Black Plague

Chapter 42

The last few weeks Draco and I have been studying like mad. My biggest hurdle to getting all Os is Potions. I am not a natural. I am not horrible, but I have to work harder at it than any other class. It doesn't come automatically like the other stuff does. Draco is almost completely ready. He has a few subject that he hasn't learned everything yet, but most of them he's going to pass fine. I didn't bother teaching him any electives. We didn't have time for them. If he wants to learn, he can always take the tests for them next year. And I've told him as much.

We start taking our NEWTs tomorrow. Right now I am cramming Herbology. I sort of forgot about the class and have been trying to catch up. Right now the plants are all blending together. I groan and fall back on Draco's bed. "I need to rest my brain."Draco nodded and cuddled next to me. We lay together giving each other tender kisses before slipping off to sleep.
The week was crazy, Draco and I didn't attend our own finals. I didn't need to anyway because of being in the tournament. Draco got an exception because his father is in the education department. She still told us this was stupid but we ignored her. We studied all day and night. Only pausing for our tests. Finally Friday came and went and we lay together on my bed. "You want to look at the Black and Potter manor with me tomorrow to help me decide which place we should live?" He nodded and grinned. "Yes." I smirked "good. I have the addresses for both. I can't wait to explore them with you. If they are anything like Malfoy Manor, just exploring them will be an adventure." I said with a small smile.
He grinned and nodded.
Draco ended up staying the night. It's funny, after my initial confrontation with my roommates, they have always left me alone. Probably trying to avoid being further traumatized. The two homophobes haven't been able to look me in the eyes since that incident. And Michael always gets a bright red blush. I usually just smirk at them and go back to my studying.

McGonagall refused to grade our tests before the graduation ceremony so we wouldn't get a send off like everyone else, but I guess it didn't matter. As they did the ceremony and everyone focused on them we grabbed our things and I lead him around the lake. Having almost forget my stone. I walked to the secluded spot in the back of the lake and found the small greenish rock and pointed my wand at it. "Accio Sorcerer Stone" I said quietly. The earth began to shift and the red stone flew in my hands. I knelt down and pulled my storage chest out and opened the book compartment and placed the stone next to the Elder Wand. I shut the lid and slid it back into my pocket and looked at Draco. His mouth was hanging open in shock. "You stole the Sorcerer Stone?!" He whisper yelled.
I smirked and nodded.
"Bu-but... How...what.." I giggled at him. He was completely flustered.
"Well Dumbles and Hagrid all but begged me to steal it. I had no interest in putting my life in danger. I wanted nothing to do with it. But they kept pulling me aside all year. Telling me hints, and tips, and secrets about how to get it. And even when the best time to take it was. So I got up early when Dumbles was going to be gone from the school and went to the third floor room it was in, and waited for it to get stole by Quarrell. I wanted to see what would happen. The problem was, apparently everyone decided to go after it during curfew. I got bored waiting and figured, what the hell. I began going through the obstacles. I figured I could wait at the end for the perpetrator. I got to the end and saw the mirror of Erised. That's actually were I pull my Patronus from. That image. I saw Snape holding me and loving me like his own son. Then the image shifted and the stone was in my pocket. I knew I couldn't just keep it on me. Someone might find it. So I buried it here and left it until I thought it was safe to grab again. Good thing I did too. That night Dumbles came to my room pissed and went through all my stuff looking for it. I assured him that I would never go against authority and the very idea of going against a Cerberus terrified me. So, I never sought out the stone. He eventually left, defeated. I figure we can make ourselves immortal in a few years with it, if you want. Or we can make ourselves some gold. Probably both." I shrugged. "I figured it's there fault for being stupid enough to place the stone so unprotected. I mean, I was a fucking first year and I collected it without a struggle. I thought for certain it would be a decoy. Who in there right mind thinks that's a way place to keep a priceless artifact?" I scoffed.
"Hades! This is... Holy shit!" I smirked and we began walking off the campus. "That is one of the most valuable artifacts in the world!" He gasped. I nodded. "It is. And just think, they told me everything I needed to know in order to get it. Kinda dumb if you ask me. Especially when I had been stealing for years. I don't so much anymore, I have all the money I could need, but for a long time I stole stuff all the time. And they trusted me to 'save' their stone for them." I shrugged.
He tried to calm himself down and recover from his shock. I kissed his cheek. God, he was cute.
"So you want to make a immortal serum with it?"he asked.
I nodded. "I plan to. I need Snape's though. I don't think I will ever be good enough at potions to make it myself. I understand some theory behind potions. But just a basic understanding. I am not gifted like he is. I think he will help me if I ask. But, I haven't bothered yet. He can even have a portion if he wants. I like him enough for that. But there just isn't a ton of information on this stone, so I don't quite know how to use it. If you want to help me with it, I would love any insight you might have. I'm better at spell casting. You are actually much better with intellectual shit. Maybe you can figure out how to use the stone." He had a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about different ways to use it.
"I'll try to find out what I can. If I can't figure it out, I'll ask Uncle Severus for help." I nodded and grabbed his hand as we walked out of the gate.
"Let's run to the bank and deposit some things and pull out enough money to get some more books."
Draco agreed quickly. "I think that's smart. It's not a good idea to keep something like that stone on you." I readily agreed. I apparated to Diagon Alley and we walked into the bank. I asked to see the Black Vault. Know that even if people knew I had it, they would probably not know to look at that particular fault. Only a handful of people knew of my heritage. I made sure to change all my keys even the Black vaults when I took over my Lordship, so I knew my father would never be able to enter the Vault. I had considered setting up a vault with a small amount of money for my father, but ultimately decided against it. He had decided to side against me and remain allies with Dumbles. And that decision sealed his fate with me. I would never respect and take pity on a Dumble worshiper. Blood ties or not.
Part of me wanted to give him a chance now that Dumbles was dead. But my mind always fell back to the fact that he wanted to turn to Dumbles when I told him how both him and I had been betrayed by the Light Lord. So, I figured letting him live in the black houses was generous enough. Which I knew about from both scanning people's thoughts and from bits and pieces Wormtail had said in his spy debriefings.
We took the roller coaster like ride down to the bottom of Bank. I used my ring to enter the Vault and Placed both the Elder Wand and Sorcerer's Stone away from sight in a dark corner, buried under other things. I looked around the Vault and noticed some very interesting books and a jewelry box with different rings and watches I might be interested in wearing in the future. I tucked the jewelry box and books into my Chest and collected a bag full of gallions. I saw Draco looking at something and came up to him. "See something you want?" He blushed and shook his head. I looked over and saw a walking stick much like his father's. The handle had a gold crow, like the Black family crest, and the bird had rubies for eyes. The wood of the walking stick was ebony and had a rich black finish. The handle removed so you could place your wand in it if you wanted. I smiled and looked at Draco. "You can have that if you want. We can run to Knockturn Alley to grab a second wand even, if you want to make sure you always have a spare." His eyes lit up but he continued to politely protest. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the walking stick. "Well, let's go get you a secondary wand. Just to be safe." I ignored his denial of needing one as I could clearly see how excited he was about the idea. I dragged him out of the bank and around the corner. Upon seeing me most of the occupants of Knockturn Alley gave us wide birth, not wanting to get in my way.
I dragged Draco into the small unassuming shop at the end of the alley. The store was just called "Priscilla's Personalized Wands" there was nothing flashy about the place. I smiled when we walked inside. I loved the smell cedar, and pine and other woods perfumed the air. It had such a homely feel. We walked to the counter and the lady smiled at me. Recognizing me from the last couple times I had come in. "Okay sweetheart what wood calls to you" Draco ran his hand over each piece of wood. The wood assortment was mind boggling to me. He pointed to pale wood after passing over all of them a few times. The woman's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Rowan wood?" The shock clearly in her voice. I was floored. "Wait! Rowan. Can you even do dark magic with one?" I asked, as shocked as the store teller. She nodded. "Oh yes, it's a very powerful wand wood. But the user generally doesn't use dark spells. These wands only pick the most pure of heart." I smiled proudly. This confirmed what I had always suspected he was far to good for me. I had know this from the beginning. But for some reason which I couldn't fathom, he chose me anyway. And I knew it wasn't just my power.  "Okay sweetie, what wand core calls to you?" He picked the core almost instantly. Pointing at a feather "hmm, a Thunder bird tail feather, we just got this shipment in from the Americans a few weeks ago."
I didn't know much about this core. I would have to look more into it.
She placed a number of gems before him. He ran his hand over them he couple times. Pausing over a few before eventually picking a beautiful teal stone with blood red veins running through it. The woman looked surprised again. "A bloodstone. This is a very powerful healing stone. Son, based on this wand combination, I would encourage you to become a healer." He nodded hesitantly. Glancing at me. I smiled. "If you want to be a healer, you should. I always imagined you being in politics like your father. But I want you to do what's right for you. And if that means helping others, then do it. I just want you happy." He smiled, his bright white teeth gleaming. "Just please don't resent me because while your helping and healing people, I'm going around murdering people. As I am almost curtain I want to be an assassin. I truly hope that doesn't upset your tender soul" he sighed. "I will always love you. I find your lack of conscience sometimes alarming, but my love for you will never waver." I smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad. My god I love you." He grinned, "I love you too." And kissed my forehead.