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The young wizard frowned and nodded. It wasn't Tom's fault really, but they couldn't forget what Voldemort did. Tom will need protection from those who hated Voldemort until something can be arranged ...
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Julian woke up early the next morning to check on the soul fluttering in the orb. He was happy to see that the soul was now fully healed, "Tom's soul is healed!" He exclaimed excitedly as he leapt out of bed effectively startling his occamy from his perch.
'The bottled human is ready? Good, my human won't have to carry him now!' Tanzanite hissed as he righted himself on the small perch and watched as his human get dressed.
"True, Tanzanite!" Julian laughed as he put his shirt on and once he finished dressing, he grabbed his necklace holding the little glass orb. He placed the necklace around his neck and let Tanzanite perch on his head before running out of his bedroom. "Dad! Dad! Tom is ready to be healed!" He exclaimed and blushed sheepishly as he realized his father was still asleep or, at least, Brian was asleep until Julian started yelling. "Sorry, Dad." He said with a light chuckle as his Dad groaned.
Brian yawned as he stood up, "It's alright. It's only ..." Brian glanced at the clock and chuckled, "Five in the morning." He said shooting an amused smile at his son who looked rather sheepish. "Let me get dressed and we'll go." He said and smiled amusedly as Julian ran to the kitchen to start the coffee maker for his Dad.
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Remus woke up the next morning feeling like shit. He was run down, covered in minor wounds including a bite mark on his arm and it looked like a few pieces of hair was ripped from his scalp. It wasn't unlike how he felt after a full moon, but it had nothing to do with that at all. In fact, Sirius was the reason ...
The werewolf groaned as he slowly stood up from the uncomfortable chair he was sleeping in as a dark skinned woman wearing dark blue scrubs from St. Pearl came in, "How is he, Megan?"
"He's settled for now ... I administered the first round of every medication he needs. You will notice some mild side effects." Megan said as she pulled out three cases of potions and set them on the dining room table for Remus to view.
"What kind of side effects should I look out for?" The werewolf asked as he moved over to the dining table in spite of his aching joints wanting him to stop moving entirely.
Megan smiled as she pointed to the first case, "Luckily for you, this one makes him sleepy and considering what a fuss your friend kicked up last night you'll be happy for that." She said knowing full well that Remus did everything he could to help her keep Sirius from hurting himself in his desperate attempts to get away. Despite being weakened by years of imprisonment Sirius still made it difficult for the healer and Remus, "The other two are different. They can both cause rashes. This ointment will help if anything like a red blistery rash appears. If you see anything like a purple tinge to his lips or nails contact me immediately and stop giving him those two only. Don't stop giving him the first one. It's just a special nutrition potion for a healthy weight gain and won't hurt him. In fact, the sleepy side effect will help if you see any side effects from the others. I wrote the names, dosage and time to administer for each on the cases, which are charmed to glow when you have to give a potion."
"Of course, but how will I contact you?" Remus asked knowing the minister had no intention of letting Sirius leave in his condition and he could leave his friend's side long.
"Ah, yes, I told you last night that the floo will be shut off, but didn't explain." Megan chuckled, but there was a good reason she didn't get to explain.
Once Sirius heard that the floo was going to be closed off he flipped out and lunged for the floo powder. They would've just put him in a body binding spell if it wasn't for the fact that the floo powder fell all over him when Remus grabbed him again. With the floo powder everywhere it was actually dangerous to cast a spell on Sirius because of the floo powder. Only one grain of powder being hit with magic is enough to activate the powder and it could splinch Sirius who was in no condition to get that badly hurt. Remus and Megan had to restrain him without magic and without hurting his fragile body, which is why Remus looks the way he does since it was the werewolf took the brunt of his friend's tantrum.
"We didn't have much of a chance to talk." Remus sighed in exhaustion.
"Yes, but considering how much of a fight Sirius kicked up I'm sure he'll recover quickly." Megan said amusedly as she pulled out a cellphone. "Use this. The Minister informed me of the lack of knowledge on non magical means of communication in the UK so I'll make this simple." She said and showed him a few quick things on the phone and told him a charm to get it to work by voice should he forget how to use it in an emergency. "Ok, call me if you have any questions, understand?" She asked as she reached into her bag and set out a potion and a jar of ointment.
Remus nodded, "I will. Thank you, Megan."
"It's no trouble. Now I informed the mind healer that Sirius is too weak to go to her so she will stop by here. She has a portkey going to the edge of the runes and will be the only person allowed in besides me. If you need to go somewhere apparating will be best. Just leave the runes first and your phone is a portkey leading back in case you need it. Good day, Remus. I left a pain killer potion out for you and some ointment to help with those cuts. I'm sure you can handle that and please do so. You won't be much good to Sirius if you don't take care of yourself." Megan said before going out the front door with her bag in hand.
Remus watched the healer walk across the lawn until she reached the sidewalk and apparated away, "I don't need to worry about giving Sirius a potion for a while ... I'll start breakfast soon." He mumbled tiredly as he drank the pain killing potion and applied the ointment taking the healer's words to heart.
After taking a few minutes to ease himself into a more alert state he started a light breakfast. For a split second, he panicked as he realized that Megan forgot to give him a dietary plan for Sirius, but when he was about to leave the kitchen to get his new phone he spotted a charmed paper crane fluttering around the stove. Remus smelled Megan's scent on the crane and plucked it out of the air. When he unfolded the crane he found a long list of foods that will affect the potions as well as a comprehensive diet plan.
"She must've done this when I was sleeping." Remus said completely relieved at the discovery and read the directions thoroughly before gathering everything he will need to make a healthy breakfast for Sirius. Once it was ready he put the meal for Sirius on a platter and carried it upstairs.
"Remmy ..." Sirius mumbled sleepily as he laid in bed too tired to move.
"Yes it's me, Sirius. I brought you something to eat." Remus said with a kind smile as he set the platter on the bedside table to help Sirius sit up. He chuckled as Sirius cringed at the bland looking meal, "I know it's not the most appealing, but it's your healer's orders. I put some cinnamon in so it Isn't as bad as it looks. Here, try it." He said as he scooped up a spoonful of the oatmeal like mush and held it up to Sirius' lips.
Sirius hesitated for a moment, but gave in and ate the mush, "Not terrible," he mumbled.
"Thank you," Remus said as he scooped up some more mush.
As the werewolf fed his friend, he started pondering why Sirius was so confused yesterday. He seemed so much more stable now, but was that just because of the potions? No, Remus was sure something pissed Sirius off after he got to Hogwarts. After all, Sirius clearly knew the connection between Julian and Harry before escaping, but was deeply confused after Remus caught up to him. That anger rattled his mind to the point that he forgot everything the Minister said only moments before. What pissed him off though?
Suddenly Remus realized something, "Sirius, how did you know where to go yesterday?" Remus asked, careful not to say any names that will infuriate his friend. It was still a good question though. It was only because he followed Sirius' scent that helped him find his way, but how did Sirius even find Severus? After all, that wing isn't the first place anyone would look for the potion master.
"Headmaster told me," Sirius mumbled as he ate another spoonful of mush.
"He told you?" Remus blinked in shock at what he heard.
"Overheard him ... sleepy," Sirius muttered with a yawn.
"Hmmm? ... Yes, of course. You sleep." Remus said as he helped tuck his friend into bed and took the platter downstairs, but he couldn't help but ponder what Sirius said.
It seemed so unlikely that Sirius just stumbled in at the exact moment Dumbledore was talking out loud about the exact details he needed to find Severus. Something seemed so wrong about it and stranger still Dumbledore wasn't talking at all when he came after Sirius only a moment later. The timing was just too perfect, but the more he thought about that moment in the headmaster's office he remembered there was something else. He was too worried about Sirius to notice at first, but now he remembered a familiar scent in the office. A scent he knew very well, but couldn't place it ...
"Merlin, what is it?" Remus grumbled as he set the plates down next to the sink to clean after he ate his own meal. Whatever the scent was he knew it shouldn't be in the office and as he ate he racked his brain trying to remember what the scent was ...
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'These moving rooms aren't too bad.' Tanzanite hissed as he let go of the ceiling of the insanely fast Gringotts elevator.
"That's because you can fly!" Julian laughed as he felt the elevator come to an abrupt stop allowing his father and himself to gather their bearings after the insane ride. Once they managed to stumble out of the elevator they were approached by Daggerfang.
"It's good to see you again, Julian. Shall we begin this ritual?" The goblin asked as he lead them to a room with a set of three overlapping magical circles carved deeply in the floor. One of the circles was empty, but the other two had a pile of ashes and a bone in the center of each, "We had all the elements found in the human body and split them into two piles. One circle has one half with a bone from Tom's father while the other circle has the other half along with a bone from Tom's mother. The third circle is for the soul."
"I have it!" Julian exclaimed happily as he lifted the necklace over his head and handed it to Daggerfang. Tanzanite took its place around his neck much to Julian's amusement.
Daggerfang used his long claws to unscrew the orb from the chain and placed the orb in the center of the third circle, "Now the ritual can commence." The goblin said and walked over to a bowl of water.
Slowly and carefully the goblin poured water over each pile sending the elements into the grooves of the carved circles. Once the water and elements filled the grooves leaving only bones and a soul in the centers of each circle the goblin began chanting. The circles glowed green and slowly the bones began to break down and floating up into the air. Soon the water and elements created ribbons that wrapped around the bones. As the ribbons released a steam the orb suddenly popped open and Julian could see the orb being sucked into the madness floating a foot above the floor.
"Wow!" An awestruck Julian exclaimed as the mass began fusing altogether and glowing. After a moment in that state the mass started to take shape and lower back down to the floor revealing that it had turned into a wet brown haired teen.
"Mr. Riddle will be looked over by our healers. He won't remember anything after the first crack in his soul, but other than that he should be fine. Will you be housing him?" Daggerfang asked as he signaled to some healers to come in.
Brian nodded, "Yes. In fact, I'll take partial guardianship until he can arrange something with his own goblin-" a panicked scream went through the room and the two healers backed away as Tom woke up in a panic ...
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"Damn brats!" Dumbledore muttered angrily as he entered his living quarters attached to his office and shut the door.
This morning had been hell. Every single student hurled question after question at him about Harry Potter's adoption including why no one knew about him owning Hogwarts and if Julian would come back. It took over an hour and nearly two classes to get everyone quiet. Severus wasn't helping at all either and actually added to the problem without even being there. The Weasley twins started another explosion of questions when they asked why Severus was living here, but not teaching.
Nothing was going smoothly at all, which all lead to the massive headache he had now. However, as he went to his potion cabinet to get a headache reliever he spotted an object that was supposed to be a means of earning Julian's trust, but was ultimately yet another failed plan. The object in question was James Potter's invisibility cloak, which was hanging on the rack next to the cabinet.
"Can't give that to him now." Dumbledore growled and downed the headache reliever. He intended to give it to Julian, but Brian is too smart.
Instead of gaining the trust of a lonely naïve child by returning an heirloom he'll gain the suspicions of an eagle eyed foreign headmaster, who will want to know why he had a Potter heirloom all these years, and he can't afford that now.
At least, he can use the cloak to his advantage since being invisible can be useful for watching your enemies ...