A Different Halloween

Chapter 60

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When Dumbledore finally got his hands on that particular copy of the Prophet, the old wizard was stumped at what he was reading there. A Potter and a Longbottom in Slytherin? Albus couldn't believe it, therefore it mustn't be true. Barty was a clever man who had colluded with that bastard of an editor to get the Prophet to once more print lies. They obviously wanted to get him down in the Hogwarts dungeons, leaving both boys safe in Gryffindor tower. They were going to be disappointed.

Albus knew all about disappointment, his meeting with Severus had not gone as well as he'd hoped. First there was the shock that the broken figure before him was once a wizard who could make his pulse beat faster just by walking into a room. The pathetic creature he had seen the other night would struggle to actually have a pulse, Severus looked so emaciated.

In his dreams of retuning to prominence in the wizarding world, Albus had always fantasised that the dark haired wizard would be behind him. That fantasy shattered the instant he first laid eyes on the new version of Severus, and completely died when the former head of Slytherin opened his mouth.

He was Albus Dumbledore though and had learned to accentuate the positive in any situation, even one that seemed as hopeless as this one. If he was reading this then Albus was sure Voldemort also wouldn't miss this critical information. The Prophet had not only provided both boys' locations, it even printed their pictures so the dark lord couldn't mistake them.

Albus may have lost Severus but he could feel his date with destiny was coming closer. It would be wise though to wait until the furore his last visit to Hogwarts created died down, and also choose a different route into the castle. He needed to place monitoring charms on both boys then, when Voldemort killed one of them, Albus could come charging to the rescue. Whether he was in time to save the other boy was immaterial, providing he got there before Voldemort left the building.

He would then be proven right, and was sure he could conjure some tears to cry over the children's bodies. It would be nice to make the front pages of the Prophet in a positive light again. Dumbledore continued his day-dreaming, or planning as he called it, until the sun went down.

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Cissi watched the sun come up as she stood alone on the dock. She was early but felt it was necessary as she went over what she was going to say to her husband for about the hundredth time in her head. She'd left Grimmauld Place for the last time, Sirius was adamant that Lucius would never set foot inside any property he owned. The goblins intended to move in today and strip the house of anything they thought was worth gold, the house would then be sold.

She had a carpetbag at her feet with all her belongings shrunken and stored inside, as well as a few things for Lucius. Cissi could never forget what she felt like getting off that boat eighteen months ago, she intended to use that experience to help her husband.

The pureblood princess had been unaware that morning that she wasn't only stepping off the boat, she was walking into a whole new world. She was well aware of her husband's prejudices and had shared many of them, those same prejudices in today's magical society were nothing less than a giant millstone around your neck.

Cissi hoped she could get that message through to her husband, otherwise there would be trouble. She had no intention of ever returning to that vile place ever again. Apart from the fact she was sure she wouldn't survive another stint in Azkaban, their son would be declared an orphan and ward of the state. Even her renewed relationship with Andi wouldn't save Draco, since Sirius had expelled her from the Black family for becoming a death eater. This left Draco with no family other than Lucius and her, their son would go into an orphanage over her dead body.