Marge sat in the rickety folding chair at Vernon's graveside, scratching occasionally at the ankle monitor the police had put on her. She huffed in aggravation. She couldn't believe she was under house arrest, and her lawyer had the nerve to tell her she was lucky.

Her lawyer had tried to explain that when she'd been pulled over and charged with DUI that she hadn't meant to stomp on the officer's foot and break it. Of course yelling ‘take that' had perhaps made the job difficult. And really, Ripper had just been trying to protect her when he'd nipped the other officer in the rear. She was quite sure they were exaggerating the number of stitches he'd needed.

She eyed the stern young officer that had brought her to the funeral. Her lawyer had said he'd pulled every string Marge possessed to make this happen and if she misbehaved she'd likely face more charges. She sniffed; the injured officers had friends who seemed to be quite anxious to add to her incarceration time. Didn't they have anything better to do?

She sighed, she'd only dared have one tiny drink this morning, or maybe two. She'd topped the first one off a bit after the first sip - or two. Anyway, she wasn't drunk. Many of her friends had shown up, although they hadn't been much help with getting her charges dropped. Vernon's co-workers - the louses - were staying well away since those lies about child abuse and attempted murder had been leaked.

The funeral was to start at 10 AM sharp, and she saw Dudley arrive at precisely then with a glowering dark-haired man and a pretty blond woman in a funny looking dress. She wanted to run over and yell at the man and his little tart, and grab Dudley from them. She looked over at the officer; he gave her a stern look in return.

She listened with half an ear to the eulogy, and then pushed through the crowd that was departing and got to Dudley's side.

Severus watched Marge approach with resignation. He had brought Rosemerta with them so she could handle any teenage tears. She had seemed pleased to have been asked, and had patted his arm to his confused dismay. She apparently thought he was getting soft - truth was, he just didn't like tears.

Marge grabbed Dudley and enveloped him in a suffocating hug. "Dudders! Where did they kidnap you to? What have they been doing to you? You're skin and bones!" The officer came over, looking uncomfortable.

Severus allowed the sniffling and wailing to continue for a few minutes, but Dudley was looking increasingly distraught.

"Ms. Dursley, Dudley has had a difficult day, and he really needs to return home." Severus said this as evenly as possible, and was quite proud he hadn't sneered or remarked on the enormous casket Vernon was occupying as being a waste of perfectly good trees.

"He should be with family." Marge shouted. "Not someone Vernon and I never met before. I'm taking him home with me - you can send his things along. He's not staying with that freaky cousin of his that caused all this."

Mourners who had been leaving stopped to watch the show. Many were here out of curiosity, anyway. Severus gritted his teeth and decided there were too many people to obliviate - he would have to get physical. Rosemerta was about to leap in to save him from committing a felony when Dudley cut in.

"Aunt Marge, NO! Severus is taking good care of me - and mom did give him guardianship until she's well. I'm fine where I am. I appreciate you wanting to take me in, but I'm leaving with Severus and Rosemerta." Dudley pushed back from his Aunt firmly, and tried to dry his tears and look a bit more adult. Severus took the opportunity to escape with his charge, and went around to a nearby building to apparate. Rosemerta followed them. They left a stunned Marge to be led away by the officer.

They arrived back at Dragonsrest and Dudley trudged up to bed clutching three vials to his chest. Severus had told him that he could take the Calming Draught, Headache Potion and Dreamless Sleep - but only if he wanted to. "You will have to face your grief and issues over your father at some point. These will give you a respite if you need it, but I won't let you hide in them or use them as a crutch."

Dudley had nodded, but was glad they were available at present. His head was throbbing from the pressure of having to reject Aunt Marge's offer. If only she could be trusted - but she'd never let Harry stay without resuming the abuse. She'd probably find a way to take him from his mother, as well. Guilt over the rejection weighed heavily on him, anyway. He wished for a hug from his mother. Rosemerta had been great, but it wasn't the same.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Severus and Rosemerta watched Dudley go up the stairs. Severus' hearing was acute, and he heard popped corks soon followed by snoring, and smiled. His smile got bigger when Rosemerta pulled him into the library for kisses.

"I've missed you, you know. Do you think you'll have an evening free, soon?" She asked breathlessly. She knew she had to share time with the boys, but surely he could spare a few hours this week.

She was quite curious about the new lad; Severus had introduced him as just ‘Tom' with no surname. Severus would never breach protocol that way unless there was something big to hide. She'd been around Severus enough to recognize a sneaky Slytherin plot. She might get more out of him if he was alone and in her clutches.

"Hmmm." Severus thought furiously through his quickly fogging brain, he'd never had to think about sitters for kids, before. Tinker had been able to supervise for a few hours, but now there was Tom to consider. Yvane seemed to have him well in hand, but the bond was still new. "I'll try to get away in the next few days. Lucius can arrange an overnight, perhaps. The boys want to see Malfoy Manor and try flying, anyway." He was immediately rewarded with more kissing before she left.

Severus changed his muggle suit back into the robes they had been transfigured from. He tossed the heavy over-robe over a chair, then the heavily buttoned jacket. The white shirt and black slacks would be enough on such a hot day; he'd need cooling charms as it was. He called for Tinker, who said that everyone was at the pool, and that he was about to take lunch there.

"Dudley is sleeping upstairs. His father's funeral upset him; let us know if you think he needs us." Severus watched Tinkers eagerly bobbing head with affection. After the debacles with Dobby he had renewed appreciation for a good elf. "Thank you, Tinker, it's good to know I can count on you." Tinker popped away with happy tears in his eyes, and Severus walked toward the pool.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tom watched Severus walk across the meadow toward them. Coming to the pool yesterday with Lucius and the trio of boys had been different. He had no experience with pools before this. There had only been a trip to the seaside while at the orphanage that had ended - well, badly.

Tom had entered the pool hesitantly, and followed the boy's exuberant instructions. He found floating fairly easy to master, and Draco had showed him a few strokes that he had floundered around with. Tom had watched Lucius warily, waiting for derisive laughter. Lucius, however, had been intently reading a book and sipping at a drink. None of the boys were expert swimmers, and Harry was still at the dog-paddling stage. They all seemed to be just playing around, and his lack of swimming skills was barely noticed.

He'd worked a bit on his crawl, today, and jumped back in a few times to cool off. He'd also brought a few books to read on dragon magic, and Yvane had remarked on a few passages. His thirst for the knowledge Yvane had was undiminished. Yvane had explained that much of what they knew was in memory form, but he still wanted it, he remembered the world Yvane had briefly shown him - he wanted that. To his surprise Yvane even had memories of the founders passed down from another ancient dragon.

He was determined to write down some of these memories; he especially wanted to see the memory of Salazar Slytherin. Knowing he had such an illustrious ancestor was one of the few boosts to his self-esteem he'd ever had, so seeing him in that memory would be a real delight.

Tom noticed that Severus had returned from the muggle's funeral, and grimaced. Harry and Draco had told him an abbreviated tale of Harry and Dudley's flight to Severus' side after Vernon had shot Petunia. He was appalled, and had wanted to sneer that you could expect nothing more from a filthy muggle. Yvane had had to restrain him a bit.

"And yet Dudley's muggle mother took a bullet to save them. As a Slytherin I would expect you to realize that things are not so black and white. There are good and bad wizards, and good and bad muggles. It's best to say nothing about muggles, at present - Dudley had muggle parents and Harry's mother was muggleborn."

Tom snorted - he was learning to hate it when Yvane insisted on being logical and reasonable.

Severus sat on a chaise next to Tom. "Well, the funeral's done. Dudley handled his Aunt quite nicely, although it took a bit out of him."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "I take it he is laying down with a few vials of potion in him?" At Severus' nod he said. "Probably for the best, he's too young to have to deal with this."

Tinker popped in with the food and Harry and Draco fell on it like starving wolves. Tom joined them with a bit more decorum. Lucius and Severus hoped there were a few crumbs left.

"Any plans for tomorrow, Severus?" Lucius asked after summoning a sandwich and plate, rather than wrestling past the kids.

"I'm going to hold the party tomorrow at Spinners End." Severus smiled at Lucius' surprise. "I'm quite sure that Albus will make a ‘surprise appearance.' We will have to be there. I'm going over tonight to make sure that the place looks lived in. Dobby is there now finishing the garden at Tinkers direction. If I'm wrong, there is no real loss, but if he's there, we'll have thrown him off for awhile longer. You'll need to let Draco know to not mention the Reserve at all." Lucius nodded, impressed again at Severus' plotting skills.

Lucius coughed delicately to get Severus' attention. "Oh, and I checked with Yvane - and it was difficult to explain without telling Tom too much, but we can apply the blood wards for Harry with Dudley. They will not cause Tom a problem, because he's not Lord Voldemort yet, and he didn't cast the spell that killed Lily Potter - so the warding won't apply to him. Tom guesses a bit of the truth about Harry from what little I said, but you need to tell him the rest soon. Yvane told Tom he was leaving explanations about wards to you, but Tom won't be put off for long." Lucius said.

Lucius eventually pulled Draco out of the pool and headed to the manor, reminding Draco that the party was tomorrow, and he would see his friends then.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Dinner was done and Severus sat Dudley and Harry down to talk a bit. "The day after tomorrow Albus has arranged for the two of you to visit a wizarding family. Arthur and Molly Weasley were members of the Order of the Phoenix, and are loyal to him."

Harry scowled, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet anyone who helped Dumbledore out, even if they were supposed to be the good guys.

"They have seven children; some of them are close to your age. Albus has already mentioned wanting you to stay with them, or even live with them if Petunia had died. I'm guessing that he wants to lure you away from living with me by offering you playmates and a lot of fun." Severus was pleased to see rebellion on both their faces.

"This is not to say that you can't have fun while you're there, but you will need to be on your guard. Don't let them talk you into wanting to spend the night - I assure you you'll end up never leaving if you do - they'll find a way to keep you." Harry looked alarmed at this, but Severus didn't care, it was better to have him on his guard. "And, just like with Dobby - don't listen to any tales of me without asking me for my side of it."

They nodded. Harry had told Dudley about Dobby's tale regarding Severus. Dudley really hated tattletales.

"I'm a strict teacher at school, and most of my students dislike me for it. I've told you to how easy it is to cause explosions while in my lab, and how easily you can injure yourselves. I don't allow any messing about at school - so you'll likely hear about me being their meanest teacher." Severus explained, causing Dudley and Harry to grin. Severus had told them exciting tales of explosions that caused everyone to turn pink, or babble out secrets. Of course he'd also told about fatalities and near misses.

"I also need you to say nothing of the Reserve - Spinners End is where Albus believes we are, and it needs to stay that way as long as possible. If Albus shows up at the party tomorrow, he'll likely know that you're friends with Draco and be even more anxious to introduce you to them. The animosity between the Malfoys and Weasleys approaches legendary proportions." Severus hoped they could keep all this straight. "And, of course, you are not to mention Tom in any context."

The boys nodded dutifully, but were looking a bit glassy-eyed with information overload. "I'll be there, as well, although Albus will probably try to lead me off, or keep me too occupied to notice whatever they're up to." He chuckled and waved the boys off to bed, to their relief.

He turned to Tom, who had been listening intently. "I take it the Professor Dumbledore is still the same meddler he always was, then?"

Severus hesitated. "I know from the conversations you've heard you likely believe we are against Albus. Lucius and I want the same thing Albus does - to defeat the Dark Lord - Voldemort." Severus held Tom's wary eyes. "Albus is going about it in a way we couldn't totally agree with, so we're...working around him a bit, however much he would probably object to our methods."

"Lucius talked to Yvane about warding, and mentioned...Voldemort." Tom threw down the gauntlet.

Severus looked at Tom, hoping Yvane truly did have him in hand and decided to go for broke. He started with what they knew of the Horcruxes - the five they were sure he had made, and the sixth that was interrupted, the war of purebloods vs. muggleborns that Voldemort had waged with unparalleled viciousness. Lucius and Severus joining - the atrocities they had seen and Voldemort's increasing madness. The prophecy and Severus' role in it were told, and finally Voldemort's defeat from Lily's sacrificial magic to protect Harry.

Tom listened in stony silence, his face paling and his eyes growing more tormented by the moment. At the end of Severus' tale he jumped to his feet and ran to the nearest bathroom. Severus could hear his violent vomiting. It finally ended, and he heard Tom splashing water on his face. He stumbled back into the room and slumped into the sofa.

Severus looked over and thought - oh, why not - and summoned two glasses and a bottle of firewhiskey. He poured a splash for each of them and gave one to Tom. Tom choked and coughed around the drink and he wheezed a ‘thank you' to Severus. Severus waited patiently.

Tom finally raised his eyes to Severus, "I don't...I don't want to become that ... creature you described. I don't know how that could have happened...it wasn't anything I ever thought of. I don't like muggles - because of my father...and a few others at the orphanage, but ... what you described - I don't want that." Tom looked truly miserable.

"Perhaps it's best we adjourn, here." Yvane's calm voice could be heard by both.

Tom nodded and stumbled blindly for bed. He knew Severus wasn't lying - Yvane would have told him.

"Yes, I would have - I won't allow you to be misled, even by them."

Tom feel asleep, thoughts still churning over how far Lord Voldemort had strayed from his vague plan to become a power in the wizarding world. It was becoming easier to think of Voldemort as a different person. Lord Voldemort had still been just an idea he'd had, and with the tale he'd heard, someone he no longer wished to be.

Yvane looked on as Tom fell asleep, well satisfied by how Tom had reacted to Severus' tale. It had been a risk; he might have simply used the story as a blueprint of how to ‘do the war better this time.' Instead he'd shunned the idea of Voldemort totally. Excellent.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Harry's birthday arrived and Severus had the house on Spinners End looking lived in by a bachelor and two ruffians. Severus had been reluctant to exclude Tom, but he could not be caught by Albus at this point in time. Tom had laughed at Severus' discomfort at 'leaving him out'. Tom actually appreciated the trust they were showing by leaving him here with only a house-elf. He knew the two Slytherins had discussed it at length.

"Yvane has promised me a treat - he's going to show me a memory. It will be like viewing a pensieved memory. This one is of the founder's time, and he promises it has Salazar Slytherin in it." Tom said, triumphantly.

"Whaaat?" Lucius whined, plaintively. Severus also looked to be in literal pain from jealousy.

"Whoa, really?" asked Draco with interest. "Can you show it to us?" The adults looked as eager for an answer as the kids.

"Weeeelll." Tom answered in a teasing tone. "If Lucius has a spare pensieve he can give me, I can probably put the memory into it. Yvane says he's not familiar with them but he believes it will work, even if it will be the memory of a memory of a memory." Lucius looked pained - pensieves were difficult to obtain and expensive, but he did have an extra he could spare. He nodded in resignation; he really wanted to see that memory. Tom smiled in satisfaction.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

They flooed to Spinners End, and looked around, Severus had brought a lot of Dudley and Harry's things from Privet Drive and they were scattered in the rooms they were supposedly occupying. He'd duplicated a bunch of his books to put in the small library, and Tinker had brought the food over. If Albus didn't snoop too hard it looked very believable.

They went out to the now beautiful back garden, where they intended to have the party. There were several presents on a separate table, to Harry's surprise. "But I've already got Hedwig, and her stuff."

"Well, there were a few other things we wanted you to have." Severus said with a smile.

The trio had brought over some games to play, and they were soon roughhousing on the lawn when, sure enough, the floo sounded. Lucius and Severus smiled - Albus was right on time.

Severus went to the floo, and opened it, and Albus walked out, brushing soot off an eye-searingly yellow robe with moons and stars sparkling across it. "I hoped to wish Harry a Happy Birthday, Severus." The old sorcerer proffered a present.

"We're back in the garden." Severus led him through to the back of the house.

"Excellent job on the house, Severus, you were needing more room." Albus said approvingly.

"Thank You, the elves did most of the work, but it's come out well." Severus answered and showed him to a chair.

Albus sat slowly, looking suddenly wary as he realized that Lucius Malfoy was seated across from him. He glanced at the three boys wrestling over a football and saw a platinum haired head there as well. He knew that Severus had maintained ties with Lucius and had insisted for several months that Lucius no longer believed in Voldemort, but this was surely a bit risky?

The boys were called over and they were all introduced to Albus. He shook hands with each and sighed. He'd expected Harry to be more ... open and friendly. They all sat, Harry carefully placing himself next to Severus and away from the Headmaster. Tinker sparkled the plates of food into place in front of each of them, and Albus puzzled over the Malfoy's presence as they ate. He watched carefully as Harry blew out the candles and grinned at Severus.

His heart sank a bit. Harry was already attached to Severus, then. And from Severus' minor rebellion, he was already devoted to the boy. Perhaps it was not too late - he would see if the Weasleys could coax the boy into their midst. Harry opened the presents with glee and thanked Albus politely for the cloak with a dragon on it. Albus wasn't sure why that caused so much amusement from the boys, and even smirks from Lucius and Severus.

The boys went back to their play, now with the addition of the new practice snitch that Severus spelled to not leave the garden.

"You're wondering why Lucius is here, Headmaster?" Severus cut straight to the chase, to Albus' astonishment. At Albus' slow nod he continued. "I told you Lucius no longer follows the Dark Lord." At Albus' raised eyebrow, they both chuckled - he almost did that as well as a Slytherin.

Lucius leaned forward. "I brought you a certain cup that was once Helga Hufflepuff's." He leaned back in satisfaction at the Headmasters shock.

"We've found a way to destroy them - fiendfyre." Severus said. "Lucius will help me destroy this one - I'll pensieve the memory so you can see how it worked."

Albus nodded thoughtfully, trying to find a trick in this. By destroying a Horcrux, Lucius made it impossible for him to return to Voldemort as a follower. Voldemort never forgave. And this - it would call for the most horrific death Voldemort could devise.

Severus had been correct then.

Dammit.

He welcomed Malfoy into the fold with resignation. It wouldn't be so bad - Severus would be having most of the contact with him. And by robbing Voldemort of him, they were cutting off a major supply line. He cheered up at that thought. Draco seemed a nice lad - and he seemed to have no issue with playing with a muggleborn and a half-blood, so perhaps the chain of prejudice would stop here with the Malfoys, and that could only be a good thing.

He made his goodbyes, and before entering the floo turned to Severus. "Very good work m'boy, you were right, and I'm glad you were. I'll see you tomorrow at the Weasley's."

Severus stared at the fire for a few minutes. He disliked deceiving his mentor, but the old coot wasn't giving him a choice, really. He sighed - besides it was for Harry he reminded himself - And his conscience immediately stopped nagging.