Our Little One

.~*~.Our little one. ~*~.

Chapter Thirteen

When Magicless Do Magic

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This part of the chapter is not from any particular first-person POV.

This chapter is partly flashbacks.

[Speech] is French.

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Argus Filch was furious.

All those damned brats had just decided to make his day even worse than it was. Three Dungbomb attacks--three! In the same day!--and seven corridors full of dirt and snow from the outside. And he, Argus Filch, had been forced to clean everything!

He stomped into his office, grumbling quietly to himself. If he only could, he'd whip some sense to the brats. But, he couldn't, Dumbledore was too kind. He respected the old wizard, but he was just too soft for his own good. If he couldn't treat these kids like they deserved to be treated, they'd grow up and turn out to be immature, foolish, annoying brats for their whole life. Like Sirius Black.

He still couldn't believe that Severus Snape--the only other man he'd ever had respected--had fallen for the Gryffindor. Black was the very epitome of everything Argus despised in children--carelessness, prank pulling, unthoughtfulness, and overdaring. He couldn't even begin to count the times Black had almost got himself killed - both at school and as an adult man. And it was to this brat that Severus Snape--the most intelligent, careful, tidy, detail-seeing, and controlled man Argus had ever had the honor to meet--had decided to marry.

It just didn't seem right.

Well, it wasn't his job to criticize anyone's love life. His job was to keep those bloody kids under line. It was just too hard.

Just as he was begining to think of begging Dumbledore to make physical punishment allowed again, something knocked on his window. He looked up and saw a big, chocolate brown owl pecking at the glass, a parchment in its claws. He got slowly up and let the owl in; it flew to his desk, dropping the letter there.

Argus stared at the letter in front of him, wondering what it might say. The owl hooted softly, pushing the scroll nearer to him with its foot. It had obviously been told to wait for a response.

Suspiciously, he took the parchment scroll, and rolled it open. The further he read, the more astonished he became.

Mr. Filch,

We are approaching you in a matter concerning your secondary title as a Ciddle Tester. We discovered your state while doing research in the Ministry registries, also finding out that you are the only qualified tester in the area in which we are living. Therefore, we are asking for your aid, as we need to have the test performed.

We understand you have other duties, and will respect your choice. We're requesting you to give us a time that is fitting for you. We shall send a coach to fetch you from the school at the given time. This coach will bring you to Malfoy Manor, where you will perform the Ciddle test on our daughter, Olivia Amber Malfoy.

Sincerely,

Lucius Malfoy and Remus Malfoy

Lord of Malfoy Keeper of the Wolf's Staff

He read the letter again. And again. He blinked, and read it again.

A Malfoy... who was a Ciddle? Of course he'd heard that the Malfoys had adopted a girl, although he'd be damned if he understood why anybody would want to take care of any more irritable kids than they had to. But... a Ciddle under the Malfoy name? This was a joke. This had to be a joke.

But it wasn't. He examined the seal, noting that it was indeed the genuine Malfoy family seal. Also, the handwriting looked exactly the same as he'd seen previously in Lucius Malfoy's letters.

Deciding to play along, he took a parchment and a quill. He scribbled a short note.

Mr. Malfoy,

I'll be able to arrive Thursday the 5th of this week. The coach ought to arrive at midday.

Yours,

Argus Filch

He rolled up the note and gave it to the owl. The bird hooted again softly, then flew through the still open window.

Argus sat slowly. He didn't know what to think.

Mrs. Norris slipped in the room, meowing softly. He welcomed his beloved pet to his lap and began petting her, like he always did when he was disturbed by something.

Mrs. Norris started purring, washing all the thoughts of Malfoys and Ciddles and the bloody damned brats from his mind.

*

Filch stood in front of the Malfoy Manor. The coach had arrived at the exact moment he'd told it to come, and now, after a long ride during which he'd even managed to a little sleep, he'd reached his destination.

Collecting all his courage and slipping the cranky mask back on the place, he rose the few steps and knocked on the door.

The door flung open immediately. In front of him stood a little house-elf, wearing something that looked like a uniform. This seemed to be a very high-level house-elf, for he knew that ordinary house-elves wouldn't agree to wearing anything even if they'd been allowed to.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Filch," the house-elf said with a squeaky voice. "Please follow me. Master Malfoy is waiting for you in the sitting room."

He stepped inside, trying to ignore his unsure feeling. The doors banged closed behind him, leaving him standing in an enormous hall. The house-elf turned without waiting for another command, and wakjed away. He followed the creature.

On his way he watched observed everything around him. The heavy chandeliers, the thick rugs covering the floors, aristocratic people watching him from their portraits. Everything from the engraved doors to the fascinating paintings covering the ceiling told of great wealth and social status.

He couldn't find silver to save his life, though, and this confused him greatly. After all, the traditional materials of the Malfoy family were green velvet and silver, and although he could spot the rich forest-green velvet about everywhere, silver was truly nowhere to be seen.

Then he saw the slight marks of claws on one door and instantly remembered the Lycanthropy of one of the Masters of the Manor. Of course there was no silver around.

The house-elf stopped in front of the claw-marked door and knocked twice sharply. After listening for a moment, it opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for him to follow before it closed the door.

They were now in a sitting room decorated with green. The Malfoy crest was sewn on the rug covering most of the floor as well as random hangings on the walls. The furniture was made of silvery wood and green velvet, and long, high bookshelves covered most of the walls. The long curtains around the huge windows were drawn aside, letting the dim light of a winter afternoon inside.

On a chair next to a table sat a tall, aristocratic man. Everything from the shiny platinum hair and delicate hands to the heavy, well-tailored black robes and long cane told that this man was to be respected. In front of him lay a book which he was reading attentively, and next to it resided a bottle of wine and two glasses, one of which was half full of wine.

The house-elf bowed briefly to the man. "Master Lucius, the guest has arrived," the little creature informed the wizard.

Malfoy raised his eyes from the book. "Very well," he said. "Tell Olivia to come here, Thoward." The house-elf bowed again briefly and disappeared with a tiny *pop*.

The blonde wizard rose from his seat and walked towards the caretaker. "Good evening, Mr. Filch," he greeted. "And welcome to Malfoy Manor."

"Good evening, Lord Malfoy," he replied, feeling a bit uneasy in front of the man. He let his eyes wander around the room. The silver and gold-framed portraits, shiny chandeliers, luxurious rugs and expensive furniture all told of great wealth and ancient family-line, just like the rest of the Manor had done.

"My daughter will be here shortly," Mr. Malfoy continued. "I'm sorry that my husband doesn't accompany us, but he is... a bit ill." The silver eyes searched his gaze, and as he nodded in understanding - of course Remus Malfoy was ill, it was the day before full moon after all - the wizard nodded towards the table. "Would you like a glass of wine?"

"No, thanks," Argus replied. The only liquor he liked was Firewhiskey, and he had to keep his mind clear anyway. It'd been ages since he'd last performed the test, so he wanted to hold onto his senses. If he messed up, even the slightest, Malfoy would for sure never forgive him. And Lucius Malfoy, even though loyal to the Light, was not a man you'd want to be on the wrong side of.

After about a minute the large mirror on the wall turned oddly misty. A moment later, a young girl stepped out from it. The mirror turned back normal behind her.

The girl had light brown hair and grey eyes, and she was dressed in a dark green dress. "You called, Father?" she asked, glancing warily sideways at the Squib.

"Yes, I did," Mr. Malfoy said. "Olivia, this is Argus Filch. He's come to make the test to verify whether you are indeed a Ciddle."

"Oh!" She turned towards him, gave him a wary nod and said, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Filch."

"My pleasure, Miss Malfoy," he grumbled in response. He then turned again towards the wizard and asked, "Do you have any metal with natural magic level here? I have my own tools, of course, but they can only tell whether somebody's a Ciddle or not. If you want to know right away what area of magic she can use wand magic on, I need some magical metal, preferably silver."

"Well, silver we most certainly have not," Mr. Malfoy said calmly. "All silver objects were transferred to one of my estates in France when I married my husband. If Olivia doesn't have any silver jewellery with her?" he then added, glancing questioningly at the girl.

She hesitated for a moment, then took away her necklace. "Could this do?" she asked shyly, offering it to him.

Argus nodded and took the silver chain with a little pendant. "It'll do fine. Don't worry," he added as he saw the girl's still wary gaze. "Your necklace won't be harmed the slightest."

The girl nodded, looking still rather nervous. She stood on her place, waiting for him to do something.

Argus kept the silver in his hand, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He called for the only magic that he had an access for, channelling it to the tiny silver object. As he felt enough power was gathered there, he opened his eyes. "Can you turn the lights off?" he asked the wizard, who was following his doings at least as curiously as the girl. "We can't see the results otherwise."

The blonde man nodded and drew his wand. Then, with an almost lazy wave of the wand, he closed the curtains and unlit most of the candles around the room. The room became dim, not dark enough to prevent them seeing, but enough for the results to be seen.

"Olivia Malfoy," Argus grumbled, then reached out to touch the girl with the silver object. As soon as he did this, a little cloud of twinkling lights lit around her. Olivia gasped and looked at them, her eyes wide with surprise.

"What does that mean?" the Master of the House asked, eyeing the magical lights curiously.

"She is indeed a Ciddle," the Squib replied. "On a wizard, Muggle or Squib, there'd be no reaction." He examined the sparkling lights for a moment, then added, "Her wand magic is strictly limited to a couple of Divination spells. I take it you're going to get her a wand?"

Mr. Malfoy nodded, at the same time opening the curtains and lighting the candles again with a mere flick of his wand."We'll travel to Paris the next week."

Argus snorted inwardly. He knew very little about Ciddle wands; only that they were different from normal wizarding wands and cost several times as much. Whatever they were like, it fit into the picture that Malfoy would get one from Paris. The best wand shop for Ciddle wands was there, true, but it was also the most expensive one.

Well, it wasn't his problem where they wanted to waste their Galleons to.

"After you reach the peak of your magical powers, there might be surging, if you get too distressed," he told the girl, although he assumed she already knew that much. "It's impossible to tell exactly when you'll reach the peak, but I can say it'll be relatively soon; the lights were already very bright."

"Very well," the girl said, nodding. She then turned towards her adoptive father and asked, "May I go to my laboratory now?"

"Of course, little one," the Slytherin replied, and, with a dismissive wave of his hand, the girl left the room.

This time, the Master of the Manor himself walked him to the front door. They didn't talk a lot; only a couple of times Malfoy would say something about one of the objects surrounding them, or answer to a comment made by one of the portraits. Once they spotted a ghost in the other end of the corridor, but it retreated almost immediately.

At last, they got to the main doors of the Manor. Argus bade a polite goodbye, receiving the same in return. He then turned around, preparing to leave.

He was, however, stopped by Malfoy's smooth voice saying, "Oh, and Mr. Filch?" When he turned around, Mr. Malfoy handed out a heavy money bag. "Take this."

"I get my payment from the Ministry, Mr. Malfoy," he tried to protest, but the blonde man interrupted him by a wave of his hand.

"Which isn't very big, I'm aware," he said smoothly. "A bit more surely doesn't do any harm. This bag contains twenty-five Galleons, in Sickles. That money brings no good in my household."

Argus nodded slowly, understanding. "Very well, then," he said, putting the bag into the pocket of his cloak.

"And one other thing." Malfoy looked thoughtful for a moment, then again raised his eyes to the caretaker. "I know this might be a lot to ask for, but... You surely have lots of first-hand experience as of how to live in the magical world without the ability to perform spells. Is it possible that you'd also later give Olivia some advice, should she need any help? For good payment, of course," the man added, before the whole message had even sunk in to the Squib's mind.

Argus pondered this for a moment. He normally avoided thinking about his disability of using magic; it was a topic too painful and humiliating for him to dwell on. But something in the girl... Especially in the longing expression on her face when the Malfoy had easily used those spells she'd never master herself... Reminded him of his own confusion and desire for magic when he'd been young.

Slowly, he nodded. "Just owl me if she requires help," he said.

Malfoy nodded back to him. "Thank you," the blonde man said smoothly. "The coach will take you back to Hogwarts. Farewell, Mr. Filch."

Argus nodded curtly, said, "Goodbye, Lord Malfoy," then turned and made his way to the coach.

~*~*~*~

The door was quietly opened. The three people in the room raised their eyes to see the incomers. Everyone's lips quirked into a warm smile as they saw the two canines slipping in. The golden wolf looked unsurprisingly a bit weary, but the huge black dog waggled his tail happily, watching the people with a cheerful glint in his sapphire eyes.

"Good evening, my friends," Lucius said with a slight smile. "We were already wondering where you were." Padfoot gave him an innocent glance, waggling his tail even more. Moony, however, merely huffed quietly before padding to his side and climbing to his lap. Then he tugged Lucius's arm with his muzzle until it was in a good position for him to rest his head on it. Lucius merely chuckled at his husband's affectionate gesture, then started petting his head.

Padfoot gave Severus a pleading, puppy eyed gaze. The Slytherin, however, shook his head with a slight smirk. "Sorry, but no," Severus said. "Remus is Moony only once a month. If I allow you to lie in my lap now, however, I'll have you as my burden for the rest of my life."

Olivia chuckled at both the comment and the dog-glare Padfoot gave his husband. She'd already been informed that even though Remus had had his Wolfsbane, both the actual transformation and the time he spent as a wolf were easier to his mind when he had another part-human canine around. That was why the Blacks spent the night of the full moon in the Manor whenever possible.

She turned back to the Potions book she'd been reading. Severus was answering all her questions, and he even knew the few points Lucius hadn't been able to tell her before she'd read the book. Olivia didn't wonder why he was mentioned the best Potions Master in Britain, nor did she question the justification of his title as the Lead Potions Master.

Padfoot curled in front of the fireplace, enjoying the warmth of the magical flames. Severus gave his husband an amused glance, then continued advising Olivia. For a moment, they all just sat on their places, only the crackling of the fire and the quiet conversation between Olivia and Severus.

Suddenly, Lucius's voice broke the silence. "I found it!" he announced, holding up the little book in the one of his hands that hadn't been petting the wolf.

"What 'it' is it that you found?" Severus asked curiously. Olivia was also watching him, as well as Padfoot, who'd raised his head from where it had been lying on his paws. Moony was the only one who didn't react to his husband's words. As long as his head was petted, he was too exhausted from the transformation to mind anything else.

"The proof that Olivia isn't a Muggleborn," Lucius announced triumphantly.

Now even Moony locked his eyes at the blonde Slytherin, the question evident in the yellow-golden eyes. Severus's eyes widened, Olivia gasped in surprise, and Padfoot's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

"What is that book?" Severus asked then, suspicious. "And what's the proof?"

"This is my old journal," Lucius said, raising the book a bit to show it to the others. "Severus, do you remember Marcus Darkholm?"

"Olivia's father?" Severus frowned thoughtfully. After a moment he snapped his fingers. "Of course! He was a Death Eater for some time, wasn't he? And when he failed, Voldemort decided to use him as a warning example."

"Right." Lucius gestured towards the book. "Voldemort was in his peak around those times. So, instead of simply killing or tormenting Darkholm, he decided to use him even more on his advantage." He made a slight pause, then continued, "Using some Dark ritual, he drained the unfortunate man of his powers. Darkholm then fled to the Muggle world, where he later married Maria Magpie."

"Maria Magpie?" Severus echoed. "But - I've seen that name before in some document."

"You probably have," Lucius said, and smirked slightly. "After all, you've gone through about all the special registries of the Ministry. She's a Squib. So, the riddle is solved. Olivia's father wasn't a Muggle - he was a Pureblood, although drained one."

"So why did he hate my magic so much?" Olivia asked, sounding a bit uncertain. "Shouldn't he be happy that I wasn't a Squib? I'd think that Purebloods hold that to high value."

"Probably he was just jealous," Lucius said, smiling soothingly at her. "He didn't want to be reminded of what he'd lost." Olivia nodded slowly, looking still uncertain. Padfoot licked her hand, then barked twice, seemingly satisfied with what he'd heard. Moony, also, started to relax a bit again.

Severus, however, didn't seem to buy this explanation. "You forget one thing about Darkholm, Lucius." He raised an eyebrow and continued, "The ritual didn't only drain his powers... It also made sure that any child of his would be a Squib."

~*~*~*~

"I think it'd be better if you took Calming Potion, Olivia," Lucius said. "There are more people at Rue du Reves than in Diagon Alley, the main reason being that simply it is a bigger place. And even in Diagon Alley you needed the potion when there were more people than usual, remember?"

"You may be right," Olivia replied with the same casual tone. "Shall I brew a batch of it, then?"

"Do that," her blonde guardian said, nodding. "The one you made for the last match of the Magpies' worked very well. You only need a small vial, though."

"I'll do that," she said, and smiled happily. "When will we go, then?"

"Well, I booked the Portkey for tenth," Lucius said. "It is, what, two days after tomorrow?"

"So I'd better get packing once I've done the potion, right?" Olivia said with a slight smile. She was absolutely thrilled at the thought of having a wand of her own. Lucius smiled at her enthusiasm and was just about to say something, when the door opened.

To the great surprise of them both, Remus walked in. He looked very pale and weary, but he was awake. That was the fact that confused them the most - the werewolf usually spent the day after the full moon drifting into slight sleep every now and then. He couldn't stay awake for more than half an hour, and he definitely wasn't in a condition to walk around the Manor. Usually Lucius forced him to stay in bed for the whole day after the transformation.

"What are you doing here, Remus?" the blonde man asked, surprised. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong," Remus said, then yawned slightly. "I just didn't want to stay in bed while you're here making evil plans to get my head."

Lucius chuckled. "That's not true," he said, smiling teasingly at his lover. "I'm probably getting rid of my own head here. I am, after all, going to take you two to Paris for shopping--a deed against all my better judgement, I must say."

"Are you implying that we shouldn't go shopping, then?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "You'd let your beloved husband and precious daughter freeze to death due to the lack of proper clothing?"

"Or to boredom due to the lack of necessary literature?" Olivia added with the same serious tone.

"Or to starvation due to the lack of chocolate?" Remus dead-panned, watching him with wide amber eyes. "And while we are in the topic, where the hell is all chocolate in this house? You'd think that a Manor of this size would have some chocolate somewhere..."

"I left a respectable amount on the nightstand as I left," Lucius said, raising an eyebrow to his husband in turn. "Are you telling me that you already ate that all?"

Remus shrugged. "I was hungry," he said. Then he gave him the puppy eyes and added, "Besides, you know it helps my recovery after the full moon. Keeps the depression away and all."

Lucius sighed. He couldn't deny it, and Remus knew that. The chocolate was truly the only thing that would keep Remus from hating himself after the full moon. Unfortunately, it only worked for about half an hour at time, and after a few "doses" it lost its effect. "Ask the house-elves for some," he advised. "They know better than to let the stocks run low around the full moon. And yes, you are going to get to shop." Then he smirked slightly. "Although the Blacks are coming as well. I hope that's not a problem?"

"It depends," Remus said lightly. "It's not, if Severus doesn't drag Olivia into Potions stores for too long to me to take her to get some new robes."

Lucius rolled his eyes. "We're going to stay for ten days," he reminded him patiently. "You'll have time to run through all the shops in Rue du Réves three times even if Severus and I took her to some Apothecary."

"Good," Remus said, flashing a grin to Olivia and receiving the same in return, although the girl's grin was a bit shy. Then the werewolf called for a house-elf, requesting for his chocolate, which he got almost immediately. Opening the first box of Hnoneydukes' best quality chocolate, he sat on the couch opposite to the other two Malfoys, listening quietly to their conversation about the trip.

After some time, Lucius and Olivia noticed that Remus had again drifted to sleep. Chuckling slightly, the Lord of Malfoy conjured a blanket, pulling it gently over his lycanthropic lover. Finishing his conversation with Olivia he sat next to Remus, beginning to pet the werewolf's hair while he himself read yet another Potions book.

Olivia smiled warmly at her two parents. Seeing them like this, happy, loving, and carefree, always made her feel warm and safe.

She left the sitting room, leaving the two men alone.

~*~*~*~

A long, thin witch greeted them as they entered the wand store. Her cool, grey gaze flew over them, examining them one at a time. Her eyes stopped at Olivia, and a small, strict smile curled the corners of her lips.

"Ah, a Ciddle," she said, surprisingly in English. "It's really been a long time since I last had one of your kind in my store. Please, gentlemen, young lady, follow me."

They followed her through rows of high, dusty shelves, which reminded the wizards of Ollivander's store. Olivia, however, had only seen Ollivander's from the outside, and thus saw nothing familiar in the store.

They were led to the far end of the shop. The shelves were now green instead of brown. The wand boxes were also slightly different there, but there were no less of them In fact, it looked like there were more of these different wands than the usual ones.

"Here is my stock of Ciddle wands," the witch explained. "They are all very specialised, that's why there are so many of them here. In general, however, it's a lot easier to find the right wand for a Ciddle than for anyone else, since their talents are usually known." She turned towards Olivia. "So, young lady, what kind of magic you can do?"

Olivia took a cautious step backwards. She didn't seem to like the witch. "The man who tested me, Argus Filch, said that I can only do Divination wand magic."

"Oh!" the witch said. "Divination, indeed. Do you have the talent of Seeing?" As Olivia nodded, she continued, "That's good. Divination is one of the rarer talents for a Ciddle, you know. Their kind's magic is usually more to the practical spells, charms and the like." As she spoke, she started to take the boxes from the shelves in seemingly random order.

At last she seemed to be satisfied with the boxes she'd taken. Opening the first one, she took out a thick wooden wand, covered with shapes of some twines. "A thick rowan wand. Its core is made of a dragon scale, a very powerful wand for true Seers." She glanced sideways to Severus, who merely snorted, determinedly ignoring her meaningful glance.

Olivia took the offered wand. It was taken away from her about the same moment, however. The shopkeeper smiled strictly, then opened a new box. "Pure porcelain, no core," she introduced the next wand, which was decorated with something that resembled Chinese writing. "Can manage complex spells, but nothing too powerful."

Olivia took the wand. There was no reaction, and the witch snatched it away from her hand almost immediately. "No, no. Try this. Ivory, water core. Truly rare. If it drains, any ordinary wizard or witch should be capable of filling it again." Olivia grasped on the wand, but again it was taken back from her at the same second.

The witch frowned, searching the selected boxes with narrowed eyes. "Well, try this one," she said then, taking from the box and handing out a thin, shiny silver wand. "Silver with a unicorn hair. Pure and beautiful, although," she glanced watchfully at Remus before continuing, "can be dangerous if misused. Both materials are originally great for counterspells and -curses, fighting the Dark Arts in general, but when combined, they make an almost neutral wand. Therefore, this is a great tool for Divination spells."

Olivia nodded and took the offered wand. As soon as she grasped on it, it shot sparkling purple stars around her. She gasped, then smiled broadly.

"I think we've found the right one," the old witch said with a dry tone. "Seventy-eight Galleons, please."

Lucius paid, nodded his thanks to the witch, and began leading his group out of the store.

Olivia held her new wand, examining every inch of it. It wasn't decorated like some wands, instead, its surface was smooth and unmarked. She watched it closely, a little smile on her lips. "It's beautiful," she said then. Then she scowled and added, "But that witch was a bitch." She blushed as she noticed what she'd said, clapping a hand on her mouth.

Remus tsked. "Watch your tongue, young lady," he said warningly. "And what do you have against the shopkeeper? I sensed nothing wrong with her."

"Nor did I," Lucius said, and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Well, I did," Severus said dryly, stepping on Olivia's side. "There was something truly wrong with her. I swear she was planning something."

"And what would that be?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes at his husband's words. "And why didn't anybody else sense anything wrong in her - not even Remus? Or is this again some of your Seeing stuff?"

Severus glared at him sharply. "That 'my Seeing stuff,' like you so kindly put it, has saved more lives more times than I really care to count. Without it you wouldn't be walking there, you'd be in your grave!"

Sirius flung his arms up in exasperation. "Fine, fine," he grumbled. "It can be really useful, I admit that. It indeed has saved my life more than once. But this isn't about saving lives, this is about you hating a woman for no other reason than some kind of 'sixth sense!'"

"What about the sense of balance?" Severus asked smoothly. "Or the sense of motion, the muscle sense, all those? Or do you continue numbering from seven?"

"Put a lid on it, you two," Remus sighed, rolling his eyes towards the sky. "It's moments like this I wonder how you two ever got together!"

"I think it's rather obvious," Lucius said dryly, although a little smile marked his lips. "They're always fighting like an old couple. They probably just felt it was natural to become a new couple for a while before continuing their usual way."

Olivia giggled, and Remus chuckled. The two dark-haired wizards both gave Lucius an annoyed glare. They shut up, however.

"Severus? Why did she look at you when she showed the first wand?" Olivia asked then, eyeing curiously the raven-haired Slytherin.

Severus snorted again, then took his wand from the bag on his belt. "Twelve inches, rowan, unicorn hair core," he introduced it. "I don't want to even think about how she knew about it. But, rowan is almost the purest of the wand trees, and the most magical one. I think that silver is about the same of metals as rowan is of trees. Therefore, this is the nearest to your wand a normal wizard could get."

"Rowan? And unicorn hair?" Lucius asked, sounding amused. "How, pray tell, you ever were able to cast anything Darker than a tickling curse?"

Severus glared at the blonde man again. "As you know very well, I never was one for foolish wand waving," he said sulkingly. "And rowan, although a holy tree in many countries, is not 'good' in the same sense as a unicorn hair. Pure it is, true, and can very well fight the Dark, but not good, rather neutral. In the ancient times it was often used for the Darkest blood magic as well as Light spells. Like silver, it outbalances the goodness of the unicorn hair core - only neutral magic can be used to real Divination."

"That sounds interesting," Olivia said, smiling slightly. "What about you? What are your wands?" she asked then, watching the three other men attentively.

Sirius slipped his wand into sight. "Willow, nine inches, dragon heart string," he said cheerfully. "Good at everything, very good in nothing. Rather like myself," he finished with a grin.

"Ebony, ten inches, a dragon scale," Lucius introduced his own with a slight smirk. "Powerful, fierce, impatient; extremely good in the Dark Arts. Hard to control, is not to be handled carelessly. And no more comments about that," he added, with a warning glance to both Blacks. Sirius and Severus, however, merely smirked meaningfully.

Remus hesitated for a moment. Then he took his own wand into sight and said softly, "Oak, seven inches, a werewolf hair." He was quiet for a moment, then continued, "Very trustable, steady, but has a darker side to it. Unable to cast any healing charms, or other too Light spells. Cannot be controlled by any other than a Lycanthrope." He shivered slightly, and Lucius placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"So, yours was good for Divination, right?" Olivia asked from Severus, trying to break the sudden silence that had fallen upon the group. "And it was neutral?"

Severus nodded. "Right. Unicorn hair is the Lightest core ever, but as rowan is a highly neutralizing material, just like silver, the wand in whole is neutral. Capable of both Light and Dark spells, but not very powerful in either. Light, airy wand in general, good in details, not really powerful but more accurate. Fine and even, a balancing tool, although can be capricious at times. And no comments about that, either," he added, glancing sharply at his grinning husband.

"Sounds like the wand really chooses the wizard, then," Olivia said with a slight smile. Then she glanced around her. "Well, what now? Where are we going next?"

"I don't know about those three," Remus said, eyeing the three other men, "but I think you really need a wand bag." With a slight grin to his husband and the Blacks he grasped on Olivia's wand-free hand and pulled her towards the nearby store that sold all textiles.

After half an hour of searching, they'd found a proper wand bag, made of the traditional forest-green velvet with silver-coloured strings for tying it to the belt. They'd also found nice new gloves for them both, a cherry-silver flurry scarf that Olivia wanted just to show her belonging to partly both, partly neither of her fathers' Houses, as well as many other things. Olivia went over to look at some hair bands while Remus went to pay for their purchases.

Remus gave a pile of coins - in Galleons, of course - to the shopkeeper and waited as he counted the money. Meanwhile, he himself absent-mindedly added up the prices of the purchases. Suddenly, he noticed that the change would be four Sickles.

And he had no gloves on.

The werewolf took a desperate glance around him, trying to see something that'd cost four Sickles. He found, however, nothing. The shopkeeper was already counting the money, and would soon hand him the change. He could either take them, burn his hand, and turn out to be a werewolf, or refuse touching them, thus also being discovered as a lycanthrope. Lucius, who'd usually would have distracted the shopkeeper, was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, Olivia appeared on his side. She eyed him warily, looked at the purchases and then the shopkeeper who was counting the money, and seemed to realize his problem.

"Hey, Dad," she said happily, loudly enough to be heard by most of the nearby customers. "May I have your change? I'd like to buy some sweets, and I have nothing but Galleons and a couple of lonely Knuts."

"Of course, Olivia," he replied, trying to hide his relief. He motioned the shopkeeper to give the money to the girl, and the man did so, obviously not thinking it was anything unusual. The other people around just smiled at them, not suspecting anything more special than an everyday conversation between a parent and a child.

Remus took the stuff and left the shop, Olivia right on his heels. Once they were outside, Remus at last allowed himself to sigh in relief. "Thank you, Olivia," he said. "You really saved me in there."

"What would a girl not do for her parent?" Olivia replied, smiling. Then she added with a slight grin, "Besides, now I have an excuse to buy even more chocolate!"

Remus chuckled, shook his head, and then glanced around him. "Lucius is over there," he said, pointing at the tall man further along the street. Lucius was standing in front of a store, leaning on his cane and looking bored. "Looks like he's waiting for Sirius and Severus."

They soon reached the blonde man's side. He turned towards them, and smiled. "The Blacks went inside," he said, motioning towards the shop. "Apparently they sell some joke stuff in there and Sirius wanted to have a look at it. Severus went along to make sure he won't blow up the whole store or something."

Olivia chuckled slightly. Then she took a hasty step backwards as a busy-looking wizard passed them. The wizards turned to glance at her, and Olivia flinched slightly despite the Calming Potion in her veins. Remus reached out his hand to touch her wrist soothingly, not remembering the silver bracelet she was wearing.

...And drew his hand back. Two screams were heard, one of fear, one of pain.

Olivia stared at Remus's hand, shocked. It had burned black to the wrist. The spot of skin on his fingers where he had originally touched the bracelet looked like they had melted.

Other people looked at them. At first they only stared. Then one woman screamed, [Werewolf! He's a werewolf!]

A total panic began among the people. Most of them were running away, but some of them walked nearer. Their leader seemed to be an old man with an abnormally long nose and a rodent-like, thin face. Remus didn't even notice them. He only stood there, holding his wrist with his other hand, tears of pain forming in the corners of his closed eyes. Before the men got nearer, Lucius calmly stepped between them and his husband.

He looked at the men with cold silver eyes. [What do you think you're doing?] he asked, his voice sharp and as warm as the North Pole.

[Silver burns him!] screamed the leader of the group. [He's a werewolf!]

Lucius raised an eyebrow and gave them one of the best Glares of Death of the Malfoy family. Most of the men began to look very uncertain, but some of them, including the leading man, stayed still. [Yes, he is,] Lucius said at last, when they didn't seem to be going to leave. [What about it?]

The leader looked surprised by his response. Obviously he hadn't expected to get a straight answer. [He - he can't possibly go around...] he tried to explain his point to Lucius.

[And why on the Earth couldn't he?] Lucius asked. He was getting furious. He stepped forward, staring right into the eyes of the stubborn man. [Listen to me now. All of you.

[This is Remus Malfoy. Yes, he happens to be a werewolf, but that is definitely not all of him. He's the most caring, beautiful, friendly, clever and talented person in the whole world. He's kind and nice--everything that you obviously aren't. He's a wonderful father, an adorable husband, a loyal friend and an understanding teacher. He has forgotten more about magic than you will ever learn. He was one of the main people in bringing down Lord Voldemort. He's ready to sacrifice his own life for those he loves. And you--you old, filthy rat--can't stand him around you because he happens to be allergic to silver and gets ill once a month?] He glared the man even more furiously than before, if that was even possible. [Go away. Go away before I get rid of you myself. You disgust me.]

At the begining the men had looked pretty uncertain about what to do. When Lucius got to the point about Voldemort, they all went very pale. Few of them turned around and ran away. Some of them stayed--but even they fled when Lucius told them to leave.

Lucius looked after the running men, looking satisfied. Then he turned around towards his husband, and his expression turned very worried. "How are you feeling, love?" he asked kindly, placing his hands on the shorter man's shoulders. "Is there any way silver injuries can be healed by spells?"

Remus shook his head, biting his lower lip. "Other than replacing the skin, only time can heal them," he replied. "And I feel awful. But," he said then, with a little, dry smile forming on his lips, "at least I've now learned to beware of where I put my hands."

Olivia was still deathly pale. "It was my fault," she whispered. "I should have known. It was all my fault." She stared at the thin bracelet in his wrist like it had been a snake twining around her arm. "I--I'm so sorry, Dad..."

"No need to be." The werewolf smiled to the girl. "It was absolutely my fault. Jewellery is meant to be worn, Olivia. I knew that you had a silver bracelet--I saw you wearing it in the morning--and I still touched it. I should have known better."

"What about if we decide that no one's guilty of this?" Lucius suggested. "You're alive, Remus, love, aren't you? And not going to die right now? Because if it is so, then everything is all right."

Remus nodded, smiling slightly. Then his smile faded away. "Thank you," he said with a low voice. "Thank you for standing up for me."

Lucius wrapped his arms around the werewolf's shoulders and pressed his face against the golden brown hair. "Anything for you, love," he murmured to the other man's ear. "You know that. I'd do anything for you."

"What was it?" asked a voice behind them. Severus and Sirius stepped out of the store, looking shocked. "There was so much noise. Did Death Eaters attack or what?"

"Nothing that simple," Lucius said darkly, still holding Remus against his chest. "Remus burned his hand on Olivia's bracelet, causing a lynch mob gather around us."

Sirius cursed aloud. "I think we'd better get the Hell away from here, then," he said, and Severus nodded in agreement.

Remus looked miserable. "I'm sorry for spoiling your trip," he said, not to anyone in particular. "If I had kept my ware, we could still stay here."

"It's not your fault," Lucius said. "The only ones responsible for it are those stupid people with all their prejudical crap."

"It is my fault," Remus said firmly. "Don't even try and give me that bull shit. We all know that if I weren't a Lycanthrope, nobody would say a word about us being here. You can't tell me this time that it's nothing. I know damn well that it does matter a lot."

Lucius frowned. It was four days from the full moon already. Remus's post-moon depression usually didn't continue this long, otherwise they wouldn't have even considered the trip. But now it looked like Remus couldn't get over the seemingly compulsory phase of self-loathing he went over every month despite all the reassuring they gave him.

Lucius couldn't help but wonder whether it had something to do with the incident at the Narcairs the few days before the full moon. They still hadn't told Olivia anything, since Lucius wanted to wait until Remus was normal again and could sensibly answer all the questions Olivia was bound to have.

But now it looked like Remus wouldn't get normal.

He honestly didn't know what to do.

Sirius broke the pressuring silence. "Grasp on this," he said, handing out a stone he'd picked from the ground and charmed. "It'll get us to our hotel room."

"An unauthorised Portkey?" Lucius said, raising an eyebrow. "You're lucky that you aren't an Auror anymore, you'd have to arrest yourself."

"Shut up," the Animagus sighed, rolling his eyes. "It'll activate in ten seconds, so, hurry!"

They all reached out a hand to touch the stone. Only a couple of seconds after the last one, Lucius, had laid his hand on it, they all felt a sharp tug behind their navels. After a second, they landed on the floor of a hotel room.

Severus of course managed to end on his feet, but the others, even Lucius, stumbled and fell down. As they got back on their feet, Sirius watched around emotionlessly. "Better get packing, then," he said smoothly.

"You're not leaving because of me," Remus argued, but Severus cut him off before he could say anything else.

"I've always thought you're a clever man, Remus," the dark-haired Slytherin snapped. "Don't you dare to prove me wrong now and behave like a fool. Do you honestly think we could send you home and stay here ourselves?"

"He's right," Sirius said heatedly. "There's no way you could make us stay."

"And I can't," Lucius pointed out smoothly. "I drew all the attention to myself as those imbeciles tried to get to you."

"But Olivia," Remus still tried to disagree. "She should stay. And Sirius and Severus could take care of her--"

Olivia cut him off by calmly taking the vial containing the Calming Potion from her belt. Without even blinking she brought her hand up, then tossed the vial to he floor, shattering it to tiny pieces. "You still want me to stay?" she asked smoothly, eyeing her Dad innocently.

For a moment, they all just stared at her. Then, slowly, Sirius's lips quirked into a smile. "She truly is a Malfoy, I see," he said with a chuckle. Severus smirked, and nodded.

Remus sighed in defeat. "Fine," he grumbled. "We'll leave."

And with that, the conversation ended.

~*~*~*~

The whole Malfoy family was once again in the sitting room of the Malfoy Manor. With them were the Blacks and Harry. Harry and Draco had been invited right after the travellers had got back home, and they'd already heard the whole story. Remus was, fortunately, much less depressed now--much thanks to the slightly varied Pepper-Up Potion Olivia'd slipped to his wine at meal while he'd been watching Lucius and Severus in case of any similar trick.

Now, Olivia's wand was the topic of the conversation. Harry and Draco had in turn studied it, hearing of the special features of the wand. They both found it highly amusing that Severus's and Olivia's wands were practically the same, as well as the surprising core of his wand - although they stopped teasing the Lead Potions Master right after Padfoot had not-so-gently snipped them both on leg.

"You should try it," Lucius said now, and Olivia nodded slowly.

"But how do we know what spells she's capable of doing?" Draco asked curiously.

"She already knows them," Severus explained. After bringing the details to his mind, he began quickly speaking, "Every magical being has a natural awareness of their skills, which they become conscious about the same time as they receive their first means to do conscious magic. The level of this awareness, however, is strictly limited, and it's average is tied to the amount of magic they're able to do. Thus any normal wizards and witches only know that there indeed is some capablity for magical spells in them, while Ciddles, being far more limited, have a lot higher level of awareness for those few spells and thus know them all by themselves."

Sirius and, after a moment of thinking, Remus and Lucius nodded understandingly. Draco and Harry, however, merely stared at him with a look of uncomprehension on their faces.

"Umm... could we get that again, please?" Harry asked. "And a bit slower this time."

Severus sighed and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. Then he said, this time slower, "We have a lot to learn, so we can't know it all in the beginning. Olivia, however, has only a few spells to learn. Therefore, she knows them already."

"So..." Draco looked thoughtful. "Everyone can know only something in birth. We know a little of many spells, while Olivia knows a couple of spells completely. Right?"

"Exactly." Severus grinned. "So, Olivia, in theory you should be able to do the spells just by thinking about them."

Olivia nodded, then closed her eyes. She was quiet for a moment, looking like she were listening to something. Then she opened her eyes again and looked around for a moment. She spotted a portrait of a young witch on the wall and pointed at it. "Revealo Memorio," she murmured.

Immediately, the face of another young witch appeared in a cloud of purplish dust. As she waved her wand again, it disappeared.

"That spells tells whose memories are attached to some item," she told the others. "And I've got a vision by touching that portrait. It was indeed one of that witch."

"You have?" Lucius asked, raising his eyebrows. "Why haven't you told us about that?"

"Well..." She blushed slightly. "It was kind of a test, actually." She glanced warily at Severus, who nodded encouragingly. She took a deep breath and said, "I got the vision after testing the first succesfull bath of the Brew of Dreams Severus helped me make."

It was quiet for a moment.

Then, Lucius said, "It's commonly thought that you have to have gotten through at least the three first Potions Master tests before even attempting the potion."

"Really?" Olivia asked. "Must explain why I didn't manage it without help, then."

"Stop worrying, Lucius," Severus sighed, again rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. As he saw that Remus was going to say something, he raised his hand, silencing the werewolf. "You too, Remus. I swear I won't let her do anything even relatively dangerous. But you have to let her try and brew potions above her general level, otherwise she will never raise from that level!"

Lucius looked a bit hurt by that, but then said, "Fine, then. But why didn't you ask me for help?" he asked then, turning to Olivia.

"I didn't want to upset you," the girl said quietly. "You were already doing so much to make me happy. I didn't want to seem ungrateful." She looked a bit shy, then said, "Do you mind?"

"Do I mind?" Lucius echoed, breaking into a smile. "Of course not! I'm only glad that you've got that ability back."

"Dad?" Olivia asked then, turning towards Remus. To her great relief, the werewolf smiled also.

"Whatever Lucius said, I agree to that," he said, grinning slightly. "I didn't marry him because of his good looks, you know." After a mock-glare from Lucius, disbelieving snort from Severus, and chuckles from the others, he added with a sheepish grin, "Okay...so not only because of his good looks."

They all laughed. Then Sirius grinned at Olivia. "So, now you have potions, visions, and even a wand. You're as well off as Severus is!"

"His spells are not limited," Harry pointed out. Sirius, however, merely laughed at that.

"I doubt he's used anything but Accio and Lumos since the War ended," he informed his Godson. "Anything else he makes me do for him!"

"Why should I bother myself with foolish wand waving?" the dark-haired Potions Master asked smoothly. "I have, after all, a loyal dog to jump on my every word. I don't have to do anything myself."

Everyone but Sirius laughed. The Animagus grumbled his eyebrows and said, "You're lucky I love you, Severus. Otherwise, I would hex you to the moon!"

"No, you wouldn't," the other man said smugly. "You are too bloody a Gryffindor to fight an unarmed man!"

Sirius stared at him, noticing that his husband was indeed unarmend. Then he sighed, "You couldn't even play that you are actually capable of something other than poisoning pumpkin juice and having true dreams about yesterday, could you, Severus?"

"Rather harsh from someone whose best accomplishments in those lines of magic are home-made alcohol and wet dreams," Severus replied, raising an amused eyebrow.

"I don't comment on the topic of dreams," Remus said, struggling against laughter, "but I can tell you that he didn't even manage brewing beer. When it should have been ready, he tasted it and then threw the whole batch away, since it was so awful that I couldn't go to the room without fainting from the odor..."

Sirius stomped out of the room, the waves of laughter following him all the way out of hearing distance.

~*~*~*~

It was an afternoon in the Black Manor.

Three people sat around a table. Draco was taking notes, while Harry and Olivia were happily discussing the topic of the wedding. It seemed natural that they were in that particular building, since, like Sirius had pointed out, both the Blacks' and the Malfoys' weddings had been planned there. They currently resided in one of the guest rooms, planning and snogging and snogging and planning.

Olivia was also staying in the Black Manor. Her reasons, however, were different than just a "tradition." Remus had to work on the details of the werewolf center, and Lucius had got a project that recuired him to be in the Ministry building a lot. As they didn't want Olivia to feel lonely, it had been decided that she'd stay in the Black Manor with Draco and Harry, and Sirius and Severus when they weren't at work. This way, it was also easier for Severus to tutor her, and she could work on the potions all the time without having to move them from her lab to Severus's and the other way around.

Olivia's hand was more often than not drawn to the long, narrow velvet bag on her belt. She was still excited about having her own wand, and although she had only used it a couple of times, she seemed to like knowing that she had it with her.

Draco was now talking about the guest list. The longer it got, the more uneasy Olivia began to look like.

"Um..." she finally started, looking slightly uneasy. "Will there really be that many people there?"

"But of course!" Draco exclaimed. "It is, after all, a wedding of a Malfoy and..." His voice trailed off as he realized what the girl was going after. "Oh, Olivia," he sighed. "We didn't even think about it!"

"It's okay," she replied, although she still looked a bit ashamed. "I just hope you won't be offended if I don't attend to the wedding."

"Of course we won't be offended," Harry promised fullheartedly. "This just leaves us one problem. You can't skip the wedding without explanations, people might start suspecting something. You are Draco's adopted-sister after all, you are supposed to come."

They all thought about this. To their great distress, none of them could think about a reason heavy enough for the girl not to come.

"What's the problem?" Severus asked from the doorway, interrupting their thoughts.

"We just realized that there'll be more people in the wedding than Olivia can handle," Harry sighed. "And we can't think of a reason for her to leave the ceremony unattended."

Severus, however, surprised them all. "Oh, is that all?" he asked, sounding almost amused. "You should have asked me first. Olivia?"

"Yes?" the girl asked, turning towards him, looking curious.

"I'm sorry to tell you this," the Potions Master said with a carefree tone, "but your two first tests required for the Potions Mistress qualifiation have been scheluded on the date of your brother's wedding. We'll give you the more exact time once they've managed to set the date."

At first, they stared at him. Then everyone broke into a wide smile.

"Could you really do that?" Olivia asked, looking hopeful and doubtful at the same time.

"Of course," the Slytherin said with a slight smirk. "I am, after all, the Lead Potions Master. I can interfere in the test scheludes if I wish. I usually leave it to those weighed by the duty, but this time I think I just might mess with them."

"There's only one problem, though," Draco said then. "She hasn't been signed to the tests yet, and I happen to know that it takes time to get through. I doubt even you can change the scheludes so that she can take the tests before she's even accepted to the lists!"

"She hasn't?" the Potions Master asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, it's really about time to do that, then. I'll just Floo Lucius and ask whether he's okay with it, although I doubt he'll mind the slightest. Then I can take Olivia to the Potions Master Headquarters."

"You truly are the best, Severus," Draco said with a wide grin.

"Of course I am," the raven-haired Slytherin replied smugly. "That's the reason your parents appointed me your Godfather."

"Not to mention the fact that you're Mum's only brother and Dad's best friend," the blonde wizard pointed out dryly.

"Well, I think that might have something to do with the matter, yes," Severus said, shrugging. Then he turned towards Olivia. "Well, what do you think?" he asked. "Are you up to a little trip to Headquarters?"

"Well, let me think," the girl said, smiling a bit. "I'm now given the chance to sign to the tests in the company of the top Potions Master in Britain. This will no doubt gain me a couple of curious glances, as well as more forehand respect in the matter than even the Malfoy name could give." She played thoughtful for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Yes, I think I could agree to that."

Severus chuckled. "I thought so."

~*~*~*~

Ronald Weasley stared in annoyance the letter in front of him. He reread it for the fifth time, all the time cursing in his mind. The text hadn't changed, however.

"Mr. Ronald Weasley,

As an official of the Family Department of the Ministry of Magic, you are aware of the fact that all wizarding adoptions have to be confirmed within the five months following the original adoption.

In order to find out whether there are any issuses preventing the confirmation of an adoption, your presence is required on a check visit. The child in concern is Olivia Malfoy, adopted by Remus and Lucius Malfoy on the twelveth of November last year. They'll receive an owl about this and will expect your visit after the middle of February.

Yours,

Lucas Martino

Ministry of Magic

Family Department

Adoption Section"

He cursed aloud and banged his fist against the table.

This wasn't going to be any good.

~*~*~*~

Olivia stood in her room in the Black Manor. She was confused. A couple of times Lucius had looked like he'd been going to say something, but he'd always closed his mouth immediately or changed the topic. She'd caught the adults speaking in hushed voices several times, always stopping when they saw her. Oddly enough, Remus was almost never involved in these conversations, and sometimes the others even stopped when he came into sight, not she. Remus still seemed to know what was the topic, however. Whenever she questioned anyone of them about it, she got no answer at all or just a sad shake of head and a promise to tell her everything later.

She'd accidentally overheard a conversation between Severus and Lucius. Lucius had mentioned the song she'd been singing the one night over at Narcairs'. That was the only clue she currently had--if she only could find out what it meant.

Olivia walked to the small trunk containing her things. She had the book with her, since she'd wanted to examine one of the songs more closely. Now, however, the book would have some other use.

She flicked her wand and murmured an incantation. The book glowed golden for a moment, satisfying her curiousity. She indeed could find out something with this book.

Placing the book open on the bed and sitting next to it, Olivia took a little vial of the Brew of Dreams from her belt, where she had all the potions she might need. She downed the potion in one swallow, then reached out her hand to grasp on the book.

At the same moment as she touched it, she entered a memory.