Cassiopeia slowly lifted Harry's forehead back, feeling the until now unnoticed lightning bolt scar identical to his brother's.
She ran her finger over it again to be sure of what she felt for only a moment before she poured the potion down his throat without a second thought.
The reaction was immediate, just not the one she intended.
Magic, pure and raw radiated from his body forcing away everything from him as he glowed in gold.
Then other colors flashed: red, gold, silver, and green twirled about the room as the boy began to scream.
His facial features began to change and they both heard the cracking of rearranging bones as they were pushed against the wall.
At last a red and gold griffin erupted from his body while a silver and green snake joined it.
They fought each other, neither gaining ground as magic continued to pour from the boy's body.
Cassi stared straight ahead, fixed upon the battle until they seemed to join in the middle.
She could not name the creature that stared her down, but it disappeared back into the boy's body before he fell to the ground.
Neither moved for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly the boy gasped and searched the room frantically for a moment before his eyes landed on Regina.
"Mummy?" the boy croaked. His eyes looked around the room taking in the destruction.
"Did I do this?" The poor girl had teared up when the boy called for her and didn't seem to be able to speak.
The boy, no Aries she reminded herself, looked the picture perfect of a young Regulus and yet the Malfoy look was there.
Nothing remained of the Potter boy before, save for the small green flecks Cassiopeia noticed in his eyes.
There was something else there too she thought, something foreign that she couldn't quite place.
She reached out into his mind, and was comforted knowing the his subconscious had not rejected his change in identity, but then she noticed it.
The darkness was gone, as was the pull on his magic. The boy's power radiated from him and she had never felt a child, even up to the age of eleven, as powerful as Aries' felt.
Regina had finally regained her senses and rushed to the boy, wrapping him up in her arms as tears flowed freely.
Cassi gave her head a shake and took out her wand, a diagnostic spell already on her lips. Aries was in perfect health and the paternity test came back as she expected.
It was then that the power she had felt was confirmed. It was everything else that shocked her to the core.
Again and again she cast different spells, always receiving the same results. Items throughout the room started to float and the giggle reaching her ears was pure joy.
Aries waved his hand, and everything stopped.
Then she felt it again, that pure and raw magic.
Aries' eyes seemed to glow, the green specks becoming more dominant as he waved his hands again causing the items to continue to swirl.
Suddenly Regina's tears turn to tears of joy has she spun the boy around. The two laughed as if it wasn't the first time.
The boy had regained his magic. Not just that, but he was powerful! Powerful enough to one day challenge Dumbledore, and perhaps return the House of Black back to prominence.
Slowly another plan began to form in the mind of Cassiopeia.
As she looked at the joy of mother and son, she only wished the Potters knew just exactly what they had caused leaving that boy on the doorstep of Number Four Privet Drive.
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Cassiopeia woke with a long sigh, and slowly lifted the covers to get out of bed. It was the screaming that woke her, though it did not surprise her nor really frighten her one bit.
This was expected after all, it was Aries' second night off the potion, and the worst nightmares seemed to happen on the second night.
They had started a year ago, just after the accident. Sometimes that very accident was the thing that released an anguished scream that tore at the young boy's throat.
Others though, and it made goosebumps rise on her skin, seemed as if they were memory, but they could not be his own.
That had been what pushed her to purchase a pensieve. For nearly a month straight, night after night, Aries poured nightmares into the pensieve, until she had feared entering it.
After the worst nightmare he had to date, she had decided to begin filling it with memories of her family and her time at Hogwarts.
It was after one such memory about her time at the school that Aries had exited the pensieve, pale and vomiting his breakfast.
That was when they truly realized they were no dreams, not even nightmares, but memories.
Occlumency had soon not become a desire but a necessity. Aries had always had a natural ability for Legilimency, often answering questions before they were asked and knowing things he should not have.
Protecting his mind had helped for a while, but then the nightmare memories returned in force.
That was when Cassiopeia had turned to Dreamless Sleep Potion. S
he was careful, often following the directions to the extreme to ensure the young boy did not develop an addiction and hiding its whereabouts deep in the recesses of her mind so he would not find it through passive Legilimency.
A year these nightmares had plagued him, and they only seemed to be getting worse.
Cassiopeia had watched a few of the nightmares and she had yet to discover just who they belonged to.
She passed idly by the empty portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, her grandfather.
He had been a welcome surprise, keeping her informed of nearly everything Albus Dumbledore was doing.
It was how she had heard of Harry Potter's death when Aries turned five, a mysterious disappearance no one could answer, not even the muggles.