Fred and George watched the Ravenclaw table closely. Someone had pointed Martin Prewett out to them. They had been so taken up with getting into the House they wanted that they had not even noticed that a Prewett had been sorted. Now they had this letter from the parents telling them about Martin. Charlie and Percy had gotten letters as well. Percy was off ... somewhere this weekend, and Charlie was uncertain of how to approach the kid.

It was apparently up to the twins, as they were the same age. They decided that involving Cho might help, especially since she was currently sitting across from Martin. It was early breakfast, and many were sleeping in on a Saturday, so there was a lot of room at the tables.

The pair went over and sat on either side of Cho, giving her brilliant grins.

"Good morning, Cho..." Fred greeted her.

"...how is our favorite soon to be..." George continued.

"...seeker of the fabulous Ravenclaw Quidditch team." Fred ended with a smile. It was always fun to watch a person twist their head half off trying to follow their broken up conversation.

"You know I can't even try out until next year." Cho chided softly, flushing shyly. She had no siblings and was unused to their brand of teasing.

"Ah, but Mr. Higgs thought you would be a natural." Fred answered with a winning smile.

"How about you, Martin? Any interest in the game of Quidditch?" George asked as casually as he could manage. They had all been stunned and then angry at how Lawrence had been treated by his family... or, rather by their mother's family. They had known the tale of Lawrence's defection to the muggle world was not pleasant, but they had assumed that it was Lawrence's fault - or at least partly his fault.

Finding out that Lawrence had fled rather than be turned into a ‘heavy lifting drudge' instead of being allowed to at least try to work in accounting...well it was difficult. They all knew Aunt Muriel had helped their mum - and all of them numerous times. They couldn't understand why she had not been as generous with her own son.

They were not blind to how many squibs were treated in their society. At best, they tended to be an embarrassing disappointment, but most took care of them - in family businesses, or by setting them up in the muggle world. The latter choice could be difficult, since not all families were that familiar with muggles. Lawrence's choice to take some muggle classes to learn their form of accounting had been mystifying to some. And, apparently Muriel had just been indulging him, since she didn't let him try to make use of the knowledge.

Martin looked the pair over, nervously. He'd been told about the Prewetts and the Weasleys by his father. Tales of the magical world had been wonderful, but stories and reality were very different things. Hogwarts was wonderful and he greatly enjoyed learning, but he was aware that there was a seamier side to all of it - or his dad would never have been forced to leave it.

He knew that his sister Mafalda wrote to Harry Potter frequently and Harry had told her all that he knew of the Weasley family. Mafalda had written to him with what Harry's letters had said. He knew the twins were open minded about a great deal - or they wouldn't be sorted into Hufflepuff.

Martin finally answered cautiously. "I really don't know - I've heard about the game, but haven't actually seen one played. I've had one flying lesson, but I'm not sure I see the attraction - I didn't enjoy it."

"Didn't enjoy it..." Fred exclaimed.

"...We can't have that..." George rang in.

"...I'm sure that Madame Hooch will let us..." Fred continued.

"...give a remedial lesson or two." George finally ended the comment.

At Martin's faintly panicked look, Cho softened. "I'll come along, if you like." Harry, Draco and Dudley had all sent a few notes to her, congratulating her on her sorting - although Draco's had been more of a ‘if you couldn't get Slytherin, Ravenclaw was next best'. Harry had mentioned Mafalda and her brother, Martin. She hadn't been told details, but she knew there was some difficulty with family.

Martin looked at Cho in relief. He did want to get to know his ... 3rd cousins? He wasn't sure of their exact relationship, but he was curious about them. Cho would be a good buffer between him and the twin's exuberance.

"Okay, if you think it will make a difference." Martin conceded.

"Brilliant, how about Sunday afternoon - at the Qudditch pitch? 2 o'clock?" Fred asked and received nods all around.

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Tom swam slowly the length of the pool a few times, then floating on his back, looking up at the bright blue sky. They had been lucky that the weekend had looked to be clear and warm. Tom doubted Severus would be able to take many weekends away from Hogwarts like this. Hopefully he would be able to be home for most of the Christmas holiday.

Tom and Yvane had discussed the reduction of ‘Tom's duties'. He had been disappointed to have to give up the tutoring, but he had agreed with the idea of attending a seventh year at Hogwarts. It would be fun to go to school with the three boys, helping them out in their first year.

Tom had to privately admit that now the tutoring was in Dora's hands, and the pressure off him to try to pass the NEWTS next June he felt much less stressed. The research was still important but he had help for this, and progress was definitely being made, at last.

Tom flipped back over and lazily did a couple more laps. Swimming was enjoyable now that he had the hang of it, and he had acquired a pretty good tan - as had all the boys. Even Lucius and Severus had some color. Severus had finally gotten rid of the robes when he went to the pool with them after the first few days, and he had lost the sallow look he once had.

Tom finally hauled himself out of the pool, leaving it to the three younger ones who were starting a ‘biggest splash contest', and Dudley was demonstrating the fine art of the ‘cannonball' to the other two.

Tom cast a drying charm and lounged back in a chaise lounge chair and relaxed with a sigh. Tom glanced over at Percy, who was standing as close to the young green welsh dragon as he dared, looking it over with interest. The dragon had sniffed at him a bit, and then put his head down to sleep.

Lucius waved some papers at Tom and Severus once he was sure Percy was out of earshot. "I almost forgot - we got the ‘arrangements' made. Luckily for us when the Prince family claimed Serena's body after she died, they didn't report how it happened to the ministry, so when we planted the information in the muggle hospital about her ‘pregnancy' and Tom's birth and her subsequent death the ministry accepted the information without question. I have an ‘acquaintance' in the records department that was happy to take a coffee break while I placed the other records we made for Tom in there."

Lucius handed over some more papers. "The only difficulty was getting a fresh birth certificate made. Since you did that adoption potion I had no difficulty putting ‘Thomas Prince Riddle' on it, but the date of birth was another matter - the records took his year of birth okay - he is sixteen, so 1974 went on it easily. Fortunately I was able to twist the magic to accept July 26th, since it was the day he was ‘reborn' out of the diary."

Severus smirked. "This means you'll have to wait until summer before you'll be seventeen."

Tom grimaced. "Well, Dumbledore will not like all the ‘coincidences' that already exist. My name, the fact that I grew up in an orphanage after my mother died, my looks - if my birthday - December 31st - was the same, he may never really accept our explanation. If Yvane hadn't changed my magic to be so different, I wouldn't even attempt such a ruse."

The two older wizards nodded easily, they were more used to walking the thin edge of deception - with the added threat of possible death if they were discovered. Tom was more cautious, and they weren't about to encourage him to be reckless - teenage boys did that all on their own.

"Well, perhaps the adoption potion will change some of your features - when one of those potions is very powerfully made - and I assure you that this one was - sometimes the recipient will manifest some of the family's looks or hereditary abilities." Severus looked at Tom's startled face in amusement.

Lucius fell in with the joke easily. "Yes, I think your hair is a little darker - it was a very dark brown, but now it looks close to black."

Tom picked up on their amusement and rolled his eyes, and then raised a hand to his nose - poking it and trying to focus on it with his eyes. "I thought my nose looked bigger this morning, I believed I must have accidentally hit it in the night."

Severus and Lucius roared in laughter and even Yvane laughed in the back of Tom's head. "Well done - not many can make that pair laugh, I believe. You know of course that the adoption potion only changes the person's looks or abilities if given when the child is under age five?"

"I knew they were joking the moment I saw their grins." Tom answered Yvane quietly.

"Well, I did say I wouldn't let you be deceived, and I won't - not even for a joke." Yvane grumped.

"I do appreciate that." Tom answered easily. He thought Yvane sometimes didn't quite catch the subtleties of Slytherin humor that was so full of sarcastic - and sometimes caustic wit. One-upmanship was constant and one needed a very thick skin at times.

Percy had finally viewed every square inch of the snoring green welsh and came back over with a face wreathed in smiles. "I never really understood Charlie's fascination with dragons - but now I get it. And you say the riders can talk to them?"

"Yes - it's the final test for separating out who can be a rider or keeper. Dragonriders and dragonkeepers must have at least a little talent for Legilimency and Occlumency - they don't have to be experts, but if you don't have it you won't be able to talk to the dragons without a severe migraine every day." Tom answered. "You have one to begin with, anyway, until you get the hang of it. Yuan said he didn't learn the trick for months and went through several cases of headache potion. Not everyone who works on the Reserves has to be able to talk to the dragons mentally - but it helps"

Tom read Percy's expression correctly. Tom could understand the desperate search for a goal to reach for. Tom chuckled - it wasn't even the goal that mattered, so much as having found a search that brought meaning and a certain joy to one's life. Severus had found it in his potions, and now his protection of Harry. Lucius had once had it in his love of runes - and he was slowly resuming that and teaching it to the boys. Dora had recruited him to tutor them in runes on Thursday's while she worked with Tom.

Tom had found his niche in the world when Yvane had let him glimpse the vast array of memories and knowledge that the dragons held. He had vowed to learn all he could. Tom eyed Percy. He wondered if all of that would appeal to Percy as well.

"Percy... I have formed a bond of sorts with an older dragon. He's shown me a bunch of his memories. I've written down a lot of them - it takes time since I have to review them several times to get all the nuances." Tom smiled a bit at Percy's look of astonishment. "I did make pensieve copies of some of the memories that Lucius and Severus wanted to see. A few of them have the founders of Hogwarts in them."

Percy's eyes glazed over at the very thought of seeing such memories, then abruptly cleared with suspicion. "Dragons live a long time - but not long enough to remember the founders." He objected.

"Dragons pass memories down to each other - it is one of their most important traditions, for the older dragons to pass memories down to the younger and preserve their knowledge in that manner. The reason the Dragon reserve libraries are so closely guarded is because they contain a lot of information - memories that have been told to the dragon riders. They closely guard their secrets - one of them being that dragons are so intelligent and have literally millenia of knowledge." Tom gave Percy a look that clearly said that Percy was expected to guard that secret as well.

Percy nodded in understanding while his mind whirled with the possibilities for research available if he worked with the dragons. If they have been passing on memories for centuries...he felt the same thrill that explorers must have felt upon discovering an entirely new country or civilization. "The ‘Care of Magical Creatures' class always describes dragons as unpredictable and dangerous. If they are so very intelligent - why is that?"

"Most of the dragons that wizards encounter are the young ones, who have not learned languages and have not learned to respect and like us ‘puny humans'. Dragons only converse with other dragons in images for a decade or two, and then usually pick up language over time. By the time they are 30 or forty - depending on the breed - they have bonded with their first dragon mentor and learn about wizards and other sentient magical creatures. Dragons are usually 40 or 50years old before they have learned to speak mentally to other than fellow dragons. They usually pick their first dragonrider about that time - if they intend to bond with a wizard at all. There are those who choose the looser bond of the dragon keepers. They can move from keeper to keeper, learning from each of them. The ‘dangerous' dragons are the young ones who do not see us as possible friends." Tom explained.

Percy considered what Tom had said for awhile. "Could I see some of those memories?" He asked hesitantly.

Tom grinned and nodded. They got up and told Lucius and Severus they were going to look at Yvane's memories. They smiled and nodded, Tom was obviously dragging Percy deep into dragon-mania. Charlie would probably not be the only one working on a Dragon Reserve with the surname of Weasley.

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Lucius and Severus watched the three young wizards playing in the pool, satisfied that they were happy and enjoying the weekend. Severus listened to the happy yelling and smiled. Harry still tended to take ‘time outs' from the roughhousing intermittently, to prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed. Dudley and Draco accepted that as being a part of Harry, and made no comments on it. Harry still preferred to have some solitary time during the day - he simply was not used to spending the entire day with others.

Harry obviously enjoyed the time with friends, but Severus knew he also enjoyed quiet time, reading about whatever they were studying at the time. Harry and Severus had also learned to work together in the potions lab over the summer. Tom had usually joined them, sitting on the couch and reading. Dudley sometimes joined - cutting up ingredients or reading with Tom if he didn't spend time with Petunia.

Harry enjoyed listening to Severus talk quietly, usually about the potion or ingredients, but sometimes about Lily or telling stories about Hogwarts. Severus had missed having someone with him in the lab this week at the school when he had mixed up some potions for Madame Pomfrey. He usually welcomed the solitude in the noisy castle.

Dinnertime was announced by the pouting Dobby, who popped away back to the kitchen. The five of them went back across the meadow, Severus and Lucius applying drying charms to the boys. They all enjoyed the menu Petunia and Tinker had come up with for dinner.

Lucius and Draco left after thanking them for the wonderful day. Lucius gave a small nod to Percy, complimenting him on his help in the research. Percy managed a nod back at him and returned Draco's cheerful wave goodbye. He was a little confused by this. He had met Draco before on his visit, and knew the boy was more friendly and open than a Malfoy was supposed to be, according to every relative and friend he had heard speak of them. Lucius was mostly cool and distantly polite the few times he had seen him outside of Dragonsrest - but not when he was interacting with these friends of his, then he seemed to become another person.

Petunia retired to her room to read before bed, the Healer had said she was almost healed. However she had been told to rest a great deal and continue taking the healing potion just before bed. He insisted that it was working - though very slowly. The Healer had consulted with Lucius and they had decided she had a very, very small magical core - almost undetectable by all but the most thorough scan. It apparently made her a ‘squib', since she had no access to it. All it was good for was to make it possible for potions and spells to half-way work on her.

She lay back with the latest in the magical mystery story that Rosemerta continued to bring to her. She was glad, of course to have the slight magic, as it had saved her life. It also, as far as she could see, apparently explained why she had had a magical child, although the Healer insisted that there were plenty of ‘muggleborns'. Petunia wondered how many had done thorough scans on the ‘muggleborn's' parents.

Tom and Percy retired to the library, with the admonition to be in bed by ten o'clock. Tom muttered about ‘ridiculous curfews', but agreed with only a half-hearted grimace. Dudley took a book to his mothers room to ‘read with her', leaving a grinning Harry to accompany Severus to the lab.

Severus didn't really need to brew anything ... but a burn paste didn't take long and the ingredients weren't noxious, and they were down to the last jar of it here at Dragonsrest, so they had their excuse to happily brew together. Severus decided to try something new and after they had gathered their ingredients Severus waved the formula onto the board and placed the cauldron in front of Harry.

"Why don't I prepare the ingredients and you make the burn paste? You've watched this often enough." Severus smiled at Harry's delight.

"What if I ruin it?" Harry asked nervously, his smile dimming a little. He didn't want Severus to be disappointed or yell at him for wasting ingredients.

Severus shrugged. "It would mean you still need to practice - just read through the formula - it doesn't have many steps, don't rush and check the steps after everything you do. The order they are put in is important."

Harry read carefully and started the fire under the cauldron. Severus quickly chopped the first ingredients and put them next to Harry and watched his movements. Harry was nervous and fumbled a bit at first, and then became more confident when Severus didn't object to anything he did. Severus made sure Harry didn't do anything disastrous, although he shouldn't be able to cause any explosions with the available ingredients.

The potion only took an hour and then Harry set it aside to cool with a triumphant look. Severus smiled at him, the color was only slightly off due to Harry stirring a bit quickly - otherwise a perfectly usable batch.

"Well done, Harry - we can pour that in a few minutes and use it with no problem." Severus complimented him.

Harry and he sat on the sofa and drank some tea while they waited. "How are things going, Harry? I know it is only a week...but there have been changes."

"Dora's great ... but it feels a bit awkward, we know Tom wanted to tutor us. He sometimes does research in the classroom with us. He seems okay with it, now. We could all see how tired he was. Mr. Malfoy started us on Runes Thursday while Dora was tutoring Tom, he really enjoys them, and so he made it fun. Andy was here Tuesday, while Dora tutored Tom - we went on another walk and I found the most unicorn hair again." Harry wound down a bit and looked more serious. "I got another letter from Professor McGonagall, she wrote quite a bit about my father's parents and grandparents. She told me a little bit about my father, but it was like it was only bits and pieces of a story..." Harry seemed puzzled and hesitant to complain. It had, after all, been nice of her to write at all, Harry thought.

Severus thought swiftly about his conversation with Minerva. In spite of it she had apparently had difficulty writing to Harry.

"Professor McGonagall knew the older Potters quite well, and she likely feels more comfortable talking of them. She told me that finding a story about your father that didn't include Sirius Black was nearly impossible." Severus looked down at the solemn green eyes. "Although I told her you are aware of what Black did, she finds it difficult to speak of him and telling you a story that includes him ... well it may be more than she can bear." Severus sighed and began to wonder if including Minerva had been wise. "Give her a little time...she'll hopefully get the hang of telling you tales of James and his marauders."

Harry smiled and nodded and they went to pour the paste into the jars. Harry labeled them with a flourish and then set them on the shelf with a proud look.

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Tom heard Harry's light step on the stair as he went to bed, and Severus soon appeared in the doorway.

"How is the progress with the dagger?" Severus asked, looking over the scattered books and parchment.

"Pretty well, mostly it seems the dagger has protective spells for the holder of the dagger, creating a sort of warding against many spells. It also acts as a focus to cast some offensive spells - almost like a wand would. It will act seemingly on its own if it perceives a threat to the holder." Tom looked a little frustrated. "The dagger can only be used for offensive spells, and a few defensive - no charms or anything like that, it's purely a weapon. I think one of its biggest draws for many of the men who insisted on trying to use it is that it has heavy spells to destroy other magical weapons -or at least negate their magic. That is likely why Mordred wanted it - it could get by Excalibur's enchantments."

"That would be a big use for women, as well - protecting them from weapons that were mainly carried by men back in those days." Percy added.

"Well, Rosemerta will be here tomorrow. She is willing to handle the dagger and see what she makes of it." Severus had seen Rosemerta Friday night and managed to make his request in spite of her rather distracting kisses. She had agreed with a laugh. Severus was not looking forward to explaining Horcruxes to her and had decided to wait until they knew she could wield the dagger before telling her everything.

Severus left for bed a bit early, he could use the rest. He reminded the pair of diligent researchers that 10 o'clock would come soon.

Percy grinned and turned back to a book. Tom had shown him three of the memories Yvane had given him. He wondered if he had seen the dragon on his last visit. He recalled several Hebredian Blacks. Tom had made a copy of the one memory of the founders where Margento had first met them. Percy now had the tightly stoppered and unbreakable vial in his pocket. The memories he'd seen had firmed his resolve to work with the amazing creatures. He could look at memories like that all day every day and never grow tired of it.

Tom and Percy conferred over a few more books and the clock finally chimed ten. They sighed and reluctantly climbed to bed. Percy turned into the guest bedroom and bid Tom goodnight. Tom replied with a yawn and stumbled into his own room and they were soon asleep.

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