In the Midst of the Night

In the Midst of the Night

Chapter 11 - Mistress Death

Sirius stared down at his full cup of tea; his dark eyes the color of a moonless night. "And he said no?" he wondered, his voice low.

"Yes," replied Remus, looking at his friend carefully. "He told me that Harry should not be exposed to too much at one time...he is only seven years old after all."

"But he's with that bloody - he's with - with Snivellus!" exclaimed Sirius, banging a hand upon the tabletop.

Remus hid a grin at the familiar nickname. "Padfoot, please, I don't think my furniture can take your abuse."

Sirius looked up in what seemed like surprise before his face cracked into a smile, albeit a reluctant one. "Sorry." There was a small pause before he said, "I still don't understand why Harry has to stay with that bloody git is all. He was a Death Eater for Merlin's sakes! It - it's ridiculous for my godson to be in the care of that bastard. I wouldn't trust a flobberworm in his care!"

The werewolf nodded, a frown furrowing his brow. "The headmaster told me, however, that Harry seemed to want to stay in Severus' company rather than in Poppy's..."

"He's obviously lying so as to not worry you...you should see that," said Sirius, but his eyes were clouded with something akin to uncertainty. There was a long silence and he looked uneasily at his friend. "Right, Moony?"

His hopes of being reassured were diminished when Remus said, "Albus also told me that Severus was the only one Harry seemed to trust at Hogwarts." Sirius stood up abruptly with a dark scowl upon his face. "Now, Sirius -," but he was cut off.

"He's been bewitched then - that's the only answer. No one in their right mind would trust Snape. It's time I get back my godson." He strolled purposefully to the front door when Remus grabbed his arm.

"Sirius - Padfoot, listen to me. You're an escaped convict from Azkaban. Is it really safe to walk out of that door like this?" wondered Remus, his eyes dark with concern and anxiety. With a soft 'pop', a large black grim stood on all fours in the place where Sirius had been standing not one moment ago. The brown haired man rolled his eyes heavenwards and asked for Merlin to help him. "Sirius, I think it would be wise if we told Dumbledore of your innocence. Perhaps then he would allow us to visit Harry..."

After another 'pop', Sirius was standing before Remus with another glare. "Allow us - I can do anything I want!"

Remus ran a hand through his hair and tiredly treaded his way towards the couch which he plopped himself upon with the air of one who felt nothing in the world would have been better. He closed his eyes and laid his head back, massaging his temples lightly.

Sirius watched him go and his whole angry demeanor was immediately replaced with concern. "Moony, are you all right?"

The werewolf opened one eye to smile at his friend. "Of course I am, just tired."

Silently, Sirius mentally counted the days until the full moon. "Three days..." Remus nodded without opening his eyes again. "Maybe I ought to stay...but after that I'm off," he told his friend.

Remus nodded, slowly standing. "Right. Padfoot, you wouldn't mind if I go lay down for a bit, would you?"

"Of course not!" said Sirius, moving forward as if to help him, but the other man waved him away, shaking his head with a grateful smile.

"Thanks." Remus tiredly went up to his room and softly closed the door. Once it was shut, he smiled in relief and sat down with a book.

Thank Merlin he's put off for a bit...

~*~

Three days later found Harry laughing as he tried to catch up with Draco, leaning forward on his broom to make it go faster. His hands gripped the handle tightly; the old fear a mere caution as he flew with the air and grace of one born to fly.

Draco turned his head slightly to send a smirk of arrogance back at his friend. "Is that the best you can do, Potter?" he taunted, then zipped forward at an even faster pace.

Harry glanced down towards where Severus was filling out an order form for more potions supplies before laughing once more and forcing his broom to go faster. Soon he was head to tail with the other boy and still gaining speed.

The blonde turned to find, to his own surprise, that Harry was now a nose ahead. They dashed past one side of the Quidditch pitch and while he turned to his right to fly back and win, Harry soared upwards in a rather unbalanced loop and then forwards towards the other side. Draco made a sound of frustration as he saw the other boy two brooms ahead and yelled at his broom to fly faster.

Harry passed the edge of the pitch and smiled as he touched to the ground. Draco dropped down a moment later with an annoyed air and threw his broom to the ground. "Stupid stick," he growled. "I'm not sure why you were so bloody expensive - not so fast are you?"

The smaller boy fought giggles as his friend spoke to the inanimate object lying upon the ground and he leaned upon his own broom for balance.

Draco glanced up and rolled his eyes. "Oh just laugh, will you? You look like you're going to 'splode if you don't," he muttered, and Harry happily complied. After a long moment of enduring the humility with his arms crossed and a mere frown of utmost distaste he snapped, "All right already! That's enough!"

And Harry clapped a hand over his mouth to immediately cease the peals of laughter from escaping his lips. He took a few deep breaths, then said, "I'm sorry, really."

He avoided looking at the broom for fear of bursting into another fit of giggles.

"I think you cheated," declared Draco, his youthful face set in a stubborn scowl. "I b'lieve you b'witched my broom!" He clumsily spoke the words and stamped his foot at the impossibility of speaking such awfully hard words.

Harry's eyes were crinkled with a smile. "Oh, you know I didn't, Draco," he said passively and began walking towards the table where Baruch was setting down a tray of fresh lemonade and scones with butter. He paused and turned to look back at the other boy. "C'mon! Aren't you hungry?" wondered Harry, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

Draco sighed at the tranquil behavior of his friend before picking up his broom and following at a jog to catch up.

Severus put down his quill just as they arrived. "Finally, are you about done with your little games?"

"They're not little and they're not games! They're races!" proclaimed Draco with a cold glare at the professor, but the effect was belittled for his cheeks were stuffed with the delicious scones.

Beside him, little Harry was eating with the same vigor after such an arduous exertion and suddenly, he began coughing, choking on bits of scones that went down the wrong tube in his haste. Draco's eyes widened as large as Harry's and he dropped his own treat as he immediately began hitting his friend on the back. "Spit it out!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking in panic.

Harry did as was told and took the glass of lemonade that Severus so very calmly handed him. After taking a few gulps, he painfully swallowed and eyed the rest of the scones with distaste.

"Oh, don't take it out on the scones, dear boy," said the butler with a small smile. Harry rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Baruch glanced down at the mess Harry made upon the floor with a humored eye and the boy blushed.

"Sorry, Mr. Baruch," he muttered sheepishly, his cheeks coloring.

Draco laughed as Harry avoided everyone's gaze by drinking more lemonade. "Maybe you shouldn't drink so fast," said Draco with a very ungraceful snort.

Harry's blush deepened and he shot the boy a dark look. With a showy snap of his fingers, the elf had the mess cleaned up and after a last nod, he disappeared. Harry looked at the spot where Baruch had been only a moment before and then turned to Severus. "Can I do that too?" he wondered.

The potions master hid a smile. "You can do something very much like it, yes. Draco, do you know what it's called?"

The boy frowned in thought before smiling and looking proud as he said, "Appra - appertion - appear," he stomped a foot. "App -," he stopped and decided to try the other word. "Disperation - desper - ation? Disperation? No. Disap - disap -," but Severus stopped him with barely concealed laughter and a raised hand.

As Draco scowled, Harry looked curiously at both of them in turn. "Apparation and disapperation," Severus told them.

"I said that!" said Draco indignantly.

"Of course," replied the elder man and the boy stuffed another scone in his mouth, not caring that he wasn't using proper manners.

"They allow you to go from one place to another in a matter of seconds," said the professor.

"Wow! Can you teach us?"

Draco, still scowling, said through a mouthful of dessert, "No," spitting crumbs. Harry, with a humored grin, brushed some away and the other boy sulked even more. "We're not 'lowed to 'till we're old like the P'fessor," he said spitefully.

Severus couldn't help but laugh at the child's antics and try hard as he may, Draco couldn't help but laugh as well, spraying the ground with more bits of scone. Harry laughed with then and jumped away when Draco tried to swat at him.

"You just wait," he said after hastily swallowing the pastry, "I'll beat you in our next race!" He grabbed his broom and raced back towards the pitch with Harry quickly following after him.

~*~

Jonas rubbed his eyes and downed the last few drops of ale in the bottle before standing. He looked at himself in the vanity mirror that hung above the short dresser. His hair was an ebony disarray and under his eyes hovered a cloud of somber black, almost as dark as the orbs darkness they were beneath.

"That blasted Evan character," he muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he combed a hand through his messy hair and moved to the window which overlooked the dismal rainy grounds of Knockturn Alley. "Getting me back into this mess. I'd have been fine after some months if he had kept away..."

He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. Was there nothing that would let him escape his brother? Thoughts of anger and hatred brought the dreaded man back from the dead to haunt his thoughts, to linger in his mind...and there seemed to be nothing that would aid in Jonas' escape.

But it was your fault...said a nasty voice in the back of his mind.

"No - no, I didn't mean it! He was going to kill her..."

You meant to kill him...

"No! I didn't! I just had to stop him! He was going to kill her!" yelled Jonas.

There was a knock on the door. "Mr. Bane? Everything all right in there?" came the gruff voice of his land lord.

Jonas' chest was constricting painfully and he rubbed it forcefully, trying to will himself to take long deep breaths to push away his hated half. He could almost hear his brother's laughter a distance away and tried harder to calm himself. "Yes," he tried to say, but his voice seemed to have disappeared. He cleared his throat saying, "Yes, fine!" In silence, he waited until the footsteps and soft mutterings of the land lord died away into nothing.

He could no longer hear his brother's laughter ringing like fall angel's voices in his mind and he thanked the stars he was able to quell his anger. Jonas could almost imagine what Derrick would say. He always taunted the younger Jonas when they were but youths...

...

"Think you can keep me away, twin brother?" Derrick had said when they were seventeen. "Do you think the Fates would ever separate us?" Jonas had covered his ears, sniffling miserably as he tried to block his brother's voice, but it seemed to echo, seeping though his fingers to haunt him inside his own mind. "We're unstoppable, the two of us. We will always be together."

And then he had laughed that dreadful laugh. If the angels themselves had heard the likeness of their own laughter, they would have been charmed - only to die a painful death...for that was what the Banes were masters of - Mistress Death herself.

"Not forever!" Jonas cried desperately, fearing it would be true. "Not forever - I'll run away some day! And you'll never find me!"

Derrick smiled the handsome smile that had won him favor over everyone. His mother had gone to the Dark Forest beyond, looking at that heavenly smile, not ever noticing the shadows that were summoned in the child's hands at the time.

"Oh - you'll try to run, brother, but where will you hide? Life has a way of sending birds to me, telling me where you tell our victims to take refuge. And our Mistress Death?" He laughed again. "Our fair lady would never keep you away from me. She created us for one purpose and one purpose alone. Do you know what that purpose is?"

And Jonas' sobs had died away for he had no more tears to shed.

"To do her deeds of darkness. Without us, Life would win...we can't let that happen, can we?"

It was then that the door opened and their ten year old sister Lorianna had wandered in. Jonas took one look at Derrick's suddenly twinkling sapphire blue eyes and stood up quickly. "Lori," he said urgently, "leave the room."

She had looked up at him with her beautiful obsidian black eyes, as dark as his own - the ones that they had inherited from their mother. Lorianna had turned to leave, but Derrick had been quicker. He stepped forward and closed the door. "Aw, don't leave your beloved brothers just yet," he told her with a disarming smile. She had given one back, though hers was frightened.

Jonas walked quickly to her side and she moved slightly behind him, her eyes looking anxiously at the faces that were identical. They were twins after all, and no one could seem to tell who was Derrick and who Jonas was. But Lori knew how to tell them apart. It may have been the different eyes colors, or the frighteningly perfection of Derrick's charming smile that gave away the darker brother. Derrick always smiled a smile that seemed to say that everything was always perfect where as Jonas had a haunted look about him. When her favorite brother, Jonas, smiled, it wasn't as perfect, but one could tell that it was human - not demonic.

"Er - what are you two doing? Papa told me to come check on you," she said quietly. Her small hand had slipped into Jonas' suddenly cold one.

So that was what was happening. Jonas' insides were wrenching painfully as he saw traces of shadows building in Derrick's palms. Father and obedient son were going to convince the disobedient son to cooperate, at a horrible price.

"We were just having a little talk is all, Lori my dear," said Derrick. His eyes met Jonas'. "I was just trying to convince little Jonas that we twins are inseparable - that we were made to do our deeds together. We all know that he loves doing our fair lady's deeds more than anything else in the world."

Lori had been brave. "No he doesn't. Jonas likes painting rather than going out with you and Papa. You're a bad person, Derrick," she said, tilting her chin upwards in a defiant gesture.

When Derrick's eyes had clouded and turned almost as black as hers, Jonas had leapt forward to take the brunt of the curse aimed at Lori. She screamed and he pulled the shadows from where they ate at his soul. "No," he had said, but Derrick's eyes had shown with the desire to kill and win another prey for his power.

"Move aside, brother dear, it's time Father and I convinced you that Necromancy is the only way."

"No!" He shoved another shadowed curse towards Lori and Jonas, in a sudden release of all the anger, hatred, and desperation he had pent up all his years, shoved a bright force of all the lives he had taken at his own brother. Derrick's eyes barely had time to widen before they became almost transparent as he passed along into the world of his Mistress Death.

Jonas had collapsed, feeling finally triumphant. He had saved his sister, and had ridded himself of his evil brother...

...

But he had been wrong...

Lori had died and Mistress Death had taken pity upon the soul of Derrick Bane, one of her most beloved creations. She had sent him back to haunt Jonas.

You did mean to, said that voice in the back of his mind, but there was no malice in the words this time.

And Jonas fisted his hands in defiance. "Yes," whispered, "yes I did."

~*~

After fifteen minutes of letting his friend rest, Sirius became fidgety and decided that that was enough time for a nap. He stood up and walked right into Remus' room to find his fellow Marauder sitting upon the bed, reading a book.

"Tired are you?" said Sirius with a frown.

Remus looked up over his reading glasses and grinned. "Er - not anymore actually."

The other man scowled. "So does that mean we can go now?"

The werewolf sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed, setting his book down. "Of course we can go visit Dumbledore," he replied and shot Sirius a venomous look when the other man began to speak.

"Fine! I give up!" exclaimed Sirius before he went stomping angrily down the steps.

Remus smiled and followed him.

~*~

"I'll be back late tonight so don't stay up late and wonder where I am," said Severus in a strained voice as he clutched the note card sent to him only a few days ago. "And don't bother Baruch," he told them and the two boys understood the tone that offered no room for protest or disobedience.

"Where are you going?" Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course it would be Draco and his blasted impudence.

"To a meeting with a few colleagues of mine," he replied coldly, willing the boy to take the hint.

It was quite the opposite result he got, however. "Oh! Father said he was going. That's what he said he was 'paring for. He didn't tell me what you're doing though..." he trailed off hopefully.

"All the better," muttered Severus quietly, but Harry heard him.

"What?" asked Draco with a frown. He turned an expectant gaze towards Harry.

"Oh! Right. He said, 'all the better,'" replied the smaller boy.

Merlin, the pair of them will make me take a trip to St. Mungo's. I'll probably have to share a room with the Longbottoms...

"Goodbye," said the potions master forcefully before turning. He was gone in a last dramatic swoosh of ebony black robes and the click of the door.

Harry looked at Draco and Draco looked at Harry, and then they both cracked identical grins.

"I think we annoyed him," said Harry.

Draco held out his hand which the other boy shook. "Yes, very good job. We'll make a Malfoy out of you yet!"

The young Potter boy's brow furrowed as he frowned. "Why am I supposed to be a Malfoy again?"

"A 'cause my house is too big and you'll be more fun than Dobby and Ollie and all the other stupid house elves. Asides, we can race 's much 's we want! My father will get you anything you ask for. It'll be fun - you'll see!"

Harry smiled tentatively. "I guess being a Malfoy won't be so bad..."

"A course not, silly! It's the best thing in the world," said a grinning Draco.

"Do you have real parents?"

"Mm hmm, and they're both magic. They can teach you to use your wand too. Then we can go to Hog Wars together!"

"Hoggerts you mean?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "That's what I said! Hog Wars."

Harry eyed his friend skeptically before shrugging. "All right then." There was a pause and then he said, "Can we go race now?"

"Sure! Quick, it's going to get dark soon."

Then they both raced out towards the Quidditch pitch.

~*~

After the meeting...

"I expect you to keep him under your care...it will prove useful when our Lord returns..."

"Bloody Lucius can go to bloody hell and back with his bloody commands," mumbled Severus as he angrily slammed the door shut.

When he turned around, Baruch stood there, ready to take his cloak. The elf's eyes were a cloudy grey blue color as he regarded his overlord with concern apparent within their depths. "Bad meeting?" he wondered softly.

The potions master couldn't wipe the scowl from his face. "Of course not - the bloody fools had to bring up every blasted 'victory' we had during the Dark Lord's last reign," he growled.

In truth, it wasn't anger that made his temper short but the guilt that burned inside him, eating past his heart from the inside. He could have done without a night of remembering the days of his past he would most like to forget.

When he walked into the living room to head for the fire, he saw Draco and Harry sitting on the couch facing Albus Dumbledore who sat quite comfortably upon the armchair before the fire. Upon the potions master's entrance, the trio looked up.

In surprise, Severus stopped. "Ah, Severus. We had thought that we heard you arrive," said Albus with the usual smile upon his face. "Go on, Harry," he told the small boy wrapped in a quilt.

Harry untangled himself from the blanket with help from his friend Draco and stumbled with a corked flask in his hand. It seemed to be a purely black substance, but if one looked closely, it was a marble swirl of dark emerald green and blood red. Almost hesitantly, he handed it towards Severus who took the proffered object with an expression of distaste. The man glanced up at the headmaster whose smile remained unchanged, but in whose kindly and sympathetic eyes a twinkle was missing.

Albus turned to Draco and Harry, who was settling himself back in the corner of the couch with the quilt, and said, "It's about time you both go back to bed. As you can see, Severus is fine."

The potions professor raised his brows, his lips just touching the rim of the flask. He frowned as he corked it again, looking at his charges with stern curiosity. They blushed and quickly folded up their blankets to rush out of the room, but Severus stepped before the door, looking down at both of them. "Don't tell me you called Albus?" he said in incredulity.

"It was Harry's 'dea!" exclaimed Draco, as if the words just spilled out of his mouth. Harry's eyes widened and he looked at his friend with something like a bewildered smile and Draco found himself flushing as he turned a dark scowl towards the floor. "Well...well Harry said we - we should call Double-door..." The other boy's cheeks turned redder as he pulled the quilt tighter around himself and he refused to look at the older man. "Sorry," Draco whispered, but Harry was focusing on avoiding Severus who had knelt down to look at him in question.

"Didn't tell you to not wait up for me?" wondered Severus, but Albus noted with a sense of satisfaction that majority of the callousness the younger man retained was not present as he spoke to the tiny Potter boy.

Harry chewed on his lip, his face drawn into a concentrated frown so as to stop the tears welling in his eyes from falling down his face. How was it that the professor could make him feel so guilty so easily?

The boy merely nodded, his throat constricted with a strange yet familiar lump. When he felt a comforting hand rest upon his shoulder, he dropped the quilt in favor of being surrounded by the black robes he liked to hide behind so much. Rather awkwardly, arms came to rest around him and he buried his face in the soft ebony material.

"I - I couldn't help it! I'm sorry! I just -," he stopped speaking for the lump in his throat throbbed once and hurt more with every spoken syllable.

Draco looked up from scowling at the floor and he glanced at his friend and then at the man he considered more than just his father's friend. "Harry had a dream and - and he said that you were hurting real bad," he said softly, his eyes wide as he remembered the screams emitting from the room next door that had jolted him out of his slumber.

Severus looked down at the untidy mop of hair as dark as his own and he glanced up to meet the sad blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. In the depths of those strangely bright eyes, he read the truth of what he himself had just begun to fear.

~*~

When his fireplace crackled the next morning, Jonas turned to look at the familiar face of Evan Rosier. "Ready to make another brew?" wondered the man, raising a delicate eyebrow.

The younger man put his black leather bound journal down before saying, "It's a bit early. Don't you know that I can only brew it at night - when the shadows are about?"

The elder man grinned. "I've heard through the grapevine that shadows are always about, my dear Jonas. The Bane family was a source of very powerful Necromancers - I'm sure you're ready."

Jonas scowled. "I'll be ready when I please," he snapped. "You may leave by whence you came."

"I don't think I'll leave just yet, if it pleases you all the same." Evan laughed and Jonas felt the familiar flame of anger licking deep inside him. He tried to quell it, but it would not be extinguished.

A smile found its way upon his face and he didn't look as tired as he had seemed only a moment ago. "What are your plans for today?"

"Well, it seems that we have a traitor in our midst, and our dear friend Lucius feels that he needs to be taught a lesson..."