The ring was hovered out of the bag to be secured in the cabinet in the library, on a shelf above the mysterious dagger. Severus stared at the ring a bit.

"I know that coat of arms - it was on several books and items in the vault that belonged to Audra Peverell." He finally said slowly.

"But the ring belonged to the Gaunts?" Tom seemed confused.

"Undoubtedly the Gaunts intermarried with the Peverells centuries ago when they were at the pinnacle of their family's power - at one time they were quite influential, being Slytherins descendants." Lucius answered. "They likely obtained the ring through one of the marriages, and the Peverells were also descendants of Slytherin, so they may have felt letting the Gaunts have it was alright."

They re-warded the cabinet and layered the security charms heavily. The boys had shown no interest in opening the cabinet where the dagger was kept, but there was no reason to get careless, now.

Severus frowned, "Albus was quite emphatic that the ring not be destroyed - the stone in it, especially - if at all possible. He's not been concerned for the other articles made into Horcruxes, not even the Hufflepuff cup." Severus hated not being in possession of all pertinent facts, and he knew Albus was holding out on him.

"It really belongs to Tom, now. But the Headmaster is unlikely to return it to someone we are reluctant to introduce him to." Lucius mused.

"You said that Harry inherited from a Peverell - wouldn't he be next in line for it?" Tom asked uncertainly. "Then it would still be safely in our hands - or at least in Harry's hands."

Yvane broke in, unexpectedly, for all three to hear. "I looked at that ring rather closely. It is centuries old, though not ancient. It has very odd enchantments - but they are on the stone, itself, not the whole ring. It is a Horcrux, of course, but the odd enchantments - I have never seen their like, and have no memories from other dragons of anything similar."

"This isn't good." Severus answered morosely. "I'll go see Albus tonight, and let him know we have it, but that the curses guarding it are difficult - that will hold him off for awhile. I'll press him as hard as I dare about it. Yvane - perhaps you could ask some of the other old dragons for help to identify the ring - or stone."

"Yes, some of the others might have memories of it, or at least similar enchantments." Yvane agreed.

"If Albus doesn't want the ring destroyed, we'll have to look at options other than fiendfyre." Severus frowned again. "I dislike straying from that, as it worked so well."

"I read that Basilisk venom might be an option, and the book I was reading on ancient weapons said they are sometimes enspelled to destroy dark creatures or objects. I really need to get more books on them." Tom looked eager at the idea of book shopping.

"We should go through the books brought from Harry's vaults, as well as the few we got from yours first, Tom." Severus chided, but Tom just grinned in return.

"I would suggest your apparently ancient dagger, but women's magic is tricky - and none of us have the proper...umm, equipment." Lucius smiled. They chuckled, and Tom said he was going to talk to Yao, and see what dragons he and Yvane should start with.

Lucius and Severus headed to the floo, and went to Malfoy Manor.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The three boys had arrived at Malfoy Manor with a whoop of enthusiasm. Dudley and Harry had been using the older, Malfoy family brooms that were still quite good for their lessons. Severus had said he would ensure they had excellent brooms once they were at school, but there seemed to be new brooms every year, so it would be better to get that years ‘newest & best' when they actually needed a broom.

Cho followed them more sedately, Rosemerta had suggested that Cho go ahead with the lesson, and when she tired of it to join her in the ‘pampering'. Cho agreed happily and went to the small Quidditch pitch with the three boys.

Rosemerta soon had the elves organized to give a lengthy massage and find some caviar and wine. Some elves who had served Narcissa found some ‘facial creams' and other spa type products and produced them for her with glee. They were quite happy to indulge a nice witch who appreciated their efforts, and soon had Rosemerta purring with pleasure.

Roland Higgs arrived with his nephew Terrence just as the three boys had finally sorted through the brooms and presented Cho with what they felt was the best of a mediocre lot. "The Cleansweeps are good brooms, although this is an older model." Draco offered a bit apologetically.

Cho smiled and took the broom cheerfully enough. "I'm familiar to the Cleansweep models - I had one that was my mothers to fly on at home." The boys smiled back, happy to have come up with an acceptable broom for the rather pretty girl.

Roland coughed discreetly, breaking the moment up. He didn't need them to get distracted by a pretty face, now. He introduced his nephew, who shook hands with the four with a smile. Terrence tried very hard to not act overly impressed, but he could hardly wait to tell his friends about today. Not to mention the fact that his Head of House had been revealed as Harry Potter's guardian by his uncle, and that had been astounding.

Lucius Malfoy playing host to Harry Potter and his muggleborn cousin had cheered the Higgs family considerably. They, like many old, though not ancient families had first been drawn to Voldemort because he promised protection from the ever-encroaching muggles.

The First World War storming across Europe had caught the wizarding world's attention and made them recognize that the muggles had new technologies they did not understand. The Second World War, with Grindelwald working behind the scenes to encourage even more carnage had terrified them. Many realized that the muggles could very well destroy them, if they knew that the wizarding world existed.

The ministry did tighten up a lot of security, and the muggle Prime Minister did assist in ensuring they stayed hidden. Voldemort, though fanned the flames of fear, and the general public remained fearful of muggles and their intentions.

By the time Voldemort had moved to marking his followers many were simply in too deep to back out. The raids, killing and torture that followed had caused many to flee to other areas of the world, if they could. The move to take over the wizarding world and push the idea of blood purity was something some liked, but many just mouthed the words - too terrified to disagree.

There had been whispers in recent months, muttered reports of ‘a darkness stirring', causing most of those with faded marks on their left arm to cringe in horror.

But now, with Lucius Malfoy at Harry's back, and the Slytherin Head of House as Harry Potter's guardian, perhaps there was hope for the Slytherins to re-emerge as, well - if they weren't precisely Light - perhaps at least not totally Dark.

Roland and Terrence faced the foursome with a sense of hope that they had been lacking until now. Roland assigned Terrence to Dudley and Cho, Terrence would fly around chasing the slower practice snitch with Cho, and Dudley would whack bludgers at them. Cho had hesitantly expressed an interest in being a seeker, when asked by the flying coach, and Roland saw no reason for her to not at least try for it.

Roland flew with Harry and Draco, as a ‘third chaser', and practiced moves he had shown them before. The two were excellent working together; they always seemed to know where the other was, and both had quick reflexes. If they found a third chaser that worked well with them, they would have the other teams worried. Roland reminded himself that, of course, Harry might not be a Slytherin. It would be too bad to break up an excellent team.

The morning wore on happily, and the six stopped at lunch for a heaping pile of sandwiches and drinks, followed by ice cream to cool everyone down. Cho dropped out, gracefully, to join Rosemerta and thanked the Higgs' for the lesson and wandered into the Manor.

Rosemerta was now lounging in a magical Jacuzzi with a heavenly mix of soothing potions and aromas mixed into the water. She was finishing a wonderful lunch of lobster tails, sea scallops and coconut shrimp with a happy elf chirping out a list of desserts they could whip up ‘in no time'.

Cho brightened at the sight of the Jacuzzi and showered quickly; slipping into a bathing suit an elf produced from somewhere, and joined Rosemerta in the Jacuzzi. The elves served her a butterbeer and Rosemerta more champagne.

"Aah, this is wonderful!" Cho enthused. "Can you imagine living this way?"

"Hmmm", Rosemerta sighed at the thought. "It would be wonderful, for awhile, and then it would all be...ordinary and not ‘special' at all." Rosemerta smiled at Cho. "Spa days like this are wonderful because they aren't daily occurrences."

The elves interrupted the philosophical moment by serving each of them huge slabs of tiramisu. They were much too busy working their way through those to worry about philosophy. Lucius and Severus arrived in time to also get a share of the tiramisu.

The pair discussed the goblin made items still to be rounded up for the trade for the dragon in between bites of cake. They had all but two in their possession; three wizards had eagerly traded for the gold offered. The other two were being more stubborn. One wanted Severus to brew some highly illegal potions for him; the other wanted an indecent amount of gold.

Cho scampered immediately to get dressed on the arrival of the two wizards. Rosemerta left with more decorum, and then they both returned to finish their cake. The Quidditch students finished their lessons, and crowded in. They saw the tiramisu and rushed quickly through their showers to join in.

Terrence and Roland said their goodbyes and left, after Lucius and Severus answered Roland's oblique, almost whispered, Slytherin style questions regarding Harry.

Yes, they believed there was another war coming and they were firmly in Harry Potter's corner, Lucius and Severus answered. They were happy to note Roland's relieved smile - another family that would likely be on their side when it came down to a battle.

The three boys soon were helping rid the elves of the rest of the tiramisu, though Dudley had taken a much smaller piece. His weight was down to a reasonable amount, and he had no intention of putting any back on.

Harry was happily sitting by his guardian, and telling Severus about he and Draco learning several moves ‘very quickly', and Roland's compliments at their flying. Terrence was, apparently, an okay bloke who had cheerfully acted as a keeper for them after Cho left, so they could practice getting a quaffle past someone guarding a goal.

Severus was happy that Harry had liked Terrence - anything to make Slytherin house attractive to him.

"Oh, and Severus, the Weasley twins want to know if they can visit for a day, before starting school?" Harry continued to eat, oblivious to his guardian's suddenly frozen figure. "I think they plan to talk the sorting hat into letting them be something other than Gryffindor."

Severus smirked a little; his little plan was working well, then. "Of course, Harry, but just those two, I believe that will be more than enough of a Weasley invasion." Harry smiled happily, as well as Dudley - he'd liked the twins. Draco grimaced - he didn't like the idea of Weasleys, his father had always spoken poorly of the family, but Harry had said the twins were ‘cool'.

Lucius was now the one frozen in shock, and then he looked thoughtfully at the faintly flushed face of Severus and started grinning. All he could think was ‘Arthur will have a stroke'!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tom wandered to Yao's hot spring, Yvane muttering in the back of his mind about the oddness of the stone's magic. They arrived and Yao heaved his scarlet bulk out of the steaming water, and came closer to Tom.

"I could feel how troubled you and Yvane have been, today. What has occurred to distress you?" Yao asked.

Yvane quickly showed him the ring, and told him what they knew of Voldemort and his Horcruxes. Yao perused the memory closely while Tom stood there, ‘watching' the dragons inside his head and listening to their constant muttering back and forth. Yao was quickly giving him a headache with his comments in Chinese, which Yvane had no difficulty interpreting.

"I'll ask around to the older dragons, and pass the request on to some dragons in other reserves, who I know will be discreet." Yao said. "I'll ask Yuan if he has any ideas - he is in your friend's confidence in this matter."

Tom wandered back to Dragonsrest and Tinker served some soup and fresh bread. His stomach was less upset at present, his unhappiness at reliving some of his least favorite memories had lessened after talking it out with Yvane. The visit to the Gaunt cottage had helped to put a few things behind him as well.

Tom trudged up to his room and sipped a bit of dreamless sleep, a small nap would definitely help.

Yvane snickered, "You know you're getting old when you look forward to naps."

Tom was asleep before he could tell Yvane ‘shut up'.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The Malfoy's showed their guests off after the tiramisu was consumed. Rosemerta promised to meet Cho ‘bright and early' for the shopping, to Cho's delight. Severus firecalled Yuan, and sent Cho through to him with promises that shopping would finally occur in the morning. Severus and his wards departed after the next days plans were discussed.

"Petunia will be coming home tomorrow, and she'll likely need rest. Tom and Harry will be doing some shopping in Diagonalley - although not in the same shops as the ladies, most likely. That will allow Dudley and his mother some time, alone. I have several potion orders to catch up on." Severus said.

Draco looked a bit put out, but his father had a surprise.

"Don't worry Draco, we have an errand to run, ourselves." He said, smugly. "I have been looking into a tutor for Tom. Finding one we can trust would be difficult - many would simply ask too many questions. "I have been looking over some options. We are going to visit my ex-sister-in-law, Andromeda Black Tonks. Her daughter graduated with very high marks. She's not much older than Tom, but she can catch him up with current events and any new magical practices and new spells. I can't be there every day, but I can oversee his studies to make sure they stay on track."

Severus thought quickly, this could work, perhaps. "Do you think they will agree?"

"Andromeda was cut off from her inheritance, and Mr. Tonks is far from rich. From what my contacts have said, the daughter wants to be an Auror. The cost of the training will be beyond them unless they go deeply into debt." Lucius had his ‘scheming' face on. "I can offer enough to cover the training, with extra left over. I just need to convince Andromeda that I'm not working for Voldemort, anymore." He sighed. "I foresee wizard oaths and veritaserum in the near future."

"She can visit Harry and I if that will help." Severus offered, and Harry nodded eagerly.

Lucius smiled, "We'll see."

Severus nodded and he and the boys left for home.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Severus left after dinner to visit the Headmaster, he apparated to the main gates this time and walked to the castle. Albus greeted him happily. "Good news brings you, I hope?" He shook a finger at him. "I was surprised to see Harry on the front page with Cornelius, Severus. What are you up to? I thought you didn't like the Minister."

"I don't." Severus sniffed. "But, I do recognize that he is the minister, and I prefer him on our side. Lucius can handle him - and the Minister does look to you for guidance often enough. Keeping him happy with ‘photo opportunities' is a small price to have him on our side."

Albus hummed in a half-hearted agreement.

"Lucius and I have the Horcrux ring in our possession." Severus noted Albus' sudden attentiveness. "It has several layers of curses on it that we will have to work our way through. We're going to have to research to find something to destroy the Horcrux, but not the stone. We believe an ancient weapon spelled to destroy dark magic would be best." Severus smirked. "If you have any lying around, let me know."

Albus smiled ruefully. "I would offer the sword of Gryffindor, if I had it. Unfortunately it can only be called and used after someone has done some death-defying act of bravery."

"A useless weapon, then, if you've already done the brave deed that risked your life you don't need the sword, anymore." Severus snarled. Albus chuckled in response.

"Why do you need the stone intact, Albus?" Severus asked flatly, hoping the suddenness of the question would jar something loose.

Albus raised his eyebrows and shifted in his seat, but seemed otherwise calm. "I really cannot divulge that, Severus."

"I'm risking a lot, destroying these things, Albus. Fiendfyre worked well - if I'm to stray from a proven method I'd like to know it was worth it." Severus let his voice hold a note of pleading.

Albus sighed. "I believe - though I don't know if for a fact, that the stone is one from an old legend. Until I have a chance to examine it, I won't know for sure. As I said - destroy it if you must, but only if you must - to be rid of the Horcrux." Albus smiled again, faintly. "I'll research ancient weapons and see if anyone I know is in possession of one." And with that Severus had to be satisfied.

"I'll let you know if we come up with something." Severus sighed as well. "I'll be here, at Hogwarts next week, but Lucius and the boys tutor will keep me apprised of their research."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "You trust this tutor a great deal?"

"Yes, he has more reason than most to want the Dark Lord dead for good." Severus let his mental shields down just enough for Albus to see the truth of that, and the Headmaster nodded, satisfied.

"How is young Harry...and Dudley doing, Severus?" Albus asked.

"Quite well - Terrence Higgs visited with his Uncle during a Quidditch lesson. And Cho Chang - she will be attending Hogwarts this year - was there for the lesson as well. Harry intends to invite the Weasley twins to visit this week, before they run off to school." Severus tossed out the twins visit in hopes of satisfying the Headmasters Gryffindor obsession.

Sure enough, Albus beamed at him happily and waved Severus off to return home.