Hello again! I really like this chapter, I hope you like it too!
Madlenita: Wrong father, I believe that in the last chapter Aquila did take a closer look and think "-No, it was Sirius Black". But your guess was close enough.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only the plot and my OCs!
Too bright. That was the first thing Aquila thought when she woke up. Or was she really? She stood up quickly and looked around; she was in a garden. A very pretty garden, indeed.
"I used to come here when I was young."
Aquila turned around and saw a woman of twenty-two years old at most. She had dark brown hair with beautiful curls; her eyes were as black as night. She knew who the woman was; she had seen pictures of her in her aunt's house.
"Mom?" Aquila called trying to hold back the tears in the back of her eyes.
The woman smiled gently at her. "I'm very proud of you, my beautiful daughter. Although I don't like the idea of you practicing blood rituals without someone else with you- or practicing them at all, - I have to say, what you did was amazing."
The girl couldn't handle anymore and ran to her mother hugging her tightly. She sobbed for good few minutes before her mother managed to calm her down.
Aquila took a deep breath, before asking. "How are you here? In my head, I mean, I thought the spell would have trapped you inside of Crescent?"
"Crescent is older than you think, she just de-ages from time to time, much like a Phoenix, but she doesn't really "die", but it's close. She has some pretty cool tricks under her sleeves. Or paws, whatever." She answered casually.
Aquila noticed that the way her mother talked was a lot like a teenager's, but it was probably because she died too young.
"What else can she do?"
Her mother smirked, "Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out."
Aquila's hair changed color because of her frustration, it turned to strawberry blond. The older woman chuckled, "Your father warned me of the Metamorphmagus gene in his family, but it is so rare that I didn't believe one of my children would be one. I almost had a heart attack when your hair turned silver, once. Now we have two of them in the family."
Aquila was confused, "Wait, but Alex isn't…"
"I wasn't talking about Alexander. Your cousin Nynphadora also has the gift."
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"I know, I've been watching over you. Your brother too. What a hot young man he became. He looks a lot like Regulus and Sirius, I must say, but with my hair, of course." Aquila laughed at that. Aunt Lena had said something about her mother caring too much about her hair.
"Mom, how can I get you back in your body?" Aquila asked more serious.
"Crescent knows what to do, all you have to do is take her there. She can't Apparate inside of Hogwarts, much less a professor's quarters." The woman stroking her daughter's cheeks. "Your brother is freaking out."
Aquila snorted, "Of course he is, if I call him two minutes later than the usual he almost Apparates in Hogsmead!"
Her mother laughed, "Can't blame him, sweetheart. But I wasn't talking about that. He felt that what you did three nights ago…"
"What? No! It was just a couple of hours ago!"
"No, sweetie. You've been out for three nights. You're in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, by the way. Alexander has been looking for you for days. Locator spells aren't working because the location is under the Fidelius Charm. Since I'm neither alive nor dead, it doesn't exactly work for me." She explained smirking.
"Alex is going to kill me."
"Nah, he would miss you too much." Her mother said kissing her on the cheek. "You're waking. Remember try to talk to my brother about your identity so you can take me to my body. Oh, look like you usually do when you're with your brother, it's better."
Aquila hugged her mother again. "Okay. I bet Professor Snape will overreact and go all 'how do you know Katherine?' mood."
"We'll meet again." Katherine told her daughter smiling, "I promise."
"Are you sure about this?" The young man asked the blonde woman sitting on the chair in front of him.
"Yes. I wouldn't have called you here if I didn't want to get away from here." She answered taking a sip of her tea. "Emma said you're trustworthy. How did you two meet?"
The boy let his hand go through his hair and sighed, "I was raised by her cousin Milena, I suppose you know her, Mrs. Malfoy?"
Narcissa smiled, she knew Milena, they had been good friends while at Hogwarts, but drew apart with Narcissa's marriage, something she regretted everyday. "Yes, she was a good friend. How is she?"
"Really well, she told me a lot about you, ma'am. That's one of the reasons why I answered you so fast. When will you give me your part of the deal?" He asked watching her carefully. Narcissa did the same; he seemed powerful, and looked too much like her cousins. It was uncomfortable in some ways.
"Yes, I can swear on my magic if you want." She told him.
He shook his head, "No, that won't be necessary. When do you want to leave?"
Narcissa thought in all the possibilities; she wanted to leave right away, but she had to talk with Draco and convince him -which wouldn't be difficult- to go with her. "Tonight. My husband will arrive here tomorrow with the Dark Lord. I want to be far gone by then."
"And the information I want?"
"I'll give it to you when my son and I are safe and away from here."
He nodded in agreement. "Clever move."
"I wasn't in Slytherin for nothing." The blond answered smirking. "Do you, by any chance, frequent Hogwarts?"
"No, ma'am. But my sister does, she a sixth year Slytherin." He answered and she nodded, she was going to ask him why he wasn't at Hogwarts, but he cut her off. "Aunt Lena offered us homeschooling. Aquila didn't want to, so I stayed and she went."
"Aquila? I think Draco might've mentioned her a few times…" Narcissa commented.
"I must leave you now. When do you want me to come?" He asked her and stood up. The woman did the same putting the tea aside.
"Come at seven, I'll have my clothes and Draco's packed by then."
He nodded, "I'll be here then. Lupa!" He said loudly the last part. Just two seconds later there was a crack and black wolf was standing by his side. The wolf's fur was black, except for a white ball of the size of a tennis ball on its neck that looked a lot like a full moon.
Narcissa was shocked by the wolf, but said nothing about it, "How should address you, Mr.?"
"Call me, Alexander, or Alex. Honestly, I prefer the latter."
She nodded, not taking her eyes off the wolf. The animal seemed to be doing the same. "I'll se you at seven, Alex."
"Be ready by then." Alexander answered and disappeared with a crack.
"Draco, honey, can I talk to you?" Narcissa said knocking on the door.
After a few seconds came a muffled voice from inside the room. "Come on in, Mom!"
The woman opened the door and saw her son sitting on the bed with papers all over it. He smiled weakly at the sight of his mother. During summer and holidays, he hardly left his room; Lucius had been getting harsher towards his son.
Narcissa entered the room and sat on the edge of Draco's bed; she held his hand, she needed to touch him while saying this.
"I can't take it anymore."
He looked in her eyes and gave her a weak smile, "I know. Are you going to find Andromeda? I can handle Father when you do…"
She cut him off. "I want you to come with me."
"What?"
"I want us to leave. He keeps hurting us, beating you up to be more perfect than you already are. He's an idiot and wants to make you one too. He never loved me and blames me for every single thing that happens. I want us to leave." Narcissa said with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I understand if you want to stay so you won't get disowned…"
"When are we leaving?" The Hogwarts student asked which surprised her; she thought she would have to insist more.
"You're coming with me?"
Draco looked at her like she just asked something obvious, which, in the case, really was. "Of course! I don't want to stay here one more day!"
Narcissa relaxed and beamed. "Good, we're leaving tonight."
"I'll pack my things."
"Be ready until seven." Narcissa stood up to go pack her things.
"Why seven?"
She stopped and looked at him. "I made a deal with someone. I promised him information in exchange of protection for both of us."
"Who is he?"
"Alexander, he didn't tell me his last name. But he said he was raised by Milena Zabini, Emma's cousin."
Draco looked thoughtful. "Do I know him?"
"No, but you know his sister, Aquila." She answered and Draco nodded.
"She's nice, brilliant too. I think she was home-schooled before going because she's too smart. Besides, she knows everything about what happens in the school, it's almost like she's watching everyone all the time." Draco told her. "Let's pack"
The grey-eyed boy started at the screen of his phone; fifteen not answered calls to Aquila. He was worried, the locator spells he tried to use- and damn, he even used blood magic- none of them worked.
That could only mean that she was either dead or in a place under the Fidelius Charm. The latter was the most likely to be truth since Alex would feel through their bond if Aquila ever died. Oh, but he knew that she had practiced strong magic three nights before, he could feel it.
Alex looked at the time, six fifty, he decided to get at the manor earlier, maybe they would get to the destination that he had in mind tonight.
"Do you think Aquila is in the location Narcissa will give me?" He asked the wolf by his side, Lupa nodded calmly. "Let's get this over with. Could you take me to the Malfoy Manor?"
Lupa nodded and he touched her fur; both appeared at the door of the Manor with a crack. Narcissa must've heard because he heard her yell something that sounded like "He's here!"
"I'm coming!" Came the answer from inside too.
It didn't take long for the door to open revealing to blonds, only that the boy- only one or two years younger than Alex- had platinum blond hair and Narcissa had light blond.
"You're early." She commented. The woman and her son were holding two bags each.
Alex picked her bags before saying, "I want to find my sister and I'm almost sure that she is in the location you'll give me."
Narcissa nodded. "This is my son, Draco."
"Aquila has told me a lot about you." Alex said.
"What happened to her? I didn't see her at Platform 9¾."
Alex sighed. "Probably did something incredibly stupid to protect Harry Potter, she told me that she had a feeling that something bad would happen in the end of the term." He told them. "My guess is that she tried to help him. But we can talk later."
"What are supposed to do?" Narcissa asked.
"Put one hand on Lupa. She'll take us to my car so I'll drive you to your sister's house."
"How do you know that she'll accept me there?" She asked worried.
Alex understood her worries, the two haven't talked in almost twenty-five years, and some things were hard to forget.
"Just tell her the truth, how Lucius has been and how you don't want a Death Eater life for Draco. She will understand that." He said shrugging.
"How old are you again?" Draco asked looking impressed by his words.
"I turned seventeen in February. Now let's go, Lupa take us to my car."
Draco smiled a little when Alex said that, he finally wouldn't have to ever go back to that despicable place. Back to his horrid father.
Alex opened the door for Narcissa to enter in the car and closed it. Draco was in the back sit admiring the strange Muggle thing he was in; his mother wasn't much different.
"This is a car, one of the most brilliant Muggle inventions."
With that he started to drive his black Maserati smoothly, before he started to drive faster, neither of the blonds seemed to mind the speed so he kept it that way.
"Are we related?" Narcissa suddenly asked, he smiled.
"I'm surprised it took you that long to ask. Yes, we are. However, I want to explain this only once, so I want to get to Andromeda's first." He explained and the rest of the trip was silent.
Narcissa fell asleep on her sit and Draco was still looking around and thinking how that could work without magic.
After one hour Alexander stopped the car in front of a house surrounded by beautiful gardens. He shook Narcissa lightly, she opened her eyes and blinked a few times just to make sure she was really awake and not in a dream.
"We're here." Alex said and she nodded. Draco had already left the car and was looking around. He certainly expected less; the house was bigger and was pretty beautiful.
Narcissa got out of the car and started to walk towards the door, her son and Alex right after her. The woman's heart was beating fast, but she decided that if Sirius could be a Gryffindor, she could at least act like one.
She waited a few seconds taking deep breaths before knocking three times at the door. Narcissa felt like running away and jumping in a river because maybe it would carry away all her worries.
The door opened after one minute, revealing a woman that looked a lot like Bellatrix, but with a slightly lighter hair and softer features. The woman's eyes went wide with shock at the sight of her sister. Narcissa couldn't take anymore, tears rolled down her cheeks and she jumped in Andromeda's arms.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Oh my God, Andy! I'm so sorry! You were right! All this time! Please! Forgive me!" Narcissa said sobbing on her sister's shoulder.
Andromeda was paralyzed with shock. Never, in a million years, she would have expected Narcissa Malfoy to ever sob on her shoulder again after she was disowned. Or to ever ask for forgiveness.
"You were always right! I should've listened to you! I'm so sorry! I don't want that life for Draco! Please help us!"
Andromeda bit her lip and cursed her weak heart. "Come on in. I would like to know how and why you found me."
Narcissa nodded still crying. Draco went to her side and hugged her to calm her down, which seemed to work. The three visitors entered in Andromeda's house; Alex was biting his cheeks, wondering if he should tell them.
Do it. It's time to reunite the Black family. Said a feminine voice inside his head. At first Alex was confused, but then blamed his brain trying to sound like his mother.
"Ted, I need you to make a Calming Draught!" Andromeda yelled.
A male voice came from upstairs, "Why?"
"Just do it! Fast!"
"Okay!"
Andromeda then motioned to the couch. Draco sat there with his mother, Alex chose to stay up, and he felt more comfortable that way.
"How did you find me?" The older woman asked them, Alex chose to answer that question.
"Locator spells."
Andromeda eyed his warily, "That's blood magic. You need the blood of a family member to make the spell. I guess you used Narcissa's?"
He showed her the cut in his hand. "Not really. Narcissa only suspected that I was a Black when we were in the car. Maybe the eyes gave me away."
The older Black analyzed his appearance. He did look like a Black. Actually, he looked too much like a Black. Her cousins to be exact.
"Why did you come to me, Narcissa? I thought I was a disgrace to our family." Andromeda said harshly. The blond woman bit her lip trying not to cry again.
"You warned me about Lucius when I was betrothed to him. I didn't listen. At first he was indifferent, but since the Dark Lords 'death' he got colder. Draco had just been born at the time. Lucius decided that his son should follow his footsteps. All of them, Andy!" Narcissa said crying. "I don't want my son to be a Death Eater! A killer! I want him to fall in love and have kids and love them with all his heart!"
Draco hugged her tightly. "Don't worry, Mom. You won't have to see him ever again." He whispered in her ear.
Andromeda never expected that, but she should have. Narcissa always thought that family comes first, even as a child.
"If I just left, the wards would warn Lucius. If I took a house elf, they would tell him. I asked Emma Zabini for help. She told me that her cousin knew some people that could help me, so I sent a letter to her. The reply came the day after, she said that she would send someone she trusted fully."
Alex decided that he should help her. "That's where I came in. When she said that Narcissa Malfoy needed help, I automatically remembered my sister mentioning that Draco Malfoy has a hard life. So I thought, things must've gotten worse, besides, she's family. And family always comes first."
"How are you family, Regulus is dead and Sirius was in Azkaban for twelve years, he couldn't possibly have a child. Same for Bellatrix, by the way." Commented Andromeda.
Everyone was silent, thinking until Draco broke the silence, "Never believe anyone's dead until you see the dead body. That's what Aquila told me when I entered Hogwarts. I said that Voldemort was dead and she said that. You're Regulus's son, aren't you?"
So…? Any good?