A/N: I also realized I was spelling "Kreacher" wrong due to always writing after 2am. My apologies.

Chapter 7: The First of Many Obstacles

Last Time:

"Oh, ok, that makes sense, I guess. So when are you guys going on your honeymoon?"

"Not until Christmas time. The Greengrass family will be staying here with you for Christmas while we go back to Magical Rio for our honeymoon. I hope you are all right with that. You do need to spend more time with your fiancé but as she is going back to school soon it has to be done on breaks."

"No that's fine dearest Godmother, I just have no idea what to get her for a late birthday present or Christmas!" Sirius and Elizabeth laughed at Harry's worried look before they sent him off to bed before they went up to their room and consummated their marriage and love.

Now:

Late august was when the weather started to take a turn for the worst. Harry and Sirius had been cooped up in the house for three days due to rain with no end in sight.

"Elizabeth," Harry started before she promptly shushed him and went back to writing and reading the letters she had been working on for the past two hours. Turning to Sirius, Harry asked,

"What exactly does Elizabeth do?"

Sirius thought for a moment before turning to face Harry, "Well, Elizabeth is a diplomat, mostly she deals with Gray and Black family relations as well as all of the Potter ones that she has gotten acquainted with over the years. However, she does not make any deals for you, only keeps them nice and open for any deals you might want to strike in the future. She also has a part-time place within the Ministry in the Department of International Relations Experts. DIRE agents do not work full time due to how we almost never have to truly deal with crises between our nation and another. The worst we've had from what I heard in Azkaban was a trade dispute with Brazil about five years ago, which Elizabeth worked out perfectly, I might add."

"That's kind-of cool! Elizabeth what else do you do?"

Elizabeth sighed and put her letters down, "Well, each operative has a code name and a pseudonym so as to not have a hit on our heads when we return home if a deal goes bad. We mainly work along side Gringotts in terms of making contracts and then fine tuning them when one country feels that their needs are not being met. Honestly it can get quite boring but I love getting to meet new people and learn their cultures as well as trash our politicians in ways they can't even understand. The power of words, do not underestimate wording, Harry, it may get you farther than your name in some places." With that, Elizabeth got up to seal and address her letters before sending them off.

Just as Harry and Sirius were about to start another conversation, the Floo lit up and out came Andromeda, Ted and Nymphadora Tonks. After the family got themselves together, Andromeda stepped forward and said,

"Sirius we need to talk."

On the continent, Clara Dracula dreamed of creating a child of her own. Staring into her mirror, Clara put herself into a trance in hopes of finding a child to turn. Since being turned, she found that her abilities in divinations had increased from interpreting signs correctly to being able to partake in any aspect of the art. Recently, she had been getting fuzzy images of a teenage girl from the continent, but every time the image started to clear up, her husband or one of her ladies-in-waiting would interrupt her and she would lose the image. Today, she had giver her ladies a day off and her husband was away with his father and the war party putting down rogue vampires that were trying to over throw the family.

The image cleared up after and Clara saw a young woman, around 15, with a sister or a twin who was too blurry for Clara to truly make out the relation. The image showed the girl with pale skin, light brown hair and blue eyes. Her nose was a little pointy but Clara couldn't care less. The girl was beautiful, she only hoped she was smart too. Closing her eyes, Clara brought herself out of the trance and raced over to her globe. Removing a scrying crystal from the jewelry box next to the globe, Clara thought of the girls faces as she spun the globe, the crystal in her hand hummed and then moved over to Russia. Lifting her hand and the crystal, she noticed that the girl lived in Durmstrang, right around the Wizarding School of Durmstrang Institute. Smiling to herself, Clara placed her tools back into the cabinet and locked it with the skeleton key she always kept around her neck. Exiting the room, Clara locked the door with the same skeleton key and began the long walk down the dark stairs that descended from the highest room in the tallest tower.

"Ok, so what you are saying is Dumbledore has used his influence to issue an immediate arrest warrant for Harry and anyone he might be hiding with? What bull-"

"Sirius, don't fly off the handle, you know what happened last time you did that." Sirius glared at Elizabeth but let her continue. "I will have to brush up on my charms work in order to distort your features enough for you both to go outside. Now, Dora, what does this mean for you and the family?"

Nymphadora Tonks nervously looked around the room until she set her eyes downcast and said, "I am supposed to be honest on my Auror's oath and inform my boss I know where you both are, even though they think you are dead. I am also supposed to apprehend you all and bring you all into custody where you will all await trail at Azkaban. Harry, of course, will be taken back to Hogwarts where he will only be allowed to interact with his peers during classed in case he has ben exposed to any dark magic or is under its influence. I really don't want to do this but I love my job, what am I supposed to do?"

The kitchen was quiet; the only sounds being made were from Kreacher preparing the tea. After the tea had been served, Elizabeth spoke again,

"Sirius, as Lord Black, you need to call a family meeting and have every Black family member alive swear an oath to serve House Black and its Lord to the best of their abilities, including keeping all of its secrets and the usual stuff."

"But-"

"Sirius, Elizabeth is right, you have not had the family swear their oath to you and, as such, family secrets may start to get leaked and we all could be in danger. The Oath will also keep Dora from having to tell her boss about you and Harry which will help to further keep you both safe." Andromeda had spoken for the first time since she had arrived. Sirius knew she was right deep down but really didn't want to interact with some of the more seedy characters of the family.

"Alright, but if I do this, I will not be hosting any parties for a year!" Elizabeth rolled her eyes but conceded none-the-less. After that, preparations were underway for when the Oath should be sworn and how family members should be contacted in the least obvious way.

As Clara practiced her art, her husband, his father and their war party scavenger Transylvania and the surrounding countries looking for vampires that created their own war parties to try to over throw the family. Of course, after living a couple thousand years, Count Dracula and his family would never truly be over thrown. They were as loved and hated as the Queen and her family back in England.

"Sire," Baron Felix called riding up to the Count, "The last of the traitorous day walkers and the illegal night dwellers have been dealt." The billowing smoke rising up from the other end of the forest and the faint sounds of screaming could be heard on the wind. With a nod of his head, the Count led the party out of the woods and back towards the castle fort. Behind them, a cat as black as the deepest of shadows trailed behind them, following their horses but never revealing herself for fear of being killed.

The party crossed the drawbridge and entered the inner courtyard before dismounting and gliding in for dinner. The cat dogged their food steps, staying in the shadows and making no noise so as to not attract attention to her. The meal the vampires sat down to eat smelled so good that the cat almost lost control of herself, but she kept quiet and watched the Ladies of the house.

Although they did not know it, the Ladies Dracula were relatives of each other, though many generations apart. Adrianna Dracula had once been Adrianna Vladimir, born in 500 b.c.e. as the daughter of Vladimir the Dark and sister of Adrick the Wise. After Adrianna had been brutally beaten by their father and left for dead, only to be found by Count Dracula and turned to be his wife. Adrick killed their father after that and went on to start the Walachia Clan. The Clan went on to produce some of the most powerful wizards and witches of the continent.

Clara Walachia was born in 1874 to two of the more mediocre members of the Clan. She was gifted with some of the strongest sight a mortal could possess but was physically weak and could not use the gift to the fullest extend. She married at age 15 and gave birth to twins, a boy, Alan, and a girl, Anya, when she was 17. However, the birth greatly affected her and had Lord Dracula not have found her, she would have died for good. This particular cat that was lurking in the shadows, was descendant from Anya.

Dinner ended and the cat followed the Lady Clara to her bedchamber where she planned to reveal herself. However, before she got to the bedchamber, Lord Dracula called her into his study. The two talked of inconsequential matters before one matter peaked the cat's interest.

"Clara, I have never told you about how our kind truly works. Because we were both of magical blood, we have the ability to walk in the daylight, and so we are known as the day-walkers. However, if a vampire was once muggle, they are not afforded the same protection and cannot be in the sun. These vampires are known as the night dwellers. The night dwellers also have whiter, pastier looking skin, blood red eyes and cannot feed without killing. They are mostly despicable creatures and so we hardly let any of them remain once one is created."

"Thank you for the information, my Lord, but why are you telling me this now? Shouldn't you have told me this when you first made me your Lady?" Clara questioned her husband, hoping it would not make him too mad.

Lord Dracula sighed and pushed the papers he had been working on farther away from him. "Clara, my love, I am telling you this now because there have been some uprisings and they are mostly done by the night dwellers. I want you to be able to tell the difference because it can save your life one day." Clara gave him a soft smile before they continued to talk about more light-hearted matters.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Clara left Lord Dracula's study and headed to her room. Once the two were in, Clara threw a dagger that she had hidden in her skirts towards the cat. Screeching, the cat ran out of the shadows and morphed into a younger version of the Lady standing in front of her.

Wednesday September 9, 1992

The Kitchen became crowded as the last of the Black family members piled into the Family Meeting Room, otherwise known as the kitchen. The elder members of the family were sitting down and enjoying a nice cup of Earl Gray while the younger members talked Politics and Marriage. Lucretia Black Prewett and Callidora Black Longbottom, both of which has been Widowed for going on fifteen years at this point, were gossiping to their spinster cousins Cassiopeia and Lucinda when Narcissa Malfoy walked into the room carrying a bundle in her arms and looking a bit worse for wear. The Kitchen quieted and all eyes turned to Narcissa and the baby girl that was quietly babbling nonsense words intermixed with "Mama" and "Daco". Right behind her though was Andromeda and Tonks carrying a semi-conscious Bellatrix Black Lestrange. Seeing that everyone was there, Sirius quickly called the meeting to Order and began to explain the predicament.

"So, you are saying that THE Harry Potter has become a ward of the Black family and because of Dumbledore being the meddling fool that he is, we have to make the Black Family Fidelity Oath! That's ridiculous, no Head of the Family has made us swear one since Phineas Nigellus!" Lycoris the Second cried out. His father, having been a nasty piece of work even for the Black family, seemed to have passed his temper onto his son.

"You will or be disowned from the family." Sirius' statement was met with shock from the entire family who had never thought that the rebellious teenager he had been would ever take over the family. The rest of the members quickly nodded and made the oath, even going so far as to make it for the children that were not old enough to speak or hold a wand and the ones that were not born yet. Once the oath was finished, Tonks quickly dragged the crazed Bellatrix back to Azkaban before obliviating the memory but leaving the Oath intact.

The family as a whole decided to stay and Kreacher was ordered to prepare a feast to be served at 8:00pm sharp. Harry was encouraged by Elizabeth to mingle with members of the Black family as the members of the Potter family were long since dead and he needed to be comfortable with his Godfather's family. Through his mingling, Harry had discovered that Lycoris Black, son of Sirius the Second and Grandson of Phineas Nigellus, had been a drunk for most of his life after his marriage to Lysandra Burke, a stupid witch with more power than she knew what to do with. They had had two children, Lycoris the Second and Lucinda before Lysandra had died and Lycoris had become too drunk to take care of himself. Sirius the Second and his wife, Hesper Gamp, had stepped up and raised their grandchildren until their deaths in 1952. By that point, Lycoris and Lucinda were old enough to marry and start their own families but Lucinda had decided to stay to take care of their father.

Lycoris had then met Guinevere Gray (a distant relative of Elizabeth's) and propositioned for her hand in marriage. They married in late 1948 and had two sons Lawrence who was born in 1950 and Lysander who was born in 1952. Guinevere had died just after Lawrence started Hogwarts leaving Lycoris, Lawrence and Lysander alone until Lucinda moved in in 1965 after their father, Lycoris the First's death. Lycoris' business partner, Antonin Warrington had a lovely young daughter and no heir when Lycoris had decided to arrange a marriage between their children so the company could stay in their families. Although Melinda Warrington had been 5 years behind Lawrence in school, they found that they got along well after their wedding in 1974. They had two children Alphard born in 1976 and Mira, born in 1979 and was currently attending Beauxbatons in her third year. Alphard was currently dating a nice witch in Russia but had no plans to settle down as of yet.

Lysander had married Eleanor Selwyn after she graduated Hogwarts in 1971. They had had twin boys Phineas and Nigellus in 1972 and a daughter, Ophelia, in 1976. Ophelia had yet to become engaged but Phineas had married Belinda Wilkes at the beginning of the year and were now expecting their first child while Nigellus had married Merope Vaisey the previous year and now had a daughter, Asterope who had been born three days ago.

Harry's head spun as he realized that that was only one side of the Black Family! There were still several other branches! Harry wished that his 'cousin' Mira were here; at least he would have someone his age to talk to!

As he was walking around, Harry was pulled into conversation with the elder Black women, Callidora, Cassiopeia, Lucinda and Lucretia about his life before Sirius found him and how he was making progress with his betrothed. Thankfully, Kreacher called dinner, and the family sat down at the table in the formal dining room, which had to be enlarged. After a few hours, the members of the Black family Flooed home until only Narcissa, Andromeda and Narcissa's baby girl were left.

"Cissy, shouldn't you be getting home to Lucius? I don't want you and your darling baby to get into any trouble!" Andromeda exclaimed while cooing at baby Caeli.

"Actually, Lucius has fallen ill and the private Healer we hired in order to not let anyone know about it told me to get out of the house incase it was contagious so Caeli wouldn't fall ill. I haven't told Draco yet but it doesn't look good for Lucius. It looks like he got into something dark and was cursed to slowly die. The healers are trying to stay positive but I fear he won't last until Christmas." Andromeda pulled her sister into an embrace while Sirius conferred with Elizabeth about allowing Narcissa and her daughter to stay with them.

"Sirius," Andromeda interrupted him, "I would like to take care of Narcissa and her baby until she and the baby can go back to the Manor or Lucius dies." Sirius nodded his approval and Andromeda and Narcissa went through the floo to put Caeli to bed.

Then it was only Sirius, Elizabeth and Harry in Grimmauld Place. They were all about to head up to bed when an owl flew through the open window in the sitting room. Curiously, Sirius took the letter and watched the owl fly back out through the window. "Wonder whom it's from" Sirius muttered to himself.

Opening the letter, Sirius laughed when he read it. Handing it to Elizabeth, she rolled her eyes and walked up to bed. Sirius left it on the coffee table and headed up after her. Harry, curious to see what could have caused the reactions his godparents had. Picking up the letter, he read it quickly before making a face and walking up to bed himself.

Dear Sirius and Elizabeth,

If you don't have kids now you never will and I want more descendants! Hopefully ones with the sight. I will let you now if I see anything about your children. Now get to work! Oh and when you come for your honeymoon in a few months, don't drink the juice.

Love,

Cassandra Black