"Have you approached Sirius yet?"
Regulus shook his head, putting down his teacup on the table beside him. Everything in Malfoy Manor was pale and searing, as if it were lit from behind, a shock after the darkness of Grimmauld Place and the—cave. At least Lucius had lent him a pair of robes, shrunken to fit Regulus, and they were cleaner than the ones he'd been wearing since the lake, even with Kreacher's spells.
"I thought about it," he said. "But I would have to tell him something I don't know if he's prepared to accept. He might think I was lying or that I was some kind of delusion. Besides, he's drunk and raving half the time."
"Obsessed with stealing our son," Narcissa said, her hands clasped in her lap.
Regulus smiled at her. She was still his favorite cousin, even as he mourned the years that they hadn't got to pass together. She looked exactly as he would have pictured her grown up, shining and beautiful and stern. "Well, there's that. But he's also wearing the Horcrux, which isn't going to increase his sanity."
"Wearing it?"
"It's a locket. One that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin."
Narcissa closed her eyes. Lucius leaned forwards from the couch where he sat beside her and asked sharply, "Couldn't you or Kreacher get it away from him?"
"Not without a struggle," Regulus admitted. "I'm not sure what happened to my wand, and none of the ones that Kreacher have brought me to try have worked. Kreacher can't act directly against Sirius as the master of the house, unless I manage to take over the position somehow and command him. And so far, the locket hasn't sensed my presence, but it could probably act against me if it did."
Narcissa and Lucius exchanged glances. Then Narcissa nodded as if they had also exchanged messages, and stood. "Then the first order of business is finding you a wand that works, Regulus."
"And then perhaps you can duel Sirius and take his place as the master of the house," Lucius said, his eyes flashing.
"I will take time to recover. The locket isn't to be underestimated, either."
"You need a Healer as well as a visit to Ollivander's."
"Can we risk visiting the Alley at all? Someone might recognize me…"
"We'll arrange things."
Regulus leaned slowly back against the chair he was sitting on. It was hard, murky, to remember Mother and Father, for all that it had only been a few weeks ago in his own sense of time that he'd lived with them. He hadn't thought that he would ever consider one of his cousins as a parental figure.
But, well, he could certainly do worse than the Malfoys.
"Thank you for coming, Remus."
"You're welcome, Albus. Exactly what is it that you want me to sniff out on Harry?"
Albus took his time casting the privacy spells around his office door. Although it seemed as though Harry probably hadn't used the Invisibility Cloak much since embracing his Malfoy heritage, there must be no mistakes. Remus waited with his hands on the arms of the chair, but his eyes sharpened with each new charm Albus cast.
"He came back from his holidays with his magic going out of control," Albus said. "It's happened in Minerva's class now, in Charms, and in several others that I've heard of. And his scar looks different. Paler, more faded. I'm afraid of what the Malfoys might have done to him, and I'd like your help to find out."
"You think I could smell Potions residue?" Remus looked skeptical. "It's been long enough that I might not, and that's assuming it was a potion that would linger on his breath or his skin."
"I was thinking that you might be able to smell changes in his magic and scent. The kind that he would have if he were possessed."
Remus leaped to his feet, sending the chair skidding across the floor. "Albus!"
"You know very well that Voldemort's wraith possessed one man inside Hogwarts," Albus said, and watched Remus flinch at the name before slowly bowing his head. "I simply want to make sure that that has not happened again, Remus. It occurred to me that the Malfoys might have exposed Harry to Voldemort as a way to convince Tom to spare his life."
Remus shuddered, but nodded. "If you think it's really necessary. I'll—need a disguise of some sort to approach Harry. He doesn't like me, not that I can blame him."
"You cannot blame yourself for trusting me, my boy. I was the one who told you Harry was safe, who believed that he was Lily and James's child in truth."
Remus gave a smile that faded almost as soon as it appeared. "It's still so strange to think they never had one."
Albus sat silent for a moment, letting Remus have his mourning. Then he stood and took out his wand. The Elder Wand pulsed with power in his hand, pleased that he intended to use it for something interesting.
"I will cast a special Disillusionment Charm on you, an overpowered one," Albus promised. "You need not stay very long or very close to Harry. Simply make sure that he has no particular magical changes to his scent or signature."
"And he won't be able to sense me?"
"No one will be able to sense you under this spell."
In truth, it was the wand that was special, not the spell, but Albus had found that those explanations tended to make people far too interested in the Elder Wand, and he intended the wand's power to die with him. For now, he piled folds of magic onto Remus until he faded from view. It was hard even for Albus to see him. He stepped back and smiled.
"Thank you, Remus. You could be the saving of not only Harry but all of us."
Remus did something that might have been a nod, and left the office. Albus sighed and sat down again behind his desk.
He wished things were simpler, that he could just call Harry to his office and speak to him, be trusted and believed. But they were not, and he would have to work in the world as he found it.
....
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