Fifty-sixth

The triplets had finally arrived, and it was an ecstatic Dark Lord that grinned stupidly as he stared at his children through the glass of the maternity ward. His eyes flitted from cot to cot, looking at all the other babies before the mediwitch moved three cots in front of the wide windows. The one to his left held his daughter, Samantha Eileen; she was born with pale skin and midnight black hair. Her eyes, when she finally opened them, were a glimmering ruby. Though Tom had regained most of his original form and features, his eyes couldn't be returned to their natural color. He didn't care; he was enchanted with her.

The center cot held his son, Marvolo Severus. He had thick curly brown hair and coal black eyes. His skin was the color of moonlight, and his chubby fists gripped the blankets as he wailed, demanding attention. The cot to his right held his other daughter, Tomasina Lillian. She was a lovely thing with auburn hair and hazel eyes, and was quiet and patient. Severus stood to his husband's left, staring in at his children with bemusement.

Narcissa was recovering in a private room. Tom had paid for every part of her pregnancy and delivery, thinking it was the least he could do for the incredible gift she'd given him. Harrison was with her, as was Draco. They wanted to visit with their mum, to make sure that she was healthy and safe. The pureblood revolution had made some attempts on her life as she traversed Diagon Alley. They saw her as easy prey, her pregnancy making her seem slow and ponderous. They hadn't counted on her lightning fast reflexes, and came away from the encounters with wounds ranging from broken bones to severed bits. The men who had been relieved of their manhood quit the revolution immediately and fled the country, never to be heard from again.

Now that Severus was no longer able to contribute to the eradication of their enemies, it fell to the Death Eater spies and the twins to finish off the dregs. The revolution was in chaos; leaders had fallen left and right and, with no suitable replacements, they dithered about, overwhelmed. This confusion left them open to outside influences, and the first was the powder that the twins had used on their brother.

The Nightmare powder, as they called it, was used on the next leader during the night. As with Ron, the mixture brought forth the greatest fear that the man had buried deep within his psyche, and the horrified screams brought the others running.

Domitus Bradley was thrashing violently in his bed, eyes wide and staring at something only he could see. Fletcher and Fischer hurried over to the bed and held the man down, trying desperately to keep him from injuring himself. "The chickens! The chickens!" he shrieked, dark brown orbs bulging in his terror. "Don't let them eat me!"

"Chickens?" Fabianus murmured, looking into Caesonius' eyes in confusion. "He's afraid of chickens?"

"Alektorophobia," Rabastan told the men, startling them for a moment; they'd forgotten that there were others with them. "The unreasonable fear of chickens. I was doing a research paper for my Mastery in curses, and I had talked to a Mind Healer. He told me about phobias and their definitions. I found it interesting, so I started to develop spells to mimic some of these phobias for the Dark Lord's amusement." By this time, Bradley had finally calmed down, though his eyes were still bulging and staring at nothing. Every now and then he would yammer and tremble, still in the throes of his personal horrors.

"Dreamless sleep potion," Fletcher demanded, hand held out impatiently. Albus Johanson ran to fetch it, thrusting it into the other man's hand as soon as he had returned to the bedroom. Fabianus put the vial up to the prostrate man's lips and tipped the potion into his mouth. Moments later, Domitus collapsed back to his bed, eyes closed, though everyone could see that he still twitched and writhed, as if, even in the depths of the potion, his fears could still reach him.

"Meeting. Now." Fabianus snapped, stalking angrily from the room. Everyone else followed until they reached their meeting room. Once the doors were closed and sealed with privacy wards, Fletcher turned to the rest of his compatriots, rage in his eyes. "What the bloody, buggering fuck is going on here?! We've lost two of our leaders, and the last of the original revolutionaries. We're losing new recruits, as well. First it was spider bites; now it's insanity? How are we supposed to fight against this and still return the Dark Lord to his original glory?"

Diagon Alley was busy. Tom and his family, as well as the Malfoys and Lestranges, were out on Saturday to pick up things for their children. The babies had taken up a good amount of Tom's and Severus' attention, but they always made sure to spend time with Harrison. The raven was overjoyed at the arrival of his brother and sisters, and he could often be found cuddling them and playing with them, Draco by his side. So Tom decided to take his family out, including the extended portion, and treat them to a nice lunch followed by a baby shopping trip.

Agammemnon Ketchum was lurking in the alleyway between Madame Malkin's robe shop and Flourish and Blott's book store, watching the homey scene with narrowed, furious eyes. I am glad to see that the Lestranges are still holding up their end by continuing to spy on the Dark Lord and the little bastard, he thought angrily. I just hope that they can get something useful out of this visit. He began to follow the group at a distance. He didn't want to alert them to his presence, and was unaware of the twin menaces right behind him.

They had been told that the family would be in the Alley this day, and were instructed by Limus Parkinson to be on the lookout for any suspicious characters. Parkinson had also told them that, because of the precarious positions the Death Eaters held in the revolution, they were forced to report the movements of Tom and Harrison, as well as Severus. Though they were able to keep some things secret, they couldn't keep all knowledge of the Riddles' whereabouts to themselves; after all, they had to appear to be helping. That didn't stop Tom's friends and supporters from reporting on the revolutionists' positions and movements, either.

Fred and George had enjoyed the trip to the Laurentian wilderness in Quebec, and, along with the bloodroot, they had found an abundance of herbs and plants that they could use for their products. As soon as the group had returned from their 'field trip', the Weasleys had locked themselves away in an independent potions lab in the dungeons, working tirelessly to turn the caustic substance into a weapon. They'd succeeded a few days before the triplets were born, and were excited for the chance to test it out.

The redheads kept a decent distance between themselves and the danger to their friends, watching and waiting until the opportune moment presented itself so that they could test the escharotic to see how effective it was. They had mixed the bloodroot with a potion that Severus had given them that enhanced the effects of the plant, making the paste more fluid so that it could cover a larger area more quickly. The potion itself would not inhibit the actions of the root in any way; it was only meant to give it better liquidity.

The families wound their way through the Alley, stopping in one shop or another to pick up what they needed or wanted for the babies, then continued to meander through the throngs of people. Every now and then someone would stop the group and gush over the babies, then thank Malfoy and Riddle for their efforts to better their world. Each encounter was overheard by Ketchum, and made the man angrier and angrier. Finally, the group reached a quiet, secluded spot, perhaps to have a picnic lunch; perhaps to apparate away. Their plans were unknown and unrealized, for Ketchum took that opportunity, away from the crowds, to pull his wand and fling a cutting curse at the group.

Rodolphus and Lucius stepped in front of the families protectively, and the curse hit the blond in the face, scoring his cheek deeply. Blood poured from the wound, making Narcissa gasp in horror as she pressed a hand to the bleeding wound. Before the attacker could raise his wand again, he was spun around as George gripped his shoulder and yanked, hard. Fred uncorked the vial and threw the potion into the revolutionist's face, watching with satisfaction as the bloodroot did its job.

At first, there was a bubbling and hissing, as if it were a cauldron on the verge of explosion. But then, as the potion sank into the man's pores, the screams began as his flesh started to drip and run. Blood flowed freely from his face as his skin started to ooze and weep as it was eaten away. Agammemnon threw his hands up to his face, clutching at his skin desperately. The transfer of potion from face to hands was immediate, as was the acidic effect of the plant root contained within the liquid. Large, open, pustulant sores grew on his hands and he fell to his knees, weakened by the pain and loss of blood. He tipped over onto his side, his screams warbling from his mouth.

The potion dripped into the open cavern, eating through his tongue and the soft palate in the roof of his mouth, causing even more pain and screaming as the sensitive flesh disappeared under the caustic acid. Fluids ran down the man's throat, effectively silencing him as the bloodroot did its work on his vocal chords and his esophagus. Everyone watched as he choked to death on his own liquified flesh and blood, his hands falling limply from the ruin of his face, his nearly eyeless sockets staring at the sky.

"Merlin," Harrison shuddered dramatically, turning to burrow into his dad's chest. Lucius stood next to the Dark Lord, his face repaired by his wife, and put a hand on the shivering teen's shoulder in comfort.

"That was rather horrifying," Rabastan murmured, glancing at his sister-in-law as she turned away from the body. "I daresay that was more horrible than anything you've ever done, Tom."

"I would agree wholeheartedly," Riddle replied, running his hands through his son's hair comfortingly. He looked at the twins, who were pale and shaking. "Well done, boys. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that we need to keep that particular formula under wraps."

"N-no, Tom," George whispered, voice trembling.

"No worries," Fred echoed, shivering a little at what they'd done. Both boys were feeling a little guilty at their role in the way that the man had died. In spite of everything that the pureblood revolution had put them through, they didn't think anyone should have to suffer like that. Draco saw the thoughts in the twins' eyes, and his own silver orbs hardened.

"Would you rather they put Harrison through what Burke had done to him?" the blond snapped, jarring everyone out of their thoughts. Two pair of sad blue eyes looked at the Malfoy heir uncomprehendingly. "Had they been successful in capturing Harrison again, I've no doubt that they would have done worse to him than this. We are fighting against separatists who wish for violence and bloodshed. We cannot be afraid to retaliate in kind."

"We know," Fred said, eyes still on the carcass.

"We just didn't expect our invention to be so brutal," George added, his own eyes on Fred.

"Nor so ugly," they said in unison.

"I understand how you feel," Tom told the twins gently. "It's hard to take a life, and it leaves a mark on you. However, I'm very proud of what you've accomplished. This tincture will go a long way in helping us protect not only ourselves and our families, but the wizarding world as a whole. We need to be prepared for anything, and we need to be prepared to do anything to protect ourselves and our way of life."