A/N : Wow! An amazing reaction, I can't thank you enough, hopefully you will enjoy the new chapter, I know they are short, but I will try and update often
Chapter Two – Tojours Pur?
Harry was in no hurry to reach their destination, the poor house elf squeaked it's annoyance, and tugged at his clothes. His eyes wandered again to the paintings, portraits, and tapestries adorning the walls, the vases situated on each window sill were no doubt as expensive as they were fragile. He stopped by a large set of double doors, through the glass he saw a balcony and beyond that the grounds of Black Manor.
The sudden stop caused the elf to fall comically to the ground, Harry apologised profusely before taking another look through the glass, hedges, ornate topiaries, fountains and lawns stretched off in either direction, it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
He motioned for the elf to continue leading him, it let out an exasperated huff and walked on. As he descended the grand staircase a door creaked open and Cygnus stepped out into the main hall.
"You're looking a bit better lad and the clothes fit well, that will be all Noc, follow me, the women will be waiting and Dru can't abide being kept waiting"
The house elf bowed low and vanished with a crack. Cygnus was immaculately dressed and gestured for Harry to follow him, a broad smile that reached his dark eyes split his handsome face and Harry smiled back in spite of himself. He followed him a short way down another corridor and through a set of double doors.
He expected a huge impersonal room with a cold atmosphere and vaulted ceilings, it was a huge room with vaulted ceilings, but there was music and laughter. Out of habit he removed his glasses and cleaned the lenses on the hem of his shirt, he ran the fingers of his right hand through his messy hair as he looked around.
Instead of a huge banquet table there was a much smaller, intimate one, Druella sat on a large ornate chair, she was doing something that reminded him of muggle needlework, she inclined her head towards him and smiled. The people he had heard about in stories and in the archived press just didn't tally with what he'd seen and he'd only been here for a short amount of time.
He could say the same about the house, obviously he hadn't expected dark magical objects on every surface, but the place was nothing like he'd envisaged, it was light and airy, there wasn't a lot of difference between it and all those muggle stately homes he'd seen on television.
A sudden eruption of laughter caused him to jerk his head towards the noise, his mouth went dry and his heart thudded against his rib cage, the laughing girl was unmistakeably Narcissa, waif like, with her unmistakeable long silvery hair, as she stepped aside the source of many nightmares came into view, only it couldn't be.
The hair was no less wild, dark curls fell around her shoulders but as they caught the light they were noticeably not black, it could only be Andromeda, he'd heard that she looked so much like her eldest sister but had never had a reason to give it any in depth thought. She noticed him staring and waved, Narcissa turned and smiled at him. Yet again he forced the muscles in his face to respond and hoped that it wouldn't look like he was suffering from a bad case of wind.
Cygnus was chatting with his wife, it seemed sweet and tender, he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her full on the lips, her cheeks had a pink tinge to them once he'd withdrawn, a little embarrassed by the public display of affection, she beckoned to her daughters. The music stopped and they walked over arm in arm.
They took a seat either side of their mother, she placed an arm around each of them and pulled them into a brief hug. A chair was pulled out and offered to him, it took an enormous effort to make his legs work, he felt a lot better once he was sat down, Cygnus sat at the head of the table on Harry's left, one chair remained empty.
This would go down as the most surreal moment he'd ever experienced, the family chatted around him patiently awaiting the last member and the one person he had absolutely no desire to see. Druella spoke up and instantly the spotlight was on him.
"You must be starving Harry, Bella should be here, she does love being outside, she'll be along momentarily, anyway, this is Narcissa, my youngest, Andromeda, and Bellatrix is my eldest"
"It's nice to meet you"
"No need to be so formal Dru, there are very few people who don't know our family"
"Why is he here father?" Narcissa asked without any negative connotation, Harry was surprised
"I guess you'd say that I'm his guardian, his parents were killed for our cause, he needed somewhere to stay and it's not like we're short of space, he's family now"
After that proclaimation the atmosphere was considerably less cheerful, he felt like he'd taken a hit right to the heart, there was no way anyone could know the sick irony in the cover story. It wouldn't do to dwell on it, there'd be time for that later when he was alone in his room.
"It'll be nice to have someone new around, do you fly Harry?"
"Yes, I love to fly" Andromeda looked positively delighted
"What broom do you favour?"
Before he could answer the door at the far end of the room burst open and brought the conversation to an abrupt halt, a very muddy and very windswept Bellatrix strode into the room, she didn't look up at the captive audience, preoccupied with cleaning dirt from her clothes as best she could. Seemingly satisfied she scooped a mass of hair out of her face and over her shoulder, she looked like she'd been working out, her face was red under the dirt and a few strands of hair were plastered to her forehead with sweat.
"Bella?"
"I'm fine father, let's just say it was an awkward dismount" Cygnus grinned and shook his head
Her eyes grew large as she finally noticed the extra person at the table, before she could raise a question her mother's spell hit her and in an instant she was clean and presentable, her skin had a slight pink tinge as if she'd just had her face scrubbed, the pink on her cheeks darkened with slight embarrassment.
"Mother! I'm not a child and we have a guest" she looked nothing short of mortified
"Bells, you were filthy and we are eager to eat" she stuck out her tongue, her mother merely raised an eyebrow at the petulant display.
"Where are my manners?" she wiped the palm of her hand on the front of her robe and held it out "Bellatrix Black, nice to meet you"
He took the offered hand, it was soft and warm, her eyes, although dark, had a certain warmth to them too, he managed to stutter out his name and then she took the seat beside him.
Harry kept stealing glances at the young woman next to him, she was quick to laugh, she had a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humour, the chatter amongst the sisters was amusing, the occassional tutting from Druella notwithstanding.
His stomach was still doing cartwheels, he had expected a much tougher barrage of questions from the three sisters, perhaps that was part of being a pure-blood, courtesy instilled in them from birth, everytime he reminded himself where he was and what was happening he hoped it was all just a bad dream, and then food arrived and he'd never felt hungrier in his life.
Ron would have given up body parts for a breakfast spread that looked as good as this, Molly Weasley might still hold the title of best cook, but this was definitely a contender, just thinking about Ron and his family brought an intense feeling of sadness, he reasoned things would be better with a full stomach. There was a platter of bacon, succulent sausages, perfectly fried eggs, golden pancakes, fried bread and toast, black pudding, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, a tureen of beans, tea, coffee and several fruit juices.
Cygnus loaded his plate and when finished everyone else followed suit, another tradition Harry supposed, Druella, Andromeda and Narcissa helped themselves to a little bit of everything, Bella, on the other hand, loaded up with everything in large quantities and began wolfing it down, with a small amount of admiration he helped himself and tucked in.
Cygnus pushed his chair out and stood, he kissed his wife and his daughters in turn, he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and asked him to seek him out when he was finished, equally worried and intrigued, he agreed, before he departed he told him to call on Noc, the elf would take him to his study.
If anyone else at the table was even remotely curious as to why he wanted to talk to Harry they didn't show any sign. The breakfast table talk soon came round to clothes and shoes, the latest fashions in the choice boutiques of diagon alley, He was full to bursting and still struggling with his thoughts, it was Andromeda who pulled him out of his reverie, they were heading out into the grounds to play Quidditch and once he'd finished up with their father, he was invited to join in, for some inexplicable reason this lifted his spirits. He thanked Druella for a fabulous breakfast, she rose gracefully and kissed him on each cheek, he swallowed hard. The directions to Cygnus' study washed over him and he wandered out of the room in a semi daze.
Standing alone in the main hall he tried in vain to recall where he needed to go next, in the end he just called for Noc and was ushered through a door without so much as a word. The office was reasonably sized, the furniture was functional but undoubtably expensive, made of solid wood, Cygnus placed a pile of papers to one side and regarded Harry over the top of his reading glasses.
"Have a seat my boy"
"Thank you Sir, for everything you've done"
"Harry, I'm not sure I know where to begin, I'm quite an authority on the sands of time, second only to Eloise Mintumble, by the look on your face you've never heard of her, well it matters not, ultimately, in this time we possess none of the sand, you are stuck, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you to be aware, thankfully I'm in a position where I can make it pretty easy for you to blend in"
"Thank you"
"I a also want to apologise for making up that story over breakfast, my girls are pretty good and with a percieved tradgedy in your life, well, they won't try and question you too much, should make things easier for you in that regard, in the meantime, don't be so glum, something will turn up, I'm a resourceful man and my contacts are extensive, you know my family in your time?"
"Yes"
"I saw it in your eyes when I brought you here, I saw fear, obviously I can't ask you for details about your time, the keeper of prophecies is a terrifying witch" he smiled a little to ease the mood "do you know Dru and I?"
Harry shook his head, Cygnus reclined in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest
"My daughters then?"
"Yes, Sir"
"Not for the reasons I'd like either, perhaps you'll be a good influence on them during your time here, you may go, I'd hate to deprive them of a few games of Quidditch, off you go lad, you've nothing to fear here, I'll try and find a way to get you back into Hogwarts without raising merry hell, what house were you in?"
"Gryffindor"
"A bloody lion, I should have guessed, you won't be able to be in that house, there's no telling who you might know, this is going to be difficult, but I like a challenge"
He walked Harry to the door, shook him warmly by the hand, summoned Noc and told him to escort him to the Quidditch pitch.
He heard the excited commotion before the pitch came into sight, Noc bowed and vanished leaving him alone, he quickly moved under the shadow of the towering hedge, he hoped it would keep him from view so he could marshal his thoughts and steel himself. Having experienced the effects of a time turner just two years ago helped him keep a cool head, setting aside all he knew about two of the three Black sisters was something else entirely, maybe the exhilaration of flying would blow away the fog in his mind, he could freak out later, this was becoming his mantra, take it one step at a time and freak out when alone.
He walked along the hedge and through a gap, he stood on the sidelines watching them diving and racing each other, someone exclaimed when they spotted him and he was surprised when Bellatrix alighted from her broom right next to him.
"Accio broom, they are only Cleensweeps but still pack a punch"
She handed him the broom as another came speeding across the pitch to her. She mounted it and kicked off from the ground, he followed suit and soon his worries were left behind, he relished the feeling of freedom and put the broom through its paces to get a feel for it and its ability and then joined the sisters in the middle of the pitch.
"You've got some serious talent"
"Thank you Andromeda"
"Pssh, call me Andy"
"That's settled then, you and Cissy against Harry and me"
"Get stuffed Bella, you don't get to pick the teams"
"Harry can choose" all eyes turned to Narcissa
"Fine! I suppose a challenge would make a nice change"
"Stop sulking Bella, losing once in a while will do you the world of good"
He was expecting a volatile reaction from the eldest Black, she just shrugged and laughed taunting them to bring it on
He hadn't watched them flying for long but he had a feeling the older girls underestimated their youngest sibling, he paired with Narcissa much to the surprise of the others. The game was simple, enchanted bludgers and a quaffle, first to 100 points, they took their postions. Game on!