Growing Up Black
Disclaimer - Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, not to myself. I have written this story for sheer pleasure, not out of any pecuniary interest.
Summary: What if Harry had been taken from the Dursleys to live with a different aunt and uncle? AU.
A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. Now for the next installment...
Chapter 2
The next day after lunch, Uncle Marius and Aunt Clytemnestra put Harry into their car and drove to London. Along the way, Uncle Marius explained to Harry about magic, how he was a wizard and came from a long line of noble wizards, and how an evil wizard had murdered Harry's parents when he was a baby, failing to kill Harry in the process. Harry listened to his uncle's explanation with rapt attention. The Dursleys had told him that his parents had died in a car crash because his father was drunk. As would any sensible person, and particularly any six-year-old boy, Harry found the tale of his parents' heroic death at the hands of a Dark Lord far more satisfying. The news that Harry himself was a hero, however, and now revered by many throughout the wizarding world, was...disconcerting.
'But if I'm really so famous, how come no one noticed how I was being treated by the Durs-, er, the filthy Muggles?' Harry asked. Aunt Clytemnestra had explained to Harry that Muggles, people like the Dursleys who hated magic, were brutish swine who forced witches and wizards to live in hiding. That certainly accorded with Harry's own experiences.
Uncle Marius frowned. 'I have no doubt that Albus Dumbledore, a very powerful wizard, has been keeping careful watch over you. I don't know why he has allowed this nonsense to go on, but I am certain he has some political motivation.'
Harry wasn't sure that he liked Albus Dumbledore that much, not if he was the sort of person who would leave him with the Muggles for so long. Then a horrible thought stuck him.
'If he's been checking on me, he's bound to know you've taken me.' Harry began to panic. 'He'll send me back.'
Aunt Clytemnestra calmed him by patting his shoulder. 'Don't worry, Harry. If he already knew what we had done, he would have acted last night, or this morning. We are taking steps to cover our tracks, so that he'll never be able to find you. Your uncle paid another visit to the brutes this morning, and poured a bit of Forgetfulness Draught into their tea. They won't be able to tell Dumbledore anything.'
'Your aunt and I are Squibs,' Uncle Marius explained. 'We come from magical families, but we can't use magic, otherwise we should simply perform a memory charm. Nonetheless, we do have connexions with the magical world. There are potions we can use to change your appearance, and we'll change your name too, so that no one will know who you are.'
'Once we've taken care of that, we shall raise you in the wizarding world, as ought to be done,' Aunt Clytemnestra said fondly. 'We shall find you a magical tutor, and train you in all the details of wizarding life.' She began to stare wistfully out the window, and daubed her eyes with her handkerchief.
Harry nodded. He believed them, but shifted closer to his aunt anyway. He did not want to lose his new-found family.
When they arrived at number seventeen, Windermere Court, Harry's aunt raised the collar of his coat and pulled down his hat before letting him leave the car. She held his hand as they walked up the many steps to the entrance. The door had twenty-seven different locks, all of which unlocked simultaneously when Uncle Marius placed his hand on the doorknob. Aunt Clytemnestra bustled Harry inside and shut the door.
Harry had never seen such a house. It was as elegantly appointed as Uncle Marius's country home had been, though the wall hangings and furniture were rather faded. But the entire house seemed so alive. The many portraits that lined the walls moved and talked, and countless magical artefacts filled the rooms, occasionally making odd noises or puffing coloured smoke into the air. But the strangest thing at all about the house was its caretaker.
A little bald creature appeared in front of them out of thin air, dressed only in a tea towel. She bowed low.
'Mopsy is delighted to see her Master and Mistress Black,' she said. 'Will Master and Mistress be staying long?'
'Yes, we intend to,' said Uncle Marius. 'Kindly run along and fix up the master bedroom and the largest of the ordinary bedrooms.'
Mopsy bowed and vanished.
'That was a house elf,' Aunt Clytemnestra explained to Harry. 'They find their greatest joy in serving wizards and taking care of their needs. Mopsy has served your uncle's family for over a hundred years.'
Harry gaped. He had lived for only six years, and remembered fewer. The thought of a hundred years was nearly overwhelming. Uncle Marius chuckled at his expression.
'This house belonged to my Uncle Phineas,' he explained. 'Uncle Phineas was the one who saw to my education after I was disowned...er, after I discovered that I was unable to do magic. He never married, and had no children, so he left the house to me when he died.'
'It's wicked,' Harry said with a grin. Uncle Marius tousled his hair.
'I'm glad you like it.'
Aunt Clytemnestra removed her coat and went to the larder to begin taking inventory, but Uncle Marius led Harry to a storage room that was crammed with portraits and furniture.
'When your parents went into hiding,' he explained, 'they did not have room for all of your grandparents' belongings, so they placed some of them here. There's someone I want you to meet before we do anything else.'
He brought Harry in front of a large portrait of a young couple. It looked like it was their wedding day. The man wore very stiff black robes, and the woman wore a white dress and carried a bouquet of flowers. The man looked very much like Harry, sharing his messy black hair and glasses. The woman had red hair and Harry's green eyes.
'Are these my parents?' Harry asked in awe.
'This is their wedding portrait,' Uncle Marius said. He addressed the portrait. 'James, Lily, I want you to meet your son, Harry James Potter.'
'Harry? You're so big!' James exclaimed. 'How old are you now? Four?'
'I'm six!' Harry said proudly.
'Six already? Practically a man,' his father beamed. 'And quite a good-looking one too.'
Harry smiled.
'How are you, Harry? Have you been well taken care of?' his mother asked, concern shining in her brilliant eyes.
Harry hesitated, and Uncle Marius spoke up for him. 'That's what we're here to talk about,' he said. 'Up until now, Harry has been living with some unpleasant Muggles known as the Dursleys.'
'Petunia?' Lily turned white. 'What did she do?'
'They kept him locked in a cupboard and generally mistreated him,' Uncle Marius said coldly. 'I discovered him quite by accident, and took him away.'
'Thanks, Uncle Mar,' James said, breathing a sigh of relief. 'We owe you one.' He looked at Uncle Marius questioningly. 'Why didn't Sirius take Harry in? He's his godfather.'
Uncle Marius took a deep breath. 'Sirius is in Azkaban.'
'WHAT?' Harry's parents shouted in unison. 'Why?' his mother added.
'For betraying you to the Dark Lord, and for the murder of Peter Pettigrew,' Uncle Marius explained.
Harry was horrified at that news, and so was shocked when his father burst out laughing.
'Sirius, betray us to Voldemort?' he snorted. Uncle Marius winced. 'That's ridiculous. Sirius is the last person on earth who would betray us.'
Uncle Marius sighed. 'I agree with you, but the evidence seems to point in the other direction.'
James shook his head. 'There must be some other explanation. Imperius, perhaps?'
'Perhaps,' Uncle Marius said, 'but that is not actually the most pressing issue at the moment. Our concern is for Harry. If anyone learns that we removed him from the Muggles, he will be sent back to them, and Clytemnestra and I shall likely join Sirius in prison.'
'Why don't you disguise Harry?' Lily suggested.
'That is my intention, but I want you two and Harry to give your imprimatur. I intend to tell the world that Harry is the only son of Sirius Black and Regina Malfoy, Clytemnestra's niece. We shall say he was born when Regina was in hiding in France. Regina died in a tragic accident a month ago, and Sirius is in Azkaban, so neither can object.'
'How are you going to explain that they didn't tell anyone about Harry?' James asked.
'We'll say that Sirius and Regina married secretly because of the political differences between Sirius and her brother Lucius. Regina actually did spend the past several years in France precisely because she disagreed with her brother's positions, so that, at least, is credible. Regina also stayed in close contact with Clytemnestra, so it will be simple enough for us to say that she entrusted us with the boy in her will.'
'You'll have to forge a lot of documents,' James pointed out.
Uncle Marius nodded. 'Already in process.'
'What about Harry's appearance?' Lily asked. 'He looks just like James.'
'You'll have to change his name, too, and not just for show,' James added. 'You can call always him something different, but unless you do something official, the Hogwarts letter will still come addressed to Harry Potter. Dumbledore will figure it out.' He paused. 'There's also paternity tests, and so on.'
Uncle Marius hesitated, and looked back and forth between the portrait and Harry. 'This is why I wanted your blessing, James and Lily. There is a potion I can have brewed—I have an excellent potioneer who asks no questions—which will change Harry's name and appearance effortlessly. Paternity spells and lineage tests will all agree with the new identity.' He swallowed hard. 'But the potion is highly illegal, and may not be reversible.'
James and Lily frowned and looked at each other before speaking in unison. 'Do it,' they said.
Uncle Marius looked surprised. 'Are you certain?'
Lily nodded. 'We want Harry to grow up in a family that loves him, and to be safe.' She smiled. 'We'll always be Harry's parents, no matter what he looks like.'
'Sirius would want this too.' James grinned mischievously. 'Since he got himself tossed in Azkaban it's the least he can do.'
Uncle Marius turned to Harry. 'What do you think?'
Harry gritted his teeth and nodded. 'I won't go back to the Muggles,' he mumbled.
'I do have one request,' James piped up. 'Let us pick his new name.'
Neither Uncle Marius nor Harry had any objections to that, so James and Lily set to work instantly, borrowing an Astronomy book from Phineas Black's portrait in the library.
On a late night six days later, Harry sat in an upstairs room, nodding off in a plush armchair whilst he waited for Uncle Marius to return. Aunt Clytemnestra was at the country manor, organising the final details of their move to London. Mopsy the house elf had finished organising the house at number seventeen, Windermere Court, and Harry had spent most of the week conversing with his parents' portrait. Two days before, Aunt Clytemnestra had brought over a portrait of Regina Malfoy and explained the situation to it. The portrait had been shocked at the circumstances under which Harry had grown up, and readily agreed to assist in any way it could., though she laughed at the idea that she would have a child with Sirius Black, a man she had got on quite well with, but never viewed romantically, much to the chagrin of Sirius's mother. James and Lily's portrait had helped Regina to make an Unbreakable Vow not to tell anyone the truth about Harry's identity. (Uncle Marius explained that if a human tried to break an Unbreakable Vow he would die, but a portrait would simply be reduced to a blank canvas.) Regina told Harry all sorts of stories and other things he should know about her, and Harry practiced calling her 'Mum,' and his real parents 'Uncle James' and 'Aunt Lily,' since it had been agreed that they would be listed as his godparents.
As for Sirius Black, who was to be Harry's dad, it seemed that in the wizarding world portraits only began to talk once the people depicted had died, so Harry had no opportunity to speak with him. James's portrait, however, was more than happy to tell Harry stories about Sirius, and Uncle Marius managed to obtain a number of photographs, from which a handsome man with long, black hair waved happily. Harry made a point always to refer to Sirius as 'Dad.' It wouldn't do for him to forget. They were playing a very dangerous game.
When the door flew open and Uncle Marius finally walked in, a large flask in his hand, Harry thought he looked utterly exhausted.
'Do you want to wait and do this tomorrow?' Harry asked in concern.
Uncle Marius shook his head wearily. 'You have to drink the potion at the stroke of midnight,' he explained. He hung a solid silver cauldron over the fire in the fireplace and poured in the potion, which began to bubble and pop almost instantaneously. He added a bit of Harry's hair, as well as some of Regina's, which Aunt Clytemnestra had kept in an envelope, and some of Sirius's baby teeth, which Uncle Marius had narrowly managed to steal from the currently empty Black home at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. He had only succeeded because Mopsy had distracted the Grimmauld Place house elf whilst the Squib slipped in under an invisibility cloak. Uncle Marius stirred the potion three times, then whipped out a piece of parchment and handed Harry a strange-looking quill.
'Write, "My name is Aries Sirius Black,"' he commanded. James and Lily had selected that name the day before.
Harry began to write and winced as he felt a pain in his hand. He continued regardless. Uncle Marius had warned him about the blood quill. When he had put the full stop, Uncle Marius took the parchment and dropped it into the potion. The parchment dissolved instantly, and the potion changed to a light gold colour. Uncle Marius poured it into a silver goblet and they waited five minutes. At 11:59 he handed Harry the goblet, and as soon as the clock began to chime Harry drank it in one long draught, finishing the whole thing just as the clock struck twelve.
Nothing happened.
'Is something wrong, Uncle Marius?' Harry asked anxiously. 'I'm not changing.'
Uncle Marius laughed. 'It will take some time for the potion to spread through your system. Now run off to bed. I daresay you'll notice some changes in the morning.'
Harry was very tired, and so did not protest as Mopsy led him to his bedroom and tucked him in to his warm feather bed, skipping the now-usual bedtime story. Harry fell asleep in seconds and had a wonderful dream in which he played all night with a large, black dog.
