The Deceit of Man

Talking Things Through

"First things first, Siri. Before we go any further, you two need the same kind of necklaces that Draco and I received from the goblins today. You're in luck that we bought a few extra in preparation for moments like this." Harry took two of the necklaces he'd bought earlier from around his neck and handed them to his godfathers, "Those will protect you from Occlumency, the Imperius, and a whole range of hexes and jinxs. The goblins aren't sure if they'll work on the Cruciatus since they've never had cause to test it but otherwise you should be pretty safe."

Once they had them on, Draco began speaking, "I want to get this out of the way now. I wholeheartedly believe Harry when he says that V-V-Voldemort is back. My father was raving about his return not two days after Harry came out of the maze. I also want you two to be aware that I support Harry a hundred percent."

"Thank you for that, Draco. Why don't you see if Dobby can bring Hyperion to you? I'm sure that the poor cat is freaking out with you not in sight. I'll start explaining," Draco grinned and Harry began with telling his godfathers about everything that happened in the graveyard with Voldemort and Wormtail. He told them about the nightmares and how he'd been afraid that Voldemort would show up at the Dursleys now that he had Harry's blood in his veins. He also talked about how upset he'd been at his friends' lack of communication and how Draco's letters had kept him going. By this point, the blond had returned holding not only Hyperion but Orochi as well who proceeded to drape himself around Harry's neck.

"I made it a point to not only apologize to him but to assure him that I believed him when he said that V-V-Voldemort was back." Draco strained to say the pretender's name only from trained habit, "I hadn't expected him to forgive me or even write back to me but he did and our friendship started from there. I told him about how things were going in my world with my father parading about with his mark on display."

Harry snickered when Draco mentioned Lucius and Draco shot him a look of amused exasperation. Remus and Sirius looked on in confusion, "Sorry, that's coming up. Anyway, I got a letter from him a couple days ago asking if he could stay with me. Obviously I agreed and told him how to accomplish it. This is the part that gets difficult to talk about. I need the both of you to keep an open mind."

Harry launched into his explanation of the dream he'd had the night before Draco showed up and what it meant for him. He told them about exploring the world he'd appeared in and about Lady Hecate's decision that he had to become the Dark Lord. He told them her warning about Dumbledore and how the man didn't have their best interests in mind. How ever since Dumbledore came to be someone important in the Wizarding World, the traditions that the Purebloods held so dear were thrown away like garbage. About the reason both Dark and Light Lords were created and what it meant when Dumbledore turned against his Dark Lord partner. Then he got to the clutch of the matter, the part that was crucial to the entire thing, "Voldemort isn't even the true Dark Lord. That is a title he claimed for himself which is why he has yet to make any serious progress in changing the Wizarding World."

"Dumbledore is some pretty heavy opposition there, Cub." Remus cut in, seemingly playing the Devil's Advocate.

"Dumbledore is nothing to fear anymore. Grindelwald was a true Dark Lord, Dumbledore was his partner. A Light Lord is only as strong as his partner. Dumbledore lost his claim as Light Lord when he went against Grindelwald."

"So who is the new Light Lord then?" Sirius questioned and both Harry and Draco shrugged at that.

"Blessed Lady Magic didn't say. I'm sure I will find out later though as supposedly there will be a pull to him or her. The Term 'Lord' being subjective of course. Honestly, one would think I would be given the identity to my partner in all the knowledge that has recently been crammed into my brain over the past forty-eight hours but no. Lady Magic has decided I need to find them on my own. Moving on though, as we still have things to cover. This morning, Draco and I left Privet Drive and went to Gringotts. I to claim the Potter Lordship and Draco to keep me company and stay away from Vernon. Once there, I set about getting all the blocks and such that had been holding me back, cleared out. Most of them had already been taken care of during my 'Rite of Ascension' the night before Draco showed up but there were still a few clinger-ons, Like a nasty marriage contract that had me set to marry Ginevra Weasley."

"I never signed a marriage contract for you nor did your parents." Sirius was upset, that much was clear. It was only going to get worse though, especially when the two men in front of them saw his parents' WIlls.

"Of course you didn't. No, Albus signed in my case as he had illegally taken control of my guardianship. He and Molly are conspiring to marry me to the redhead bitch and no doubt kill me off sometime soon after to gain control over not only my seats but all the money that was left to me as well."

"What do you mean 'seats'? I know about the Potter one but what other seats did you inherit?" Harry handed Sirius the roll of parchment that held his Inheritance test results on it. Sirius' eyes widened as he read through everything on the sheet, "These are a lot of titles, Pup, and I'm guessing the Duke title comes from your mother's side of the family. James' family came from a line of nothing but Gryffindors and Peverells obviously. No doubt a member of the Adderling family had at one point married a Muggleborn, one with the Dorset title. Not that it matters, you have plenty of other seats to contend with."

"How many does he have exactly Pads?" Remus peered over Sirius' shoulder and started sputtering, "Cub, you own half of Hogwarts, you realize that right?"

"Well, if you add in Draco's percentage, the two of us are primary owners of the school. Draco, do you feel up to showing your inheritance results?" Instead of answering, Draco handed the rolled up scroll to Remus before focusing his attention on Hyperion, not that Harry could blame him. Finding out that the man you thought was your father all this years was actually your brother could be hard for anyone to take.

"Draco, is this your true parentage? All jokes aside?" Remus asked, voice low and steady but Harry could tell he was nervous.

"It's accurate," Draco flashed the Malfoy Head ring which sat on his hand next to the Ravenclaw one, "Harry and I believe that Lucius is impotent which is why I am Lord Malfoy now. I did a Goblin Purge which cleared out everything Lucius fed me including the the blood adoption potion which had confused the Healers when they tested my blood to ensure I was Lucius' brat. He's been wearing a replica Head of House ring this entire time. As the true Head of the Family, this ring wouldn't accept anyone but me."

"It's brilliant, isn't it? Voldemort's biggest supporter is Lucius Malfoy. This simple change of Headship is war-changing." Harry was excited.

"I could break the marriage between Lucius and my mother on falsehoods. Mother would get her dowry back and would be returned to the House of Black so Lucius wouldn't be able to hurt her. Only if that's okay with you Cousin Sirius."

Sirius would had been, up to this point, laughing at the news straightened up when address formally, "I concur with your plans, Cousin Draco, but ask that you wait and allow me to retrieve my Head ring from Gringotts."

Draco nodded while Harry and Remus both rolled their eyes, "Don't be a prat, Harrison. After all, you have more titles than anyone in this room."

"Cub, this is disturbing news. Had these potions continued you would have lost your mind within a matter of years."

"I know which is why I want the two of you to get tested at Gringotts as well. We also need to find some place else to reside. None of us are safe here. Between Draco and I, we have plenty of places to hide. It just depends on what we're looking for."

"Agreed so let's get started." Sirius grabbed the parchment named Gryffindor and began to peruse through it, summoning a quill to circle the locations he thought would work. The others weren't far behind.