I'm A Slave For You-Chp Epilogue

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

Aramis stood in front of the wall-to-wall window, looking down from the 40th floor of the skyscraper building of Foresight Conglomerate to the city below him. Taking a sip of red tea and sighing in content, he contemplated a little on the years that had led to where he was right now.

It was a long and arduous road for him and his family to get to this point. Aramis Albus Potter-Snape was conceived roughly about 6 months after Harry and Severus had officially tied the knot. Like Abigail Selene Slyterin-Lupin and Amarinth Serene Slytherin-Lupin, he was born premature, at roughly during Harry's 8th month of gestation due to the poor boy's stress from juggling pregnancy and studies despite Draco's helping him through coping it, being that he had that experience firsthand. He was in a breech position and needed C-section surgery to birth him, but luckily was born with no other complications. To the little happy couple, Aramis was the most beautiful thing they have ever created in the world next to their little unborn girl Star, and they were the happiest parents in the history of parenthood.

Aramis knew of Star's existence and would go with his parents to visit her grave every anniversary, along with Albus', his great-grandfather, grave as well. He was like a surrogate little brother to the twins Abigail and Amarinth and was peas in a pod, hanging out together everywhere they went, each twin on either side of him. He grew up a rather handsome young man, with his father's hair and his 'mother's eyes and nose, while Abigail and Amarinth really looked like a female blonde version of Remus. Because they were so identical that no one could tell them apart, and being that they were high-strung and prideful just like their 'mother' in wanting to have their own identity, Abigail and Amarinth made it their mission to dress the yin and yang of each other: Abigail would always dress in dark-coloured clothes and wore her hair long, tying them to two long ponytails that ran all the way past her calves; while Amarinth would always dress in light-coloured clothes and wore her hair short, leaving some of them long to tie them in cute ram horned-like buns while the rest was shoulder-length.

During the course of their growing up, Harry and Severus continued to "expand their dynasty", so to speak. Aramis was around 2 years old when he had his little sister Bethany Lily Potter-Snape and a little brother Christopher Godric Potter-Snape when he was about 5 years old. By the time Harry finally graduated from Kym, fraternal twins Ethaniel Serione Potter-Snape and Esmeralda Serenity Potter-Snape came into the picture. For Draco's case, since werewolves tend to have a litter at a time, his family gave a new meaning to "the more, the merrier", almost rivaling the Weasley family in terms of fertility. Remus had intended to keep his word and be the one to bear the childbirth responsibilities but Draco would not hear of it, telling him that even though he knew the consequences, he would not have the childbearing roles any other way. Abigail and Amarinth finally had some real siblings when triplets Marcus Zeke Slytherin-Lupin, Andrew Sirius Slytherin-Lupin and Francis Ember Slytherin-Lupin were born right after Draco graduated from Hogwarts. 2 years later, fraternal twins Amber Sapphire Slytherin-Lupin and Amun Zebediah Slytherin-Lupin came into the picture and another pair of identical twins Melissa Loki Slytherin-Lupin and Meredith Sheba Slytherin-Lupin about 3 years later.

Along the way, Harry's classmates from Kym had become family friends as time went by. Aaron, with Harry's help, managed to buy off Jude from Barty Crouch Jr. who had lost all his wealth and honour, and his status from the Light family, after the Ministry scandal that got his father killed. Being that he was no longer being able to afford to keep Jude as his wife-by-contract, he was forced to sign off his ownership to Aaron, and with a little more extra help from Severus and Draco using their well-earned aristocratic connections, they managed to convince—although force would be the correct word—the Light family to waive off her connections with the business and legally have her as the sole heir to the family fortune. They both got married eagerly as soon as they graduated and while Aaron became an Auror and started off by trying to take down the business that caused his beloved so much pain, Jude made her mark on Kym as becoming a medi-witch alongside with Ard-Rí Constantine. Within 3 years of their marriage, they had a son named Kiaran Tyler Turunen and fraternal twin daughters Illuscia Nester Turunen and Illumai Himawari Turunen.

Becka, after graduating from Kym, had went forth to pursue a career as a Magical Creatures Hunter, which was a self-made profession she had in order to keep track with her beloved Cyril Quigley as he traveled around with his team the Kenmare Krestels in their Quidditch matches. Their wedding was held in the middle of the Quidditch field in France for everyone to see and it was a very grand and memorable wedding for them. While Cyril went on his seasons to play Quidditch, she will follow him wherever the game took him while at the same time went off in search of rare magical creatures the wizarding world has yet to set eyes upon, jotting details about them and compiling them in hopes to publish them and rival Gilderoy Lockhart, bloke of all blokes. She then gave birth to Cyril Sidhe Quigley the II in Germany and Henrietta Faerie Quigley in Japan.

Rach, on the other hand, didn't go very far. Being trusted of independence by her parents, she went to a number of potion houses and magical shops to practice and enhance her potion-making skills. She even did a self-study on the ancient runes of the world and knew almost all the ancient languages from the four corners of the earth by heart, and Becka sometimes asked her to translate anything that she found during her search. Finally she opened an apothecary shop of her own at Sidhe Street, selling anything money can buy to her best of abilities. Her beau Matthew would come to visit her at least once a week either at her shop or at her home, and after several years of proper dating without having to sneak around in the school grounds all the time, they were wed and had Talos Serpentine Lee, Chris Magus Lee and Tyrone Nathaniel Lee during the course of their marriage.

Harry, after graduating from Kym, returned to his place in those he knew and decided that since he was not really cut out for any really important jobs in the Ministry (and also probably due to the fact that he had more or less developed a phobia for that place), he would help out Severus in his side job in any way he could, while at the same time being able to keep an eye on his children. He opened an apothecary like Rach's within Diagon Alley just beside the Weasley twins' joke shop to sell Severus' products and helped him to receive any special orders that may come while Severus resumed his duties as Potions Master back in Hogwarts under the new Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, letting their children to help run the apothecary as well during their free time. Draco finally got his dream career as a Herbologist and would provide the raw materials Severus needed for his potions and Remus became his assistant, at the same time hoping to find the cure for his lycanthropy curse.

Even before their parents had planned to reveal their destiny, Aramis and the twins had always felt deep in their hearts that there was something big they were meant to do. They often go in and out of trouble trying to prove their worth, earning their reputation as The Tiresome Trio, with Aramis as the one doing the deed while Abigail and Amarinth served as his "shoulder angel and demon", giving him two sides of their advice on any plot they plan to execute. They received reprimands in more ways than one, but their parents knew that it was their own way of grooming themselves to face what was to come in the future. So finally, on their 18th birthday, they were finally revealed of their birthright as the Merlin's Council and also their role towards the future of the wizarding world. After letting the news sink in, Aramis and the twins gathered round their siblings and met with Harry's family friends' children one night at their childhood haunt, which was the Shrieking Shack, and decided to band together as a team to fulfill this prophecy.

Convincing the Prime Minister was not a hard task, since it had been a tradition for many generations for the Ministry to let every new Prime Minister of the office to know the existence of the wizarding world. Convincing the public was another question. Aramis and the twins, along with his team, had to first round up all the magicians, illusionist and street magic performers that existed to reveal them of their true identities: Squibs and Muggle-borns who had the unfortunate luck of being denied magic education and their bloodline hidden by their parents either due to shame and fear of the unknown or due to their financial problems, especially the insane exchange rates between Muggle money and wizard money. After gathering them together to join their team, Aramis and the twins proceeded to convince the Prime Minister and subsequently the government and the Royal Family of Britain to make a live press release to reveal the existence of the wizarding world, telling the whole nation and subsequently, the whole world.

The public was, of course, giving mixed reactions towards the news, mostly negative. Their typical human nature of fearing the unknown and always thinking of the bad things that wizards and witches might do to them clouded their judgment, accompanied by the religious radicals of the "suffer the witch" ideology who think magic were the works of the devil, fueled the public to go against the wizarding world. Only a minority few, mostly the younger generation, seemed to be rather intrigued and accepting towards it, especially those who befriended Muggle-borns back then, but the rest reacted to them like they would at the plague. It felt like the Nazis and the Klu Klux Klan era all over again as they started to view the wizards and witches as the scum of the earth that must be destroyed and viewed everyone in suspicion, wondering if their next-door neighbor or their old-time friend was really a wizard/witch in disguise. Scientists had a field day of trying to kidnap and experiment on wizards/witches or Muggle-borns to see what makes them tick and finding out the source of their powers. Muggle-borns and wizards/witches, when found by the public, were treated like freaks of nature and it got as bad as people raiding into other people's home, going around accusing them of being freaks or the devil's spawn and dragging them out to be tortured or beaten, some almost leading to murder. Anyone who was found to support wizards/witches and Muggle-borns were ridiculed and their lives made miserable, exactly like the old days. Huge meetings after huge meetings were held between the Ministry, led by Kingsley and Aramis and the twins, and the high-ups of every nation to debate on the issue of whether or not to continue allowing the wizarding world to exist within the Muggle community or banish them into seclusion, making them return to the way it was where no one knew the wizarding world existed in the first place, or worse, have the wizarding world exterminated.

Needless to say, Aramis and the twins were getting both brunt of the blame, from the Muggle world and the wizarding world. Aramis had been ambushed and assaulted several times both going out or in their own home while lodging in the Muggle world. The twins almost ended up getting raped and killed by those prejudice mongers if it weren't for Aramis and his friends rescuing them in time, and Remus almost turned wolf with rage from hearing it if it weren't for Draco to calm him down. There have been other numerous times as well where the wizards and witches themselves go on an all-out riot and protested outside their home while they were back home in the wizarding world, yelling at them to stop whatever they were doing. The group had started to balk a little and wanted Aramis and the twins to abandon ship, but Aramis, being stubborn like his father, insisted that he could do this, that he could serve his purpose in his destiny and he knew the price to pay for all this, although in the middle of the night, he was 10 years old again as he came into his parents' room and cuddled in their arms, balking in his tears and cried out his stress on his 'mother's chest while being stroked on the back by his father, as did the twins with their own parents.

Just when Aramis and the twins thought they were overwhelmed by all this prejudice and suffering they had caused to both worlds, fate stepped in to give them a little helping hand. On a cold and harsh winter, a sudden epidemic outbreak occurred that affected the Muggle world. It was a virus that affects the part of the brain that controls the emotion of aggression and suppression, making people lose their patience easily and become paranoid over everything until it escalated to the point of committing murderous crimes beyond their control. At first, everyone put the blame on the wizarding world for creating this virus in order to get back at those who had wronged them, but after a thorough investigation, including forensics examination and a number of cases where the wizards were affected as well, they were more or less convinced that it was created scientifically as a bio-weapon and was done by Muggle parties.

The twins gathered all intel from St. Mungo and other existing medi-wizards and medi-witches around to come up with a cure, while Aramis rounded up the Aurors to assist the Muggle agents to catch the ones responsible for the virus spread. They finally managed to catch the culprit after almost days of exhausting their resources, but at least they worked faster than it would've been if it were done by normal Muggle people. Certain chemicals and ingredients that were needed for the vaccine and cure were only available via wizard concoctions added into the mix of conventional Muggle chemistry, and thus they were able to work together as one to save mankind and apprehend the perpetrator. Despite reluctance from those who were prejudice against the wizards, they had to admit that this time, the wizards/witches have saved the day.

From there, things slowly began to pick up bit by bit. It wasn't an immediate success, but Aramis and the twins managed to make progress with the Muggle world. They first started off by removing all hidden barriers that separated between the Muggle world and the wizarding world, revealing them and reintroducing them slowly into the community. After that, they started letting the wizarding world live in colonies that are slightly separated from the Muggle society and slowly opening their doors to allow the Muggles to come and go and get to know them better, although there have been a few incidents of attempted vandalisms and threats, but nothing the wizards/witches couldn't handle. Honeydukes, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and the like were slowly brought into the community for the wizarding world's convenience and Muggles were allowed to purchase or browse from there as well. The Weasley twins' joke shop was definitely the most popular of all the stores for both wizards/witches and Muggles alike.

Then they slowly brought in the schools, removing the Unplottables, and integrated the Ministry with the government bit by bit, along with the branch Ministries to their respective countries as well. Wizards and witches of their profession were integrated to Muggle profession that are similar to theirs and Squibs, instead of being useless and cast to one side, unable to use magic, were given decent jobs, may it be office work, secretarial or menial work, among the Muggles. Some wizards and witches were even appointed to certain high offices and stuff, and most of them, especially from the Ministry, had slowly but surely integrated into the government departments, possibly as high as the Prime Minister's offices, aligning the wizarding departments accordingly. They even set up amateur magic schools for Muggles for those who were interested to learn certain magical skills and various others to help the younger generation gain more knowledge and understanding of the wizarding world. While they cannot influence the religious sector, since wizards/witches were not really the religious type, they have more or less gain respect for each other and maintained a civil relationship with each other.

The Merlin's Council made their presence known after making sure everything was in order, shocking both the Muggles and the wizarding world alike, since they never knew they existed in the first place. They were soon hired to be at home within the Royal Family of Britain, just as Merlin did with King Arthur during the Arthurian days, serving as an advisor of the wizarding side and working alongside Muggle advisors, and gained power that was just below the Queen herself. Together, they and the rest of the wizarding world helped to solve worldwide problems one step at a time, gaining more and more of people's trust day by day. The Potter-Snape and Slytherin-Lupin couples, along with the rest of the family within Merlin's Council, established their foothold and soon became owner of many diversified businesses of both worlds, and Aramis and the twins were some of them as they built Foresight Conglomerate, one of the most famous and successful business tycoons next to Donald Trump.

"Thinking about the good old days, darling?"

Aramis turned around and smiled at upon hearing the simultaneous speech of the twins, in which he was greeted with a double hug by Abigail and Amarinth's identical arms. He leaned down to kiss both their foreheads before letting them croon against his neck, continuing to stare down at the world below. During the turmoil of trying to bring Muggles and wizards/witches under one nation, he had somehow developed feelings for both girls, and the feeling was mutual, since the twins had always been sharing things at a very young age despite their different getup. They were troubled at first since wizard laws were ultimately similar to Muggle laws regarding bigamy, but since they were descended from the Merlin's Council, they were bound within their own Arthurian Law of the Old, in which in the olden days, having more than one wife was very common. So about a week after the Muggles and wizards/witches signed the treaty to combine their worlds under one nation, they were officially wed within the grounds of the Royal Family of Britain, and were still going strong after almost more than 3 decades of marriage.

"Isn't it beautiful, my dears?" Aramis said. "After 15 years of struggle, we have done it. Now there is no one in this world who does not know about magic, and who would've thought that magic and science can truly co-exist with each other. Everyone is truly at peace with each other right now."

"We've come a long way to get here, darling," Abigail cooed as she nuzzled Aramis.

"And we've been through a lot to achieve our destiny," Amarinth agreed with a smile.

"It was all worth it," the twins concluded simultaneously.

"I will never get tired of the way you two talk there, my loves," Aramis chuckled as he squeezed their shoulders.

"You better not be."

"Where are the kids?"

"We were just about to come remind you," Abigail said. "We're going to celebrate your mother's birthday, and the kids are getting ready with presents at the mall right now as we speak."

"You need to get started on booking a place for your mother's birthday dinner," Amarinth grinned. "You know how your mother is when people forget his birthday."

"Yeah, I know," Aramis chuckled again as he reached for the phone. "Birthdays are always special for him. I just hope our sibs remember it too."

"Oh, they remember, alright," the twins giggled in unison. "And if you be good, you'll get a special treat from us tonight."

"Mmm, now that is a very tempting thought. I look forward to it."

Yes, he definitely looked forward to it, along with whatever may come their way in the future.

I'm A Slave For You-Chp89

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

"Shall we get ready, Harry? I'll prepare the bath."

"Ok, give me a moment to get my legs to work."

Severus lay down for a while before getting up to let the bath run, while Harry went in moments later and got into the bath before Severus to start washing up. Severus joined him as well, both washing himself and Harry together, smiling at each other on what a wonderful night they had shared before.

It was the day the prophesied ones were finally waiting for: their wonderful wedding day. Harry had finally been accepted into the Merlin's Council and sworn in as part of the family. In the beginning, the Merlin's Council decided to only cover the expenses of Harry and Severus' wedding, but after Harry spoke for Draco and Remus, being that since Lucius and Narcissa were officially behind bars, the Malfoy fortune went solely to Draco and yet he must have a steward to handle his fortune until he is of age, but Remus, being a slave and all without enough education, was not suited to be a steward, the Merlin's Council decided that in order to make their lives simpler and at the same time protect him from any harm that may come to him while fulfilling the prophecy (and in order to make sure that Lucius and Narcissa never get their hands on the Malfoy fortune once their sentences were up) Draco were to be taken into the Merlin's Council along with Remus, if he were willing to strip off his Malfoy title and become the new Slytherin heir. Draco agreed almost immediately, wanting to have no connection whatsoever with his old family anymore.

So along with Harry, Draco was sworn in as part of the family and accepted into the Merlin's Council, going under the name 'Draco Alexi Slytherin', and their wedding expenses taken care of by the family. According to the slave business' law, slaves were, unfortunately, not allowed to marry or be married because of their status in society, so they have no choice but to release Remus from the slave business before they could go through with the wedding. Hogwarts and Kym, after careful consideration (and maybe a bit of a push and pressure from the Merlin's Council behind the scenes), determined that they will make an exception towards Harry and Draco's case being married while still schooling, just so long as it did not interfere with their studies. Lil was properly buried with her family within the sacred underground tomb of the Merlin's Council where the ancestors were buried from the day they started the seclusion and was finally able to rest in peace with Voldemort's issue resolved.

Beck accompanied Draco to pay a visit to the business, in which the cunning manager requested him to get a lock of centaurs' hair of every colour tied together in one braid. Lucky for Draco, the Merlin's Council had a long line of connections with centaurs of the old who were more than willing to part with some of their hair, so they traveled all the way to Greece where the centaurs of old originated and still lingered, just to make the price-payment more authentic. In fact, this was probably the most easiest price-payment mission anyone had ever had in the world as Draco, Remus and Beck actually spent a rather relaxing vacation getting to know the centaurs of old and their cultures before finally receiving their required price-payment for the business. It made the manager almost jumping mad at two slave-releases in a row (meaning Harry and Remus) and Severus rather jealous for he had to go through hell getting his while Draco had it in a synch.

All in all, Remus was officially a free man, Draco and Harry back in school, Severus returned back his old title as Potions Master and Hogwarts professor, and today they were going to celebrate the happiest day of their lives. Right now, Severus and Harry were enjoying their last bath together as dating, courting couples and was one step away to have a bath as newlyweds.

"Are you nervous?" Harry asked as his sponge paused on his chest.

"Quite, but thinking it's you I'm marrying makes me a lot calmer," Severus smiled happily.

"Me too."

"I love you so much, Harry. I can't wait for you to be married to me," Severus kissed his forehead as he took the hand that held the sponge gently.

"Harry Snape," Harry chuckled. "You know that does not have as good a ring as Severus Snape."

"I was assuming you might take both last names. Just like our little girl did, and just as Drake will be once he's married to Lupin. Though I must admit Slytherin-Lupin does sound a little corny, but whatever makes them happy."

"You're right on that. So…Potter-Snape?"

"That's what I'm considering. It suits you."

"I like it too."

"Alright, time to get dried and dressed. I believe it'll be almost time before the girls start calling you to be dressed with Drake."

Harry nodded, getting out and drying off before putting his bathrobe on to wait for the girls to fetch him. In reality, he was supposed to be sleeping in a separate room, what with the tradition of being bad luck to meet the bride before the wedding and vice versa. But somehow in the middle of the night, Harry got a little drunk from the 'bachelorette' party (since he's the 'bride') with Draco, Hermione and the girls that he stumbled into Severus' room instead of his own, and, despite Severus' protests, just one flick of the tongue on his sensitive spot sent all of Severus' caution and rationale spiraling out the window.

Harry watched as Severus dried himself from head to toe with the towel before casting a drying spell for good measure. After that he got dressed in his bathrobe and went in front of the mirror to brush his hair.

"Crud, I swear I get more tangles every time," Severus grumbled. "I envy your hair sometimes. It is smooth, soft and silky, and has a nice wave to it. I have sticky straight, greasy hair, no matter what."

"Your hair is not greasy," Harry giggled and went over to him, running his hand along Severus' hair. "It's just got a deceptive shine on it to make people think it's greasy, but it's actually quite smooth."

"Try looking at it tomorrow. It will be," Severus sighed and looked in the mirror. "I don't look like a groom. I look like Frankenstien."

"Then I'm lucky to be the bride of Frankenstien," Harry chuckled.

"You are not the bride of Frankenstien, Harry," Severus rolled his eyes. "You are the bride of Don Juan."

"Don Juan is a womanizer who ends up getting dragged into Hell by the dead father of one of the women he seduced," Harry grimaced. "I'm hardly that."

"True, but still the name does suit you a bit," Severus shrugged. "I'm just nervous that I will be left at the altar."

"No way. I would never leave you at the altar, not after what we've been through. We will be together in holy matrimony, from start to finish."

A sudden knock at the door and an annoyed face popped in broke their conversation.

"Aha!" Hermione exclaimed. "I knew you were here! Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, Prof. Snape?"

"Great," Severus rolled his eyes. "Here comes the Insufferable Know-It-All."

"Eh heh heh, hey, Mione," Harry waved at her awkwardly as the girl, along with the Patil twins, came to 'arrest' the little 'bride'.

"I didn't take you one for tradition," Severus grinned. "With you being the all-reasoning one."

"Like it or not, Prof. Snape, I am still a girl, you know."

"Alright, alright, I give," Harry grinned as he allowed himself to be taken by the Patil twins. "It's time anyway."

"Don't worry," Severus held his hand and squeezed reassuringly. "Everything will be fine."

Harry nodded and left with the girls, wondering what was in store for him to wear.

--:--

Draco looked incredulously at the traditional wedding gown that he was to wear provided by the Merlin's Council. He had expected to be wearing something masculine or maybe even a white suit, but it was nothing like what was in front of him at the moment.

"They have got to be kidding me," Draco groaned at Lavender who was coming over with the veil.

"Well, apparently they're serious," Lavender chuckled awkwardly. "You're not so bad. You should've seen what they got for Harry."

"I am not wearing that in front of Remus. Gods, what will Remy think when he sees this."

"Try telling that to Harry," Hermione laughed. "He doesn't even want to stick out even an inch of his nose with the outfit he's got."

"Why must they do this?" Draco sighed. "I bet Remy and Uncle Sev get better robes to wear than ours."

"N…ot exactly," Cho smiled awkwardly.

"What do you mean?"

Hermione put a finger to her lips and beckoned him to follow her and the girls to the groom's room where Severus and Remus were. Peeking in, she showed him that they were fitted dress-robes like the one Ron wore during the Yule Ball, but a bit more extravagant, and it was evident on Severus' face that he felt Drake's sentiments exactly on his own outfit, while Remus looked defeated, accepting the outfit that he was given without much fight and trying to look at the bright side.

"At least they got pants," Draco grumbled, blushing a little at how medieval his beloved looked in his wedding outfit before following the girls back into the brides' room.

"Hmm, sounds like Harry is about done now," Luna said as she popped her head in to the changing closet and smiled. "Come on out of the closet, Harry. I promise it's not gonna kill you."

A very long pause ensued before Harry slowly came out with his outfit. He was dressed like someone would in an elegant gothic lolita fashion, only it was long flowing that reached all the way to the floor and was all in white and a few hints of reddish-white and mini embroidery roses sewn decoratively here and there on the skirt. The Patil twins quickly came up to him to fit him his wedding veil. Draco, on the other hand, found himself wearing a mint green wedding dress that would hit the floor and trail behind him, the skirt cascading in a form of rose petals in bloom, and a matching veil in another cascading fashion.

"You look nice, Harry," Draco said enviously.

"I…I look like a girl!" Harry complained. "Oh gods, everyone is gonna laugh at me, especially Severus! He will think me ridiculous. I just know it!"

"Now, now, Har," Molly laughed. "You know that's not gonna happen."

"Just think of this: You look like a bride and I will look like a mint candy," Draco rolled his eyes in defeat. "At least you don't get undergarments…do you?"

"Umm…Yeah, I do. In fact…" Harry said sheepishly as he lifted his skirt to reveal a little bit of his.

"Remind me to kill everyone in the Merlin's Council after this," Draco grumbled glumly. "At least you don't look as bad as I look."

"W…Wow," Harry said as he had a closer look. "You look…pretty good."

"I must agree, Draco," Hermione said as she looked him over. "The colour really suits you."

"Shove it," Draco growled and went to the mirror. It was not half bad, he had to admit, but that didn't matter. It was still a dress.

"We really mean it. It's not that bad."

"Yeah, at least you don't look like me," Harry groaned as he looked at himself in the mirror. "I look like some 10-year-old kid dressed in a fairy costume."

"You don't look 10, Harry," Draco sighed. "Even though you still have the size of a 10-year-old when you're supposed to be 13, coming 14."

Hermione hid a grin as she accompanied Harry and Draco out of the brides' room to the main Ministry Council Hall where all wizarding marriages are held. Kingsley and a wedding wizard preacher were there as the officiating party of this marriage, and was there at the altar with Severus and Remus along with the Weasley twins, Ron and a few others as best men waiting for the 'brides' to appear. It was a rather big crowd, with family and friends of both sides, including Hogwarts members and Harry's friends from Kym, attending plus the press. Abigail and Amarinth were in the crowd as well, dressed to the nines and in the arms of the other girls who were part of the guests and not Harry's and Draco's bridesmaids (they could only have so much).

"Now I feel worse than a goldfish right now," Severus grumbled.

"It's not too bad," Remus was used to being in front of a big crowd, what with him being an ex-slave and all back then. "Though I'd want this over and done with. I don't want to subject Drake to this, especially what with his past family background with Master and Mistress Malfoy. They are waiting for the first slip up to write a story about."

"Typical, especially when Skeeter is involved," Severus replied, gesturing Remus to the said woman who was chewing at her quill, writing whatever she was seeing.

"That is awful."

Soon the wedding march was heard and the 'brides' came out, first Harry led by Hagrid, then Draco led by Sirius. They would've had some of the Merlin's Council members to walk them down the aisle, but what with the secrecy of the family and their blood-oath seclusion, they were their next best choice.

"Woah…" Remus saw Draco in his outfit and held his breath. Despite the fact that he was a wearing a dress, it somehow felt rather…appealing to him, like a sort of beautiful side on Draco he had never seen before, though Draco seemed to refuse to look up at him out of embarrassment. Severus, on the other hand, was blown away. Harry looked like a dark-haired angel coming down from heaven, only able to breathe the word "Beautiful" as he came closer and closer to them.

The people leading the 'brides' soon exchanged hands, Hagrid passing Harry to Severus and Sirius passing Draco to Remus. Severus blushed big time as he took Harry's hand from Hagrid. Draco still did not look up when Sirius gave Draco over to Remus. Remus took Draco's hand and gave Draco a reassuring squeeze. Harry looked down, pretending to be very interested in his bouquet of flowers. He could feel hushed talking and laughter behind him, and he just knew someone would tease him of his outfit. He felt like crying right now for being so embarrassed like this. Severus gave a squeeze and tipped Harry's chin up to smile at him, trying to calm him. Harry looked into Severus' eyes and felt calmer a little, although he couldn't get rid of the feeling of wanting to hide in a hole.

Kingsley waited for everyone to settle down before clearing his throat and gave the customary short speech about the wondrous celebration that they were having today and how they have triumphed over evil and lived to see this day come to pass. The preacher was all prepared with a parchment containing the vows and traditional wedding transcripts along with his blessing wand and was smiling at the couple, while the poor 'brides' looked like a bundle of nerves but at least they was able to stand. As soon as Kingsley was done, the preacher took over.

"My, my, how dashing you look, Lord Snape, Mr. Lupin," the preacher complimented, then looked at Harry and Draco. "And these must be your blushing brides."

"Yes, preacher," Severus replied. "Harry James Potter is his name."

"And what a fine name he has, as do yours, Draco, though I've known you and your family for some generations now. Shall we get started?"

Both brides and grooms nodded in agreement.

"Dearly beloved," the preacher began after clearing his throat. "We are gathered here today to unite these two couples in holy matrimony. They have been through thick and thin and have survived the odds, and now are ready to be united in the eternal unity of life. Do you have your wedding rings with you?"

Severus and Remus turned to their best men and received their rings. For Severus, it was the ring he had both on the day Harry almost gotten potion-poisoning. He had planned to make that day special by properly proposing to him with a ring, but it was not exactly the right time to do so, thus he kept it until today. It was a no-brainer that Harry's eyes sparkled at the sight of the ring as it was his first time seeing it. Remus got the ring that he had gotten as a gift from the woman who had turned him. She had claimed it to be her wedding ring that was passed down from mothers to daughters, but since she was more of a rebel anyway, she decided to give it to her 'little cub'. Harry and Draco also turned to their bridesmaids to receive their side of the rings, and Harry revealed it to be an ancient heirloom ring that used to belong to Albus while Draco got his from the Merlin's Council who claimed that it was the ring that Salazar wore when he was alive.

"May the couple face each other and take each other's wrists?"

Both couples did so.

"If there is anyone who thinks this couple should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Everyone held their breaths, including the brides and grooms, hoping that there was no one to suddenly crash the wedding and shout out the dreaded objection. After a rather short pause of silence (and everyone finally remembering how to breathe), the preacher saw this as a sign of acceptance to the marriage and continued.

"Very well, we shall proceed. Do you, Severus Snape and Remus John Lupin, take Harry James Potter and Draco Alexi Slytherin respectively as your lawful wedded wives, to have and to hold, to love and to care, to live and to obey, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and forever honour the magical bounds of your holy matrimony till death do you part?"

"I do," Severus smiled proudly and slipped the ring on Harry's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"I do," Remus repeated after him and copied his motions. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Harry looked at the ring for a moment and smiled, still unable to fathom how beautiful it looked on his finger, while Draco looked like he had gained colours of joy on his cheeks through his fair skin, ignoring some people who were surprised to hear Draco's change of last name. Only those who knew of the existence of the Merlin's Council understood why the change of last name, but for the others, Draco couldn't be bothered and let them speculation on their own the reasons why.

"Do you, Harry James Potter and Draco Alexi Slytherin, take Severus Snape and Remus John Lupin respectively as your lawful wedded husbands, to have and to hold, to love and to care, to live and to obey, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and forever honour the magical bounds of your holy matrimony till death do you part?"

"I…I do," Harry took Severus' hand and slipped the ring on, blinked his tears away in embarrassment when he heard sniggers, sounding like it was the Weasley twins. "W…With th…this ring, I th…thee w…wed."

"I do," Draco swallowed his excitement enough to get the words out, although he was looking like he was about to cry pools of joyous tears. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"I request the couples please hold out their ring hand," the preacher said as he pulled out his blessing wand.

Both couples did so. Severus shot a sideways glare at the Weasley twins before mouthing "Look at me" to Harry, assuring him with his eyes that as soon as this was over, he would take Harry in his arms and make everything better. Draco looked up at Remus, trying hard not to spill his guts out and Remus gave him his signature calming effects through his golden eyes.

"So has been spoken, so shall be it. By the power invested in me from the Ancient Secrets of Grand Wizard Merlin, I bind you heart, body and soul, and you are thus bound in holy matrimony for rest of your living days."

So saying, a surge of power snaked around both their wrists like a coiling snake, spilling some sort of aura over the newlyweds and binding their body and soul together. Both the brides and grooms could feel the chill coming down from their spines for a moment before Harry had tears rolling down his face, the happy realization kicked in that he was now married to Severus for now and forever, following after Draco who seemed to have started to cry openly as he moved to hug Remus, in which Remus chuckled and hugged him back.

"And from this day forth, you are blessed with an eternal loving bond that will last you till the end of time, that you may find each other even if countless lifetimes spans between you," the preacher continued to bless them as he waved the wand that sent a shower of sparkles falling like confetti over their heads.

"I now pronounce you husbands and wives. You may kiss the brides."

Harry's heart jumped at that. This was it. The kiss that will decide the rest of their lives. Severus didn't need to be told twice as he leaned close to kiss him tenderly on the lips, in which Harry kissed back, his lips wet with tears. Severus just kept kissing him. This was like a good dream that he never wanted to end. Harry kissed him just as desperately as he was. He would've kissed him forever if it weren't for the need for air. Remus leaned over as well to kiss Draco on the lips, very gently as well and almost didn't want to part. Leave them there to kiss the night away and he would have been fine with that. But it was Draco who pulled away because he needed the air, but his lips were swollen and his face totally flushed as he smiled sheepishly up at him through his tears.

"Introducing the Potter-Snape couple and the Slytherin-Lupin couple!" Kingsley announced joyously, clapping his hands along with the preacher.

Everyone stood up and clapped and cheered, using their wands to produce rice confetti while the press snapped away at the pictures. After taking a few more pictures between family and friends and the press, everyone was ushered to the Ministry Dining Hall to have their wedding reception, in which numerous well-wishers approached the newlyweds to congratulate them and celebrated the rest of the night away. Towards the near end of the wedding reception, there were still a generous amount of people (mostly the crazy teenagers) who stayed back to have a drink fest. Draco and Remus had already disappeared to goodness knows where with their little twins, so only the Potter-Snape newlyweds were around to watch their shenanigans, but of course, Severus wasn't about to intoxicate himself with a bunch of hormone-crazed teenagers, so he took Harry aside to a secluded area of the Hall and snogged Harry for quite a long moment.

"We did it," Severus pulled back for the air that he needed and smiled.

"Yes, we did it," Harry agreed, looking flushed and breathless. "You are now my wonderful husband and, if we're lucky, the father of our child-to-be. Gods, I never really thought that this day would finally happen," he started to cry again, "Sorry, my hormones must be on over drive."

"It's OK, love. It's your day. You're entitled to cry at weddings," Severus said as he picked Harry up bridal style, pun intended. "Shall we go and entertain our guests for a bit before we consummate our marriage?"

"Can we consummate now?" Harry asked, smiling. "Drake and Remy are gone now. I'm sure they're doing what we're supposed to be doing right about now."

"Raunchy, aren't we, Har?" Severus laughed a little. "But what about our guests here? You wouldn't want to leave them having a crazy drunken riot now, would you?"

"Oh, I'm sure they can take care of themselves. Besides, they're in the Ministry. Someone is bound to keep them in line," Harry said as he leaned in and nibbled on his ear.

Severus bit his lip not to moan, "My, my, little wifey here needs a little tender loving care, aren't we?"

So saying, Severus carried Harry out of the Hall, leaving the teens to their devices, before making his way out of the building and into the carriage, heading towards home, and most definitely, towards a brighter future.

I'm A Slave For You-Chp88

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

Everyone was gathered in St. Mungo, particularly the ward where Albus was admitted in. Harry was right by beside the bed, holding onto his adopted grandfather's hand with one hand and stroking the old man's hair with the other, while Severus was beside the little boy, his arm around his shoulder to comfort him. The DA members were there as well (thankfully they were not present at the Ministry building, so none of them were hurt) so as to watch over their little friend and give him moral support.

As soon as the mysterious group of men and women came in to save the day, Voldemort was immediately knocked out cold and taken into custody. No one knew where Voldemort was taken, but the mysterious group assured the public that he was in good hands for the moment. Cornelius managed to survive the torture Voldemort had thrown onto him, but not without leaving numerous scars on his physique. He was prepared to deny everything he had just said in the courtroom, claiming that it was just to satisfy the monster's delusional thoughts, but luck was not on his side. Rita, forever loyal to her job as a journalist, managed to record everything that he and the Ministry members had said since the moment Voldemort started talking in the courtroom using her recording globe, and even tasked her quill to have everything in writing. That, along with his already ailing body, drove the poor Head Minister insane, rendering him into a permanent catatonic state and making him unfit to be a Head Minister any longer.

Sadly, Albus, due to his old age, could not withstand and pull through from the injury inflicted on him by Voldemort. The medi-wizard diagnosed that he had not much time left in his hands, so it was advisable for anyone close to him to spend his last moments together with him, thus the group that gathered around his death bed.

"Ah, my dear boy," Albus said in a soft, tired voice. "I am so glad to see you alright, even if it means one last time."

"D…Don't say that, Grandpa Albus…" Harry said, fighting back tears. "Y…You'll be fine. Everything will be alright and we'll be together, you'll see."

"Harry, my dear boy, it is not wise to try and teach an old man how to suck eggs, if you get my drift. I know when my time is coming."

"B…But…But I am to be called to meet with the people who had rescued you and everyone else in the Ministry. At least hold on until I come to deliver whatever they're going to tell us…"

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I suppose…you'll have to tell me when we meet…eventually."

Harry bit his lip, still trying to hold back his tears. He had already lost a child; he couldn't bear to lose another loved one who was so parentally dear to him. Burying his face onto the old man's chest, he finally could not bear it and let loose his cries.

"Please…Please don't leave me…S-S-Star has left me…Don't you leave me too…"

"Star…?" Albus chuckled quietly. "Is that the name of my would've-been great-granddaughter? Such a beautiful name."

"She is beautiful, no matter how she looked when I saw her."

"Severus…?" Albus turned to Severus, in which the latter leaned forward to listen. "I have already written my will to entitle every single one of my earthly possessions to lil' Har. You may do whatever you wish to do with it, but promise me you will make sure that it will all go to him first at the event of my death."

"I promise, no, I will swear my life on it," Severus nodded as he put a reassuring hand on Albus' shoulder.

"Rest assured, you have my full blessings on your marriage," Albus chuckled at the mild surprise on Harry and Severus' faces. "Oh, don't act surprised. I did not acquire all the experience in life to be able to tell what goes behind closed doors between you. I had an idea that Severus would pop the question sooner or later. Let's just hope that the prophecy was right about you being the mother of…"

"I don't care!" Harry sobbed. "I don't care if I am to be the mother of the Messiah! The prophecy can go rot in hell! My Star is already gone; who cares about the prophecy anymore? I want you! I want you to live, to see us in holy matrimony! That's all I want! That's all I care about!"

"There, there, my lil' Har," Albus stroked Harry's cheeks comfortingly, trying his best to wipe his tears away. "It's just my time, I'm afraid. You can fight anything in this world, but you can't fight death. Just take comfort in the fact that an old man like me is satisfied enough to watch your union through heaven's eyes."

"Please…Please don't go…Grandpa Albus, please don't go…"

"I am so happy to be your grandfather, Harry, and I am proud to have you as my grandson…I love you so much, Har…"

"I love you too, Grandpa Albus…"

With one last smile, Albus breathed his last, his hand on Harry's cheeks slowly slipping down to his side as Harry wailed bitterly on his body, with Severus holding the boy close, hushing and comforting him from behind.

--:--

The prophesied ones, the members of the Order and the DA members, along with Lil, found themselves sitting in the middle of a huge Victorian hall, looking at each other questioningly and at their surroundings awkwardly. They had never felt so out of place before in a home that was clearly richer and more high-classed than any riches of the wizarding aristocrats combined. Even Trinity Vane that Harry was taken into by Lucius paled in comparison with whatever was displayed around here, almost worth a king's ransom.

Albus and Harry's unborn child Star's funeral was quite lavish, in a sense. Everyone who knew him attended the funeral, from the people of Hogwarts to the people from the Ministry. As all customary Hogwarts magic does, Albus' portrait magically appeared in the Headmaster's office as soon as his death came to pass and Minerva McGonagall took over as Headmistress of the school. Rufus Scrimgeour, who was supposed to be Cornelius' successor to the position, was found to have not attended the public court hearing that day along with a few other ministers who were responsible for the Ministry scandal, and with Rita's recording as evidence, were immediately found guilty of all charges that Albus had accused them of and was stripped off their ranks as ministers and be sent to Azkaban to receive the Dementor's Kiss. Those who have helped the Ministry members to cover up their tracks were charged of obstruction of justice and were to serve a long sentence in Azkaban and once released, exiled into the Muggle world, their wands confiscated and broken. Kingsley Shacklebolt was voted to take over as he was one of the very few that was not corrupted by the system, and he was called in to chair the funeral.

Many tears were shed for Albus, but no one cried harder than Harry, who had lost both a grandfather and a daughter to the collateral of war. They were both buried side by side in a great mausoleum that stood beside the lake of Hogwarts that faced the sun at the horizon: Albus entombed in a white marble sarcophagus carved in his image while Star in a smaller sarcophagus beside him with an image of beautiful little sleeping angelic little girl with wings carved, just the way Harry imagined she would've looked like. At the entrance of the mausoleum, there carved a sign in marble written 'HERE LIES ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE & STAR EILEEN POTTER-SNAPE, BELOVED TO MANY, DEPARTED HAND IN HAND TO THE HEAVENS'.

Beck, before they were at Albus' death bed, had requested them to come see her after everything was settled, so after handling the funeral (paid for by the mysterious group, of course), they went a week later to see Beck at the Ministry of Magic building. She brought along a Portkey, which was a sort of medieval staff, and transported everyone into the heart of Wales, where there stood a huge mansion almost the size and structure of the old castle of King Arthur a few miles ahead. They were led into the mansion and into the guest hall by the hired help while Beck went to get their mysterious hosts, which was what the gang were at right this moment.

"I'm scared, Sev," Harry said as he huddled close to Severus, in which Draco did the same to Remus.

"Don't worry, I'm right here," Severus replied, cuddling him. "I will not let anything happen to you."

"Could this be anything to do with the prophecy?" Draco asked, hushing Abigail back to sleep. "About us?"

"We'll just have to see what all this may bring, Drake," Remus held Amarinth close as he let out a nervous sigh. "No point worrying about it right now."

"What do you think might happen?" Ron asked Hermione worriedly.

"I don't know," Hermione shrugged. "I must admit, I am quite perplexed—scared, even—of all this."

"There is no cause for alarm, everyone. Everything's perfectly safe here."

Everyone looked up to see the mysterious group of men and women entered the hall, along with Beck following behind their wake. They gestured everyone to take their seat after they stood to meet their acquaintance. As they waited for the group to settle down and the hired help to prepare their tea, Harry and Draco couldn't help but study the features of their hosts. A pair of them looked like they were brother and sister, with the same blue eyes but with different shade of hair colour (the brother a dark brown while the sister a brownish-blonde, close to dirty blonde). One had semi-long golden-blonde and sparkling green eyes like Harry's but wore black from the neck down, and he and the siblings looked like they were roughly in their early twenties, while the rest looked about between the age of Severus' and Remus', and were obviously a couple. The first couple looked intelligent and professional, the man with hair like the night sky and eyes a sea-blue behind a pair of glasses and the woman about a head shorter than the man and was tiny and dainty-looking. The second couple was both almost the same height, the woman with hair the colour of autumn leaves and eyes of duckweed while the man looked important but kind, with platinum hair and dark-brown eyes. Lastly, the third couple was about a little taller than the rest of the two couples, the woman with hair as long as Hermione's and was quite thin and frail, as if she would break if ever you squeeze her a little harder while the man was of African-American decent, but a hint of Caucasian in the mix.

"I suppose we owe you an introduction," the brother of the siblings finally broke the ice. "My name is Darren Hawkins and this is my sister Angelica," he gestured to the brownish-blonde girl who waved back at them, "and this is Tony Brixius," he gestured at the golden-blonde, "and these are Richard and Madhya Peverell," he gestured to the first couple, "Gilbert and Ethel Lattimer," he gestured to the second couple, "and Bernard and Tanya Gryffindor-Finnegan. We are part of a rather big family tree of the Merlin's Council."

"I hope my old coot of an ancestor Godric hasn't given you any trouble in school, Harry," Bernard chuckled humorously. "I've told him many times to return to the family but he's just too in love with the sea to care."

"Wait, wait…what?!" everyone suddenly exclaimed simultaneously in surprise, not even sure what exactly just hit them.

"Sorry, I suppose we must start from the very beginning," Gilbert guffawed at their reaction good-naturedly and took a sip of tea. "But before we start, I am sure you know at least the basics about the Grand Wizard Merlin."

"Of course," Hermione immediately went to her Human Encyclopedia mode. "He was born half-fey, created by the fey goddess Mab and birthed by a Muggle mother through a union with an incubus, thus his wizarding heritage when the Muggles and their faith began to take reign of the world, leaving their magic to naught. He had been a pioneer to all wizards and witches that exists today because of his powers and his servitude to the great King Arthur and even been heralded by Muggles who study folklore as one of the greatest characters during the Arthurian years. But sadly his infatuation for a huntress named Nimue that caused him his downfall, King Arthur his trusted counselor and his apprentices their great mentor and their dispersion."

"Ah, such a bright mind," Tanya complimented. "Perhaps it is a way for you to compensate for the lack of confidence in you trying to fit in to both worlds?"

"Well, I…I didn't mean…" Hermione, surprisingly, was not insulted by this, instead was flustered at her insecurities being read so easily.

"Oh, take it easy there, Ms. Granger," Angelica laughed. "We're not here to judge, but unfortunately, you only got the top half right."

"It is true that the Grand Wizard Merlin was born half-fey," Tony said in his quiet, mysterious way. "Because of the Muggles growing in number and population and their adoption of their religious faith, the fey goddess Mab and her sister the Lady of the Lake were losing reign on earth. Contrary to people saying that the Lady of the Lake quietly submitted to their vanishing fate, she was the one who actually helped Mab to achieve in creating the perfect half-human-half-fey entity and summoned an incubus to embed the entity within him and enchanted him into impregnating a Muggle woman named Elissa. She did not survive the birth, so they both instructed another Muggle woman named Ambrosia to take care of him until he comes of age to be taken by Mab and the Lady of the Lake to be taught the ways of magic."

"Then it's true that he had been under the service of King Arthur?" Tonks asked in interest.

"Yes, of course," Ethel replied. "He had been in service since Arthur's father King Uther's time. And as you have read in the legends, it is true that Arthur was born from a union between the Duke of Cornwall's wife and King Uther under the guise of a glamour spell, but unlike what legends say about it being Merlin's direct doing into helping him bed the Duke's wife, it was King Uther himself who somehow managed to sneak away the first generation of Polyjuice Potion from Merlin's potion stores to do so before finally slaughtering the Duke and his men, so Merlin was not entirely to blame in this. And yes, Morgan la Fay was King Arthur's half-sister and all that historical legendary jazz about them being mortal enemies and always fighting each other, and about their son Mordred born out of their incest union because Arthur didn't know any better since he was raised by Merlin after King Uther went mad with power and eventually went mad, literally. It was then after Arthur's birth that Merlin put the sword in the stone and not the popular beliefs of him putting the sword in the stone after noticing King Uther's beginning of his fall from grace."

"Thank goodness Merlin did the right thing to take custody of King Arthur after the Duke's wife died giving birth to him because Morgan la Fay was about to curse his life," Richard said. "Morgan la Fay was originally born disfigured because the Duke of Cornwall had invoked the powers of the dark beings to win his wife's heart, at the cost of his children being born to bear the stigma of his sins, but Morgan la Fay was special. With her disfigurement came the power to see past anyone and view them for what they truly are, and she knew King Uther bedded her mother under the guise of the Duke with the influence of Polyjuice Potion, and because she knew that she will have a half-sibling who will not bear the stigma as she and her siblings did, she was determined to make Arthur's life miserable by invoking the same powers her father did to curse him. If it weren't for Merlin appearing in the nick of time, we would not have King Arthur right now."

"But…what does all that have to do with what you're trying to tell us?" Draco asked.

"Patience, young Malfoy, we're getting there," Darren said, taking a bite out of his crumpet before continuing. "Well, I'm sure you know the rest of the Arthur legend, which is more or less true to the word, so I will not bore you with the details. Of course, unlike the legend that said Arthur begged Merlin in his dying breath to return Excalibur from whence it came and Merlin throwing it back to the Lady of the Lake, Merlin had kept the sword, stripping it of its power and turning it to the likes of any regular sword so that it will never again be used and misused. The sword of Godric Gryffindor is, in fact, King Arthur's sword Excalibur."

"What?!" all the adults exclaimed.

"Yup, he's right on that," Bernard grinned. "The story about the sword being goblin-made and Godric accused of stealing it is just hogwash, a tale to throw off anyone who is seeking for the legendary sword Excalibur. The last thing we want happen is to have someone gallivanting around with it and have King Arthur's bloody history repeat itself."

"But…But how…how did Godric…?" Severus was at lost of words at this piece of news.

"Ah, this brings us to the crucial part of the whole tale: the Merlin's Council," Madhya pointed. "You see, this is where Ms. Granger was only half-right. Merlin did fall in love with a Muggle huntress named Nimue who was actually a daughter of the king of Northumberland, but instead of her causing him his downfall, she was the greatest thing that ever happened in his life. It was thanks to Arthur's intervention that these two lovebirds meet, since he had fairly good relationship with the king via trade businesses. He initially took her in as his apprentice because the king wanted her to learn some magic so that she could defend herself during the hunt, but during their course of apprenticeship, they somehow ended up falling in love and got married during the prime of Arthur's kingship."

"So…" Lil voiced out. "You mean to say that the legend about Nimue disgusted by him and his heritage, then forcing him to teach her magic to give her advantage against his magic to enchant her and about her and finally casting him into a magic tomb and burying him alive…is not true?"

"I thought Arthur was the one who sentenced him to death because Merlin gave him bad advice and couldn't keep his trap shut," Ron said quizzically.

"Those are all defamation made by other countries who were jealous of Arthur having a powerful man by his side," Richard shook his head. "As we have said, Arthur died in battle and freed Merlin from his servitude while at the same time gave him the Excalibur. After Arthur's death, Merlin and Nimue took to the woods where Merlin was raised in his old home by his adopted mother Ambrosia and cast the entire area he was living in as an Unplottable. There, they lived out their lives until the end of their days while their offspring and apprentices were allowed to leave and search for their own purpose in the world with the Muggles as soon as they came of age."

"We," Angelica gestured to themselves and to Beck who had been sitting beside them quietly, "are the direct descendants of Merlin."

It took a full 10 seconds to let everything sink in before they started exclaiming in disbelief.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down," Beck said as she lit a cigarette. "No need to get so worked up about this."

"Worked up??" Sirius almost shrieked. "Worked up doesn't even cut it! How the hell is it possible that you are the direct descendants of Merlin?! I thought Merlin's bloodline had already thinned out to the point where they no longer exist!"

"Ah, this is where you are wrong," Tony noted. "We definitely exist; we just like to keep ourselves quiet. It is better this way."

"You see," Ethel began. "During that timeline when Merlin decided to live a quiet life while he let his children set their own paths in life, the dangers that Merlin had faced when he was under Arthur's servitude continued to linger in his absence. Morgan la Fay, after Mordred and Arthur killed each other, was hell bent on revenge, blaming Merlin for the cause of all this. She and a few rogue wizards and witches and some apprentices that Merlin had turned away because they were a lost cause banded together to destroy Merlin and his family. Merlin used his magic to seal away him and his family in the forest of Brocéliande with walls of air, visible as mist to others and forever hidden from the eyes of Morgan la Fay and her people."

"It was mostly thanks to her that the wizarding world got the bad rep and ended up starting all these witch hunts and whatnot," Tanya said and grimaced at the thought. "Merlin had tried to rescue as much witches and wizards as possible and hide them within Brocéliande, expanding the wizarding community and converting them to his side as he went, but the rest were met with the fate of torture, burning, drowning and the like, with the poor innocent Muggles in the tow. It was finally after the end of the Salem witch hunt that Merlin's children and family friends managed to salvage what remained of the witches and wizards that still live to survive the hunt and took them into Brocéliande, and Merlin, at that time very old and probably the longest living wizard prior to Nicholas Flamel because of his half-fey nature, used his last and final magic to create a huge barrier that would separate the wizarding world and the Muggles before breathing his last, thus the world we are living today."

"Of course, our ancestors knew that if we maintain our status as Merlin's descendants, the people will be too dependent on us and will never stand on their own two feet, so roughly a decade after Merlin's death, we went into seclusion and passed the power to an appointed figurehead whom we trust to be able to make the tough decisions and run the wizarding world to the best of their judgments and abilities. You may consider them as the first group of people who established the Ministry of Magic and the first Head Minister to run it."

"Well, we do have the very famous Artemisia Lufkin, the first witch to be Head Minister, and Grogan Stump who settled the Beings vs. Beasts classification problems," Moody went in reminiscence.

"Yes, they are very reliable people, aren't they?" Ethel smiled. "I have to agree that they were best among all the Ministers that had ever run the office by far."

"We then established the Merlin's Council," Darren continued. "We are the highest authority of the wizarding world and sent our family members as spies, working undercover amongst the members of the Ministry of Magic and its branches to watch over and monitor them, and act accordingly as we see fit and appropriate without revealing ourselves. You can say we are like the Kings and Queens of the entire wizarding world, but working behind the scenes to keep the wizarding world in proper order."

"B…Bloody hell!" Ron only managed to squeak.

"But why continue such secrecy and seclusion?" Remus asked. "Surely you have seen what the Ministry has done to this world. Should you not step in and do something about it?"

"Unfortunately we have been in seclusion for too long that frankly, we practically don't exist except within the shadows of our Grand Wizard Merlin," Madhya replied. "This world belongs to the new generation now. Yes, the trauma and tragedy of the witch hunt may have become the reason of the existence of pureblood elitists and wanting to keep their world to themselves, but it is up to them to shape the world now. We have made a blood-oath to Merlin that we will allow the youngsters to stand on their own feet and handle their own problems, and only reveal ourselves at the very dire time of their need. It is a blood-oath that is as lethal as the Unbreakable Vow. We cannot back out from it even if we wanted to. Although it is possible that our blood-oath may be relieved due to the prophecy."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked timidly.

"What we're trying to say is that," Beck took another drag of cigarette before taking Harry's hand. "Well, no matter how we wish for our own people's independence, the Ministry's action is of no excuse to hurt family."

"Huh? Wh…What do you mean?"

"If you actually paid attention, you'd noticed that Angelica gestured me as well as the direct descendants of Merlin, which makes you, my little half-cousin Har, a direct descendant of Merlin as well."

"What?!" it was now all the kids' turn to exclaim, with the exception of Harry looking at Beck blankly in disbelief.

"Here, let me illustrate this for you," Bernard accio-ed a quill and a bottle of ink that looked whitish-silver in colour. He dipped the quill into the ink and started writing on air as fluently as someone would on a whiteboard with a whiteboard marker, surprising everyone present with such an amazing new magic tool, the Weasley twins in particular. "During the seclusion and the early years of the Ministry of Magic, our family had been left down to the Peverell family, which they had Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell. Antioch has then, because of his preference for men, had taken Artemis Gryffindor as his 'wife', and had sired a few children before he passed away from a rare disease after mishandling dragon's hide, thus his children taking Artemis' last name instead at the event of his death. Eleanor Ravenclaw had been promised to Cadmus since birth as a sign of gratitude from the Ravenclaws who were the first group of people whom Merlin had saved from the witch hunt, but the Ravenclaws are a matriarchal family, so all his children then took on Eleanor's last name. Richard is descended directly from Ignotus even after many generations because of Ignotus' tendency to bear sons instead of daughters, thus the Peverell surname, while his wife Madhya is descended from the Hufflepuff family who had married and branched out within the Slytherin family, and the Slytherin family came from a marriage between one of Artemis Gryffindor's sons who inherited Antioch's preference for men to Gavin Slytherin, the last living Slytherin at that time to be rescued by Merlin during the Salem Witch Hunt."

"So, in other words, the famous four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin are also our direct descendants of Merlin!" Darren announced almost amusingly.

"What the…How the…" Even the know-it-all Hermione was at loss of words.

"Godric was never really fond of settling down," Bernard rolled his eyes. "But he did leave behind a few heirs, which then slowly branched out until only my side of the family still carried on the Gryffindor family name, though mostly likely be left to me since I'm the only son born out of daughters by my parents the Gryffindor-Finnegan—take a wild guess at who's the 'pants' in the relationship," he laughed at that joke, "and one of the heirs somehow ended up being married into the Potter family, which were well-known back at their time for their long-line of Quidditch players. The Evans, on the other hand, were a small branch out when one of the Ravenclaw predecessors married into the Evans family, and it was almost pure coincidence that your father James married your mother Lily which eventually united the Merlin bloodline again."

"And since I am your mother's half-brother's daughter, that makes me a descendant of Merlin too," Beck replied as she finished her cigarette and put it out.

"We usually wait until our family members come of age before we reveal our lineage to them and take them into the Merlin's Council family tree," Tony said as he poured himself another cup of tea. "But in this case, we'd make it an exception, as do we to you all, since you have been into this Ministry scandal so deep and had been with Harry through thick and thin, oh, and you too," he gestured to Severus, "since you're going to take Harry as your 'wife'. You are taking him as his 'wife', right?"

"Of course," Severus nodded, holding Harry's hand. "I will wed no one else."

"Good lad!" Gilbert guffawed again. "We knew you were the perfect man for Harry from the moment we found out about you."

"You…You have…?"

"Of course we have! Harry may be a branch out of the family tree, but he is still family no less, and we look out for our family, even if it is from afar. Although we're sorry that we couldn't extend that any further down to the Muggle world, since we were supposed to be in seclusion and all."

"It's alright," Harry smiled. "It's not your fault anyway."

"I was taken in as soon as I graduated from Salem's Academy and revealed of my lineage as Rowena Ravenclaw's descendant and subsequently Merlin's descendant," Beck explained. "Then when they told me about the Potters who are also descended from Godric Gryffindor and subsequently Merlin as well, I immediately remembered you, Har, because of my father telling me about you and your mother. After that, I was always in a lookout for you while working as a spy under the guise of an Auror within the Ministry of Magic to monitor them. I soon knew about you being a slave and all after I heard about the meeting Severus had with the Ministry members and Harry's ownership switching hands to Albus, and from there, I try to keep an eye on you whenever I could. After I learnt about the prophecy and about Lil and Voldemort and all the hullabaloo whatnot, I quickly realized that it was a matter that we cannot just sit by idly and watch you fight a losing battle. We knew we had to step out for this, although we covered our tracks pretty well after that so as not to let it lead to us."

"Although, of course, this may sound a little awkward but that guy—Voldemort, you call him?—he's actually descended from Salazar Slytherin."

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed, causing the twins to wake up and wail in shock, and Draco and Remus hushed them back to sleep before the Merlin's Council continued the story.

"Salazar Slytherin had always been known to be quite a loner and a little anti-social," Ethel lamented. "He somehow ended up being one of the pureblood elitists because of the trauma of his family history of being in the witch hunt. The Slytherin family, after a family disagreement, stripped off their namesake as a Slytherin-Gryffindor to be only Slytherin, thus breaking the lineage of his relation with the Gryffindors but not with the Merlin's Council, and was dying out because of their refusal to marry or be married to anyone outside the family, with the exception of a few that they had disowned because they decided to be married into the Hufflepuff family. Before he knew it, he realized he was the last living Slytherin, just like his ancestor Gavin Slytherin before he was married to Artemis Gryffindor's son. He had to swallow his pride and marry someone outside the family, but he carefully selected someone who was still very pure of blood to do so."

"And of all people he had to marry," Darren rolled his eyes in defeat, "he had to marry the Gaunts. The Gaunts were some of the very few last living pureblood wizards and witches that have been under the influence of Morgan la Fay and possible related to Mordred asd he had been rumoured to sire some heirs prior to his death by Arthur. They somehow managed to survive the witch hunt by hiding and living underground. And, yes, it's true that the Gaunts have been heralded back in the old days for being one of the many hired assassins and wizard mercenaries during the days after Merlin retired and Morgan la Fay stepped in control and gave us the bloody bad rep. During the witch hunt, they managed to hide underground like Muggles would in a bomb shelter, still believing that they were being targeted after so many centuries had passed. Salazar managed to locate them and coaxed them out, taking them under his wing and into his family, and thus, his lineage managed to continue."

"You can say, in Muggles' terms, that the Gaunts were like the Holocaust survivors," Beck grinned.

"The Gaunts soon were brought up to accept the ideology of marrying only within the family," Angelica continued as she took over drawing the family tree. "And despite some who are born a little off in the head and maybe disfigured due to the inbreeding, the rest were probably more or less fine, as long as it is within the family. Finally the Gaunts became the main family as the Slytherin name—but not the bloodline—died out, but because of that close-minded ideology, they were also slowly suffering the same fate as Salazar of dying out. There have been a few minorities of the Gaunts who knew their ideology was wrong and decided to disown themselves from the family to be married into the Peverell family, but the rest continued to uphold Salazar's legacy."

"The last of the Gaunts," Gilbert cut in, "was Marvolo Gaunt, and he only had two children: a son Morfin Gaunt and a daughter Merope Gaunt before his wife died of childbirth when she was pregnant with their third child and the child was stillborn. Morfin, sadly, inherited the stigma of inbreeding, rendering him incapable of using his magic without causing grave damage, while Merope ended up becoming a late bloomer in magic because of the inbreeding and Marvolo believed her to be born a Squib. The rest, well, you pretty much know what happened to her and her son Voldemort."

"Then why did you not try to locate her?" Moody asked. "Take her in, rehabilitate her, or even take custody of Voldemort instead?"

"We tried to," Bernard said sadly. "We really did. We have tried everything we could to locate the Gaunts, but Salazar had somehow learnt the magic Merlin did to shield us away from sight as Merlin did to hide away from Morgan la Fay. By the time we realized the Gaunts existed after one of the disowned Gaunt family member who married into the Peverell family revealed it, Merope was already been given the Dementor's Kiss after giving birth to Voldemort and our seclusion restricts our jurisdiction beyond the wizarding world. And that travelling warlock was not making our tracking any easier to find Voldemort before the Ministry did. When we heard of the warlock's death, we knew it was too late for us to try and rehabilitate Voldemort, as murder in cold blood sanctioned the Merlin's Council's authority to exile him. And when he killed Lillian, it was even more unforgivable."

"W…What do you mean…?" Lil asked as her name was being mentioned.

"Get this, Lil," Beck said as she turned to her. "You've been wondering who had brought you back to life, right? Well," she gestured at Madhya, "you're looking at her."

Lil stared in shock as Madhya came up to her and took her hands.

"Lil, dear, you may not know it, but you and the Rome family are a branch out from the Hufflepuff family, which means you, too, are a direct descendant of Merlin."

"I…I…Wh…What…? It…It can't be…" Lil stammered. "M…My parents never said anything…"

"They were supposed to tell you once you come of age," Madhya sighed sadly. "But they never got the chance because Voldemort came in to kill you and your family. When we found out about it, we knew there is no way we could let your death go un-avenged, and to be killed by family was even more unforgivable. It is a crime of our highest authority, and within our laws, it has to be an eye for an eye. The Ministry had hastened your funeral by cremating you along with your family and scattered your ashes to the seas before we could even have the chance to identify your bodies, because it was Voldemort's first kill which was sloppy and almost connected it to them. My family had spent the last 50 years trying to locate your soul and I managed to finally find you and invoke the Forbidden Magic to bring you back to life so you could execute the sentence on Voldemort, as the Merlin's Council dictates it should."

"Then me waking up in Shrieking Shack…and meeting Beck…it wasn't a coincidence…?"

"I was actually requested to be there to wait for you," Beck replied. "I wasn't allowed to approach the Shrieking Shack to wake you up. It is to maintain the illusion from the Ministry that Merlin's Council does not exist and that no ties led to us."

"So…does that mean…once I execute the sentence…I…I cease to exist?"

"That is how the Forbidden Magic works, yes," Madhya nodded.

"Which brings us now to our current situation," Richard got down to business. "At the moment, we have kept Voldemort down at the dungeons in our mansion and held back by our strongest wards. Now that we have revealed our lineage and are prepared to accept Harry and Severus into our family, we now must implore to the rest of you that you will not reveal any of what we had said to a single soul. Everything we have said stays within this room."

"But…But this…how can we…?" Ron wanted to protest but was met with a singular stern look from the group and Beck.

"We have kept this secret for many centuries now, working behind the scenes and maintaining this balance as we see fit for the wizarding world. The time will come for us to be revealed once the prophecy has been fulfilled, but for now, please keep this amongst yourselves, or, as much as I hate to say this, you will be silenced."

Everyone looked at each other a little hesitantly for a few long minutes before giving each other a "What do we have to lose?" eye contact and nodded in agreement.

"But…my child has died…" Harry said sadly. "The prophecy will never come true now."

"Yeah," Draco agreed. "And I have twins, not one child. Didn't the prophecy state that…?"

"Ah, yes, about that," Gilbert noted and gestured for the butler to bring them "the paperwork". When the butler came back with it, he displayed it on the table and showed them, "The prophecy is usually only meant for the prophesied people, but since you guys are already here and know a whole lot, we might as well give it all we've got."

The paperwork revealed pictures of Harry and Severus carrying a baby in their arms and of Draco carrying one baby before Remus came into view with another baby in his arms. They were slightly fuzzy, like something that was a little bit out of focus, but there was no mistaking that it was their faces on the pictures, just as Beck said it was. Records of the Seer's vision and her name, time and date of prophecy made were written on a couple of papyrus sheets, while the main prophecy was written in an ink that shimmered in and out between silver and gold under the light on another piece of papyrus sheet of the finest quality, and this was what it was written:

In the near future, in the midst of bloodbath and sea of tears, will rise a child of the light and the child of dark that will unite the Muggles and wizards into a prosperous new age in which both nations will co-exist as one, as it was during the time of the Grand Wizard Merlin, who was born of fey from the lands of Old. The child of the light will be birthed as a firstborn son to a boy who descends from a family who have dedicated their lives to the Light, and shall be sired by a man who will have lived through the torments of the harsh reality of the prejudice but continues to retain his soul of the Light. The child of dark will be birthed as a firstborn daughter of two halves of a soul to a boy who descends from a family who have dedicated their lives to the Dark, and shall be sired by a man who will suffer the wrath of the wretched creatures of the Dark side. Together, the child of the light and the child of dark will guide the way for the wizards and open the eyes of the Muggles before leading them to a bright future

So it is said, so it shall be done.

Child of Light:

Mother-Harry James Potter

Father-Severus Snape

Child of Dark:

Mother-Draco Malfoy

Father-Remus John Lupin

"So you see, Harry," Gilbert said as he pointed at the prophecy. "Your child will be a firstborn son. Your child that you have lost was a girl, was it not? So you don't have to worry, though still, my condolences. And you, Draco, your child will be a firstborn daughter of two halves of a soul. In the old context, twins are basically a person's soul split into half, and it applies to identical twins. Fraternal twins are considered a person with two separate souls. Your little girls are identical twins, right? So technically you have already fulfilled your part of the prophecy. So all we need to wait for Harry to do it, no rush, of course."

Harry looked up at Severus with a smile, in which the latter smiled back and kissed his forehead, rubbing his back to ease him. Ron looked up at his twin brothers and grinned, while the Weasley twins looked at each other in fascination at the thought they were actually a soul split in half.

"That said, I would like you to go to the dungeons to carry out the sentence," Tony said as he stood up. "And this time, only family."

--:--

"Ah, I see you've brought my VIP guest here."

Harry held Severus' hand tight as he was gently ushered along with Lil by the group to enter the dungeon cell he was in. Voldemort was held suspended in the middle of the cell with something that looked like fine spider webs, but was tough as piano strings as it almost cut through Voldemort's skin. Severus gave a reassuring squeeze before letting the boy join Lil to walk up front to the monster.

"Voldemort, or should I say Tom Marvolo Riddle," Richard said as he approached him. "You know by the sight of Harry James Potter and Lillian Rome what awaits your fate."

"Heh, figures," Voldemort turned to the magical device that was hung at one of the bars of the cell. "After what you bombard to me through the listening device when you had your little discussion and tea party upstairs, how could I not?"

"Then you understand that you have broken the most sacred of the family code," Tony said. "You have killed the Rome and the Potter family in addition to Lily Evans of the Evans family, all of them directly descended from the Merlin's Council. The punishment for killing family is death by the hand of the member of the family you killed."

"I didn't know any better!" Voldemort roared. "It's not exactly my fault! You know how I was brought up! You know what had happened to me that led me into this! If anyone was to blame, it is you!"

"We agree," Tanya said quietly. "And we hold ourselves accountable for our mistakes that we have done. It was our mistake that created you into who you are, and we shall rectify that mistake."

"By killing me?! What kind of justice is this?!" Voldemort turned to Harry. "You wouldn't kill family now, would you, Harry boy? After all, we did have some good times together. You enjoyed it too, remember…"

"Shut up!" Harry snapped at him. "That is not true! You took advantage of me and killed my family, and you killed Grandpa Albus, the only parent I had left, and it's your fault my baby Star is dead!! You're no family of mine!!"

"You know what to do," Bernard said as he produced the sword of Godric Gryffindor—the fabled Excalibur—and handed it to Lil, in which the girl took it and faced Voldemort.

"I should make you suffer for what you have done to me and my family," Lil said venomously at Voldemort. "But you're pathetic right now. You're not even worth my time."

So saying, she raised the sword and stabbed it through Voldemort's gut, his dark red blood—close to black—sprayed onto her. She did it a few more time before finally embedding it into his heart, her body almost bathed in his blood. Watching Voldemort looking back at her in frozen horror, she smiled in satisfaction as she held onto the sword in place, staring Voldemort down until her body slowly dissolved into ashes that immediately vanished into thin air. Harry watched as she disappeared before everyone's eyes before taking hold of the sword and pulled it out, watching in disgust as Voldemort tried to cling on the last thread of his life.

"This is for everything you have done to me, raping me, killing my family, Grandpa Albus, Star…everything."

With a loud yell of vengeance, he swung the sword, and the last thing he remembered before blacking out was Voldemort's head that fell at his feet.

I'm A Slave For You-Chp87

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

No sooner did everyone manage to even get their head around what was going on, than the tall, menacing figure of the mass murderer Voldemort come into view, followed behind by the ratty-looking Wormtail and his little small army of Death Eaters, Lucius excluded since he was already arrested and placed in Azkaban. His serpentine eyes scanned through the room and growled deeply in his throat at the sight of everyone present, but mostly towards the members of the Ministry. Some tried to make a run for it to other exits within the room but they were blocked by the Death Eaters when they apparated to the exit doors, brandishing their wand at them before they could.

Voldemort towered over the Ministry members with an air of pure contempt and anger. Cornelius wanted to brandish out his wand and deliver the first blow but was disarmed immediately with Voldemort's wandless magic.

"Well, then my fellow ministers and guests, I am glad that you are all present," Voldemort's hissing menacing voice sent shivers to anyone who heard it. "I'd hate it if no one is here to tell me that somehow I have been used!"

The Death Eaters muttered disapprovingly at the Ministry while everyone present in the room looked like they were about to piss their pants off. No one, even the all-knowing, all-seeing Albus Dumbledore had expected that Voldemort would actually show up in person, and within the grounds of the Ministry no less.

"Oh Merlin, it's him! It's the monster!" someone tried to suppress his frightful voice. "He's actually here!"

"Damn right!" another one replied in trepidation. "Most of us here are non-purebloods. We're all gonna die~!"

"What are we gonna do?" another asked in panic. "If we don't go out there now, that creep is going to turn all of us into barbecue sauce!"

"You got any better ideas?" another hissed before a sudden bang and a flare shot past him, barely nicking his ear, to be met with Voldemort's venomous glare.

"Would you mind not talking as if I'm not here? So rude. Now, to the matter at hand…" Voldemort waved a wand to levitate everyone else's wands and brought them to him. "I heard from my trusted spy here that apparently I have actually been in service to the Ministry since the day I was born. Apparently I have been groomed to be an assassin for the Ministry since birth until their plans got a little haywire. Would someone explain it to me properly?"

The Ministry members started exchanging glances, looking a little hesitant, as if they were debating amongst themselves whether or not to confirm the truth. Should they say it out loud for him? Or give hints that it was true, or in their case, not true? Or should they just outright deny altogether? They looked like they were worried that if they let the cat out of the bag, everyone present in this room would find out and they would end up losing the case, if there were any case to be had since they're more or less Voldemort's hostages. They didn't know what to do, so they just held their tongue.

"Why are you hesitant?" Voldemort's voice hit them icily on their ears and through their thumping hearts. "Are you afraid that you will hurt my little feelings? Well, guess what? I am a little hurt right about now!!"

So saying, he swished his wand towards a nearby pedestal and blew it into a million pieces, making everyone gasp in horror. Voldemort chuckled deep in his throat.

"Now, will someone please shed some light in the dark here," Voldemort grabbed a random Ministry member and aimed his wand at her head, "or do I have to kill someone to get the answers?"

"Please, do not be rash," Albus tried to take control of the situation. "We have all the paperwork right here. If you would just read them…"

"I don't care about paperwork, old man!!" Voldemort hissed. "I want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth!! Am I or am I not being used by the Ministry for their little games?!"

No one from the Ministry dared to respond. Voldemort growled and blasted the head of the woman he had with an Exploding Curse before grabbing the next one.

"Come on. I don't have much patience here."

Still no reply, even though there were a few of them who were starting to cry and sob at the horrifying scene they had just witnessed.

"And they call me a monster," Voldemort growled and did the same with the person in his hand before reaching towards Dolores Umbridge.

"No! No! Stop!" the fat lady squealed as Voldemort held fast onto her, wincing as she felt the wand on her temple. "Do you know who I am? You can't do this to me! I am the Under Secretary of…"

"I don't give a damn if you're Merlin's old wife. I want some answers!"

"Alright! Alright, you win! It's true!"

"Dolores!" Cornelius frowned disapprovingly but was shot with Voldemort's glare.

"Shut up, you old bag of bones!" Dolores squeaked at Cornelius. "I'm not about to die for you like the rest of this sorry buggers! I'm telling! Yes, yes, it's true! You were groomed to be our assassin from the very beginning!"

"Really now?" Voldemort grinned with satisfaction, then using his wand, made a mass Levitation spell to make all the Ministry members sit right in the middle of the room, then with a wave of wandless magic, forced the rest of the crowd to one side before making his way to the pedestal that was occupied by Albus, smashed it to smithereens with his wand and circled around the petrified Ministry members. "Well then, don't stop. Do continue. And I want to hear the truth! No fabrications, no nothing! I don't want you to tell me just to humour me or whatever; I want the cold, hard truth!"

"I…It's because of a prophecy," Dolores continued, "m…made during the time when Faris 'Spout-Hole' Spavin was in office, about…about that boy Harry James Potter and that Draco Malfoy who will be the mother of the children who will unite Muggles and the wizarding world into one nation. Th…The person who made the prophecy was a very powerful Seer with accuracies of 100%, a very rare breed that happens only once every century. She did not s-s-say when will it happen, and we didn't know which specific family target or timeline we should watch out for."

"Dolores!" Cornelius said between clenched teeth.

"Oh, will you can it, old man?!" John Dawlish ribbed him. "We are in the middle of a life and death situation, there's no time for pride! We gotta tell him what we know!"

"B-B-But…" Cornelius was trying to gesture the rest of the crowd that was listening right now but the Ministry members were too fearful for their lives to care about that any longer.

"The prophecy is only known to the highest authority of the Ministry of Magic. Everyone else in the building does not know," John continued. "And it had been passed down from one generation of highest authority to another, mostly to the acting Head Ministers of the office first, since that day. First it was Faris, then it was Nobby Leach, then Milicent Bagnold and finally down to Cornelius."

"W-W-We couldn't a-a-allow th-th-that," Cornelius finally gave in. "Not after what the Muggles did to our people during the witch hunt, the worst being the one in Salem. And w-w-we can't forget the times where those Muggles often misused our powers for their benefits while we're left for naught. Why did you think we live in this world of seclusion from the Muggles in the first place?"

"Believe me, young man, you weren't the first of many assassins we tried to recruit to stop that prophecy," Barty Crouch Sr. spouted. "You're not that special."

"Oh, really now?" Voldemort loomed over him. "How exactly did you fare without me, hmm?"

"We had secret hired arms to deal with the non-purebloods based on the identity of Potter being either a blood-traitor or a non-pureblood," Ludo Bagman said timidly. "And we tried to establish a strong connection with the Malfoy family to ensure that they are on our side and that we are both on each other's take so that they could have a well-established pureblood lineage and not end up affiliated to any non-purebloods or cursed creatures of any kind. I mean who would want someone to bring the nation together be descended by a werewolf? Does that not disgust you?"

"Yes, and thank goodness your lackey Wormtail helped us with aborting the abomination growing in that Potter child, ugh!" Dolores let out a shiver of disgust. "He'd be the last person I'd approve to nurture someone who brings the nation together and spell our downfall."

Voldemort turned to Wormtail who started cowering away from him.

"I…I can explain, Master…" Wormtail trembled in his words.

"You found the boy…" Voldemort treaded towards him, his body emitting a very angry, venomous aura. "…and you never brought him back?!"

"I didn't mean to…I mean, I didn't…"

"Traitor! Now you will die!"

Wormtail let out a frightful squeak and made a run for it, turning into his Rat Animagus to try and scurry away, but Bellatrix had beat him to the punch. He had not counted on this deranged woman having no sense of fear for rats like most women do as he fell into her mercy, his tail yanked up by her and was squirming and dangling upside down in her hand as she handed the rat to Voldemort. Voldemort used his wand to hit a pressure point and forced Wormtail to revert to his human self, cowering beneath his feet.

"Master…Master, please forgive me~! I didn't mean to…I…I just don't want you to hurt the boy anymore…!"

"You dare defy me!" Voldemort snarled. "Your orders were to bring the boy back to me if you find him! You swore your allegiance to me! You swore to serve me! Don't you forget that it was me who took you in when no one else would, Wormtail!"

"M…My n…name is…P…Peter Pettigrew…" Wormtail stuttered, looking up at him with whatever last defiance and pride he had as a human being. "And Harry…is…is my friend…!"

"Then you are nothing more than garbage."

So saying, Voldemort waved his wand and shouted out a spell that materialized black tendrils of aura from underground. It picked Wormtail up and pinned him against the wall and, with another wave of the wand, sent the tendrils crawling slowly and painfully into his skin through his veins, piercing them out in tiny rose thorn-like spikes and tearing through his clothes. The whole courtroom could hear his agonized screams, but were frozen in horror to do anything. Blood began to trickle and drip all over the floor as the tendrils crawled closer and closer towards his face, wrapping itself within the veins and the inner walls of the skin of the rest of their bodies. Voldemort chuckled long and low as he watched Wormtail being tortured beyond mercy. After what seemed like forever, Wormtail was soon in shreds all over the place as the tendrils exploded within him, bursting every single vein it had crawled into, his brains, body parts, entrails, bones and almost anything that made a person's body sprawled all over the floor in a bloody pool of mess. Some screamed when the blood got onto them, but most of them were just too horrified to even react.

"Sorry for the momentary interruption," Voldemort said casually as he wiped the blood that got onto him and licked it clean. "Now where were we?"

"W-W-Well, the hired arms we secretly called in were not getting anywhere," Barty Crouch Sr. continued. "They've got every non-pureblood they could think of but not one that lead us to the Potters. We have also spoilt the Malfoys rotten but still they associated themselves with the dark and its creatures, so we had to think of someone concrete, someone that would really be under our wing yet has no ties with us."

"And we found you, through your mother," Pius Thicknesse cut in. "Your mother and her family were descended from a long line of wizard mercenaries. Your mother was a Gaunt, and the Gaunts have been in service under many kings and queens for many generations and their ancestors were students to many of Merlin's own apprentices he had trained to be wizards and witches. And your father Tom Riddle Sr., as much as a Muggle he may be, is possibly the richest, most powerful and most influential man that had ever run his part of town, so we had faith in him to raise you properly until we take you under your wing…"

"Well, we all know how it turned out, didn't we?!" Voldemort roared. "You sent me to a man who think of me as a freak and abused me like a fucking rag doll! Every day! Every day and every hour and every minute and every second of my fucking life, I was bludgeoned into believing that I am nothing but a freak of nature, a being born from Hell and a creature that shouldn't even exist! That my mother was a whore and succubus that robbed him of a chance to marry a proper woman because of me! How's that for a good plan, huh?!"

"W-W-Well, look at the b-b-bright s-s-side…" Cornelius stammered. "Y-Y-You turn out alright, right? S-S-Sure, y-y-you ended up killing your father and your adopted father, but at least y-y-you served your purpose. You have to admit that our ideology was r-r-right, right? I-I-I mean, those degenerate non-purebloods had it coming, a-a-and the Muggles do not deserve to be graced w-w-with our existence…a-a-and don't forget that it was th-th-thanks to us, you continued to elude the law…"

"I never asked for it!!" Voldemort jabbed his wand at Cornelius' gut. "I never asked for it! NEVER!! I don't serve anybody any more than I serve manipulative scumbags like you!! I am who I am: Tom Marvolo Riddle a.k.a. Voldemort, mass murderer extraordinaire, and I'm damn proud of it! I did what I did because I wanted to do it, because of the wretched non-purebloods and half-breeds that are nothing but a sick, twisted reminder of what I was! Not because you ordered me to do it! I don't even care about whatever prophecy or whatever ideology it is that you sick bastards are upholding! It's none of my fucking business!! I don't fucking serve the Ministry or anyone else like a fucking dog!! You used me, assholes, you used me!! Nobody uses Voldemort! NOBODY!!"

It dawned to everyone in the courtroom that Voldemort was no longer into his sick twisted games of keeping everyone in their toes. He was mad, extremely mad, and he was out for blood. They all prayed in their terrified little hearts that someone—anyone—would come to their rescue as they were trapped and in his mercy, their wands beyond their reach.

"Now I will show you what is it like to fuck with me!"

Using his wand, he picked all the Ministry members one by one, letting them float in the midair as he cast the same spell that he had cast onto Wormtail. Once more, the people witnessed in horror as the black tendrils crawled through the veins of every single member of the Ministry of Magic, their agonized screams echoed throughout the whole room. Even with the commotion outside and the Death Eaters holding out onto the exits, barring anyone from coming in or going out, nothing was more deafening than the screams and wails of pain and agony as they begged for mercy, for someone to help save them from their torture.

Albus tried to use the opportunity of Voldemort distracted with torturing the Ministry members to accio his wand with wandless magic, but unfortunately the monster wasn't as distracted as the old man thought he would as he used wandless magic to stop Albus in his tracks before the latter could spell out an attack. Raising the old man to the same height as the Ministry members, Voldemort clenched his fists slowly and tightly, and Albus could suddenly feel his spine breaking one by one in a torturous pace. Voldemort then did another hand motion and turned his hand clockwise, then counter-clockwise, with Albus' body contorting along with it, the old man letting out moans and groans of pain. Later, without warning, Voldemort unclenched his hands abruptly, causing the old man's back to burst inside out, his spine actually shattered like a glass smashed onto the ground as fragments of it along with his blood flew out at all directions in crimson red. His blood—large amounts of it—splattered aimlessly, staining his whole body as he choked, more blood gurgled out of his every facial orifice before Voldemort laughed out menacingly and waved his hand, throwing him headlong into one of the seats of the courtroom.

"Now," Voldemort turned to the Ministry members whose voices were going hoarse from all the screaming. "Who should I eliminate first and put them out of their misery? You?" he turned to Ludo, "Or you?" he looked jeeringly at Dolores, "Or maybe you?" he turned to Cornelius, "Hmm…Nope, I'm not going to make it that easy for you. I'm saving you, the best, for last."

With one downward flick of his arm, everyone except Cornelius exploded, ending the same way as Wormtail did as he turned the entire courtroom into a bloodbath. More people were screaming in fear as they cowered against each other, praying for dear life that their lives be spared from this. The commotion got even louder outside beyond the courtroom but somehow, the Death Eaters managed to get hold of some very powerful wards to keep them out and everyone else in. Voldemort then circled slowly around Cornelius who was still hung in midair with the black tendrils literally filling up every vein in his body, his skin impaled with the spikes like a human cactus. After being satisfied with the view, Voldemort made the tendrils disappear, as if they had never been there, minus the thousands of tiny bleeding holes that leaked out of the Minister's body. Leaving him there hanging, he grinned upward at him and licked the blood that trickled down the older man's fingers.

"How does it feel, Minister?" Voldemort hissed. "How does it feel to be at the mercy of your little protégé assassin, eh? How does it feel like to experience my handiwork that I have done to so many of the targets that you have so-called 'sent' me to do, eh? Riveting, isn't it? How do you like me now? You proud of me yet, of your little protégé?"

Before the poor guy could reply, a greenish aura blasted onto Voldemort, flinging him backwards. Voldemort's concentration of his spell was broken and made Cornelius fall onto the floor abruptly like a sack of potatoes. Voldemort almost got the air knocked out of him when his body hit one of the pedestals and tried to surged back upright, only to freeze on the spot by a powerful and cold bluish aura, ice climbing up to his waist. He struggled to move, but in vain.

"What the…That's impossible!! Who did…?"

There was a huge blinding flash and a loud blast, like someone who just let loose a pack of C4 or TNT as the exits blew open one by one. Sounds of tearing, slashing and cracking were throughout the whole courtroom as one by one, the Death Eaters were all mysteriously subdued, screaming bloody murder. Some people fell backwards by the impact but most of the blow was avoided, as if it was meant for the Death Eaters. Within moments, everyone was starting to run for the exits as a group of middle-age men and women followed behind by a strawberry-blonde made their entrance.

"Take Dumbledore and Fudge to the infirmary," one of the men gestured someone in the courtroom to tend to Albus and Cornelius as he made his way to the struggling Voldemort. "Well, well, Riddle. We meet at last."

"Who the hell are you?!" Voldemort demanded, trying to use his wandless magic to break free from the ice but it still would not budge.

"Oh, you'll know soon enough," another man smiled mysteriously at him.

The strawberry-blonde's wand was the last thing Voldemort saw before he was knocked out cold.