79 Old Friend

Aurora's POV

The first thing that came to her view was a familiar white ceiling, and even more familiar was the disgusting smell of potions. But for some reason, She was happy to be here, After all her subconscious knew that she was now safe. She could feel a comfy bed under her. It was quite dark, The only light that slightly illuminated the room was the faint moonlight that came from the window. She could see the half-moon through the windows which illuminated the entire school. Strangely enough, Even though she had seen the moon countless times, Aurora found it quite beautiful today. It was not just the moon, The bed infirmary felt more comfortable than her extremely comfortable bedroom bed. Hell, she was even liking the smell of the disgusting potions in the infirmary.

After appreciating everything her eyes finally fell on the man who was sleeping on the chair at the foot of her bed. Her father was sleeping with his head leaned forwards which was supported with his chest, He was wearing the same shirt he was wearing when she last saw him. Right now he had a copy of daily prophet in his hand with her's and Harry's photo on the front page with the title 'THE TWO CHAMPIONS OF THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT ATTACKED, BLAIR BRADLEY CLAIMS HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS'

Seeing the title suddenly brought back the memories of the day of the third task, She felt a chill down her spine as she got an illusion of two cold red eyes looking at him, After the initial fear, she recalled the words that Voldemort said during their so-called duel, Now that she thinks about it, everything adds up, her being Grindlewald blood and her being able to perform formidable spells at such young age.

"You are awake," She heard a relief filled tired voice from the front. Her father was awake, His face looked a little worn out, Same can be said about his grey eyes, There were black patches under them.

"Water?"

Now that her father has mentioned it, She felt her neck dry, It was so dry that she just gave him a small nod. Blair made a smooth hand motion and a glass of water was presented in front of her. She took it and her mind again began to preoccupy with what Voldemort said.

Both of them went into silence for a brief moment before Blair again started the conversation.

"You have been asleep for nearly 2 days, because of sleeping potion. Madam Pomfrey advised that it would be wise to let your mind heal first before waking you up," To which she just another nod in response before looking down at her hand to avoid Blair's stares.

Both of them again went into a brief silence. Blair kept on staring at her waiting for a response. The last 2 days have been no less than hell for him, maybe it was because of how Olivia lost her sanity, He was quite sensitive to crucio curse victims, and to make the matter worst this one-sided conversation reminded him of the days he used to talk with Olivia in the Hospital ward. It pained him to see his talkative daughter so silent.

After a minute or two of silence, Blair got up from his chair and approached her before placing his right hand on her head. He assumed his daughter was silent because of the traumatic experience she experienced in the graveyard which was a half-truth.

"I'll be back in the evening maybe by then we could talk. I have already missed 2 of the emergency meetings in Wizengamote. Take care," Before walking away leaving his troubled faced daughter behind, who was troubled by her existence right now.

Wizengamote, Ministry of Magic.

Right now the entire Wizengamtoe was in chaos, all the members were discussing with each other about what was happening right now, Ignoring the fact that they must keep quiet during such time.

Dumbledore stood in the middle of the courtroom facing everyone with a calm expression. Everyone had different expressions on their faces, Few of them had hidden fear in their eyes and others had unacceptance, They were didn't want to accept the fact that the Dark Lord was back. After all, a decade and a half was not enough to forget the horrors of the first wizarding war.

The Ministry of magic's face was also showing an expression, But it was different from all of the other members. His face was red with anger.

Before the meeting the limpidly walking Lucious has told him that Dumbledore and Blair Bradley would try to convince Wizengamote that Voldemort was back, to take his seat as even though both of the individuals were highly respected figures in the wizarding world, They couldn't just win the elections out of the blue. They wanted to create a chaotic situation, where power was needed, and as both of them were one of the most powerful men alive, they could claim to minimize the damage by running for the ministry of magic and could easily replace him.

"Cornelius you must listen," Dumbledore said calmly, by now the old headmaster knew that there was no use convincing him as the idiot in front of him had already made up his mind and would not be convinced even if he brought Voldemort himself in front of him, but he still gave it a last shot.

"There is nothing t...." He stopped in midsentence as Blair who has been sitting quietly for the entire time got up from his seat and walked through the crowd towards the middle where Dumbledore was standing.

"I know this is pointless, so let's just get straight to the point," There was restrained anger as well as an annoyance in his voice which went unnoticed by everyone, " Voldemort is back again and I fought him in the graveyard, I also have proof...."

He took out a small wooden box which was the size of a human skull with a small pipe attached to it. He slowly sucked the air from the pipe before releasing it at the front. White smoke came out of his mouth slowly expanding everywhere in the courtroom before instantly transforming into different colors making a terrible image of the monster who was feared by the entire world. Many members gasped in horrors and terrors, except a few like Amelia Bones and Barty Crouch looking at the images in a serious expression.

Even though Blair knew that Barty Crouch Sr was imperioused to send Aurora and Harry to the graveyard and was not his fault, He still was angry with the former head of the magical law enforcement.

After that, it began to play like a video reel, It showed, Blair and Voldemort's entire fight. Blair paused when the smoke showed the image of Peter Pettigrew.

"You might not recognize this....ba.....person. But this person is responsible for killing 14 muggles on the night of 31 October 1981 Peter Pettigrew instead of Sirius Black, Sirius Black was not guilty,"

"Ridiculous! This is completely ridiculous," Fudge shouted as chaos again spread throughout the courtroom. Crouch's serious expression changed into disbelief, Amelia still had a serious expression but can see few gears moving in her head, As for Dumbledore he looked calm from the outside, but was delighted that Blair brought the wrongful imprisonment of Sirius in it. Even though it was a minor issue compared to Voldemort, It would still be noted and would be published in The Daily Prophet tomorrow which would at least clear a little dust from Sirius' shoulder, Even though it was not enough to prove him innocent.

"I have shown you my memories...what other proof do you need..."

"THAT'S DOSENT makes it evidence....it could be fake...As everyone knows you are a formidable wizard and could easily alter your own memories," Fudge was now shouting "And to slander Mister Pettegrew, You know there is a law against falsely slandering anyone,"

"You...sigh...'fuck this'.....I vote for no confidence in Cornelius Fudge to lead us against Voldemort. It would doom out society that we have worked so hard to build after the last war, those who are in favor of this decision please raise your hand," Few of the members raised their hands Barty sr, Amelia Bones, and Dumbledore included. But unfortunately, only 35% of the members were in favor of this decision and most of them raised their hands because they believed in Blair and Dumbledore not because of what they just saw. Blair looked at everyone's face before giving a tired sigh. He really hated politics.

After the Wizengamote meeting.

"You shouldn't have done that," Dumbledore said as both of them walked out of the courtroom.

"What? showing them the truth?" Blair glanced at the old man.

"No, not that, this will at least place a hint of doubt in the hearts of the member. I am talking about the vote of no confidence, It will make Fudge act against us in a more aggressive manner,"

"Well, at least we know who is with us and thankfully Amelia is with us,"

"With that, I can't disagree, I just wished you should have shown more patience,"

"I need a favor," Blair changed the topic. He was regretting letting his anger took over him during his presentation.

"Ohh?" Dumbledore decided to drop the topic as it was nothing but a small setback. The more important thing was that his stubborn muggleborn friend was asking for a favor which was quite rare. "What can I do for you?"

"I would like you to place to few ward on my new estate?"

"In front of Sirius' house?" Dumbledore asked casually, He already knew about the house as Dumbledore asked for information about all of the estates owned by order members which was semi-formed. First, it was decided to make one of the estates of Longbottoms, But Sirius insisted on having his home as the headquarter.

"Yes, Even though I could place a few wards on them, It never hurts to place few wards from the most powerful wizard in the world,"

"Surely you exaggerate,"

"Modest are we, I have seen wards that you have placed on Hogwarts which are even stronger than the founders' ward"

"Now now, How can this old man say no to someone who is trying to impress me so much," Dumbledore stopped on the apparation point, Both of them knew that he was joking, after all, He was going to place the wards anyway, "Shall we?"

The old man disapparated.

"I wasn't sucking up to you," Blair muttered, also disappearing.

Both of them apparated in front of the newly constructed medieval era looking mansion. It was a 3 story building made up of ancient-looking walls and a small garden in front of it which was like Grindlewald's estate, filled with Daisies, Which represent some memories from the past, and a fountain of a woman with a pot on her shoulder in the middle, water was running through the pot, nonstop. The art of the sculpture was top-notch, It was so well carved that even the clothes on her face gave an illusion of transparency.

"Looks lovely," Dumbledore complemented, as he looked at the sculpture.

"It emptied more than half of my life savings,"

"Hmm, so shall we?" The old man took out his 13-inch wand.

"Of course," Blair also took out his wand.

And just like that, The Bradley Mansion became one of the most heavily warded places in the entire world, Maybe the only place safer then this house would be Hogwarts. Which was warded by multiple generations of headmasters, Merlin, and the four founders themselves.

They returned to Hogwarts in the middle of the night as it took hours toward the place. Dumbledore went to his living quarters, whereas Blair went to the infirmary. Aurora was sleeping soundly probably due to dreamless potions, Madam Pomfrey recommended it, to avoid any nightmare. After all, they are common when someone goes through such a traumatic experience. He took out his wand and casted an alarm ward on the infirmary on the door before taking off his heavy coat and placing it on the table beside the bed. He sat on the chair placed at the foot of the bed, He gave Aurora a last look before folding his arms and went to sleep.

The next time his eyes opened, Aurora was already awake and was reading Daily Prophet. There was his photo standing in front of Wizengamote with the title, BLAIR BRADLEY APPEALED FOR A NO CONFIDENCE VOTE, MINISTER FUDGE CLAIMS MINISTER BRADLEY WANT TO REPLACE HIM, IS THE NEWS OF THE RETURN OF YOU KNOW WHO FALSE? WAS SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT?

Blair sneered before looking at Aurora who was now looking at him with a hidden nervousness and resolution.

"Good morning,"

"Good morning," Aurora said in a small voice, she put down the newspaper on her lap before looking at him with hesitation.

In a brief moment,

"Father, What am I,"

" What?" Blair asked confused about what she was saying.

"Before you came, V....V.....You know who said something about me being created like himself," Aurora who used to easily say Voldemort's name a few days ago was now calling him as 'You know who' like every other person in the wizarding world. But Blair was too shocked to notice it, He was also a little panicked. After all, he wasn't prepared for this conversation, If it was up to him, he would never let her found out about it.

" Maybe he was mistaken or maybe he was trying to manip....."

" Don't lie to me father, I know he was talking about me. I have been thinking about it for the entire day, and it all adds up, After all, Grindelwald has been in prison for years and he doesn't have any offspring. So father tell me the truth,"

" Aurora, What..." Blair was quite troubled, He didn't know what to tell her.

" Don't deny it, father," Aurora's voice raised a little.

Both of them went into a brief silence.

" I....sigh...look how about we talk about it other time, Both of us are not ready for the conversation.....you should just get some rest..."

Surprisingly she agreed which was unlike her normal demeanor. If it was the Aurora in the past, she would have pestered him until he tells her and frankly, he liked that Aurora, full of life, open, immature, and a brat who would ask for any outrageous things. This Aurora was quiet, disturbingly quiet.

After half a minute of brief silence.

"I have been thinking about this and I think even though I am some Artificial experment..." Aurora's voice trembled a little.

"Don't you ever dare call yourself that," Blair said in a loud sharp voice, with a hint of anger in it. She was never an experiment, Obsession? agreed, but never an experiment. He had spent half of his life to revive her, Not to just perform some experiment, and it angered him that she was thinking of herself as an experiment.

"Just listen.....even though I may have been made by magic," Blair made a sharp grunt, "Even though I dont have biological parents, I know that you still love me more then any other parents love their kids, Do you think I am not aware of outrageous things I ask of you, but you still fulfill it. Just look at yourself right now, I can see dark patches under your eyes due to lack of sleep and you have been sleeping on the chair even though I am out of danger," Aurora just gave him a bright smile with little misty eyes.

This shocked him quite a bit, After all, right now she was saying so many mature things, unlike her usual self. Soon A small smile crept on his tired face, After all, what she said was true, He loved her more than anyone in the world.

"Promise me one more thing,"

"What?"

"Don't you dare call yourself parentless, Until I am dead, and I am planning on living a long life." Blair gave her a small smile.

"Yes father" She just gave him a bright smile, her grey eyes still moist.

....

The farewell feast was chaos, Dumbledore openly called out the resurrection of Voldemort with which nearly all of the students were panicking. The only ones who remained calm were the students whose parents were death eaters.

Blair and the kids were standing in front of the departing Hogwarts Express as they bid farewell to Harry and Nicholas who was sitting with Luna right now.

"Let's go home, I have a surprise for you," Blair smiled, All of the three kids looked at him curiously. They didn't know about the house that he was building. Blair wanted it to be a surprise.

"Lucas,"

The house-elf apparated in front of them, Already knowing what he had to do.

"let's go"

He reached out both of his hand, Aurora and Melania grabbed them, whereas Sirius grabbed the house elf's hand, and the next thing they knew they were standing in front of medieval era looking majestic mansion.

"Since when does this area have a mansion like this," Aurora muttered to herself.

"Welcome to Bradley's estate," Blair said as he gestured towards the house, "From now on I will be living here"

"???"

"What?"

"What?"

Malfoy estate.

Right now the most feared man in the wizarding world was sitting on his throne with 15 men in black clocks kneeling in front of him and Corvus Riddle standing by his side respectfully, reporting to him and giving him his suggestions.

"....We could also start training camps, To counter the Auroras. I suggest we pay more attention to quality rather than quantity and father don't have to worry about these trivial things, I will personally overlook their training. The more important thing is it to break out mother and other of our loyal followers, Mother alone will restore 1/4th of our power," No one other than him, his mother and few core members dared to say such things like talking responsibilities in front of Voldemort After all dark lord trusted few people.

" Even though what you said is true..... I am still disappointed to see such a small group of the inner circle in front of me, Have their loyalties withered after years of my absence?" There was power in his cold voice as well as a hint of anger.

Suddenly all of the death eaters in front of him trembled a bit. They felt a sharp pain in their right arm. It was not only them, but Death eaters all around the world were also feeling the same pain and this meant only one thing, their lord was calling them.

Azkaban where hundreds of prisoners are tortured regularly. There was one cell where there were close to non-Dementor, As is if they were afraid to go there. A woman wearing worn-out clothes was sitting at the corner of the cell. Looking at the moon through the small window. There was a crazy glint in her black eyes as she clutched her hand with yearning.

"My....lord....is calling...me...He will come.....He will come for us.....CAN YOU FEEL IT....RODOLPHUS...IT WON'T BE LONG UNTIL...HE WILL BREAK US OUT OF THIS PRISON...HE WILL REWARD US...WE WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO SEARCHED FROM HIM...WE WERE THE ONLY ONE FAITHFUL TO HIM.....HE WILL REWARD US.." One can only hear crazy laughter from that cell the entire night.

The exact night, Blair was standing in front of his library table with a black sword placed on it. There was still dried blood on it which Blair forgot to clean before keeping it away. The dueling teacher sighed before taking it in his hand. He never wanted to pick up this weapon again. After all, it was only needed when the situation was dire and that would only happen during the war.

'Hello Old Friend'