Warning for this chapter: Incest between Pureblood cousins, non explicit now and always. Considering the state of the Pureblood marriages, it really isn't a stretch. Also, I appear to have forgotten to state that Harry Potter is not mine. While I'm wishing, maybe I'll ask for a pony?
The two teens reappeared almost instantly in the ancestral seat of the Blacks, hands entwined tightly. Harry dropped Hermione's hand reluctantly, spinning slowly, The Elder Wand training on every corner of the room. The soft light from the lit torches on the wall cast long shadows in the ancient kitchen. Harry's eyes narrowed, and with nary a thought, he swept his arms wide apart as Voldemort had done to attack Dumbledore at the Ministry. Silver light leapt at the deep shadows, the room suddenly brighter than any time in living memory. The room satisfyingly empty, Harry gestured Hermione to follow as he walked into the hallway with the portrait of Sirius' mother, and towards the stairs. She nodded, wand held high at chest height. Cautiously making their way up the stairs, and even checking most of the rooms, they saw nothing. They walked towards the last door in the hallway, Sirius' old bedroom, and as they got closer, the door clicked open softly, opening wide enough for them to pass into the messy bedroom. Harry entered first, his body stiffening in shock at the sight before him.
"Harry? What is it?" Hermione asked softly, her eyes following Harry's wand as it shifted position. Her gasp was blocked out by a concussive BANG from the Deathstick, and the giant grim on the bed jumped several feet in the air, somehow twisting itself in midair, and landing on the cold wooden floor in a tangle of blankets, dirty clothes, and furry limbs. Eyes wide, the shaggy, black furred Grim transformed into a familiar man, and with a wave of his wand, he untangled himself, all the while never removing his eyes from the couple in front of him.
"Who sent you? Was it Volde-" Harry's mouth moved soundlessly for an instant, before he looked over at Hermione, a small nod of his head thanking his best friend for stopping him before he activated The Taboo on The Dark Lord's name.
"Harry, there's no doubt it's Sirius. It's impossible to copy someone's Animagus form, light or dark magic. If it makes you feel more comfortable, ask him a couple question's only Padfoot would know."
Harry gestured at his mouth, and Hermione smirked before removing her charm with a flick of her Vinewood wand.
Harry turned to the man on the other side of the room, whom now appeared to be torn between rushing across the room, or being the perfect portrayal of a Pureblood Lord, ramrod straight and regal.
"If you're really my godfather, I only need to ask one question. After escaping from Azkaban in 1992, where did you first catch sight of me and what was I doing?"
"I escaped in 1993, as you well know, and it was in the neighborhood where you grew up, summoning the Knight Bus accidently. I think my appearance startled you, and if you hadn't fallen, the Bus may have hit you. Savvy?" Sirius asked in a raspy voice, his gray eyes glittering and his face hopeful. His face morphed into one of shock as his breath left him in the force of the hug and the emotions behind it. Hermione gave the two men a couple seconds, before she uttered an undulating war cry, and launched herself across the cluttered room. Both men turned to look just before a bushy haired woman wrapped her arms around both of them. The room was soon ringing in laughter, and tears of happiness, a break in the storm finally coming for the Light Side.
Outside the house, a hooded figure strode up the crumbling brick and mortar steps purposefully, and with a tap of her wand, the locks sprang apart, and the house she hadn't seen in nearly two decades permitted her entrance once more. She felt her tongue spring to the roof of her mouth, and an Albus Dumbledore made of dust swooped at her. Violet eyes burned like liquid amethyst behind the shadows created by the cowl of her hood, and her wand swept in a tight wave across her body. The dust figure disintegrated in a powerful blast of white light, small clouds of dust lingering in the hallway. She felt her tongue unroll from the roof of her mouth, and with a roll of her eyes she administered a Bubble Head charm to pass by the dust with no harmful effects. A soft pop of displaced air next to her caused her to drop to her knee, blood still roaring through her veins from the brief fight with the Lestranges, wand training on a spot between a man's fierce green eyes. They widened in recognition, and three curses sailed at Bellatrix in less than a heartbeat. Three sharp motions of her wand deflected the curses into the wall, leaving the plaster pock marked with carbon-scored gouges. Leaping to her feet, she let off two minor jinxes and a Stunning spell, attempting to stop the fight quickly and painlessly. It wouldn't do to...her thoughts trailed off into blackness as her opponent encapsulated her spells in a sparking globe of magic from his wand, and with a wave of magic she couldn't identify, her vision faded into nightfall.
Harry Potter stared at the witch laying at his feet, his shock warring with his anger over seeing Bellatrix. Small arcs of lightning were crackling over her robes, traveling up and down her frame. There was a stench of ozone in the air, and of burned fabric and singed hair. Silently, Hermione slid under Harry's left arm, snuggling into his side and offering her support. Sirius stood on the bottom stair, obviously not quite believing his eyes. He rubbed his eyes raw, and blinked a couple times rapidly before looking at the prostate witch. He closed the difference slowly, his feet nibbling on the 15 feet that separated the cousins.
"Bella dear?" he asked softly, his calloused hands brushing her sleek hair out of her face. He spotted her wand in her right hand, and could almost feel it calling to him. He reached over, and plucked the vibrating wand from her loose grip. His eyes were wide open now, his fingers ghosting over the dark wood reverently as he could feel the Grim hair core, willingly given by himself on his 17th birthday to the promising young witch. He could trace the spiral of space metal under the Mahogany wood with his long fingers, feel the Black blood thrumming from the runes etched into the surface of the handle by himself and his Bella. He spied a glint coming from her hand, pausing his inspection of her self made wand. Taking her soft hand in his own, he marveled at the yellow gold ring sitting on her finger, a familiar ring that James Potter had helped him pick out when it became apparent he had no choice but to marry his own cousin. At first, a 15 year old Sirius Black had been disgusted, and appalled (which of course, was nothing to how Bellatrix had felt, she had made that abundantly clear), but after Orion Black had explained it to both cousins, they both had to concede defeat. The family blood magic had been tampered with by a family member, and it had formed a marriage contract between Bellatrix and Sirius. The infamous blood magic was responsible for many things in the Black family. The Fury of the Blacks had started in the 13th century, several centuries after the earliest Black ancestor on the Tree. The head of House in the 13th century was desperate to prevent his family from dying out, as he only had a wife and a son remaining in the family. Every branch of the Black family had been eliminated in a blood feud with a family now extinct from both the dusty pages of history and the world at large. In order to facilitate survival in his offspring, he created a ritual that leeched all of his formidable skills and knowledge from his mind to place it in a vial of his own blood. He convinced his wife, a well known Enchantress, to do the same, and made sure his sons did the same. His intention was for all of the later Blacks to be able to have knowledge lost to the ages at their disposal in a fight , techniques imprinted on their subconscious' to better protect the continuation of the line. Lost to the ravages of time was how he had gotten the magic of the ritual to sustain itself until even now, and how he had made the magic a Family trait that was inherited by every member of the Blacks. Centuries passed, and the Blood grew more sentient, allowing the Black family to thrive in battle and survive everything from wars to famines and plagues. Somehow, Sirius reflected, his wonderful mother and the Lestranges had subverted the Will of the Blood, and drawn a marriage contract up between Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange before Orion's corpse had even cooled. Whatever she had done, it was done because Sirius and Bella had found common ground, and were falling hard for each other. It didn't help that Sirius had run from home to escape Walburga course, he hadn't expected a restraining order from the Ministry preventing him from seeing his own betrothed, and Firewhiskey replaced Bella in his affections as he looked for her in the bottom of his bottle. Shaking his head, his mind returned to the present, wondering why she had taken to wearing the ring he had bought her. Frowning, and turning to face Harry, he saw his godson motion for Sirius to move out of the way, and he reluctantly did so as the small arcs of electricity faded from view and the woman shuddered in pain, and tried to stand up. Sirius rushed forward again, and helped her to her feet carefully. "What are you doing here, Bella?" he asked softly.
"Sir-i-ius? But...I killed you! I saw you fall through the Veil! I can't believe I did that...Its haunted my sleep since that day. Why did you have to not pay attention? The great Sirius Black of the Marauders, foremost carrier of The Fury, laid low by a recent Azkaban escapee?" sobs tore from her throat. "You must be a form of torture that Potter came up with." Suddenly her wand was back in her quivering hand, and the tip was scorching the hair at her temple. "I won't allow myself to be driven mad by my own failures, Potter! I won't give you the satisfaction! Avada Ked-" Sirius interrupted her with a soft kiss to her mouth, and as he held the kiss, she began relaxing in his grip, her wand clattering on the floor, followed by her body in a dead faint. "Grab the big file on the desk in the study and meet me in my bedroom please, Harry, I'll explain everything there." Sirius said, carrying Bellatrix out of the hallway and up the stairs. Harry and Hermione shared a bewildered glance, then a mutual shrug and they marched towards the upstairs study.
