that moment, the only thing that mattered was that he was awake, and he was alive. That was the only thing that she cared about.

Acting without really thinking about it, Carys closed the distance between them and pressed her mouth to his. She wanted to be as close to him as was humanly possible. She had truly thought that she'd lost him. And she didn't want to lose him. He was one of the very most important people in her life. One of only two that had ever nearly given their life to save hers.

His response was instant and hot. He took immediate control of the kiss, tongue sweeping into her mouth, hands gripping her hips so that he could lift her to allow himself to sit up completely. Once she was settled on his lap, he concentrated on kissing her.

His mouth was firm and unrelenting. Every time she thought that he was going to soften the kiss and let it be gentle and sweet, she was proven wrong. It was hard and heated, lighting a fire somewhere around her belly that traveled up and down her body until she felt that she was going to dissolve into a Carys puddle. She truly thought that she ceased to exist as he took her under.

Their fingers twined together, he eased back from her slowly, drawing her back to the surface of consciousness without her ever really realizing it until it was too late and he had ended the kiss and pulled back. When her eyes opened, he was grinning, and appeared very pleased with himself. She sighed and nestled her head against his throat.

“Damn you, Sebastian, you're too good at that for my own good.”

Sebastian grinned. “Thanks.” He kissed the side of her head. “Are your legs functioning yet, or do I need to give you another second?”

Carys had to think about it for a moment before shifting off of him so that he could get up. He ran one hand through his hair, cast her another cocky grin and opened the door to hug his parents. Harry, Draco, Ron and Ginny had just gotten back and Harry was anxious to see his son.

Draco poked his head in the door, lifted one eyebrow at his daughter. “What's wrong with you?” he asked, taking in her still slightly shocked expression.

Carys couldn't help but giggle. She'd never lied to her father in her life and wasn't about to start when she knew the expression he was bound to make was one that she would treasure for the rest of her life. “I finally know why he can take a girl to McDonalds on a date and still get invited up to her dorm?”

Half afraid to ask, Draco covered his eyes for a second before sighing. “Why's that?”

“Damn the boy can kiss.”

And as she moved past him, Carys was assured that her assumption had been right on the mark. She'd treasure that look for many years.

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Sebastian had been concentrating on getting better. Despite the fact that he was awake and felt fine, he was still weak, and couldn't have cast a decent Killing Curse to save his life. Which, if he thought about it, was the only reason he would be casting Killing Curses, and therefore exactly the problem.

Carys and Noah had gone back to training, though Sebastian had another ten days' leave. The Aurors didn't want anyone going to training that wasn't in good shape and able to cast spells. Hermione was home with him everyday, but everyone was back at work. They were trying to keep up a normal façade, though the younger children had been sent to Lily and James'. They were in less danger with their grandparents.

Sebastian was training in the back yard when Noah found him. He was hot and sweating, working hard to get his strength back. When he saw his friend, he lowered his wand and dropped to the ground, thankful for a break.

“Hey. How was class?”

Noah shrugged. “Class. How's it going here?”

“Mom's inside working on those protection spells. She thinks she's nearing a breakthrough on them, though, so that's a good thing. I've managed to do an acceptable Cruciatus. The spider never knew what was coming. Still no luck on the Killing Curse though. I'm gonna give it until tomorrow, I think, and then try it again.”

“Good call. Don't want to push it. I had lunch with Carys today. She said she'd be home a little late tonight. Said something about a special training session with Shacklebolt.”

Sebastian nodded, ran a hand through his hair. “She's having a lot of those lately.”

Noah lowered himself to sit beside his friend. “Want some advice, mate?”

“You'll give it to me whether or not I want it.”

“Yeah, but this way you at least feel like you have a choice. I say you forget about training for the rest of the day, and concentrate on whatever this thing is you've got going on with Carys. I know that the two of you are fumbling around, trying to figure out how it works, but she's never going to latch on to any kind of relationship if she doesn't know you're serious about it.”

Sebastian's brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Look, you've got quite a reputation with the ladies. She knows that. We all know that. And I know that you wouldn't ever start something with her if you didn't intend to see it through, but you know women. They all think that we'll only like them until we get them. Which seems to be what Carys is doing. I think that you just need to tell her how you feel about her. I mean, really tell her, Sebastian. It'll make a big difference in the way she looks at things.”

“You really think so?”

Noah looked at his friend. “Are you kidding? I'm the only one outta the bunch that can keep a girlfriend for more than a week or two.”

“I've only been dumped once in my entire life.” Sebastian said, his pride stinging from that last remark.

“That doesn't mean you've had a girlfriend for more than a couple weeks. You just dump them before they can dump you. I imagine that Carys thinks you're just waiting until you dump her and doesn't want to get too involved in the relationship before that happens. She doesn't want to be hurt, and she knows that so far, there's never been anyone in your life that has hurt you through a romantic relationship. And that while pain isn't your intention, you have inadvertently hurt plenty of girls while we were at Hogwarts.”

Despite the fact that he wished it otherwise, Sebastian was forced to agree with Noah. He sighed deeply, expelling air in a loud rush. “Okay, Mr. Relationship. What do I do next?”

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Hermione found herself in Headmistress McGonagall's office. It was extremely abnormal for teachers to have meetings during the summer, but both women had news, and as Deputy Headmistress and Headmistress, they were the two that should be informed first.

“Please, Hermione, tell me what's on your mind.” McGonagall could tell that the younger witch was practically bursting at the seams with her news, so wide was her smile, and so damp were her eyes. Hermione forgot that manners dictate she refrain from speaking until the Headmistress had spoken, and nodded excitedly.

“Harry and I are having another baby!” Hermione jumped from her seat to hug the woman that had been her teacher, confidante, and more recently friend since she had been eleven. “Minerva, I thought that you should be the first to know since I'll be needing maternity leave again during the middle of the year. It's only June, and that means the baby will come in March, and we just started trying.” She took a deep breath and wiped tears from her eyes. “I mean, I'm almost forty! I thought that it would take forever to get pregnant, and two days after we decided to start trying, I wake up having morning sickness. It obviously didn't matter when we started trying, because my potion failed and I got pregnant anyway!”

“Congratulations, Hermione.” McGonagall was truly thrilled for Hermione. She and Harry deserved all the happiness that they could get with all that they had been through their teenage years. “I am very happy for you. No one I know deserves this more than you do. You're a wonderful mother, and will be again shortly. However, I can't grant you maternity leave.”

Hermione was floored. She found herself unable to speak for several seconds, and when she could, the words came so fast they didn't make much sense even to her own ears. “What? Substitute? Ministry? Policy? Why can't you? Did Arthur change-?”

Despite the fact that Hermione didn't manage to get out one complete sentence, McGonagall thought she understood what was being said. “No, there's no problem with a substitute and no the Ministry did not change it's policy. Arthur has nothing to do with this. In fact, he doesn't know yet. I'm retiring, Hermione. I won't be returning to Hogwarts next year.”

Hermione was shocked beyond what she had been seconds earlier. She closed her eyes, pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and took a deep breath. “Who's going to take over your post?”

McGonagall lifted one eyebrow. “Well, I imagine my Deputy Headmistress will take over. Provided she would like to be the youngest Headmistress or Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts and get yet another chapter in Hogwarts: A History.”

“I can't be Headmistress! All the others taught for at least fifteen years longer than me and were at least as old as my parents, Minerva. No one will listen to me.”

“Hermione, you are the most capable witch that I know. You've been teaching nearly twenty years. That isn't a short amount of time. And if you're younger, it's because you've worked harder and started earlier than all the others. If I didn't think you appropriate for the post, you know I would have found someone else. But I don't want anyone else to take over this school. Albus would want you to have this position. He always thought that you would end up in this office someday.”

Hermione was staggered. “He did?”

“Most certainly. Who wouldn't want a witch of your talent and caliber to take over? What do you think, Hermione? Shall we sign some papers, or do I have to tell the Ministry that I need to start interviewing candidates for Headmaster?”

Hermione took a seep breath. “Let's sign the contracts.”

“Very good.” McGonagall snapped her fingers and the papers whizzed over from a cabinet across the room.

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Carys got home at six. She was tired, sore, hurting from a menagerie of bumps and bruises, and wanted nothing more than to gorge on the leftover pizza she knew would be in the fridge from the night before and take the longest bubble bath in recorded history. However, she knew her family. Which meant that that wouldn't be happening.

“I'm home!” she shouted up the stairs carelessly, dropping her purse on the hall table and kicking off her shoes for the sole purpose of irritating her father. It was a longtime habit that still made her chuckle on her way to the kitchen.

She found Sebastian sitting at the island, eating pizza. She ran to the fridge and yanked it open, then ran around the island and smacked Sebastian on the back of the head. He whirled around to face her.

“What the hell was that for?”

“You ate all the pizza!”

Sebastian lifted both eyebrows. “No, I didn't. Julian did, actually. I snagged a piece off of his plate.”

“Okay, so where's Julian?”

“He went with everyone else to dinner. Mom found out today that she's pregnant. And that Headmistress McGonagall is retiring, so that means she's the new Headmistress.”

Carys grinned. “I'll have to congratulate her. That's great. She's the youngest witch in history to hold that position.”

“I know.” He walked to the freezer, pulled out a box. “Sit, I'll fix you pizza since you're ready to kill over it. Hard day?”

“You have no idea.” Carys rubbed the back of her neck with stiff fingers. She was sore from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “Training today was hell. I've been itching to get home, stuff my face, and take a bath since about noon. We're working on wandless magic. Focusing it is harder than I thought. I've pretty much mastered silent spells, but I've always had my wand to direct the magic.”

Sebastian knew what she meant. He, too, had managed to become adequate at silent magic, but he'd always had his wand pointed at where the spell was supposed to go. To send a spell without a wand, especially without speaking it, was a feat very few witches or wizards ever fully mastered. Even Aurors didn't always grasp the concept.

“How's it going?”

“Not good. I couldn't even get a good expelliaramus.”

Sebastian winced. If Carys was struggling that much, he doubted that he would ever get it. He put the frozen pizza in the over and noticed that she was rubbing her neck. “Sore?”
“Extremely. Shacklebolt is an expert at wandless magic. He put me on my ass more times than I'd like to remember.”

Sebastian laid his hands over hers, kneaded the muscles gently. Her head lolled forward until her chin touched her chest. “Better?”

“Much. You're an expert at that.” Carys chuckled. “Must get a lot of practice.”

There was his in into the conversation that they needed to have. “Carys, we need to talk.”

Carys felt her heart sink. He was going to end whatever it was that they had going on, in an even shorter amount of time than normal. She'd been expecting it, and was surprised when hurt coursed through her. “Okay. What about?” she decided that she wouldn't let him know that she knew what he was going to do. It would serve him right if she made things as difficult as absolutely possible.

“I think you know.”

Any lingering doubt about what he was doing fled. “Okay. I'm not making this easy for you, Sebastian.” She felt anger mingle with the hurt. “I thought that it might be different this time, that I was different. I see now that I was obviously wrong about it.”

“What the bleeding hell are you talking about?”

Carys' head snapped up and she whirled around to look at him. “You aren't dumping me?”

“No, I'm not dumping you. Why in Merlin's name would I do that? Carys, I was trying, apparently unsuccessfully, to tell you that I love you.”

She was shocked down to the very center of her being when he said those three words. Those three words had changed history. Had changed lives. She had a feeling that this was about to change her future, and her life. “What?”

Sebastian framed her face with his hands. “I am in love with you, Carys. I wasn't going to tell you yet, but Noah said he thought you had some suspicions that I was only in this because you were convenient and that you were worried that I wasn't serious. Want to know why none of my relationships ever worked?” he paused for a long moment. “Because I've never been with you before. I couldn't be with another woman, because the one I wanted wasn't her.”

Carys' mind had shut off completely. With an excited squeal, she launched herself at him at clamped her mouth on his. “My father is going to kill you.”

“I'll die happy then.”

Carys sobered in his arms. “I think I love you, too. I think maybe I was made to love you. And maybe that I always have.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I want you to make love to me, Sebastian.” She put a finger over his mouth to prevent him from speaking. “Don't say anything. Not yet, anyway. We don't know how much time we have. Whether or not we'll even live past tomorrow. And if this is the last night that I get, there's no one I'd rather spend it with than you. We don't know what'll happen tomorrow. If that's the day she chooses to attack, or if I'll wake up next to you and we'll get another day to be happy. But I know we have tonight. And I can feel that the time is right for this. For us.”

Without a word, Sebastian turned off the oven and carried her up the stairs.

4

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Carys' heart fluttered in her chest the entire time Sebastian was carrying her up the stairs. She'd never understood the appeal to being carried before Sebastian was the one doing the carrying. His arms were strong and she felt no worry that she was going to be dropped, which was nice.

He sat her down just inside the entryway to her bedroom in order to close the door and wave his wand. Candles lit themselves all across the room and soared into the air to hover around the bed. Carys was unbelievably touched that he would think of such a gesture. The fact that all most men were interested in was sex was exactly why she hadn't let any of them take her to bed. And that even while he was in the process of going about sex, Sebastian had thought of atmosphere and romance affirmed that she had made the right choice.

Sebastian put up soundproofing wards and took her face in his hands. “I want you to be sure about this, Carys. And if at any point, you decide you want to stop, tell me and we'll stop. No questions asked.”

Nodding, Carys rose onto her tiptoes, pressed her mouth to his. “If I wasn't sure, Sebastian, I wouldn't have asked,” she murmured in his ear, draping her arms around his neck. Surprising her, he took her hands in his, took half a step back from her. He reached behind her head and tugged her hair from it's braid. The white blonde locks fell around her shoulders in waves.

“Still. No pressure. I don't want you to have any regrets tomorrow.”

Slowly, Carys drew her t- shirt over her head, laid it on the desk chair. “I don't believe in regrets.”

Sebastian kissed her then, and the world spun away. He led her to the bed, eased her down on to it. When she would have drawn him down on top of her, he resisted, instead raining kisses all over her face. His mouth trailed down her throat, across her collarbone, to the lacy edging of her bra. By the time he had undressed her, her breath was coming in short gasps.

Hesitantly, she reached for the buttons on his shirt, and he let her. Her hands splayed on his chest, fascinated with the muscles she found there. She hadn't realized before just how muscled he was, how much he truly was built like a god. She thought she could have spent a couple of hours discovering that chest.

They made love softly, slowly. Carys felt only a short burst of pain when he entered her which was quickly eclipsed by the waves and surges of emotion and pleasure. And she knew that when morning came and she woke next to Sebastian, that there would be no regrets and that she hadn't made a mistake.

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Sebastian woke first the next morning, which was a Saturday. A glance at the clock told him that it was barely seven in the morning. Thankful that he'd waken early, he slipped from the bed and pulled on his clothes. Carys was still asleep, the blanket yanked up to her chin, one arm flung over the pillow where he had been laying moments before.

She was beautiful. That was the one thought that was clear in Sebastian's mind. She was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. And he loved her. He loved everything about her. And sleeping beside her had been the best experience of his life. He'd gotten to hold her close, and every time he'd woken through the night, she'd been there, her head nestled on his chest, their limbs entwined, the blankets tangled on top of them.

He bent to press a kiss to her forehead, then opened the door and stepped into the hall. And as fate would have it, came face to face with Draco. Wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a button down shorts, since his quick search hadn't unearthed his pants.

Cursing fate, and Merlin, and whatever God was listening, Sebastian sent up a panicked, illogical prayer that Draco had suddenly developed sleepwalking. The quick licks of hope were extinguished within a matter of moments though.

“Want to tell me what the hell you're doing in my daughter's room this early on a Saturday morning and just where the hell your pants have gotten themselves to?”

Sebastian knew better than to lie to his godfather. “Look, Uncle Draco, I can explain.”

Draco didn't give him a chance. Before Sebastian could react, Draco swung and his fish connected solidly with Sebastian's jaw. On an oath, Sebastian and Draco collided in a flurry of fists and curses. It was no surprise when they tumbled down the stairs in a large pile of bodies and blood.

The crash at the bottom was enough to wake everyone else in the house. Carys made it to the top of the stairs first, wrapped in the blanket that she'd yanked from the bed in her rush to the door. Harry and Hermione were right behind her with Ginny right on their tails.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!” Ginny demanded, running down the stairs. Harry didn't bother to ask. He lifted his son off of Draco and punched his best friend.

“Don't you dare hit my son.”

Always willing to go with the flow, Draco tackled Harry and the two men went down in a mass of fists and elbows. Hermione ran to Sebastian, grabbing his arm to keep him from diving back in. Luna didn't have as much luck with Ron, who's intention had been to break the fight up, but he ended up getting dragged into the fray.

Noah and his brothers Caleb and Joshua arrived and, being full blooded Weasleys, simply cheered on their father. Luna watched the whole thing boredly, and Hermione watched in horror. “Sebastian, what's going on?” she demanded of her eldest, trying to grab one of the three grappling men before they did much damage. For the moment, everyone seemed to have forgotten that they could just curse them apart.

“Uncle Draco caught me coming out of Carys' room this morning.”

Though Carys would have liked for Sebastian to come up with a lie, she knew the adults in the house could see through one in ten seconds flat. But that knowledge didn't stop her from turning red when her cousins let out with a chorus of catcalls and whistles.

Sick of the whole thing, Ginny reached into the pocket of her robes for her wand. She sidestepped to avoid being knocked over as the three men rolled on the floor and pointed it solidly at them. “Diffindo!”

The three men, in much the same manner as they had twenty years before, flew to separate corners of the room. Harry flew into the back of the couch, Ron hit the front door and Draco crashed into the hall table. He slid down the wall and the mirror that had been precariously balanced on the wall crashed onto his head.

“I can't believe this!” Ginny screeched, grabbing handfuls of her hair to keep herself from cursing them again. “Three grown men nearly forty years old acting like a bunch of teenagers! What sort of example are you setting for your children!? Brawling like this! And Draco, hitting your own godson! A man half your age with less than half your experience with fighting.”

Draco didn't tell his wife that hadn't stopped Sebastian from landing some solid blows. He was pretty sure that Sebastian had been the one to break his nose. But it could have been Harry. He wasn't positive on that particular detail.

Harry rubbed his hand over his mouth, stared at the blood there in confusion. He hadn't noticed he had a split lip. He did know he had a monster headache though. And he was pretty sure that Draco had managed to bust a couple ribs.

“Come on Ginny, Ron did the same thing to Draco. You really can't blame him for being protective of his daughter.”

Hermione stared at her husband. “He punched our son for absolutely no good reason, Harry James Potter! I don't care if he thought Sebastian took advantage of Carys, who is nearly nineteen, Harry! Nineteen! How old were we, boys?” she asked, cocking one eyebrow at Harry, Ron and Draco. “I believe the three of you were eighteen, I was quite nearly nineteen, and Ginny and Luna were seventeen. Remember this?”

Ron was remembering what an excellent lecturer Hermione was. “Hey, I didn't want to fight.” He reminded her, using the doorknob to heave himself to his feet. “I tried to break it up and got dragged in. A man's gotta defend himself.”

Hermione's face was turning interesting colors. She dropped Sebastian's arm, stormed up the stairs. Ginny was right behind her and, not entirely sure what was going on, Luna followed, figuring that her time was best spent with the other women as opposed to cleaning up the men. Carys debated for a moment, then decided that someone had to peroxide cuts and prod bruised ribs.

“Give me two minutes to get dressed and I'll clean you guys up. No more fighting.” She spun on her heel and slammed her door behind her. Left by themselves, the four men that had been fighting, and the triplets looked at one another. The triplets soon decided that their mother was the bigger threat and followed Luna. Noah did send Sebastian one sympathetic look on his way down the hall.

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Carys garnered great pleasure from torturing the four men with rubbing alcohol, peroxide and the most painful healing spells she could come up with. By the time she finished with them, they all wished she'd have just let them suffer. It would have been less painful than the treatment they received at the hands of a vindictive teenager.

When she was finished, she looked at Harry, Ron and Sebastian. “If you three don't mind, I'd like a word with my father. Sebastian, please wait for me in the living room. I'll need to talk with you next.”

Draco would never in a million years admit that his own daughter intimidated him. She'd learned well from her mother, who could make him feel two years old with one look. Carys was managing to take him back to about twelve. It worked better coming from Ginny, but was effective from Carys.

“Daddy.” Carys said that one word, her smile strangely watery as she looked at him. Draco started to think that maybe she wasn't as angry as he'd thought she was. “I'm a grown witch. And nothing happened last night that I didn't want to happen.” She sat down next to her father. “I know that's hard for you to realize. I can't understand completely, but I've read a book on empty nest syndrome.”

Draco was tempted to laugh at that. “I don't have an empty nest.”

“No, but I've flown the coop and it can't be easy to let go and admit that I'm grown and can make my own decisions. I love him Dad. I really love him. But,” she slid into his lap and laid her head against his heart. “I love you, too, and no matter how old I get or how self sufficient I become, I'll always be your daughter first. And I'll always need you, no matter what. And even if I don't need you, I'll always want you. So please don't make me choose, Daddy. I love you both, but if you made me choose, I'd have to choose you. I may have been born to love him, but I was born because of you. So can't you please just accept that I am in love with Sebastian and I want to be with him?”

Draco turned his head into her hair, breathed deeply. “How did I get so lucky? You are the best daughter anyone anywhere could have ever asked for. And I love you. And if it was anyone but Sebastian, I'd be tempted to make you choose. But you know I love him, Carys. And if he makes you happy, I can't ask you to give him up. I could never take something from you that makes you happy. And if you love him, well, I understand love as well as anyone can.”

Carys kissed Draco's cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.” She slid from his lap and squeezed his hand. “So no more punching him?”

Draco lifted one shoulder. “Not unless he does something to deserve it.”

Carys nodded. “That's the best I'm gonna get, so I'll have to be happy with it.”

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Sebastian was pacing the length of the living room when Carys walked in. He stopped when she perched on the ottoman, looked at her expectantly. “Well?”

“Dad has promised not to hit you again unless you do something to deserve it. We just shocked him, I think. You know he doesn't mind that we're together.”

“Are we still together?”

Carys stared at him for a long second. “Why wouldn't we be?”

Sebastian sighed, sank down to sit beside her. “Thank Merlin. I was convinced that you were going to end it because of what happened this morning.”

“No, but please don't fight my father again.” She stood, pulled him to his feet. “Come on, we've had our day of rest. We need to get back to the research.”

With a resigned sigh, Sebastian followed her to the library where Noah was already absorbed in a book on reflecting spells.

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This is going to be a bit shorter than the other chapters. I promised that the identity of the Dark Queen would be revealed around Chapter 17. Well, it will be revealed in seventeen. This is a scene between Desdemona and Lamia. In the next chapter, we'll have the day played out again from Carys and Sebastian's perspective and then the two will come together in seventeen for the revelation. It's going to rock a few worlds, boys and girls. Keep sending in your suggestions as to who you think she is. I can't wait to see if anyone figures it out. Not that I'll tell you if you do. I want it to come as a complete surprise. The only one who knows who it is right now is my beta reader. And I think that I'm going to plan on another fifteen chapters or so. I'm shooting to end it around thirty give or take. There's still a lot that I want to accomplish with this story, so we'll see how long that takes. No promises though, because I learned from KYEC that I suck at sticking to an outline and planned out chapters. So on with chapter 15.

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She paced her chambers slowly, staring at the wall in front of her as she walked. She was not pleased. Things were not going as planned. The boy had lived. Though the spell had not been meant for him, the boy had lived. Unacceptable. The girl and her father had defeated the Inferi. That had come as a bit of a shock.

Nothing, she assured herself, that she couldn't handle. The boy may have survived, but his parents were extremely powerful. His father had survived a Killing Curse aimed directly at him. It only made sense that the son could handle an indirect curse. Genetics.

Satisfied with her conclusion, she walked to the door and threw it open. There were people lining the halls waiting for her. Goyle stepped up and knelt in front of her. “My Queen, your mother has arrived.”

She smiled wickedly, headed down the hall toward the ball room. Desdemona Knightley was sitting at the table, looking old and weak. After she had defeated her mother a decade earlier, she had sent Desdemona into hiding, not wanting the lower level Death Eaters who had never met her to catch wind of a shift in power before she'd settled in.

“Mother. You arrived quickly. I'm amazed that you had the strength left to find this place.”

Desdemona tossed black hair scattered with gray over her shoulder. “I may be weak, Lamia, and you may be more powerful than I, but I am still the first Dark Queen. I have more power left than most witches could ever hope to achieve.”

Lamia nodded to concede the point, perched delicately on her throne, twirling her wand between long, white fingers. “Still. I'm surprised. And your power is why you are here, mother.” She crossed her legs, exposing knee high boots and a lot of skin.

“Tell me what you're doing, Lamia. You should just leave it alone.”

“Leave it alone?” she demanded, rising to her feet. “LEAVE IT ALONE! WHAT I'VE WORKED FOR SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORN!!!!!!”

As her voice rose, the walls began to shake, the anger rolling off her was so strong, Desdemona folded her hands on her knees and watched her daughter through black eyes. “I've been trying to teach you to control that temper since you were a child, Lamia. I see all my efforts were wasted. Your father gave it a good shot too, but it doesn't seem to have worked.”

“My father is dead because his temper was worse than mine has ever been. I don't want to hear it. You aren't here to advise, mother.”

“Sit down, Lamia, and tell me what you have planned.”

Granting her mother even that grated enough so that she seriously considered ending it right there. But, she took a deep breath, sat back down and draped one arm over the back of the throne. “I'm going to kill them all. And once I'm finished with them, I'll kill the Governors and then the Minister. And once I've taken over the magical world, I'm going to start on the Muggle one. And when that's done, Carys, who I've let survive, will take over command from me and rule the world.”

Desdemona was tempted to cover her eyes. “Lamia, you have to take steps. If you try to do it all at once, they will rally. You're young, you have thousands of followers. You can take it slowly. Evil will always be there. It will always be watching, waiting in the wings.”

“I'm going to do it so fast they don't have time to rally. But, there's a slight problem, which is why you're here.”

Desdemona lifted her eyebrows. “You think I would help you after you stole my followers, my power and my life's work? I don't think so, Lamia. I'm not stupid. I want nothing to do with this.” Desdemona stood, walked the length of the room, black capes sweeping the ground behind her. She was weak, and she looked older than her years, but she was still powerful, and still commanded respect. Apparently from everyone except the girl to which she had given birth. “You defeated me. Only because you came into my chambers at night, and cursed me into submission. My own daughter was the one to betray and torture me. After I raised you for twenty years, taught you everything I knew.”

“The student surpassed the master.” Lamia said simply, waving her hand to dismiss the matter. “We both knew I had surpassed your power and that we were both just waiting until the final showdown.”

“Which should have been a proper duel, daughter! You are powerful, yes, but in a one on one fight your power is a liability. You don't know how to control it! You let it control you. That thing, which you never bothered to learn, will be your undoing. I have seen it.”

Lamia laughed, and the sound turned Desdemona's blood to ice. “Playing with tea leaves and star charts again, are we, mother? Or perhaps visions and clairvoyance? Which is it this time?”

Desdemona turned to look at her daughter and threw one hand out. On the wall a movie began to play, and Lamia realized that it was one on her mother's visions being projected. She saw Carys killing her, like she knew would eventually happen, if she didn't decide to kill Carys first and keep control herself, but the scene was different.

They were in the room she was standing in, and Lamia was flying backward, her body arching up at an inhuman angle. Green light sprang from her wand and struck nothing but thin air as her body slammed into the floor. Blood sprayed as her skull cracked open, and the next sight was of her eyes, glassy and dead, wide and staring, but seeing nothing as life seeped from her.

Feeling irritation, and a little panic, Lamia flicked her wand and the visions disappeared. “Nothing you've predicted has come true yet.”

Desdemona lifted her shoulders, ran her fingers along the length of her wand. “Think what you will, child, but mark my words. If you try to do this all at once and without a plan, you will die and the cause will die with you. We are steps away from achieving what has taken millennia to achieve. Would you really let pride and ego destroy all that we have dedicated our lives to? Do this, daughter, and no witch or wizard for a thousand years will get this close again. Would you really risk all that for a shot at glory?”

Lamia fixed her eyes on her mother. “Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes. If I fail, I'm dead and it doesn't matter. If I succeed, my name will be feared and loathed for generations to come. No one will forget me for a hundred millennia. This is my time, mother. My time to make my mark on the world. To prove once and for all that evil is meant to reign over good. And for that,” she snapped her fingers and a chair flew at her mother's back, knocked the older witch into it, “for that, I need your help.”

“I already told you I want no part in this. You lost all right to ask me for anything when you dishonored your training, your destiny and your family.”

“You don't get a choice in the matter. I am powerful, mother. More powerful than you ever were, even in your prime. However,” she paced in front of her mother, heels clicking ominously on the stone floor. “I need more. More power, more knowledge. More magic.”

Desdemona's eyes widened as realization sank in. “You wouldn't.”

“I would. I am, in fact. With your power, mother, no witch or wizard can ever stop me. They won't be able to get within a hundred feet of me unless I let them.”

“Voldemort took the power of many witches and wizards, and he was defeated by an eighteen year old boy.”

“You were defeated by a twenty year old girl and you ruled Voldemort.” Lamia pointed out. “I am that twenty year old girl, with ten more years' experience than I had then. And the magic of a mother is so much stronger when given to the child. Just ask Lily Potter.” Lamia looked at her mother, malice shining in her eyes. “Let's get on with this.” She spread her arms, and the air around her rippled, so potent was her magic. “IMPERIUM TRANSFERO!”

Desdemona went prone in the chair, her eyes rolling back in her head, a scream forcing its way past her throat as her magic was drained and her power stolen. The black stream of magic entered Lamia and the younger witch laughed, the sound ominous and evil as the magic flowed through her body. When the transfer was complete, all magic and power having been drained from Desdemona, she smiled.

“If my calculations are right, you've got about a little less than a day before it kills you. About fifteen hours. Since you can't Apparate or Floo, it'll take you twelve to get back to civilization.” She bent, kissed her mother's cheek. “Thanks. Mom.”

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Okay everyone, here we go with chapter sixteen. I hope you all are sticking with this despite the fact that updates are coming quite a bit slower now that I'm in college. I know school is taking up a lot of my time. And I don't really get along with my roommate, so that just makes it worse. Add to that a part time job and an eighteen-hour course load, and I am one busy person. So, that means I don't have nearly as much time to sit down and write. Especially considering that I got a plot bunny in my head for another, non-HP fic last week that won't leave me alone. I've got about two chapters of that written. Anyway, this chapter, as promised, will cover the same time as the last one from another perspective. At the end, the two will join together, and everything will be revealed in the next chapter. After the next one, you will no longer have to wonder about the identity of the Dark Knight, because you will know. So, on that note, and I hope that it makes you anxious to read the next chapter, on with the story.

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Sebastian was in the kitchen, taking his turn at making dinner when Noah walked in, balancing a huge stack of books. He dumped them on the island, and sat down on a bar-stool. Sebastian looked up from the pasta tubes he was filling and glanced at the titles. “Still trying to figure out how to curse things into being the equivalent of a Muggle bullet-proof vest?”

Noah rubbed his chest. “Aunt Hermione and Carys have been working on it all day. They've just about got it figured out. They've gotten the spell to block curses right, but the problem now is getting them to last more than a couple minutes. They've been practicing on me.”

Sebastian winced in sympathy. “That's rough. They've got some terrible hexes.”

“And Carys used the Cruciatus. That is not a way I like a girl to make me scream, mate. It was wicked.”

Sebastian managed not to laugh at his best friend. Noah was exaggerating a little, and they both knew it. Though Carys did have a wicked Cruciatus. “So what are you looking for?”

“Information on our Dark Queen. I've been trying to come up with anyone who could be more powerful than a person controlling Voldemort. Oh yeah, that's a witch under the age of forty. I'm not coming up with much.”

“I don't imagine you are. Noah, do we have a photo of Desdemona? From, say, thirty years ago?”

Noah shrugged. “Couldn't tell you, mate. I can try to find one, maybe from her school days, or her wedding. That would be close. But she isn't exactly the type of witch people want pictures of sitting on their mantle.”

Carys walked into the kitchen. “No, you're right, Noah, but there's one person I bet would have a photo of her from thirty years ago.”

Noah was drawing a blank. “Who?”

Sebastian answered. “Her ex-husband.”

“Yeah, but we don't want him to know what we think about all of this.” He paused, thought for a minute. “What do we think about all of this?”

Sebastian put the pan of manicotti in the oven. “I think Lamia is Desdemona's daughter.”

Noah was shocked at that. “No. There is no record anywhere of her having a daughter. And that would be big news. Besides, we think she's dead.”

“What does us thinking she's dead have to do with the fact that Aunt Hermione and I think that her daughter may have been the one to kill her and take over power?” Carys asked, making Noah feel as if he were three years old.

“It should have something to do with it. I mean, wouldn't we have found records of a daughter somewhere by now?”

Carys nodded. “Yeah. You're right. If she'd had a daughter we would have found a record of it somewhere. All births are recorded and stored at the Ministry, and there're all the tests you have to pass to be a registered witch, and all that. At least,” she continued, letting both the boys know that she was getting to her point, “if her daughter was born in England, and in a magical hospital. If she was born in a Muggle hospital, or in, say, the United States, we wouldn't have a record of the birth at the Ministry here.”

“Or,” Sebastian added, running water for the dishes to wash themselves in, “it could have been an unrecorded birth. There are instances of those every once in a while, especially when the parents are Death Eaters. They don't necessarily want their children to be in the system so they have them in their homes or wherever in order to keep them secret. Train them at home, and never send them to school. It's why there are so many Death Eaters our age that we had no idea about.”

Carys nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense. But, if that's the case, there's no way for us to even have a justified guess as to if she even looks a thing like Desdemona until we get a photo. Which means that we're going to have to do some breaking and entering. We don't want to alert the ex to what we're doing, because he'll run straight to the Dark Queen and tell her what we're up to, and her knowing is absolutely the last thing that we want at this point. We want to travel under the radar as much as possible right now.” She looked at Sebastian. “We don't want anything bad to happen to any of us again.”

Noah grasped the whole concept. He understood what they both meant and what they had said. What he didn't get was just how they were going to get the information they needed without alerting someone they wanted to keep in the dark about the whole thing. “So, how do we go about this exactly?”

Sebastian grinned. “I'm thinking that we're going to behave like Muggles.” At both Noah and Carys' raised eyebrows and surprised looks, he elaborated. “Look, Philip Knightley's house is pretty much only protected from magical thieves. There aren't any wards up that will protect him from someone unscrewing a window and walking into his living room. No witch or wizard in several centuries has ever done it that way. Or at least, done it that way and gotten caught.”

Carys nodded. “That's a good idea, actually. We should go in tomorrow, I think. Tomorrow night, obviously, because we want to at least have a little bit of dark to help out with the whole thing.”

Noah sighed. “What about all those undetectable spells Aunt Hermione came up with?”

“The first one was twenty years ago. They've figured out ways to detect them. And the couple she has that she hasn't revealed to the public yet are ones that we want to keep for when we really need to sneak into somewhere that's super important. This, while important, is something that we could live without. This won't affect the way we go about things, merely what we know about her. It's the advantage of having knowledge she doesn't know that we have. Nothing huge, but in this case, any advantage that we can get is extremely important.”

Hermione made her way into the kitchen in time to catch the last bit of the conversation. She laid a hand on her son's shoulder and fixed the other two with her patented `mother' stare. “I really don't think that this is a good idea, kids. Some witches and wizards have Muggle security systems on their homes. Others are in somewhat Muggle neighborhoods. It just isn't the smartest thing that you could do. I think there are other avenues that could be pursued in order to get the information that we need in order to find out precisely who she is.” She lifted a hand to stroke Sebastian's head. “And even if she does look like Desdemona Knightley, it doesn't mean anything. Some people you would never guess are related, and some you would swear were sisters and they're nothing more than strangers.”

All three hated to admit that Hermione had a point, but they knew that she did. Carys was the first to nod. “All right. We'll try to find out by research first, but if that doesn't work, I still say we break in.”

Hermione smiled and moved through the kitchen to answer the ringing doorbell. “If and when that happens, I'll get you the night goggles.”

She answered the door and found a woman, obviously sick. But even sick, she stood straight and exuded evil authority. Hermione briefly thought of drawing her wand, but didn't sense any danger from the woman. So instead, she closed the door a little to block her entrance.

“Can I help you?”

Desdemona laughed, and the sound was bitter and evil. “I wish. No, Potter, you can't help me. And you wouldn't want to if you could. However, I can help you. I'm Desdemona Knightley.”

Hermione was shocked down to her very center. She drew her wand and pointed it at the other woman. “Harry! Draco! Ginny! Luna! Ron!”

Seconds later, Harry and Draco ran down the stairs. Sebastian, Carys and Noah had already come in from the kitchen. All four of them had wands pointed at the woman standing in the door. It only took a split second before they recognized her. Harry was the first to speak.

“If you're here to kill us, you're sadly disillusioned. Sebastian, go contact the Ministry.”

Desdemona held up a hand. “If you do that, you will never regret anything more. I swear that to you.”

Sebastian paused. “What do you want?”

“What I want is of no consequence. Lamia has drained all my power, and in six hours at the most, I will be dead. I can feel it working on me even now.” She laughed again. “My own daughter has killed me. Only she didn't have the mercy to use a Killing Curse. She's used a draining spell to take my power and will laugh while I suffer and die. That is why I am here.”

“You came here to die?” Ginny asked, stepping in front on her daughter just in case Desdemona was lying.

“No, though that is what will happen. I have come here to help you, though that very word makes me wish for death to come more swiftly. My daughter robbed me of my throne, then stripped me of my power and killed me. That eradicates any family loyalty I had left. What I can tell you will help you defeat her. That, I promise.”

Harry and Draco exchanged glances. Draco nodded. “In that case, come on in.”

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Okay everyone, chapter 17. Within these pages, everything will be revealed. There isn't much else going on in this chapter besides that though, so you'll have to resign yourself to a very informative, but not as action ridden chapter. It's important though, so read every word. And when you're done reading every word, write me a review letting me know how you liked it. I'm a starving college student. Cut me a break. I need reviews. I live off of reviews. Please review.

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Desdemona sat on the couch, with her legs crossed regally. Hermione, Sebastian and Draco sat on the other couch, facing her, wands in their laps, and Carys sat on the floor between Sebastian's knees. Harry, Ron and Ginny had all decided to stand, and Noah was perched in the chair. No one had put their wands up. They didn't trust Desdemona, and she couldn't blame them for it.

“Lamia is my daughter. She's twenty-eight. Ten years ago, she came into my chambers and cursed me. I had always known that she would want to take power away from me. By the time she was eighteen, I'd taught her everything I could, and still she was learning more. She grew powerful, much more powerful than I ever was. And we both knew that it was only a matter of time before she took power from me.

“But I'd always expected it to be in a duel, not for her to curse me while I slept. She took a good portion of my power, and while I was not left helpless, neither did I have any followers, or any chance of beating her. I went into hiding and remained there ever since. Lamia has been steadily gaining new followers and more power. She controls several of the governors; the Deputy Minister of Magic is on her pay. Her network is as great as the one Voldemort and I sat up years ago.

“She wants you, Carys, to be her successor. Of course, she hasn't decided if she'll give you the throne when she's finished, or if she'll just kill you and rule herself, but if she has to pick one, she's already chosen you. She sees a lot of herself in you.”

Carys' hands gripped tighter around her father's, and Sebastian laid a hand on her shoulder. “Why does she want me?” she asked.

“That isn't important right now. I'll get to it. The important thing is that I know where she is, what she's up to, and most importantly, how to stop her.”

Harry pushed off the wall, walked to the back of the couch to place his hands on his wife's shoulders. “So get talking already. We don't have time for small talk, and neither do you.”

“She is in a place that she and I built together. Our first and last undertaking as mother and daughter. It is Unplotable; it is Randomized. Technically, there is no way that you can possibly get there. And truly, you can't Apparate in because of wards more powerful than any you've seen before, and brooms are a suicide mission. We built it as a castle, and a castle it is. There are charms on in, but I'll give you the recipe for the potion to simply walk past them.

“The castle isn't on Earth. There's no road that leads you to it, no map that it has ever been on. It's above the Earth, amongst the clouds. A floating island, if you will. And you can think I'm lying all that you want, but,” she withdrew a small piece of parchment and handed it to Hermione, “here are the Muggle coordinates. Go there and straight up several hundred feet. It's invisible until you land on it, which makes it extremely dangerous. You can take brooms to the edge, but then you'll have to walk several miles to reach the castle. Odds are, she'll know you're coming. But don't let that stop you. It's your biggest advantage.

“My daughter was born conceited, and she was born talented. She also has a temper that could rival that of Satan himself. That you would even dare to attempt to infiltrate her home and fortress will send her into a rage. If you make it to the castle, which in itself is no easy feat, she'll be waiting for you. Her and an army of Death Eaters. And you cannot take your own army with you. If you want the slight chance that she doesn't discover you're coming, you don't want to take many more people than those that are sitting in this room.

“Her temper makes her irrational. She doesn't think correctly, and she doesn't think things through. She throws curses without really aiming them, and she doesn't stop to think about what you're doing while she's throwing curses. It's her biggest, and only weakness. If she gets angry, you have an opening. But I'm warning you all, she is powerful enough that it may not matter how angry she becomes. Curses and spells bounce off of her. She is so resistant to them that I can barely get one through. It will take a lot of power to kill her, and it will leave you feeling as if you have no power left. You need to be prepared for that.

“Don't take Invisibility cloaks or potions or anything else. Just your wand. Anything else will be useless up there. They don't work unless the potions have been administered two to three hours before you go up. It's the way I built it. And there are many magical creatures that you will have to face. Ones I wager none of you have ever seen before. I bred them myself, many years ago.

“Once you are inside the castle, you have to get to her chamber. She, like Voldemort, had divided her soul into pieces. However, she is too conceited to think that she may need to hide them. They are in a crystal case in her bedroom. There are six of them, and they are all gaudy, elaborate pieces of jewelry. But don't touch them, whatever you do. Only someone from her line can handle them safely. If anyone not of blood relation touches them, then it will kill them, and quickly. Gather them in a cloth and take them to the great hall. It takes up half of the castle, so it's nearly impossible to miss. In there, you will see her cabinets of potion ingredients. You must use the Essence of Gryffindor to destroy them.

“See, millennia ago, when the battle between Slytherin and Gryffindor started, Slytherin took one part of his soul away and created one Horcrux. Gryffindor knew that he would be killed, and bottled a small amount of his magical essence so that the Horcrux could be destroyed if he died before he got to destroy it. It was never used, and has been passed down through my line ever since. It's the only thing that can destroy all six at once. Even that potion you used two decades ago, Draco, is only powerful enough to destroy one at a time. And you don't have that kind of time while you're there.

“Now that I've told you where she is, how to get there, and how to stop her, I'll get to my favorite part of the story. Who she is. And why she wants Carys as badly as she does. See, my daughter is sterile. She was born that way. She can never produce an heir on her own to take her place when she dies or is killed. Lamia's father is one of her greatest griefs, and for that she blames you, Draco. You killed her father, twenty years ago, when you were eighteen, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. You looked him in the eye, and you killed him. You went into that battle knowing that he was the only one you truly wanted dead, and you would have killed anyone who had tried to stop you. Her father, Draco, is your father. Lamia Desdemona Malfoy.”

Carys' breath stuck in her throat, and she couldn't force it in or out. She paled considerably and her grip on Draco's hands became bone crushing. Not that he could blame her. Not when his grip on her was nearly as tight. His face, however, never changed. Desdemona chuckled.

“Surprised you there, didn't I? Yes, Draco, you're hunting your sister, and Carys, you're after your own aunt. Why else do you think she's so determined to get you? You're her closest relation. She wants this to come back full circle. She'll kill the one who killed her father, and train you to succeed her. A brilliant plan in theory, really.”

Draco scoffed. “No one is going to kill me. How do I know you're telling the truth, Desdemona? I think I'd have known if my father had another child. Especially a girl. Dad didn't care too much for daughters. Mom had three of them after me, and none of them made it through the first night of life. What makes this one so different?”

“The fact that she was heralded by Voldemort, and my child. I was in charge, Draco. You forget that. They both answered to me, and no one else. Me. And I told them not to touch her. They didn't. I told them to train her, and they did. She was so very young when Lucius and Voldemort died, though. And she has grieved for them ever since. Sad, really. Grieving for people she never really even knew. That having been said, my hypothesis is that the only people that have the power needed to actually kill her are those of you who are related to her. And continuing on that thread, I believe that you will have to accept and embrace the dark power that both of you keep suppressing. It is important that you accept who you are fully.”

Draco shook his head. “Good triumphs over evil. Basic rule of the universe.”

“And there must always be battles fought and a balance kept. Another basic rule of the universe. And oftentimes, the battles fought aren't fought outwardly. They can be fought within oneself. There has to be a balance in individuals, as well as in the grand scheme of the universe. The trick to power is learning to use both sides of the scale to better yourself.”

Carys felt as if she was getting a lesson in basic Dark Arts. She eased her grip on Draco's hand and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to clear her head so that she could think rationally. “I am not evil. Dad is not evil. Our family was. We aren't our family. I'm nothing like her! I'd rather die than be like her! Than embrace my darkness! Do you know how hard it is to push that back sometimes? Knowing that what haunted and devoured them is hovering just below the surface, waiting to devour me too?”

Sebastian rubbed her shoulders, turned to Desdemona. “What we do and how we defeat her is our business. I don't think that good could win by the good people letting evil rule them. Dark magic is scarier, and brings more fear than good magic, but ultimately, good always wins. We're prepared to die to ensure that it does, and that's all that matters. Using dark magic may make us more likely to live, but having to live with what we'd done would take away that advantage.” He stood, looked to his father, who nodded. “I think that you should leave now.”

Desdemona smiled again, and rose. “As you wish. You know, Sebastian, you could be very powerful with the right training. I wish I had the chance to give it to you.”

“Even if you weren't dying, I'd kill myself before taking a lesson from you.”

Harry watched Desdemona leave and shut the door behind her. He gave himself five seconds to take two deep breaths, then turned around. “Okay. Let's get busy. We have a lot of work to do now. Carys, Draco, you two all right?”

Draco and Carys exchanged a look. Carys nodded. “We'll be fine. Let's finish this.”

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And here we go with Chapter 18. I managed to write this all in a day, which, given my schedule, is an accomplishment. It just seemed to flow, so I hope that this pattern continues. If it does, I might be able to post updates closer together. I'm not exactly sure where this chapter is heading, but I think I'm going to close it off the same way I did KYEC. With touching at key points in the lives of the characters so that there are no loose strings. I know a lot of people didn't like that, but I think that the story needs to actually have a definitive ending, where you aren't left wondering what happens next. I know that's what I like to read. Anyway, here it is, enjoy, and drop me a line to let me know if you liked it. We might see a little action in the next chapter, but not too awful much. That's coming a little later. I have a plan. Don't worry.

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Carys walked into her bedroom close to midnight that night. She'd been sitting up and waiting for Harry, Ron and Draco to get back from a meeting they'd arranged with Arthur. They'd come in an hour before, and not been able to tell her much. Mainly because the Ministry had no idea if Desdemona had been lying or telling them the truth.

Without noticing the two men sitting on the couch in her room, she yanked her shirt over her head and snagged a nightshirt off the desk chair. Well, more accurately, it was one of Sebastian's shirts, but no one would know the difference.

“Looks good on you.” Sebastian commented, alerting her to his presence. She jumped and shrieked, her head stuck in the shirt. She thrashed for a minute, then struggled into the shirt and glared at him.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?! You scared me to death!”

Noah laughed. “Then look around when you come into your room. You might notice who's sitting on your couch that way. Sit down, Carys, we need to talk to you about an idea we've got.”

Intrigued, Carys sat on the bed, not bothering to take off her jeans, and crossed her legs. “What's up?”

“We have an idea about getting to Lamia.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Mr. State-the-obvious. What we thought is that we should go now, and not wait to formulate a plan. That way we have more of an element of surprise.”

Carys lifted one eyebrow. “That's your brilliant idea? Go on a suicide mission? My idea is that we wait for our fathers to come up with something.”

“I don't want them to know we're going.”

That shocked Carys. She stared at Sebastian, then quick as lightning, flew to the couch and pressed her palm to his forehead. “No fever, so this insanity isn't from an infection or virus. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

Sebastian winced at the pitch of her voice, then shook his head. “No. In fact I think that this is relatively logical. Think about it before you freak out anymore, Carys. Lamia is going to think exactly that. That we'll wait for Dad, and Uncle Draco, and Uncle Ron. If we don't, she won't be ready, and we'll have the element of surprise.”

“You're insane, and I am not going to have any part of this.”

Noah fixed Carys with an intense blue stare. “Listen to reason, Carys. Do you really think that Dad, and Uncle Harry, and Uncle Draco are going to let us have any part of what they're doing? Do you really think for an instant that they'll let us go, and let us be in that battle? We're their kids, and that means they think it's their job to protect us from whatever they can. And they'll think that fighting for our lives against the most powerful witch to ever live falls solidly into that category.”

“Carys, listen to us for a minute before you admit me to the nearest mental institution, okay?”

Carys heard the desperation in Sebastian's voice and eased herself into his lap instead of sitting on the bed. “Okay. You have five minutes to convince me that this is a good idea and not a suicide mission.”

Noah nodded. “Thanks. Okay, let's look at this logically. Lamia is not stupid. She has to know that her mother came straight to us. So that means that she probably thinks we're setting up a plan of action. Which means that she probably thinks she has a couple days before we come after her, agreed?”

Carys nodded. “Considering the time that all the preparations would take, and all the information that would logically have to be confirmed, it would probably take us at least two days to make a move. However, she could also be thinking that we'll hop on our brooms and zoom over to try and kill her. Dad's famous for his temper.”

“Our bet is with her thinking that we'll wait a couple days. It makes the most sense. And Aunt Ginny would stop your Dad. She's probably doing that right now, actually.” Sebastian said, laying his hand on her thigh lightly. “Which means that if we leave now, or in the morning, we'll be able to spring it on her and surprise her.”

To their surprise, Carys nodded. “That would work. But I have a better idea, one that would fit better in with the scheme of things. I'm going to go in first, attract their attention. Sebastian, you and Noah will follow me in about an hour and then sneak in under the radar, so to speak. That way we can stage a two-pronged attack. I'll keep them busy inside while you two sneak in and destroy the Horcruxes. Once you do that, we'll be able to take her on.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Now who's out of their mind? No one goes into this alone. You know that.”

Draco opened the door and looked at the three teenagers. “Then how about you go with her, Sebastian, and Noah and I will follow later?”

Carys' eyebrows met her hairline. “Are you serious? You want to go with us?”

“Do you really think that I'd let the three of you run off and do this on your own? I'm not an idiot, Carys. I know how you think. You think exactly like me. Harry and Ron are waiting downstairs. Get dressed and let's go. We leave in an hour.”

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Sebastian stood in his room, wand in hand, looking at all the books that he had accumulated throughout the years. It was amazing just how many he had. And all of them were filled with information: how to reason with a vampire, how to turn a feather into a baby chicken, how to make a lamp hover thirty feet in the air. They also told how to Apparate, how to bring out his Animagi, which was, like all the Potter males, a stag, and how to turn invisible. And all the books he had studied his entire life couldn't begin to tell him what he was supposed to do in the position he was in.

How to defeat the most evil witch to have ever been born. That was not a title of a book on his shelves. That book didn't exist, though he was hoping that by the time he was through with everything, he would be able to write it if he so chose. Of course, the stipulation for that was that he survived, and actually did, or helped to, defeat her. He was praying to every deity he had ever heard of that they would manage somehow, through the grace of Merlin, defeat Lamia and live to tell about it.

After all, he had just found the perfect woman, and he wasn't in much of a hurry to give her up. He'd been waiting for her all of his life, and wanted to spend the rest of it with her. He loved her, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would never love anyone else ever again. Not like he loved her. They'd grown up together, gone through heartbreak, and puberty, and first crushes, and first kisses together. Of course, they'd been each other's first kiss, so that didn't really count as they had been thirteen and extremely curious. That and anxious to get it out of the way so that they wouldn't be nervous when it happened the first time for real.

It was one of his most precious memories. And he would never admit that fact to anyone. Ever. It was one he kept solely to himself. And truly, Noah was the only one other than Carys, who even knew about it. Which was just the way he wanted to keep it.

He knew that if it came down to it, he was prepared to die for her. He'd nearly done it only a week earlier. He wasn't back to full strength, was in fact far from it. But he was going, he was going to fight, and he'd be damned if she died. Especially if she died while he lived. He'd stepped in front of a Killing Curse meant for her before, and he would gladly do it again. Without a second thought.

He'd have done it for anyone in that house. He loved them all, they were his family, and he would die to protect any one of them. Which, retrospectively made the gesture less noble, but it was just as heartfelt. But if he had to choose which person to save, he knew he wouldn't have a choice. He'd save her over any of them. And he knew she'd do the same for him.

Well, Sebastian admitted ruefully, allowing himself a small grin, she may have a problem choosing between Draco and him. Those two had always been close. Closer than any parent and child he knew of. He told his parents everything and talked to them about everything, but Carys and Draco were best friends. They were typically joined at the hip, and when they went away to school each year, he was consistently more upset at her leaving than Ginny ever was. Which was sweet and disturbing, all at the same time. But then again, that was the epitome of Draco himself. Sweet and disturbing.

And unnaturally violent for a wizard. He was oftentimes happier settling things with his fists than with his wand. More satisfying, he always claimed, though Sebastian never saw the point in making his knuckles ache when there was another, just as effective choice in using a spell. But it all went back to personal preference.

And Draco liked to punch people. It was written into his DNA. Sebastian smiled at that mental picture as he descended the stairs. He was, however, shaken from his thoughts by Hermione, who handed him a sweater.

“Don't you think it's a little warm to make me wear a sweater?”

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. “I can't go with you because of the baby. Ginny can't go for the same reason, and Luna won't go no matter what. I charmed your sweater to act as your body armor. All six of your have articles of clothing that should reflect and curse that comes at you. They won't last forever though, and each Unforgivable that hits you will weaken it. It will help a lot though.” She was fighting tears, and hugged her son tightly. “Be careful, I love you, I wish I could go, and please come home to me, Sebastian.”

Sebastian gripped his mother tightly, inhaling her familiar scent. “I'll be as careful as I can, I love you too, I wish you would be there with me, and I'll be home as soon as I can.”

Hermione nodded through her tears and watched her son, husband, two of her best friends, and her niece and nephew walk out the front door. And she prayed that they would all come home. And feared that they wouldn't.

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A little short, I know. But give me a break. I have class and homework. It's hard to find the time to write anymore. Here's chapter 18, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Leave me a review, and let me know what you thought of it.

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Okay, I have been trying to upload this chapter for like a week, and my computer hasn't been letting me. That's why this is so late. I hope you enjoy this chapter. There still isn't all that much action, but this chapter is progressive and does end up with them on the island facing the first of the beasts. Still can't really see an end for this, as I've been playing it by ear, but I'm still guessing at about another ten chapters or so. I don't know if I'll keep writing after that, but I've got a story that's been bugging me, so I might start working on that. It'll be a while though. I need a break before I burn out. But fear not, you haven't seen the last of me yet. Enjoy this chapter, and drop me a line to let me know what you think about it.

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Carys paced in the front yard, broom under her arm, wand clutched tightly in her hand. She was nervous. She didn't want to admit that she was nervous, but she was. Her stomach was tied into a knot, her heart was racing, and her palms were sweaty. It was a new feeling, and she didn't care for it in the slightest. But when she saw her father leaning against the porch railing watching her, she stopped and sent him what she hoped was a confident grin.

“Ready to save the world, Dad?”

Draco chuckled, walked to his daughter, and hugged her tightly. “I'm an old hand at saving the world, baby. I've done it before. And you wanna know something?”

“What?”

“The night before Harry, Ron, Hermione and I left, I didn't sleep for one single second. Of course, I was in the house of the Weasley's for the first time, and scared that someone was going to come in and curse me while I was asleep, but that's beside the point.”

“Dad, how could we not know that she was related to us?”

“Because she isn't.” Draco dropped a kiss on his daughter's forehead. “The sperm donor that is responsible for my birth was the same sperm donor responsible for hers. That doesn't make us related. That doesn't make us anything like her. It takes love, and care to make a family, Carys. In order to call someone a father, they have to do more than donate sperm. In order for someone to be a mother, they have to do more then give birth. We may share the same blood, but we're no more related to her than to your mother's apple tree in the back yard.”

Carys snuggled into her father's arms. “I'm scared I am like her. What if I am destined to be evil? Dad, you know I struggle with it ten times more than the twins. More than you.”

Draco didn't discount her fears as most parents would. “Our destiny doesn't have to be fulfilled, Carys. We can make anything out of life that we want. Some paths are easier than others, but the hard ones are the ones worth pursuing. It's always easier to be evil than to be good. It's a fact of life, unfortunately. And there isn't anything that we can do about it, baby. We just have to keep struggling and keep pursuing the path worthwhile.”

“Is this one of those `life's tough, get a helmet' moments? Cause I really hate those moments.”

Draco chuckled, flicked his daughter's nose. “Nope. This is a things don't always go the way they should, and sometimes we have to fight for the right thing more than we should, and sometimes doing the wrong thing looks damn appealing moments.”

“Especially when doing the wrong thing is less likely to get me killed right now?”

Draco nodded. “Especially then. But Carys, you aren't alone here, baby. We're all here with you, fighting right along beside you. And even Harry had his moments when he wondered whether doing the right thing was worth it. It's no fun fighting what seems to be a losing battle, but we just have to be confident that even if it seems that we won't ever win, we eventually will. And even if we don't, that prolonging the good part of this world is worth the sacrifices we make. That even if we lose now, that it's worth it to keep fighting. Even when we know we'll never win. Because this, more than anything else, is our destiny.”

Carys hugged her father quickly. “I love you, Dad. And I know all this, I really do. It's just that knowing doesn't make the choice an easier.” She kissed her father's cheek, then turned and walked over to Sebastian, who was getting last minute instructions from Harry.

Harry noticed Carys, and laid a hand on her arm before walking away. He went to stand with Draco, allowing the two to talk for a moment and then say goodbye to Noah before they left.

“How're you doing?”

Carys lifted her shoulders. “Okay, I guess.” she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. “Scared to death. I keep thinking about what will happen tomorrow when we get there. And how we'll get through everything. Hell, I'm wondering if we'll get through everything. I'm terrified, Sebastian. And more than anything, I'm scared of myself.”

Sebastian nodded, understanding as much as he possibly could. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and laid his hand on her cheek. “Do you remember our first kiss?”

Carys laughed, slightly confused. “It wasn't that long ago.”

“No. The one when we were thirteen. We wanted to get it out of the way and kissed each other. It was awkward and silly and we both laughed about it after.”

“Yeah. In the Common Room when no one was there. You'd just asked a girl to go to Hogsmeade with you, and I had a crush on a guy in fifth year. I came over to tell you about it cause there was no one to talk to in Slytherin and you were freaking out about having to kiss her.”

“That's the one. I didn't like you before that moment. At least, not the way I did after that. You said `Merlin, Sebastian, just kiss me already and get it over with. It's better to kiss your cousin then miss when you go to kiss a girl for real.'”

“How do you remember that?”

Sebastian smiled, and she was again struck by how handsome he really was. “I remember it because I was thinking that you weren't my cousin and I didn't know why you always insisted that I was. Anyway, we kissed, and it was terrible. I was nervous, and you were nonchalant and couldn't have cared less. I think I almost did miss actually, and it was quick and awful. But the great thing about that moment is that I can trace my having been in love with you back to it. I didn't like you as anything more than an annoying older girl who happened to hang out with me before then. But after then, you were the girl I'd kissed. Carys Lane Malfoy. I broke up with the other girl and spent at least a month trying to plot to get you to let me kiss you again. It took me five years.”

Carys giggled, amazed that he'd managed to lighten the mood when she'd thought it impossible to do. “It was terrible, wasn't it? But I wasn't nonchalant. I tried my hardest to look it, cause I was nervous too. It was my first kiss. What girl wouldn't be nervous? I don't know if I liked you then, Sebastian.” she looked at him sadly. “I don't think I could ever pinpoint the exact moment my feelings changed. But I remember nothing was quite the same after that. We were a little further apart, doing things a little separately. And I was a little more nervous going into the Gryffindor common room.”

“That isn't the point, Carys. The point is that I remember you were going through an awful time right then. One of our teachers refused to teach a Malfoy, claimed that they were all evil. That none of them were worth anything. And you wondered if he was right. Thought that maybe he was. But I also remember that our Quidditch teams played each other that weekend, and one of your Beaters attacked Noah. Tried to use an Unforgivable on him. And you threw yourself in front of it and cost your team the game. I knew right then that no matter how tempted by the Death Eaters and Dark Magic you were that you wouldn't ever go over.”

Carys stepped closer to him, and he slipped his arms around her, drawing her close, into a hug. “How'd you know that? We were so young. Just children. We knew what was going on, but we'd never been faced with anyone evil. How did you know I was so different?”

“Because you threw yourself in front of that curse. I knew that you could never be evil because you loved too much. You loved too many people, and evil would destroy them. Maybe not kill them, or hurt them, but you being evil would kill them. You loved all of us too much to ever do anything to hurt us. As protective as you were toward all of us, we were your anchor. And you loved us all too much for that anchor to ever let go.” He kissed the top of her head, summoned his broom with a quick look. “You still love us too much. You may be tempted, but you can't do it. You could never bring yourself to turn evil. You've got too much love in you.”

Carys pulled from his grasp, rose onto her tiptoes to kiss him quickly. “Come give us a hug and wish us good luck Noah. We've gotta go.” she looked at her mother, and they exchanged a look no one else could read. Carys nodded quickly, then blew a kiss at her father, who was still standing with Harry and Ron. Noah hugged his best friends tightly, wished them luck, and stepped back. Sebastian locked eyes with both his parents, more being said in the silence than could have ever been said in words. And then he reached for Carys' hand, grasped it in his and Apparated.

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The coordinates that Desdemona had given them were located somewhere in Africa. Kenya, if you wanted to get technical. It was hot, unforgiving and miserable. Both Carys and Sebastian got that impression in the five minutes they were there getting their bearings from that Apparition and mounting their brooms. With a silent consensus, they adjusted their wands so that they were being held instead of tucked into a pocket and took off. The flight would be long and difficult, but once they arrived, the hard part would begin.

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It took them close to an hour to reach the castle. And when they saw what appeared to be an island floating in the middle of the sky, both were shocked, despite the fact that they'd both known of it's existence. They'd half thought that Desdemona had been lying to them. It was disconcerting to find that she hadn't been.

The castle was black, and oozed evil. The woods surrounding it were thick and dark. Sebastian didn't want to even think about what was in them. They'd find that out soon enough. The island was large, and the forest covered every inch of it that wasn't castle or moat. They'd both been surprised to see a moat. The very concept was antiquated. Neither even bothered to speculate what was in it. They had more immediate matters to concentrate on.

Like where to land. They needed to soon or else they would most definitely be discovered. Spotting what seemed to be a patch of forest slightly less dense than the others near the edge of the island, Sebastian gestured. Carys followed his movement and nodded slightly. It was as good a place as any other.

So they landed. And they were in the thick, dark forest, alone, with only their wands. Their brooms were discarded, tossed over the edge into the black of the night, and they were suddenly very alone. Carys reached for Sebastian's hand, and sighed in relief when his fingers folded over hers. He could always make her feel a little safer than she was. And every little bit helped when she was literally shaking from fear.

“Ready for this?”

Carys shook her head. “No. But there isn't any turning back now unless we can fly without a broom. Let's get moving. We don't want to be attacked by any of those beasts Desdemona was talking about.”

Sebastian tugged on her hand and she turned to see what he was looking at. And saw him looking up. She inclined her head and nearly screamed. What she saw was something even their parents hadn't ever had to deal with.

“Harpies. Any idea how to handle them?”

Sebastian nodded. “We run.”

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Okay everyone, it is after two in the morning, and I can't sleep. I've tried. I went to bed at 11:30 and still can't fall asleep. My mom is spending the night with me in my dorm room, and I just can't sleep. So I thought I'd get up and start on this next chapter. And while I'm sure all of you appreciate it, I certainly don't. I have to get up in six hours, I'm exhausted, and I want to go to sleep and can't. So, it sucks. And since this is such a horrible situation for me, I think you should all leave me a review and let me know what you think of this story so far. And since you're reading this, you'll notice that it's the twentieth chapter, and I think that everyone reading this should have dropped me at least one review by now. So if you haven't, make this chapter the one. Anyway, on with the story. There's some action in this one.

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Harpies were magical creatures, sort of like the sirens of ancient Greece. Half bird and half woman, they ruled the skies and could have the sweetest song when trying to lure their prey. However, the ones protecting Lamia's forest didn't bother with luring Sebastian to his death. They knew that Carys would never have let him go. Instead, they soared above head, watching the two teenagers as they ran for safety. They could hear the cackling from above even as they ran.

Suddenly, Sebastian grabbed Carys around the waist and jerked her with him as he darted into the forest. He propelled her against a rock facing of a cliff and into a small cave like structure. “Okay, look, our job is to make a raucous. We need to alert them that we're here, and fast. From what I saw from our brooms, there's only one way to get to this castle, and that's straight up. Once we're up the cliff, we're in the maze. There're plenty of nasty things in there to keep us busy for a while. We can safely assume that Lamia will be keeping her eye on us and that she won't see the rest of them when they get here in a few hours. Once we're through the maze, we have to deal with getting across the moat. By that time, I say we just use magic and levitate over. Once we're there, we'll have plenty to keep us busy. And we want to let ourselves get taken.”

Carys nodded. “That way Lamia's in there with us, and she'll never expect everyone else so soon. She'll be too busy with us to notice them anyway. Gotcha. So, can we levitate that far, or shall we do this the Muggle way and climb?”

Sebastian looked up. The cliff was nearly straight up, but had plenty of ledges and handholds. It didn't look like it would be very problematic to climb. And the longer they went unnoticed, the better the surprise was and the less time Lamia had to get ready. “We climb. The Harpies'll leave us alone, I think.” He looked to where they were circling. “And if they don't, we'll just have to curse them with something.”

Carys lifted one eyebrow at him. “And what if they take option number three and fly straight to Lamia and let her know we're here?”

Sebastian considered that for a second. “By that time, we'll be up that wall and into the maze. It'll take her a while to find us in any case. And she'll be too busy looking for us to notice if everyone else gets here early. Either way, this works as an advantage.” He tucked his wand back in his pocket. “Need a boost to that first ledge?”

Carys looked up and noticed that the ledge was slightly above her head. She nodded slowly, nervous. “If you wouldn't mind.”

Sebastian linked his fingers and grinned. “No problem.”

She stepped into his hands and he lifted, depositing her neatly on top of the ledge. After a quick look around to make sure that the harpies were staying at bay, he heaved himself onto the ledge next to him. Once he was securely on the ledge, he stood and cupped his hands again.

“Ready to do this again?”

Carys measured the distance to the ledge mentally. “Sebastian, why don't I give you a boost and then you lift me up? That looks a little high for you to jump, and I don't think I'm strong enough to pull you up or help much.”

Sebastian straightened to consider that, then nodded. “Are you sure that you can lift me?”

“Yeah. It's just a couple seconds. I'll be fine.” She cupped her hands and braced them against her knee. Quickly, and in one movement, he stepped into her hands, grabbed the ledge as she stood, and pulled himself up. Quickly, so that the harpies didn't find either of them alone, he laid on his stomach, leaned over the edge and hooked his hands under her arms, lifting her onto the ledge next to him. The next bit was one that they would have to climb, but the handholds were near to one another so it wouldn't be a problem.

“You head up first.”

Carys nodded. “I won't fall, Sebastian.”

Sebastian grinned. “I know that. I'll just feel better about the whole thing if you go up first and I can make sure you get up to that next ledge okay. It looks like it's about fifty feet. Once you're on the ledge, I'll start up.”

Carys shook her head at his antics and gripped the stone out cropping. She started to climb, making the transition from one ledge to the next with only one panic inducing moment when a rock gave way and she lost her foot hold for a moment. Once she was safely on the ledge, and making sure the Harpies stayed far away, Sebastian climbed up as well.

They continued in that fashion until they were finally pulling themselves over the final edge onto the top of the cliff. They'd made several hundred feet in a little under an hour. They were hot, sweating, and dirty, but safe and one step closer to the castle. The next obstacle was the maze.

“Any idea how we go about this one?” Carys asked, slipping her hand into his as they looked at the thick wall of briars before them. Sebastian squeezed her fingers in reassurance and shrugged.

“We go through.”

“We'll get torn to shreds.” Carys pulled him around the side, looking for an entrance. She found none, just a wall of brambles that stretched clear to the other edge of the island.

“Look, this is a maze. That means that these have to be the outer walls. That means that it'll open up and there'll be a path a few feet in. Let me go in first and smash down the briars, then you follow me in.”

Carys shook her head. “No way.”

“Why?”

The blonde sighed in exasperation, dragged him within inches of the wall. “Didn't you ever pay any attention in Herbology? This is a patch of Gobblethorn. It'll tear us to shreds if we go in there. Even if it's five feet to the other side, I don't think we'll make it through without serious damage.”

That stopped Sebastian in his tracks. “How much damage are we talking?”

“We could lose limbs.”

“Well we have to get in there. There's no other way to the castle. The castle's in the center of this damn thing.”

“I'm aware of that, Sebastian.” Carys wasn't annoyed with him. She was upset about the situation and everything that they were being forced to endure. And more than that, she was upset about the faint tugging she could feel just behind her navel. Sort of like she was using a Portkey, but she recognized it as the pull of evil. And as it always did, it terrified and exhilarated her.

“Do you know how we get past it?”

“Well, I don't exactly have a vial of goat's stomach acid and extract of Mandrake blood with me. So no, I don't know exactly how we get past it.”

Sebastian turned to look at her, concern in his eyes. She'd been known to have a short temper, but she wasn't acting like herself. “I feel it too.”

Carys looked over at him, met his gaze. “If you feel it, you can imagine how hard it is for me to tell it no.”

A thought occurred to Sebastian, and it was voiced before he could command his mouth to shut. “Then don't tell it no. What better way to get her attention and get there quickly than with a giant show of magic? It isn't dark magic that makes a witch or wizard evil, Carys. We've all used dark magic before. It's how you use it that matters.”

Carys lifted her eyebrows, found herself considering it. “Dad says we all have a dark side. That there's a part of all of us that wants to be bad, because being bad is so much easier than being good.”

“And my Dad says that he's never seen Draco look more evil than he did the day he killed Lucius.”

“Dad is the best man I know. He's never claimed that we don't have evil in us. That it isn't harder for us to be good than anyone else. Magic isn't a two sided coin, is it? It's all one side, with many parts. To defeat evil, we have to use evil spells. The Unforgivable curses were created mostly by dark witches and wizards, and the good witches and wizards learned to use them to defend against evil and defeat it. We've been using dark magic to defeat the dark since the dawn of time.”

“It's all in the way you use it.”

“I know that embracing it would make me more powerful. It would make our chances greater. I always have to hold myself back, Sebastian. Always. I've never been able to embrace my magic and let it flow like you have. I'm scared of what I am. Of what magic makes me. And I'm terrified that if I let go and let it flow, that I'll lose myself and I won't be able to tell her no. If the pull is this strong when I'm holding back my magic, I don't even want to think about what it'll be if I'm using all my strength. I don't want to lose myself. I don't want to be evil. But it's in me, lurking right beneath the surface, and I don't know if I'll have the strength to stop it.”

Sebastian took her in his arms then, drew her close, and kissed her. Warm and deep, his mouth played over hers, drowning her in sensation, until her head was spinning and she was clinging to him for support and balance. He drew back, rested his forehead against hers. “You won't lose yourself.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you. I know how you struggle, I know how you fight. And I know how strong you are. And I know that evil will never win.”

“How? How do you know that?”

“Because I love you.”

Carys took his hand, turned to face the maze, teeming with all it's dangerous creatures and dark magic. And she did what she had never done before. She threw her head back and opened herself to the power that was flowing around her. The wind picked up, tossing her hair around her face, making her close her eyes. She gripped Sebastian's hand tighter, using him and his love to anchor herself.

“Ready?”

Sebastian nodded, focusing his power as well. “Ready.”

So there, with a magic made ten times stronger by the love that connected and grounded them, the two teenagers cast a spell that needed no words, needed not to even be thought before it was happening, and the maze flattened, the briars dead, the beasts therein ran from the force of the magic careening toward the castle, and in that castle, in the highest tower where Lamia was pacing, her head snapped up and she ran to the window.

She ran down the stairs to the Great Hall, where her followers were gathering. “Wands! Get your wands! They're here!”

And at the other end of the island, unseen and undetected, Harry, Ron, Draco, and Noah landed on brooms and prepared to follow Carys and Sebastian to the castle. No matter the outcome, the battle had started.

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Carys felt the storm within her whip up, and black clouded her vision for a long moment. Her only anchor to reality was Sebastian's hand clasped around hers. The tugging behind her navel grew until it was nearly unbearable. She could almost hear Lamia screaming for her minions, could nearly see the flurry of activity in the castle, so strong was her connection to the magic that rushed through her and linked her to the aunt she'd never known she had.

The power was a drug. It flooded her senses, rendering her unable to feel anything but the strength of the magic coursing through her veins. She both loved, and hated it. And she knew that she couldn't ever go back. She'd tapped into the power she'd subdued all her life, and there was no turning from it. She didn't want to turn from it. She wanted to increase it. And for an instant, she knew, really knew, and understood why witches and wizards turned to the dark side of magic. The power, the strength, the sheer thrill of the magic was addictive.

Sebastian squeezed her hand, bringing her back to the surface. “Ready?”

Carys felt her mind clear slightly. “Didn't you just ask me that?”

Sebastian looked down at her, worry in his gaze. “Are you all right?”

Carys smiled then, and for the first time he could remember, he saw evil in her. “Perfect.” She tugged her hand from his grasp, took the first step toward the castle. “Let's go, Sebastian. We've started a war.”

Worried and confused, Sebastian followed silently, wondering if encouraging her to let go and just let the magic within her flow had been a mistake. He feared it had been, and prayed that it wasn't.

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Draco's head snapped up when he felt the wind and the magic in the air. He swore when he heard the crash of what had been the maze and the various calls and cries of the magical creatures that had called it home. He turned to look at his companions.

“It would seem Carys and Sebastian just made a hell of an entrance.”

Harry put a hand on his friend's arm. “You know what she just did, right?”

Draco nodded, started toward the cliff. “She gave herself over to the magic.” He sighed, and for a moment, looked much, much older than his years. “I hope she can handle it. It's always been so hard for her.”

“She'll do it the same way you did. The same way you still do.” Ron surprised himself by speaking as they looked at the cliff. “She's got too much to lose and not enough to gain. And even though the prospect of being evil is great, and the power is fantastical, she'd have to lose too much. Losing her family is far too high a price.”

Draco laughed as he boosted Noah and then Harry. “Nothing is too high a price if the pull is great enough. I know. It's the most addictive drug in existence, power is. Nothing compares to the high, and if it gets to you, there's nothing short of a miracle that can yank you back.”

Harry nodded, understanding. “Like Dumbledore.”

“Like Dumbledore. Offering to help me and protect me as I pointed a wand at his chest, desperate for the rush of the power I knew would come when I did it. There's nothing that compares to that high, Ron. Nothing at all.”

“Then why did you turn your back on it?”

“Power is supposed to bring responsibility. Evil isn't responsible. There are no repercussions. In the end, the main reason I ran was that I realized the type of power I had would be more likely to kill me than help me. Evil is like that. The person most likely to curse you while you sleep is the person the closest to you. I was conceited enough that the thing that broke me away was the knowledge that I would be killed. It was all about me back then. And life ended up being more important than being powerful.”

Harry nodded. “Makes sense, I suppose. Let's go guys. We need to get there and save our kids.”

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Death Eaters rushed from the castle, wands lifted, ready to duel the two teenagers that stood at the castle gates. Sebastian was standing slightly in front of Carys, automatically shielding her with his body and she had her wand clenched tightly in one hand.

And in the center of the wave of Death Eaters, Lamia came forward, robes and cloaks billowing around her, her heels like gunshots on the stone path, hair swirling around her shoulders. She was exuding power, and the wave of evil swept over Carys and Sebastian. She carried no wand, and threw her arms out, tossing them to separate sides on the staircase.

“You would dare enter my home!?” she roared, anger making her even more powerful than she normally was. “You would have the nerve to come in here and challenge me!?”

Carys climbed to her feet, saw Sebastian do the same. “I would.”

Lamia again threw out her arms, and Carys tumbled down the stairs. She didn't get up. Sebastian didn't move for a second, not wanting to draw her attention too quickly. When Lamia started down the stairs to Carys, he pointed his wand at her.

“Diffindo!”

Lamia's feet left the ground as she was tossed to the side. Carys was able to struggle to her feet before Sebastian reached her, and despite her brief struggle, she allowed him to push her behind him. Lamia stood, brushed herself off and stared at Sebastian. She lifted her hand and clenched her fingers into a fist. As she did so, Sebastian felt a vise close around his throat.

He couldn't get a breath in, nor force one out. His chest was constricted, his eyes watered as he struggled both for breath and to cast a voiceless spell. Carys finally ended his torture, throwing out her hands and sending a wave of magic at Lamia that was powerful enough to knock her over.

Sebastian was moving before Lamia hit the ground. He grabbed Carys around the waist and ran through the throng of Death Eaters and into the castle. They kept going, straight up the stairs, making random turns every so often until they were lost and relatively certain that for the moment, they were safe. Once Sebastian shouldered his way into a locked bed chamber, they relaxed slightly, taking the time to catch their breath and gather their bearings.

“She's really strong.”

Carys shook her hair over one shoulder. “We're stronger together. It's going to take both of us to defeat her. We're going to have to do it together.”

Sebastian nodded. “Agreed. There's no other option here. Okay, now that we've lost them for the moment, I think we should go looking for those Horcruxes. After that, we need to split up. I'll take them to the Great Hall and destroy them while you make a commotion and draw them to you. That should give Dad, Draco, Ron and Noah time to get here. Once they're here, you leave the Death Eaters to us, and you and Draco go after Lamia. Desdemona said that the two of you are the only ones that can kill her.”

Carys nodded, looked at her watch. “Right, let's go then.”

“Carys, we need to go slow. We have no idea where this chamber is.”

Carys lifted her eyebrows. “Speak for yourself. I know exactly where it is.”

“How?”

“I'm connected to her. We're blood relations, and the strength of the magic we used on one another is connecting us.”

“So she knows where we are?”

“I didn't say that. She's mad, Sebastian. Furious that she doesn't know where we are and that she wasn't expecting us when we came. Her anger is blocking a good portion of her magic and it's keeping her from realizing the connection. She can't feel me inside her head, but I can feel inside hers. Sort of like Uncle Harry and Lord Voldemort way back when. They had a mental connection that he was aware of first.”

Sebastian nodded. “Okay, then. Lead the way to these Horcruxes. We need to destroy them and get on with this thing. I want to go home.”

“You aren't the only one. I'm sick and tired of this saving the world thing already and we just started. I'd much rather just be back in training.”

Sebastian managed a chuckle as they crept down the hall, constantly on the lookout for any Death Eaters. They had several close calls, but were never caught. “I don't think I want to be an Auror anymore. Teaching is suddenly sounding really good. Or playing professional Quidditch like Dad.”

Carys nodded, opened a door silently and led him into a dark chamber. The walls were covered in black drapes, and in the center of the room there was a huge bed with dark red sheets and a black comforter. There was a throne in one corner, an ingredient cabinet against one wall, a cabinet with jewelry being showcased against another and a huge gaudy desk in another corner. She felt the inexplicable urge to giggle.

“My ,my, Lamia certainly went overboard with this whole Dark Queen look, don't you think?”

Sebastian wrinkled his nose and moved to the cabinet, ripping a chunk off of the draperies hiding the walls as he did so. “It looks like I just walked into some cheesy vampire movie and Leslie Nielsen is going to jump out at me trying to suck my blood through a straw.”

Then Carys did giggle, clapping a hand over her mouth to mute the sound. “That's exactly what this looks like. And they say she's the best? The woman couldn't even come up with good evil decorations. This is pathetic.”

“You're telling me.” He opened the glass doors, reached in with the cloth and collected the six pieces of Lamia's soul in it. “Got it. Ready to go?”

Carys shook her head, darted to the door. She peered out, the ducked back in, finger to her lips. “You've got to go. Now.”

“What is it?”

“Lamia's coming. She's felt the link. She knows where I am. But you have to go now. She can't tell if you're with me or not, but you have to leave right now.”

Sebastian nodded, crossed the room to her. “You'll be okay?”

“I'll be fine. I'm going to let her get close, then take a run and pray Dad's here by then. Get to the Great Hall and destroy those pieces of her soul. If you don't, then we'll never be able to kill her.” Carys pushed him toward the door. “Go!”

He leaned down and captured her mouth quickly and heatedly, leaving her dazed. “I love you, Carys. Hold on to that.”

“I will. And I love you too.”

Sebastian tossed her a wicked grin, and ducked out the door. She gave him thirty seconds, then stepped into the hall to face her aunt.

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Lamia smiled as she saw Carys emerge into the hall. “Ah, decided to face me rather than cower in a corner.”

Carys shook her head, flipping her hair over her shoulder arrogantly. She'd decided to act much more confident than she felt in hopes that it would anger Lamia to the point of extreme recklessness. “What point in hiding is there when you're the one who will die today?”

“The only people dying in this house today are you and your little boyfriend. You've invaded my home, challenged me to protect it, and I swear I'll be damned before I let you defeat me now or ever.”

“Then you're damned, Lamia.” She laughed, felt the magic whipping up inside her, overtaking her once again. “And fucked as well. Before the sun rises, I'll see you dead.”

With that, Carys threw out her arms and let the magic course out of her, flowing into Lamia at a force that staggered the older woman. She backed against the railing of the upper floor and clutched a hand to her throat. Carys lifted her hands, and Lamia lifted as well, and then with a careless wave of her hand, Carys sent Lamia into the wall. And then, she ran.

She was powerful, she knew that. And she knew that in a fight, she could take most witches or wizards. Malfoys were always great witches and wizards, and she was no exception. But Lamia had had year of dark training, and Carys wasn't even sure how to control the magic flowing through her veins. When she managed to take Lamia by surprise, she could win scuffles, but on her own, she knew she could never win the war.

Her element of surprise was running out as well. Lamia was gauging her power more and more accurately each time they met. The first, Carys had been able to throw her completely off and defeat her. The second, Lamia had been more prepared, and had only been staggered by the voiceless spell. The third time, Carys had a sinking feeling that the field would be much more even, or even sloped to Lamia's advantage if her father didn't arrive soon. And even if Draco did arrive, and Sebastian wasn't able to destroy the Horcruxes, they were damned anyway, because as long as the Horcruxes remained, Lamia couldn't be killed completely.

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Sebastian found the Great Hall easily enough. It, as Desdemona had told them, took up more than half of the castle's first floors. Once inside, he found the cabinets with all the potion ingredients, and soon saw the one with the yellowed, ancient label reading `Godric Gryffindor.' He grabbed the door to the cabinet, and was flung backward.

As soon as he hit the ground, he heard laughing, and looked up to see Death Eaters standing in the doorway. “That cabinet only opens for Death Eaters, stupid boy.”

Sebastian recognized several of the Death Eaters as people he'd gone to school with, but that had graduated ahead of him. “Well then, I'll just have to make you open it for me.”

“I don't think so. Avada Kedavra!”

The spell hit Sebastian in the chest solidly, but his sweater absorbed it, then threw it back and the Death Eater who had cast it. He was flung backward, eyes rolling back as his body bent sickeningly in midair, then crashed into the stone floor with a crunch that made Sebastian sick to his stomach. The other Death Eaters looked at one another, fear evident in their eyes. Sebastian pointed his wand at them all.

“Wingardium leviosa.”

The Death Eaters rose off the ground and Sebastian propelled them in to the cabinets, shattering the glass and sending the bottles and urns flying around the room. They landed unconscious, and he waved his wand once again, conjuring rope that snaked around their wrists and ankles, securely tying them.

“Accio, Godric Gryffindor.”

The yellow bottle flew at him and he caught it neatly in one hand, grinning despite himself. He really liked taking on battles the odds said he should have lost and winning them. It gave his ego a boost, and made him more confident for the rest of what he had to do.

He ran to the nearest flat surface, which was the table, and checked it for curses or charms. Finding none, he dumped the Horcruxes on the table and uncorked the bottle. A yellow mist flew out and engulfed the Horcruxes, eating them away into nothingness in seconds. Sebastian was left to do nothing other than stare at the pile of ashes that had once been Horcruxes. The mist returned to the bottle, and Sebastian pocketed it quickly, gathering the ashes in the cloth he'd wrapped the Horcruxes in and throwing them in the fire. Desdemona had said that just using the essence of Gryffindor would destroy the Horcruxes and the bit of soul in them, but he wasn't taking any chances.

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Draco split from Harry, Ron and Noah as soon as they ran in the door to the castle. He couldn't explain it, didn't even want to try, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his daughter needed him, and could sense where it was that she was. He veered up the stairs, to the right and down a long corridor, running as fast as he could.

He soon saw his daughter fighting several Death Eaters. And she was magnificent, using magic, and Muggle fighting techniques both. She whirled when a Death Eater grabbed her shoulder in time to see Draco seize him and throw him over the railing.

“Dad!” Carys threw herself at her father, burying her face in his neck, breathing in the comfort of his familiar scent and hugging him with all the strength she had. Draco returned the embrace, then tucked her against his side so that he could keep her close without allowing them to be sneaked up on.

“Are you all right? Where's Sebastian? What's going on?”

“I'm fine. Sebastian is after the essence of Godric Gryffindor. He should've gotten it by now. We had to split up.” She looked up at her father. “She and I are linked, Dad. Like Uncle Harry and Voldemort were.”

Draco sighed. “I thought that might happen. She's picked you, and that's as strong a bond as the one that connected Harry and Voldemort. Has she sensed it yet?”

“I don't think so. I can tell you where she is, but so far she can't seem to find me.”

“That's an advantage then. Let's go find her.”

“I don't know if Sebastian's destroyed the Horcruxes yet. If he hasn't we'll be walking right into our own coffins.” She grabbed his arm, led him down the front staircase. “He should be in the ballroom.”

Draco kept Carys tucked behind him while they walked, unwilling to put his daughter in any more danger than necessary. He led her to the ballroom, which was in the front of the castle and shoved open the doors. Sebastian's wand was pointing solidly at his chest in a split second. When he saw Draco and Carys, he lowered it.

“Thank God you're all right. I got it. The Horcruxes are gone. The essence of Gryffindor worked like a charm, no pun intended.”

Carys grabbed him in a fierce hug, then took Draco's arm. “She's upstairs in her bedroom. She's trying to use a locating spell to find out where we all are.”

“Get her down here. I'm not going into her lair and giving her that advantage. We're already playing on her field. That's enough for me.”

“How?”

Sebastian grabbed her arm, dragged her in the direction of Harry. “Dad would know. He was able to keep Voldemort out, so he should be able to tell you how to let her in.”

Harry, Ron and Noah rounded the corned into the ballroom with torn robes and various cuts and bruises. “We ran into the whole damn army of Death Eaters in the Western hallway.” He hugged Sebastian. “You okay?”

“Fine. I destroyed all the Horcruxes. Dad, how can Carys let Lamia into her mind? They've got that psychic link thing going on and she needs to let Lamia find out where she is so that we can get everyone in here.”

“Easy. Can you hear her thoughts?”

Carys nodded. “Loud and clear enough to give me a headache.”

“Then talk back. In your mind, and concentrate only on what you're saying. She'll hear you.”

Carys closed her eyes, let her mind clear of all but the voice she couldn't control. And then, she spoke back, hearing her voice only in her mind. The voice of Lamia silenced, and then she heard the Dark Knight announce that all Death Eaters needed to go to the ball room.

“They're on their way. All of them.”

Draco nodded sharply, drew his wand. “Then let's do this.”

Harry laid a hand on Draco's shoulder. “This should have ended twenty years ago. It's time we finished it for good.”

“Carys, you stick close to me. If we're going to take on Lamia, we need to be together and not try to face her alone. Sebastian, Noah, you two stay close to one another and take on the Death Eaters that come through the South door. Harry, Ron, you two know what to do.”

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Sebastian had his wand out and was ready when the flood of Death Eaters began. What he hadn't expected was that there were still over a hundred that had to be dealt with. He and Noah used a combination of spells, charms and curses, binding them at hand and foot, knocking them out, putting them to sleep. No one wanted to kill them, but they had to several times when it was absolutely necessary.

The battle was long and bloody, and Lamia didn't make an appearance until it was nearly over. Carys sensed her the second she entered the room, and she began making her way over, inexplicably drawn to the older woman. It never occurred to her that Draco was on the other side of the room dealing with Death Eaters.

“This is your last chance, Carys. You can join me, and I'll give you all the power in the world, or you can die, right here.” Lamia's voice was rich and deep, permeating every pore of Carys' body. She let the words flow through her, felt a pull to do what was asked of her. The magic coursing through her demanded that she join Lamia.

“No.”

“I know you want to. You feel it the same as I do. I'm in your thoughts. I hear what the voices say, what the magic itself is telling you. If there's one thing you can trust, it's your magic. I feel the pull. The tug on your center telling you to do as I say. Listen to it.”

It was a struggle to even remember who she was. The only thing she could hear was Lamia's voice in her head and the magic speaking to her through every inch of her being. It never occurred to her that Lamia wasn't even speaking out loud, that she was the one making it seem as if she wanted to do as told.

“I won't do it, Lamia. I'm not yours.”

“But you are. You feel it, you know it in every inch of yourself. You feel the call of it, the feel of it in your blood. You were born for this. The prophecies were created before birth. You know it's true, Carys. You know what you are. You know what you were made for. You were born for this. For evil. For me. Come with me, together we'll rule the world.”

It was that that broke Carys free. She surged to her feet, confused about when she'd been driven to her knees in the first place and felt magic surge off of her. “I AM NOT EVIL!” her voice filled the room as Lamia was driven back. Carys didn't know what she was doing, didn't know how she was doing what she was. She drove Lamia to her knees with another pulse of magic. “I BELONG TO NO ONE! And I don't want to rule the world.” The last came out as a whisper as she felt the energy that had given her such a sudden burst of strength ebbed and left her feeling weak.

Draco shoved his way through Death Eaters when she saw what was going on. He saw Carys fall to her knees, facing Lamia who was struggling to get to her feet. When he saw Lamia pick up her wand, he aimed his from twenty feet away. “Avada Kedavra!”

The green stream of light struck Lamia in the chest, pushed her back several feet, and bought Draco a few seconds as he ran toward his daughter. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sebastian chanting a spell his mother had created, and he saw the magic flow back into Carys.

Without looking back, Carys knew her father was ready. Her wand came up, and with every ounce of strength, she cast the Killing Curse. Both streams of green light hit Lamia, and the Dark Witch was tossed backward, where she hit the floor in a heap. She didn't move. Harry moved to check her pulse.

“She's dead.”

That was the last thing Carys heard as she hit the floor in a dead faint.

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