A completed promise (Patreon)

Aerion Targaryen, Dragonfall Fortress

The tranquility of Aerion Targaryen's private quarters was interrupted by a slight sound in the room, characteristic of the apparition, a few moments later, Aerion and Lilian appeared in the room

Sighing, Lilian spoke

"It's finally over, the bastard is dead" as she hugged Aerion tightly, tears escaped from her eyes without being able to contain them, the murderer of her parents, the cause of so much suffering was finally simple history

Aerion took Lilian in his arms tightly, and the young woman crumbled, her legs lost strength, and the accumulated fatigue from the hunt for the soul anchors began to take its toll, Lilian muttered

"I leave Ginny and Hermione in the castle" the young woman's voice was heard drowsy, now that the danger had passed, her body demanded a well-deserved rest

Aerion simply spoke “I'll send them a Patronus, it's important that they get things in order, we don't know when the Muggles will attack in England, with the death of Voldemort, we must hasten the exodus”

Lilian nodded as she yawned and looked at Aerion spoke

"I'm exhausted my love, I must rest" the redhead's eyes closed constantly, Lilian's body worked on reserve energy

Aerion nodded, took out his wand and with a gentle motion, Lilian's clothes and dirt disappeared, instead a comfortable robe adorned her body, Aerion simply replied

"Sleep" as he ran his wand over his wife's face, who simply closed her eyes gently, too exhausted to fight Aerion's spell

The young man delicately levitated Lilian's body and laid her on the bed, his little flower would sleep for quite some time, however, there were still things to do, the siege of Gringotts had to be planned, Aerion swore that he would finish off those damn beasts, after all

However... there was one more thing to do, a promise that, after three years, Aerion was able to fulfill

Letting Lilian rest, Aerion appeared in the castle's kitchens, surprising the elves, who, upon seeing him, came to serve him

Aerion watched as a rather elderly elf, at least 150 years old, wearing a red robe with black accents, with the Targaryen family dragon stamped on the front, was Darka, the elf he rescued a couple of years ago,

“Master Aerion, what can I do for you?” Aerion smiled at the old elf, who was in charge of coordinating the rest of the elves in the castle, Aerion replied kindly

"Hello Darka, I'm just coming for you know what, it's time" at those simple words, the elf's eyes widened, paralyzed for an instant by her master's words, then the old elf nodded and, with a snap of her fingers, Aerion watched as a bottle of "Dragon's blood" slowly flew towards him, accompanied by two glasses

Aerion took them with a lost look, his thoughts were on their fate, he thanked Darka and with nothing more to say, Aerion disappeared from the castle to an unknown destination

Somewhere in Devon, England

The silent night was interrupted by the dry sound of the apparition of Aerion, who had arrived at a clearing in the forest, quite hidden from Muggles, the young dragon walked down the wet dirt road, not caring about staining his robe or his boots, with only one thought in his mind

The oath, the one he took so long ago

At the end of the road, Aerion reached the tree they had planted, it had grown quite a bit, apparently Neville's fertilizer worked wonders

Aerion was sure that, he, would have loved it, he always liked herbology, like any Hufflepuff, Aerion thought amusedly, tears threatened to escape his eyes, but Aerion held them back

He had to break the good news to his brother, after all

When he arrived, Aerion's gaze was fixed on the icy gray stone that was innocently placed at the foot of the tree, using all the power of his not so good occlumency, Aerion read

Cedric Diggory

Beloved son and the best brother who ever lived

1977-1995

When he arrived, Aerion took a deep breath and with his own hands, opened the bottle of wine, the first bottle he created, the one that he and Cedric swore to open the day they graduated from Hogwarts

That privilege that was taken from his brother so cruelly, killed like a mere animal

A son, a brother, a lover, Cedric was loved and admired by many, and he could have become great, if only he had been given the opportunity

Alas, the world is cruel, Aerion poured two glasses, placed one at the foot of the tombstone and took a seat to the side, for a few minutes, he didn't say anything, until he started to speak

"I'm finally done brother, Riddle is dead, as well as the cockroach that took your life" and as if by magic, Aerion began to speak, with more and more difficulty

“Things are going well, Lilian is my wife, can you believe it? The elves say she has the temperament of a dragon, and Aunt Visenya approves, you would have seen the first time they chatted, Lilian cast a curse at Visenya when she questioned her magical power, she had never seen them so furious” Aerion let out a small wet laugh

Aerion continued “Uncle Amos and Aunt Lucinda are fine, they miss you a lot, they are safe, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them brother, I promise you, they are happy taking care of little Aerion” the young man's voice began to break

"Aerion, your son, Cho told me that, in case you two had a son, you wanted to name him after me, to honor your brother from another mother, I never felt so touched, I can assure you that they will not lack anything, I will take care of everything, don't worry" Aerion paused to drink the wine, and threw some of the wine from Cedric's cup into the roots

Aerion had a blank stare, yet he continued to speak

"Cho still misses you, Lilian tells her that she must rebuild her life, which is what you would have wanted, but apparently she is still quite affected by your departure, we will also take care of her, don't worry" Aerion looked at his glass angrily, until he continued

"I'm done, the person responsible for your departure is dead, so why don't I feel better? Why does it still hurt as much as that damn day when you left brother?” Aerion got up with a bang and threw the cup to the ground, at the same time screaming

"WHYY?" the fury in Aerion's eyes was evident, for years, he had planned this moment, to finish off Cedric's murderer, however, now that he had succeeded, he felt nothing, a simple emptiness, he was so unfocused that the young man did not notice the presence of another person, until he heard a soft voice

"Because we both know that he won't come back, no matter what we do" Aerion looked at the voice, and looked at Cho who was holding little Aerion in her hands, who, seeing him, screamed from his mother's arms

"Unca Ae" then, Cho placed the little boy on the ground, who ran awkwardly towards Aerion with his arms raised, Aerion simply smiled at the young man and lifted him up several times forcefully, to the delight of the young man, Cho smiled at the image, however, there was pain in her eyes

As he looked at her, Aerion spoke

"What are you doing here? It's still not safe and I don't see any escorts” Cho just made a nonchalant movement with his hand and replied

"Riddle is dead, the spies reported that the Muggles will begin an offensive against the wizarding community in a few days, I wanted to bring Aerion to say goodbye to his father, before embarking on the next adventure" Cho's voice spoke sadly

Aerion knew that Cho had clung to the little guy with her whole being, the woman was literally living for her son, Aerion knew it was wrong, but he couldn't judge her, in her situation, Aerion doesn't think he was better off than her 

The young dragon spoke “Tomorrow I'll whip Gringotts out with the Deepfall clan, I plan to loot every last knut of those damn beasts, by the time the Muggles attack Diagon Alley, it will be completely empty, all traces of magic will be gone” at those words, Cho simply nodded and replied

"We'll be ready, I've moved my contacts in Ravenclaw, most half-bloods and Muggleborn are willing to swear allegiance, purebloods are too proud." Aerion nodded and spoke

"Okay, I understand that many will prefer to stay, it's not our problem, I'll look after my people, the Veela are already moving everything to the island, magical creatures and plants are in stasis, and the rune farms produce food constantly, we'll be fine" Cho nodded at those words, however, he couldn't help but ask

"Are you sure, where we are going we will be well received?" Aerion paused for a moment, until he nodded calmly and spoke

"We will be, my parents govern those lands, we will have a place to settle, I promise" Cho looked at Aerion doubtfully and answered

"But your parents think you're dead, remember what Dalla said, she took you away from your parents," Aerion interrupted

"To save my life, if my mother Dalla had not escaped, I would be dead." Mother Dalla, as Aerion called her, was a maiden in the service of Queen Aemma, and who had saved Aerion that tragic night

Cho, feeling the delicacy of the subject, simply nodded, both of them remaining in complete silence, enjoying the night, until, Aerion spoke

"I have to go, I must wait for the Hogwarts report and prepare the guard for the attack tomorrow" Cho simply nodded and spoke

"I understand, I'll stay a moment longer, this will be the last time I'll be in this place, after all."

Aerion nodded, and without a word, disappeared

Dragonfall fortress, Aerion private tower

Appearing in his study, Aerion looked with surprise that someone was waiting for him, Marla had returned, Aerion assumed that, with the report of the battle

Taking a seat and ordering his Valkyrie to do the same, Aerion spoke

"Is everything okay?" Faced with concern, the beautiful woman smiled softly and replied

"All right my prince, some of the girls are injured and we lost a third of the magic constructs, nothing that is not easy to replace" at those words, Aerion nodded and spoke

"Then give me a report dear" and Marla obeyed

"As you ordered, we exterminated all the Dead eaters we saw, however, we estimate that at least a hundred managed to escape, the giants and werewolves were completely hunted, the corpses are being processed as we speak," Aerion nodded pleased, Marla continued

"Severus Snape is preparing the castle for the compression process, we have the containment stone ready, Hogwarts will disappear from the maps tomorrow morning and will be moved to Dragonfall, ready for transfer" there was pride in the tone of the woman, who watched with pleasure as Aerion looked at her with pride

The young dragon spoke “Excellent Marla, great job” at those words, Marla smiled radiantly, Aerion spoke

"Did you assign the rest of your duties to your sisters?" Aerion asked curiously

Marla, with a big blush, simply nodded, looking at Aerion and waiting for orders, her prince had said that she would have obligations of another kind tonight

And Marla loved to serve the young dragon

Aerion nodded and spoke

“My wife is still asleep, so she won't join in our fun until later, order the elves to prepare my private bath and wait for me there, as soon as I'm done I'll go up and hope to see you ready, understand?” Aerion was already writing some documents, so the Valkyrie leader replied

"crystal, my prince," and then she left the room, ready to carry out the young man's order

Aerion sighed, he had to finish these documents before he could enjoy his warrior

Aerion spent a couple of hours in his office, giving Marla enough time to get everything ready and Lilian to rest

After all, they'd have a busy night