AN:

So here it is! The beginning of the next installment in my 'Noble' House of Black series.

Hello Chamber of Secrets!

I haven't worked out the logistics of when I'll be updating, but I'll get on that and I shouldn't be outside of the one week limit.

Disclaimers:

1. I know there's no such thing as god-brothers - just roll with it.

2. I am aware that Sirius and his brother Regulus were cousins to Bellatrix and Andromeda - but for the purposes of this story, they're siblings.

3. Marlene McKinnon was, for the purposes of this story, muggleborn. I never found any proof otherwise and despite many claims that she is pureblood, I haven't been proven wrong, either. On another note, if this fact bothers you, well, it's AU so... yeah. :)

Sidenote: To the reviewer that wanted me to PM the response to reviews, I'm sorry, I tried to do that but I kept losing track of who said what or what've I've already answered and who I hadn't and it was just a whole lot of confusion on my end. But, in an effort to make things less difficult, and thus more accessible to you, I'll be putting all answers to all reviews at the end of each chapter; my apologies for any inconvenience this causes! :)

I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Enjoy!

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Lucius gave his son a fraction of his attention, nodding and speaking where necessary, but his mind was otherwise occupied.

He was a fool. A scared, idiotic fool; but what he did, he always did for the safety of his family, for the safety of those who depended on him, for those who lived under his roof.

Did he believe in all of the purist bullshit floating around? Maybe, once upon a time he had, but now? Now he didn't know what to believe…he didn't care what he believed in as long as it kept his family, and his self, safe from the impending darkness only few and far between were aware of.

Looking to his wife, who sat at the opposite end of their dining table; Lucius's studied the worried circles beneath her eyes, took in the buried worry of a mother for her children – and children was the correct term.

His gaze then moved to his ward, the child of a brother-in-law that had been disowned and consequently caught in the crossfires of the first war, abandoning a half-blood child that could never fit in, wherever she was placed. She would forever be the daughter of the one who supposedly murdered all that good wizards had been attempting to protect, or the mixed blood offspring with the diluted bloodlines all dark wizards had fought to eradicate from this world; a battle that was on its way to springing up once more – and there was no doubt in Lucius' mind that Lillian would escape this impending battle scathe free.

Lucius would never tell a soul, rarely even allowed himself to think it, but the fact that Lillian would be as big a target as Harry Potter – considering who her father is and what he had done – infuriated him.

Steely grey eyes suddenly turned to catch his own and he wondered what the young Slytherin could see; for Lillian was anything but stupid, she was far more intelligent than her father had ever been and Lucius had to concede that she probably owed her intelligence to her mother; not that Lucius could honestly recall her mother very well, just that she had been rather beautiful, despite her muggleborn heritage.

"How go your businesses, Lucius?" Lillian inquired once Draco had finished with his tale; and Lucius had the oddest suspicion that she was asking about more than just his financial prospects and earnings.

Eyes narrowing, he cast a glance to his son, knowing that if there were something he was missing about her inquiries, Draco would be the surest way to find out. Lucius, at first, had been relatively surprised by the relationship formed between the two, though he now knew their bond to be as unbreakable as that of true siblings, if not a might stronger than the ties of immediate blood.

Sure enough, Draco was looking at Lillian with a pursed mouth and narrowed eyes, a silent question in his expression that told Lucius that there was more to Lillian's query; which brought into question just how she had come about the knowledge of anything else transpiring behind the financial frontier.

"Malfoy businesses continue to do well."

"And have you thought further on future transactions with European companies?"

"Draco?" Lucius prompted his son; for Lucius was grooming the boy to one day take over their various companies.

"Father has determined European trade to be of high priority and is thus looking into items and company revenues, as well as past financial history, in order to determine just which companies and products he wishes to bring into the Malfoy Industry."

Lillian gave a nod of understanding before turning to Lucius once more, "Have you found a cursebreaker yet for the item you acquired a few weeks ago?"

"I have not," Lucius didn't ask how she knew of any items acquired on his part; he had taken her on plenty of business meetings, and was highly aware that she always listened attentively, even if she appeared to hear nothing.

"While I was at Gringotts yesterday with Narcissa, I overheard some of the goblins talking of a Mr. William Weasley, top of his class and one of their most talented cursebreakers. I know you don't particularly care for the Weasleys, especially Mr. Arthur Weasley, but his son is highly recommended and he works mostly out of Egypt, which I've noticed has a remarkably well-off transaction rate."

"I noticed in the London paper that Muggle doctors are looking to acquire more hard-to-acquire foreign herbs and creatures to create their medicines, and a few of the more heavily priced items can be found in Egypt." Draco informed Lucius; after all, Malfoy business didn't just extend to the wizarding realm, they extended to the muggle realm as well, which, in part, was why their wealth was so extensive.

And personally, Draco rather liked supplying to the hospitals what they couldn't otherwise get – he didn't know where the gratuitous feelings came from so he generally stuck to blaming Lillian for his want to provide doctors, muggle or wizard, with the things they needed in order to save lives otherwise lost.

"Lillian, is there anything I should know concerning our gatherings with the other witches?" Narcissa inquired with raised brows, curious to know if Lillian's knowledge extended beyond the means of business.

"Lady Mena is pregnant, Mister and Lady Alini have recently come into some wealth, and Lady Deverity has a taste for books solely meant for the romantic sort." Lillian had, of course, noticed more than just those things, but the more sensitive material she kept to herself; like the fact that Mister Caro was having an affair with Lady Wilkins, the Patters were seeking counseling for their marriage, and that Lady Goyle had just suffered from a miscarriage – trivial matters she had no qualms about sharing, but matters more serious were not hers to share, even if she did take notice of them.

Narcissa, admittedly, was surprised by the nature of what Lillian had noticed, surprised and impressed. Most of the time, Narcissa herself could barely pay attention to any of the things the women at their functions spouted off; and looking at Lillian then – young, beautiful, and intelligent – Narcissa knew that Lillian had what it took to survive, survive both as a woman and as the daughter of Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon. Narcissa could only hope that any challenge the young girl would have to face, she wouldn't have to face alone.

As Draco began another recounting of something he, Crabbe, and Goyle had done a few days ago, Lillian rose from her seat; gathering everyone's dinner plates as she went for the kitchen – for though the plate gathering was generally a task for the house elves, Lillian had taught Narcissa and Lucius years before that though she could tolerate it in formal settings, she would not stand to be waited on when the situation really didn't require it of her.

She was even more thankful that she had decided to take the dishes when she had, because when she stepped into the kitchen, it was to find Dobby just about to slam his extra-large ears into the oven.

"Dobby Black!" She near shouted immediately upon her entrance; the dining room too far away for her voice to have carried.

Dobby wheeled around near immediately, bulging green eyes blinking up at her with tears in their depths; she only ever used his full name – his surname something she had given him when she was no more than a small child – when she was upset with him, and because she was so rarely upset with him, it succeeded in immediately halting his attempt at self-inflicting pain.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"D-Dobby w-was p-punishing himself, Mistress Lillian."

Before she bent down to his level, she set her armful of dishes into the sink, "Why, Dobby, were you punishing yourself?"

"B-because Dobby did a very bad thing Mistress Lillian!" He wailed, small mouth trembling as he went to open the stove once more.

"You shut that oven door right now Dobby Black." She commanded, "And you aren't to open it with the purpose to shut it on your ears ever again, am I clear, Dobby?"

A wet sniffle, "Y-yes Mistress Lillian."

Taking note of the dark coloring around his forehead and eyes, she frowned, "Why have you punished yourself Dobby?" She inquired gently, hands lifting to finger the discoloration that she knew was caused from his own self-inflicted beatings.

"D-Dobby did a very, very bad this Mistress Lillian."

"Enough with the Mistress-ing Dobby," She informed as she continued to softly stroke the bruises, "Tell me what you did."

"I-I went to Master Potter's home to beware him of Hogwarts!" He wailed again, and though Lillian was mildly surprised Dobby had done such a thing, she was more curious about the situation than she was anything else.

"Why would you warn him away from Hogwarts, Dobby?"

His head spinning wildly around, Lillian withdrew her hands from his bruises as his eyes grew ever larger, "Because," He whispered insistently, "There is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

Lillian didn't ask how Dobby came about this knowledge, nor did she doubt the truth of his words – she lived in the Malfoy Manor, and she was well aware that Lucius Malfoy had once been a Death Eater; and if that wasn't enough to validate Dobby's claims, Lillian had her own suspicions concerning Lucius and the Dark Lord.

She had seen the shadows in Narcissa's eyes, the white-knuckled grips Lucius had shown when reading certain letters brought by strange men or arrived by strange methods; she had noted the circles beginning to darken Lucius's eyes and the sudden secrecy of meetings behind closed doors.

She had known that something was brewing, Dobby had merely given her the little proof she didn't really need to know for sure that trouble was indeed coming, and coming straight for Harry Potter.

"You realize, Dobby, that what you did was very dangerous, and had any of the Malfoy's learned of your absence, you would have been severely punished?" Lillian inquired, because though she had a fondness for the house elf, even Draco would have turned him into his father; for Dobby had betrayed his masters, and Draco would never tolerate insubordination in regards to his father; not unless it was Lillian who was the one being insubordinate.

"Y-yes, I understand, b-but Master Harry Potter had to be warned!"

Knowing Dobby wouldn't have stopped at a mere warning, she quirked a brow at him, "What did you do to Harry Potter, Dobby?"

"I-I dumped pudding on his nasty relatives guest," He shouted quickly, hands going to his ears and tugging ruthlessly until she gently reached up to pry his bony hands away.

"Did you do anything else, Dobby?"

"I…I stole'd his letters." He whispered ashamedly, "Dobby figured had Master Potter known his friends were writing to him, he wouldn't agree to not return to Hogwarts."

Lillian pursed her lips; so her god-brother had gone all summer thinking his friends had abandoned him and weren't really his friends at all – it was a summer she didn't envy.

"Do you have Harry's letters, Dobby?"

A quick nod as he reached beneath one of her old pillowcases to bring it out; it was a rather thick stack of letters that told Lillian that Harry had gotten himself some pretty decent friends – but she guessed that that was what happened when you faced the dark lord with aforementioned friends.

"Dobby, will you put those letters in the drawer of my desk please?" She would return to Harry the letters when she next saw him; figured it was the least she could do for the trouble she was sure Dobby had gotten him into, and even though it was four weeks before second year started, wasn't the saying better late than never?

Dobby gave a dejected nod, "Is Miss Lillian mad with Dobby?"

"No, Dobby, I'm not mad at you, but you have to promise me you'll be more careful."

"Of course, Miss Lillian." He agreed with an exuberant nod.

"Good," She offered him a small smile, giving a kiss to his bruised forehead before rising to her feet, "Help me with the desert Dobby?"

"Yes Miss Lillian."

"Thank you, Dobby."

AN:

There it was, the first chapter!

If you review, follow, favorite, or just plain old read this, thank you! You guys rock!

Also: Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.

Hope you enjoyed!

Until next time,

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